More importantly...

Speaking of...

Lady Gaga just performed with her own version of Nicola's panda eyes. I'm not so hot on the Sugarland thing, but...

I'll take two black eyes, please.

As I seem to adore all things heavy (read: excessive) and dark, I found myself excited to see the makeup at Spring shows for Rodarte and Gucci. A dense cloud over each eye looked playful and powerful respectively. Gucci's was an uncompromising black (complete with bleached brows), while Rodarte's had a trace of blue, which was appropriate given that the Mulleavy sisters took inspiration from Starry Night and other van Gogh paintings.


Liu Wen at Rodarte; Natasha Poly at Gucci; via style.com
Stylist Nicola Formichetti, who bears the nickname "Nicopanda," attended his own Halloween party with a similar look across his face, though it was notably more face-consuming and messy, neither of which are a problem in my mind.
via Nicola's tumblr

Today, I read Susie Bubble's post about the look, which featured a video the makeup manifesting on her face. While she usually looks lovely without a scrap of makeup on her face, I say she looks incredible donning quite the opposite as well.


via because London I myself tried the look for a night spent for a rather typical college party, though it looks a bit more devious alongside the black bandana and dominatrix t-shirt. Since I didn't have the resources, time, or daring to bleach my eyebrows, I simply covered them with as much foundation as my patience gave me. I sent this picture to my dear friend Gillian, who replied with a frightened text message wondering where my brows had gone. Perhaps that is a measure of some success.
As I don't see myself as some kind of makeup extraordinaire—the sun does reveal every mistake one makes‐I'm not sure how willing I will be to wear such a face in the daylight hours, but perhaps I will surprise myself. An afternoon blog post is a surprise in itself, so let them come in droves.

Today's Stare-it-dead Image

I'm in the process about writing a paper about this lovely painting, but I'm getting quite sick of looking, thinking, and writing about it.


Winslow Homer, Eagle's Head, Manchester, Massachusetts, 1870
It's rather strange that we're expected to appreciate things that become visually exhausted all in a day's work. Perhaps I just have a bad attitude. Then again, it's also almost three in the morning. This is too typical.

Child, the living's easy.

It only seems right to post a Summertime look as a downpour ensues outside. I suppose this was me mixing a bit of Seventies soul with a touch of the hippie side of the era. I don't mean to be sentimental about the Summer or a forgiving schedule that doesn't keep me away from all the things that I love, but this post has been a long time coming. And the scatterbrained thoughts stop here... sort of.

(silence + noise top, [BLANK] jeans, Jeffrey Campbell shoes, thrifted (probably fake) Hermes Scarf, vintage bag)
I've been listening to a lot of Janis Joplin over the past couple of months, but I can't remember if this was at all influenced by her style or not. With the excessive jewelry especially, it wouldn't be completely surprising. In any case, she's incredible on multiple levels (as if it needs to be said).

Now I'm going to brave the rain to stop by the library. Happy 11-11-11!

Baby take me for a ride...

Bambi and a Burrito

After a long day, I trekked over to my beloved local taco truck, Rancho Bravo, and got myself a black bean Bravo burrito, a veggie mix quesadilla, and huge agua de piña. Once home, I sat down and gorged myself at a potentially dangerous rate of speed. Predictably, I felt sluggish soon after my feast and some doddling and a nap followed. Alarms were ignored and I found myself awake at 1a.m. While four hours of sleep is not exactly enough, I can't seem to fall back to dreamland. So in an effort to start my day exceedingly early, I'm drinking green tea out of my "Bambi" mug and working on an article that I didn't touch because of the aforementioned food coma. I've also been exploring a few blogs, known and unknown, which have only led me to feel embarrassed, if not a bit depressed about the state of things around these parts. Cue the slightly stream-of-consciousness blog post about overeating and feelings. I just heard a "Mean Girls" quote. In any case, I hope you enjoy my hilarious still life of Bambi in my new-ish, perpetually messy, undecorated apartment. Declaration that I will feel semi-obligated to stick to: This will not be the last post this week.

I'm not dead. Promise.

It's hard to dance with a devil on your back, so shake him off.

Fall has finally arrive and homework is slowly piling up. I'm far behind on any Spring/Summer 2012 coverage, but I hope to post on some of my favorite shows. In the meantime, enjoy this rather magical new video from Florence + The Machine. I can only hope Halloween will be so dreamy.

I've probably posted it already, but this one's better.



Back to writing...

In the simplest of ways, Justin Wu knows how to make me smile.

Sunday Night

I'm lightyears behind in any Spring 2012 coverage, but that's not exactly news. Instead of being productive today, I ate a ton and watched several episodes of "My So-Called Life." Around 9:00 tonight, I wondered if I should even bother trying to be productive before bed. I still haven't decided, but I cleaned up my apartment a bit, lit my Gothic candelabra (that's probably not the correct term, but you know, it's sounds nice), and put a live Pat Benatar record on my half-working record player.



"Looking for a Stranger" is always a fantastic choice for a slow night. Escaping my apartment to do something dangerous often sounds desirable. For now, I think I'll just stick with pretending my life is much darker than it is in actuality, candelabra and all.

NYFW Spring 2012 from David Sherwin on Vimeo.

Fall is coming.

Losing my Rocky Horror Picture Show virginity was one of the best moments of the beginning of my Freshman year. I can't wait for what this year brings.

Gaga on Criticism, Ms. Horyn

GAGA MEMORANDUM NO. 3

In her latest column for V magazine, Lady Gaga investigates critical culture, directing much attention to the esteemed (and notoriously harsh) Cathy Horyn. Gaga questions the necessity of being highly critical to the point that said criticism is negative to the point it becomes predictable. She herself has stated that critics are bullies, which one cannot easily disagree with. Certainly being a critic requires expertise and (hopefully) disgression, but often critical writing reads as if the writer is reveling in being mean spirited. I myself have weighed the value of being critical, struggling with saying something that could be potentially divisive. That is, if any of the creators I write about actually read my blog—they don't...yet. Every time I have this conversation, of sorts, Horyn comes up, perhaps because she is the most vocally critical fashion journalist alive today. Without a doubt, I feel that honest criticism is necessary to keep artists thinking forward and such shoes are difficult to fill. For that, I applaud Ms. Horyn's bravery, as I could not be so objective that I eliminate the possibility of befriending—or at least having the respect of—the world's most important designers (perhaps journalism isn't really for me...?).

Gaga asks, "Is it not even more critical for fashion and art critics to be profusely informed not only in art history but in the subliminal? The public operates with the assumption that critics are experts in their respective fields. But are they? Does every critic have the soul to really receive a work in the transcendental sense? The out-of-body experience of art?" Too often those who experience art only think of it in terms of good and bad. What I believe Gaga asks for in this column is a journalistic consciousness that looks deeper, that experiences the work. I sometimes wonder if I have the "soul" for it and cringe at the thought that I may not. Then again, I wonder that about a lot of things. Perhaps that's telling...or not at all.

I found the piece to be probing and important, even in it's a bit of an assault on Horyn. I still believe Horyn has a valuable place in the fashion community. This kind of discourse often has me searching within myself for a guide, if you will. I just hope Glitter Way presents itself to me in time.