Christmas Sweater Track Suit

There is one item of clothing every woman should have: it has the magical quality of being able to transform even the shyest into someone very noticeable. It's not little, or black, or even a dress. This item of clothing makes its appearance once a year at the end of December. Wearing it at any other time would suggest that you don't own any other clothing and that you might be homeless. But wear it on the right day, to the right party, and there's no telling the miracles (hangover) that might happen.

Season's greetings from the holiday sweater

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Hello fantasyland: where bells swirl and toy bears dance. You're lucky if a decorated pet (goat) sits on your lap. You're really lucky if a man holding your arm double accessorizes with festive sweater on top of festive vest. (Pointsetta elbows, Santa Claus chest.) The Christmas sweater works wonders because of the way the eye is drawn straight to you (can't help it). Also there is no one way to wear a Christmas sweater. Matching a blue skirt or a hand knit multicolored scarf is irrelevant because (philosophically speaking) you don't wear a holiday sweater: it wears you. 

                                                    Special Edition Gratuitous Beach Shot

Let's skip ahead to what Santa could bring me, what would really make me happy (trip to Paris). If Santa comes this year, if he leaves a gift (not coal), what I really want is: a holiday sweater track suit. I think I would be the only runner in Prospect Park with reindeer noses jingling and jangling my every stride. It would be fun to run the streets of Brooklyn and the treadmills of New York Sports Club in a butter-soft, hot red track suit with candy canes twirling down the arms. I would totally wear that. Guess we'll have to wait and see to what extent Santa deems I have been (philosophically speaking) nice. Good luck to you guys, too! Happy Holidays!

QUESTIONABLE GROUP COSTUME

WITH Halloween upon us, I know you are like me and wondering where to find that perfect costume. Haven't pulled mine together yet, but did find at the Hollister store in Soho, this perfection of the Lifeguard look. (Rescue me.) Actually, their job was to stand outside the store (entrance) all day. Taller lifeguard said, "It's cool. We get time off for castings." (Model!) I would've put up a picture of him with his eyes open but there weren't any.

SO back to the topic of Halloween. I was having coffee at the Wyckoff Starr in Bushwick on Sunday and two things happened: First, I saw the counter guy wearing the coolest head wrap ever. It was a white, sort of chunky fabric which I couldn't identify smoothed over his head snugly and tied in a tight bun at the nape of his neck. After staring for a bit, I got the courage to ask. He said he made it from an old pillowcase he wasn't sure what to do with.

I know it would be better if you had a side view of this radical creation, but of course when I started asking questions and taking pictures, the little cafe filled up with caffeine junkies forming a line to the door. Fortunately, a second great thing happened--the other counter guy's Mickey Avalon tee shirt! I totally remembered that from across a crowded dark room I could pass for Mickey Avalon. (Flattish, curly brown hair) (Thin arms). The real giveaway, though, between us would be that I do not have a large tattoo across my chest of a bird.

hip hop doppelganger

SO while it would be fun to be a Hollywood rapper for Halloween, I think this one requires hairy pecs and body ink. (Maybe I could be Snoop Dog.) Though if you know the words to Avalon's "Mr. Right", he says he rides in a black Sedan with two woman of questionable innocence and a Mexican. Now if I could just get three other people to do a group costume with me.

FOREIGN GUY FIGHT CLUB

Manhattan, 2001. One week after 9/11, the streets were half-empty. A biting, metallic smell permeated the air. I arrived from Paris, from sharing a decent-sized apartment in the 17th with an Algerian. It was a good situation there: cheap rent ($300), a furnished room with heat included and a balcony to look over the boulevard such as Caillebotte painted as an Impressionist.

In Paris, I was aware that my status as a foreigner made me exotic. The Algerian followed me into the kitchen at night asking about American politics, trying to speak English, and offering advice on subjects I fully ignored, such as "You must stop riding your bicycle in the middle of the night" and that it was unhealthy to eat only hamburgers and carrot puree. Maybe there was an orange glow to my skin.

I was working in an Irish pub when the New York towers were hit. Right away, students, newspapers and talk arrived through the low door. It became warm in the brick-walled pub and even as the bar buzzed with intellect, with discussion, with thoughts, like a hive or a newspaper desk, I got dizzy.

For a customer I pulled a pint of beer, leaving a good fresh inch of foam at the top. That's how my boss said French people like it. As they sipped comfortably, I remembered visiting the Twin Towers once, as an intern for Black Book magazine. An editor sent me on an errand there, to a computer repair shop. The two guys that fixed the broken laptop were barely 25 years old. I sought a blurry version of their faces to remember them by because: they might not be here anymore.

The pub filled with cigarette smoke and debate and it all became troubling. My instinct was to walk out the door, throw up, smash something, cry, throw, make love. The last thing I wanted to do was talk. I wished those who had a bone to pick with America would not talk either. I wished they would cobble up a Foreign Guy Fight Club and duke it body to body in the caves, wrestling in the mountains and in the desert sun until fatigue took the havoc from the rest of us.



These are Kate's shoes, at the organic supermarket in Bushwick. Today is the tenth year memorial to the tragedy that affected us all. Today is September 11, 2011 and Kate embodies a positive spirit. Her style is inspirational for what we can achieve by letting go of fear.



A moment of peace to all who were affected by this day, ten years ago.

BACK TO SCHOOL

Because style finds its way into every part of life, as a teacher of course I pay attention to what my students are wearing. And when they are ESL students (English as a Second Language) from all over the world, it's especially neat to notice how styles change or stay the same from one country to another! On Friday I gave an assignment to write about personal style and my students did an awesome job...

                               HIDEAKI, from Japan

I like to wear clothes that are flexible and go with everything. Like these white Nike Air Max, Diesel belt, and simple Gap shirt and jeans.

(Hideaki is a hip-hop DJ in Japan, by the way. Would love to hear his beats!)

                         YUKA, from Japan

I like chic and eccentric style, like 60's or 70's. Lada Gaga is interesting sometimes, and I really like Alexander McQueen's designs.
                                    
                                                    SHINYA, from Japan

I like vintage clothing, like this Ralph Lauren shirt I'm wearing from the 80's. My favorite brands are RRL and Woolrich Woolen Mills because that brand is based on vintage clothes and working clothes. I like wearing canvas sneakers or leather shoes with jeans, a vintage shirt and a hunting cap.

                                                     EREZ, from Israel

I think that the fashion trends in the U.S.A are very different from Israel. For example, in the U.S.A. almost everyone wears suits to work and in Israel it's more simple. People wear a polo shirt or an elegant shirt to work. They only wear suits to special events.

                                                   DAIKI, from Japan

My long-sleeved shirt is from H&M and my white t-shirt is a Japanese brand called 6Rage Blue. My jeans are from Tommy Hilfiger, my sneakers are Converse. I love Converse because they're so comfortable, so I have them in white, black, brown, and light green.

                                                   CHIHO, from Japan

A look I like is shorts, t-shirt and heels. I get style inspiration from magazines like Elle, Vogue, blogs, and the internet, from sites like ellegirl.com. Mostly I read Japanese magazines, but sometimes American.

                            MASAYUKI, from Japan

My favorite outfit is a long-sleeved shirt, jeans, sneakers, and a hoody. I'm a skateboarder so I wear skater brands like DGK and VOX. I like this Banana Republic shirt because I bought it for $30 in the U.S, but in Japan it costs $80.

TIVKA, from Israel

I have a beautiful blue dress made of wrinkled fabric. I have had it for 15 years and I wear it every summer three times--to a wedding, a party, the beach--and then it goes in the closet for next year. When I was 35, with this dress I wore a belt and shortened it, but now I wear it to the knee.

                                               TAKUMI, from Japan

I like to wear dark color pants and a t-shirt or polo shirt, hi-top sneakers, and any type of underwear. I think that nobody is looking at my clothes. Besides, people can't see my underwear. I think it is good to wear my favorite outfit!

                                                THE CLASS, ROOM O

As you can see, we are a very stylish bunch. And even more, we like to have fun! Happy Labor Day Weekend to all Americans and visitors from other countries! Thank you for making our country diverse and interesting and pushing us to work harder. (Yes, I know it's your day off.) I think it's important to shout out hard-working immigrants who raise the bar here instead of blaming them for society's ills. We work hard to make it happen, period. Write that down, class. It's on the test.

A TREE BLOWS IN BROOKLYN

Yesterday the NYT reported that Germany has disconnected the 8 oldest of the country's 17 nuclear reactors. Critics called this move abrupt and asked whether it meant a return to dirty power and the possibility of country-wide power-outs. The article suggests that Germans are anxious, though they seem better prepared than Americans for shortages, as the average German household uses half as much power as its American equivalent.

Over the weekend, I saw what happens in America when you threaten to cut off power. People go beserk, then go shopping. Two days before Hurricane Irene, the supermarket on Wyckoff Avenue was jammed, lines winding past whole areas of the market cleared of food. It seemed strange to be filling a cart with groceries for a one-day power out---but when the TV says "evacuate, fill a bathtub with water just in case, find your flashlight, make sure you have a safety plan for your pets"... I think the media fulfilled their obligation to keep the NYC community prepared and safe, but how might this situation have looked in a place not used to overconsuming?

Storm damage, not much in Bushwick---few trees to muck with in this industrial area of warehouses and waste transfer facilities. On a scale of what a hurricane could topple over: Bushwick is like a frog next to Manhattan's skyline, the frog prince.

This is my neighborhood---mattress pile on the sidewalk, cement mixing plant in the background. What's awesome about living here is that it's so barren and vast, so still, you think you're on industrial Mars, until  another fellow human pops out of the bricks. (Hey, who are you?) Instinctively, you want to meet this person---unlike in Manhattan where the streets are so crowded, sometimes you try to be alone.

This is Jocelyn. She was rocking superbright colors the day before the storm and I liked that attitude.

This is Noga, on her way to fill up the cart. Loved her colors, too.

Yep, I'm wearing 'em. Keeping it bright as the skies were turning grey. Next time a storm hits I hope people will listen to the media's warnings...because Irene didn't cause a scene in NYC but the next one might. We can all learn from this experience to rethink how much we really need to be comfortable. One day we might find ourselves in a situation like Germany's, or Japan's, and it's up to us to remain bright and calm when our world threatens to uproot like a tree.

CALL ON ME

The genious part about Samuel, besides his crazy expressions,"You can put that in your peace pipe and smoke it" (an expression like "wag the dog" which I'm not sure to understand the meaning of) was the hook-up of his cell phone between his chest and two cords on his orange municipal worker's jacket. NO bluetooth, or jawbone, but a straight-up, old school rig. Hands-free romance with a touch of Macgyver. QPQ gives big points to Samuel for working with what he's got...literally, getting his job done and having a heart-to-heart at the same time!