This is the council estate that I pass on my walk to work with the "Ideas" sculpture in the middle of the lawn. We're just past the peak bloom for some of the ornamental cherry trees, I think. It slipped past me while I was in Florida! There are lots of petals on the ground, sometimes piled against the curbs like pink snowdrifts.
I mowed the lawn yesterday after work. I am definitely not a huge fan of the battery-powered mower. As I've said before, it's not very powerful and doesn't suck up the clippings -- just leaves them in clumps all over the lawn. Maybe that's not so bad, since they're a sort of natural fertilizer, but at least until they dry out it doesn't look great.
Dave and I have been on a documentary binge. Two nights ago we watched "Vernon, Florida," which my stepbrother recommended to me. It's a documentary made in the early 1980s about a small town in the state's panhandle and some of the eccentric characters who lived there. I'd seen it before, many years ago, but it's a quirky film and I enjoyed it again.
Then, last night, we watched Netflix's documentary "White Hot," about Abercrombie & Fitch and its subtly and not-so-subtly racist approach to fashion in the '90s and early 2000s. I was never an Abercrombie wearer myself. I was just a little too old to identify with that brand -- in 1996, when it was on the upswing, I turned 30 and I thought of it mostly as clothing for college kids. All the Bruce Weber photos of sleek male bodies -- used on the bags and advertising -- made it very popular with the gay community, but I felt like grown men wearing Abercrombie were trying just a little too hard. You know?
In fact, I'm not sure I even went into any Abercrombie stores. They were set apart from the rest of the mall by heavy wooden shutters, so you couldn't see inside them, and that always seemed weirdly intimidating to me. Just crossing the threshold seemed like a commitment!
Speaking of fashion, look at this ridiculous thing. It's in the window of the Roche Bobois store on Finchley Road. Called the "Ben Hur Armchair," it's on sale for a mere £3,300 (marked down 40 percent from £5,500!) and has a nameplate across the back that says "GAULTIER." Apparently that's who's responsible for the design. There's a sort of inherent pun here -- chariot, or chair-iot?
It's on sale because it's an "ex display" and "sold as seen," according to the sign. So, essentially, it's a used car.
Then, last night, we watched Netflix's documentary "White Hot," about Abercrombie & Fitch and its subtly and not-so-subtly racist approach to fashion in the '90s and early 2000s. I was never an Abercrombie wearer myself. I was just a little too old to identify with that brand -- in 1996, when it was on the upswing, I turned 30 and I thought of it mostly as clothing for college kids. All the Bruce Weber photos of sleek male bodies -- used on the bags and advertising -- made it very popular with the gay community, but I felt like grown men wearing Abercrombie were trying just a little too hard. You know?
In fact, I'm not sure I even went into any Abercrombie stores. They were set apart from the rest of the mall by heavy wooden shutters, so you couldn't see inside them, and that always seemed weirdly intimidating to me. Just crossing the threshold seemed like a commitment!
Speaking of fashion, look at this ridiculous thing. It's in the window of the Roche Bobois store on Finchley Road. Called the "Ben Hur Armchair," it's on sale for a mere £3,300 (marked down 40 percent from £5,500!) and has a nameplate across the back that says "GAULTIER." Apparently that's who's responsible for the design. There's a sort of inherent pun here -- chariot, or chair-iot?
It's on sale because it's an "ex display" and "sold as seen," according to the sign. So, essentially, it's a used car.
48 comments:
To me Abercrombie and Finch promoted an image of a white, preppy college boy. I am sure that was its intention, so yes, if you were not white, bad luck for you. You are not the market.
I assume the wheels on that stupid chair are decorative. I wouldn't pay £30 for it.
I would like to see "Vernon, Florida" now you have flagged it up. I see that it is on YouTube. I'm sure it will nourish my interest in small town America. I see it is just north of Panama City where I once bought some old Coca Cola bottles. Don't you just love that vintage green-tinted glass?
I’m going to have to add it to my Netflix list as I like documentaries and quirky characters. I too never got into Abercrombie either but for different reasons. It was popular but I was newly off on my own and I hated shopping in boutique stores like that and it was before internet clothes shopping really took off.
Hi Steve, Dave and Miss Olga. Thanks for taking me on vacation to Florida. I went on the road trip and toured with you. (lol) I am very glad you did get a chance to take the trip to see your mother.
You have a good eye to find pretty trees and flowers. I did plant a lot of bulbs and other type of flowers in my front flower bed. I want to work in it a lot more but everytime I go outside the new neighbors are popping out of their house (across the street) speaking all dam day. I just stopped returning the hello, or how you doing?(lol) I have to sit in my backyard if I want a breath of fresh air. I try not to get started being too friendly because they will think you are a store when they need something. This is a rent house so it's very transit. They will eventually be leaving. By the way I wouldn't pay them $.50 for that ugly ass chair.(laughing hard)
I kind of like the chair-iot. I could slip into my A&F and feel like I time traveled 25 years or 2000 years!
I think that chair is the grownup version of the racing car bed. Fun for the right person, I suppose.
I love the pink snowdrifts of cherry blossom. Ours hasn't yet flowered, so I have that to come.
The chair-iot isn’t even well done. How ridiculous. Gautier could have at least made it look more like a real chariot and less like a contemporary chair with wheels. As for A&F, I always found their marketing offensive and wasn’t surprised by all the dirt that came out. Might find the documentary interesting (added it to our list a few days ago). I remember walking by their shops in the malls to see the hunky, caucasian, preppy gods luring people (only the right people, of course) into the store.
I don't know if I've ever been in an A&F store either. As a person who has carried a few extra pounds since childhood I've seldom felt like those kinds of stores had anything for me. And I was 32 in 1996, so ditto on feeling like it was for the youths. Ha!
I feel so relieved that I have felt no need to indulge in ridiculous fashion trends from A&F to a Gautier chair. Do you suppose someone will buy it?
Does it actually roll? I've been in the Roche Bobois in Houston many many years ago. I did a custom tabletop for them which turned out to be a disaster and I didn't make a cent. They have/had some weird stuff. I wondered what kind of people really bought and lived with their stuff.
The photinia is blooming here and the ground is covered with tiny white petals.
Fashion? What is this thing called fashion? I've been living in blue jeans and hand-me-down shirts (from my sister-in-law) for years. The aisles and hangers are full of trends soon to be covered in dust.
Nature outdoes anything made by humankind. The chair is hideous. A&F is absurd at best and truly disgusting for the most part.
Trends and fashion passed us by- probably because we grew up in a wild place where no body cared what the hell you wore as long as it was clean and had pockets.
The cherry trees here are in the same state of being- making petal puddles everywhere.
Okay, that chair is just hideous and the price tag ridiculous.
I was working in Chicago in the late 90's and there was a big A & F store on Michigan Ave. I don't recall every going in it but I do remember those bags with the "hunks" on them. I would see those bags everywhere.
I remember there was a lawsuit about A-F making people of color work in the back of the store out of sight of the white patrons. It was enough to make me never go there. Our malls also had Hollisters which were of the same ilk.
Like others, I wonder if those wheels are functional. Can't you see someone trying to pop a wheelie in it!? (and tumping over backwards in the process) The price tag is a bit shocking.
Is Abercrombie even still around? Many of those trendy stores have disappeared, at least from my area. I'm glad you posted about the electric/battery mower since I've been considering getting one. I have a large and thick lawn so I probably need to stick with my gas powered Briggs and Stratton engine.
Brother Reed, Purchase That Chair And Ship It Over To Colorado - I Am Building On A Project And That Chair Would Be Perfect - Classic - Advice For You And Please Do Not Take This As An Internet Attack From Overseas Behind A Keyboard - Please Set Your Electric Mower's Wheels On The Highest Setting - As You Slowly Walk, Just Make One Pass - Then, Drop The Rear Wheels Down Two Notches - This Allows The Blade, Which Spins At A Slower Revolution Under Cutting Than A Gas Noise Maker, To Mulch The Blades Of Grass - Finer Or Thinner Grass Cuttings Will Be Drawn Into The Bag - Play With The Front Wheels A Bit Or The Pitch Of The Overall Mower During Your Second Pass - Might Find A Rather Desirable Result Without Cussing Out Those Pesky Clumps Left Behind - Anyway, Olga Girl Would Just Love A Just Because Treat From Uncle T
Cheers
Good lawn mowing advice!
My middle daughter used to drag me into Abercrombie and Fitch but I don't think I ever bought her anything there, too expensive.
As for the car chair, that's just hideous.
Yikes that armchair is just disgusting. I think that it should be sent over to A&F to join the rest of their disgusting merchandise. I wouldn't give 2 cents for it.
My kids thankfully never asked for A&F stuff, even when their friends were wearing the brand. I guess that I lucked out on that one lol.
I am glad you made it home safely and your garden is just amazing and it will be so beautiful when all are at peak.
My mother in law bought my son an electric mower. Now that is one for the History books. Trying to wow an acre and a half with a ton of extension cords that kept tangling and it took HOURS to mow
that grass lol.
You seem to have gotten some excellent advice from The Padre, so maybe it will work out for you.
I will talk to you later. Goodnight.
Gross on the chair. Yikes. I just heard that the national parks documentary, narrated by Obama, is fantastic. I'm looking forward to watching it. I love the pink tree -- those trees are literally glorious, I think.
Yes, they aggressively courted that white, preppy image.
I'd love to hear what you think if you watch it. I wonder how you'll cope with the accents! Even I have a hard time understanding some of the people in that film.
I liked some boutique stores -- I liked Structure, for example. Yes, given "Vernon" a try!
I wouldn't take that chair if it were free! I wonder if you could put in some earphones and work in your garden? If you can't hear them they can't bother you!
"Centurion! Bring me my chair!"
LOL -- it IS kind of like a racing car bed!
The right people -- exactly. I always felt I was not the customer they were seeking!
Apparently A&F long refused to carry plus sizes. They've only recently added them.
I can't imagine anyone will buy that chair. I'm surprised it even got produced.
I pass the Roche Bobois store on Finchley Road every single day, and I don't think their stock ever changes. I don't know who's buying any of that stuff. I want to hear the saga of that tabletop!
I'm with you -- stick with the basics!
You're right -- nature is a much better designer!
I wasn't even remotely clued in to fashion or trends until I got to be a teenager. My stepbrother was much more aware of such things and he clued me in.
I think Hollister (which is the same company) has taken over the "hunk" marketing these days.
Yes! The movie talks about that lawsuit and features interviews with several of the plaintiffs.
In which case...isn't it basically a wheelchair?!
I haven't seen Abercrombie in a while, but I think it IS still around -- mainly through its Hollister subsidiary.
That IS good advice! I'll try it! I also think I need to mow a little more frequently -- because I was out of town the grass got a bit too long, and it's hard for the mower to digest it all.
It was expensive, as I recall -- another reason I never shopped there.
Good to see you, Beth! Hope you're doing OK! Our electric mower was more powerful than this battery-operated model. The cords ARE a pain but the machine works better.
I've heard about that documentary. Didn't Ken Burns do a big documentary series about national parks a decade or two back? Pretty sure I watched that one when it came out.
That chair is just wrong. I wouldn't want it even in my yard, let alone my home.
Errr...surely you're not suggesting that we run around au naturale? I agree about nature, but sadly, there have been some alterations in my case.
Love the cherry tree. Love it. But they do go fast. They haven't even started here. I'm barely seeing a "bloom" on the forsythia. But I suspect by the weekend and rising temps it'll happen.
That chair -- nope.
Yup on Ken Burns and the parks. He just did a terrific two-parter on Ben Franklin. I had no idea he was quite the savant he was!
More markdowns are on the way for that chair-iot, I am quite sure.
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