For The Archive

This is so fucking cute. Bboying is cool all on its own but when there are children doing it, the level of amazing goes up by like a million.

Future Funk

Andrew Benavides likes Selena, Hot cheetos, Michelob Ultra, and is a downright cool guy. He also happens to be quite good with a video camera. Making Houston proud.

Here is his latest work, “Just another day”

If you haven’t already heard of, seen, or become obsessed with this show, now is the time. The hit AMC drama is set in the 1960′s and follows the lives of the men and women in the Madison Avenue advertising world of the time. Seductive, endearing, captivating, and absolutely addicting; those are some words to describe this show. So good. I have been watching it via netflix, just finished season one and cannot wait until the next batch of dvds arrives to see what happens next. The great thing about this show, is that although it does have its “main protagonist” all of the other characters are so well written that you become involved with nearly all the cast not just Don Draper, although who wouldn’t fall in love with him? Charming, handsome, talented, and above all, at least for the show’s sake, mysterious. Great writing. I could go on and on about what I love about each character, but I would rather have you watch the show and see for yourself. Not only is this show a hit series but it has also been quite influential in the fashion world. The costume design on this show as in many others directly links each character’s style with their persona. So good is the costume design that Janie Bryant (costume designer) was even given her own line for quintessential american suit company Brooks Brothers. The “Mad Men Suit” is said to be inspired by Don Draper’s wardrobe on the show. Other designers such as Miucca Prada and Micheal Kors have also cited the show as inspiration. As with other influential television shows (see Sex and the city) the style, and jargon of that show can incorporate itself into our everyday lives; and I for one hope that this show lasts long enough to have the same cult following and power as the SATC. Imagine how good everyone would look, and although the 60′s were a time of progress when there were tons of taboo’s, the show’s writers do not fail to keep in modern by touching on topics that are still prevalent in our society to this day, and reminding us how far we have and haven’t progressed since that era.

Now for some visuals  ;)

From Left: Betty Draper, Joan Holloway, Peggy Olson

The "Mad Men" Don Draper front and center

The AMC Mad Men blog has a great entry on “how to dress like a ‘Mad’ Woman” They break the a couple of the characters down into “looks” and give descriptions each. I wanted to focus on the ladies and give a little polyvore set of current styles that emulate the character.

Betty Draper- “The Wealthy Housewife”

Betty by ForTheArchive8689 featuring Anthropologie

Peggy Olson- “The Up-and-Comer”

Peggy by ForTheArchive8689 featuring Moschino

Joan Holloway-”The Bombshell”

Joan by ForTheArchive8689 featuring Issa

Sorry bout that last b.s. post. I was delirious and wanted to finish what I had started, but I may as well not posted at all. Anywho I started “tweeting” in case you missed it (twitter.com/forthearchive) (yeah shameless plug, its my blog I do what I want!) . In case you don’t know what the deal with twitter is; it is an online social networking site in which you connect and keep updated by a series of short messages. So if you want to tell the world, that you are gonna have tuna for lunch, or that you just filed for divorce papers, or any other worthless info, you can. Sounds pretty useless right? wrong. I thought it was useless at first too, buttt, I am learning to love it. You don’t have to “follow” only individuals, you can get streams from other sites, blogs, news, teams, stores, celebrities, whatever you can think of. and I am finding it increasingly interesting to see what’s new in different areas of interest to ME. So here go a few of my twitter news updates. Oh yeah, btw, following the NY Times is getting hella depressing.

Vionnet Revival! (If you don’t know who Vionnet is, don’t ever refer to yourself as a “fashionista” or any other lame terminology of the sort)

Cutest thing I have seen in a minute

More sexy calendar action(NSFW) courtesy of Vogue Paris via Refinery29 

Also let me fill you guys in on a twitter abbreviation tutorial, because I KNOW I was not the only one who didn’t know.

SMH= Shake My Head

NSFW= Not Safe For Work….

any more after that, I do not know yet… 

Signing off, 

Grandma- trying-to-keep-up-with-the-times aka LB

This was so hilarious to me.

to describe the many things wrong with this photo.

whyyyy? Usually Kanye makes bold style choices but they turn out ok. He looks whatevers. Someone said he looked like 90s R&B which immediately put a photo of Sisqo in my mind, especially with that shirt. But Amber, ohhh Amber, I think, no I really have no thought in my mind as to why a person would wear that. and the hideous collar thing and the earrings, and the fake tanner, and the sparkly eyeshadow, and the matte pink lipstick. WHY?!?!?! And Btw, since when is a bottle of Hennessy an accessory? Kanye apologized to Taylor Swift, but he has yet to apologize for this mess. 

The other day, on my yahoo homepage there was a story featuring 10 tips for leading a healthier life. One of the tips was “Drink plenty of water” That makes sense right? Wrong. That statement was followed with another statement saying something along the lines of ” bottled waters are now being made with fluoride…blablabla its good for you” 

again, WRONG.

I have seen/heard enough information to tell you that fluoride is NOT good for you, not good for anyone. The following film shows you why.

There are so many things we cannot control, but we can attempt to change the way things are. If fluoride is not naturally in our water and serves no good purpose, then why still put it there. Inform yourselves. Marketing and advertising put this veil over our eyes, because they say it is so, does not make it so. Can you believe they are now making “children’s” bottled water with fluoride now, like its a good thing, like just because a cartoon dinosaur is giving you the thumbs up its ok?? Just read your water bottle next time, maybe it does not contain fluoride but what about silica? Yes, Silica, that stuff that comes in little packets with shoes that very clearly states “DO NOT INGEST” Why then, would they put that in our water???  It’s far too many things to go into but as I said, Inform yourself. Knowledge is power. What you do with that power is up to you. Especially if you have children, I urge you to really find out what you’re giving them. 

Goodnight, 

LB

FUCK!

I’m all for independent films and all but sometimes I wonder what the hell is the point of some of these films. Actually I didn’t not like the film, but I didn’t like it either. I think thats the point though, I think the filmmakers want you to walk away from the film and not know how to feel. This confusion was exactly what I felt after watching Eagle Vs. Shark

… its like Napoleon Dynamite meets Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind(or insert some other indie love story) with some stop motion animation and british(New Zealand) accents.

Not a complete waste because of course it had a very decent soundtrack and an occasional cute/awkward/funny moment in between the all the other wtf-ness.

Just making the best of my cable service yall

Signing off,
LB

Anna Sui, Diane Von Furstenberg, Gwen Stefani, Anthropologie, Trovata, and many others are among the long list of designers to sue mega retailer Forever 21. Most recently the case involving Trovata has been at court. WWD reported that Forever 21 co-founder Jin Sook Chang testified in the case. A couple of interesting points were made by Chang; She alleges that she had no knowledge of the $1.5 Billion dollar profit her company had made?!?!?! She continued to play stupid by stating that as head buyer she simply looks at the designs presented to her by her team and picks the “pretty ones” How coincidental that alot of the “pretty ones” happen to be blatant and shameless rip offs of designer’s work. Don’t take my word for it though, here is a visual.

Top row: Forever 21, Bottom row: Trovata

The defense also argued that you “would need a telescope” to see the similarities…hmmmm I think its pretty fucking obvious.

There are those who argue that if designers didn’t price their items so high, that they wouldn’t have to be ripped off by cheaper retailers. To those who argue this point: I urge you to compare the quality of a designer item to that of a Forever 21 item. I assure you that there is a difference. The designer price is what you pay for original design, in limited quantities, made of high quality materials. I have shopped at Forever 21, many times annoyed by only being able to wear something 1-2 times before it began to fall apart. I highly doubt that would happen with a Trovata shirt. Also, if these up and coming designers were making a $1.5 BILLION profit maybe they would lower their prices too, but its hard enough to stay afloat in the industry with a “hot” new line coming out every season. This is the point people!!! These designers work hard to CREATE pieces that are original to them, to their aesthetic, and targeted to their consumers. It is insulting to take someone’s ideas and STEAL them. That is what Forever 21 does, it is the lazy ass kid in school that bullies the hardworking studious kid to do the work for them and take the credit.

As a consumer, who is educated on the subject, and studies fashion and design, it is also a slap in the face to see people wearing knock offs of shoes, clothes, bags, etc, that you with your hard earned money purchased from the ORIGINAL designer. Example: Friend goes on a trip to NY and comes back  with her purchase of Alexander Wang fringe wedges(they are beautiful), not even a week later, I walk past Forever 21 and what do I see? A cheap and exact copy of the wedges. WHO DO YOU THINK YOUR’E FOOLING XXI?? Sure Wang used real, quality leather while you on the other hand did the shoe an injustice and replicated it in pleather( the fringe doesn’t flow, it just sits there on its plastic throne), but the design is the exact same. The idea is the same! The reason people buy designer clothing is not just for the name or because of the price tag, but because they are  looking for quality, they are looking for originality, they are looking to stand out, to say ” I am educated, I am in the know”  In case you didn’t know, designers do not mass produce their items because they want them to be special, the designs are a part of a collection, a collection which represents a season, a mood, an idea, their inspiration for that particular collection.

Those of us “in the know” look at Forever 21, and other counterfeiters and well at least for me, I can say that I just laugh, because what else can you do. It’s a huge fucking inside joke, a joke being played on the consumers, those who don’t recognize the rip off and walk around proudly wearing their pleather “Alexander Wang” wedges from XXI. I can’t help but think, poor girl, if only she knew how cheap she looked,  if only she knew what the real deal was like. Or the girl wearing the XXI “Theory” dress with the cheap zipper and stiff cotton skirt, with the threads already beginning to fray. Innocent people being taken advantage of by the big retail bully. A wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Go ahead Mrs. Chang, keep playing the dumb card. Oh yeah and why don’t you get some respect for the country that has made you a dirty rich liar and learn to speak english instead of hiring a translator. Keep on spitting in our faces, rubbing it in… you’re too good? too rich? You don’t need to assimilate, you don’t need to communicate with the American’s who made you, you can just hire someone to do that for you huh? Oh and why don’t you pay your fellow immigrants fair wages to slave for you while you sit around in your comfortable air conditioned office picking out “pretty” clothes? ( see Made in L.A.) 

I stopped supporting this hypocrisy over a year ago, I strongly urge you all to do the same. Especially those of you who knowingly buy the knock offs (Tacky) 

Support individuality, support entrepeneurship, defend intellectual property. 

In short; Don’t Bite!

If you want a bargain, look to stores like Target, who collaborate with designers, shop vintage, or stop giving a fuck about being “fashionable” if you’re not willing to support designers. Or here’s a novel idea, save your money and buy the real deal!

Thanks for letting me rant

-LB