Top 5 Lunch Break Tweets

London Ranks At The Top For Most Fashionable City In The World cmplx.it/o9iLLg—
Complex (@ComplexMag) August 18, 2011

Vote James T. O'Neill. Your vote is appreciated. Poll: AoM Put Up Your Dukes Photo Contest artofmanliness.com/2011/08/15/the…—
Jose Feliciano (@Lifeclearhazy) August 18, 2011

New post: Japanese mummies! goo.gl/hfdyj—
Tofugu (@tofugu) August 18, 2011

AP VIDEO: Today marks 20 years since Boris Yeltsin thwarted a Communist coup attempt. Here's a look back: apne.ws/nbLNUI -EF—
The Associated Press (@AP) August 18, 2011

UN report finds brutal crackdown in #Syria ‘may amount to crimes against humanity’ wapo.st/r9tdfQ via @PostWorldNews—
The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 18, 2011

Internet Random Fact Lists >> Things I Like

So, I am finally posting something for Things I Like. Well, here it is! I like:

Internet Random Fact Lists

I don’t really know why. I guess I have this thing for trivia and facts that can be inserted into conversations or be used as conversation starters. Plus, they are a great way to get some blog ideas or at times (in a not so great way) they can help you procrastinate.

Here are a few of my favorites sites to visit when I need some random Internet facts. (Warning: These websites should be used only in cases of extreme procrastination or when you actually do have time to kill.) Happy reading!

http://www.toptenz.net/

http://www.cracked.com/

http://listverse.com/

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Mutant Pointy Boots Become Fashion Craze

The pointy boot fad has absolutely exploded in Matehuala, Mexico. This is way beyond your average, pointed-toe cowboy boot. I want to see someone walking down the street in these crazy boots. I actually wish I had been able to when I visited Texas in mid-April during Holy Week.

This YouTube video uploaded by VBS.TV documents the search for the pointiest long-toed cowboy boots ever made in Matehuala, Mexico.

(It’s crazy things like this that make me love shoes so much. Well, that and being a former worker in a major shoe store.)

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My Thesis: Fashion & Identity

Below is my Thesis Abstract. It basically lets you know what caused my great lack of blog posts and what took up my time for the past 4 months (Jan. 2011-Apr. 2011). This is the bare bones of my thesis project and all that it entailed. As usual, copyright and all that jazz with the actual abstract. It is a bound work in Penn State, Harrisburg’s library, after all, so all the plagiarism rules and then some would apply.

__________________________________________

Fashion and Identity:  Exploring How the Visual Language of Fashion and Magazines Represents the Identity of Generation Y

How does Generation Y, made up of those individuals born between 1981 and 2002, come to define its identity through the visual language of fashion and clothing? Does the visual rhetoric of advertisements and articles in magazines reflect the visual language being communicated by Generation Y’s clothing? If so, how has the rhetoric of visual culture come to act as a guide and chronicle to the Generation Y concept of identity through fashion?

Store front in Kufstein, Austria- Nov. 2010

This project seeks to explore the contemporary identity of Generation Y, first, by analyzing Generation Y and its relationship to consumerism, and second, by exploring the visual rhetoric of advertisements and articles presented in fashion magazines targeted at the 18-30 year old population of Generation Y as consumers. The advertisements and images analyzed are a cross-sample, taken from magazines published from 2007-2010. Five periodicals were strategically chosen to provide data for this inquiry. The magazines used are Cosmopolitan, Complex, Ebony, GQ, and Vogue. These magazines appeal to diverse sections of American culture, maintain readership in the 18-30 age group, and are consumed by different gender and socioeconomic groups. All the magazines feature varying styles in the presentation of ads and fashion images. An overall examination and overview of semiotics and sociological analysis have been taken into consideration to assess the ways in which Generation Y has adopted the visual language expressed through fashion in order to create a unique identity.

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Friday Feature: The Urban Gentleman

This Friday’s feature article is on a blog that I’ve grown fond of: The Urban Gentleman.  The Urban Gentleman defines itself as:

A basic guide to men’s fashion and grooming with an urban twist. The Urban Gent covers everything from how-to-tie-a-tie to the best dressed men in Hollywood. Also covers celebrity styles ranging from Kanye West to David Beckham. The best website for men’s fashion and trends.

The blog provides colorful, artful, and tasteful looks into what upcoming trends are, how to stay true to classic trends, and is generally helpful for any man looking to build up a classy wardrobe that can result in his own unique style. Whenever I need to do some quick research on current fashions, The Urban Gentleman is among my first stops.  (More on what some of my other stops are will show up in follow-up posts.)

So, what exactly is the urban gentleman? The blog provides a quick and easy answer:

The Urban Gentleman is the modern gentleman. He is a man of style, class, culture, and of course he has a bit of swag.

Visit The Urban Gentleman

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• 7 Unisex Items That Guys Aren’t Afraid To Swag (hellobeautiful.com)
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Things I Like: Petrilude, Freelance make-up artist

Today’s “Things I Like” is about a favorite freelance makeup artist that I love watching on YouTube named Petrilude. The man knows his make-up and does a series of videos related to costume makeup for one of my favorite holidays: Halloween.

Petrilude’s real name is Josh (or Joshua.) This 25-year-old, Illinois resident is a self-taught, freelance makeup artist on YouTube.  He uses a JVC Everio HD Camcorder and as for his digital camera, it is an Olympus Stylus 720SW, & Nikon D60. At the time of this posting, he is #25 – Most Subscribed (All Time) – Gurus and #47 – Most Viewed (This Week) – Gurus on YouTube.com.

The man is popular and with good reason.

Josh’s tutorials are down-to-earth, straight-forward, and easy to follow. What attracted me most to his tutorials is the fact that he does makeup that can transition as costume makeup. His Halloween-related tutorials are excellently put together and stunning in terms of the results. This is not to say that his other videos are any less put together or informative. If I had to state a complaint about his videos, it would be that he sometimes speaks rather fast, but this is understandable since the videos can only be so long. Most of his videos are around 10 minutes in length.  Josh does provide multiple ways to contact him with questions or comments and has a range of sites other than YouTube that you can explore.

In the past, Josh has done tutorials on everything from basic skincare to the Corpse Bride movie character makeup to weave demonstrations.

If you want to see the wide range of Josh’s work you can check out his YouTube page or his blog. Below you can see an example of some of Josh’s work:

Things I Like: The Met, New York City

This “Things I Like” focuses on the The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

In the hall of Medieval Arms and Armor.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, also known as The Met, is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as the Museum Mile in Manhattan. It has a permanent collection containing more than two million works of art, divided into twenty-two curatorial departments. The main building, often referred to simply as “the Met”, is one of the world’s largest art galleries; there is also a much smaller, second location in Upper Manhattan, at “The Cloisters”, which features medieval art.

Represented in the permanent collection are works of art from classical antiquity (Babylonia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Sumer), paintings and sculptures from nearly all the European masters, and an extensive collection of American and modern art. The Met also maintains holdings of African, Asian, Oceanic, Byzantine, and Islamic art. The museum is also home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments (including the oldest piano and Stradivari violins), costumes and accessories, and antique weapons and armor from around the world. The Rooftop Garden is home to outdoor sculptures during the warmer months.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded on April 13, 1870, “to be located in the City of New York, for the purpose of establishing and maintaining in said city a Museum and library of art, of encouraging and developing the study of the fine arts, and the application of arts to manufacture and practical life, of advancing the general knowledge of kindred subjects, and, to that end, of furnishing popular instruction.”¹ The founders included businessmen and financiers, as well as leading artists and thinkers of the day, who wanted to open a museum to bring art and art education to the American people.

¹Charter of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, State of New York, Laws of 1870, Chapter 197, passed April 13, 1870 and amended L.1898, ch. 34; L. 1908, ch. 219.

La Frileuse; One of my all time favorite bronze pieces

This is the hall containing Oceanic art.

The NYC Skyline from the Rooftop Garden

Jeff Koons Exhibit on the Rooftop Garden, 2008