MYNAMEISJOANA

2012-01-30T17:59:00.001-08:00

2012-01-27T10:08:00.001-08:00

2012-01-26T10:08:00.000-08:00

2012-01-24T11:25:00.000-08:00

2012-01-23T13:57:00.000-08:00

Makeover Mondays

2012-01-23T13:55:00.001-08:00

2012-01-22T17:49:00.001-08:00

2012-01-20T13:57:00.000-08:00

Big ups to this lovely lady, who played, conquered and looks FANTASTIQUE!

2012-01-20T08:05:00.000-08:00

2012-01-19T14:55:00.000-08:00

2012-01-16T19:39:00.001-08:00

2012-01-14T17:20:00.001-08:00

2012-01-12T12:14:00.001-08:00

That's all for today (:

2012-01-11T09:11:00.001-08:00

2012-01-10T11:04:00.000-08:00

First, enlarge the below image by opening in a new window, (SO technical, I know).

Then, choose desired feature in each category.

Send me your list (1,3,2,2,4...etc) and I will compose A NEW YOU!

The YOU you've always dreamed of...

I will then post your makeover here. Enjoy!

Fancy Ladies: by Ari Seth Cohen The Younger

2012-01-09T17:11:00.000-08:00

A little while ago, the indelible central beehive that is Ari Seth Cohen put up some very nice words on Advanced Style--the metronome of all things bedazzled and good and not J-14's (just for teens)--about Life Dressing.

And since Ari shares the eye for the flair that I seek I have been given permission to show some of his INCREDIBLE childhood drawings he calls "Fancy Ladies". These drawings make me flutter because they are the convergence of pretty much everything I care about. Enjoy!

2011-12-12T14:13:00.001-08:00

2011-12-11T12:22:00.001-08:00

2011-12-10T15:30:00.000-08:00

*I actually witnessed this today

2011-12-09T08:11:00.000-08:00

Some of Daphne Guiness' high-water shoes at FIT

2011-12-08T13:51:00.001-08:00

2011-12-06T09:53:00.000-08:00

2011-12-05T12:12:00.000-08:00

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2011-12-01T06:53:00.001-08:00

click to enlarge

2011-11-29T12:24:00.001-08:00

THESE ARE FASHIONARY TIMES

2011-11-28T12:47:00.000-08:00

More Mega Fans

2011-11-26T11:19:00.000-08:00

Kid Stuff

2011-11-22T13:29:00.001-08:00

Here's a musty old document for you to consider.

A comic from when I was 10 about the Lois Lowry middle school classic Number The Stars.

In the fifth grade it dawned on me that making comics was an IDEAL way to get out of writing book reports — the mustiest of documents if there ever was one.

And teachers rallied to my cause. It gave them that warm "unconventional" feeling... the hallmark mood of commix™®.

2011-11-21T12:47:00.000-08:00

CHICKS DIG IT

BARBIES OUT OF THE BOX

2011-11-20T20:45:00.000-08:00

The above photo is the only kind of meta-narrative that interests me. I'm not explicitly clear what meta-narrative means in this case either, but from life to drawing and back again, The Idiosyncratic Fashionistas are what hold me sublimely captive.

We had a blast on Saturday selling books and taking names. Thank you to all the fine feathered friends who came!

This is fun!

2011-11-17T12:09:00.000-08:00

Since we learn by repetition, please allow this ad in the Times to do just that!

Come by! You will leave with a metaphorical feather twirling in your metaphysical cap that is NOT TO BE BELIEVED.

2011-11-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

2011-11-07T17:00:00.000-08:00

2011-11-06T17:30:00.001-08:00

2011-11-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

PRIMETIME BOOK PARTY RECAP TIME

2011-11-01T08:58:00.000-07:00

Why hello there!

Friday night's Life Dressing book party @ Primetime was such a success!!! Thank you to everyone who came! It was truly the most fun. I mean, look at all these cool cats:

But don't just take it from me! For the full unadulterated coverage please refer to the mothership by clicking this hot link:

THE BOOK THAT LAUNCHED A THOUSAND SHAPES

You'll see photos like this one:

and this one:

And read sweet first-hand accounts, like these one:

"We thought Friday would never get here. We couldn't wait to see Joana Avillez, illustrator extraordinaire, our partner in crime, or rather, the mastermind behind this fabulous escapade! In between signing books, we'd brazenly pose for photos. We did our best to duplicate the cover outfits so no one would say "I'll bet you don't really have a [fill in the blank] that looks like THAT." Yeah, we really do!"

- The Idiosyncratic Fashionistas

2011-10-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

The beautiful fold-out poster made by Ryan Waller for the Primetime Life Dressing book party

Interior

Exterior

& Here's a tease:

More joyous photos to be posted soon!

BOX/SHELF

2011-10-29T08:55:00.000-07:00

The excellent display @ Primetime chock full o' LIFE DRESSINGs !

2011-10-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

135 HUNTINGTON STREET

CE SOIR
DO IT!

NEVER TOO YOUNG!

2011-10-21T16:06:00.000-07:00

This delectable photo was sent to me by Xtreme fan baby Rafaella!

Who with one glance over the shoulder also reminds:
You are never too young or old to be cheeky.

2011-10-19T08:31:00.001-07:00

CRYBABY PRESENTS... ME

2011-10-18T12:15:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of me looking like Yolandi Visser's albino other sister by LA's infamous CRYBABY PRESENTS

To learn more about all my things favorite, visit the CRYBABY BLOG!

HIP N' HAPPENING!

2011-10-17T10:21:00.001-07:00

FACE-OFF

2011-10-12T10:09:00.001-07:00

2011-10-11T18:00:00.001-07:00

READER ROUNDUP

2011-10-10T07:39:00.001-07:00

Texan teen heartthrob Matti Sloman says, "Valerie and Jean have made it to Texas and, ding dang do they look incredible." Feel the same about you, Matti!

BK sensimilla shaman "Fawn Silvermist" sent this protective Life Dressing mug shot. We like when people take solace in books n' clothes.

Second printing is underway.

"This really cool book came today."

2011-10-07T09:01:00.000-07:00

Ultra rabid fan Libbie from Minnesota with her copy of LD: The IFs

2011-10-06T13:35:00.000-07:00

2011-10-05T12:06:00.001-07:00

Need more?! Visit The IFs' Blog for their titillating side of the story!

THIS JUST IN!

2011-10-02T11:47:00.000-07:00

Life Dressing: The Idiosyncratic Fashionistas
-----highly popular with boys in bucket hats-----

Only 10 (!!!) issues left!!!

Order before some other bucket hat does...

2011-09-30T22:12:00.000-07:00

Do you like books AND clothes?

Experience the synergy just by clicking:

GET LIKE THESE KIDS QUICK!

Life Dressing: The Idiosyncratic Fashionistas is almost
SOLD OUT!

2011-09-28T19:27:00.000-07:00

THEY'RE HEEEEERE!!!

Life Dressing: The Idiosyncratic Fashionistas
Edition of 100
perfect bound / 48 pages / $20

LIFE DRESSING

2011-09-21T16:30:00.000-07:00

Still eyeballin' proofs, but the book is almost out!

2011-09-18T16:00:00.000-07:00

Blazin'

NO INTRODUCTION NEEDED!

2011-09-14T08:28:00.000-07:00

2011-09-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

TINY BOOKS BY OTHER PEOPLE

2011-09-05T06:24:00.000-07:00

Tiny books / maquettes for larger books made by my earth-bound G-d
Irma Boom

Her tiny Biography in Books monograph

Tiny books / magazines made by the tiny Tavi Gevinson aka The Style Rookie

So tiny but true!

2011-09-02T09:38:00.000-07:00

LIFE DRESSING IS COMING

SEPTEMBER 20TH, 2011

The Vile Style Section

2011-08-27T14:53:00.000-07:00

THE EPONYMOUS BOBSTER

2011-08-25T03:49:00.000-07:00

Haircut impresario Louise Brooks, drawn by the master Hugo Pratt.

Besides being a silent film siren (is that even possible?) of the 20's, Brooks also inspired two comics!

Dixie Dugan by John H. Striebel

and Valentina by Guido Crepax.

And of course, ma coupe de cheveux favorie, Idiosyncratic Fashionista

JEAN!

For more bob worship visit The Bob Viewer

2011-08-24T04:59:00.000-07:00

"We have begun joking that we must be twins who were separated at birth because so many parts of our wardrobes are extremely similar or exactly identical, despite the fact that we got them at different times and different places and unbeknownst to one another.

There were so many coincidences that finally we began buying a few identical items here and there for the sheer fun of it, knowing fully well that we don’t look at all alike."

-Jean & Valerie

2011-08-22T14:05:00.000-07:00

The Hat Connection

2011-08-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of me donning a crucial hat shape in 1996.

AND in various arrays of black abstraction, watch it reappear on the heads of Jean and Valerie in Life Dressing, my forthcoming book about The Idiosyncratic Fashionistas—who dress like the key to my soul.

Toy Story 4

2011-08-18T10:22:00.001-07:00

Too Fly To Function

2011-08-17T13:25:00.000-07:00

Please check out new photos of The Idiosyncratic Fashionistas on Ari Seth Cohen's blog Advanced Style. Obviously, personal fashion reveries do come true: MINE!

Outfit Dissections

2011-08-16T13:46:00.001-07:00

2011-08-15T08:39:00.001-07:00

Oh boy

2011-08-14T06:27:00.001-07:00

I can't wait for this book.

"An egg cup makes a very good hat." -Eloise

2011-08-02T05:49:00.000-07:00

2011-08-01T11:21:00.000-07:00

They're coming

2011-07-31T14:55:00.000-07:00

2011-07-29T13:15:00.001-07:00

After a sand filled hiatus I am back to work on the Jean and Valerie book, Life Dressing. Back to being shellacked with awe at how awesome they are.

2011-07-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

My great-grandmother Michael Strange looking pretty dope in a suit and tie for her 1923 passport photo.

The U.S. Supreme Court

2011-07-18T20:27:00.000-07:00

2 NEW PERIODICALS

2011-07-14T14:23:00.000-07:00

SUPER HIP HAPPENING

2011-07-13T08:20:00.000-07:00

The Little Fur Family REDUX

2011-07-11T20:57:00.000-07:00

Like anyone with both brain and heart I love Margaret Wise Brown's classic children's book The Little Fur Family, printed and bound in rabbit fur exactly 10 years after Meret Oppenheim wondrously covered a teacup, saucer and spoon with the fur of a Chinese gazelle in 1936.

DO THE BOB

2011-07-07T11:42:00.000-07:00

2011-07-05T12:09:00.000-07:00

My mom looking considerably spacey at lunch today.

Hawt Stuff

2011-06-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

So far summer (which starts in 2 days) has been perfect, sublime and awesome.

And now you can now pick up a copy of ROOMS at Manhattan's most beauteous book cave OHWOW.

The Prostitutes

2011-06-14T23:11:00.000-07:00

2011-06-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

I think it's important to recognize how much better Amy Sedaris is at being Cindy Sherman than Cindy Sherman is at being Cindy Sherman.

2011-06-08T09:14:00.000-07:00

The Rise of the Platform

2011-06-06T11:04:00.000-07:00

The platform has been wedging its way back into the sole’s of pied-minded fashisonistas for months now, and everyone from second generation club kids to vilified corporate sponsors are growing the inches. And so, it is increasingly important to not just know where—but how tall you stand—as once again the platform becomes the abacus of the fashion stratum.

According to shoe expert Linda O'Keeffe (author of SHOES), platforms "become fashionable again at roughly 20-year intervals." True dat. Starting with Carmen Miranda in the 30's we can count the very predictable popularity of leavened footwear. And current chopine-redux has hit us right on time: Kardashians in creepers!
It has been fascinating to watch our more conservative islanders unwittingly grow an inch (or five), with no small thanks to Ms. Miuccia Prada for going brogue, and Mother Monster for platforms without prejudice—because despite their stilted behavior, this reinvention does not discriminate.

Even Boris, the bearded shoe magician still operating out of a curbside closet on 8th Street says he's getting "many more requests lately".

Soon, the OG high of mind (and foot) will have to scour unchartered platform production plants in search of the most bonkers foot attaché combinations. Meanwhile, flat-footed social outcasts forced to step it up will seek refuge at IrregularChoice™ Shoes (the Rainbow Brite retail convulsion on Lafayette next to Supreme). The kitten-heel's future always did seem dour!

There is no mountain high enough for the evolved stilt-trotter; no end in sight for this urban double-beanstock.

At least there won't be in 2030, when these walking-footstools will inevitably start walking once again.

2011-06-05T17:57:00.001-07:00

Comic inspired by Shail Upadhya and his technicolor dreamcoats.

Page 1

Page 2

2011-06-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

I come at you with a suggestion. A postulate for improved accessory consolidation.

I've noticed that the majority of the medallion toed women wandering our island are, more often than not, engaged. While I seriously doubt a direct correlation between their upcoming nuptials and poor choice in footwear, I do believe that they could streamline both decisions into one gaudy overstatement.

The Tory Burch Engagement Ring screams that not only are you loved, you are a successful "preppy-bohemian luxe" woman of business, and leisure.

MARY PETTY

2011-06-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

Why is Mary Petty so awesome?

Last weekend in Great Barrington I found This Petty Pace, a delightful and musty book of her drawings from 1945.

"Mary Petty began to draw for The New Yorker eighteen years ago, when she was just a slip of a girl and the magazine was only two years old going on three," James Thurber writes in the book's preface.

Through her invented upper-crust NYC family "The Peabodys" and their maid "Fey", Petty's drawings satirized society life for 35 years.

"Everywhere, men and women were striving to outfly, outswim, outdance, outwalk, outsit, outtalk, outchew, and out-rock one another," Thurber says of the climate of the time. And people are still doing that, which may explain why Petty's drawings remain so hilariously relevant.

Here's a hip link to some more of her drawings, my favorite of which is "Modern Ghost in a Modern House" from 1949.

And man, she draws a mean old lady profile!

HAPPY NATIONAL BURGER DAY!

2011-05-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

Smaller than most

2011-05-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

Cyberella Volume 1, The Sex Issue

Spacematic, Auto Correct No. 3

I am making One Hundred Tiny Books this summer :)

JOANA AVILLEZ'S BOOK REPORT

2011-05-26T06:15:00.001-07:00

Here is the cover of Book Report, a small edition of zines I made last month.

Close up of the spine, (with chipped Spiderman mug and Mexican prostitute figurines, obviously).

Jem Fabric Warehouse: BOOK

2011-05-25T12:04:00.001-07:00

Here is a book of drawings I made on location at Jem Fabric Warehouse, lower Broadway's last surviving (and consequently dopest) fabric warehouse!

Jem is owned and operated by the amazing, adventurous and talented Michelle, who is 24 years old, and her brother. Their father was the owner of Fabric Warehouse (aka "Abric Warehouse", the sign's missing F contributing to its local moniker) across the street. After his passing a year ago, Michelle and her brother opened JEM, continuing their family tradition and a downtown staple.

Here's the cover and some pages

Thank you to Michelle for her unmatchable generosity and openness.

2011-05-23T11:01:00.001-07:00

Here's the B&W (hence more scantily clad) version of the Playboy drawing. I like this one more.

Playboiii

2011-05-17T16:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a drawing for a REALLY weird story that me and my 38 classmates are competing for in Playboy.

It's about a tranny and a guy who's pulled around on an office chair by his dog who farts all the time.

2011-04-28T18:13:00.001-07:00

2011-04-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

The Snake Castle is a store in Berlin which sells the most important (anti)commodity: MAGIC.

It is the lovebrainchild of the incredible Isabelle Philippe.

Here is a postcard I made for the store!

Good Heavens!

2011-04-18T07:20:00.001-07:00

My G-d, if there is ever a pilgrimage I need to make it is to the Couvent Sainte-Cécile in Grenoble!!!!

Apparently Joost Swarte (the Dutch cartoonist cum industrial-designer who's been subverting Hergé's clear line style to glorious ends for the past 40 years) also STAINS GLASS.

Super Chouette!
(Photo credit: The Internet)

I love nail decals

2011-04-17T21:19:00.000-07:00

Valerie's modernist kimono

2011-04-13T18:10:00.000-07:00