♥ let's face it.

ok, so maybe i have a case of the sour grapes

because i currently do not have a middle name,

(apparently, my mom thought "samantha chu" was long enough!)

but i have never been a fan of monograms.

on the other hand, i happen to love silhouettes.

i mean, let's face it... who doesn't get a little jolt of narcissistic joy

at seeing oneself in side profile looking fabulously vintage &

oh.so.louise may alcott?

these personalized prints, wallpaper, pillows, postage stamps (& more!) from

simply silhouettes would make perfect gifts for any occasion,

and are darling investments for any lucky recipient.

so, go ahead, and put your best face forward.

♥ copy cat.

there are no words to express how much i LOVE this dior gown

worn by the exotic eva mendes at the golden globes earlier this year,

so you can imagine my astonishment when i saw

that ABS by Allen Schwartz is offering a pretty

fabulous copy cat in white and black.

hey, for less than $4oo,

you could look like a million bucks.

♥ things you can tell just by looking at her.

source.

when i was in college i took a fascinating class on japanese prints.

otherwise known as as ukiyo-e, or "pictures of the floating world,"

this easily mass produced art featured prevailing themes of

pleasure and entertainment, most notably the courtesans and geishas.

a little known fact about geishas is that the bare nape of the neck

was regarded by japanese men of the time as a highly provocative part

of the body due to the fact that it was basically the only part left uncovered by

either clothing or white face makeup.

for this reason, you may notice that the delicate neckline of a

japanese geisha will appear over and over again in ukiyo-e.

i think it's kind of interesting to think that such an unassuming

and easily overlooked body part could be found so alluring,

and it is precisely why i was originally drawn to these simple yet complicated

digital prints found at the etsy shop, nosideup.

each print is named after a woman and gives a brief yet telling description

of who and where she is at the moment the neck image is created.

can't you picture four of them, framed in black,

arranged randomly on a wall?

sometimes there is beauty in the things we can't see ourselves.