Car/Boat . Anyone?

When I first saw the photo below (from a recent issue of Coastal Living), it immediately brought to mind an episode of my most beloved BBC show, Top Gear. If you're not familiar with TG, well, you ought to be. It's a car show. (And let me firmly say, I'm not what you would call a "car person.") The three hosts test cars, rate cars, make jokes about cars, and in each episode have "car challenges."

In a favorite episode of mine, their challenge was to take a car and turn it into a car/boat; a car that would be able to drive on land and then float/drive on water. It was an absurd challenge that invovled the flipping/sinking of two of the boat/cars.

Since this idea was so absurd, I was astonished to read the aforementioned article on the Amphicar. Built in the 1960s, it's a car that can be driven into the water and then used as a boat.


My only question is: why aren't there more of these?

A . Charmed . Life

I have an obsession with oversized, chunky jewelry - rings, necklaces, bracelets - anything that's unique, pretty, and a statement piece. Necklaces can be the trickiest of the group however; if the designer hasn't gotten it just right, you could wind up looking like you're going to a Halloween party.

This is precisely why I love Madame Fortuna's utterly amazing, one-of-a-kind creations - a necklace of hers would look just lovely worn over a simple tee. She had the brilliant idea to take individual brooches and then combined them with strands of pearls and silvery chains to make stunning necklaces:




You can buy directly from her shop or request a custom order. (and I just have to add that it's a good thing that ETSY doesn't make buyer's information public, or I'd have to track some people down and steal their custom baubles!!)

Gorgeous.

We . Love . Lame . House

Lame House Press was featured in an article on female run presses - check it out! You can read more from Gina (one of the lovely gals who runs Lame House) at her blog, A Sad Day for Sad Birds

Pretty . Little . World

(Don't) . GO . International . at . Target

Though I don't work for Target, it seems to me that the original intent behind GO International -- capsule collections created a few times a year by fashion designers -- was to provide high-end looks for those on a low-end budget. For awhile, they succeeded at this: Luella Bartley's apple print collection was charming and fun, and Proenza Schouler managed to recreate their bustier dresses and tops for under $60.

Maybe Target no longer appeals to designers the way that it used to, or perhaps , like everything else, the cost of fabric and production has gone up considerably. Whatever the case, the GO International line is just, quite frankly, blah.

The Botkier and Gryson handbag lines have been unattractive and some even used pleather! Most recently, Richard Chai's clothing collection went on sale, and I couldn't be more bored. This is absolutely the cutest look that you can put together from his collection:


I'm sorry, but this is an outfit that you could put together at Forever21 for about $15.00.

Whatever formula Target and their earlier GO designers used, they should get back to it, because their current equation is clearly not working.

Charlize & Mary-Kate

Does Charlize Theron ever look bad? Even getting off of an airplane? Some things are just not fair...


...and, does Mary-Kate know that you need to wear pants with shirts?


BTW, both are carrying the new "Paraty" bag from Chloe...MK's is in Black Croc!
Photos from Just Jared