The Black and White Issue

! Sorry if you had any complications earlier viewing this post because of the graphics. Truthfully...it was the Compose function of Blogger's fault. I've redone the graphics so the post should be smooth sailing for viewing now!


So the New Year begins tommorrow and I'm sure some of you are wondering (who still check back for updates occassionally) what the heck I've been doing. The short answer is- college.

Of course, one needs to chill out some of the time and the picture on the left is of my outfit before my friends and I went to an Ebony-Ivory dance.

Other than that, I have been spotted visiting the shelter and gluing broken cup handles onto little black books. Isn't that an interesting concept? So one can just pull a special book right off of the shelf?

Anyhow, as you have probably noticed already, the title of this article-length post is "The Black and White Issue." In it, I have picked out some black and white items that you may look upon. Plus, it's after Christmas so if some people have gone kind of "eh" at the gift they recieved from you, or you have been personally returning gifts received... trust me, these are good replacement choices.

Of course, there is another reason why I decided to have my after-hiatus post be "The Black and White Issue" and that's because personally, I feel that wearing painfully-derived animal skins, fur especially, is for me a "Black and White Issue." I don't see how anyone can justify any sort of harm done to others. It's hard to justify genocide, to justify murder, to justify harm. It seems against human inclinations to try. Plus, the thought of wearing someone's skin...a human's intial reaction cannot be: "This is wonderful!"

Everyone needs motivation to try to get something done and I have been planning to post since I got back from Cali (I'm in NJ now for winter break), I've been detoxing and being distracted by other things-- but recently I have been seeing in magazines and newspapers that fur is creeping back into fashion. I just picked up the WWD issue a week ago and they were trying to make fur more palatable to wear year-round [maybe they are understanding that Global Warming has the potential to threaten business] and there was a picture of this thin white furry short bolero sort of thing. That was the push I needed.

Also, a recent issue, as some of you may have seen in the papers or on the frontpage of websites like Yahoo, is the fur-labeling issue. You can read a snip of it here. Basically, big-name retailers like Macy's, Burlington Coat Factory, Bloomingdale's, J.C. Penney and Saks Fifth Avenue and lines like Sean John (P. Diddy's line), Baby Phat, Andrew Marc, MaxMara and Calvin Klein have been found falsely advertising real fur as faux fur and that labels reading "raccoon" or coyote" from China in actuality had fur from a type of dog called a raccoon dog, through a series of tests done by the Humane Society. Also there's the fact that China doesn't really have any animal protection laws and so their animals are killed in really grueling ways. I'm not going to shove this video in your face and stream it here- but you if you can stomach the truth, this link is for you:

China's Fur Farms

So basically the point is, though faux fur is a better alternative than real fur, for the moment I would really shy away from buying faux fur for yourself or others because it could turn out to be real fur which comes from places like the link above. I mean, it's a good new year's resolution.

As one of my favorite illustrators, jeffrey fulvimari, says: just trust that kindness is beauty.

Anyhow, onto the fun part!

To kick off -no pun intended- one turns back to the good ol' days...

this boot showed up in my first real post. Now $27.

Plus they're not as dirty as the original ones [sounds like an oxymoron] and I bought them for Christmas this year (Dad was clueless what to get me). Speaking of that old old post...now that I'm in SoCal I do need to get some cream converse.

And speaking of CA, I haven't even BEEN down to LA and I'm sure you know by now how much of a shopping-fanatic I am, which just proves that I've been really REALLY busy with school. My first semester, thank goodness, has gone well. Just barely. All is not lost.

Speaking of casual shoes. These white keds and monochromatic Vans [AND I typically dislike slip-on Vans...] should be under collection consideration. [$30 @Delias.com and $38 @HotTopic.com]

Urban Outfitters gets it all right in one shot. Animal-friendly suitcases, bags, accessories, and my favorite, shoes! Oh, and I just love how the oddity of a soft bow as a hard metal bracelet. Currently a big sale is going on...some of my favorites:

Patent Suitcase $30, Zip Top Tote $35, Metal Bow Cuff $10, MJ Ballet $15

Target Issac Mizrahi Tote [actually Navy] $11.50

Delias- always a source of animal friendly products [$39.50]

ASOS especially.

Items From Alloy.com

Canvas Espadrille-14.99 , Holiday Bootie-39.50 , Mickey & Minnie-12.99

HIGH shine Leggings and Tights plus a little White.

all from Bloomingdales.com [+ extra 30% off with disc. code JINGLE until Jan. 1]

Joie Thermal Leggings [$40.80], Microfiber Lace Leggings [$15], Hue Footless Tights [$8], Norma Kamali Halter Hoodie [$33.75 good for showing off tanks with cute details on the back!], David Meister Lace Skirt [$170]

If you're looking for affordable designer-- it's no longer an oxymoron with Abaete for Payless. $25 and $35, respecitively.

Guess where the following comes from?

Fabric Earrings [6.00] Chandelier Earrings [6.00] Heart Necklace [9.00]

...HotTopic.com! I always used to be kind of intimidated of that store but the salespeople are really nice and come on...that jewelry is Nice.

And of course, what's black and white without a bit of gold? Plus... it matches the new layout.
All about the mixed metal: $15 & $30

...so I knew I should include some indie designer pieces... the first one is great for the songbird while the second one is great if you, or someone you know, is into Andy Warhol at the moment like everyone else. Both are $15.30 at Charcoal Designs.

I bought this from a little bookshop in Princeton.

I'm not sure if I believe in the proverb though.

Made by Quotable Cards

A mobile for the dignified black sheep in the family.

[Personally, I love it!] $24.00

http://store.pacifieronline.com/

.

.

.

So I went to the Princeton shops to get some Christmas shopping done when I got back to the East Coast and I walked into a design/furniture store called Design Within Reach. The work of a photographer named Jenny Lynn was being showcased and this is the card I picked up. I also picked up their catalog and found the 3 below products [some on sale] to be quite intriguing and good gifts for yourself or others. I especially like the Lumen Tree Votive.

JENNYLYNN.COM

can be ordered at dwr.com or 1.800.944.2233 (Votive is no longer available online}

Lumen Tree Votive- $55, Mistic Candleholder/Vase, Disappearing Sapien Bookcase

I LOVE THESE. Period. It figures since I love birds. they're from

www.madamebijoux.net.

check it out yourself.

I was actually just musing the other day that it kind of sounds a tiny bit hypocritical for someone to be playing with a pet bird while in the next room someone's cutting up a chicken. I have a parakeet myself and both my mother and brother eat meat- though I don't, which is why it comes to mind.

Moving On, I find the Chanel Black Satin nail polish to be my own personal need-need-need hard to find black item. [I just realized I didn't include any black dresses in this post] I fancy it not because of the hype (which should have died down by now) but because it's just the thought of Chanel + black nail polish. It's not the typical Chanel pretty pink polish or red polish, but black. An almost "goth-like" black. Although it has a nice sheen to it. It's been restocked a few times since it came out, but I'm really unsure as to whether it will be restocked again as of now.

if you have it, consider me jealous.

Plus, as it says on Chanel's site (taken from www.chanel.com):

"CHANEL does not test on animals and is listed in PETA's Guide to Cruelty-Free Companies. CHANEL is a company that provides high-quality products as well as high-quality service. Be assured that CHANEL products are formulated with ingredients that are universally used by the cosmetic industry. All of our products are thoroughly tested for safety and must pass very stringent requirements. Some products do contain animal derivatives such as beeswax or lanolin. If you have concerns about a product's ingredients, please e-mail us with specific names of the products you are interested in and we will gladly report back."

So Chanel cosmetics are all good...unless you're a strict vegan, in which cases, some products might not work for you.

....And This is what I just thought of a few days ago which would be nice to have but have had no success in finding because well, I kind of imagined it- though I'm sure there's exists one somewhere like this-, which is the reason why there is a very crudely drawn picture smack dab in the middle of your screen. It's supposed to be a black scarf with many small white stars.

have you seen me?

I have decided that my new year's resolution is that I'm going to try to make at least one post per week.

Happy New Year!