Species on the Verge

South American deer that lives on flood plains and wetlands. Endangered!

Grande Dames of Fashion

“In difficult times fashion is always outrageous.”

Elsa Schiaparelli

and

“How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something, but has to be someone”

Coco Chanel

Anna and The Parlor

Come in, take a moment and open your eyes! You are about to tour the Pretty Parlor, Okay bring a snack ....it's not my keyboard!

Pretty Parlor

The Pretty Parlor on Capital Hill (Olive near Summit) is a delight of a shop. Is it the stock, the decor, the people, Vince the cat, the ambiance? Yes!
I had planned to do a slideshow of behind the scenes design studio shots where they create fabulous restyled one of a kind designs. Then mix it up with store proper photos, starring the vintage collection Alas, my battery died. and the replacement all nicely charged was left at home.

Oh gee, I have to go back and try again. I think it is probably serendipity at work and the best slideshow will be posted next week. If you are not the patient type go to The Pretty Parlor for a look-see yourself I suggest the number 8 or the number 43 bus as they stop Right There! However one can find a place to park on the side streets near the Parlor. Go, Enjoy and be sure to say hello!

Then return here for the really snazzy slideshow!

Video Inspiration

AA photo

Recycle is Good, Right?

At this stage of the Madness yes.
I like many thought that recycling was the answer and that all would be well.

Yet a small rip in the plan turned into a gaping hole as each transition of a product takes energy (resources) to move it and/or repurpose and repackage it Have we glibly hooked into second tier madness?

Yup! we just started building another Monster.

Oh NO - now this Monster generates new companies, new workers new "dependents" with vested interests just like the old one' It too is shielded and promoted, lifted onto a pedestal and gains the power to control policies.

And this new Monster is dependent on the old Monster.

Trashed Again!

Solutions need to look at the whole interrelated eco system of the entire planet, all life and all resources. Humans can't wipe out everything and expect to live. That this runs counter to the agenda of the consumer driven capitalist notion of "what we do," tough! Let's grow up and get a stake in new reality.

Oscar

As in Wilde:

“Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.”

OSCAR WILDE
(1854-1900, Irish poet and dramatist)

The above quote is from The Waste Makers by Vance Packard, p. 68

The Waste Makers

“In the fifties designers in a great many fields earnestly studied the obsolescence creating techniques pioneered in the field of clothing and accessories, particularly those for women. Women’s clothing and accessories by 1960 had become a 12 billion dollar industry, much of it created by obsolescence planning. As Mr. Cheskin (of the Color Research Institute) observed,: “Every industry tries to emulate the women’s fashion industry. This is the key to modern marketing.’

excerpt from the book The Waste Makers , by Vance Packard published in 1960 by David McCay Company Inc.New York

A Cowgirl Without Boots

looks like a city slicker on a horse. If I had been wearing great boots from Insurrection back in the day, I could've pulled this look off.....well better anyway!

and a hat, I need a hat and a really cool embroidered cowgirl shirt and....

Insurrection is a local indy business with a lot of style. Cowboy and counterculture with vintage leather cafe racers, vintage t's and locally designed and made skirts. Some of the skirts are made with vintage print fabrics (from unused vintage yardage) others are restyled from jeans. With Spring on the way some new "old fabric' stock will arrive at the store and will be part of the Bumbershoot Installation.

Always Slammin' Counterculture Fashion

Insurrection features vintage cowboy boots, Levi's 501s, cafe' racer motorcycle jackets, western shirts, t-shirts, restyled Levi's skirts and cutting-edge dresses

A "mixture of rock n' roll cool and country cute, they strive to bring their customers the absolute best in Americana clothing......they are the perfect counterculture cocktail of Seattle.'

Find them in the heart of Greenwood
at 8403 1/2 Greenwood Ave. North
206 729 5752

Victorian Style

Vintage Globe

So What's the Point?

The USA with 5% of the total world population is gobbling up 23% of it's resources.

On the average each good US citizens uses more than four times the amount of energy, nearly three times the water and we each produce twice the trash and five times the amount of carbon dioxide than worldwide per person averages. (Buncombe, Andrew. The Independent World Oct 11 2006.UK )

We imported $94,722,291,000 in clothing and textiles last year according to World Data and X amount ends up dumped or recycled within a few years, with energy costs all around

Ouch

Here in the USA we are using up natural resources to import resin bears and drive Hummers, make calorie rich, nutrition poor foodstuffs and drugs to cure us of the consequences. We are promoters of the fashion moment and the extravagant excess. We are in denial of science and compounded logic. We appear to love our illusions more than our children. Or worse, we want to be eco friendly and elitist.

These people are difficult to care about and that my friends, is the point.

Earth Hues Natural Dyes

Down south of Market Street on Ballard Avenue in Olde Ballard is a treasure shop of color. Natural dye kits, classes and a gallery of intriguing art and craft wares from local and global sources make it a destination site. They have also noticed that people are more interested in issues of sustainability and that is good news for them and all of us. Thank you Earth Hues for being an early innovator.

Ardis Allyn

Ardis Allyn is the videographer for Species On the Verge and is also swell with the still camera. I am full of graphic, emotional, shadowy, abstracted, poignant and powerful mental clips from the Pacific Northwest Ballet Romeo and Juliet so am writing like an addled thing. Okay then. In the meantime go see the AA website it's smashing (I am having a retro slang thing)

There are more Saint James photos at AA's space at Picasa.

Then the Edits begin

-too funny! its all about the possibilities of the many and then- it is just about the one; is like this a constant theme?

Choose One

I get emotionally involved with my work. I need to pick one gate but it's hard for me to kill one off. Help Please!
The poll resulted in a win for the Dragon/Capitalism is Boring Gate

Thank you

The Gate

The poll moves away from the picyures, it is over on the right side
SOMEWHERE

1: an opening in a wall or fence. (Miriam Websters Online Dictionary)

Walls are built to protect us but they are also traps. Walls create shadows where illusions live. Illusions block truth.
A gate won't erode the boundary, it just lets in the light.
A gate lets the prisoner out.

The "gate" was lifted from a window grill photograph out of a collection byArdis Allyn at Picasa.