Silent Gypsy Jewelry

“I admit it’s tempting to wish for the perfect boss, the perfect parent- or the perfect outfit. But maybe the best any of us can do is not quit, play the hand we’ve been dealt, and accessorize what we’ve got.”- Carrie Bradshaw

It was an evening sometimes in late spring. I found myself in a posh restaurant somewhere in midtown with a friend of mine who is also a jewelry designer. We were there to discuss about her new collection, but to me it was a night of style philosophy talk.

You see, I was one of those kids that prematurely matured. My life was decked out with the pressure of making into varsity team in sports, a seat in student body government, getting into a good college, an impeccable internship, and the list goes on. My conservative surrounding did not help either, as if I wore a uniform even when I was not in school. When finally I reached to college, the circumstance around my apparel did not change. Although my closet was considered as amalgamate of styles, I still found myself limited.

Throughout these vicious cycles there was only one solution that I overlooked for quite sometime: accessory. It dawned on me that there was a reason why I made an impression to my college admission interviewer, to my peers during school vice presidential candidacy, or just some flirt interests in social events. Despite my reserved attitude, and conservative attire, my accessory always salvages me from turning into the invisible one.

That night, while I was reviewing my friend’s new collection I understood something. An accessory such as jewelry is an extension of who you are. Just like the essence of time, it can be use destructively or constructively. Of course most people would rather choose the latter than the former but even something that looks so raw, so undetermined, can have people besotted in the first sight. To me that is what Silent Gypsy Jewelry all about.

Monika Malkowski is a New England born jewelry designer who is very talented at what she does. “It’s very industrial, hipsterish” said Malkowski about her new collection. I am enchanted on how her line works. They layers very well, and works together. Each piece is composed of variety of metals, structures that make it very unique and not very easy to read or understand but nonetheless beautiful. Although it can be a process to comprehend the piece, the interesting part is that it conjures something in you that make you instantly know something bout it. I figured it works the same way with antiques- except her line works with both contemporary and classic perspectives.

With her experience in working for two other jewelers in the past three years she decided to break out on her own. “My jewelry is affordable, as a girl in my mid 20’s I can’t afford $200 necklace just to play”. Regardless of the price, the quality and the style are very satisfying and unforgettable. Even during NYSH July editorial photo shoot, one of the models decided to buy a piece on the spot. That symbolizes the affordability and the captivation of Silent Gypsy Jewelry.

Silent Gypsy Jewelry can be visited at www.silentgypsyjewelry.com
Photos courtesy of www.silentgypsyjewelry.com

Your Rights in Underwear

By Chris Sopher
http://www.youngerthinking.com/2009/07/13/your-rights-in-underwear/

THE QUESTION: What kind of privacy rights should students have at school, and how far can schools go in their efforts against drugs?"The decision does not legalize the carrying of prohibited items in your bra to school, a fact that’s sure to disappoint drug dealers hoping to buy products like this one. The majority opinion centered on the legality of the strip-search and the humiliation it caused Redding. The entire incident stems from an aggressive effort in recent years by school districts to crack down on drugs, with most adopting zero-tolerance policies and stringent penalties for students found with drugs on school property (refresher for those who haven’t been to school in a while: schools usually prohibit over-the-counter medication like Tylenol as well as illegal drugs)."

Read the rest of the entry here

Editor's Note:

Chris Sopher is currently a senior Morehead scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a writer and multimedia journalist. His works can be followed at www.youngerthinking.com . Sopher has been a great influence to me and to everyone around him since our high school days. We have a complete different field of interest yet we both share the same passion of journallism.

Don't Shop! Pass it on

If you like Fashion, but concern about recession
See this
and pass it on!

Weekly Fashion Police

By NYSH Fashion Police
Mahyara

There is a statement that says that New York City is the Fashion Capital of the World. Sometimes I ask myself if that’s really true. I have seen so many faux pas that is not even a joke. With my Iphone (the best creation in the world), I go around the city taking shoots of people that if I called the Fashion Police they would be at Guantanamo Bay right now.

My first post is going to be about this lovely lady that I meet walking down 5th avenue. I was about to call the Fashion Police and for sure this was going to be a lifetime sentence. I think she woke up and said “Ohh today I’m going to close my eyes and wear whatever I get.” Or maybe there weren’t any lights in her house.

Did it work? Uhm Nope. If she was just with the lace tights no problem, but she managed to add the plaid shirt, and Ohhh wait the lovely boots. Just for the record this person was walking the street thinking she was Kate Moss. My Advice here is wake up, drink a cup of coffee, and then choose one major piece, cause putting all fashion trends together doesn’t work. The next time you leave your home be careful cause you can be the next.

Lots of love

Mahyara

Editor's Note:
Mahyara is NYSH fashion critic. She is an energetic fashion enthusiast who speaks her mind and her style. Currently she is a student at Berkeley College and an intern at Catherine Malandrino office. NYSH loves her innate style philosophy and outspoken mind.

An American Girl in Côte d'Azur

By Contributing Editor
Kelly Christina Johnstone





There are times in a young New Yorker's life when the city that you love seems to have turned on you and even your dream one bedroom apartment with hardwood floors and a walk in-closet, becomes a metropolitan nest full of thorns rather than feathers. When you can't get a job at American Apparel even with a great resume and an internship at Nylon, or when the guy who swore he wouldn't break your heart proves that second chances really don't mean a thing, you might think the solution is to retreat to the comforts of your childhood home. In case that sounds like even more of a nightmare, then take my advice and try a stint on the sunny Cote d' Azur.

I was at this point a few weeks ago when my best friend and former college roommate, invited me to spend a month with her in the south of France. Our trip would start in Paris, eventually taking us 850 km down South to the summer playgrounds of the rich, beautiful, and famous.Her email invitation came as if inspired by some higher being that said “You Only Live Once!”and I jumped at the chance to leave behind my beloved but bruised big apple for a while.

Besides, it was fashion week in Paris and a few days of mingling with models and industry people in the city of lights couldn't be a bad idea.Did I max out my credit card booking a ticket with only 3 days advanced notice? Yes. Was it worth it? Definitely.Nostalgic for our former days as roommates on the Upper West Side,my friend and I started off our first night New York à la Parisienne, sipping Cosmos at a cafe in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and later partying until dawn at the MGM Models party at VIP room.After seven days of wine,fashion shows,museums, dinner at the beautiful George V,(did I mention the wine?) and we were buzzing out of Paris in her red Mini coop to the French Riviera.

After eight hours of driving, we were greeted by the soothing pastel tones of the le Marié's summer home. With a terrace surrounded by palm trees and orange hibiscus, this charming little beach house was the perfect retreat from my New York City abode. I had traded in my Fourth of July for Bastille day, but felt a similar comfort as I watched the explosion of blue, white, and red fireworks reflect in the water on La Croisette in Cannes. Adding to my newly adopted French heritage, I learned all of the traditions of l'apéritif,tried Pastis, saucisson, escargots and even improved on my French a little: “Les betteraves sont archis pourries” (the beets are super rotten!)The locals were more than friendly, offering to teach me “zee french kiss” or shouting out that I had dropped something on the floor wherever I went. “What?” I would ask,“mon cœur!” was always their answer.

Plastered on the front deck of a Jeanneau we worked on our tans and enjoyed the gentle rocking of the Mediterranean waves. It was along those fabled shores, between my best friend and the rich culture of Provence, that I finally felt... not like a whole new person, but like myself again... not clouded by New York pollution. I was revived and inspired by thebeautythat surrounded me. And who knew that with a little sunlight, Snow White's skin turned not pink, but a beautiful olivey-brown!

Now, at the final days of my trip, I leave for the States with a mind full of peace, eager to see my baby - New York, and reminded once again of the reasons we all moved there in the first place... for the energy, the opportunities, and the people... eccentric as they may be. I hope my City missed me as much as I have missed her. It has been a wonderful trip and I'll see you soon New York!

Love Always, Kelly

Editor's Note:
Kelly is an astonishing girl in many ways. She is currently a rising junior at Fordham University with many great experiences under her belt such as an opportunity in Nylon Magazine in the past and an internship at the ABC 7 News Desk in the fall. We always have fun together whether we are at the front row of Zegna Fashion Week or just simply dining out in downtown and tell each other our stories about fashion, loves, friendships, and life in the city.

NYSH JULY 2009 EDITORIAL PREVIEW

Watch for this month's NYSH Editorial. Coming up soon

Fashion in the Longue Durée

By Contributing Editor
Alexandra Marraccini

(A Young Academic’s Manifesto For Avoiding A Lifetime Of Neutral Cardigans And Other Aesthetic Atrocities)

Some little girls want to be ballerinas or astronauts. I want to be a Medieval Social Historian. That’s right a proud fusty antiquarian, a professor, a geek par excellence! But that doesn’t mean I’m cutting tulle or rocket scientist accessories out of my wardrobe. I’ve been given a lot of advice about what I’m going to have to wear to be taken seriously in the field and in academia in general. Here’s how I’m going to cope, and how I hope the new generation of female academe rocks the Neo-Gothic reading room scene:

1. Oversized plastic glasses are sexy. Yes, I have been told time and again, professionalism is important in the lecture hall and conference room, but it’s really hard to find a pair of unprofessional glasses. I work with manuscripts, and probably will work with manuscripts for the next fifty years. I thus have invested in a pair of really cool glasses. You know, like Enid’s, from Ghost World. If you are not a medievalist sort of nerd, and also invest in basics like velociraptor shirts from Salvation Army, you may be able to get away with the techy, titanium square version of such glasses. If you work in literary theory, they should be black, like the rest of your clothes.

2. Colours, like secondary sources written after 1997, are now acceptable. Tan looks bad on me. It probably looks bad on you too (pace Rodarte models). If I’m going to spend the next twenty years of my life wearing cardigans so as to look older than the undergraduates I will someday teach, they had better be cardigans from Anthropologie. Preferably with birds on them.

3. It’s time for the hoodie revolution. Hoods have been on hoodlums (of necessity), runways, and banned from the backs of British teenagers as of late. Agyness Deyn looks great in a hoodie. If it’s made out of a luxe enough fabric, and well-tailored enough so as not to appear pajama-like, I want to be able to give a lecture in it. Let’s start this revolution before I get through graduate school, please.

4. Forget about the dewy look. You know the cover models for Vogue this month? The ones that radiate virtually identical dewy freshness with nude/sheen lips and refined eyes? You’re never going to look like that after fourteen hours in the archives. Give up. I personally have decided to embrace the pseudo-grunge and pretend the dark circles under my eyes are really the latest kohl look from Sephora. The mocha remnant on your lips can also pass for lipstain if you’re lucky.

5. Don’t waste money on very small bags. You can’t fit books in them. Manuscript libraries give you a clear plastic bag for your nubby pencils, so forget about showing a tote or clutch off there. Finally, those canvas bags you get from academic presses or conferences are much more classy, and have the added incentive of making your colleagues jealous of your Vast And Inimitable Experience In The Field. English profs sport MLA totes, but next spring I’m going for the big kahuna—the MAA (Medieval Academy of America) canvas tote bag. Even with conference registration fees, it’s cheaper than Marc—and carries a lot more heavy scholarly monographs.

6. Nothing is hotter than a good research paper. Ever. Given a choice between Louboutin stilettos and perfectly formatted footnotes, choose the footnotes, even if it kills you. Personally, a few feet in the stilettos would probably kill me. If you take my view and go Bauhaus, try a pair of Clark’s—functional, cute, and walkable even in the tight stairwells of stacks. Don’t be a 2008 Prada model when you just want to get a reference book! Remember, if you break your ankles, the painkillers will make it harder to write your dissertation.

Editor's Note:
Alexandra Marraccini is a fashion and academic enthusiast who conducts her history study at Yale University. I always enjoy my intellectual fashion conversation with her during all my visits to Yale.

Lost Angel

If you found yourself roaming the streets of Los Angeles and wonder if everyone there is as superficial as what you have heard about the myth, well you’re wrong. The truth is that everywhere you go there are all kinds of people, and you will find the kinds that you want to find-or you could be surprised-. A close friend of mine from LA is someone who I think is the embodiment of what LA is all about- the free spirit, the long beautiful sandy blonde hair, the bohemian influenced style- yet also the antithesis. As in, she is not obsessed with pop culture, or pursuit of riches and fames. Tatjana McElroy is a model, singer, student and a writer. Growing up in Germany, she relocated to Los Angeles in her early years.

I still remember the first time we met two years ago she had on a loose white blouse and no make up on, yet her presence engaged everyone around her. There was this warmth aura about her, yet slightly intimidating. She had the look of a high fashion runway model but there was nothing mannequin about it. “I’m sorry, I don’t know who you are but you are so Chloé”, I made my remark. “Excuse me?” She replied with a slight perplexed expression. “I don’t know, when I saw you I feel like you belong in a campaign, specifically Chloé,” I replied. Let’s just say since that moment we became really close. Later she confessed to me that it was almost eerie I made that comment because Chloé is her favorite fashion house, and in fact her most prized possession is a pair of brown leather heels from the luxury prêt-a-porter brand.

While gracing cover or pages of magazines (Teen Vogue included), Tatjana still managed her studies (she conducted home school study) and pursuit her other talents in acting and in music. In fact, post high school she took a year off before attending Bard University in New York to go to Germany so she could immerse herself in her roots. After being back in LA, she pursuit her music further. I was not familiar with this side of her until my recent march 2009 visit to LA. “Check this out, tell me if you like it or not,” she handed me her Macbook and played a music. At first I thought it was Regina Spektor, or Kate Nash (Don’t reproach my inability to identify songs) but to my dismay I was wrong. Nonetheless I was impressed to discover it was Tatjana. Later that day we performed a free-style song with her playing the piano and I sang, well at least I attempted to.

Whether we are looking at her modeling portfolio, listening to her music, or observing her style, I think it is fair to surmise that there is something so random but structured and beautiful about her expression. It almost appears that she gives a sense of being lost, in a good way. Maybe it’s her curiosity, her freedom to explore, or just simply seeing her in elegant Missoni dress while driving like a typical New York taxi driver in the streets of LA.

Pictures Courtesy of Tatjana McElroy

Midtown Girl

It may be a little convenient truth about New York style when you intermix a boho, night life glamazon, upper east side prep student, and a fashion enthusiast. Some girls belong to one of these groups, sometimes two, and rarely all of the above. It is a rule when one juggles multiple different things—whether they be styles or tasks, to make the task at hands seem effortless—just ask those cirque de soleil talents—however, some do it impeccably. I came across this fashion talent in 18 year-old Alexa West. Whether I see her in the morning appearing nonchalantly casual or when we socialize in the night time, she always intrigues all the passerby and all people watchers alike in these seen-to be-seen events. A graduate of one of the prestigious preparatory high schools in Manhattan and soon to attend Georgetown University in the fall, her outfits resemble her personality. This involves an effortless yet very substantial look that evokes thoughts and emotions. She combines her sense of style with her art of juxtaposition resulting in a clever composition of an aesthetic look. One of her prized possessions is her round frame vintage Balenciaga sunglasses. They really stand out when she wears them with Balmain style destroyed washed jeans and killer heels. If there is any common denominator between Alexa and I, it is our penchant for vintage items. Vintage is not always a classic, but when they are they complement our modern and contemporary fashion items. Seeing her in person or in fashion photo Blogs, I love all her looks because all of them make you think. Moreover it makes you want to try to figure out, to search, to discern and to dissect. There is something so obvious yet very mysterious about it and so simple yet so intricate. I don’t know if it’s her black embroidery Valentino heels paired with a typical New York black leather jacket or her astonishing accessories. Nonetheless, if there is one thing I have learned from her style, its that people still see through past her crazy looks and want to get to know her as a person. Sure, most of the time she wears head-to-toe designers but surprisingly I never figure it out unless she tells me what they are. To me, that is truly a fashion girl. A lot of visible designer logos will cheapen one’s look and will make people see the labels but not the person behind them.

NYSH: How do you describe your fashion philosophy?

AW: Glamour and effortless style.

NYSH: From your recent trips to Portugal and China this past year what have you discovered in the fashion scene over there?

AW: In Lisbon there was a lot of graffiti and I think it is another way of expressing your style. In Shanghai it was pretty and I think it will be a substantial city of style soon.

NYSH: What are your keys to look good?

AW: Combining high end and cheap items. To look good is what I make my wardrobe, my closet is a foundation that works together.