[page print from zoozoom.com]

Published: Zoozoom.com, The Zoo Daily
Read it on Zoozoom: click here
Writing: Elaine Perlov
Photo: Elaine Perlov



Click to read about Bonbon Oiseau's latest designs, available this Fall.



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It's not just nature...
Look beyond the fronds.

It's the United Nations!
I think my photo is postcard-worthy.

Gantry State Park in Hunters Point, Queens

Who would believe that just beyond these beautiful green fronds, there would be this spectacular view! Where else can you see the lower buildings of the UN and not just the Secretariat? This is our new contemplative spot.

Hunters Point in Queens is being aggressively developed with luxury condos, as is seemingly every other square inch of New York, but at least there is a beautiful park and viewing spot right on the East River for everyone to use. Take the 7 Train to Hunters Point and walk towards the spectacular skyline.

And now, more photos of dramatic Hunters Point and Gantry State Park.

The Citibank Building and amazing apartment buildings in the 60s.
Want to enjoy this view a little longer?
Turn around and recline in these fantastic chairs:


They did a really great job with the park furniture at Gantry State Park.
There are so many seating options,
including built-in tables and chairs to share an urban picnic.
Can you believe a spot this peaceful is in NYC?


Now this is dramatic.
When you look at these great old gantry cranes that once transfered boxcar freight from
rail barges to trains, you realize, hey, I'm standing right at the beginning of Long Island!
The gantry cranes luckily have been preserved, and serve as a gateway to this new park.
If you like Louie Nevelson sculpture, you are going to love studying these giant pulleys
and girders up close. Just beyond, the current luxury condo building boom
(R to L, Citilights built 1998, Avalon luxury rentals, 2007 and two more to come).

The Pepsi Sign (!!) from the Queens perspective.
Yes, it is even more dramatic in person.
Want to visit? Take the 7.
Imagine the fireworks from Hunters Point!

I wonder how many different models of sewing machines are depicted in neon in New York? I aim to photograph them all. (Please note, I am prone to hyperbole.) Once again in this example, the needle is included, highlighted in a separate color. But there is no stitch selector. Which leads me to believe that this model is an early Singer. Hey, if I find a T-Shirt (which I actually already have), and a Dressform, I can do a NEON version of my logo above! I am excited at this thought.


Sewing machine, glass tubing, inert gases and clear plastic, 9th Avenue and 39th Street, New York, NY

Browsing my stats one day (the Referrals section is my favorite), I found that readers were coming to my blog from this blog:

finalfashion.ca

and this write-up:

Possibly one of the best designer blogs out there that I have found, Elaine Perlov offers up frequent quality posts on her blog, I am a Fashion Designer. Gee.

This has been making my day since I saw it. Thank you so much Danielle!

These letters stopped me in my tracks. I thought the glass was etched and filled in with gold (or faux gold) leaf. I even had to touch it to realize that the letters are glued onto the window from the inside.

They don't make signs like this anymore.

[page print from zoozoom.com]

Published: Zoozoom.com, The Zoo Daily
Read it on Zoozoom: click here
Writing: Elaine Perlov
Photo: courtesy of The Conran Shop



I do have a thing for orange. Both in public sculpture and in furniture. This piece by Creazioni is certainly a show-stopper. I am excited and rather pleased with the writing in this article.



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[image from anyahindmarch.com]

Well it seems that mine was not the only blog-tongue wagging yesterday about Anya Hindmarch's I'm NOT A Plastic bag. Musings pro and con about Hindmarch's eco-friendly limited edition designer cloth supermarket tote has been the topic du jour. I had to do a follow-up piece because I thought you might want to investigate further. Click on this link to read the range of opinions.

For all those who like the bag and still desperately want to get their hands on one (you already know my opinion on this), good news. If you start lining up today at your local Whole Foods Market, you still may be able to grab the USA version with navy lettering for $15. when it goes on sale at selected East Coast locations on July 18.



And now, the flip side of eco-chic. Has anyone seen the back of the I'm NOT A Plastic bag bag? Take a look at this post accusing Hindmarch of not-so-green practices with respect to production. Then take a look at the official response from we are what we do (C). My favorite part of their official response is this:

"The bags were made in China”
Claims about "slave labour" were incorrect but the issue is serious and, I think, difficult. [...] The bag would have been significantly more expensive if it had been made elsewhere undermining its accessibility and I guess I buy products manufactured in China everyday. What weight should we give to these considerations?

[excerpt from we are what we do]

Indeed.

[page print from viewimages.com]

I'm NOT A Plastic bag by British designer Anya Hindmarch created quite an eco-stir on the streets of London back in April. The bag only costs 5 pounds, but is in limited quantites, causing customers to line up at Sainsbury's grocery store at unnaturally early hours. And now they are talking about her bag on The Today Show today. I turned off the TV.

Why not just carry a green Le Bag? It's cloth. It's reusable. It needs to be resurrected. It was popular around the same time as Le Car was on the road. You can still find one at Big D stores, I'm sure. Go Green! But go quietly, okay?

[image from enokiworld.com]

I think you will like this Website. Colette is a concept superstore, on rue Saint-Honore in Paris, devoted to the latest in style, design, art, food, fashion, and don't forget, super-luxe. Click here and mouse over the blue circles. But don't click at work or at the library. (There is audio.)

Let the animated luxury-watch-robots guide you on your e-shop journey.








[page prints from colette.fr]

I guess I was thinking of doing a similar, but certainly more static, project to Erik Kastner's when I took this picture on the E Train platform. He recently told me that if I upload my photos to the flickr group "one letter," they'll start showing up on spell with flickr!

Don't forget to comment here or in the Spell Your Name with Flikr post when you post your creations. I would like to see!

Of course I was drawn to this neon sign. It is so boxy, so self-assured. It just screams, "Let's go sew!" Well to me anyway. It think it's a Juki. I also liked that the needle and stitch selector are included in the design. The use of tone-on-tone colors are quite unique in the neon aesthetic (or is that the reflection in the window? I don't remember). As you know, neon is a custom game, so the talented individual with some design sense can really stand out in this format.

Sewing Machine, glass tubing, inert gases and clear plastic, 10th Avenue and 23rd Street, New York, NY

[page print from zoozoom.com]

Published: Zoozoom.com, The Zoo Daily
Read it on Zoozoom: click here
Writing: Elaine Perlov
Photo: courtesy of 4mula



Just in case you forgot to read Zoozoom this week, here was my piece from Monday. Check out this previous post for a little background information on my new gig, if needed. Aren't these modular soaps by 4mula clever? I think they make great gifts.



If you cannot view on Zoozoom: click on the image above
To read more of my articles for Zoozoom: click here

I guarantee you will click on this link and spell your own name as soon as you read this. Who doesn't want to see their name in lights? I clicked on each letter for more options and saw my name's 'personality' change each time. So much fun. Of course I included neon! If you post your masterwork on your own blog, let me know!

It's funny, I have been photographing appealing letters on the subway, on street signs, on stores for the past 2 years, for a future (unknown to me yet) project. I love what creator/programmer Erik Kastner did with 'his cache' of letters. The beauty of his cache is that it is generated by many many others and borrowed for this project. It is a great understanding and clever use of the true communal spirit of the Internet.

Canadian photographer, Edward Burtynsky, who "specializes in large-scale images of vast industrial landscapes" is the subject of Manufactured Landscapes. The film by Jennifer Baichwal, will play at Film Forum for 2 weeks, beginning June 20. Does this photographer remind you of anyone?

When I saw the preview this weekend (we were at Film Forum to see Let's Get Lost), I was whisper-yelling, "oh wow! a film about andreas gursky!! we have to see that!!" Until I realized it was not about Gursky. Now I doubly have to see it. There is a great similarity in their work. In fact, Manufacturing #17 by Edward Burtynsky pictured just below of the Deda Chicken Processing Plant, Dehui City, Jilin Province, 2005,


is so similar in feeling to Andreas Gursky's repeating industrial landscape depicted in Siemens, Karlsruhe, 1991,


and similar in composition and picture plane density to Gursky's famed 99 Cent, 1999.



Suffice it to say, I am very interested in seeing Manufactured Landscapes, and was very sorry to find out that the Q&A screening with the director and photographer on June 20 is already sold out at Film Forum. I did read though that the film will have it's New York premiere at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at the Walter Reade Theater on June 16. That screening will feature a discussing with Jennifer Baichwal to follow. I am going to try for those tickets.

And thus concludes my Lower East Side laundromat mini-series. I thought I'd go out on a high note. I love the way these carts are lined up at closing time. The repeating squares and circles are pleasing. Again, a feeling of "hearth" for me.

(Click on 'laundromat' in the labels below to see more.)

It's all in the details: bamboo beams on the ceiling, bamboo plants all around, dark wood
lattice-work screens to divide the room, dimly lit highly polished dark wood tables,
and raking light on the textured stone walls create a sexy atmosphere.


The Tuna Tataki was delicious. Fanned out on a glass plate with two dipping sauces.
Here is a recipe I found online, just in case you are feeling adventuresome.

You must sample the tasty dishes at Aja Sushi Bar & Cocktail Lounge on 1st Avenue and 58th, right down the street from The Conran Shop and the 59th Street Bridge. The 'Asian fusion' menu presents quite a pleasing variety of Japanese, Chinese and Thai dishes, with plenty of delicious fish options. There is also a sushi and sashimi menu with all the favorite standards. We tried the Tuna Tataki with two dipping sauces from the Japanese side, pictured above, and the Char-Grilled Chilean Sea Bass with sake-miso glaze on a bed of greens.

The food was great, but my favorite part about this place was the decor, and in particular, the textured surfaces, the lighting, and the Buddha in the back of the dining room. I chatted with the owner a bit and he told me that the designer of the restaurant is from China. The Buddhas are from China and Thailand. The blue-lit Buddha, pictured below, is even more dramatic in person. The lighting changes very subtly from red to blue to green as you dine. There is a submerged koi pond leading up to the Buddha, which is built into the floor. You can view the colorful fish through a plexi pathway in the floor. Quite dramatic. The surfaces are pretty great too, dimly lit at a raking angle to accentuate all the different textures. I love the stone walls. The bar has a ray skin-like wall to imitate the handle of a samurai sword. I am a particular fan of ray skin (samekawa in Japanese, if you want to impress your friends). The hanging lamps are also interesting with a faux-bark texture.

I would have to say that Aja is a treat for all the senses, and I would recommend it for a festive evening out. Check out their full menu on their Website.


Aja Sushi Bar & Cocktail Lounge
1068 First Avenue (at 58th St)
New York
212.888.8008

People have made many monetary offerings to the large Buddha from China.


The bar area is to the right, the dining area is to the left.


Anything that imitates wood gets me everytime.
I love a good faux-bois.

You will get to staring at this corner cube with fascinating paint job as you flop down on the spouse couch at the CompUSA store on 5th Avenue near Bryant Park, since all of the things your husband is interested in looking at are on the second floor and you just can't climb another flight of stairs because you have been circumnavigating New York City on foot again like a couple of explorers. Da Gama and Vespucci you call each other lovingly. It is your private joke. Afterall, you are discovering uncharted territory. Hidden gems on 1st Avenue and the like. You will flop down on this comfortable couch in front of a flat screen TV which plays a Sony ad over and over in the far back corner of the first floor of the CompUSA store, next to another dazed wife who has walked herself into exhaustion, laden with shopping bags, and stares blankly ahead of her until her husband gives her the high sign. She will try to look like she is not looking at what you are photographing but wonder why the heck you are so interested in the corner to the point of pointing your camera at it, but then she will see the odd beauty and start thinking that perhaps she too should be photographing the green cube with the curiously meticulous paint job in the far back corner of the CompUSA store.

Delicious seared tuna, sliced thin and fanned out on a glass plate with delightful dipping sauces. On Monday, I'll tell you where we had this dish.

Mass-market retailer, Wal-Mart settled with luxury goods house, LVMH yesterday, agreeing to pay a confidential sum to end a dispute over the sale of counterfeit Fendi handbags in its Sam's Club stores. Below is the backstory.

LVMH sues Wal-Mart over sales of counterfeit Fendi products; Coach sues Target

[source: ETHISPHERE]

November 28, 2006

Fendi, a purse and handbag brand of French luxury goods company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has sued Wal-Mart in federal court, alleging that counterfeit versions of its Fendi brand bags and wallets are being sold in Sam’s Club stores. According to the complaint, Wal-Mart has never purchased Fendi products from Fendi or any entity or person affiliated or approved by Fendi.

According to the suit, counterfeit Fendi handbags sell for as much as 68 percent less than the actual Fendi products, according to the lawsuit. (For example, a fake Fendi handbag priced at $295 vs. $925 for the original). Wal-Mart countered that the company’s “policy is not to sell counterfeit goods” and claimed that it will be able to demonstrate that the Fendi items in the store are not counterfeit.

On a parallel front, a customer from western Kentucky filed a federal lawsuit claiming the Prada handbag he bought at a Paducah, KY, store was a fake. Prada officials have confirmed that Wal-Mart is not a customer. Several weeks after this suit against Wal-Mart, Coach Inc. became similarly emboldened and decided to sue Target Corporation for what it claimed was a million dollars or more of sales of counterfeit handbags improperly labeled as authentic Coach products. Coach decided to quietly drop its suit however later when it appeared that perhaps Target did indeed get the bags in an authorized secondary market “close-out.”

Commentary: Prada and Fendi–Now available in New York, Milan, Miami, L.A. and Paducah! This isn’t the first time that Wal-Mart has been sued over counterfeit goods. In recent years it has paid $6.4 million to Tommy Hilfiger and $1 million to Nike over similar charges. We doubt that Wal-Mart found a legitimate leak in the Fendi supply chain. Rather, more likely is the term that Judge John E. Sprizzo used to describe Wal-Mart’s actions during the 1999 Hilfiger trial: “That’s chutzpah if I ever saw it.” Allegedly Wal-Mart is currently headhunting for a Chief Ethics Officer to join their organization. However, according to a number of people who have interviewed for the position, the offered salary is embarrassingly low. They have little hope of attracting a strong qualified candidate at that pay scale. Collectively, this behavior calls into question its high profile pronouncements about trying to become a more ethical company.

[article and commentary: ETHISPHERE]

I was doing some research this week, and came across this interior designer's Website. I love the interplay of 'figure eights' between the curtains and the ottoman legs on the left. Check out Amy Lau Design. She is very talented. Right up my aesthetic alley.

I have two e-mail accounts, and sometimes I write jokes back and forth to myself. Hee

Do you see what I mean? Totally photographable. I never noticed how large the E is in comparison to the other letters. There should be a font called 'Dryer.' I'll bet there is already. Tell me this image doesn't give you a feeling of "hearth" like the Andreas Gursky Diptychon.

First of all, I would like to wax poetic about this 5. I mean really. Have you ever seen a more dramatic five? The curve is so plump. And the straight bits are so truncated. Simply fontastic!

When I saw this address, I swooned.


405 Park Avenue at 54th Street

Isn't it surprising how many double consonants occur in the Italian language? I think the double consonants follow a pattern. But I can't figure out what that pattern is. If I could, I would be able to spell Italian words and names without looking them up. I had to look up every Italian word in the Macchiato post. Here's my current theory: double the second consonant in each word, but don't double the third. Broccoli, zucchini, cappucino, macchiato. Hey it works! No it doesn't. Cappuccino. Espresso. Oh well.

I am within inches of my subject's back here
with no room to back up for the shot

I am going crazy lately, seeing so many beautiful bag and shoe combos everywhere I turn. It must be the summer weather. I saw an 80 year old lady walk by on 3rd Avenue today with a fabulous shoe-bag-outfit combo. Beautiful subdued colors. But I didn't have my camera on me! Rats.

Above, I bring you a great shirt and bag combination which I viewed in line at Penn Station on the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend. I could not back up from my subject to get a clear shot because I was squashed in the throng of Amtrak holiday travelers. Her top was teal-ish with an elastic empire waist, and her bag was greenish with some well-placed hardware. Little does she know, she is on my blog now.

Isn't it strange that chokers and long skirts are so out of fashion? Too bad. I have some nice chokers and long skirts.

I'll wait it out.

For the life of me, I can't figure out what anyone would have against this once piece of buttered toast. This was one of my all time favorite pieces of street art. Who wouldn't love buttered toast? Anyway, I thought I should photograph it before it was ripped down entirely. But I was too late.

I am so sad.


Photographed on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg.

Does the mere looking at this photo make you crave a candy bar? It does for me. I am very suggestible and susceptive to advertising.

We wandered into this laundromat on the Lower East Side late one night, and everything looked so graphically pleasing. Just begging to become a photograph and a seeming non-sequitur post on my blog. But let me explain how it fits in to my aesthetic. Read this post. I like repetition. What can I say?

Yes indeed, where have I been lately? Not that you've really asked, which I appreciate, but I thought I should tell you why my posts haven't been on my usual every-day schedule. Should that be hyphenated in that case? Now that I look at it, I think it should be 'everyday schedule.'

Anyway, I have been busy working, writing for Zoozoom, hemming pants, re-cutting dresses, making necklaces, organizing my exploding shoe collection (there are so many cute shoes and sandals out there right now, how could I say no? And might I add, organizing my shoes took me 2 solid hours this morning. I thought I would have time to post, but I couldn't stop with the shoes), getting rid of drawstrings on pants and adding belt loops instead, swimming, researching, procuring images for future stories, and watching video taped shows which I programmed on my VCR.

With that said, back to posting. I have a large backlog of images which I am eager to share with you. It is fun to write. I like my blog. I like you too. Thank you for reading. I am pleased that you read my blog.

[page print from zoozoom.com]

Published: Zoozoom.com, The Zoo Daily
Read it on Zoozoom: click here
Writing: Elaine Perlov
Photo: courtesy of Charles S. Anderson




Silhouettes are always right up my alley.



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I will keep this short and to the point. We only have 6 more days to see Tacita Dean, winner of the Hugo Boss Prize 2006, at the Gugghenheim. I cannot tell you more than this, because I haven't seen it yet. But I intend to! Luckily I thought of it in time.

More to follow.

Macchiato on 44th

There are certain things that make me so happy on a hot day. Like a delicious iced coffee. A nice rich tasting one, with skim milk. I decided to visit my favorite cappuccino place today, Macchiato Espresso Bar near Grand Central, and sample their iced brew. I am pleased to say that they never dissappoint! In my opinion, they make the best cappuccino* in the city, and one of my top 2 favorite** iced coffees. You must make this place your everyday haunt. The decor is delightful.

Macchiato Espresso Bar

141 E 44th Street (Lex & 3rd)
New York, NY

212.867.6772

*Wait until you see the pattern the barista makes in the foam. It is a work of art. Like a good Guinness. Hmm. I've made that coffee/Guinness comparison before.

**My other favorite is a small Belgian-inspired chain in the City called L'Abeille. Their small iced is only $1.35. I still find that hard to believe.