Helen Gurley Brown died today at the ripe age of 90. While I didn’t always agree with everything that came out of her mouth or her mind—particularly in her later years where her judgement crossed the line at times—I appreciated her penchant for living her life her way, boldly, unapologetically and, clad in fishnets until the end of her days, with joie de vivre. […]
Posted in Fashion, Media, Style
With cities increasingly brimming with wonderful boutiques, it’s always valuable to get an inside tip. I’ve long enjoyed RackedLA‘s “Shopping Confidential” column because of this.
When RackedLA contributor Yale Breslin contacted me with an invitation to submit my secret shopping spot, it was my pleasure to be able to share a place I’ve written about in LVER before and can never get tired of recommending, since I never grow tired of this designer’s wonderful work. […]
Posted in Craft, Fashion, Media, Style
It could have been one of those fantasy dinner parties with icons conjured over an ordinary dinner with friends, a wish guest list of individuals so part of the pop cultural fabric yet so disparate in their raison d’etre that there is no way they could end up around one table. […]
Posted in Beauty, Costume, Fashion, Food and Drink, Performance, Style
As the concrete dries on our new A+R location and we look forward to hanging our “open” sign later next month, reporters are getting hot and heavy about the revival along La Brea Avenue with the September issues in mind. […]
Posted in Current Affairs, Design, Food and Drink, Media, Style
Much has been made about the perfect red lipstick because much can be made with it. A red lipstick can swipe away the blues, to riff on something Pauline Trigere famously said. […]
Posted in Beauty, Fashion, Photography, Style
It’s an expansion of sorts.
As you Dear LVER Reader know all too well from reading this site, Andy and I enjoy life to the max. With that in mind, we are expanding our offerings on the retail level by becoming one of the 150 “curators” on OpenSky, a curator-driven marketplace allowing users to select from a tightly selected group of experts in the fields of lifestyle, food, kids, beauty, health, home and other categories.
Who doesn’t like a free pass?
If you didn’t receive the A+R newsletter inviting you to this weekend’s Dwell On Design show, then do yourselves a favor and sign up now so you don’t miss another one. […]
Posted in Current Affairs, Design, Interior Design, Los Angeles, Media, Style, Web/Tech
Enjoyed a divinely decadent meal tonight at Black Hogg, the self-styled gastropub here in Silver Lake, opened four months ago by Eric Park, a chef who truly paid attention working the trenches at New York’s celebrated Eleven Madison Park and The Spotted Pig. […]
Posted in Design, Food and Drink, Los Angeles, Style
My sister Blanca and I lost our dad, David Apodaca, in 1991. But he is still with us.
In my case, he’s with me every time…
I speak to an audience—my dad was an accomplished member of Toastmasters International and even took me to a few meetings when I was still in elementary school. […]
Posted in Love
As the morning faithfully reaches 102 degrees in Palm Springs (making it the coolest of the week), we wrap up our three-day shoot for Mini Cooper Magazine, a publication with a global circulation of 375,000 and the incredible Tyler Brûlé-helmed agency, Winkreative, driving its new look. […]
Posted in Design, Film, Media, Photography, Style, Transportaion, Travel, Web/Tech
Was nothing sacred? Had Banksy slipped into a Fjellse bed with Ikea? As we stood at the entrance of the Ventura Lambrate subway station during the recent Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, I interrupted my eye roll at the rough black-and-white pasted figures on the granite walls with the realization this was probably just another mainstreaming of street art. […]
Posted in Art, Design, Travel
When Elisa Goodkind and Ramona Canino appeared on my porch late last summer, I had a little trepidation. I’m not about hanging out my laundry for the world to see, let alone opening up my closet or my home—especially as I was in the midst of construction and changing up some of the furnishings. […]
Posted in Beauty, Books, Costume, Craft, Design, Fashion, Interior Design, Style
Looking forward to the droll and delicious send-up of stand-up satirist Sandra Bernhard, who opens a two-week run Wednesday night at REDCAT with brand spanking new material and musical numbers in her ongoing Sandrology. […]
Posted in Art, Current Affairs, Media, Music, Performance, Style
Facebook promises to connect us with the past as much as the present. While some old associates are better left way in the past, I admit I’ve been thrilled to reconnect with others whom I once upon a time spent so much of my life. […]
Posted in Fashion, Los Angeles, Music, Style
Today I’m 44. Tonight Andy and my dear pals Bryan Rabin and Kelly Cole are throwing down the glam gauntlet at Diamond Dogs, Bryan and Kelly’s weekly fest at Bardot’s in Hollywood. […]
Posted in Current Affairs, Love, Music
Oh to be in San Francisco tonight! Guilio Cappellini is making a rare public appearance launching “Arkitektura’s Design Assembly,” a new series and idea incubator featuring talks, collaborations and exhibitions with progressive change makers in the design world. […]
Posted in Current Affairs, Design, Interior Design
Some time between the moment when Gregory Arlt slung Dita’s extended, black stockinged leg above his neck and an hour or so before when the curtain dropped on the stage of the House of Blues in Hollywood, the group of us cozied up inside a tiny chamber at the back of the Foundation Room upstairs. […]
Posted in Beauty, Costume, Performance, Style
I love a book I hate to finish. Ry Cooder’s “Los Angeles Stories” (City Lights), the maiden novel by the guitar whiz and roots music champion, is the latest book to merit that ranking on my reading list. […]
Posted in Books, Los Angeles, Music
