cricket bats, cherry blossoms and korean girls with pin-curls

Surely we can all agree that this wintery winter's been lovely, but that it's now time again to start dreaming of longer days, sprays of forced quince blossoms in the entry hall, and that beautiful, frosty, misty, foggy part of early spring, that part of the season that is so delicate and promising, that almost-melting, not-quite-slushy, sauntering-out-in-Wellies part, when every living thing seems to be entwined in ether, curlicued in vapor.

At least that's what I start dreaming of when I see these odd, enchanting images from a Korean Vogue shoot, called "Romantic Sport Fashion."



Via Abby's Road.

turbans

my vote? yay for turbans.

loving beehives for spring

phenomenal early sixties hair & oversized cable bands at prada fall 2010.

great site: beauty is a thing of the past

I've been fascinated by a new blog discovery recently: Beauty is a Thing of the Past. All sorts of amazing images of hair "sculpting" from 1700s to the 70s. enjoy!

(this particular image taken from skaro, a site I found via b.i.a.t.o.t.p.)

Some of you might know that I'm what people in English departments call a "poetry person"-- a writer who writes about poets.

But what hardly anyone knows is that sometimes, once in a while, I'm ever so tempted to write about poets & their eyeglasses. Just look at Robert Lowell. Doesn't get much better. I mean, really.



PS: if you're in the market, SEE has some lovely Lowellian specs for both sexes...

Image via Yelp.

neckware

I "Lova" this tie.

a man's watch on a woman's wrist

viva lauren hutton...



viva men's watches...





viva the two together.


love especially the buoy-hued first of these two men's watches from gnomen... the first, $580, here; the second, $360, here.

bare shoulders, white feathers, and french paste

best hat (excuse us: "fascinator") at ascot...

in search of lost time

the new york times magazine had a stunning, clever editorial on men's watches this past sunday, titled "in search of lost time"... this one, with the dinosaur and the little "leaves" of goldleaf was beautiful... and i loved the tomahawk one too...




this is by way of saying that i am myself in search of lost time... finishing up a manuscript, and will return to silk felt soil in the summer.

xx p

let march march on

feeling inspired by little quick iced shots of deep blue and lots of texture these days....

(click for the closeup. so good.)

faded terra cotta pink and navy blue....

I am mad for this color palate of pale terra cotta pink and faded navy blue (spotted on Toast)--

Always did love Diana Vreeland for saying that "Pink is the navy blue of India..."! ... what better than to see the two collide in a bookshelf, or

on a dusky-colored sari that I saw walking away from me in Gujurat....


{welcome to all who are here via Design*Sponge! our contribution to the d*s blogger's guide to online shopping can be found here , along with contributions from 9 other inspiring bloggers.}

i love this girl on the sartorialist.

washed-out citrons pt ii: remembering marni spring '05

i mean, seriously. does it get any better?

feeling like spring... : eva maisch

i'm really feeling the subversive spring vibe in the lovely porcelain work by german artist eva maisch...


and another (early sixties-inspired pink geometric) necklace here.

sartorialist... i must have been asleep

i. am. in. love.



love? yes. love.

peter bauhuis: softened, textured metallic jewelry

oh! peter bauhuis's ring is like a beautiful correlative to this vase....




loving the glow and texture of his work.

mary ping: sample sale this friday

my dear friend from college, the lovely Mary Ping, is having a sample sale of her signature line as well as her experimental boutique Slow and Steady Wins the Race (featured on Sex and the City...), starting this Friday. Clothing up to %70 off, as well as entire bolts of european fabrics only $5-$20. enjoy! tell mary that phoebe sent you... xx p

Gift idea: bamboo or walnut inlay watch

Around this time of year, I start keeping my eye out for presents that might integrate natural materials in fun and unexpected ways. Nixon's bamboo-inlay watch, called "The Chalet", was such a thrill to come across.

The dark walnut is sleek too....
(Or, try this one for $60; very Judy Jetson, and sometimes a little pop is just the thing!)

dazzling sculptural paper jewelry by dutch artist nel linssen

I think Nel Linssen's work speaks for itself. If you haven't heard of her and would like to know more (she's completely new to me but at least I've found her now!), her beautiful website is one place to see more of her jewelry, and this appetite-whetting series of books, Textile Arts of the World, features her in their book on the Netherlands.

Touching on...: a new bi-monthly column!

Industrial metals like steel and iron go luminous, airy, and golden:




From a Moroccan lamp, to an early 19th c. belt from Berlin (decorative and appealing when iron was expensive and rare due to war) to the wonderful "sea urchin" salt and pepper vessels (or vessels for earrings!) at Mothology (featured in the NYTimes "Personal Shopper"), the endeavor to change the crudeness and density of these metals through punching, or through mesh and bronze accents, or by way of using gold leaf inside a very rough, almost violent surface-- this is not so much a trend (yet) as much as an inspirational post right now. But with additional examples, we may find the use of crude metals in elegant permutations becoming more than inspiration...

This is the first of a bi-monthly Friday column, "Touching on..." solely about textural inspiration & up and coming textural trends. Hope you dig it! Let me know what you think!

Have a great weekend!