Food Friday: A Little Sump-thing

I am always trying to make my own gyoza dipping sauce (nothing makes Wednesday less hump-y than a thrown-together meal of dumplings and edamame from Hana Market and a little Top Model), but I am forever fucking up the proportions and forgetting ingredients - soy sauce? Sesame oil? Ginger? Does garlic go in there? I don't know! Salvation has arrived in the form of Hisao Abe, the chef at the lauded sushi mecca Kotobuki. This dumpling sauce looks spot-on, and involves some elements I have yet to experiment with. Let the games begin!

Reading Room: Barbie Solves a Mystery

It's been a while since we last visited Barbie, so I thought now would be a good time to check in.



Oh - hello Barbie! Look at how wrapped up you are in the world of journalism and the whirlwind excitement of the "fashion beat" in your small town.



Barbie, this old lady is giving you a run for your money, style-wise - her short, frizzy hair and crisp button down makes her the wiser, kookier Diane Keaton to your less-exciting and somewhat naive Mariel Hemingway. (Isn't it terrible that I can only describe style vibes by using other instances of style vibes?) Also, that guy on the right is Johnny, Barbie's newspaper colleague and crush du jour - or should I say du book.



Watch out, folks! Out-of-town career woman Dorian has entered the picture. Her short, bouffanted hair and seriously slick outfit marks her as a woman of intrigue, and possibly danger. We'll have to see what kind of trouble this lady stirs up next week. Stay tuned!

Grateful Dread

All I want is for this Elizabeth and James jacket to venture further into the realm of sale-dom.



Just a little bit.



I have been keeping tabs in this delightful little monstrosity (and I mean that in the best possible way!) since it appeared in Lucky months and months ago. It stood out from the endless parade of buyable things that the magazine crams into every issue, and it has stayed in my heart ever since. Now I see that this jacket, having been a little too real for everyone, has gone on sale - which further cements my belief that it and I were meant to be together.



It's called the Dread Jacket, dudes. How delightfully twisted is that? Literally and figuratively?

Update! On a hunch, I did some digging - it was actually this cardigan that appeared in Lucky. Still amazing! Still creepy! Still desirable!

LL Cool Beth

Beth Ditto is from Arkansas, bitches!



Seriouly, she is. She mentions it interviews all the time.

Now she poses naked for Love, gives mind-boggling live performances with the Gossip, and gets Alexander McQueen dresses made in her size. (See below.)



Fuck yeah.



I saw the Gossip in Philadelphia when I was in college. If I remember correctly, they were opening for Har Mar Superstar. It was a really fun show and Beth was super-nice. I'm pretty sure she took her shirt off then, too.



Gahhh! She is on some Bjork-level shit here. Her topknot and lack of eyebrows is not for the timid, but I think she looks really fly. Gold platforms and man-as-accessory helps.



That's Not What I Heard was seriously my fave when I was 18. I have not been keeping up with the Gossip much since then, but apparently they got a new drummer when the original one left the band to be a midwife (aw!) and they are crazy famous in England.



Look at how badassedly she uses color! Be unafraid, woman!

Get To It

Kirikou confronts Karaba. (See Saturday's event. Pic via The Hathor Legacy.)

Listopad had a girls’ night out at Red Derby recently and we enjoyed the following: a.) the non-stupid crowd, b.) our nice waitress and the snacks she brought us, and c.) the $2 Schlitz. Celebrate Mardi Gras with these fine folks on Tuesday. We hear there will be king cake. Warm up there and then head to DC9 for Tigercity.

Wednesday, the Brazilian classic Black Orpheus screens at the Anacostia Community Museum; Tom Jones does his thang at the 9:30 Club. If you have not heard this man's cover of "Kiss," you are missing out.

K'NAAN is a hip-hop artist who grew up in Mogadishu. Hear him rap about his intense childhood and his dedication to bringing awareness to the Somali cause at the Kennedy Center on Friday.

Saturday, the National Museum of African Art hosts a screening of Kirikou and the Sorceress, and animated movie about a tiny boy who gives birth to himself then saves the village from the curse of Karaba and her army of minions, the Fetishes.

Music For Lovers: Listopad Mix #5

A toast to the temperament of our dark and dramatic year. Many of these I culled from my main music blog, and all are favorites, old and new.

Download the mix here. (43:00)

Ceramic Hello "Dark Rain"
Jean-Michel Jarre "Arpegiator"
Starter "Is This Love"
Naked Lunch "La Femme"
Malaria! "You You"
Robert Plant "In The Mood"
Judie Tzuke "Stay With Me 'Til Dawn"
Sheena Easton "There When I Needed You"
Cristina "The Lie Of Love"
Maher Shalal Hash Baz "Chaldeans In The Ship"
Buffy Sainte-Marie "God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot"
Cyrille Verdeaux and Bernard Xolotl "Future Seas"

Thank you to Malachi Ward for the nice purple city image.

Sheer Synergy

On a frosty day a few weekends back, I stopped at Junction and bought the loveliest pair of nearly-iridescent dove-gray L'eggs Sheer Energy gloves for a mere ten dollars. What a life-changing find! They were warm without being bulky; finger-hugging enough to keep them on while I smoked cigarettes and insulating on the chilliest of days. You can imagine my dismay, then, when a recent bike trip began with both gloves stuffed into my coat pocket and ended with one lonesome Sheer Energy glove crying over the loss of its twin. (Actually, that was me.) RIP, other glove. Your loss is deeply felt, especially since I've had to return to my previous glove set up, which was a combination of three shitty knit gloves (one pair is fingerless) in mismatched colors. Fie.

In an effort to regain the feelings of invincibility that these gloves afforded me (I hear PCP works for this also) I have been trolling eBay in search of a replacement pair. As we all know, trolling eBay often becomes an exercise in finding shit you were not looking for. Like these 70s and 80s pantyhose ads!


(Via Kim's Vintage Ads.)

As usual, my loss is Listopad's gain.


(Via veritas104.)


(Via Vintage Press.)


(Via veritas104.)

Top serious question: is L'eggs selling stockings or hallucinogens? The trails, halos, and Yellow Submarine-esque illustrations are making me think I've entered "Go Ask Alice" territory. These subliminal messages have made me all the more determined to find my gloves, damn it!

Fashion Week Report

I've seen toned-down looks across many runways in New York this week. There's not much over-reaching, and many houses are avoiding risk. But the last thing I want to see right now-- in this climate, both atmospherically and economically-- is hopelessness. I'm looking for more look packed into streamlined shapes. And some designers have delivered.

My pick for the week thus far is Mara Hoffman, whose slim, body-covering shapes are popping with elaborate, head-to-toe detail.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have some houses simply going bare. I've seen many head-to-toe neutrals on slim shapes. This, too, is bold, though in a different way. It's relatively easy to look good in two or three colors, but one solid shade? A little harder. I think Derek Lam and Calvin Klein menswear, below, do it well.

Get To It

(via Refinery 29.)

Wednesday, snuggle up with some coconut milk hot chocolate (vegan vegan vegan!) and Lost. We'll be watching and crying along with you. (Serious bonus points if you garnish the cocoa with sliced bananas instead of that crazy meringue.)

Thursday, the Points play the Black Cat.

DCist Exposed opens at Flashpoint on Friday.

(I don't even know what to say about Saturday because we found a lot to do on this fine day. If you manage to squeeze this all in, do let us know, you animal!) Morgan and her unstoppable army of awesomeness-fiends are at it again! Celebrate the release of the third issue of Pandahead Magazine at Comet Ping Pong. Art Whino hosts the opening for John Malloy's "One Out of A Hundred." "Aspect:Ratio" closes at Irvine Contemporary. (We told you about this last month - have you been?) The National Gallery of Art hosts "American Independents: The Black Maria," a selection of films from the world-renowned experimental/short film festival named for Thomas Edison's film studio.

Food Friday: Tune-up

I will never, ever, ever get tired of tonno con fagioli - the endlessly riffed-upon dish that typically combines white beans and tuna flavored with lemon, garlic, salt and pepper. As you can imagine, a dish this simple is a mere jumping-off point for many an enterprising chef, including DC Coast's Jeff Tunks. His Tuna with White Beans and Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce is a must-try! It gets high marks for simplicity and nutritional value - and deliciousness. (Duh.)

Fresh Finds...

...will be on hiatus while we cook up a delicious new venture for Listopad shop. Be sure to keep your tuner on this station...

Reading Room

I was going to write a long, very explanatory post about Barbie Solves a Mystery, the 1963 YA novel I found at... I don't even know, some fucking thrift store. But as I was resizing the scans, I realized that this would be completely unnecessary. Each illustration in the book occurs at the beginning of a chapter, and the images coupled with the few lines of text function as nice little metaphysical units of nostalgia. You're all smart cookies; I bet you can figure out what going on.

Here is the glorious, glorious inside cover:



Look at Barbie's fabulous life! Boys! Sports! Adventure! Dresses! I would love to see the other novels in this series: Barbie's New York Summer, Barbie's Fashion Success, and, of course, Here's Barbie.

Cover page:



You go girl. You solve that mystery in that slim, elegant trench coat. Work!



Here is the crushingest irony of my posting these scans: in this novel, Barbie gets a job as the fashion reporter at her local newspaper and, in this particular chapter, she waxes poetic about the deliciously tactile qualities of a newspaper office - a physical space which may not live to see our children thanks to a little thing called the internet. And blogging. Oops.

Anyway. Chapter two killed me as well:



Later on in the chapter, there is a very Sex and the City-esque moment where Barbie is running down the "tree-shaded streets" of her bucolic town, "[zigzagging] her way through strollers" and the like, and arrives to her first day of work just on time. Ok, she's not wearing four-inch heels, but what is it with the semi-professional, adorably-frazzled blondie prancing her way to work that is so beguiling to pop culture? Probably has something to do with Baywatch. Ugh.

Whew, long post. There are about 12 chapters in this book, kids, so look out for more Barbie fun next week. Don't you want to know who she meets at her new job? Just you wait!

The New Ethics

I know we're all tired of "green" and "ethical" and "organic" clothing gimmicks trying to sell you a screenprinted t-shirt with skulls on it (boring....), but Listopad has always been a staunch supporter of the right goods made the right way.

The more this fad seeps into the collective conciousness, the more great products will eventually emerge to combine superior labor standards, ecological materials and fabolous design. Here are some of our recent picks:



Hand-made vegan moccasins from the BK? Yes please!



English knits are still relevant during the impending spring...





Fair-Trade African-print flats are a must

I knew I loved you for a reason

Do you guys remember the old Convention Center logo? You can still spot it the surrounding neighborhood on the signs they've forgotten to tear down. (There's one around M St. and New York Ave that I always pass when I'm on the bus.) It was conceived by Lance Wyman, a legendary designer who's been creating neat, eloquent, graphic confections that form a beautifully cohesive body of work while quietly informing our everyday lives with priceless beauty.


(via Ester Knows.)

I can't help but postulate that our favorite mysterious conglomerate took a page from Wyman's book in designing their own logos - most likely owing to the clever, simple, and vaguely retro quality of his work. This is really well exemplified in his agency's logo (which Wyman designed, duh).


(via XOYAZ.)

There's this badassery as well:


(via creativebits.)

Oy! Such swimmingly kinetic use of parallel lines! Good on ya, Lance.

Here's another Wyman creation that you may have seen before:



I know! Jaw on floor, right?!?!

Get To It

We have a bottom-heavy Get To It this week, my pretties. In other words, spend Monday through Wednesday catching up your beauty sleep and making cheddar chipotle scones. You heard me!


(via Mattjtay.)

Thursday, you have multiple option for throwing your second date a curveball: Big Gold Belt waxes electronic at the Black Cat with (The Sounds of) Kaleidescope and The Tennis System. Or you could not miss SAAM's final screening of Art in the Twenty-First Century - this week's series features Listopad beloveds Kara Walker and Kiki Smith.

Friday through Sunday, the National Geographic All Roads Film Festival hosts "Global Glimpses," a screening of the five films nominated for the 2008 Foreign Language Oscar. Some of the screenings are buffered by receptions (food!) and if you enter the code "GLOBAL" when ordering tickets on NG's website, you can see all five films for twenty-five bucks. Bam! What, that's not enough for you? Fine! The National Gallery of Art hosts Les Lutins du Court-Métrage: New Shorts from France on Friday. Now get out of my face!



Just kidding. Stay. Please? We have saved the best for last. Future Times is sticking it to the man by throwing a big, orgiastic dance party on Saturday that promises to be ten times more wacky, synthy, and sleazy than the last. Ron Morelli comes from NYC to scare small children and make your hair stand on end and newly minted Protect U holds your hand as you move forward and backward in time. Hallmark cards need not apply!

Food Friday: Orange You Glad

I am over buying stumpy, wet, too-bright orange carrots crammed artlessly into a plastic bag. It is an inappropriate and un-American thing to do, and entirely disrespecful to this nutrient-rich root! Now that I think about it, I am so mad I could crush spices in a resealable plastic bag and then simmer them with minced garlic, orange juice, coriander and sliced carrots to create a sweet, simple, earthy dish of epicly healthy proportions!

Fresh Finds - Mini Style

There is something really simple, precious, and timeless about this necklace. I pretty much pick it up and stare at it every other hour at Mercedes Bien...

40's Metal Heart and Bell necklace, Mercedes Bien, perfect for VD (that's "valentine's day")

Euphemisms

Then: shoulderpads.

Now, via Cathy Horyn: "extreme shoulders."

Full disclosure, y'all - the Cache bodysuit that I got from Listopad has seen the light of day - the light of a huge party, no less - with shoulder pads intact. It's because these particular pads are sharp, literally and figuratively - instead of the puffy, rounded monstrosities that get snipped out of many a thrift-store find, these are small and to the point, and give the shoulders edge instead of bulk. Reasonable iterations of this structural touch do exist.



For example: I love this! Hats off to the styling, of course, but the jacket is doing its own good work: I think the exaggerated shoulders create a lovely counterpoint to the wide leg of the trousers. All this plus a classic white t-shirt and really fucking dramatic headwrap? Yes please! These shoulders are so wickedly pointed that I cannot help but fall in love.



This is fucking badass and you know it. Yes, bulky shoulder, but the nipped waist and tight sleeves reminds you that the Evil Stepmother is still on top of her game. (Full disclosure #2: I have a sweater that is an exact replica of this dress.)

Dude or Chick? featuring Sumy

Hello Listopad minions. Welcome to the first installment of "Dude or Chick?" - a periodic feature in which will celebrate the wonders of androgyny and cross-dressing. First up is the lovely and talented Sumy.



Hailing from Surinam, he started fucking with keyboards and turned out to be amazing at them. He released his first 7-inch, "Going Insane," in 1979. Badass! Read an extensive interview with Sumy here.



So - dude or chick? The disco-spaceman-pajama look is our of our faves, and, as we can see, totally appropriate for either sex. We also have to give props to the pinkie bling (on of my resolutions for 2009 is to start wearing more "men's" jewelry), and the perfectly-proportioned afro. Note also the delicate chain and single gossamer bangle completing the look. This non-gender-specific outfit has the Listopad seal of approval!

Spring Shapes

These are the looks I am inspired by this season as I mosey along on the vintage trail...

(pics via Style.Com)

Jason Wu, designer du jour: the feminine pleated layers add to the imagination, while maintaining coverage.

Rachel Comey, Listopad fave: long highwaisted shorts are the new leggings. Love it!
Peter Jensen: love the subtle volume, like those bubble skirts of yester-season, yet simpler, better.

Karen Walker: Australian preppy gone good.

Peter Jensen: love the lines on the coat and the wide-leg trousers, hitting just above the ankle.

Sophia Kokosalaki: Egypt meets Art Nouveau.

Get To It

Tuesday, precious darling about-to-crack trooper Antony plays 6th and I with the Johnsons. (Click the link for a chance to win free tix. <3 you, TNG!)

Wednesday, buy a Washington Post. Open to the food section. Find a CSA farm that still has 2009 shares for sale. Buy share. Enjoy unique local produce all summer long. Repeat.

Thursday, Redeem hosts their periodic Knit Nite! Weave yarns with buddies.

Friday, join us for Disco City. This night has been going on for many moons now and it keeps getting funkier, dirtier, and more crowded! I know this makes it sound like a public restroom and not a really fun dance night, but if you free your mind you ass will follow.

Saturday is your last chance to see Ballyhoo! Posters as Portraiture at the National Portrait Gallery. Run - do not walk - to this amazing showcase of sleeper portraiture.

Sunday, Cat Power plays the 9:30 club. I can't think of a better way to wrap up the weekend.