Here are some pics from Boy by Band of Outsiders Fall 2008 collection with Michelle Williams. I wrote about them last year and declared them to be very preppy. I have not changed my opinion on that matter, in fact I’m going to dub them nouveau preppy. These pics make me want to put on my vintage blazer (which I have been wearing a lot of) and listen to Vampire Weekend. Maybe I should smoke a pipe??

♥ the alchemist

Hey lovelies!

I wanted to start this week off right with some humor courtesy of one of the funniest men on t.v. today: The Soup’s Joel McHale.

Here’s a snippet from an interview he did with New York Press magazine this past summer: (I love when he makes fun of Ryan Seacreast)

You were once a guest star on CSI Miami [in 2005 the role was “bank manager Greg Welch”]. Tell me, is there any person in the world who takes himself more seriously than David Caruso?
Oh, well, Flavor Flav, I think. I just think he really thinks he’s going to find love. Him or Bret Michaels. You know what? Let’s just say Tila Tequila. She is dead serious about finding love.

Out of Flavor Flav, Bret Michaels or Tila Tequila, which one would rather have raise your sons [Eddie, who is 3 and his newborn Isaac]:
Which one would I let raise my kids? I would just throw my kids off a bridge. Actually, I would rather have my kids raised by a feral cat, wouldn’t you?

Maybe they’d be much better off just being left in the woods to fend for themselves…
Oh, they’d be much better off. They’d have survival skills and a trade. They’d have skills that would actually be respected and from which they could make money.

If you stacked three apples, which would be taller, the stack of apples, or Seacrest?
Well, what kind of apples?

Macintosh apples are kind of squat, so maybe those?
Yeah, it would have to be those. If they were Golden Delicious then the apples would be taller. Actually, Seacrest is rarely in the office, he just floats around like a gas…like he’s Nosferatu.

For more of this interview click here

Here are some video clips that keep me smiling:
Whitney Houston’s “Kiss My Ass”

Nathaniel Yo Gabba Gabba dance

♥ the alchemist

Happy First day of Fall!!
This morning I got up and I needed a scarf and a blazer to walk the dog and to honor this shift in weather, I am pleased to announce stylealchemy’s first contest.

Fall Into Fall Contest

(photos courtesy of Urban Outfitters)

This is a simple contest:

What I want to know is what are you excited about for the Fall?

That’s it, from clothes to falling leaves, what’s got your toes curling in anticipation??

Grand Prize winner will receive a $50 Urban Outfitters gift card. Oh yea!!

Here’s the catch: Write a lovely limerick!
What’s a limerick?
Well, its a five line poem (usually humorous) written with one couplet and one triplet. Think a, a, b, b, a rhyming scheme.
Here’s my attempt at one:

Contests are always a big hit
Free stuff is great, gotta love it
So write a little rhyme
It won’t take much time
Perhaps you’ll add more to your closet!

Rules:
email me your excellent, inspirational creations to stylealchemy@aim.com
(with the subject: Fall Into Fall contest)
You have until midnight September 30th to send them in.

Good luck and I can’t wait to read your entries!!

♥ the alchemist

Well, the day is almost over and I just found out that it was Talk Like a Pirate Day so I have less than 4 hours left to unleash my inner swashbuckler.

Arrgh!!

Well, Ahoy Matey!!!

♥ the alchemist

Well, today was a successful day at the thrift store.

I found a couple of plaid shirts that just needed to be a part of my wardrobe, the darker of two is sofa king soft that I’m okay with wearing flannel!!
Then to complete my 90′s flashback, I wandered into the men’s section which is completely underutilized in my opinion and is one of my favorite sections to peruse because there’s so many items that you can adjust to suit my needs. You see that button down shirt can become a dress with a cute belt at the waist, ha!

So, while in this section I wandered into the denim area and found my boyfriend jeans of the moment. Well, not an actual boyfriend that would be weird and random. No, jeans that are not skinny but a little baggy, making me feel like I borrowed them. They sit at the waist so perfectly with the aid of a belt and they are roomy and comfy. I can wear it rolled at the hem or not.

I’m a girl about options!!

Then squished into the sweatshirt section was this awesome leather vest!

I can not begin to explain how much I have been looking for a leather vest and I plan on rockin’ it in so many ways: well that doesn’t really make sense, I mean there’s really only one type of way to rock a vest. Right? Right?
Whatever, the good times will still ensue.

Oh and finally, another vest similar to a marching band outfit which will be bad-ass once I get it tailored to fit.

Now, I think I’m gonna go listen to Pearl Jam and Nirvana.

♥ the alchemist

Tsk, tsk. New York Fashion Week occurred right here in my backyard and I didn’t feel the same excitement that I usually do.

I couldn’t even fake it enough, to muster up some enthusiasm. I didn’t head anywhere in the vicinity of Bryant Park. I didn’t even look at style.com to check out what came down the runways for Spring 2009. I think part of it, lies in the fact that autumn is just about to start over here and I frankly don’t care about what I should be wearing next Spring.

I’ll let you in on another secret, I don’t even feel bad about it.

Like, at all.

I only went to style.com today on a whim and saw some images from London Fashion Week and looked at Charles Anastase show and well, let’s just say I like it.

I like it very much.

So, this may be the only thing from Fashion week that I might post but I love some of the details, the quirkiness of some combinations and layers upon glorious layers.

So thank you, Charles Anastase for getting me temporarily excited about Fashion Week. I can’t guarantee its going to last, in fact I’m quite sure it won’t but thanks anyway.
♥ the alchemist

There’s something so wispy, simple and romantic about Brooklyn-based band Au Revoir Simone’s songs which also translates to their style.





“Sad Song”

♥ the alchemist

Just stumbled across this vote ring from Renee Francis, which is modeled after the iconic LOVE sculpture.

♥ the alchemist

Last week, I went to the flea market with the intention of finding something for a friend, mission accomplished. But of course, I couldn’t leave without getting something for myself.

There was a dusty box filled with these tiny, leather, weathered books from the Little Leather Library collection and I found three gems to bring home.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (R.L.. Stevenson) writing that out made me think of R.L. Stine, but I digress

Through the Looking Glass!! (Lewis Carroll)

Confessions of an Opium Eater (Thomas DeQuincey) that is a bad-ass title…

♥ the alchemist

For those of us, who like streetwear, for the longest time there you couldn’t find any companies that really catered to the female prespective. What I love about Hellz Bellz is that they have a fun, girly edge to its designs. Founded in 2005, by Lanie Albanza, Hellz Bellz has been giving the male-dominated industry a run for its money.

There are a few pieces that I would love to rock. I can definitely pull some inspiration from these images.

Here’s an interview with Lanie from Karmaloop.

♥ the alchemist

Okay, the morning air is feeling crisper these days, don’t you think? Even though, the rest of the day becomes hot and humid here in New York. However, it seems that this slight climate shift has inspired some interesting dreams, most specifically that of plaid, tartan and checks. Here’s some photographic evidence of a few looks haunting my style inspiration.

Sessun’s Fall 08 collection makes me weak especially this pic via Wiksten.

So. frickin. effortless.

While scrolling through wardrobe_remix, this outfit to the left caught my eye. The color of that jumper dress and that beautiful plaid scarf. Ahh, Ramona West Vintage shows us how its done.

  Then there is the ridiculously stylish Queen Michelle of Kingdom of Style with this amazing pair of tartan pants that are just quite frankly, bad ass.

♥ the alchemist

The last time I wrote about Mociun, I wanted just about everything I saw. Nothing has changed…I am continually fascinated by Mociun’s prints and I find that I want to own all of these incredible wearable works of art. Caitlin Mociun is a Brooklyn-based designer cranking out these highly covetable looks.

These geometric patterns in a cool, interesting palette of colors call out for many different outfit choices and I would love to have these pieces in my closet.

Seriously, I. luv. it. lots.

♥ the alchemist