Things I want today

I find myself toying with the idea of purchasing this for myself. But it's $169.22. But I really want it ...

I'm feeling Schiaparelli lately. I'm very tempted to buy a huge bolt of hot pink fabric and just wrap it around things in my house. Like the cats.

This too is ambience.

My friend who lives in Texas found this in a restaurant and sent a picture of the menu.


Now, I spend a lot of time arguing over how things I want to talk about count as ambience, but really, when they gave me this blog I just said, "Sonya's got cocktails, Bret has food, so just give me everything else about the dining experience."

If something makes you laugh, it is totally part of the dining experience. If I lived in Texas, I would definitely bring out of town guests to that restaurant to see "Pie as a vegetable." (Oh, who am I kidding? I would totally always get pie instead of vegetables. In fact, I would convert green beans, broccoli and potatoes into pie for a mere $2.85.)

What? This *totally* counts as "ambience"

Thrillist, which always gets scoops before me, emailed this morning with news and pictures of Bianca's, opening August 25 at 550 W 38th St, near 11th Ave in Hell's Kitchen. (Which is really inside HeadQuarters men's club.)



The blood-red lounge space warms the cockles of my tiny, rockabilly heart. It looks like a 1940s boudoir -- but the boudoir of some "bad girl," not Kate Hepburn or Lana Turner. (Maybe the boudoir of a prostitute cut to look like Lana Turner...) That's an LA Confidential reference, so I can't get in trouble for saying "prostitute" on this blog, right?

Regulars I'm sure will note that we keep reporting on the success of the "breastaurant," which is one of the only restaurant genres doing noticeably well in this economy. And Hooters really can call itself a family restaurant when Robert's at the Penthouse Club and Bianca's in HeadQuarters feature actual nakedness.

For me, the most fun part of all this is how much fun restaurant reviewers seem to have writing about these places. Like Thrillist which opens with "They say a way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but who doesn't also heart boobs?" and ends with a description of the food: "... halibut slathered in asparagus and wild mushrooms, whose parents will be devastated that they exposed their caps for a bunch of fratty, middle-aged businessmen."

From Thrillist.com. (Readers with poetic souls may want to click the link, because Thrillist is offering access to whoever sends them the best haiku about food and boobs.)

Vivienne Westwood gives the best interviews

Vivienne Westwood was predictably spectacular when she appeared last Friday on Jonathan Ross’ BBC1 TV show to talk about climate change. She swept in wearing a gown made of 7 meters of lightweight silk duchess satin cinched with a belt, and Ross had to help her fling her train dramatically across the couch.
“This dress is really 7 metres of fabric,” she said of her ensemble. “It’s got a label on it, so there we are.”

During the course of the interview she and said the best-dressed people are over 70, clothes look better over time if you never wash them, and that people should wear tablecloths and towels and only spend money on things that are truly excellent, like Vivienne Westwood.



[Grazia]

He had golden chains on his leather jacket

Rock and roll style and cheap, DIY-fashion are two trends that are still going strong as the recession continues. It's an easy project to combine those by decorating random shirts, pants or bags with motorcycle-inspired studs. New Yorkers can pick up studs, as well as buttons, rhinestones, ribbons and other DIY supplies at Daytona Trimming & Braid on 39th st. between 7th and 8th.







They come in silver and gold and can be found in all kinds of shapes like dots, stars, spikes and pyramids. They’re just a few dollars for a couple dozen, and they don’t require any special tools to apply. They have spiky ends on their backs, and you just push those through your material and bend them over with your hands or something hard. Knives and spoons work well for that.

In the window: LV’s dancing bags

Louis Vuitton on the corner of 5th Ave and 57th has updated its windows with animatronics that make bags spin around and glide through doors like model trains.


This logo-stamped mirror-finish monogram Speedy spins around on its axis, flashing at passersby.

Cupcakes and furniture

BoConcept, the interior design concept with 7 stores in New York, has decided to expand its purview a little bit by teaming its Chelsea store with Kyotofu, which makes Japanese-inspired pastries. The co-branded kiosk has a selection of coffees and full-sized and miniature versions of Kyotofu’s signature pastries.