Today's Inspiration: Modern Spins On Classics

Books and lingerie? Why not. . .both excite the mind.

First up: The Nabokov Collection gets a redesign
John Gall, art director for Vintage and Anchor Books, was charged with the awesome task of redesigning the covers for Nabokov's books, all twenty-one. Using Nabokov's love for butterfly collecting as a springboard, Gall ingeniously called on a crew of uber designers to each design a specimen box, the kind used to display insects, that evoked the book's content. The boxes were then photographed by Alison Gootee to appear as the actual covers. BRILLIANT. See more COVERS HERE by the likes of Chip Kidd, Carol Carson, Dave Eggers, Rodrigo Corral . . .

Nabokov Specimen Box Project

Pnin: Carin Goldberg

Next up: Stella McCartney's vintage inspired lingerie
I'm a big Stella McCartney fan so it doesn't take much to get me enthused about her stitches. But her new LINGERIE LINE is very fine. She approached it with a contemporary eye on 1920s and 1950s lingerie silhouettes---ultra feminine in fabric, embroidery, color, and group names (Billie Twirling, Ines Sneaking, and Eva Scampering). The dusty rose and pale neutrals are lovely. Landing in stores: Spring 2010.

What They're Saying: Lee Siegel On America's Mass Murder Addiction

In an article in The Daily Beast, Lee Siegel responds to the shootings at Fort Hood and America's shameful epidemic of mass killings:

"Indeed, it's time to start asking ourselves whether our famous American freedom—in both its liberal and conservative formulations—is not actually a subtle form of dehumanizing tyranny . . . We have to start examining whether the general free-for-all of our economic system, and the pleasure-seeking ethos of our commercialism, and the ideology of immediate gratification that is corroding any type of respect for authority---we have to determine whether these 'freedoms' are actually a tightening dog-collar turning us all into rabid animals."

I think you'll want to READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.

iPhone on Grove Street: An Artsy Tree Grows In The West Village

There is an unremarkable tree on Grove Street that's always decorated with remarkable tchotchkes. It's maintained by a woman I see every now and then, carefully placing her artsy gifts around the trunk and sometimes even tacked onto the bark---like our not-so-little flounder fish below. What started out as a curiosity has now developed into a transient, ever-changing piece of community art. At first it may seem like a bad case of litter, but if you look closely you'll see an order to the randomness. Some days I find record covers and doll heads, other days playing cards and miniature baby pools. I suspect people on the block have come to add their own contributions to the display, choosing certain mementos or regifting odds and ends. I haven't yet, but I know it's only a matter of time before I do.

Ode To The Handmade Book: Pictorial Webster's

Day in and day out, I hear grumbles of anxiety over the impending death of the physical book. As the new Barnes&Noble NOOK joins the growing circle of e-readers, more publishing hairs are shed in worry that books might one day become obsolete. Call me an optimist, call me punch-drunk, but I see a happy, united future for both. A future where e-books will appeal to their kind of audience and books will evolve into more beautifully designed objects book lovers long to have on their shelves. This is where practical musings usually end for me, budgets fly out the window, and I launch into unrealistic dreams of collectible leather-bound volumes with gilded edges. At least I can indulge the fantasy by appreciating rare special editions like John Carrera's PICTORIAL WEBSTER'S that published over the summer. What a stunning work of art! Unfortunately, I'll have to admire it from afar since the handmade book is incredibly labor intensive, requiring enormous amounts of TLC, and costs a pretty penny. The Pictorial Webster's special edition goes for a few thousand dollars, but never fear a trade edition is also available for $35.

I won't get into the details of Carrera's journey through categorizing the 12,000 engravings, printing with an old letterpress, hand-stitching, and gold foiling the leather case . . .You can watch his ten-year project from start to finish in this amazingly short seven minute video. If you love books, chances are you're going to get choked up. I'll admit, I got a little verklempt. Although not over the doom&gloom forecast of death to printed books, but rather for the spirit and passion alive in creating these cherished objects.

Pictorial Webster's: Inspiration to Completion from John Carrera on Vimeo.

[via YOU ARE WHAT YOU LOVE]

Head Over Heels About Getting My Heels Over My Head

It must be raining in the Sahara because I did a headstand in yoga class yesterday. Granted I was using blocks under my shoulders as training wheels, but for the first time I actually managed to invert myself without feeling like my whole 5'11" frame might go crashing through the floor into the earth's core. I've been petrified of flipping upside down since I was a kid, a little to do with my height and a lot to do with shifting perspective and releasing so much of that grounded control. I always shake my head in disbelief when a yoga teacher encourages us to get inverted, already accepting defeat and keeping my feet firmly planted. Last night the planets must have been aligned. I had a wonderful class with FRANCES STAHNKE over at PRACTICE YOGA on the UWS that was challenging, nurturing, and enlightening. Uncorrected habits I had formed over the years were finally corrected and body-quirks (like a floppy ankle) were noticed and addressed. When it came time to experiment with inversion, I felt so supported that I knew I could finally take on the dreaded headstand. And using the blocks was genius. Ah, the liberation of having your feet over your head . . . It was definitely less scary than I thought it would be, but it will still take some getting used to---that is, the process of letting go.

Alicia Silverstone Takes on GOOP With A Vegan Twist. . .Welcome THE KIND LIFE

Alicia Silverstone's new lifestyle site, THE KIND LIFE, is giving GOOP a little competition. Silverstone's twist is that this site is totally vegan-friendly from food to home to clothing. And you won't only find Silverstone here, but a whole community of vegan minds that you can tap into for information. I'm kind of loving her vibe and this on-line hub she's building. Check out this NYC-vegan eats video. I was just at HanGawi yesterday and I can attest to it being a must-visit restaurant--it's an oasis of zen and always delicious food. Ditto for Babycakes!

Sing It Like Lyrics, Read It Like Poetry: Sleepyhead

And you said
It was like fire around the brim
Burning solid
Burning thin, the burning rim
Like stars burning holes right through the dark
Flicking fire like saltwater into my eyes
You were one inch from the edge of this bed
I drag you back a sleepyhead, sleepyhead

They couldn't think of something to say the day you burst
With all their lions and all their might and all their thirst
They crowd your bedroom like some thoughts wearing thin
Against the walls against your rules against your skin
My beard grew down to the floor and out through the doors
Of your eyes but go in disguise like a sleepyhead, sleepyhead

--Passion Pit, SLEEPYHEAD

UP ON FRIDAY: Must-Have Photo Books!

Getting from Monday to Friday without wearing a winter coat. Friday Five is back! That's right, we're back with this week's Friday Five--photo books that should be on your to-buy list: Hopper, MJ ads, Paris by camera and pen, tour life with friends as family, and evenings on different coasts.

1. I'll start with the fantasy purchase (may as well start it off unrealistically and work my way down to possible). Dennis Hopper's PHOTOGRAPHS 1961-67. A limited edition boxed hardcover that Taschen is publishing. There are only 1500 being printed and they're going for $700 a pop. I'll be waiting for the regular edition to be released. In the meantime, TONY SHAFRAZI GALLERY is exhibiting some of the photographs through October 24.

2. This isn't the first time I've pledged my love for Marc Jacobs and it's not the last. . .MARC JACOBS ADVERTISING 1998-2009 by MJ and photographer Juergen Teller. The collection of his idiosyncratic ads include the muse Sofia Coppola, Meg White, Rufus Wainwright, Cindy Sherman, and more. Perfect coffee browsing material to start the day.

3. I promised my beautiful friend A. that I would visit her in Paris next year so she can take me around to all the boulangeries she discovered. What better way to get in the spirit than through these portraits of Paris by AMI SOUX: PARIS 48°50N 2°23E. Soux asked 50 people to draw an area of Paris that they love and from those drawings she took these portraits. The book includes both the drawings and the photographs--how sweet!

4. LAUREN DUKOFF's collection of spirited photos capture the days and nights of musician Devendra Banhart and an extended, loose-knit family of artists. The photos in FAMILY have such freedom and spirit and character--they make me want to pack a bag and hit the road.

5. 3191: EVENINGS is the companion to A YEAR OF MORNINGS, the bi-coastal project between Maria Alexandra Vettese and Stephanie Congdon Barnes. The book is a culmination of a year-long project to capture their fondness for evenings from different coasts. (Their site, 3191, is named after the distance in miles between their homes in Portland, Maine and Portland, Oregon.) The photographs in this collection are presented as 214 evening diptychs—always taken between 5pm and 10pm, and without discussion between the two women.

. . . happy weekend!

Aveeno Advertising Overkill

New York City undoubtedly has one of the best urban landscapes for inspired walks. I challenge anyone to stroll down a city block and not notice something interesting or beautiful or ugly or surprising. Even the upper east side with some of its boring cookie cutter buildings can bring about an unexpected twist--and when the architecture or storefronts fail you, there are always the people. But lately, I find myself migrating toward quieter blocks, the more subdued streets that have less crowds, less potenitial for a whiz-bang impression, less stimulation. Maybe the cold weather is bringing about feelings of turning inward in hibernation or maybe it's the fatigue of so many tourists blocking my view . . . or, well, really, the bombardment of advertising in every which direction I turn my head. People go for walks to clear their minds so inspiration will strike. But there's not much clearing that can take place these days in a fog of overstimulation. While some ads are inspiring (and I applaud those campaigns for keeping it fresh and engendering creativity through creativity), I find direct product placement to be the lowest of the low. Painfully drab. Take these umbrellas advertising Aveeno. Zero inspiration. We're just having a name brand launched directly at us. It's not going to get me to buy Aveeno sunscreen. Instead, a lovely quiet Hudson block has been transformed into an advertising minefield that has me thinking eczema and oatmeal baths when I really want to be thinking about astonishing discoveries.