March, 2014 - The Seventh Sphinx

One of the trends I like is that of the casual tuxedo blazer, especially with worn-in boyfriend jeans.

You know how there’s this kind of transition area between the lips and the not-lips, maybe 1-2mm? I was experimenting with coloring that area in (I usually don’t), to maximize the lip territory. It had a pretty dramatic effect to me, a little weird (unfamiliar) but not technically overdrawn (which nearly always looks off), just… bigger. This reminds me of my thoughts about pearl stud sizes, and how 1mm can make such a difference in the appearance of the size. Faces aren’t very big, was the conclusion; small changes have an amplified effect.

I went to the grocery store after this and an 8 year-old boy actually craned his head as far as it would go to watch my lips walk by, his mouth slack with distraction. This speaks to makeup being both arresting and slightly scary. I get a lot of positive feedback from this 8 and under demographic – the younger the child, the more bright lipstick seems to delight them. I’m right there with you, kids. What will those wacky giants do next? I don’t know either!

Wool tuxedo blazer from Isabel Marant for H&M, AG jeans (thrifted), J. Crew cardigan, Old Navy camisole, Adidas Spezial sneakers, Pearl Paradise golden akoya studs, scarab necklace. On the lips: Revlon matte lipstick in Really Red (I’m sure I’ve mentioned before how much I like these Revlon matte lipsticks) with a dark red Avon pencil…Cabaret or something? And this is the NARS Exhibit A blush again, which I like as much as ever. I find it quite youthful, not a sophisticated tawny shade but a true blood-in-the-cheeks, fresh-from-the-cold shade.

AND: Hurrah for daylight savings.

If I were a cover band, these songs would be somewhere in the line-up. I can actually sing these! Kind of! I can kind of sing! Sometimes!

A bit.

I can’t really play the guitar but I think I could, if I wanted to, and this seems nearly as good. I had a guitar but I sold it to buy something frivolous, I’m sure, a watch or something. I kind of want one again, now. Not to play for anyone else (though I suppose I wouldn’t mind if I grew competent, which somehow I doubt will be happening…), but just to fiddle around with myself, to learn something foreign in that haphazard way that seems often very healthy and good for my brain. I don’t really want to be witnessed doing things until the stage of moderate ability, though, so it’s quite difficult. Perhaps it is a lame excuse to say I don’t want to practice because I don’t want to give others cause to complain about the noise? [This is the trouble with a city: there are people just everywhere.]

… excuses, excuses. This is why my skills are so few.

1. HelloSaferide — I can’t believe it’s not love

2. Belle & Sebastian — Your Cover’s Blown

3. The Ravonettes — Last Dance (love this track)

4. Erasure — A Little Respect

5. Lady Gaga — Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)

6. Kate Nash — We Get On

7. Hockey — Song Away

8. Hall and Oates — Out of Touch (one of the best 80s songs ever)

9. Shakira — No Creo

10. Rihanna — Take a Bow

11. Joan Jett — I Hate Myself for Loving You (one of my go-to karaoke songs…)

12. Indigo Girls — Closer to Fine

Maybe if I live somewhere remote one day, with no neighbors in earshot, I will have a dog and a guitar (and a truck, obviously), and sing my little heart out. I’ll get some Mongolian wind chimes, too. And a superb sound system. If you visit, we’ll play cards and drink bourbon, and I’ll sing you something.

image via pinterest

Month: March 2014

the tuxedo blazer

playlist: if I were a cover band, vol. i