THE purple cow

Ever heard of the term, "purple cow" ? Coined by author, Seth Godin, most marketers should be familiar with this concept; basically, if you were to drive down the highway, you would see lots and lots of cows. Your initial reactions will probably be, "ZOMG! BROWN COW!" Eventually, as you drive by more and more brown cows, you become less and less excited about them. But then within the sea of brown cows... leapin' lizards, you see a PURPLE COW!!? So, the moral of the story is to be something out of the ordinary (the purple cow), something remarkable that people want to talk about. If you can be the purple cow, you're pretty much hot2go.

I'm pro-GaGa but don't like to talk about it much because everyone either LOVES/HATES her. No, her songs are not the best songs ever, but she IS THE purple cow (likewise, the new business model). In a music-world filled with indie-darlings, boy bands, auto-tuned rappers, and singer-songwriters lamenting over lost love, there is no one else in the music industry even remotely similar to her. Good or bad, everyone talks about GaGa's antics and the strange things she'll come up with next.

She's revolutionized the music and fashion industry with the use of social media. She tweeted to her fans that her new single "Bad Romance" will be debuting @ Alexander McQueens Spring/Summer show in Paris back in October(ish?). Fans were able to stream the show online, but the servers eventually crashed due to the overwhelming traffic to the site.

Non-fans can easily point their fingers and dismiss her as "attention-seeking"/she is only doing it for the "shock-factor", or "her clothes are so effing weird". While yes, GaGa's actions may be provocative, they are also laced with social commentary (if you caught her interview with Oprah, you can skip this part). Rewind back to the 2009 MTV VMA's where she bled to death on family-television - as strange and disturbing as that was, you probably didn't know that she was paying homage to the late Princess Diana, who was killed by the paparazzi.... yaknow, the FAME MONSTER? (OHHH!!!) Further, the song "Dance in the Dark", is about a girl who will only have sex in the dark because she's ashamed of her body / women and men feeling insecure about themselves. If the brand of GaGa is about accepting yourself/the things that make you different, and celebrating your unique-ness rather than feeling ashamed about it --- How can you condemn GaGa as a bad thing???

Not to mention, she is an exceptionally talented musician. If you get the chance, try to find some of old videos of her on YouTube when she was still known as "Stephanie Germanotta". LEGIT.

THAT SAID (the point of this long-winded post), these Lady GaGa Barbie dolls are totally old news (DIY by some guy named Veik from Beijing) but I haven't gotten around to blogging about them until now... can someone please buy me these GaGa dolls! -- please and thanks :)

ps - more "doll" posts to follow!

(images via The Skinny)

so, a dyslexic man walks into a bra...

I have to give Britney Spears some props... it seems as though she was way ahead of the game when she released her Slave4U music video...

babyyyyy don't you wanna... dance up on me?

... because I was perusing some Spring 2010 collections the other day and couldn't help but notice that some designers (Christian Dior, Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu, John Galliano, Nina Ricci, D&G, Just Cavalli, Jean Paul Gaultier, among others) had taken notes out of Britney's book -- after all, she was at her peak of fame, success, physical fitness, etc. when Slave4U was released... getting inspiration from the past and re-inventing it for new collections is what fashion does anyways, right?

But before you get all prude-y and "omg, those brazen little hussies are wearing lingerie as clothes... HO FO SHO!", hear me out when I say that shape wear & dainty underthings worn alone as dresses actually looks really nice. Indeed, some collections did really well in incorporating lingerie-as-clothing in a subtle, delicate, dainty, and feminine way (such as Nina Ricci & Alberta Ferretti), but other collections just screamed, "OH haiii... LOOK AT MY BRA!!!"

(Marc Jacobs Spring 2010 rtw - via style.com)

Even Joe Fresh jumped on the lingerie-on-the-outside-boat (coming soon to a Superstore near you!) The rest of their collection is pretty cute though; plus, I'm on the market for some summer work/office clothes anyways so there are a few shirt dresses that I have my eye on. But I definitely won't be rockin' the whole bra-over-my-shirt-fashion-victim thing.. ehh, I'll save that for Britney.

(Joe Fresh Spring 2010 - image via Google)

riding dirty

with salt stains on my regular winter footwear & as a semi-follow up to Sophie's post about winter wardrobing, i think it's time for some weather appropriate footwear.

currently, i've been rotating between my uggs & rocket dogs

seeing as how we probably have about 6 more months of winter left, it's still not too late to mitigate this unfortunate situation.

criteria:

1. fashionable.

2. functional:

a) salt-stain resistant

b) inexpensive

($110 max, before tax.... yo i'm rhyming like it's going out of style)

c) for those rare days when it's really warm out. like, -10C warm.. and the snow starts to get a little slushy.. but muddy. these boots need to be easy to clean.

(ps - i don't think i'm "hood" enough to pull off timberlands, nor do i want to spend $300 on boots that will get really dirty anyways)

the snow outside is a serious death wish to most footwear. i'm thinking rain boots, but is that too easy?

& not that i'm planning to climb glaciers any time soon, but YO.. are Sorel boots cool? they're kind of alright..... riiight?..... cuz they're starting to look reeeeallly good to me right now. but i can't tell if it's because i'm desperate for shoes that won't get ruined in the snow OR if they're actually alright. the more i look at them, the more they start to grow on me.

left: the equestrian rain boot from urban outfitters.

right: Sorel.. i don't know what style. Torino, perhaps?

please advise!

ps - does anyone know how to get salt stains out of UGGS?

{get baked} Do you macaroon?

It would be far to much to ask for such a gorgeous dessert to be easy to make. Ah the horror or egg whites. But on second look, these little darlings don't seem overly difficult. I have posted the recipe and the associated pictures in hopes that Marie will get over her egg white nightmares, start lifting a few weights to prepare for the minutes of mixmastering that are ahead of her, and bake some of these for all of us to enjoy. She is the master baker after all. 

Parisian Macaroons (oh ya they are French too...making their cool factor go up by at least 10x)

• 1 1/4 cups plus 1 teaspoon confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup (4 ounces) finely ground sliced, blanched almonds
• 6 tablespoons fresh egg whites (from about 3 extra-large eggs)
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions

1. To make the macaroons: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar and ground almonds. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip egg whites with salt on medium speed until foamy. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar. Continue to whip until stiff glossy peaks form. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the confectioners' sugar mixture until completely incorporated.
2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Fit a pastry bag with a 3/8-inch #4 round tip, and fill with batter. Pipe 1-inch disks onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. The batter will spread a little. Let stand at room temperature until dry, and a soft skin forms on the tops of the macaroons and the shiny surface turns dull, about 15 minutes.
3. Bake, with the door of the oven slightly ajar, until the surface of the macaroons is completely dry, about 15 minutes. Remove baking sheet to a wire rack and let the macaroons cool completely on the baking sheet. Gently peel off the parchment. Their tops are easily crushed, so take care when removing the macaroons from the parchment. Use immediately or store in an airtight container, refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month.
4. To fill the macaroons: Fill a pastry bag with the filling. Turn macaroons so their flat bottoms face up. On half of them, pipe about 1 teaspoon filling. Sandwich these with the remaining macaroons, flat-side down, pressing slightly to spread the filling to the edges. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Macaroon Filling

• 3 large egg whites
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into

Directions

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk egg whites and sugar. Set mixer bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and heat mixture, whisking often, until it feels warm to the touch and sugar is dissolved, 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Transfer bowl to the mixer, and fit with the whisk attachment. Whip on high speed until mixture is stiff and shiny, 3 to 5 minutes. Add butter, one piece at a time, and continue mixing until butter is thoroughly incorporated. The filling can be kept, covered and refrigerated, up to 1 week. Bring to room temperature before stirring.