Welcome to click click, the sporadic review of what I find worth clicking on the internet.

NY-centric fashion photos from the collection of Fashion Carrousel, a treasure box of themed imagery. Via Lucie.

• Jessica Stanley - Her collections of wordy, worthy links are wonderfully observant and insightful. She’s also got a way with images.
• The Secret Sexy Life of Zippers - a bunch of stuff you didn’t have time to wonder about in the fraction of a second it took to zip your fly this morning.
• Dirty Girls and Bad Feminists –  explains why internet feminism can be so inaccessible for the rest of us. I find the obsession with cultural orthodoxy to be anti-creative. When I see how the gay rights movement embraced and influenced mainstream culture so successfully, it’s frustrating to see feminism waste so much rhetoric fighting useful, sympathetic artifacts. Via Rachel.
• Clinton addresses ‘au naturale’ moment – it’s such a pleasure to see Hillary Clinton finally relaxing into being strong and attractive on her own merits. She seemed so uncomfortable during the 2008 campaign – she’s not an innate power dresser, and I think the negative blowback regarding her appearance was because she looked disingenuous. Looking back at photos of her youth, her true style is natural and uncontrived, and now that she’s returning to her roots the public reaction is positive.
• On Scars - on why women get more criticisim on their appearances than their work – and also some cogent advice on dealing with these failures of rational discourse.

Karma for fellow free spirits -

• village verve – “our style selection will appeal to the multifaceted woman with a fashion-forward spirit and varied wardrobe.”
• NEW YORK YOST – “a site about fashion, art and everyday life.”

Welcome to click click, the sporadic review of what I find worth clicking on the internet.

Photos via Rivet Head, a comprehensive information source for vintage workwear fetishism.

• American Mozart – a brilliant, considered profile of fashion’s favourite rapper, and his redemptive role in Hova’s hip hop hegemony. Kanye West’s story exists on the axis of almost everything that fascinates me about our culture.
• Everybody Street – great interviews with some of New York City’s best street photographers, where style is incidental to the documentation. A dying art as omnipresent observation has irreversibly changed the way people self-present. Related: surreptitious Edwardian street style.
• What It Costs Eight Women Writers To Make It In New York – tangential to recent thoughts about whether big cities still offer opportunities worth the significant overhead – and how in cities like London and NYC now, the ranks of those who “make it” are necessarily nepotistic.
• Kim Hastreiter’s CFDA Award Acceptance Speech – is a shoutout to all of fashion’s most interesting niche players – the ones who do great work but rarely get the accolades. Via Jill Danyelle.
• The New Aesthetic – a proposal for establishing the parameters of a new cultural genre. Via Nextness.

Karma alarm!

• It’s OK for intellectual feminists to like fashion – Lucie asks me some searching questions about the blogging process – and I gladly spill my guts.
• Style Bubble – being listed as a “fave” by the sharpest eye in fashion blogging is truly an honour. Thanks Susie!
• Mamma’s Chest – “Vintage Goods”
• VVires.com – “Good art is a prism that draws a specific mood, world view, etc. out of you and refracts them into a million colors, your interpretation is the message”

Welcome to click click, the sporadic review of what I find worth clicking on the internet.

Photographs of tailors at Henry Poole, 1944, courtesy of For Reference Only. Hat tip to Grumpy’s tumblr.

• BRITTICISMS – a favourite tumblr feed, full of thoughtful personal vignettes and pop culture reflection. I’ve been listening and loving my way through her generous MIXICISMS music collection.
• Crustypunks – portraits, personalities and philosophy from the marginal inhabitants of New York City’s Tompkins Square Park.
• 142 Minutes with Cat Marnell – a rehab-bound beauty editor talks about the bond between product and addiction. Via this sensitive post on The Beheld.
• Babes At The Museum – a blog full of pretty, culturally-minded girls at museums. Lovely and slightly squicky, though I can’t decide whether the squick factor is due to stalker-ish overtones or my own latent desire to be a museum babe. Also, why no boys on exhibit? Via Who Is Bobb Parris.
• Chinese craze for English tattoos – I do adore all the lost-in-translation trends emerging out of the chaos of globalization.
• Is Facebook Making Us Lonely – this is one of those must-read articles for every internet citizen. Considering how much of the web is a tangle of human neuroses is becoming an important part of understanding how to use this million-edged tool. Related, and even more unsettling: Malwebolence.

Karma for clickers -

• Winkball – a little video of me talking about my scrubby Saturday outfit in Broadway Market. Watching myself on video is as excruciating as ever, maybe because this is way too accurately depicting the way I am.
• Safra On Style - “I’m on the computer 10 hours a day, and I read fashion magazines for 6. I also write for magazines, and, oh, yeah, I’m a fashion editor of some sort.”
• 22/8 – “love the way the flash of colour works against tailored wardrobe pieces in dark colours”
• my style canvas – “As long as I can remember I’ve loved to draw girls in great outfits–guys sometimes too.”

Welcome to click click, the sporadic review of what I find worth clicking on the internet.

If you’re looking for vintage magazine clips, as I was for this post, the best place to go, as ever, is The Fashion Spot. Above is a 1994 Miu Miu ad by Ellen von Unwerth, below is a 1988 Christian Dior ad.

• The curse of the freelancer – it is so refreshing when a fashion freelancer bucks the conventions of keeping up appearances and keeps it real. Some excellent jumper-cable jolts of advice too. Related – the entrepreneurial version, which explains a lot of disjointed blog comments.
• On Beauty Where Beauty is Privilege – a raw, readable response some recent trending conversations about careers, appearances, and female relationships. Read for context: Cindy Sherman’s superstar strategy and Are smart people ugly?
• The World at Her Feet – a high-profile blogger gets a bitchy profile that makes her seem like a total brat, and rebuts. As Tim Blanks says, people are galled by the good fortune of others. Hate is a coping strategy – there is an entire subset of blogs out there dedicated to tearing down fashion bloggers. This exegisis helps make it a bit easier to understand for non-haters.
• Which London tribe to you belong to? – a breakdown of the current cliques in my city of residence. An article that somehow made me feel awful, alienated and smug all at the same time.
• Savage Beauty – a terrific set of archival Alexander McQueen fashion show video clips, with narration by curator Andrew Bolton.

Karma for participants and players -

• Factory 311 – one of the best Q&As I’ve ever filled out, touching on blogging trends, how I construct a click click post, and the unique concerns of fashion illustration.
• angela demontigny – “Edginess and elegance intertwine with cultural Chippewa-Cree-Metis elements.”

Welcome to click click, the sporadic review of what I find worth clicking on the internet.

Paisley is another example of a culture-crossing textile – check out the Guardian slideshow here.

• Bruce Springsteen’s SXSW 2012 Keynote Speech – the charismatic rocker shares his own creative autobiography to explain how we got to the cacophony of modern culture.
• Nirvana Releases Nevermind and Everyone Gets a Flannel Shirt for Christmas – an indignant account of how fashion finished off a fledgling subculture. Also check out: The Day that Grunge Became Glam.
• The White Noise Supremacists - a sincere, thoughtful memoir of the hateful aspect of the New York punk scene in the 1970s.
• Breaking News: The Suit is Back! – a classic essay about how PR can manufacture a trend.
• Flat-Top Crewcuts – your comprehensive guide to the philosophy of the flat-top.
• The official SCENE TIMELINE – the hater’s version of the Myspace-based youth style from genesis to genericide. Maybe because it is an internet-based trend, most of the so-called information on this phenomenon is either pejorative or promotional. Do any former scene kids out there want to fix this?

A cup of karma, toasting new internet friends -

• Calgary Fashion – asks me a few questions about fashion blogging mistakes and advice.
• The Mod Social – “fashion in the digital era”
• Fashionarium – “helping independent fashion designers & illustrators turn their ideas into businesses”

Welcome to click click, the sporadic review of what I find worth clicking on the internet.

I found these photos of the zoot suit riots after reading this fascinating pdf sent to me by Ryan at Just Goods.

• Nothing Was Desirable – a review of the documentary “Punk in Africa” via The Grumpy Owl. Punk subculture is an incredibly robust continuum – not dead. Young punks worldwide write their own lyrics about their own politics and put their own spin on style. See also: Heavy Metal Islam.
• Revolutionary Road – revolution and religion is youth driven, and though it lacks a pop soundtrack it is not so far removed in a practical sense from how secular trends emerge and function.
• The Curious History of “Tribal” Prints – what we describe as indigenous is far more international than we realize.
• The beleaguered art of fashion criticism - this non-story has been making the rounds. There is a bit of irony in that critics feel free to criticize bloggers without genuinely investigating the spectrum of blogging. The crux of great criticism is an intimate understanding of what is criticized… and fearlessness.
• Dark secret behind fashion for celebrity front rows – flashing lights have turned away from the designers, and designers are the ones who are paying for it. In the fashion biz, folks who don’t need the money get paid and those who do, don’t. Read a poignant vignette of how this plays out by Eva at Dressful.

Karma for electric friends -

• Barry Lorne Freedman – “spending enough days at the beach to have an almost permanent tanline”
• Men’s Flair – thanks Winston for the Modecast review and recommendation
• dear fashion newb – “This is a retraction for everything that I have said or will say on this blog.”
• à l’allure garçonniere - “The intention is to give voice to feminist concerns about fashion, to deconstruct, and to celebrate how liberating and exciting fashion can be for people.”

Welcome to click click, the sporadic review of what I find worth clicking on the internet.

These diptychs of stylish couples swapping outfits by artist Hana Pesut delightfully bend and blend gender perceptions.

• One way or another, it’s gonna hurt – no one gets to coast. Pick your problems. More on the epic struggles of aspiring fashion design stars – Hungry For Attention.
• The Part of a Movie where the Girl Gets a Makeover – Rachel Rabbit White talks fantastic film transformations – whether gifted or self-directed.
• the day Teller gave me the secret to my career in magic – a magical message packed with practical insights for any creative careerist. Only recently I’ve been realizing the usefulness of channeling negative energy into compelling work, and Teller articulates this perfectly.
• Model economics – the gap between the got-its and the want-its is way wider than ever before.
• In Fashion – Louise Wilson – Central Saint Martins’ resident dragon discusses the alchemy of educating fashion designers.
• Power Dressing – visual leadership and style symbolism as it relates to the careers of female politicians. Also – there’s a blog about this.
• His. Hers. – when divorce goes to the court of consumerism.

Karma-matic for incoming linkers and commenters -

• The Blogust – one of the sweetest shoutouts I’ve ever received thanks to Michelle Bobb-Parris
• Bloggers Style: Spring Shoes – FLARE.com features my new blue brogues.
• Ruby Bastille – “books ~ style ~ food ~ fantasticness”
• life in the m lane – “A change of plans, a change of direction,  a need for adventure – life is meant for living, why not do it with wonderful inspirations.”
• Verging On Serious – “ramblings from a health-nut in New York City”
• The Blonde Muse – “21 year old hedonist queen of wanderlust”
• Farbenfreude – “My free time is spent on the beautiful things in life”
• Paper Doll Circle – “general paperdoll scuttlebutt – lavishly illustrated with great images of current, rare and unique paperdolls”

Welcome to click click, the sporadic review of what I find worth clicking on the internet.

These images of Paris front rows past are from a wonderful retrospective on The Cut.

• Intimate Hangover – I was thinking the other day about Agathe from Style Bytes – if you recognize that name you’ve been hanging around fashion blogs for as long as I have. This article, even in awkward translation, is a poignant retrospective on the euthanasia of a popular blog.
• Theatre of Fashion – it is rare that I come across a fashion blog as inspiring to me as this one. Amber posts about costume, history, theatre, film and fashion with impressive depth of research and a wealth of rare images.
• Made Better in Japan – obsessed with detail and accuracy, the Japanese are earnestly recreating new and improved vintage Americana. It looks exactly the same but the almost scientific theory behind it couldn’t be more different from the casual rebellion that the original styles represented.
• Thoughts on a Word – if the etymology of beauty fascinates you, there’s a deep well of content here. I’m only halfway through, to be honest.
• Who Can You Trust? – a wordy exploration on the practice of naming styles of garments. I’m not sure anthropomorphizing cropped jeans really is a poetic way to create warm quasi-relationships in a cold technological age. A good name won’t make a top seller – but it helps hit garment become more memorable – not to mention more searchable in the age of online shopping.
• New York Fashion Week: Why I slept through it last time, and why I sort of want to again – how much youthful hope and energy gets burned every season producing repetitive, soulless, quasi-commercial “content” – it makes you wonder why so many people have the magazine dream in the first place. Working at fashion week doesn’t have to be this way – pick your career (and your attitude) wisely and you can make money and have fun like Rachel at A Material World.
• The Best Clothing Inspires Fear – Cintra Wilson discusses aesthetic strategies of protest.
• What Your Street Style Pose Says About You – a “body language expert” takes on street style and… I don’t think she nailed it. See my take here. While we’re on the topic of streets and poses too, this is an amusing art concept.

Karma babes -

• WHO IS BOBB PARRIS – “girl. have camera. will shoot.”
• Curves, Patterns and Pins – “I’m Reana Louise, an Art History student with temperamental hair”
• cooking with paper – “fashion & culture journalism student, Cardiff based model, hopeful romantic & unorganized mess of a girl”

Welcome to click click, the sporadic review of what I find worth clicking on the internet.

Details of an 1874 Levi’s denim 3 pleat blouse, via Loomstate and Just Goods.

• Interview Translation: Coco Chanel on fame, trousers, creativity and the moon – this wonderful post reveals a lot. I had watched the 1969 footage and was intrigued by the designer’s body language. I searched and couldn’t find a translation, so I’m grateful that brilliant Lucie provided.
• The Beheld – what Final Fashion is to clothes, The Beheld is to beauty. I’ve enjoyed digging into Autumn’s archives. Two recent posts riffing on ideas of intimacy and appearance – The Privacy Settings of Pyjamas and My Love of Slips.
• Six Theses on Pinkification – talking about symbolism and significance of my other favourite colour.
• The Blind Hem – a new collective my-kind-of-fashion blog with a great set of contributers.
• “Brand Me” – this article was making the rounds amongst the Toronto twitter contingent this week. I don’t think any of these subjects just “happen to be blonde”, and to be honest, I would consider myself one of them. The implication that self-creation is somehow insincere doesn’t reflect my experiences at all. I also think that the word “branding” is more accurately applied to inanimate products than people.
• How Maggie Thatcher was Remade - a closer look at the history of a very deliberate aesthetic strategy. See also - Costuming in The Iron Lady.
• waiter, there’s a hair in my satire – A great collection of caricatures mocking the excesses of Ancient Regime hairdos.

Old-school karma for new-school friends -

• Yes, Jessica? - “My name is Jessica. I live in Chicago with my two dogs.”
• Dressful – “exploring fashion beyond its surface: trend interpretation, fashion blogging, visual inspiration, fashion industry analysis and commentary.”
• Anytime Yoga – “I’m a longtime yoga student and an amazingly busy person.”
• Be Fabulous Daily – “icons and inspirations, as well as active strategies for frugality and wardrobe-editing that I’m pursuing in my own life.”

Welcome to click click, the sporadic review of what I find worth clicking on the internet.

Aren’t these costume caricatures wonderful? Check out these waltzers. There’s loads of them, and more – on this page full of treasures.

• Dancing with the Stars – Lewis Lapham draws erudite connections between celebrity, the worship of graven idols, politics and tabloids. Well worth a slow read.
• The Horror of the Milan Shows - revisiting Liberty London Girl’s classic insider rant (in 6 parts, both from the editor‘s and publicist‘s perspectives) is entertaining and educative. My Milan fashion week couldn’t have been more different. But then again, I didn’t have any jobligations. And hey, just for counterpoint, why not read an outsider rant from a jock?
• Iowa fashionistas savage Cintra Wilson – it’s easy to imagine Iowan ire making Wilson smile. She actually let the Hawkeye state off pretty easy. If you are in New York on April 3, go to this! Wilson is giving a free talk about her perfectly titled book “Fear and Clothing”.
• “Il Papa non veste Prada ma Cristo” – disabusing us of the fashionable urban myth that the Pope wears Prada. The devil wears Prada, the Pope wears Christ – the red shoes represent the martyrdom of Saint Peter, the first Pope. Speaking of Prada mythology, the living designer is not so pleased to be curated and compared alongside Schiaparelli.
• Said Language to Fashion: “OMG, I Die” – Sarah Nicole suggests you create your own Manual of Style. Fashionable phrases lose their freshness so fast.
• Looking Forward - The curse of the catchphrase: Christian Siriano’s boyfriend talks about the lingering aftermath of the Faustian bargain the designer made with reality television.
• If the Clothes Fit: A Feminist Takes on Fashion - this is the mirror image of my post on fashionable feminism. I especially loved the reminder of the Green-White-Violet colour symbolism. Big hat tips to this great post on The Frisky for making the connection.
• The Identity Crisis – an interesting response to my post on self-creation. I disagree with the premise that conscious self-creation is somehow disingenuous, as I believe a successful identity reinvention is just as much intuitive as it is calculated. Also check out a previous post by Paul, The Plight of Personal Style.
• OWN Visionaries: Tom Ford – watch the revealing Oprah documentary about fashion’s premier ‘personality’ designer.

All the latest karma can be seen on the promenade…

• The Style Confessions - “a fashion blog devoted to inspiring women to feel glamorous and beautiful”
• Virtual Makeup Artist – “Send me a picture of yourself and win a fanciful and extravagant virtual makeup.”
• Boudoir de la Mode –  ‘Fashion is as profound and critical a part of the social life of man as sex, and is made up of the same ambivalent mixture of irresistible urges and inevitable taboos.’ Rene Konig
• The Beheld – one of the best beauty blogs I’ve ever seen. Check out this post about the problem with fitting human shapes into geometrical (or fruit-shaped) slots.
• Coffee and Heels – “Fashion editor, writer and international daydreamer. Rockstar girlfriend. Vegetarian.”
• Crazy With It, Crazier Without – “WRITE ME ELECTRONIC LETTERS, CRAZIES!!”
• Meaghan Gallant – “Dream big, make miracles.”
• Adventures and Tea - “hopefully during my journey I’ll figure out what exactly it is that i’m doing… ;)”
• Careers in Fashion – it’s always an honour to be included in a lineup of much-admired fashion bloggers.
• polished – “Express your best self without saying a word.”
• Une Fille Comme Les Autres – this shoutout made me smile, a lot.
• The Secret Goddess – “I believe we are all goddesses inside and that we all deserve to live our most awesome lives <3″
• Rachel’s Symbiotic Life – “My blog is all about Food, Fashion, Beauty, Art, Photography, and Health.”