Ad Musings: Louis Vuitton

Angelina Jolie in Cambodia.

My Mom was so cranky when she saw Angelina Jolie's new Louis Vuitton full-page ad in the New York Times. Mommy feels that it's in poor taste to sit in the middle of an impoverished country with a several thousand dollar handbag. I agree.  It is in poor taste, and feels very post-colonial. Especially since it's half-French woman with a bag from a French company in former French Indochina.

However, Jolie,  photographed by Annie Leibovitz, gave her fees to charity. Ironically, the specific bag she is posing with is discontinued.  That doesn't really matter, since they're advertising the brand and an idea, not a particular item.  You can read a bit more about Jolie's photo over at Huff Po.  Apparently this is the most recent in a campaign that I've mostly missed, or just didn't connect to one another. Here's Bono and his wife:

Read about Bono and Ali Hewson's spread in South Africa here.

After the jump, lots more about this campaign, including Sally Ride, Pelé, Gorby and more.

Ad Musings: CoverGirl

So as I've mentioned before, I appreciate a well crafted ad campaign. Commercial art still has the word art in it. As a woman of size, I also love being pandered to with token average/plus-size models. As such, I wanted to share some pics from Cover Girl's 50 Anniversary ad campaign.

If I were older, the choice of Ellen as a CoverGirl would send me to the drugstore to pick up some Simply Ageless make-up this minute. While I don't watch her talk show, I did watch her ABC sitcom Ellen as a kid. I love tux and her shoes here. Most of all, I love her as an accessible to the mainstream gay American. As I self-proclaimed expert on the fashion of Lindsay Bluth as portrayed by Ellen's wife Portia de Rossi, I got extra excited to see her in the photo spread.

Musings: Interstate 10 Amusements

Some notable sights on our drive from Tucson to LA.

Ironwood State Prison, Blythe, CA

A message from your friendly California cows & Chick-fil-a

I didn't get a picture of the actual billboard, but I saw them a few times on the way there. It's nice that Chipotle thinks that puns on chemical symbols (Au being the symbol for gold) are fun, but when 2 out of 3 college grads in the car (my parents), don't get it, the humor might be falling on deaf ears.

 Denny's BACONALIA is simultaneously too esoteric in its origins (see Bacchanalia) and this "Three Bacon Sampler" possibly the most obscene food item since KFC's Double Down sandwich.

Musings: Havaianas

As one can tell from my previous summer essentials  post, the Brazilian flip-flop brand Havaianas are my favorite type of flip-flop, and the flip-flop is my favorite shoe. As such, I have quite a few of them.

So what's new o mundo Havaianas? What styles should I consider? Where can I find the best deals and selection? All that and more after the jump!

Ad Musings: Disney Dreams

Famed photographer Annie Leibovitz reprises her work with Disney with another installment in her enchanted ad campaign for Disney Parks. The ads feature celebrities posed as our favorite Disney characters. Because what are celebrities if not our modern day princesses, heroes and villains?  Here are a few of my favorite new images, plus a couple from past seasons as well. If you're itching for more, head on over to Huff Po for their slideshow. Also check out the behind the scenes video from the shoot over at Disney.

This first one is my favorite from the new campaign and features Jeff Bridges as The Prince and Penelope Cruz as Belle.  It combines elements from two of my all time favorite movies, The Big Lebowski and Beauty and the Beast. Make sure to click on the pics for more detail.

Julianne Moore as Ariel & Michael Phelps as a merman

Alec Baldwin as the Spirit in the Mirror, Olivia Wilde as the Evil Queen

Click through for more great photos featuring David Beckham, Roger Federer and Scarlett Johansson and more!

Musings: Budget Gasoline

So I've been filling up at Arco recently since it's the cheapest station along my route. I have a lot of eco-guilt about my commute already, but I prefer the grossly negligent Brit twits at BP (Arco) than the actively evil Texas-based Valero. Valero was one of the oil companies that sponsored (along with some  help from the Koch Brothers) last year's failed California's Proposition 23. This was an attempt by the industry to roll back California's ambitious greenhouse gas reduction policy (one of the few good things that happened under Ah-nold).

In addition to being the lesser of the low-end gas evils in my mind, I love their new ad campaign "Straight Up Gas Institute."  It's like they're saying: 

Yo, no one likes buying gas, we don't even like selling that shit. But yous gots to fill up yo whip, and you not enough of a baller for premium Chevron wit Techron. At Arco, we keep it real. Straight up gas.

 I do have one current beef with my Arco station. It's pretty whack that they don't have the water, squeegees, and paper towels. Fer realz, the Corolla's windshield looks hella ghetto. You'd think they could afford it with their 45¢ per transaction convenience fee.

Style Icon: Dr. Tobias Fünke

As much as I enjoy discussing Lucille and Lindsay Bluth's gorgeous wardrobes as a personal source of inspiration,  one cannot deny that Tobias also has a distinct and valuable style point of view.

Spring Break w/ fellow Never Nude Phillip Litt (unfortunately their condition is still not officially recognized by the DSM-IV)

After the jump, I create a couple of fabulous (if I do say so myself) outfits for summer  inspired by Mr. F!

Musings: Royal Wedding Adverts

I was amused at work yesterday to see that Canada Post is offering commemorative Royal Wedding stamps. I know he is going to be the Head of State/King of Canada some day, but it still, seems like it's reaching. The only thing my Quebecois callers like less (as a group) than Anglo-Canadians is the British. I found an interesting little survey on Canadian opinions of the monarchy.

After the jump, a hilarious Royal Wedding ad!

Happy Baseball Season!

Read more about New Era's campaign.

The trash talking will be continuing throughout the season, which I'm excited about as I love both actors and trash talking.  I especially liked the exchange:

John K: It's like being a huge fan of fascism!
Alec: No, It's like being a huge fan of winning.

As those of you who know me know, I'm a Yankees fan. As a progressive Yankees fan in California who throws around the f word (fascism), I totally get what John's saying.  I understand that on principle I shouldn't like the wealthiest team in the sport who exemplifies capitalism and American Exceptionalism in a bad way. But I do. For the same reason that I like clothes. They're fun.  Also, not that I need to defend my allegiance, but my Mom was born in New York.

Mommy & me in in front of AT & T Park for a Yanks/Giants interleague game

In the Oakland Parking Lot

A Favorite T!

So when I was in elementary school one of my nicknames was Eeyore, due to my sardonic wit (also a early sign of depression, but this isn't a mental health blog).  So I was so excited when I saw this shirt at Torrid. It was just meant to be it's as a) Eeyore b) In French c) Fashion: It's a pun on "J'adore Dior" d) plus size to boot!

Style Icon: Eminem

"I want to be remembered as a fashion icon because man, do I know how to f*cking dress." (See the video)

It's rare the the internet disappoints me.  I do feel however that not enough has been said about  Eminem's recent wardrobe transformation. For those of you who don't know, I love Eminem. Yeah I know it's weird for a bourgeois feminist with a gay best friend. But there you go.  I think he's a brilliant storyteller.  From a physical perspective, he was one of my favorite heartthrobs as a teen. Here's an example of his fine vintage self.

 

Even back in his baggy sweats period, I always appreciated his comparatively mild bling.  If bling is a sign of how successful a rapper is, Em was always so big that he didn't need carat weight to prove his clout. Look at him compared to Busta Rhymes here:

Since their collaboration on Stan at the Grammys, Elton and Em have become friends. You can read about Em's raunchy wedding president to Elton here.

After the jump, we'll look at his recent style transformation.