Dec 19, 2011

Beautiful Things

Many of you may not know this about me, but I love pretty things. Beautiful things. Stunning things.

It's not a materialistic thing at all. It's about the art of it.

One of my favorite shows on TV was/is Project Runway (though I've been bad at keeping up the last 2 seasons).  Put all of the cattiness aside, and you have real, talented, creative people, working hard to create beautiful things with few resources.  The outcome can sometimes be awful, of course, but more often than not, I find myself  ooooing and ahhhhing when it's runway time.

(Quick Tangent: my very first BEA in 2007, I had to sit with an author at the Autograph Area, and Tim Gunn was signing right next to me!  I was flipping out on the inside, but tried to keep my cool and focus on the outside.  In any case, one of Tim's assistant's must have noticed my Inner Squee because he snagged me a copy of A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style to keep for myself. The one thing I noticed?  Tim is just as kind and friendly as he is on the show--he talked to every person on line, asked about them, where they're from, what they do.  He was all around lovely.)

My sister got me a subscription to Vogue two years ago.  And as a rather bookish gal, you might think that most of my enjoyment comes from reading the articles.  While I do appreciate the stories, my favorite part of the magazine is the mixture of scents and colors and flavors and texture.  I smell every perfume sample, and fawn over the couture, and the shoes--the shoes!  And most of all...the inspiration!

How can you not be inspired by this month's spread called "The Cult of Beauty," where Saoirse Ronan models herself after the artistic visions of the nineteenth-century Aesthetic Movement?

This one is my favorite, but check out all of them here

Well.

This spread wasn't the only thing that bowled me over in this issue though.  I was met with a new gadget.

So you know how you have to pull back the little folded perfume ads to smell the scent?  Well apparently, they can do you one better these days.

Alien by Thierry Mugler had an ad, with something that looked like a small enveloped stuck inside. Above it was written simply:

Detach and spray.

How very Lewis Caroll of Monsieur Mugler.

So just like Alice, I went for it. (See? I'm still a bookish gal at heart.)

Turns out I don't *love* the scent, but it's also not bad.  Definitely worth a sniff.  But the coolest part was still how it was done.  See here:



Step One: Pull tab up. 


Step Two: See that little white hole?  Well, when you squeeze the envelope, it sprays at you.

Crazy, right??  So apparently I like beautiful, artful things...and things that are just damn cool.

What will they think of next, eh?

4 comments:

Alleged Author said...

That really is cool! I hope they come up with ads that say detach and eat. Though other people's fingers might make me pause. Scratch that. Stick with the spray.

And the picture reminds me of "The Lady of Shalott" when Waterhouse painted his versions.

Loretta Nyhan said...

LOVE this post!

I don't go to the mall often, but when I do I'm struck by how boring everything is--the same basic shirts in ten different colors, you know? When I find something whimsical and unique I am all over it!

Gemma Cooper said...

I LOVE Project Runway!! The idea that people can turn a square of fabric into something so beautiful - always amazes me.

I went to the Alexander McQueen exhibition at the Met last time I was in NYC, and it was one of the most inspiring things I've ever seen. Very gothic and spooky - gripped you from the insides. And perfect inspiration for a little book I was writing at the time ;)

Hardygirl said...

Hmm. I just tried to comment and it disappeared, so I hope this isn't a repeat . . . but I just wanted to say that the Project Runway premiere is TOMORROW NIGHT!!!!!! And it's an all-stars season!!! I absolutely cannot wait!!

But I'm sad to report that Tim Gunn will not be there. Boo!

Love the perfume sample!! I think they should do that with chocolate . . .

sf