The Sartorial-twist

It's summer, so I have plenty of time in my hands and not enough energy to actually do something even mildly productive. In fact, I've spent a probably unhealthy amount of time refreshing The Sartorialtwist, a random fashion generator made of street style photos of the famous Sartorialist. A head here, a torso there and a pair of random legs and voila, a surreal fashion snapshot. It's all in good fun, and certainly addictive.

Anything to distract me from the sweltering days we're having, really.

Cocktail Season

"When there's a drink, there's a story."

That's exactly what Orr Shtuhl and Elizabeth Graeber thought a made a pretty book about the origins of famous cocktails, along with recipes and pretty illustrations. In their own words:

"Strong, sweet and bitter- a good cocktail has the intrigue of an alluring drama, the joy of a salty-sweet dessert, and the sin of a vice. From the raucous innkeepers of the 18th century to the gangster bootleggers of Prohibition, liquor has always had a dark side, and cocktails are the keepers of its lore. Some creation legends include tales of the New York gangster and poker hustler Jack Rose, the famous matador film Blood and Sand, and a club dancer named Margarita Carmen that eventually became the pin-up actress known as Rita Hayworth."

It's summer, cocktails are on my mind and I can't help but covet this 38-page adorable book. You can buy it here.

Natural Beauty

Natural Beauty is a video mady by the Dutch duo of directors Lernert & Sander. Their mission statement? "We wanted to apply 365 layers of makeup in one day to see how much is needed to go from a natural look to an outrageous one."

And an outrageous one it is. The directors used 7 bottles of foundation, 2 bottles of creamy eyeshadow, 3 lip pens and 2 bottles of blush, all Ellis Faas products.

You can see the video below, found on Nowness. Behind-the-scenes images here.

Lernert & Sander: Natural Beauty on Nowness.com.

And if you're still reading this, go enter my giveaway before it's closed!

DIY LBD

Always wanted to design your very own black dress? Continuum does exactly that, by applying an app that allows you to draw your dress and turn it into a 3D model. The people behind this project are Mary Huang and Jenna Fizel in New York. Their initial idea was for the user to design their dress, have it produced in their own measurements and buy it. Unfortunately, the project failed to reach the funding goal, but the ladies promise to keep trying. Nonetheless, make sure to try it, it's really fun to watch your dress take shape. Watch the video below for more info.

In the mood for a giveaway

Oh yes, it's giveaway time again! This time, one of my favourite movies of all time: Wong Kar Wai's In the mood for love. Specifically, the 2-disc Criterion collection dvd edition.

How can you win it? Simply, leave a comment on this post and a way for me to contact you if you're the winner. For my fellow Europeans, keep in mind that it's a Region 1 dvd, make sure your player/computer can play them.

Giveaway ends Thursday, June 30 and the winner will be picked at random. So, comment away and spread the word!

Christian Tagliavini

Cromophobia, Mother's Day. 2007

Christian Tagliavini, born in 1971, lives and works in Switzerland as a photographer and graphic designer. He has been published in numerous magazines and art books. I recently came across his work and it took my breath away. Amazingly rich photographs, exploring the human psyche and also his creative spin on contemporary art and more.

Aspettando Freud, Gustave. 2006

Dame Di Cartone, Cubism III. 2008

1503, Cecilia. 2010

I only chose one picture from each of his collections to feature here, but make sure to head over to his online portfolio to see the rest.

All photos courtesy of Christian Tagliavini.

Lucky, lucky, lucky

A big thank you to Dora Christidou and Lucky Magazine, for featuring my blog and work in their Web Pages column. Greek readers can click on the image to read the small article, or better yet pick up a copy of the May issue of Lucky! Suffice it to say, this has made my entire month.