Hi! This is So Random Tho where I gather up all the random stuff that has floated my way in the last few weeks and we talk about them. Yes - it’s that simple!
DIY Bag Charms
Charms are a maybe thing? I have seen them in high fashion here and they have just generally been on my mind since last summer when I made one for my Nalgene (why??). It seems fun, a way to personalize your stuff, perhaps reminiscent of Croc Jibbitz (did you know those were invented by a stay-at-home Mom? Do you feel like watching a weird promotional video about it?).
Anyway - all you need are some carabiners and key rings which you can get at the dollar store or hardware store. And then just find whatever you have around. If you have kids you will most definitely find stuff around your house for this. Also ~ Hot Tip ~ Shrinky Dinks! Do you know about these or remember these? The name still cracks me up! They sell the plastic sheets at the dollar store or kits at the craft store and they are super fun! It is possibly toxic and bad for you but maybe not that bad?? And it is still so satisfying to watch them shrink and curl up and then weirdly get all thick and flattened out in the oven. If you remember to punch a hole in them before they get shrunk, you will have a cute little charm at the end! Very Willy Wonka. (what’s with these names??)
Masters of Modern Design
This is not garbage, but is related to my last Art Talk post. I didn’t get the chance to watch it until recently and it is a great meditation on the Japanese influence on American culture, told through the stories of Japanese American makers from the Modernist era.
It goes into detail about the internment camps and about how the lasting trauma of that experience got translated through the subjects different creative practices. It is roughly an hour, has some talking heads, and generally makes you feel educated and enlightened. I love these kind of short docs.
Full Moon in Paris
Also related to a previous post, this is a perfect Éric Rohmer movie featuring not only a score by French legends Elli and Jacno (and a brief cameo), but also many, many shots of a JELLY BAG in action!! So exciting! There is also a very cool lamp that the main character designed, the best 80ies looks (including an impeccable Levis jeans and converse sneaker moment) and a full frontal nudie scene. Not to mention just lots of general philosophical chat and confusing romantic relationships. You have to watch this!! It is so fun.
And on the jelly tip, I just read today this whole section about jelly shoes on the substack The Cereal Aisle (you have to scroll down kind of far). I think it might be an advertisement? I don’t take any fashion blogs that seriously, but any talk on jellies is welcome. And a funky towel makes an appearance! I must have been picking up on something there.
A Basketball Net Accessory Skirt
My daughter came home the other day in this and I basically thought, Wow - she’s a genius! Is this not the coolest accessory? It’s just an old basketball net! But it is also a super avant-garde Eckhaus Latta piece, no?
THIS QUOTE
From a teen photographer who documented his daily life at school, it’s from 2017 but probably still pretty relevant, a really interesting take on the impact of the commercial/digital environment on youth culture from someone directly experiencing it:
It’s hard to talk about youth culture in LA in broad, because there is so much diversity, and so many different scenes to be involved with. I love LA, but I’m afraid for its future. It’s undergoing such rapid change right now. Downtown LA is completely unrecognizable from how it was 5 years ago, everything is becoming more homogenous, profitable, local stores are getting bought out by big corporate shops, my favorite book shops keep closing down, there’s hardly anywhere to get film developed, and real estate developers have ruined all that is sacred. Youth culture resides in the shadows of this rapid change. It’s easier for us to get around now, with new train lines being built, Uber, and public bike programs. But there are less places to go. Music venues are closing down, galleries are closing down, every mall in the world has the same exact stores selling the same exact things. Kids get hooked on E-Cigarettes in school without the teachers even noticing, security guards kick you out of an empty parking lot for skating, and everyone trying a trick at the skatepark has a filmer tethered to them, making a video for Instagram. Youth culture exists online. Everyone is hyper-aware of their image, and every profile is neatly curated. I don’t know what to believe anymore. Social activism is trendy and disingenuous. Art museums cater to the social media spectacle of photogenic, “Instagrammable” art, and it’s our fault. Art museums paint their hashtag on the wall. Public murals are signed with the artist’s Instagram username. Usernames are carved into bathroom walls, shouted out at Poetry readings. Even local restaurants beg you for Yelp reviews at the end of your meal. The public sphere hardly even seems relevant anymore, it’s so influenced by online media. So infiltrated by it.
NYX JUMBO HIGHLIGHTER STICK
I am not a make-up person by any stretch, I basically just do a lip and very occasionally mascara and even more rare - eye shadow applied with - you guessed it - my fingertips. But every 3 years or so I will get excited about some random thing, last time it was mood matcher lipstick, before that blue mascara, and now I am kind of into this jumbo sparkly stick. My daughter told me about it - she calls it a highlighter? You put it in the corner of your eye by your tear ducts, and you can do your eye rims too if you want and you can also smudge it on your cheeks for sparkle. It is really cool! I have a white one and she has this pink one. It is also cheap and easy to find anywhere which I like. And very user friendly! Thumbs way up. Summer sparkle!
Hope you enjoyed this latest edition of So Random Tho! :)
Wow, the quote from the teenager in LA just sums everything up so succinctly :(