art in new york

The rain clouds are still lingering on and so for fun I go to the galleries to look at some art.

idilvice looking at art...


...wearing an art piece itself.



photo & digital art: carl posey
grateful dead hoodie: idilvicefashionrocks

gladiator sandals from turkey?

Right, it's not Summer yet - what in the world is going on?? Or what is going on in the world?? It's cloudy and it rains since weeks - but we sure are prepared for the trends which are going to be worn this season!

As I mentioned, we have not had a chance to wear any of them - my garden is ready for sun, the lettuce planted, the orchid bulbs already aiming towards the sky, but the lounge chairs are still folded leaning on the house wall for roof top coverage.

Last year I took some pictures in the front yard where I planted flowers and this year I am planning to do some more garden shoots, provided the sun finally comes out...

Elvis Presley cotton dresses and shirt by idil vice fashion rocks.

But it's really not the subject of this post, got carried away...

In 2001, just a week before 9/11, me and my hubs spent a wonderful vacation in Turkey and Greece, which of course came to an abrupt end that day, when we were about to get some last minute presents from the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, before we intended to board our plane back to Switzerland and then finally back to NYC, which everyone knows did never happen.

Anyway, I got carried away again here, sorry!

The gladiator sandals that promise to be THE trend this Summer are the reason for my post. They come in all shapes and colors, and even in a jelly version ( I ordered the white ones).

The jelly versions in different colors and the genius version by Balenciaga above.

For all that do not know, these sandals were worn by the Roman and Greek gladiators. Ha! And until today there are the hand crafted originals in Bodrum (South/West coast of Turkey) in a variety of styles, but of course in the classic version, in leather only. Nothing better than an authentic original, right?

There is a lot of history in these parts of the world and the nearby town of Ephesus, which once was governed by the Romans in the year 190 B.C. after Athens and the Spartans, who dominated it during the Persian Wars, during which Alexander The Great won it for the Persians, is an absolute Must-See.




Yes, and that is what I wanted to tell ya'll, that THAT Summer in Turkey, I bought a pair - and since have cursed myself that I did not buy the whole collection - Bodrumlu originals.

And here they are... I wore them in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and I will wear them in 2008.
They just came form my shoe maker and have a brand new rubber sole (even the one that the old greek guy on Simi Island, insisted on putting on ((for free)), so that I would not slip on the many stairs on the island and who spoke Italian so that I was able to communicate with him, Nicolas was his name, had been worn down by now).


So I am looking forward to go to Bodrum again soon to buy me a few more styles... (I love them, be they trendy or not) and visit one of my absolute favorite parts of the world!

Bone vacanze!

hottest mc in tha game

Best Rock Star Alive, Best MC, Man Of The Year, you name it! Lil Wayne has been called it all. That's right! This talented, although worry some cough syrup mixed with Hawaiian punch instead of regular water favoring individual, is hot!! And he is not afraid to die. Oh, get over it! Which 25 year old is...?



When I first laid my ears on his rap I must have completely lost it because, every time after time it was played on the radio (and he's played a lot - still not enough for me - here on the East Coast), I turned up that volume and just could not believe my ears! The words come out of his mouth like I never heard it in my hip hop adoring years since the life altering appearance of Ice T's O.G. in the early 90's (Original Gangster, for the pitty'd one's who are ignorant) and later Body Count of course.

Ice-T's LP above and ja,me, a true Rock 'N' Roll Punk babe,
just around the time I discovered Rap (as we know it today) in 1991..? It was also probably when my
obsession with prints on clothing started...

...and here a few years later wearing yet another one of my favorite rappers.... Snoop Dog, in print!

There may have been only one other rapper (or maybe 2, no, there are more) who I've found untouchably striking in the same way which is ODB (Old Dirty Bastard, you uneducated MF's) and I love Method Man.

Meth, courtesy of Carl Posey Photography

Now you got to go and hear for yourself 'cause there ain't no way for me to explain this voice, rap style and lyrics, without making a foul of myself (I tried to imitate :-0). But don't tell me later, I did not make you aware of this lil' (by no means little in talent) genius from New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

Lil Wayne doin' his good thing

superheroes: fashion and fantasy

Men! I mean, Ladies! No, damnit Katie Holmes!! Look at this outfit!

Although I am not one of those scandal hungry young woman who read the gossip tabloids on their way home in the subway or anywhere else (I swear I never bought one, I just can't let myself go down that addictive, senseless path and most importantly, I'd like to be pictured in those magazines and therefore I don't have time reading them) for news on the celebs break-ups and make-ups, but only by looking at the covers every time I pay at the supermarket and have no choice but to squeeze by them very closely... I must admit, I would recognize Katie Holmes.... that sharp bob, in brownish black!

When I saw this picture of her (and Tom Cruise) walking up the stairs at the Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the annual party was hosted by Anna Wintour who named this years gala “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy”) I held my breath, damnit Katie Holmes! Why was I not the first to pair this red dress with these fabulous deep aqua blue pumps?? She looks like a superhero. Tom, not bad either.

a shot from the inside at Met

Back in the nineties I literally shocked the people in Zurich by pairing sneakers with evening gowns on the runway, but the 2008 thing to do is a contrast color pump for sure!

Even if it was not me: Someone was ahead of Katie (or Katie's stylist) though.

Pope Benedict XVI's style recently graced America's TV screens and newspapers last month...


...wearing...



... looka here! The red papal shoes struck me then.

I am not religious, but those shoes made me look at the Pope as if he was a superhero, sort of!

The shoes are made by Gammarelli - the Pope's taylor - and are made of red leather. They have been worn by Popes since the times of the Roman empire. Benedict, an Aries ( just like my husb and I know what I am talking about!) known to have a very distinct style and putting a lot of emphasis into his pope look - I like that! He almost convinced me to give up my right to choose, but then, I still decided to keep it!

the Pope shop

I think his smirky smile had something to do with it! My momentary attraction to all things Pope and the new found trend in colorful shoes in the fashion - if fantasy - world!

last night out

It's a documentation of my last night out (at the Cinco De Mayo party at the photo studio at Chelsea Market with friends Uli, Nadine and Briscoe Savoy) before I got my door kicked in by one of the biggest Flu's I've battled in years... I hate to sit in the bed and do nothing! But we are lucky nowadays: once the headache is over we can happily sip our organic peppermint tea from Traders Joe's (my late favorite is the African Rooibos tea) and take the laptop on our lap (it's one of those rare occasion this is actually comfortable) and keep on working, until we drift off into the next little nap dream :-) it's all good! See you soon!

10 dollar dress

Oh, no! Not mine, forget it!

Despite the fact that I damn near go ballistic mastering and mixing, juggling tasks, working hard on making things niiiiice, managing local production, in order to save travel cost (gas) and escape enabling sweatshopping, keeping things under control with my laptop and blackberry alone and use a$ le$$ ga$ a$ po$$ible.... my dresses do not cost dollars 10 period.

The company that has made this possible is Steve & Barry’s. Yeap, they sell their dresses (worn by Sarah Jessica Parker - she wears mine too by the way, but she is under contract with them) for actually even less than $10, $8.95. Considering the weak dollar, the Europeans could say they bought a dress (worn by Sarah Jessica Parker!) for exactly 5.79 Euros (at today's conversion rate).



Now - of course - it is not the first time that I have heard of a dress costing a couple of bucks, as I have my entire life been shopping at fabulous thrift stores and if you'd start to compare, you'd get a much nicer dress there for that money if you are willing to dig through the garbage to find your rad piece! So don't get it twisted, people!


But let's analyze this: What better promotion can someone come up with at the start of a recession period that will most likely last for a few years? Make the cheapest dress! Yeah! Although customers of Steve & Barry’s are clueless about how the company manages to keep the quality being still so good, they do not think further and spend $100 on 10 dresses made in India.

Steve & Barry’s deny any sweatshop employment allegations, naturally coming their way now... although they name manufacturing countries such as China, India, Madagascar and about 20 others.
They say they save in other ways such as using cheap motels when traveling with the company and instead of paying for advertising, they rely on word of mouth (employing Sarah Jessica Parker as a spokes model and designer however can't be too cheap, huh?).

Frankly it sounds like just another trick to make a very quick buck.
Sarah Jessica Parker will still be preferring her Manolo Blahniks (after sporting the cheapies until she satisfies her contract terms) she made famous during her decade long embodiment of Carrie Bradshaw on “Sex and the City", when she goes out in the town, but of course, she needs to make the dough to pay for them - get it? You pay for her Manolo's while you must wear the $10 dress, sorry the 8.95 dress :( not a good trade right?

I honestly do not care for, nor fancy this $10 dress and I doubt that it will be a classic that will last a few seasons... hey, don't get me wrong, I am all for surviving the recession and looking good while in it, but as I mentioned in my recent article dated April, 25th, 2008 "Sewing Machines Are Back In Fashion" I am more exhilarated about the return of the sewing machine for home use and all the possibilities of individualism coming with that and I was just about to bring down any foreign made piece of s***t.... Yeah, it takes more than a revolution it takes more posts and it takes more people, so join me!

I'd like to add - I am afraid this does become a regular thing now and in the future - the announcement of another departure of a New York institution.
IF rock purists were unsettled last month by the opening of a designer boutique on the site of what once was CBGB, the hard-core Bowery nightclub, imagine how they will feel reading the next sentence: The old Tower Records space a few blocks away on Broadway, for two decades the spot for adolescent reveries of dance, pop and punk, has been leased by Steve & Barry’s, a clothing chain where everything costs less than $10.

Nuf said.