Packing Heat

Holiday packing! What a conundrum. I know that it’s impossible to make generalizations about people’s Thanksgiving plans, so the following scenario may not apply to you, but – I find myself torn between the inclination to pack a single pair of jeans and a t-shirt in preparation for several days of hibernation interspersed with bouts of overeating and remembering that I should pack at least one slamming outfit, lest my out-of-town friends whom I haven’t seen in a while think that I’ve gone soft. Add to this contrarian pile the possibility that I’ll be going shopping on my vacation and you basically have a full-on Monet of a suitcase, informed by far too many sartorial scenarios to have any sort of cohesion.

My secret weapon? The statement necklace. Throw this bad boy on and your outfit is suddenly outing-appropriate.


I love this sick, Brutalist-inspired Alexis Bittar number.

PS: Thank you, fashion world, for giving us a legitimate-sounding term for what I always used to refer to as "huge, crazy, fucked-up necklace." Speaking of fashion world - have you guys noticed that Anne Slowey has worn a statement necklace in


almost


every


episode of Stylista?

Our Shoe Obsession Revealed

Check out Katerina's comment on vintage shoes and why we love 'em! Thanks, Post Express and Jennifer!

Food Tuesday

I normally reserve my food posts for Fridays, but if you're anything like me you will be having more of a Food Coma Friday and not in the mood to try new recipes. Besides, who needs recipes when you have leftovers goulash supreme? You won't need me then. Here is something that you may need in the next few days - a silken, painfully simple (but slightly elevated!) mashed potato recipe that will impress your foodie aunt but won't scare your grandmother. (I know mashed potatoes are none too exciting, but Thanksgiving is one of those holidays where the menu is decided waaay in advance, so I'm kind of stuck.)

Get To It

Your Get To It maven is doing fucking cartwheels today because of her two-day week. However, this does not mean that I will be giving yinz a two-day week of events and activities. Fun does not take vacations, people!

Monday night, head over to the Black Cat for a screening of Pirate Radio USA. Your paltry $5 admission fee benefits the Community Powered Radio project.

Tuesday is the final day of the AFI European Union Film Showcase. Films you can still catch: The Country Teacher, Loss, Birdsong, and Night and Day.

Milk opens on Wednesday. Catch it at either of the Landmark theatres.

Thursday, channel Pilgrim steez in this USA-made Zac Posen bolero or this prim-ly fabulous 3.1 Phillip Lim blouse. Very Prudence Goodwife, no?

How soothing does this sound? Moonlight and Clouds: Silver and Gold in the Arts of Japan is at the Freer-Sackler Gallery until May 10. Go on Friday and decompress.

Fresh Finds

Freshen up your cold days with flashes of bold color and patterns! Here are our newest in-store offerings from Mercedes Bien Vintage and Listopad's pop-up shop!

Cozy Native Print Union-made 3/4 length Skirt (great for layering!), Women's, M/L, Listopad Petite + Pretty Red Silk Dress, Women's, XS, Listopad Mod Patchwork Leather Pumps, Women's, 6/7, Listopad Double-knit Marimekko-styled Mod Dress, Women's, S/M, Mercedes Bien
Soft and Sophisticated "Lucchese" Cowboy Boots (dark brown goes with everything), Women's, 7.5, Mercedes Bien
March in Style with a Vintage German Soldier Hat , Medium, Listopad
Well-Crafted Lumberjack, Men's, M/L, Mercedes Bien

Fresh Finds To Be Continued Tomorrow...

I am a day late with Fresh Finds this week and shall post our loveliest pics tomorrow!

Special (Nerd) Announcement

No quiero. (via The Bag Lady.)

Something has just come to my attention, and I know it's a little late in the game to be sharing this with yinz, but we're so often banging the drum on this subject it seems a crime not to share.

There will be a special screening of the film Made in L. A. (Hecho en Los Angeles) today at 4:30 PM at Catholic University's law school. (This is literally feet away from the Metro.) A reception (free food!) will follow the screening, along with a discussion led by super-genius fashionista Dr. Jennifer Horne.

According to the film's site, Made in L.A. follows the remarkable story of three Latina immigrants working in Los Angeles garment sweatshops as they embark on a three-year odyssey to win basic labor protections from trendy clothing retailer Forever 21. Like, you had me at basic labor protections. Sweatshop-free clothing is something that Listopad is really amped about, and F21 definitely does not fall under that category. Hecho a difference, y'all.

Special Announcement

****************************************************
Listopad is proud to announce a limited edition collaboration with Montmarte. We will be celebrating on December 10th at Napoleon Bistro with Jerome Baker III. More details soon!
****************************************************

Music for Lovers: Minnie Riperton

The baby's breath in her hair, the 70s goddess gowns, the layered necklaces, the unbeatable voice....it doesn't get much better than Minnie Riperton's style in the '70s. Also, loved her afro in Rotary Connection.

P.S. My favorite song

Get To It

We all know this feeling. (Photo by Wolfram Hahn, via yasnababa.)

Tomorrow, check out the "Free-form Cooking" class (best name) at Sixth and I - this week they're focusing on Chinese techniques. (Szechuan and Cantonese styles included!)

Wednesday, A Disenchanted Playroom opens at the Goethe-Institut. Artist Wolfram Hahn photographed little kids watching TV. I'm already crying.

Thursday is the final day of The World of Art Bead, a exhibit of beadwork by Miho Kanaya at the Japanese Embassy.

Friday is the opening night of Photos to Develop at the Jerusalem Fund. Fulbright scholar Natasha Hall organized the exhibit, which features photography by Bedouin children living in Jordan.

You guys know about our fervent obsession with photographer Zoe Strauss, right? If you're in NYC for any reason on Saturday, please go to Silverstein Photography to check out AMERICA: We Love Having You Here, an collection of her work from the last eight years. (Note: her book just came out, too. Read! Cry! Love!)

Food Friday

I have a bad habit of buying used cookbooks whenever I see them. I’ll get home, crack them open, and realize that there’s a reason that my newly purchased treasure was discarded in the first place – it was published in 1967 and every recipe calls for at least six tablespoons of butter, a healthy dollop of mayonnaise, and at least one type of canned vegetable. That’s why I almost got rid of House and Garden’s New Cookbook when I found it for sale (for a single George Washington) at the Mount Pleasant Library over the summer. Almost. Until I saw this:



Hello, illustrated recipe for a salad that sounds deliciously similar to an Amsterdam Falafel topping! You've made my day much brighter with your jaunty, handwritten way. PS: Thanks for being vegan without realizing it!

Fresh Finds

Problems overcast and rainy weather cause - slippery shoes and awful lighting for photos. I tried to take a photo of this adorable and versatile vintage tan knit St. Johns dress with pockets from Mercedes' collection but failed miserably. Hopefully, I will be able to photograph it for next week's post. Also worth mentioning - Mercedes has added a new jewelry case of lovely vintage goodies for your holiday gift-giving consideraciones...

Audrey "Inaugural Party-Worthy" slim black dress w/bow, Women's, XS, Listopad

Japan "Floating World" Tapestry Handbag, Women's, Listopad, SOLD

Style Icons

Swindle just came out with the ICONS issue and there's something special in it (besides the Paul Reubens and Pam Grier covers--my two favorite actors of all time).



Dita Von Teese models some of her favorites from her vintage hat collection (which spans rooms in her mansion). She styled the shoot too. Pick up the issue just to see how a vintage aficionado does it.

Space Invaders

Dr. Quinn for Yohji Yamamoto?


Samantha and Nellie for Maison Martin Margiela?


Vivienne Westwood for L.L. Bean?


They're actually Whyred, available for lust, obsession, and purchase on Kickpleat.

Get To It

No Age. (From WaterCoolerGossip.)

Wednesday, expect levels of frenzy rivaling the scene on U Street this past Tuesday when Diplo spins and No Age rails at the Black Cat. (Bonus: Diplo will be playing records at Commonwealth before the show! Ooo-wee!

Thursday, wipe that smirk off your face before you arrive at the party for Stop Smiling's DC Issue at Civilian Art Projects. DJs Name Names and Nitekrawler will be deckbound.

You should probably just bring a sleeping bag on Thursday because Quintron and Miss Pussycat will be wrecking the house at Civilian on Friday.

FotoWeek DC begins on Saturday. Check out their kick-off event: a group show of six Ukrainian-American photographers hosted by the Ukrainian Embassy. Note: almost all of the FotoWeek events are free! Two thumbs up! (Also free: Breakin' Glass at Wonderland Ballroom.)

Food Friday

This week, in a nod to both the election and the increasingly delicious autumn weather, Food Friday brings you a "Gyngerbrede" recipe that Politics and Pot Roast author Sarah Hood Saloman attributes to George Washington's mother, Mary. I myself am a gyngerbrede (or gingerbread - whatevs) fanatic - for me, nothing conjures the winter holidays like this sweet, dense bread. And nothing conjures elections like George Washington, right? Like, literally?

Gyngerbrede

1/2 cup butter
1/2 brown sugar
1 cup molasses
3 eggs
1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons ground ginger
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon mace
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 cup raisins
1 cup buttermilk

Cream butter and sugar. Stir in molasses. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Sift dry ingredients together and set aside. Combine the orange juice, orange zest, buttermilk and raisins and set aside.

Beat 1/2 of the flour mixture into the butter mixture, then add 1/3 of the milk mix. Repeat until all ingredients are combined. Put into greased 9" x 13" pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes (or until straw inserted into gingerbread comes out clean). Yields 24 pieces.

Fresh Finds

This week finds me travelin' so I am neglecting the Mercedes Bien portion of "Fresh Finds."

In the vintage queen's store this week, though, you can find these Listopad Fresh Finds and many more:

Red satin-bowed wool overcoat, Women's, M/L, Listopad

(This one reminds me of Michelle O and her cute daughters - yup they are already way up high in our style stratosphere).

Fitted Striped Handknit Dress, Women's, XS, Listopad

"Osbourne" modern Neige Warrior Hat, Unisex, Medium, Listopad

Sleek Tan "Cobbies", Women's, 7.5, Listopad

What More Can I Say?

It's Narciso Rodriguez.



Well played!

I'd just like to take a moment to congratulate Michelle on her consistently dope familial ensembles.





I know our city gets a bad fashion rap, but that's only because it's much more challenging to dress well in DC than in "anything goes" cities like New York or L. A. (Don't even get me started on Baltimore. Shine on, you crazy diamonds!) With such a stringent and relatively conservative template for dressing, we gypsies have to be much more innovative and even subversive with our little sartorial weirdnesses - a feat which Michelle consistently accomplishes. She favors clean, simple silhouettes but really goes for the gold when it comes to pattern and color, never shying away from bold hues or kooky prints.

The way she dresses is really similar to the way her husband has campaigned for (and won!) the presidency. His promises of overhaul and change are always posed against the backdrop of our country's time-tested founding principles. There's even a parallel in the way Michelle dresses her daughters: their outfits are never matchy-matchy, simply coordinated - in agreement, even. Kind of the like the way her husband professes to foster individuality united by a sense of American identity.

Music for Lovers

We've all heard the stories of Ike and Tina's relationship, so maybe "Music for Lovers" is not the best title for this post. But I don't want to say that this is Music for Haters, either. This is simply music for people who can appreciate hot pink minidress-clad backup singers, synchronized gyrations, legs that defy convention and explanation, and the unstoppable, earth-shaking vocal powerhouse that is Tina Turner.

Get To It

(Project Beltway)

Tuesday - wait, do I need to tell you what to get to? Pull that lever, son, then go watch one of the nine millions televisions in DC that will be broadcasting the results of the event-which-shall-not-be-named. The Voldemort of happenings.

Wednesday, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas screens at Landmark's E Street Cinema. (RSVP to maintern4@aiusa.org by tomorrow for tickets!)

On Thursday, to kick off their European Union Film Showcase, the AFI will screen Il y a longtemps que je t'aime, Phillippe Claudel's new film about a woman released from prison after 15 years of incarceration.

The Hirshhorn After Hours party is always A Time, but Friday's looks like it will be extra-cragee: Dan Deacon is scheduled to wreck things (your ears, your soul, possibly property?) - plus, the show that just went up promises to be illuminating.