Day 15...

Something I don't leave the house without, and a song I listened to today. 

I cannot leave my house without my bag. I keep my life in these babies, and would be lost and helpless without them. 

Prince - Kiss par cdipre

Prince - Kiss

For some reason every Sunday I get in a bit of a musical funk and only listen to one artist all day long depending on what my mood is. Who knows what my mood was today, but the artist I spent it listening too was Prince. You don't have to be rich to be my girl... But I'm a very expensive boy so Imma like you a lot more if you are. 

Day 14...

A tv show I am currently addicted to, and a song nobody would expect me to like. 

I first watched this show back in November and was instantly addicted. Luckily the new season started up a week after I finished all the previous seasons. 

Phil Collins - Against All Odds

I guess people wouldn't expect me to love this song, but thats just because I don't know what people expect my music tastes to be like. If anyone knows what movie this song was for, please let me know, because I really do not understand this music video for the life of me. 

Introducing...

I bought a new pet today. His name is Charles-Émile. Before I adopted him, he belonged to Hermès. They raised him and treated him very nicely, but one day they decided to discontinue his color, and they looked to get rid of him. I graciously took him in as my own, and with a little tender loving care, will make him into a beautiful jacket.

This is me and Charles-Émile. 

Front open.

Front closed.

Front partially closed.

Side.

Collar detail. 

Belt and hidden pocket detail. You can't see the pocket because it is hidden :)

Back. 

This is my half drape of what Charles-Émile will become. Since I can only cut him out once and only sew him once, with no mistakes, I need to make him out of muslin first to make sure everything is perfect.

Day 13...

My favorite musician and why, and a song that is my guilty pleasure. 

I could never say I have one single favorite musician. The closest thing I could do would be to break it down by genre and do it that way.

Pop: Lady Gaga

Country: Dolly Parton

Alt Rock: The Killers

Hip-Hop: Salt-n-Pepa

R&B: Destiny's Child

Latin: Alejandro Sanz

French: Serge Gainsbourg

Classical: Rachmaninov

 I can't even start to classify Electronic music. There are just too many genres and sub-genres to handle, plus so many people don't just stick to one type. Sure I could go on all day about my favorites in Detroit House, Deep House, Big Room House, Minimal House, Electro House,  or Italio House. And then I could do that for every genre of Electronic. But that wouldn't be fun for me to do, nor fun for your to read. So, here are some of my favorites in very general categories. 

Dubstep: Habstrakt

House: Kaskade

Acid: Paul Oakenfold 

Grime: Terror Danjah

Trance: Paul van Dyk

Techno: Marcel Dettmann

Electro: Deadmau5

Breakbeat: Krafty Kuts

Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers - Islands in the Stream 

Since I've now admitted to having a favorite country singer (in fact, she is the only country singer I like), I would have to say my guilty pleasure is Dolly Parton. How can you not love someone that has their own theme park? 

Day 12...

15 random facts about myself and a song that reminds me of home.

1) I secretly love to wear tank tops, but will never be seen in public wearing one without extra layers to cover me up.

2) I used to hate red wine but have grown to love it since I moved to Paris. 

3) Speaking of Paris, while I can make a list a mile long of why I hate it, there really is no place I would rather be. 

4) I love ironing dress shirts. 

5) I hate men that only buy iron free dress shirts because they are too lazy to iron them. There are a lot of men like that, almost more than men that buy regular dress shirts. Working at Macy's taught me that. 

6) I'm a Helmut Lang junkie. 

7) I realize that I'm slowly becoming more and more like my father.

8) I'm slowly becoming more and more accepting of number 7.

9) Sometimes I love food a little too much. When this happens I usually go on a short lived diet. 

10) I'm addicted to hair products but never really use any. 

11) I'm the biggest proponent of fur and leather I know. 

12) My favorite items of clothing are my collection of white t-shirts. Rick Owens and Helmut Lang make the best ones.

12) Sometimes I buy size XXL because I like to be comfy. 

13) I have 7 piercings. 

14) I keep bottles of liquid band-aid hidden all around me, because you never know when you will cut yourself. 

15) I spend an unusual amount of time applying lip balms when in uncomfortable social situations. 

Edith Piaf - La Vie en Rose

They say home is where the heart is, and right now my heart is in Paris. What could be more quintessentially Parisian than this song? I love to put Edith Piaf songs on while strolling along the Seine or up in Montmartre. Everything in the city becomes more beautiful while listening to her.

Day 11...

A picture of something I am currently obsessed with, and a song that gets me pumped up. 

Maison Martin Margiela S/S 2008

Maison Martin Margiela Pants from the Sartorialist. Check out the waist. Yes it is meant to be like that, and yes it stays up on it's own. 

Thanks to a friend who works at the house, I have this amazing scarf to add to my personal Margiela collection. PETA did not approve of it this past week when I went to the Jean Paul Gaultier show. If I know one thing, PETA will hate me even more one day; fur and leather are my best friends. 

View of the photographers area at the end of the runway from my seat at the F/W 2011 Maison Martin Margiela show. The most interesting perspective I have ever had at a show, looking down at the models walking below you. 

I've always been a huge fan of Marigela, but recently I've really become obsessed with the house. The current fashion exhibition at Les Arts Décoratifs, Les Années 1990-2000 opens with a room full of the most amazing Margiela pieces. It's really breathtaking to see some of my favorite MMM moments up close and personal. Shoe lace dress? Barely there jeans? Christmas garland jacket? Yes, yes and yes. Paris is also a very Margiela friendly place to be. I see some of the more theatrical designs on a semi regular basis, and everyone seems to know his name. I wore my Marigela scarf recently to the Printemps department store where multiple sales people came up to tell me specifically that they loved my Margiela scarf. I don't think anyone in Minnesota would be able to recognize it as such... they would probably just think I was a crazy person. 

I listen to this song when I'm skiing and really want to push myself hard. All of M.I.A.'s songs tend to be good ones to ski to though. 

Day 10..

A picture of my favorite restaurant, and a song that makes me fall asleep.

Sea bass with truffle mousse. 

Grilled octopus with chorizo, potatoes, in something resembling grits. 

Something Catalonian. Closest thing I could think of would be a rabbit burrito baked in mashed potatoes and gravy. 

Cinnamon risotto with dark chocolate. 

Sol.i.neu restaurant in Andorra, certainly gets my best restaurant award, even if I only ate there once, because everything about the dinning experience was just perfect. The wait staff was perfect. They were all warm and friendly, and had the most perfect timing. The view was to die for (but it's Andorra, no place has a bad view).  I had an enjoyable few hours sitting by myself and my internal dialog, while eating some of the best food I have ever had. 

Frédéric Chopin - Fantaisie Impromptu in C sharp minor, Op. 66

I had a CD (before mp3's were even invented, weird to think about) of classic piano music when I was very young, close to the time I started playing the piano. Somewhere around 13 years ago? I would listen to this song on repeat to help me go to sleep at night since I have always had a horrible sleeping problem. Now I listen to it when I'm designing. I'm still obsessed with this song. It's as much fun to play as it is to listen too.