In Transit

Sunday, October 31, 2010 (approximately 1:00AM)

Toronto, Ontario

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Droll Decimation of Men's Fashion Blogs

 Thanks to The Cool Hunter we were recently turned-on to this fresh and *crispy* blog. It has us falling off our chair laughing. In contrast to the usual street fashion blogs, which focus on "the look" with little or no comment (just an implied mutual hipness), Fuck Yeah Menswear is all about the wicked prose.  Each post is  set up by a single shot followed by the witty devestation. Here's an example:

image courtesy The Sartorialist via fuckyeahmenswear.tumblr.com

 

Scoots Dore has been tailing me all day.

Sting operation outside my dorm.

Code red.

DEFCON 4 level swag.

I’m on some transcendent shit.

St. Jeezy knit and white jeggings.

S/S 2010.

Barbour Beau and my Beanies, baby.

F/W 1923.

Moleskin and a brown bag lunch.

NYU Class of ‘13.

I’m a goddamn trend transformer.

Tumblr’s own Optimus Prime.

Decepticons mad salty when they see me up on The Sart.

Get ‘em some Dr. Scholl’s for their beefrolls.

Medium rare.

Ya boy stays well done.

Burning up.

Charred out.

Dripping in steez sauce.

A.1. icon.

Someone tell Scotty to pop this mo’fucker in Photoshop.

I deserve to be in black and white.

When I’m stunting on co-eds.

And pretending to look interested.

******

 LOVE IT!

By the way, here are a couple of definitions from Urban Dictionary that might prove useful in making your way through FYM's posts:

Steez:

The word "steez" has many definitions or uses.
Sure it can mean "style with ease", but that's plain old fucking gay. I mean come on, style with ease, a word such as steez possesses so much more possibilities than those three words limit it to.
1. Steez is ones overall state of being. Whether it be the way some one dresses or acts, they can have the aura that is STEEZ.
2. The way some one carries their self is also a branch of Steez. Only this time we break it down and add a "Y" to the word. Steezy. Steezy can describe the way something looks, the way you may feel, or the way you think some one else looks.
3. Like I said, steez is a wide open word that can be used to an endless amount of possibilities and combonations. Adding steez as a prefix or a suffix often makes you less steezy, but can enhance your state of STEEZcreativity. Think about it.

1. Bro, that kid has mad steez. Check out his shoes man, those shit are mad steez.
2. Aw shit that car is damn steezy. I'd feel like a steezmonkey riding in that shit for sure.
3. STEEZmonkey (good thing) STEEZbomb (good thing) STEEZnugget (good thing) STEEZfaced (being intoxicated) STEEZmonster (bad thing)

Crispy:

To be hot.. one of a kind... confidant about yourself ..sexy..
Many use this word, but few have yet to grasp the true meaning, the true essence behind it. Someone can have a crispy personality, a crispy attitude, a crispy style. Crispy is about being happy about how you look, how you dress, how you act, how you think. Alot of woman carry the "crispy" attitude into clubs.

"oh sara you're so fucking crispy tonight"
or

new yorks word to describe your hair cut, hair do,your way of style, your sneakers or shirt

1.yo those are some crispy ass braids on that nigga. 2. yo steve harveys shape up madd crispy. 3. yo loon got a crispy ass goatee. 4. yo that nigga p. diddy is a crispy ass niggs. 5. yo i new to get me a pair of crispy ass air force ones and a crispy ass white tee.

*****

And it helps to know of a few of the folks referenced. In this case, Scoots and Dore are found in our very own feedbag:

http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

















http://www.garancedore.fr/en/

Just giving Scoots the last name Doré is "dripping in steez sauce", doncha think?...

Seen: Luz Azul...

Big Box Blitz...

 

 

"She sobbed quietly as she waited for her husband to finish his meatballs..."

 

In and out of the store in under 30 minutes!
...nearly home, safe at last!

Art with a View...

We posted recently about our fun lunch in the café at Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, and we promised to tell you a little more about the institution itself. Why don't we let them speak in their own words?

The Círculo de Bellas Artes of Madrid (CBA) is a private, not-for-profit cultural institution. Ever since it was set up in 1880, it has played a major role of international scope in the field of cultural creation and diffusion.
The Círculo de Bellas Artes is a major multidisciplinary centre with one of the most active cultural programmes in Madrid. It has exhibition rooms, a cinema, a theatre, concert halls, lecture halls, artists’ workshops, a library, a cafeteria, a shop and many other facilities. Every day it puts on activities to do with the visual arts, music, film, the stage, literature, science, philosophy and poetry.
The building which houses the Círculo de Bellas Artes was designed by the architect Antonio Palacios and constructed in 1926. It is an emblematic building and from its rooftop you can enjoy some of the best views of Spain’s capital city.

 When we visited there was an exhibition featuring young designers, and another on the art of comic strip drawing.

 The young designers exhibit featured a small number of pieces of varying nature and quality. Generally speaking, the graphic designs impressed the most.

The comic strip making exhibit, again of modest size, was of high quality and emphasized the active political role taken by these artists in producing art which provides critical commentary on current events. It was interesting, later in our trip at the Reina Sofia Museum, to find ourselves looking at illustrated propaganda from the period of the Spanish Civil War and to realize the continuum that this art form has maintained.

 

The Círculo building is impressive and features a beautiful staircase that winds its way to the upper levels.

 

 

A virtual tour of the building is available here 

on the institute's website (requires Quicktime).

The star feature of the building is certainly its huge rooftop terrace. In fact it was pictures like this  first one that led us to the CBA in the first place, thinking we would be able to enjoy an evening cocktail high above the city. Alas, the space is only used in the evenings for special events so unless you are on someone's guest list you must visit during the day.

 

We were actually more than happy to visit in the daylight- we were rewarded with a spectacular view over the capital. And fortunately for us, on the day we chose to visit we were treated yet again to the most spectacular blue skies.
 *****

CIRCULO DE BELLAS ARTES

Calle ALCALÁ, 42
28014 MADRID

Sorry, We're Closed: Siesta in Toledo

 

Very often in Spain shops will leave their doors ajar during siesta, 

a promise that they will reopen that evening.

Shops We Love: Don Flamenco

 Unfortunately, this little gem was closed so we didn't get the opportunity to go inside.

The doorway and walls were plastered with posters in support of the local Flamenco community.

We love the art in this window!

Don Flamenco

Calle del Leon, 17

Madrid

A Few Ideas for University Avenue...

Travel to another city always gets us thinking in terms of "what if?" Invariably someone else will do something better (or at least differently) that you do. It's always worth taking a look at how they do it and considering whether that approach might bring something of value to your own situation. And in the case of Madrid, they do Public Space very well. 

above image courtesy Toronto Star

A couple of long narrow places that really caught our eyes had us thinking back to the shamefully under-optimized boulevard on University Avenue. Why is this nothing more than a swath of otherwise unused land decorated along its edges solely for the benefit of drivers? Don't get us wrong- such decoration is not in itself an unworthy objective, but it should form the ADDITIONAL layer that makes the street better, not be the only benefit of having a boulevard. Why not also populate that space with the human activity appropriate to its position in the heart of our metropolis? Why not add a layer of attraction that would compel people to head there when the corporate offices & court rooms are empty? Why not provide lunch spots and pleasant opportunities for strolling for the thousands of hospital workers, patients and visitors?

*****

In the three pictures below, a pair of parallel streets with a small plaza between them were altered so that all traffic was routed onto only one of the streets. The plaza was then extended into the space vacated by the second street. Even without this fairly drastic action (a step that isn't applicable in our University Avenue example) we love the idea that a small pavilion shop could exist on the avenue's center median. Further up the pavement another pavilion housed a cafe that supported a small but lively cluster of tables.

Below is a beautiful book market, a perfect example of a linear use that's very appropriate for a boulevard setting. It's not much of a stretch to imagine something like this working fantastically well on University Av. It could turn into a wonderful little Christmas Market once the cold weather sets in.

 above image courtesy visitbath.co.uk

The shot below is from Paris, where the linear Marché Richard Lenoir operates on the median of Boulevard Richard Lenoir. Below that is a view from Spacing Magazine (article here) showing the Tuesday farmers market that operates in front of Sick Kid's Hospital. Why not expand the market to include the other hospitals (see article for the original idea & mandate) and run it down the center median?

above image courtesy spacingtoronto.ca

It's time we really started intensifying the use of our public spaces. Not only would this provide more bang for the bucks we already spend maintaining them and increase their safety by populating the spaces for more hours in the day, but it would be a celebration of big city life. It would provide urban delight, that pleasure found in being somewhere in the public realm that is rich with interest and teeming with people, and it would provide it in layer upon layer, around every corner. It's time we embraced bigness!

With the country's design industry so heavily concentrated here and with the lessons we are learning from others and applying creatively to the waterfront, surely we can do better than this!!

above image courtesy of urbantoronto.ca