No Strings Attached, eh?

Well, I haven't kept up with this sucker in about seven moths, and my first update since then has nothing to do with something I like today....it is in fact quite the opposite:

In the last few months, two extremely similar movies about platonic relationships gone sexually awry have been released. To cover their own asses I’m sure, both No Strings Attached and Friends with Benefits claim to be different, but as far as I can tell a new sect in the realm of Rom-Com is currently being developed. While we, as females, are trained to set romantic comedies aside from what we expect in relationships, it is unrealistic for these excessively emotional and imaginative movies to not impact the way relationship dynamics are construed.

Perhaps it is because I am numbed to their audacity, but the romantic comedy dynamic where the girl falls in love with the “unexpected” guy is a totally different playing field than this new subgenre. It does not add any complication to the dating process—it just goes to show that people find [ridiculously overly dramatic] love in unlikely places. However, this new sex-only system becoming romantically mainstream adds a whole new set of guidelines to complicate relationships.

My first problem with this new set of films is the implications within their titles. “Friends with Benefits.” It is through college life and emotional wrath of these menial relationships that they have received negative connotation. If you really think about it, the ultimate relationship and life partnership should literally be a great friendship with benefits. But that certainly does not mean that every platonic friendship has this potential.

While I am not one to be overly emotional (if anything, I am very much the opposite), I find the message of these movies to be extremely misguided and incoherent. It negatively effects both serious romantic relationships and platonic friendships by implying that no one is ever looking for either of those things, and in doing this makes it even more obnoxiously complicated to relay one’s true intentions.

What these movies both really made me think was, not to sound like Jenna Marbles here, but, WHY CAN’T WE JUST BE HONEST PEOPLE?? “I like you, you like me…let’s go.” Someone make a movie about that.

Butterflies.

If a group of butterflies takes off in Thailand, it can cause rainstorms in New York.

Oh college, how I love you. But winter break, I love you too. College is full. Full of things to do, people to see, facebook profiles to stalk. My downtime is spent vegging, and the last thing I want to do is read "for fun." But after a week and a half of break, I realized what I have been missing.

I have read two absolutely amazing books, Matched by Ally Condie, and Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. Though completely different, they were both page turners, books I ravaged through and [remarkably] even finished (even the epilogue!!), and I could not wait to pass along to my friends.

These books both had amazing female characters, which is really huge for me. I found myself relating to both protags, which hadn't happened in a while.

Really, these books just reminded me to pay attention to what is beautiful in life and not overanalyze it.

Post pictures, just because they're pretty and I like them:

Or drink overpriced Starbucks just because I want to, even though it tastes like dog piss (one of the many lessons to be learned from Before I Fall).

Though I don't want to review books right now because 1) it's late and 2) i'll leave that to my mom, I just want to say that today, i more than like, i LOVE reading. I love the enlightened, empowered, and optimistic feeling that good books leave you with, and most of all, today, i love life, and i hope you all do too :]

Indian Summer

After taking a very long dive into the fashion blogging world yesterday, I felt bombarded by a trend that I've always been intrigued by: Native American Headdresses. Though a bit costumey (ok, a lot costumey), they are something obviously timeless and absolutely gorgeous.

To start with my favorite look from the Cobra Snake...

Though this look was worn to what was essentially a costume party, in the right setting I think it could be pulled off by someone just hipster enough, especially when paired with neon green nail polish and other modern accessories and a simple outfit.

I then went on to find a few more examples on Wildfox Couture's blog:

This photoshoot was done in portrayal of young adult novel Weetzie Bat, which is about a sort of outcast, LA teenage girl. I've never read it, but from what I've researched it seems like a mix of the Virgin Suicides and a hopefully less serious young adult counterpart...maybe Gossip Girl (in which case, this book has just shot to the top of my to-read list, but that's beside the point).

I like the way this photoshoot adds to the carefree and hippie aspect of wearing a headdress. It seems fun and nostalgic, and somehow not completely out of place. I'll attribute that to the camera filter.

I also found this on Wildfox Couture and I find the vibe to be completely different. Though the actual headdress itself is more understated, paired with the fur coat, it's a combination of glamour and free spirit, almost reminiscent of Almost Famous's Penny Lane.

I found this picture of Gisele in a headdress, and while I can't really say too much about the way it contributes to the look, because well, it is the look, I can say that I like how it's used as a sexy, fun and girly accessory.

Finally, one of my all time favorite photos, regardless of the headdress:

Paired with the Van Halen tshirt and loose waves, the headdress has more of a rock and roll vibe, while obviously still portraying Mary-Kate's free spirit. Words can't even describe how much I love this picture so I'll just say alskdjfal;skdj.

However.........

Some people--Ke$ha--give headdresses a bad name. She screams dirty, forward, and completely off-putting, and these are all traits I would prefer not to associate with such a beautiful accessory. Although I'm sure Ke$ha would love to describe herself as a free-spirit, I would prefer to describe her as a hot mess. On her, this look says "trying to hard."

To conclude, what I love about this look is it's inherent free spiritedness, fun, pretty, colorful, hippie look that says a lot about its wearer's attitude. However, I can see where the abuse of this over-the-top headwear is completely unnecessary and a bit hard to pull of in daily life...but I want to pull it off....

How do you think I can adapt this look, and in what situations do you think it's appropriate? Do you like it, or do you hate it?

Also...

I don't really care about her current forced living arrangements, I still love Linds. Check out her awesome new photoshoot on 80spurple!

THE RESURRECTION.

MY GOODNESS. It has been such an embarassingly and ridiculously long time since I've written much of anything other than crappy college papers, and this is something I am not proud of. However, after boring months of summer part-time work and laziness, combined with hours of late night StumbleUpon sessions, I have decided that this is completely inexcusable. There is so much to be inspired by and to like in the world, and why I am not sharing what I like on at least an every-other-daily basis is absurd to me (how vain that I think my interests are so fascinating to other people, right?).

Anyway, after succumbing to the pop culture mecca that is Twitter, I've decided it's a little ridiculous to have a Twitter account (@alexasibberson, for all of you who I'm sure are interested) that is unaccompanied by a blog or website or cultural reference point of some sort.

After re-reading through my past blog posts, I MISS THIS! I can't wait to find all the gems culture has to offer...a legitimate excuse to spend even more time on the computer this summer.

So I'll just jump right back in where I left off...I'll start with things I like and a recap from this summer so far (mind you, I'm probably months and months behind).

I stumbled upon these old pictures of classic Hollywood icons the other day and I think the carefree characteristics in both of them is so timelessly nostalgic. They perfectly capture everything I love about fashion, pop culture, old Hollywood icons, and all the like. They really inspired me to start up this blog again for various reasons:

1. They look behind the stereotypical put together image of old Hollywood and show true personality. To me this is extremely important; it is always necessary to remain true to yourself, while knowing when to pull it together professionally.

2. The actual fashion itself. I kind of [regrettably] checked out of the fashion world when I went to college this year, and after perusing much missed issues of ELLE and Vogue this summer, I realized how much I miss it. I miss admiring pictures in magazines and pulling together outfits of my own, and I miss emulating the timeless styles of others and sharing it and getting feedback via blogging.

But anyway, over the course of the next week, I plan on getting this back up and completely running, and I couldn't be more excited about it!

NEW BLOG = NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION

www.icant-ihaveclass.blogspot.com

www.icant-ihaveclass.blogspot.com

www.icant-ihaveclass.blogspot.com

www.icant-ihaveclass.blogspot.com

www.icant-ihaveclass.blogspot.com

www.icant-ihaveclass.blogspot.com

www.icant-ihaveclass.blogspot.com

:]

I Don't Give A Damn About My Bad Reputation.

I've been watching Freaks and Geeks at school the last few days thanks to an awesome Independent Study teacher of mine... she uses the show to teach her On Your Own class... I'm not in that class...so I just take advantage of her DVD boxed set. And seriously... it is worth your $55 if you've never watched it before.



This show is absolutey hilarious. It's one of Judd Apatow's earliest works, for those of you who don't already know... and it stars three of my favorite people in the world.

1. Seth Rogen

As if I wasn't in love with him enough from Knocked Up and Superbad...

2. Jason Segel

The understated dude on the left being overtaken by James Franco's beauty. He was in Knocked Up ("....gynecology is just a hobby of mine, but i'd say she's crowning.") and he's hilarious in How I Met Your Mother.

and finally the true love of my life:
3. JAMES FRANCO.

He is ineffably (english vocab word of the week; meaning unable to be described in words) beautiful I can't even stand it. He smirks and manipulates and totally pulls off the bad boy image with a charming sweet side SO perfectly... i just melt and end up standing in a giant puddle of Alexa.

Also... is it weird that I can COMPLETELY identify with main character Lindsay Weir?

In that she is completely torn between hanging out with her old safe friends and her new 'freak' friends who don't really completely accept her but are a lot more fun than her old friends? And she somehow always believes that the bad boy is falling for her than gets slapped in the face at the end?! hypothetically speaking in generalities of course....

all i really have to say is freaks and geeks is the best show from the 90s excluding saved by the bell, and that says a lot. go watch it.

She's Been Up All Night

HAPPY FASHION WEEK! :]

so i'm going to do a collection of the day for every day of fashion week. i probably won't get to it every day, but i'll cover every day, don't worry. so today i'm going to do my favorite of today and yesterday. and we'll see how it goes from there.

FRIDAY 2.1.8.
Collection of the Day: Boy by Band of Outsiders
To be quite honest, I wasn't really too impressed with any of Friday's collections, but Boy was my favorite. It's very masculine, go figure, right? and maybe a little old, but at least it was done well. It shared many of the same silhouettes and ideas as Elie Tahari, but I feel like overall it was more my style, and presented much better.
Here are a few of my favorite looks:


The coat is obviously a classic and fashion staple, but I love that the pants are cropped Audrey style to at least vary up the skinny leg a bit.


I love the combination of plaids. It's super '80s boy preppy for a girl, and really, who could ask for more?


It reminds me a bit of Chanel... ok a lot, but I like Chanel, so I like this too.


I love purple and the shape of the coat. It's young and fun.


This is total Billie the Kid attire...Rockin'.

As for the others:
Vera Wang's Lavender Label collection was a bit too conservative and the pattern and color combinations just didn't do it for me.
There was absolutely nothing I enjoyed about Rachel Roy's collection. The clothing reminded me of Condoleeza Rice just as much as the models....perhaps that was the vision, either way i don't like it.
And like I said earlier... Elie Tahari was well done but I feel like I've seen it all before.



SATURDAY 2.2.8
Collection of the Day: Nicole Miller
Again, it's kind of repetitive of a lot that I've seen before, especially in even main stream fashion chains, but it was a bit more extravagant I guess, and again the most matching of my style.
My favorite looks...


I actually really like the print and the cape because it's so small and conventional instead of most over the top capes and prints and everything.


Same thing, and I love the contrasting textures with the complementary shapes.


One of my favorites because it looks comfy and cute, and it's long enough to be worn without pants and not one of those shirts that people think are dresses.


It's very simple, and you could probably find a much cheaper version at American Apparel, but again comfy, sporty and cute.


I usually don't like dresses that are cut like this because I find that the bottom is often far too short to cover my behind... but this is long enough, therefore I like it. Also I like the neck and the sleeves.


I like htis dress because it's superrrr 80s prom. That's really it.

Other collections:
BCBG Maxaria looked like every other BCBG collection, which I guess is ok, but whatever.
Douglas Hannant was very pretty, but a bit too old for my liking.
I liked all the solid pieces of Erin Fetherston's collection, but the pattern choice was unflattering and homemade Easter dress looking.
Jason Wu was lookin pretty Easter meets Funeral.
Katy Rodriguez had a few cute dresses, but overall way too trekkie for my taste.
I liked the eclectic ideals behind Rachel Comey's collection, but I felt like the execution was bad and it looks too old lady.
I actually realy loved Rag and Bone... I don't know why I didn't choose it as my collection of the day.
The presentation of Sue Stemp's collection was so "angsty teenager being forced to dress up" and the dresses were too Macy's Prom.
I liked the monochromatic color pallaete of Yigal Azrouël's collection, but to me all the looks looked the same.



Also, I'll probably update my MP3 player over there sometime soon, so if you have any suggestions I would truly appreciate them.

p.s. here's my weekly top from last.fm