An arial view of the Guggenheim's interior. Image courtesy of the DesignMuseum.org

Last Sunday, I made the trek uptown and spent a rainy afternoon in the City at the Guggenheim, to see the museum’s current main attraction, Haunted.

This was my first time at the museum and I was immediately enthralled by Frank Lloyd Wright’s pristinely white, spiraled architecture. The cylindrical shape of the building, combined with the seemingly infinite open-air spiral walkway wrapping the interior, fits perfectly with the exhibit, which seeks to

share a connection in terms of their relationship to the past and the idea that they are somehow recording something in the past and bringing it forward into the present…

The exhibit begins on a heavy note, with Andy Warhol’s Orange Disaster #5. This work, which gives the viewer a good idea of what’s to come, represents Warhol’s obsession with mortality in the mass media, and his theory that the serial exposure to a tragic image (in this case, an electric chair) lessens its effect on the viewer.

Continuing up the spiral, viewers are bombarded with disturbing images ranging from Joan Jonas’s Mirror Piece 1 which depicts a woman holding a mirror in a way that replaces her upper half with the reflected image of her legs, to Annette Messager’s spiral of body parts, entitled My Vows. These pieces are eventually followed by a stunning video instillation of Marina Abramovic, the famed performance artist, fervently cleaning a human skeleton on her lap.

Of course, there are works in the exhibit that aren’t as haunting as the aforementioned. Nate Lowman’s The Last Supper depicts the classic da Vinci mural with which it shares its name vertically distorted and blotched entirely black. The effect turns the piece into a kind of Rorschach inkblot that the viewer is left to interpret. Personally, it reminded me of the New York skyline.

Then there is Hiroshima Sugimoto’s Princess Diana, a seemingly simple portrait. However, the dimly lit ambiance of the exhibit combined with the tragedy surrounding the subject, creates a chill just as powerful as any of the other, more literal pieces.

Lichtenstein's "Floater", image courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum

One of the collection’s most noteworthy works is the one with which the museum chose to advertise the exhibit: Floater, by Miranda Lichtenstein (see right).

The photograph features a woman drifting on her back in a pool of water, staring up. At first glace there is nothing unusual about the image. Then you notice that her reflection in the water, which shows her mirrored face looking down in the water, is at an angle that would make it impossible to capture naturally. It is perhaps here where the portrait gets its name; the subject is both a pensive woman, drifting along on her back, and a lifeless body, drowned beneath the surface.

All in all, Haunted does more than live up to its name. Not only does it offer an incredible selection of works that deal with the past, the exhibit also takes on a life of its own, staying with you well after you’ve left.

If you’re going to be in New York City before September 6th, think about visiting Haunted.

-Will Defebaugh, Creative Director

SHEI PR Director Jenny Pittel & Exec Director Janelle Grai hitting the clubs.

SHEI goes to see Gaga live at the today show! Please do not judge SHEI and the City; it was five in the morning.

Gaga turning to face her little monsters, looking fabulous as ever.

Janelle in the massive crowds in Rockefeller Center, waiting for Gaga.

Me and fellow Wolverine Diane Bao checking out the view in the “Sky Room” at the New Museum in SoHo: note the wish ribbons!

Janelle and I at the Bulgarian Mehanata Bar on the Lower East Side. For $20 they dress you up in Military uniforms and Burkas, and lock you in something called the Ice Cage, where you take as many shots of …*ahem* … juice as you can in 2 minutes.

Janelle and I enjoying some cake batter frozen yogurt at 16 handles, as promised.

Stay tuned for more photos & updates from SHEI and the City!

-Will Defebaugh, Creative Director

1. Visit James Franco’s first solo art exhibit, A Dangerous Book for Boys, at the Clocktower gallery in Tribeca. While I can’t vouch for whether or not it has air conditioning, the actor’s dedication to sexual confusion in adolescence is supposedly worth a look (or two).

2. Stop by 16 Handles in the East Village for some delicious froyo in over 25 different flavors. Personal favorite: cake batter with brownie bites, mochi, and chocolate drizzle.

You could go to here. (Image courtesy of www.thegothampalate.com)

3. Go to a museum. They are pretty, and they are almost all air-conditioned. I know I’ll be stopping by the New Museum of Contemporary Art to see Brazilian artist Rivane Neuenschwander’s exhibit on wishes. Those who stop by her show get to take silk ribbons with wishes imprinted on them from the walls. The ribbons are meant to be worn around your wrist, and supposedly when they fall off, the wish will come true. Oh and did I mention they’re free?

4. Do not go to Central Park. Though I know the urge is strong, fight it. You will walk a mile into the park and before you know it, you will get so hot that nothing in the world will matter anymore other than getting the hell out of there. Mothers will abandon children, lovers will flee for their lives, and dogs will escape their masters. Your ice cream will melt, and then, when you realize that you have to walk that mile back out, you will give up the will to live entirely. So please—avoid Central Park.

5. See a movie! It’s the perfect way to relax and stay cool, without having to stay cramped up in your apartment. The Kids Are All Right, staring Julianne Moore and Annette Bening as a married couple whose world gets shaken upside-down when their teenage children seek out their biological father (Mark Ruffalo), is definitely at the top of my list, along with Toy Story 3.

6. Get the new issue of GQ which comes out today.

-Will Defebaugh, Creative Director

Follow me on twitter: twitter.com/thedefeblog

Me, in front of Buddakan, during the SATC tour.

Sitting in a coffee shop in Gramercy Park after a weekend full of sex (kidding)… and the city. Before I had even moved to the city, I had pre-ordered tickets to see Sex and the City 2. As an avid Carrie Bradshaw and Sex and the City fan (I’ve seen every episode at least twice), I figured there would be nothing better than seeing the sequel in the Big Apple. And, I was right.

As if that wasn’t enough, my sister and I spent our Sunday afternoon touring all of the Sex and the City hotspots through an HBO bus tour. Despite the obnoxious Bachelorette parties, it was an amazing opportunity to see first-hand some of the famous Sex and the City spots. We drove past Big and Carrie’s penthouse, Miranda’s gym, Charlotte’s art gallery, Buddakan (the restaurant where Carrie and Big had their engagement party pre-wedding-day-debacle- see photo!), Samantha’s Meatpacking District loft, and much more. But, let’s cut to the chase. Although the four girls looked hot, Sex and the City 2 didn’t get such hot reviews.

Before I saw the film, I looked to no other than Roger Ebert, my favorite movie critic, for his review. I was not so pleased with his opening paragraph:

The characters of Sex and the City 2 are flyweight bubbleheads living in a world which rarely requires three sentences in a row. Their defining quality is consuming things. They gobble food, fashion, houses, husbands, children, vitamins and freebies. They must plan their wardrobes on the phone, so often do they appear in different basic colors, like the plugs you pound into a Playskool workbench.

GULP.

So here are my thoughts. The movie will be loved by all Sex and the City fans. But, that’s just it. You have to be a fan of the show to really enjoy the movie. Costume designer and so-called “inventor of Carrie Bradshaw,” Patricia Field, did a phenomenal job selecting the clothing for the sequel. The majority of the movie takes place in Abu Dhabi (the “new” Middle East) known for its luxury. And the costumes for the movie reflect just that. But, then again, what else would you expect with a costume budget estimated at ten million dollars? I may be biased, but NYMag’s The Cut says it best when it comes to the film’s costumes:

In the karaoke scene pictured, Carrie wears $4,000 embellished jeans by the Blonds under a $47,190 silver-and-gold Chanel lamé dress and overskirt. The spiky shoulders Samantha wears in Abu Dhabi are also by the Blonds and cost $5,000. The matching outfits Samantha and Miley Cyrus wear include $3,500 Matthews Williamson dresses and $300 Dolce Vita boots. Charlotte makes cupcakes in a vintage Valentino blouse under an Anthropologie apron. Miranda wears a $1,400 Roland Mouret dress and in another scene a five-figure 24-karat gold cuff.

The karaoke scene from Sex and the City 2 (photo credit: nymag.com)

Wow. So, the costumes are elaborate. But, is the plot? A main concern I had with the film is that for being called Sex and the City, there wasn’t much sex… and there wasn’t much city. Perhaps Prude in Abu Dhabi would have been a better title.

Although Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ Empire States of Mind kickoff the film (let’s hear it for New York), there weren’t many visuals of the city. The movie, which was mainly filmed in Morocco, was hoping to highlight style and luxury in another part of the world. And, while doing so, attempted to show how the native females in the Middle East, despite their garbs, still crave the fashion that the four girls are used to in New York City. The film was trying to show how women around the globe can bond over a similar love of shoes, Louis Vuitton pantsuits, and Manolo flats… er something.

The plot line itself is nothing to write home about. Without spoiling too much, Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie Bradshaw), Kristin Davis (Charlotte York), Cynthia Nixon (Miranda Hobbes), and Kim Cattrall (Samantha Jones) are clearly the main characters. Mr. Big, Steve, Harry, Stanford,  and Smith [why are you so hot?] have little to no parts in the movie. Carrie Bradshaw runs the show (as usual). She escapes to Abu Dhabi because she’s sick of her “bored” life with Mr. Big, though takeout with Chris Noth in a penthouse apartment in Manhattan doesn’t sound all that boring to me. Charlotte York enjoys time away from her two daughters, who have caused her a few mental breakdowns that avid Sex and the City fans are not used to seeing from refined Charlotte. Miranda is sick of her woman-hater boss and quits her job when husband Steve (gag) encourages her to do so. And, Samantha Jones experiences the side-effects of menopause, while still managing to hook up with the hottest men in the Middle East. Bottom line: all four women manage to escape to Abu Dhabi for their own various reasons.

Nearly every movie critic hated the movie. I’ve read everything from “Sucks in the City” to “thin gruel.” Truthfully, I didn’t half mind the sequel. Given, my opinion of the film could have been skewed by Bradshaw’s gold-glittered Christian Louboutins. If you accept the fact that Sex and the City never really intended to have an Academy Award winning plot line, you can sit back and enjoy Patricia Field’s costumes, the fabulous four’s always-present chemistry, and a few scenes that will have you laughing out loud. But, beware, the movie is lengthy (I was an hour late to my dinner reservation at Buddakan)!

To end on a high note. Here’s a fun fact I learned on the SATC tour this weekend. Remember the opening scene from each Sex and the City episode where Carrie Bradshaw gets splashed on while wearing the pink tutu? The given link will give you a helpful reminder. Well, you’ll notice a bus full of people (0:35 seconds). When the bus turns around the corner, however, the people are no longer in the bus (0:40 seconds). The blooper went unnoticed for six seasons.

Carrie on!

The Upper East Side, is characterized by old money, beautiful buildings, clean streets, impossibly expensive apartments and townhouses, Gossip Girl, the MET, and all around high society. Just about everything except breathing is out of my price range (seriously, even bottled water can be up to four dollars), but sometimes it’s nice to go for a stroll, and breathe in the smell of crotchety old women walking their dogs.

Next, to the west is Central Park. Though not an official district per se, it’s the oasis in the middle of this thriving metropolis. It’s an excellent place to go for a boat ride, a hike (yes, it’s that big), to lay out in the sun, a game of Frisbee, a game of people-watching, a game of people-watching watching a group of monks playing a game of Frisbee, a picnic, anything involving ice cream, a first date, or a wedding. You can’t come to New York and not fall in love with Central Park. Imagine standing in the middle of green expanding in every direction until the sea of trees hit the skyscrapers in the distance.  Sheep Meadow is pure love.

Sheep Meadow in Central Park, photo courtesy of www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com

Below Central Park is Midtown. Here you can find: Time Square, a shock inducing amount of electronic billboards, the Condé Nast Building (home to GQ, every other major publication in America, and my internship), the original Saks Fifth Avenue, every fabulous and expensive designer store from Chanel to Versace, and the worst traffic you’ve ever seen. Oh, and let’s not forget the famed theatres of Broadway.

Lastly, I’ll leave you with my home: the Lower East Side. Now one of the city’s up-and-coming trend spots, LES has a great deal to offer, including but not limited to: art galleries, the Williamsburg bridge, the street that never sleeps (also known as Ludlow), alphabet city, a plethora of little vintage and designer shops, the best crepes in Manhattan, a clear path to Chinatown, and an adorable park/public gardening space where children and roosters roam free.

Though crammed together on a surprisingly small island, each district of the city has its own unique personality. These are just a few places with which I’ve recently become acquainted—and I can’t wait to get to know the rest.

-Will Defebaugh, Creative Director

Follow me on twitter: twitter.com/TheDefeblog

To die for Lady Gaga sunglasses.

But that’s the funny thing about living your dreams, they rarely end up exactly as you thought they would be. Don’t get me wrong, I had one of the most incredible weeks of my life—it was just a little different than I imagined.  Not worse.  Just different.

Take my “celebrity sightings” for example. Though two are classified (as they relate to upcoming GQ features), I can tell you that Mark Indelicato, better known as Betty’s kid brother Justin on Ugly Betty, is interning at Teen Vogue for the summer, which shares a floor with GQ. While he may be as fabulously dressed as his character on Betty, Marc is just like the rest of us doing internships – trying to learn something and get a foot in the door somewhere (though, I suppose, at fifteen he is getting a bit of a head start).

This came as somewhat of a surprise to me. I, like most of America, was under the impression that having celebrity status gave you a huge advantage over everybody else.  This is probably because in our media-driven culture (especially in New York), we have placed the celebrity business under a huge magnifying glass. We are seemingly obsessed with stardom.

Of course, media scholars and psychologists have been writing about this for quite sometime.  One theory called “Celebrity Worship Syndrome“, suggests that average people follow celebrity gossip and Hollywood drama because it takes us away from our own hum-drum lives by letting us live vicariously through others.

But from what I’ve seen this week, being a celebrity does not make you different than anyone else – it’s just another career. And it doesn’t fix all of your problems.  While I’m no celebrity, I can tell you that getting to ride in a company car doesn’t transport you to some magical other world; it just takes you to the eight different places you have to pick up from in under an hour.

We’re all trying to make it somewhere, to find purpose in something—even those who have seen their name in lights. So don’t waste your life living it vicariously through anyone else. Live your own life. Be your own celebrity.

-Will Defebaugh, Creative Director

Shabayeva’s latest collection premiered at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York on Saturday February 13; built around a theme of aviation, it featured feathers, hand-painted detailing, wool, leather, fur, and… well, yes, if you looked at the terrible pun titling this article, Tupperware.

Shabayeva has an incredible talent for mixing the feel of soft femininity with a sartorial confidence of the detailing in each piece, and her emphasis on the essential luxe that imbues her work makes even the materials that make up the plastic container holding last night’s leftovers classy, chic and stylish.  It’s because of every other news report that one can even realize that it is not just fabric and feathers that Shabayeva uses to create her art, and the seamless integration is really inspirational–what else can we do with unconventional materials in clothing?

Think about it–a plastic dress, while not exactly biodegradable, is sort of like a redesigned plastic bag.  It can be worn for years, and if you gain a few pounds, the gown can stretch with you (just not back the other way!).  You find and buy a snazzy looking one, and it’ll be in style forever–you can pass it off to your daughter, who’ll give it to her daughter, who’ll… for the next 500-1,000 years, or however long a plastic bag will take to disintegrate.  Scientists haven’t figured it out yet.

What’s your take on plastic-wear?  Does this bring back too many memories of technicolored vinyl pants that left too little to the imagination, or are you psyched to cut up some old lunch boxes right now and start assembling your own DIY-plastic-detailed-dresses?  Are you gonna take other cues from Irina Shabayeva, and try incorporating some animal exteriors into your clothing?

(I recommend pulling the feathers out of your pillowcase if you can’t find any foot-long behemoths on your local carrion, and with the overabundance of obese squirrels on campus, you’re living in a city-wide fur factory).

Ninny C.

Cole is a friendly guy with a great sense of humor – I know this because the guy sitting to the right of me did not stop laughing the entire time. Aside from being an “international fashion empire,” Kenneth Cole seems to be a “regular guy” with a big sole. (ha!)  

A little bit of history – this fashion icon started by designing shoes then expanded his business to include items such as wallets, ties, and collared shirts. Cole went to Italy to design shoes then started his own line here in America in 1982. Wanting his business to get noticed, he requested permission to park a trailer in the bustling city of New York from which he planned to sell shoes. He was told that only movie production companies could do that, so he added “Productions Inc” to the end of his business name, “Kenneth Cole” and set up shop. The business sold 40,000 pair of shoes in 2 1/2 days!

Right now, he is focusing on designing comfortable shoes that still look good. He believes that black is best because it goes with everything. The Kenneth Cole 925 shoe collection is part of his desire to create a product so cool no one knows what it is.  Cole is also famous for his intriguing ad campaign that uses catchy slogans and a play-on-words and he says he is always looking for more creative opportunities.

 Cole thinks his business is a “great community service for women” and encouraged us to explore “new frontiers” in green, healthcare, creativity, and social change. And to close his speech he left us with the inspiring words, “going against traffic is not necessarily going in the wrong direction.” Visit AWEARNESSBLOG.COM or read his Awearness novel to become more socially “awear” of issues involving social rights, well-being, political landscape and hard times.

In true Kenneth Cole fashion, I encourage you to “give from the heart, take from the closet” and shop Kenneth Cole. Oh yeah, and be sure to follow him on Twitter or friend him on Facebook – he told us he doesn’t have very many friends!

Erica Nicole.

Staring with the Big 3; Canon, Nikon and Sony. All 3 have huge booths that was busy with constant talks and product demos. There are some great speaker talking about on location shoots, studio shoots and what the equipment can offer. Sony is pushing hard with their new line of high end DSLRs, the build is fairly impressive and the camera got a good feel to it, but the biggest flaw remains to be their lack of lens choices. If we ever get our hands on a unit, we will definitely give you a full run down.  Canon and Nikon have their arrays of equipment on display and play with,  with Nikon showing their software Nx-capture and their MONSTER 200-400 2.8 lens (that lens was the size of my leg) ; Canon showing off their arrays of equipment, but no new 1Ds and an impressive collections of printers.

One interesting thing about the Nikon booth is that they set up a small photo shoot for people. it was kinda cool… judge for yourself. (check out the demographic)

There are other high lights as we walk around, we stopped by Lens baby booth and looks like they have expanded their line of products, if you are into tilt shift  or very advanced focus control go check them out. For those who need a good and solid portfolio, Lost Luggage is here to help, and look for our coming reviews!  Pelican case is always a good stop to check out their great hard case. In the up coming weeks we will also talk about new services and products that we come across.

After a hard day of talk and walking the photo teaming stop by our gracious host the PDN, and here picture of us chilling at the press room. And we will be reviewing some of the software demo that we received in the coming weeks. After more SHEI promotion work we decided to call it a day and head into NYC. Look out for part III, NYC in 10 hours with Sunny as your tour guide.

If you have been following our post, we talked about the Instax last time.  One correction to the last post is that the camera was the Instax 200, sorry for any confusion. And we are definitely doing this next year with the Photo team!

This latest spin-off  looks like denim without the usual weight and stiffness; indeed, jeggings are surprisingly comfortable and flattering, made in a variety of washes from acid to black and often embellished with zippers or an ankle scrunch. Dressier than leggings and more comfortable than jeans, jeggings look great paired with simple V-necks  and flats, tunics, dressy tank tops, or sweaters and chunky boots.

While some sources have called jeggings a “don’t” (I’m looking at you, New York Magazine) they have been given the kiss of approval from celebrities such as Beyonce, who paired her this summer with a chic white blazer, Sienna Miller, Mischa Barton, and even Ciara, who rocked bleached jeggings to a red carpet event. And with such comfort and versatility, it’s a small wonder they’ve been flying off the racks at department stores and boutiques across the globe.

As always, time will tell in if the latest fashion revolution is here to stay, but until then, readers, keep your boring black leggings on the back burner and experience for yourself the new simple, stretchy chic jeggings has to offer. The world of denim may never be the same.

-LH