Who: Mandy and Linda Marie
Where: Outside the Flosstradamus dance party at Holocene
Photo by: AM

I’m thinking about hats today, after a missive from Elizabeth Rohloff, who refers to herself as “the other hat designer in Puddle Town” (The other other one being the beloved Dayna Pinkham.) Peep the Renee from Elizabeth’s line, which is sold at Moxie, Chapterfour, PedX, Physical Element, John Helmer Haberdashery, and Gazelle. Some of them are waterproof!

Yes. Yes. There is a world of home furnishings beyond IKEA and Target, a place where pieces are handmade and well-constructed. True, you may pay a bit more for these items, but they will last you a lifetime and (hopefully) won’t drive you to blow up your apartment like Edward Norton in Fight Club. Flatpatterns by Costello is one such company that brings style, function and solid craftsmanship to the basic coffee table. His innovative designs are available at etsy.com.

Just save a little of that beer money and you’ll be there in no time.

On the serious: this weekend Stand Up Comedy (in the 811 E Burnside complex) is having a SALE: 15% off all weekend long. Definitely check it out.

On the goofy: the sale is to “make room for the beats” of rapper Ice Rod, performing at the store on Sunday, 8 pm. He’s also playing at the Small A Gallery tonight, and at the Twilight tomorrow, in case you need a triple dose of songs like “Smear Your Crotch on the Xerox.” In the meantime, here’s a live video clip to tide you over: This song is called “Menstrual House”, and it reminds me very much of a house I used to live in. Maybe you lived in one too.

I love plants, but I’m not good with them. It’s a level of domestic maturity that I aspire to one day attain, but unfortunately my dabbles have led mostly to plant corpses, about which I feel very guilty. If you are blessed with the ability to maintain plants, then you will pleased to know about the most recent addition to E Burnside: Life + Limb (1716 E Burnside) is a now spot carrying “distinct, and often rare” plants, some vintage furnishings and one-of-a-kind ceramics. Check out their steez on Friday, Nov 16th 7-10 pm at their Grand Opening celebration, complete with wine, snacks, and DJ SnackMaster.

The holiday shopping season is upon us, and if you took the handmade pledge, this weekend’s holiday sale at Trillium Artisans will provide you with an array of not just handmade products but green and fair trade products as well to choose from. Products from Vladmaster, Eye Pop Art, and PenFelt will be available along with many others, all at a 10% discount!





The sale is Saturday, November 10 from 1 pm - 6 pm at 9119 SE Foster Road.
They will also be hosting a wine and snack reception and a chance to meet the artisans. Don’t miss this great opportunity to get your shopping done early!

Look what’s back: Zubaz! (In your FACE!) Not seen since the early ’90s, this fall marks the return of the pants first made popular by weightlifters and overweight sports fans. I’d actually love it if someone, as a styling challenge, made these look sexy. If anyone has the balls to “dare to be different”, by all means send me the results.

For those of you who have uttered the words, “I wish fashion models would just die, Die, DIE!”, well, here’s the next best thing. According to Yahoo News, next week Target will host the first fashion show populated solely with holographic models.

U.S. discount retailer Target Corp, known for its innovative marketing, is staging a “model-less” fashion show in Manhattan next week that will feature holograms strutting down a runway in its merchandise instead of size-zero models.

The images, which will appear to be three-dimensional, will show clothes by designers like Isaac Mizrahi and Liz Lange sashaying across a virtual runway.

“This is the first time a fashion show will be completely produced with hologram technology, without models, without a runway and easily accessible to all fashion fans,” Target senior vice president Trish Adams said in a statement.

Wait… if there’s no further need for models, how is Kate Moss going to afford her blow?
“Help me, Yves Saint Laurent, you’re my only hope!”

Pledge to buy handmade for the holidays by adding your name to the list of over 4100 shoppers at www.buyhandmade.org. With all of the artisans, designers, and craftsters in this town and a craft sale almost every weekend around the northwest, there is no excuse not to support your friends, colleagues, and the local economy by buying handmade.

One of the more interesting attendees during Portland Fashion Week was Sofia Hedström, a correspondent for SvD, which she described to me as the Swedish equivalent of the New York Times. Her coverage of the event has just come out: check it here. But there’s a wee catch… my Swedish sucks. Anyone?