Who: Gaspard and Xavier aka Justice
Where: Backstage at their show with Diplo at The Roseland Theater
Photo by: Chloé Richard

Souchi is having sale this weekend! Get 15% off all pieces in gold and silver yarn, and gold and silver jewelry pieces, plus 15% off all Genetic denim. In the sale bin, you’ll find things at 50-75 % off! Plus, check out new arrivals from the Souchi spring line, shoes and bags by MS by Martine Sitbon, blouses and pants from BRUCE, Kiyomi Kimble scarves, PORTS 1961 dresses and shorts, poupette jewelry, and Jackson, Johnston, and Roe, a new line for the store:

Sale starts tomorrow, and runs through the 31st!

Urban Recess (who really needs to turn off the sounds of kids screaming on a playground that automatically loops over and over when you visit their site, with no visible “sound OFF” button!) has relocated their operations from San Francisco to our own Portland (join the club). The program is for women, and instead of spinning or kickboxing or yoga, it’s a workout designed using old-school recess games (think tag, steal the bacon, kickball). Check ‘em out if you’re looking for a new routine; you can email the director, Karin Schmidt, for pricing and schedules.

Urban Recess: Just like the good ol’ days.

April 19 is $1 day at Buffalo Exchange (locally at 1036 W Burnside & 1420 SE 37th), and all proceeds on sale items marked down to a mere buck will go to Galapagos Conservancy, which is trying to repopulate Pinta Island in the Galapagos with Espanola tortoises to keep the only remaining Pinta tortoise, “Lonesome George” some company (and restore his ecosystem). Aww.

It sure feels funny talking about “Spring” after making my way through the snow to get to work this morning, but here goes: spring cleaning. Forget cleaning the house, for me this means an annual analysis and overhaul of the closet and drawers, a good and necessary exercise. However, considering the fact that I’ve never had a job with a dress code, business suits don’t really factor in the equation. If, however, you will be editing out some good condition women’s suits, here’s a great way to offload them: Surely You’ve heard of Dress for Success, the non-profit that, among other things, collects and distributes interview suits for its clients as part of a larger effort to help them attain career goals. On Thursday, April 3rd, Hotel Monaco (506 SW Washington) and Hotel Vintage Plaza (422 SW Broadway) will be collecting donations from 6:30-9:30 am, and offering coffee and pastries in return. Later that night at the Vintage Plaza, there will also be a benefit: The Art of Wine, featuring uh, wine, as well as mini makeovers from MAC Cosmetics, massages from Relax and Rejuvenate, raffles, art, and more. The event runs 5-7 pm, with a suggested donation of $25 at the door, and all proceeds going to the cause.

I’m not looking to have kids of my own anytime in the foreseeable future, but I love it when one of my friends does, and I get to go shopping for the baby shower—especially since breeding = self-inflicted poverty, and they can’t afford to splurge on anything themselves. Portland has a ridiculous number of rock-themed, hipster, PC, etc options for such occasions, and lo and behold here’s another: locally based Light and Gravity is a new sustainable line of kids ‘n’ babies stuff from the people who brought Baby Wit into the world. For the little girls and early adopting cross dressers, there’s the “twirly dress” which I would have loved at that age.

For the boys they’ve got “leisure suits, which here his paired with a Stephen Colbert t-shirt.

Last week I wrote about the new Mabel & Zora location now open in the Pearl, at 748 NW 11th. If you haven’t dropped by yet, think about doing so this Saturday for the grand opening, with 15% off dresses all day, and drinks and snacks from 5-8 pm. A word on the merchandise:

We are carrying some of the same lines (Kersh, Mac & Jac, Veronica M, Mixie, Hazel) along with some new lines for us: Trina Turk, Plenty from Tracy Reese, Weston Wear, Donna Morgan, Dittos Denim, Fever London, Maria Lizaso, Eva Franco, Charlotte Tarantola and more.

Stand Up Comedy (811 E Burnside) says, “All Fall/Winter 2007 for the motherfuckin prices of $150, $100, $75, and $50”. Here are the deets.

The good news: The new Kate Moss biography is out, written by Francoise-Marie Santucci, and it looks juicy.

The bad news: It’s only in French.

If your French teacher in school was more effective than mine, you can buy it on Colette’s e-store.

It was bound to happen: Now there’s a video sharing web site for shoe addicts called—what else—Shoetube. It’s only been around for a few weeks, and it’s definitely all over the place. Some of the user-generated videos posted are kind of pervy and uncomfortable:

There are also some better ones, like a sneak peek into a Nieman Marcus trunk show featuring Christian Dior and Stella McCartney shoes, and the sites have some more professional videos, featuring interviews and excursions to shoe boutiques and designer studios. The whole endeavor has potential, but it’s got a ways to go before it’s the time sucking black hole of fascination that it could be.

Handmade NW joins the craft force in Portland.

A CALL OUT FOR ARTISANS!

Our focus is grounded in Cooperative concepts. For the ARTIST, by the ARTIST! We are a community of artisan’s that focus on promoting local NW handmade goods! HMNW will highlight artisan’s as well organizers. We will pay attention to local stores that feature items from local handmade artists. Additionally, the website will have online vendor registration and event management tools available to folks who want to host events.

If you would like to join HMNW you can create your profile and register for HMNW events at our home page!
Please check out the site!
www.handmadenw.com

HMNW has a few scheduled events! So far we have April 7th and 8th at Montgomery Park and May 1st and 2nd at OHSU (information will be available about the OHSU event soon)!

WE ARE NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THE APRIL EVENT!
You can do this now ONLINE!

HMNW is very excited about this venture. We would love any input, suggestions or comments about HMNW! Please direct those messages to handmadenw@gmail.com

Here’s a line of clothing that Pacific Northwesterners should be able to relate to:

Heather Treadway is an apparel designer who produces clothing under the label Paper Doll Fashion. She is from the Pacific NW and is currently dealing with the transition of her identity as Washingtonian to Oregonian. She will hopefully have this all figured out soon. With nature on her mind and in her view you will oftentimes find natural themes in her designs. She’s almost 30 now which means she’s very smart, responsible, and totally self assured. She’s a bit of an obsessive compulsive and has a very intense imagination which makes independent fashion design a perfect occupation for her busy busy mind. She works it all out on the dance floor a few times a week, plays many instruments in a band called explodeintocolors, and wants to get closer to a feeling of oneness with her new surroundings.

(Read the rest here.) Gosh that sounds just like something I overheard at a coffee shop on Belmont. Anyhow, how do these thoughts translate into clothes? Like so:

Intrigued? Then be sure to hit the line’s launch party at its new retail home Olio United (1028 SE Water) this Friday, March 28, 7-10 pm.

IDOM is having a big sale: 50% off all fall and winter merch! Also, 30% off Jenny Yuen handbags! Go get ‘em!

It’s just like on TV: Kit Pistol , of Project Runway fame, is coming to town and having a trunk show at Seaplane (827 NW 23rd) on Sunday, April 6, 4-8 pm.

Ladies, prepare to get stoked: Frances May is joining the increasingly cool downtown boutique scene at 1013 SW Washington, founded by Pamela Baker-Miller and her grandmother Connie Codding. And oh such wicked delights: Rachel Comey, Christian Joy:

Lorick:

Samantha Pleet:

Clu, Mooka Kinney:

Laura Seymour:

Ditto, Nomia:

Plastic Island , and Church + State:

God, it’s going to be good! Don’t miss their opening champagne reception on April 5, 6-8 pm.

Who: Maura aka DJ Mystic Lady
Where: Rotture
Photo by: Rhys Balmer