Not a fan of the mannequin, but this '90s Gaultier and pearl and gold choker from Chanel's summer 2014 collection: dang!

The May 2008 issue of Vogue (cover: a luminous Gwyneth Paltrow, furiously pimping for Iron Man) has an article about the New York Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art exhibition, Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy, running May 7, 2008 – September 1, 2008.

This homage to Poison Ivy is STUNNING:













More photos here

press release

Objects will be organized thematically around specific superheroes, whose movie costumes and superpowers will be catalysts for discussion of key concepts of superheroism and their expression in fashion. Superman and Spider-Man costumes will address the subject of The Graphic Body, relating Superman's 'S' chevron to designer logos and branding. Catwoman will represent The Paradoxical Body, which will explore the character's vacillating manifestations of good and bad. The stars and stripes of Wonder Woman's uniform, a composite of the American flag, epitomize The Patriotic Body and designs that appropriate patriotic emotions implicit in the character. The Hulk, a metaphor for male potency, will introduce a section on The Virile Body, which includes inflatable clothing that swells to exaggerate the male physique.

I really can't tell if this is super cool or totally lame. I vacillate between the two every time I read it!

Onward...

The Flash – a character who possesses superhuman speed -- will address the Aerodynamic Body as manifest in high-tech sportswear such as Nike's "Swift Suit" and Speedo's "Fastskin Suit," which enhance athletic performance in sprinters and swimmers respectively. Batman and Iron Man will represent The Armored Body, and examine avant-garde fashion that merges mesh and metal, skin and chromium. The Mutant Body, denoted by the X-Men, will highlight clothing that morphs men into beasts. Ghost Rider (the biker-demon with flaming skull) and The Punisher (the vigilante who sports a giant death-skull emblem on his T-shirt) will symbolize The Postmodern Body that suggests an anti-hero identity through the eclectic mixing of street styles.

Oi, Mark will love this:

Nathan Crowley, a production designer of films including Batman Begins and the upcoming The Dark Knight, will serve as the exhibition's creative consultant.

More riot cops for my bondage party. Whee!

Marion Cotillard, you are so deserving of the Best Actress Academy Award for La Vie En Rose, and you were also the best thing about the Oscars last night.



























Okay, maybe the second-best thing, next to a swoon-inducing Javier Bardem (in a beautiful four-button suit) picking up Best Supporting Actor and thanking his mother -- who he brought as his date to the Oscars -- in Spanish. All of the women present in the room I was in swooned in unison. Take note, boys.

Anyway, love Marion's Gaultier dress. Love her old-school Hollywood glamour and her humility. Love her!

Also, I squee madly at this sweetness:



























James McAvoy is truly sex on a stick, but he and his wife Anne-Marie Duff are so lovey and cute and modest and solid that one feels downright filthy for ogling him so.

So, I'll end this with the fact that he was absolutely robbed of a Best Actor Oscar nom (not win, but nom) for Atonement. That's the brain talking, swear! :)

I’ve blogged aplenty in the past about my good friend Jon Stich and his mad illustration skills. But lately the boy’s really been working it. Jon took his portfolio to Chronicle Books, where the folks in the design department were so impressed with his work (apparently they were especially impressed with his portrait of me and my sweetie-pie) that they contracted with him on the spot. Check out this story from Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle Magazine for his first piece!

Doing what you love and making a living is a blessed existence indeed.

Speaking of magazines, design, and things I love, anyone check out the new Harper’s Bazaar and their fashion spread in conjunction with the Simpsons film? A big bunch of fashion design heavy-hitters – Donatella Versace, Marc Jacobs (for Louis Vuitton), and Victor&Rolf, just to name a few – are Simpsonized and pieces from their latest collections are modeled by Marge, her sisters, and Linda Evangelista.

Love the Jean Paul Gaultier panel, with Maggie in a Birkin:

























And here's the real deal:















So well done, and really fun. This is what gets me to buy fashion mags and not regret it later.