Back in Black

A Thankyou: Hey everyone, it's been quite some time since I posted. Looking at the very nice comments I got from my last post (Frank O'Hara's poetry), I've completely regained hope in humanity. Okay, that's an exageration, but it's really nice to see that not everyone hates poetry (as the kids in my english class often groan). =] So this is a very big "thank you" to those who read my posts, even when they're not about clothes!

In this Post:
1. Introduction/ small anecdote
2. Outfits made on Polyvore with leggings
3. Celebrities
4. Models/inspiration
5. Some places to buy them

Introduction:
Okay, so this is going to be an outfit post. As you may know, I'm slightly addicted to Polyvore. For those who don't know what that is, it's a site where it is easy to make your own outfits by choosing clothes from many different companies and sites, and then pasting them on a screen to make an entire outfit. (http://www.polyore.com/). In case you were wondering, my username is "New York Chique", and my profile is: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/profile?id=217941.

My outfits are never really that popular, but then again most of the outfits that get 1000+ "Likes" are usually aero+hollister+abercrombie+coach combinations with little qoutes at the side. I actually once commented on one of those outfits saying "Sorry, but I really don't like this" (or something along those lines), and wow, was I in for a suprise! The girl sent me nasty messages, saying she would "report me" and how I didn't have the right ot call her outfit ugly. She ended the message saying "Thanks for being ugly" and a side note, "you spelled 'chic' wrong...hmmm" and then proceeded to block me! Haha i actually got a laugh out of that, she's probably still young and maybe really defensive. Anyway, since she blocked me I didn't get a chance to respond, so whatever. Just thought I'd share the story. =]

Polyvore Outfits:
Here are some of the outfits I've compiled, all made my me. This is when I was in a leather leggins-craze (I dont think the majority are even leather, they're just fake-look-alike leather), so all of these outfits were inspired by that. I have many more you can see on my profile that don't involve these daring tights, maybe I'll post them at a later date!


#1


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#8


So, that concludes my leather-legging filled polyvore work.

Models/Inspiration: (I got these all from google/search engines)

Celebrities!: (from google as well. And apparently some other blog. Anyway here they are)

Left: Posh, Right: Hillary Duff


Left: One of the Olsen Twins, Right: Lindsay Lohan

Below: Rihanna! Who I think pulls them off really well =]

Where you Can get them!
Left: Forever 21, $15.80, Right: Urban Outfitters, $38. You can basically find them anywhere though, including American Apparel and other stores like that. As the stores are being cleared for sundresses and bikinis though, they might get harder to find.

Now, winter is coming to a close-have you been outside today? In New York, it's sunny and gorgeous! But since it's still in transition from winter to spring, you may be able to sneak in the leather leggings, even though I think most fashionistas would call them a no-no for spring time. Walking in the city and looking fierce, or in the evening, or at a party, would be the best times to wear them. Of course, you should make sure you have the legs to wear them- they're pretty tight, and show every bulge. One the other hand, if you're skinny as a twig, I think they'd make legs look even more twiggy and thats unflattering as well. So if you're moderatly toned, these are perfect! Well, thank you everyone for reading my post! I promise I'm going to be really good about keeping up, and commenting, and following other blogs. I promiseeee!

Much Love,

-New York Chique

Oh Frankie, We love you!

Frank O'Hara: my favorite poet

Okay, so sometimes I'm not a fan of poetry, but Frank O'Hara caught my interest immediatly. It was actually for an English assignment, and once I bumped into his poetry, I was in love! I completely feel his poetry; even when I don't understand it. And the more I examined his poetry and read about hsi life...its like I felt a weird connection with him. I wish he were still alive, I would definetly want to speak with him oneday. I dont know about you guys, but his poetry changed my life- the way I look a poetry- its just amazing.

His Life, in a nutshell:
-He was born in 1926, and died in 1966
-He grew up in Masaachusetts, went to Harvard, moved to New York where he started to write in earnest
-He worked at the MOMA (museum of modern art)

Style + Influences:
-He had an interest in art (working at the MOMA), which is why so many of his poems relate poetry to painting

-He loved New York, and the rush of life there, how everything is going on at the same time, and the city is always busy and brimming with so many different people
-He was homosexual, and you'll notice that his poems have no gender (he doesnt say he loves a 'him' or 'her'), to make his poems more universal
-Honesty. Frankness. Being true to art. These were his fundamental characteristics. His poetry was so new and different at the time because he had no structure (no rhymes, weird punctuation, lots of exclamation marks), and he wrote on impulse. In act, he wrote some of the poetry on the day of his readings sometimes. He didn't like the cliche, and critized painters and poets who didn't have passionate subjects but instead just made calculated, "safe" work.
-His poems also include tons of names and references to friends and loved ones of Frank O'Hara, and this is a great qoute to sum it up:

"Reading a Frank O’Hara poem is like being thrown into the middle of a party with
some stranger’s intimate friends. One has to do one’s best to make sense of all
the inside references, names, places, and things that one would have no
reasonable reason to know” - Jonathen N. Barron

Here are some of his poems (my favs), and you can decide for yourself:

Why I Am Not a Painter

I am not a painter, I am a poet.
Why? I think I would rather be
a painter, but I am not. Well,

for instance, Mike Goldberg
is starting a painting. I drop in.
"Sit down and have a drink" he
says. I drink; we drink. I look
up. "You have SARDINES in it."
"Yes, it needed something there."
"Oh." I go and the days go by
and I drop in again. The painting
is going on, and I go, and the days
go by. I drop in. The painting is
finished. "Where's SARDINES?"
All that's left is just
letters, "It was too much," Mike says.

But me? One day I am thinking of
a color: orange. I write a line
about orange. Pretty soon it is a
whole page of words, not lines.
Then another page. There should be
so much more, not of orange, of
words, of how terrible orange is
and life. Days go by. It is even in
prose, I am a real poet. My poem
is finished and I haven't mentioned
orange yet. It's twelve poems, I call
it ORANGES. And one day in a gallery
I see Mike's painting, called SARDINES.

Analysis: Okay, so I'm not going to analyze the whole poem, but basically what he is saying is that there are some similarities between painting and poetry, as different as the art forms may seem. They both start off with one idea, and end up writing/painting about something else. They also take some things from eachother; the painting uses the title (words) "Sardines" to convey a feeling, while the poet uses the color (like a painting does) "orange" to convey another. He plays with the dea that the weakness of poetry is that you cannot use immediate visuals to show the audience what you want them to see (to get his idea out, he ends up using pages and pages)- however, painting has the weakness of only having a limited space to get your message to the audience: a square canvas. This poem is also nice because Mike Gldberg and Frank O'Hara were friends in real life, and the poem is about a real painting by Goldberg (the one below):
Having a Coke with you

is even more fun than going to San Sebastian, Irún, Hendaye, Biarritz, Bayonne
or being sick to my stomach on the Travesera de Gracia in Barcelona
partly because in your orange shirt you look like a better happier St. Sebastian
partly because of my love for you, partly because of your love for yoghurt
partly because of the fluoresent orange tulips around the birches
partly because of the secrecy our smiles take on before people and statuary
it is hard to believe when I'm with you that there can be anything as still
as solemn as unpleasantly definitive as statuary when right in front of it
in the warm New York 4 o'clock light we are drifting back and forth
between each other like a tree breathing through its spectacles

and the portrait show seems to have no faces in it at all, just paint
you suddenly wonder why in the world anyone ever did them
I look
at you and I would rather look at you than all the portraits in the world
except possibly for the Polish Rider occasionally and anyway it's in the Frick
which thank heavens you haven't gone to yet so we can go together the first time
and the fact that you move so beautifully more or less takes care of Futurism
just as at home I never think of the Nude Descending a Staircase or
at a rehearsal a single drawing of Leonardo or Michelangelo that used to wow me
and what good does all the research of the Impressionists do them
when they never got the right person to stand near the tree when the sun sank
or for that matter Marino Marini when he didn't pick the rider as carefully
as the horse

it seems they were all cheated of some marvellous experience
which is not going to go wasted on me which is why I am telling you about it

Analysis: Well, this poem starts off in a humorous manner; he starts of by saying that having a coke with you is more fun than vomiting in the streets of Spain! Then he mentions all the little details about his lover; his or her love for yughurt, their orange shirt, the way they smile together, that makes frank love them. In this way, he stays away from the cliche- he doesn't say how he's SO in love forever and ever and ever and ever like other poets do, but instead, he stays realistic which is why he just says "i love you...you know, because i rather be here than sick to my stomach" and then later says "I would rather look at you than all the portraits in the world...except for that one portait I love, to be honest I rather look at that!" He stays away from being too mushy or a hallmark card- he just writes honestly. He ontinues this idea when he starts to critize painters that pay so much attention to calculated proportions and form that they forget to choose subjects that are truly passionate to them- because O'hara believes that painting should be about passion, not being perfect. And so he sees flaws in all the master's paintings, because "they never got the right person to stand near the tree when the sun sank"

Steps

How funny you are today New York
like Ginger Rogers in Swingtime
and St. Bridget’s steeple leaning a little to the left

here I have just jumped out of a bed full of V-days
(I got tired of D-days) and blue you there still
accepts me foolish and free
all I want is a room up there
and you in it
and even the traffic halt so thick is a way
for people to rub up against each other
and when their surgical appliances lock
they stay together
for the rest of the day (what a day)
I go by to check a slide and I say
that painting’s not so blue

where’s Lana Turner
she’s out eating
and Garbo’s backstage at the Met
everyone’s taking their coat off
so they can show a rib-cage to the rib-watchers
and the park’s full of dancers with their tights and shoes
in little bags
who are often mistaken for worker-outers at the West Side Y
why not
the Pittsburgh Pirates shout because they won
and in a sense we’re all winning
we’re alive

the apartment was vacated by a gay couple
who moved to the country for fun
they moved a day too soon
even the stabbings are helping the population explosion
though in the wrong country
and all those liars have left the UN
the Seagram Building’s no longer rivalled in interest
not that we need liquor (we just like it)

and the little box is out on the sidewalk
next to the delicatessen
so the old man can sit on it and drink beer
and get knocked off it by his wife later in the day
while the sun is still shining

oh god it’s wonderful
to get out of bed
and drink too much coffee
and smoke too many cigarettes
and love you so much

Analysis: This poem is so funny but serious at the same time! He talks cynically about the world "the stabbings" but then keeps it upbeat by saying "hey, at least it helped the population explosion!" Then in the first stanza he talks about sex, everyone wants it, and says plainly "i just want you upstairs, now". And he continues to pull in funny situations and names and flaws in a huge run-on sentence, which sounds like the person would be reading this poem out of breath. The last stanza then sounds like a sign of relief: "oh god it's wonderful....and love you so much". It almost the only part of the poem that's crystal clear in meaning. After all the crazy things going on in the rest of the poem, the last stanza says, in my interpretation, that it's so good to have someone to be in love with, so that with all the hectic this in the world we can just sit upstairs, be in love (and in the moment), and forget about the world around us. It also seems like an expression of what O'hara believes love to be; a connection between two imperfect people, and an escape from the bad things in the world.

Thanks for reading! (and hope everyone had a great thanksgiving + black friday!)

-NewYorkChique

Sexiness and the Human Body

Well, I havent blogged in a while. Hope everyone is getting by okay =]



For those who responded to the last post, I ended up getting the Firefighter costume. It actually looked really nice, I think. Since I'm not an amazon with a DD bra size, it looked pretty appropriate. Either way, I got grounded (long story), so I ended up not celebrating at all for yet another year. Some of you commented on the sexualization of costumes- and you're all right. If it's not a little kid costume, it's most likely a sexy costume. I think that if you look around for costumes wisely, and stay away from using garters and 4 inch stilletos, you can actually pull of a party-but-not-too-slutty look. But then again, there is a sort of freedom in being able to dress sexily every once in a while. Is being sexy liberating, or objectifying? Some women may say it makes them feel like they have more power, and feel more free. Some may say that doing that makes them feel like they're selling themselves. That's an arguement that really has no answer, since it can be argued either way. It's then up to the individual to decide how they feel about it.

It's messy, but read anyway:



ART
Also, in art- in ancient times as well as the renaisance, women's bodies were adored-scultpures, paintings, the works. But now, photography or paintings are put on the no-no list of the U.S. to show to kids. But why? I never understood what was wrong with the beauty of people's bodies. Why is the body something that society tries to make us ashamed of? It's a big debate when it comes to book-censoring, sex ed, etc. as well.

By the way, this is one of my favorite paintings (its quite famous)- it's called "Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bumblebee around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening", by Salvador Dali (1944).






1920s
Also, I'd like to point out that the teenagers and twentiers in the 1920's that took the stand to dress however they like, (which was considered slutty back then), by today's standards would be modest. But why did they do it? Well, they wanted to have fun. They took the "we may die tomorrow" look on life, so they danced (which was made easier by shorter dresses), put on makeup, and kissed boys (only kissed, not much else- but pecking a guy who you weren't engaged to was considered promiscuous back then). Well, we have to give thanks to them for giving women the power to go out and party, and socialize. Back then, being sexy to the newer generations was being powerful. To the older generations who dissaproved of the flappers and new clothing, it was objectifying.

(That's Clara Bow, a New Yorker, and I love her)

I mean, standards are constantly changing. Could it be that the standards for sexual freedom are changing in some parts of the world, and the government is just trying to hold back that change for as long as they can? Who knows.

Okay, so it's a lot to go by, but I'm sure if someone tried argueing with me they could find plenty of points to argue against - I mean, I don't have ultra clear opinions, but it's more like food for thought. These are things I often think about, so any feedback/arguement is well appreciated.



Thanks for reading!
-New York Chique

Halloween

Okay, let me start off by saying that Halloween is (besides Christmas) my favorite holiday!

When I was little, it was a day where in school (if it landed on a school day) all we would do is color those silly pumpkin pictures or make a scarecrow out of paper and eat tons of cupcakes and candy.

Then, when I was in middle school, I still got candy (even though I stopped tricker treating towards the end of my middle school years), and it was a time to dress up and hang out with friends and watch scary movies.

Then I have to admit, for the past two years of highschool I took it easy on halloween, because costumes get to be a bit pricey, and I don't know, I just wasn't as interested in it- well honestly, my mom kind of banned me from going to the parties because of the alcohol (ugh.). So basically, for the last two years I've just been giving candy to the people who pass by. Bummer, right? But this year I picked it up again to go to the NYC Halloween parade thanks to one of my close friends. wooooh =D

I've been thinking of what costumes to get, and while I was online window shopping, these are the costumes I really liked and am considering. I concentrated on the three major costume shops in new york, Ricky's, Spirit, and Halloween Adventure.

The Dirty Cop:

This costs $54.99 at Halloween Adventure.
Details: Includes a bengaline snap front navy dress with attached vinyl boned waist corset and neck collar, hat, fazu razor blade necklace, removable name badge, belt, handcuffs and an evidence bag which contains a faux needle and mini plastic bag. Sunglasses not included.

Lil' Red Riding Hood:

This costs $69.99 at Ricky's.
Details: Includes Hooded Cape & Peasant Top Dress. Basket and petticoat not included.

Option #2

This costs $42.99 at Ricky's (much cheaper than the other one, and still looks good)

Foxy Firefighter:

This costs $44.99 at Halloween Adventure.
Details: Includes a black, zipper-front mini dress with yellow reflective tape trim, and an inflatable fire extinguisher. Plastic fire hat sold separately. Boots are not included.
-Oooh comes with an inflatable extinguisher. Haha I like that, it's cute. =]

Sassy Sailor:

Costs: $49.99 at Ricky's.
Details: Includes sailor hat with anchor patch and halter dress with double breasted buttons and rope bell with anchor charm.

Pretty Pirate:

Costs: $49.99 at Spirit.
Details: includes peasant top dress with jeweled broach. Does not come with pirate hat, stockings or boots.
(The hat can be bought at Spirit's for $29.99)

Option #2

The color isn't as cool in my opinion, but it does give off a darker, more bad-girl vibe than the first one.

The Classic French Maid:

I know, I know, kind of cliche', but hey, if its flattering, I'd go for it.
Costs: $49.99 at Spirit.
Details: includes puffed sleeves, dress with apron, feather duster. Does not have choker, stockings or shoes.

Peasant/Beer Girl:

Costs: $49.99 at Halloween Adventure.
Details: Includes dress, and thigh high stockings. Shoes not included.
The main reason I like these costumes is that they also sell a beer-shaped purse that you can use with it. =]

Queen of Hearts:

Costs: $59.99 at Ricky's.
Details: Includes dress and neck piece...there's no mention of the little hat on the girl's head, so I guess that doesn't come with it? I love the feel of this costume, but I wouldn't like wearing the neck piece or hat. And without those, the costume becomes blah.

Referee:

Costs: $33 at Halloween Adventure.
Details: Includes mini halter dress, whistle and socks. Does not come with heels.

Race Car Girl

Costs: $49.99 at Ricky's.
Details: Dress only. Shoes and helmet not included.

Option #2

Costs: $44.99 at Halloween Adventure.
Details: Dress only. Shoes and helmet not included.
I actually like this red on much better- even though the more modest might have to put lycra shorts underneath, judging by the slit on the side of the dress.

Just for Kicks! Miss Wasilla!

Costs: $23.99 (but must be pre ordered)
Details: Includes sash and glasses only.
Lame! You're basically paying for a piece of fabric that says 'miss alaska' and fake glasses. But hahahhaa I can't believe someone actually made Sarah Palin into a Halloween costume. =D



So yeah. Those are the halloween costumes that I thought would be nice to wear this year. =]
Oh, and for anyone else who is looking around for costumes (especially in ny)
Ricky's: www.rickyshalloween.com
Spirit: www.spirithalloween.com
Halloween Adventure: www.halloweenadventure.com

And for anyone who loves online shopping, this is a greatt greatt site! It really helps because 1) it has every costume imaginable, and 2) you can read the reviews/comments other people make about the costume.
www.buycostumes.com

And ahh for anyone that is planning on going to any of these stores in new york, I would recommend going to Halloween Adventure. Even though Ricky's has more of a reputation, Halloween Adventure is 10x bigger (and fun to go to!), with a lotttt more selection. Compared to Halloween Adventure, Ricky's looks really limited, and doesn't sell half as many costumes.

And thats it for now.



P.S., I became a "follower" of everyone who was on my blogroll. I'd love it if everyone returned the favor! I'm actually really glad that blogger added this,it seems like it'll be a lot easier to comment on everyone's blogs now. =]

So remember:
1. Follow my blog if you like my posts
2. Tell me which costumes you like! Or tell me what you're being!

Good luck shopping for costumes
Love,
-New York Chique