Erma’s blog

I stumbled onto a whole new facet of the internet this weekend: fashion blogs. Up until recently I've only frequented The Sartorialist and other blogs for Lucky Magazine, Elle, and Vogue. Not only are there blogs discussing the latest news and covering couture weeks, there are blogs by girls my age who show the various outfits they wear everyday. These are the girls that if I bumped into any one of them somewhere around town, I'd be complimenting them about everything they're wearing: their bag, their shoes, their blouse, whatever. BECAUSE THEY'RE FABULOUS AND I WANT THEM TO KNOW IT. I'm hooked and now I'm living vicariously through their closets. I'm green with envy. If my wardrobe were as wonderful as theirs I'd be taking lots of pictures of my outfits too! Shoot... So girls, you go with your bad selves.

• Eleh at Come thrifting with me - I love all her vintage handbags
  
• Endorfina at Brown eyed girl - I especially like her use of scarves
  
• Anne & Annie at Things We Wore - these two should be stylists for the rest of California.
  
• Rumi at Fashion Toast - She rocks vintage and heels hardcore.
  
• Emma at Emma's Closet - for some reason I think European ladies look so chic in leather jackets, while in America they only look appropriate on Harley Davidson riders. :(
  
• Chic Closet
  
• Sandy at Sandypandycandy - I <3 her hair
  

N.E.R.D, Kylie Minogue, Agyness Deyn, Zoeey Deschanel, Hello Kitty, everything purple, and polka dots.

Word.

Happy 4th of July.

Cute Overload if you're feeling lonely.

For fashion-minded graphic designers, here's an opportunity to design a shirt for the Thakoon label. More info here.

Wikipedia has a list of musical terminology for those of you who read music but don't know how to read the directions on tempo or dynamics and other such markings in a score that are in a language other than english. It's very helpful. Click here.

by Tovia Smith

All Things Considered, October 23, 2007 · A new computer program promises to make music lessons more fun for kids. But some people are skeptical that a virtual teacher can do for kids what a real teacher can.

With "smartmusic," students can play their flutes or clarinets into microphones attached to their computers, and the program can direct them, listen to their pitch and correct them as they go.

Students say the real-time feedback on the screen makes practice much less boring — and more like playing a computer game.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15567251

Zac Posen teamed up with DHL to design a tote bag with all proceeds going to Teachers Count. In all leather, the bag is red and yellow and is big enough to fit magazines and your necessities. Quantities are limited. Bags are $400 each. If you can afford it, please support the teachers.

Is it just me, or is the Zac Posen/fashion and DHL pairing so random?

by Diana Eng (of Project Runway, Season 2)

Diana gives a tutorial on how to design your own Harajuku Japanese punk shirt. Cute!

[ Craft Zine ]

The Miami Herald posted a 5-part series examining the black experience in various parts of Latin America. My attention was brought to Part 2, where in the Dominican Republic women don't take pride in their God-given beauty. The act of hair-straightening for professional settings only scratches the surface to a deeper issue of the rejection of any identification of being black.

The most unsettling part of the article mentions that the director of Dominican Studies Institute at City College in New York further confirms this racial rejection.

Hernández, who has olive-toned skin and a long mane of hair she blows out straight, acknowledges she would "never, never, never'' go to a university meeting with her natural curls.

"That's a woman trying to look cute; I'm a sociologist," she said.

Asked if a black Dominican woman can be considered beautiful in her country, Hernández leapt to her feet.

"You should see how they come in here with their big asses!'' she said, shuffling across her office with her arms extended behind her back, simulating an enormous rear-end. "They come in here thinking they are all that, and I think, 'doesn't she know she's not really pretty?' "

Her comments perpetuate an ongoing and widespread problem of the perception historically learned that black is unacceptable in any way, shape, or form.

This is a different, and possibly more alarming form of racism we're experiencing in the world today. I don't know about you, but it leaves a ridiculously bad taste in my mouth.

If you read the whole article, the part about Dawn Stinchcomb just hurts my heart so bad.

I'm left asking so many questions. Who's to blame? What are we teaching our children? What's so wrong with what God gave us? Why?

(Thanks to Pam for sharing the article with me. This really opened up my eyes to what's going on in the world.)