Do The White Thing

White shoes/sneakers have been in the fashion zeitgeist for several years now, from plimsoles in London to Repettos in Paris and Tokyo, outmoded apres-Labor Day beliefs be damned. In fact, the ideal is a pair that's been worn to the point of not being white anymore, and the preferred punctuation for even an all-black or dark outfit. This fits in particularly well with the New York scene, which requires a level of dishabile so as to appear effortless, even if it's all completely contrived.

After several years of metallic accents, buckle straps, rubberized details or velcro closures, as well as last year's jazz shoe trend, I just want a pair that is so nondescript that they're the perfect nothing shoe. All white Adidas Stan Smiths and Nike Air Force Ones are readily available and perfectly suitable. But when I want a bit more refinement in the last, as well as not to see my footwear on every subway stop or window of Club Monaco, nothing out there matches the Common Goods Achilles Low. Crafted completely in Italy in a relatively narrow, round-toed silhouette, these all-leather kicks are the high end answer to every retro sneaker style out there, but discreetly chic. It's the fact that they're devoid of swooshes, panels or other embellishments that distinguishes them from every other shoe, with the only deviation from complete neutrality found in subtle metallic gold numbers screened on the sides of each foot, identifying the shoe's style number as well as your European size. Like APC jeans, they're the ultimate cypher for their genre, but style-philes in the know will totally get it. You can score a pair at Odin or Nom de Guerre in NYC, but you can also find them online here. They're not cheap at around $250, but then, perfection seldom is.

follow up:
I had some doubts because I was cautioned by the SA at Odin that these kicks were very structured and don't give a whole lot, and some have found them to be a bit constricting because they're narrow. Well, I've been wearing them over the past week, and I have to say they're extremely comfortable right from the get-go. I thought it might be lacking in arch support but it's actually got better support than some of the regular athletic style sneakers I own. I loosened up the laces a tad, though. I love em. I may have to get another color...!

New Pork

If you're like me, you'll still be sending out late Christmas presents under the more timely guise of New Year's gifts; all my building's service men know I never give them their tips until after Christmas anyhow. At around this time I go hunting for interesting envelopes that seem festive yet not passé (so Christmas money envelopes? not so much). Why not extend the time frame all the way into Chinese New Year, with these intricately cut, Year of the Porker envelopes? 2007 is once again the Year of the Pig, and I think these would be perfect gift cards. Heck, they're so cute I don't want to give them away... but maybe you would. I found these via Josh Spear's blogsite, but you can buy them here from designnight.com.

Floor Shine

I don't care much for most overhead room lighting. Usually too diffused to properly set a mood, I find it best relegated to kitchens and foyers, where lighting needs are utilitarian at best. Give me a great floor lamp as a main lightsource for a living room. In fact, give me two.

Over the past two years I developed a strong feeling for task lighting as a decorative trend, and became obsessed with a couple of floor lamps in particular. I spent a great deal of time in 2004 hunting down the Switch On Floor Lamp, left, which was then only available in Conran's UK store. A tri-arm lamp that was originally featured on the cover of the Conran catalog, it had a old-school machine age feel to it, reminiscent of vintage Serge Mouille lamps but a little more utilitarian in look. It was nowhere to be found in North America (believe me, I looked, but neither googling nor phone inquiries yielded any joy), and importing it from London was an undertaking that would have cost me upwards of 3 grand. For that price, I may as well splurge for the Max Floor Lamp, a more literal translation of the Big Idea of "task lighting as living room furniture," except it would only looked cramped in my small studio. Fortunately, I found the Switch On lamp earlier this year at a trade show for less than 1/3 what it retails, but Conran has also started selling it for $1750 at their 59th Street Store in NYC. See it here.

Similar in feeling but completely different in structure is the Loft Floor Lamp. Because of my frustration at not being able to get the Switch On Lamp, I acquired this one as a substitute. In a matte black, its angled, jointed form had a comparable vibe: masculine yet somewhat delicate, with a 1920s-30s feeling. It's now my work lamp, standing at skewed attention next to my desk while the Switch On lights up my living room. The New York Times Online claims you can purchase it also from Conran, but they only seem to have the tabletop version called the Signal. However, you may order it in any of a variety of metallic or powder-coated colors (as well as in different heights and configurations) from auto.

ImPressive

I'm not one to put garlic through a garlic press, since I learned how to chop it a certain way from growing up in Manila. However, if I were to use a press, I'd consider this beautiful little garlic press from Eva Solo. I'm quite taken by the design. Reminiscent of an endive leaf, or some futuristic lobster claw, what I love most about it is how the little storage vase that the press fits into (designed to perfectly stash those extra cloves) makes the whole setup look like a head of garlic itself. It's not cheap at $69, but I suppose beauty has it's price. Unica home has a whole selection of Eva Solo products to choose from.

Own Up

A new menswear magazine just launched this past month, with a direction that isn't really addressed in the United States: that of a fashion-forward male who favors less mainstream designer and Japanese brands. The clothing and articles featured seemed to emphasize streetwear a la Japanese Men's Non-no (my personal favorite tome) but with a more casual New York ease. Sure enough, a quick gander at their website revealed that this premiere issue is being launched simultaneously in NYC and Tokyo, as well as retailing off of the Own website. While the magazine is relatively spare, unlike the more frenetic layouts of the Japanese menswear shopping mags, the website is chock-full of news, blog entries and even a whole ecommerce section fully-stocked with a roster of completely fresh new brands (many hailing from Japan, NYC, or both). So far the offerings are somewhat staid compared to what I'm used to from Tokyo, and their emphasis on catering to an American clientele seems evident in their size offerings (Mediums and Large sizes prevail; I have yet to find something in a Small, but maybe I came to the site too late in the season), but there are a few really intriguing pieces here and there. Already I've located a few items that may appeal to the Carpe Diem/CCP set, those who favor unique cuts and constructions, novel fabric treatments and a tendency towards a more gothic feel.

Own is a bit pricey at $24 a pop, but with gorgeously thick stock and cool photography, it may still prove to be worth it. I question the decision to feature a very fashiony female model on the cover, however, because if I wasn't a magazine whore, I would have just thought this to be yet another women's fashion magazine and not the novel new men's mag that it is (especially considering that the newsagent I visited put it amongst the women's fashion mags). For a periodical dealing with such a rarified clientele, I wonder why they resorted to half-hearted laddie mag tactics, but I didn't really buy it so there might be a raison d'etre behind the covergirl. I don't know if they have anything to do with the Belgian design label Own, but it seems unlikely. Check them out at Own-Magazine.com.

Best By

I admit it - my fridge is a disaster. It's filled with leftovers, and about 20,000 plastic containers of crushed chili peppers (I've been ordering Vietnamese a lot). I'll be damned if I know which ones are still edible and which ones might be festering petri dishes of fear, but I can't bring myself to throw them all away because of an inherited need to horde, quite possibly the result of having been raised in a Third World country (must...save... everything!). Perhaps I need to indulge in a little design-y gadget like these Days Ago Counters. Color-differentiated digital timers attach to your stored vittles, and begin counting away the days since you tucked them away in your fridge. Simple enough - and so cool looking (pun intended). Via Productdose, but you can buy them here.

Picture This

I've recently repainted my pad, and where there once was an assortment of colors all over the walls (43 to be exact) in the form of stripes, faux finishes and murals, there now are muted shades of gray and blue. I've been through a lot in the 14 years since I moved into this apartment, and I felt I needed to calm down and mature a little more, hence the sober palette. I'm still a big fan of color, except now it's just more focused: my framed artwork and glass vase collection pop more, and your eyes see the furniture as opposed to the walls. Although since I just got them all painted just recently, I'm feeling that the walls are still a bit bare and could use some filling up.

Last week, I walked into my friend Rafe's office and found him perusing Lumas.com. Lumas is a site devoted to selling affordable yet really interesting, quality photography, perhaps for nascent collectors like me. I first became aware of the site through the Affordable Art Show that was held at the Metropolitan Pavillion a few months back here in NYC, but back then I went through the exhibits rather critically, judging the works for how I felt they succeeded or failed in their intent and not necessarily for their appeal. But now that I'm in decorating mode, I realize how great they'd look on my walls! (hey, I can't help it if I like to accessorize.) With subjects ranging from landscapes to intensely abstract animal portraits, to manipulated images that border on illustration, there's a great range on view and something to please everyone.

In any case, after going through the entire site myself, I was struck by how affordable many of the pieces are (all limited edition) and also by the great quality of the selections. Some of the pieces are by big name photographers like Nan Goldin and Jurgen Teller, but I actually found myself gravitating more to the work of unknowns. And when I started imaging how great they'd look in my apartment, I realized that I would actually enjoy owning and looking at many of these pieces everyday. If you've never considered owning original photography before (I never did - I always wanted illustrations), maybe this is the site to change your mind. Check them out here.

Give Up The Ghost

While taxidermy and antler themes have been a major trend in the past several of years (you know it's hit oversaturation when Banana Republic uses them in their displays), few have distilled the form into function as admirably as Erich Ginder. His Ghost series of antler coat hooks and tree coat racks have a purity that few others of the genre can match, and as such are worth mentioning again. In cast resin and available only in white or black (new for the tree), it's all about the form yet not purely for decoration. Granted the Ghost items are a bit on the pricey side, at $230 for the antler hooks and just under 2 grand for a tree, but in a sea of imitation flora and fauna, Ginder's pieces were not only at the forefront of the trend but seem to have achieved an almost iconic status and may even transcend the genre... only time will tell. And no plants or animals died to make them, although like me, you might be dying to own them. Buy them online via the wonderful folks at Design Public.

Ready Shreddy

Color me paranoid, but one can never be too careful these days, what with anyone just a maternal maiden name away from going all Single White Female on your bank account. We often have to trust that online institutions are doing what they say about maintaining your privacy and security, but what about people who still go about their nefarious ways by traditional routes: namely, by sifting though all your discarded papers and junk mail? I personally try to leave as little information as possible, and so I find myself shredding any documents with my name, address and other pertinent info, and that includes address labels on magazines and envelopes. I often build up a backlog of must-shred items in my outbox as a result, but then find myself ripping out only the addresses and trying to shred those into tiny bits... not always a practical (or effective) thing to do with a standard electric shredder. That's why I love this Hand Shredder: security is a snip away, and I can turn my private documents into confetti faster than Edward Scissorhands. And at $15 and change, how much is piece of mind worth? Just a little bit of money. Or apparently, a lot of little bits.

Available through Compact Impact, as linked on Better Living through Design.

Mollino Moment

The work of the late artist & designer Carlo Mollino has been having a resurgence lately. It's understandable considering how 50s Moderne has pretty much gone from overdrive to overkill, so interior design has to go in search of a different era to mine. Mollino's complex furniture constructions of the mid to late 40s are particularly appealing now. Their lattice-like forms have a maximalist/miniminalist dichotomy with almost insectoid shapes that are different enough to be fresh. Lately, two of my favorite items have been Mollino, both sighted over the past couple of years at the wonderfully curated Conran shop.

The Reale Table was a revelation, with its Giger-esque wooden base framed by a simple rectangular glass top. The appeal of the swirly interlocking parts are echoed in many modern items, everything from pop-culture X-men movie costumes to the often madcap biomorphic patterns on a pair of Nike running shoes, but the fact that they're done in wood lends a certain design heft to them. While the base is available in a variety of wood finishes, I find the purity of a black open pore the best to play off the web of bent wood. There's a range of finishes and sizes on offer at UnicaHome.

Mollino's Cavour Writing Desk is more Mid-Century 50s in feeling, with it's tapered legs and boomerang references, but it's the contrast of the attached drawers that really make it special, playing off of the curves with harder, squared edges. There's a very aerodynamic tilt to the desk's design, and a glass top again provides the perfect invisible framework for the gorgeous bones of this piece, balancing the design with a visual lightness. Naturally, I want it... but since I already own a beautiful and thoroughly functional (especially for clutterfly me) custom-built Rainer NYC desk, I'll just have to dream about the corner office I will someday own that would require me to get a second desktop.

For more on Carlo Mollino, check out design boom's article.

Drape Victim

Where is men's fashion going? Well, it's certainly loosening up. After the reign of Hedi Slimane and his ubiquitous waify Dior boys, avante garde menwear is trying to find the next, new lexicon. Sure the skinny jeans may still hold sway for a bit longer, but it is increasingly offset with larger tops and looser cuts. Raf Simons' volume route is certainly valid, although I find myself disappointed with the quality of his actual production for his prices. Rick Owens is developing into one of my favorite designers, and I find his drkshdw line of jeanswear to be a perfectly edgy casual. But I tend to like things with a bit more polish even when they're deconstructed. Under-the-radar Japanese brand Julius is pushing all the right buttons for me at the moment, and then some.

While the rather intense editorial styling might make this brand off-putting to the general millieu, I just love the thought processes that seem to be behind many of the pieces once you get past the Mad Max dystopian imagery. Julius favors tops with intricate drapings of gauzy or bunchy fabrics, which I see as the perfect foil to all the intentional deconstruction that seems to typify avante garde menswear lines like Linea and Carpe Diem. While those other brands take great care to make it seem like a pieces was just hacked off a dead cow and haphazardly sewn into a shirt or pair of shoes, Julius comes off as more cerebral to me. It takes quite a personality to put on these pieces, and they make a statement that is quite strong yet not necessarily too in-your-face. Tees seem perfectly worn and stretched out, except with Julius, there are intricate patterns behind the purported effortlessness. Drapes may seem random but are the result of skillful construction. I'm a sucker for conceptual fashion, especially well-executed clothes I can actually see myself wearing. And while I don't see this brand becoming a mainstream contender anytime soon, I'll happily be the fashion victim in these pieces, although I will likely tone them down with the inevitable mixing and matching (vintage FW 2004 Cloak should play with it nicely). Unfortunately they're available only in Japan and Michiko in London. I found out about Julius via the fashion forward crew at stylezeitgeist.com. but you can check them out on their website.