From Velvet to Infrared.

Lou Reed claimed most of his fame when he served as the guitarist and vocalist for The Velvet Underground in the 1960's. After leaving the band in 1970 he worked on various solo projects. But, I'm not here to talk about the music.

Recently, Reed published his third photography book entitled Romanticism. His first, Emotion in Action, was published in summer of 2003 with a subsequent book being published in 2006. The first two books show more of a point-and-shoot photography of either motion or New York City.

The third book proves to conquer a much more diverse subject range. For the book Reed had a digital camera altered for images to appear as infrared film. This technique gives film a surreal look by causing foliage to appear white and for other objects to appear as different colors depending on the temperature of the object. The subjects for his photograph are much different, as well, with images shot in Scotland, Denmark, and China. The book is available for order now through this site.

"I think of the camera as my soul. Much like a guitar." Lou Reed

Pic via: Nowness

Aura of Style.

This is my last blog of the semester for, specifically, Intro to Journalism. That aside we were recently challenged in Newspaper Production to find our niche. Being completely baffled by this I went to the trusty dictionary on my mac for help and found this as an entry:

Niche (noun): a comfortable or suitable position in life or employment

What stands out to me is life. Full-time employment may be two years away, but for now I am a student living and experiencing life. For this blog to truly strive I want it to have life. For now, I want my blog to focus on the off-beat cultures. It would not focus on one subject, per say, but the subject of the interesting things people are producing in culture. A compilation. It's not necessarily underground, and it's not really mainstream. It's a mix of the creative arts whether it be music, fashion, style, photography, or something completely different.

On that note, I give this post about personal style.

The woes of clothing are something encountered daily. Clothing is a mandatory element of society even if we don't necessarily think about what we put on each and every day. But, for the weirdly clothing obsessed like myself it can take up a large chunk of time to decide on the proper outfit.

I have no idea where my habit came from, but I am guessing it began somewhere in an Osh Kosh Bgosh with my mother. Unlike most mothers, mine would let me wear clothes I enjoyed even if it did involve disgustingly green track pants at one point. I am also constantly reminded of the time I carried around the same silver, faux-crocodile skin purse for months when I was four or five. When one of my parents' friends inquired where I got the purse I promptly said, "It's vintage." I guess it's just ingrained in my DNA.

What interests me more, though, is other people's sense of style. It interests me greatly to see not only the differences but also the similarities of style throughout the world. One website a friend recently introduced me to is lookbook. I have become a tad bit obsessed with this site. Unfortunately to access this site completely involves being accepted by the site-keepers or being invited from an existing member. While I did apply on a whim the other night I think my dreams of gaining access to the site will have to be put on hold for the moment.

For now I will continue to meander through the endless cycle of blogs in the so-called blogosphere. Below are a list of my favourites that I regularly follow in no specific order. The entire list would take me about five days to write, I suppose.

Karla's Closet
She is fellow southern California resident who seems to own a never-ending collection of vintage pieces.

Fashion Toast
Residing in San Diego, Rumi has recently partnered with RVCA.

Style Rookie
Even though the author turned thirteen only a few months ago, the title of the blog is not to be confused with Style Cookie. She appears to be doing more in the fashion community than any other blogger twice her age.

We Were Damsels
A duo from New York City balance each other in the blogging world nicely. They also blog about another one of my obsessions, music.

Blushing Ambition
I found this blog only a few hours ago but I have already read through every single one of her posts.

Fashion Bits and Bobs
The only male on my long list of blogs. His style remains consistent but he often does other photography bits and streetstyle photos of persons in his hometown of Zurich, Switzerland.

Just Another White Shirt.

The basic white shirt. It's white. It's uncomplicated. It's easy to throw on. It's something anyone can wear. But what happens when thirty-one designers from thirteen different countries are asked to take complete creative control of a plain white t-shirt? Well, to be honest, a lot.

Each designer has put their own spin and ideas into the shirt. Unni Håkansson and Andreas Andersson from Doktor Doktor in Sweden decided to cover a shirt in 2,000 marshmallows to symbolize the price you pay for good taste. A statement that is certainly appropriate within the fashion world.


One designer voted to not design under any common means at all. He put his t-shirt in a metal bucke, doused it with gasoline, then lit it with a match. It doesn't take much of a guess to realize that he burned his shirt into ashes.

So far sixteen designers projects have been revealed with the others being shown on Dec. 12 and 19. With the creative liberties that have been taken so far it can only be something great that comes from the remaining designers. With each design comes a short video, photograph of the final design, and paragraph about the designers.





Photo and Information via: ProjectWhiteT-shirt