At Home with Chloe Sevigny

Chloe Sevigny gives Opening Ceremony a tour of her overwhelming wardrobe in part one of 'At Home with Chloe Sevigny', the sort of title that is synonymous with a excited sigh and rubbing together of hands.

She also laughs about that photograph taken with Kate Moss backstage at a Miu Miu show in the 90s and how she was "totally nerdy, uncomfortable and out of place" standing next to a sexily posing Kate. I'm also fascinated by Chloe Sevigny's ability to hoard so much when she must have collected lots over the years-clothes and newspaper cuttings and invitations and all of those miscellaneous objects that find their way into our homes-check out the masses of shelves as she walks down her stairs, like a cave of storage or the storeroom in the back of an old shoe shop which would require ladders and a great memory in order to navigate.

And a word on the new haircut-it's not my bag but another example of how much better it is to take risks and try to new things especially when it comes to hair. It's always interesting to chart how different hair styles  can affect the way others perceive and react to you and in turn how this impacts on your own behaviour. 'The psychology of hair', if you will. Plus, I'm convinced that being a bit braver about changes in appearance and stepping outside of your comfort zone is simply 'good for the soul'.

More fisherman love

Yeah! Fisherman coats in the January issue of Vogue Nippon.

On a similar note, I've signed myself up to a class next semester called 'New England Maritime Culture 1620-1840' because yes, I find myself surprisingly curious to learn about the history of 'whaling, fishing and shipbuilding' and amazed that such niche sounding courses even exist. I'll probably need to get over my slightly goofy Peter Griffin-esque 'guys, guys, I'm doing a course in Maritime culture haw haw haw!' approach by the time January comes around, but until then..

Dalmatian Loafers for sale!

It pains me to do so, but I'm selling my lovely Dalmatian loafers because they are too small! I bought them on Etsy and I may recreate the ugly stepsister shoe-squeezing scenario as many times as I like but it won't change anything. 

So if there are any takers with UK size 6-6.5 feet, email me at smackenziesmith@hotmail.co.uk and let me know. I'm selling them for £25 which is a few quid less than I originally paid but I'm open to haggling. Posting and packaging will depend on your location and payment through Paypal.

You can see the more detailed original listing here which contains the exact measurements of the shoe. Hopefully these will go to a good home, it's such a waste having a pair of such rad shoes gathering dust.

Practically Cool

Top: An unidentified Berghaus puffa and the Moncler advert Fall/Winter 2009 by Bruce Weber.

Second top: Arsene Wenger in the Football Manager look and Spring/Summer 2011 Moncler ad by Bruce Weber. Middle: The famous get-ups in East 17's 'Stay Another Day' music video and Penfield Summit puffas. Bottom: Supreme puffa (see similar here) and a trusty Uniqlo Ultra Light Men's Down jacket.

Yes, it's cold. It's cold, it's cold, it's cold. It really is bloody cold. But that's old hat and not enough to warrant the 'snow causes disruptions' headlines that plague British news channels year after year. Although perhaps because the bitter breath of winter is once again breathing down our necks, I've been looking at puffa jackets in a whole new light. I have realised that sensibly swaddled Football managers, and, well East 17 are the surprising key holders of the wisdom of keeping warm. Of course, there are lots of things that can keep you properly warm but they're not always the things that we might like to wear. Puffa jackets used to belong in this league for me. They were something I didn't think much about, by no means a 'rare' un-traversed item of clothing-loads of people wear puffas-just something that maybe I associated with school children or Italian men and not myself. But the quilted down, the voluptuous Michelin-man curves have an new appeal because my semester abroad in America is now just around the corner and I've been looking to Bruce Weber and wise on-location Directors because they are exactly the people to know about riding out a severe chill of which I'm to expect in Massachusetts. 

There is unsurprisingly a wealth of variety when it comes to puffas, do you like them nipped in at the waist or bulky and 'turkey fat'? There are those that graze the knees-not much my bag as then it really does avoke the 'child eaten by coat' look as seen at school-or boxy ones that hit just under the hips to avoid muffin top breezes. Brr. In my book the most important decision probably comes down to the fabric. The Moncler type puffa is flashier with it's super duper shine while it's more matte, waxy counterparts suggest that 'Director getting a job done' practicality which is exactly what I like about puffas in the first place. The idea of wearing this type (see the Supreme one in the collage) with a stubby pony tail, a sliver of green boiled wool skirt (see Cos) maybe a Dries Van Noten gold hair band and some leather boots or Nikes is to me, the holy image.

Although that doesn't sound too unpalatable an outfit, I suppose the Puffa is also an extension of the other geekier items that have wooed me over the last couple of years and which read like a list of Dad memorabilia (if such a things exists) Fishing jackets, dungarees and teva sandals move over, for the Puffa! Or just love each other in a brotherly way, united in your common purpose. The common purpose of being Practically Cool. In which practicality ever so slightly limits the end result and that in itself is is what makes it not only snug but slightly smug-the wardrobe equivalent of a nonchalant shoulder shrug 'It's cool, I'm warm in this.'

xmas gift guide #2

Fortune Teller Fish/ Cream Silk Ruffle Bra/ Grey Gardens DVD/ Egyptian Magic Secret Cream, Liberty/ Gold stacking rings, Mango/ Jossi Jumper, Monki/ Reflex 'Learn to tell the time' watch/

How to endure Christmases when the childhood magic is very much a thing of the past? By mixing the best of what constitutes 'grown up' presents; silk underwear, muted block jumpers and skin cream with nostalgic stocking fillers of the past; those relentlessly amusing 'miracle fish' fortune tellers and vel-cro reflex watches. All whilst watching Grey Gardens on the sofa with a plateful of cold turkey sandwiches. 

Palm delight: Versace x H&M

I really never thought I'd lose my cool over the Versace for H&M collection. And now I say this like one half of a smarmy couple, holding hands across the table and retelling their dinner guests a 'Benedict and Beatrice' tale of the love that wasn't meant to be. When the collaboration was announced last year I took it in, but wasn't too affected, I was born too late to appreciate the Gianni heydays and have never been someone that into 'gloss' which is how I've always viewed Versace; gloss and gold and things outside of my domain. However Donatella threw a serious curveball by including a smattering of palm prints in the collection. And not just any old palm, not a hawaiian print, but one of those luscious House of Holland types, very particular and tropical with wide leaves that nod to Henri Rousseau and wave to Balenciaga S/S 2003. I've been unashamedly slobbering over such a print for a while and with no luck to be had on eBay or Etsy which is why when I actually had a little look through the Versace for H&M collection I was happy indeed and plumped for the tank and pleated skirt.

The parcel arrived this afternoon and my flatmate looked at me blankly while I stammered and ripped at the packaging before returning to Toby making some terribly inspiring point in a moral monologue on The West Wing. (Nanon watches West Wing so much that sometimes she'll make an excellent contribution in a seminar and then cringe upon realising that it came word-for-word from the lips of President Bartlett.) I scurried to my room. I've quickly assigned a 'favourite' title to the top which surprised me by being gorgeous and smooth and made 90% from merino wool and 10% from cashmere (ooh) as opposed to a plain stretchy jersey which I'd just assumed it would be. The skirt is also lovely with the tiny little gold clamps clinging onto the edge of each pleat and the absolutely brilliant crocodile print on the back of the skirt which was also completely unexpected. Overenthusiastic excitement over, I'm off to lounge beside a palm. While eating parma ham. And listening to Robert Palmer.

thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Statesiders!

I'm sort of bummed out that I won't be having the same blow-out Thanksgiving meal as last year which involved lots of hands, one 'genuine' American, 5 overly keen American Studies students and the usual turkey crisis but in the end 22 contented stomachs and sweaty elation that we'd pulled off such a banquet in a small student halls of residence kitchen. Still, the memorieez of my first Thanksgiving live on, I don't usually do 'here are my friends' style posts but these are some photographs because I have the loveliest, fondest memories from that night because it was imperfect in so many ways yet it reminds me of the beginning of lots of brilliant friendships, and over a plate laden with food is exactly where I think those should start.

tennessee revelry

Lindsey Wixson hanging out in Tennessee car lots, in jazzy shades and roller skates!
Shot by Will Davidson for Oyster Magazine #95. Styling by Stevie Dance.

xmas gift guide #1

Breakfast, Lunch and Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery, Marimekko x Comme Des Garcons striped top, Vintage Tortoiseshell Barrette, Zoe and Morgan Love Ring, 'Pillowtalk' lipstick, Topshop, Fortnum and Mason Turkish Delight, Toast tote bag.

I know for a fact that I am 'in the Christmas spirit.' I know it because instead of listening to music to 'get me in the mood' before going to see Aphex Twin on Friday night, I closed my bedroom door and listened to Mariah and Wham. And I thought of George soppily moping on that awful group skiing holiday and then I thought presents. While I fairly often think about the challenge that it must be for features writers at magazines to recreate the same articles each year, the obligatory Christmas Gift Guide is something I will never tire of. They are as exciting as those first whispers of 'Holidays are coming' on the Coca-Cola ads. And if you're lucky, they will come with pleasing titles like 'gifts for the foodie', 'gifts for the creative' or, because it's Christmas and that is when everybody wears sequins and boleros (regardless of the decade) there is also 'gifts for the glamourpuss' so that we may leaf through the pages and actually quite enjoy the self-categorisation depending on how we see ourselves.

Because I enjoy this whole process so much, like the rest of the world and his Uncle I'll be creating my own in the run-up to Christmas. It's not at all a sly ploy to suggest present ideas to my friends all in the name of 'helping other feel inspired' (it is.) Also as part of my eternal loyalty to frugality, I've tried to be mindful of mixing genuinely affordable products with those that are more treaty to avoid it all becoming a shameless fantasy and because saving a few pennies for some pretty ribbon to wrap them in is always nice.

todd selby for zara

Zara and Todd Selby know all about lifestyle envy. They know the components and they know which boxes to tick in order to seduce those who dream of classic gold jewellry and A-framed barns in Upstate New York, and even though I watch this film with knowledge of that manipulation, I still enjoyed 6 minutes of admiring Lucy Chadwick and her fluorescent tangerine toenails. I'm not sure that this video is 100% 'Zara' for me, I associate the brand more with sharper lines and high powered jobs than artists and time divided between the countryside and the city, and it's a little self conscious in places, but it's fun watching brands experimenting with what works as they branch out into different mediums of expressing their identities. 
[You can see more of Chadwick and Duffy in the Todd Selby archives from when they lived in London, or Lucy more recently on Backyard Bill in the late afternoon New York sunshine with her ballet dancer sister.]