Alexander McQueen

Every once in a while, I see something so beautiful and so bizarre that I'm completely at a loss for words. Alexander McQueen's fall collection did that to me this year, which is why it's taken me days to figure out how to do this post. To me, McQueen's collection is an exquisite commentary on the melding of decadence and decay that has permeated world culture for decades, with the decay finally roiling its way to the surface. In McQueen's collection, you see looks that are exquisite from afar, but leave you with the distinct impression that something is wrong. It's not just the overblown, harshly drawn mouth on the model - when you look up close, you see that her hat is made of aluminum cans or bubble wrap. You see that her face is swathed in plastic wrap. You see that this fantasically beautiful look contains an element that is disturbing and revolting. Most of the collection had this visceral impact on me, and I wish I could show you every single look.

Of course, maybe I'm taking it way too seriously and it's just meant to be a giant spectacle or bratty joke, but for me this was a case of art and historical circumstances melding in a way that left me thinking about it for days.

Wonderful Women: Sophie Scholl

Sophie Scholl is one of those people whose lives should be taught in every school in every nation. But it's surprising to learn just how few people have heard of her.

Scholl was born in 1921 in a small German town, the fourth of five children. In 1942, she enrolled at the University of Munich, studying biology and philosophy. Around that time, a group of young men at the university, including Scholl's brother Hans, formed a Nazi resistance group called The White Rose.

Several members of The White Rose had spent time fighting on the eastern front and had witnessed Nazi atrocities firsthand. They authored political leaflets describing the horrible war crimes of the Nazis and instructing Germans to passively resist them. Although Sophie did not author any of the leaflets, she did help distribute them, and it was while she was distributing them on campus that she was arrested on February 18, 1943. Three days later, Sophie, Hans, and their friend Cristoph Probst were tried for treason, convicted, and sentenced to death in a ridiculous parody of a trial, wanly defended by court appointed attorneys. They were beheaded just hours after their sentences were handed down. Impressed by their dignity and bravery, the guards of the prison violated regulations by letting the three friends see each other before they died. Hans and Sophie were allowed to see their parents, but none of Probst's family was aware that he had even been arrested, and his wife was in the hospital giving birth to their third child.

Sophie Scholl's last words were: "How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?"

Sadly, the democratic uprising that Sophie envisioned never took place, and several more members of The White Rose were executed or sent to concentration camps.

A quality little film about Sophie Scholl was nominated for best foreign language film a few years ago - it's called Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, and it's worth adding to your Netflix queue. Another film about Scholl featuring Christina Ricci has been in development purgatory for years and looks like it's finally gone off the rails.

Dear Cardinal Levanda,

You believe in virgin birth and resurrection from the dead.
You believe a rambling, violent book that promotes sexism, racism, homophobia, slavery and profound injustice, and was written by desert tribesmen thousands of years ago, is the word of god.
You believe a capricious puppetmaster policeman in the sky personally supervises your every action and listens to your every prayer, despite the fact that if such a person actually existed, he would probably have better things to do.
You traipse around wearing man dresses and silly party hats.
And you think atheists are absurd?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29484902/?543

Furthermore, I don't think most atheists would go so far as to say that evolution proves there is no god. It simply proves that the god you would have us believe in, a god who lovingly crafted every single animal from scratch and loaded them two by two onto a giant boat, does not exist. But go ahead and say whatever gets you headlines. Obfuscation, after all, has always been your lifeblood.

Lurve,

Lalee

Ever notice...

Ever notice how Disney heroines look like underwear models:

But are a little too substantial for the runway, if you take my meaning?

While Disney villainesses look like they just finished walking for Viktor and Rolf:

Except of course for these two dames, who are too fat even for catalog work:

I know we want our heroines to be pretty. Of course we do. Everybody likes to look at pretty people. But I don't think the appeal of Disney princesses is just about beauty - it's also about sexual availability. I mean, some of those girls are pretty tramped out, I gotta say. It would be a cold day in hell before I'd let my pre-teen out the door in what Jasmine, Ariel, and Pocahontas are wearing. Don't even get me started on Esmeralda's stripper pole routine. Clearly it's not just about beauty. The Evil Queen, Maleficent, and even Cruella are arguably beautiful according to runway standards. And at least they manage to keep everything covered, for god's sake.

This is especially interesting when contrasted with Disney villains, who tend to be Lagerfeldian in their emaciated physique and effete bearing.

It's been posited many times that Disney villains are "drawn gay." But when you look at male and female villains as a group, I don't think it's about homosexuality as much as it's about defying gender expectations and failing to be sexually attractive. The villains and villainesses aren't gay - they're desexualized. They're androgenous. I don't think the message is that homosexuality is bad, but rather that failing to conform to traditional gender stereotypes, and specifically failing to be sexy, is bad. It's important to be beautiful, but if you're female, it's even more important to be feminine, fertile, and sexually available.

Forget the effects of third wave feminism and the porn industry - it's Disney that's shaping the imaginations of vulnerable American girls and creating generations of aspiring tarts.

This is what we did in New York this weekend:

Modern Art.

Post Modern Art.

Post Post Modern Art.

Art of the Moment.

Art of Tomorrow.

Performance Art. (Including a young man having a line tattooed down the center of his head live and in person.)

Dinner and drinks at an underground bar with a mechanical bull.

Meandering around Midtown.

Partying with diplomats at the Suiss Institute, eating tiny cunning hors d'oeuvres shaped like itty bitty gift boxes with chive ribbons.

Partying with French people in a fabulous SoHo apartment.

Ordering room service at incredibly unreasonable hours.

Brunch at Petrossian.

Drinks at a marvelous 5th Avenue apartment.

More drinks plus dinner at Waverly Inn - mac & cheese blanketed with black truffle shavings!

Williamsblur.

Being dazzled by the beauty of New York at night as seen from the Williamsburg bridge.

It's a tiny pink baby dolphin!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1158494/Caught-camera-Is-worlds-PINK-dolphin.html

Seriously! Tiny! Pink! Baby! Dolphin!

I know what my niece is getting for her fourth birthday.

http://www.armorofgodpjs.com/

Just kidding, Emilee. I would never do that to you.

Love,

Aunt Wally

Beyonce Knowles: A Fashion Retrospective

Dear Beyoncé,

You're a lovely girl. You can pull it together. I've seen you do it.

Cavalli

Vintage Atelier Versace

But sometimes you make bad choices.

Les Habitudes

Versace

We all make mistakes. It's not wrong to make mistakes. But it does make us look foolish when we repeat the same mistake over and over again, don't you find?

House of Dereon

House of Dereon

House of Dereon

House of Dereon

House of Dereon

House of Dereon

I know you love your mother, dear, but what I'm about to say is for your own good: stop letting her at you. Cut the braided gold lamé cord. Take away her glue gun before it's too late.

Love,

Lalee