Salma Hayek
Unknown Photoshoot

I tried out for roller derby on Sunday! It was pretty exciting, and at one point someone was helping me fix my toe stops. What has derby done to me? she mused. Now when I buy shorts, I ask myself, ‘is enough of my bum showing?’

There are some pretty standard things in derby fashion, and it may surprise you to learn that some of them are for practical reasons. Awesome stripy knee-high socks help to reduce blisters from where your skates rub into your ankles (also, look awesome). Tiny skirts and short shorts allow for full movement and rotation – in fact, the inadequate shortness of my skirt is what led to the title of this post.

Tight tops, so they don’t get in the way. Movement is key. Some skaters wear loose things, but they’re carefully crafted to be high and out of the way, so as to cause no impediment when skating.

I’m not going to lie, some of the fashions are just because they’re awesome. I can’t think of why fishnets are standard, but they are. Cool patterns are also pretty important: a pair of socks covered in cherries is way more awesome than plain black socks, but you knew that.

Even if you’re not a derby skater, you can still indulge in these fashions: but even better, you can indulge in all the other things, too. Because you’re not worrying about skating, you can rock the rockabilly, if that’s your thing.

And hike it up, or take it off.

In my time away from The Plaid Babushka, I work in an industry where I am on my feet roughly seven hours a day, as well as having my top-half covered with a corporate uniform. Needless to say? Shoes are kind of important, both in a comfort and fashion sense.

During my weekly Etsy-stalk, I spotted Em&Sprout and it was love at first sight. The shop is easy to navigate, the sizing instructions spot on and each item is presented clearly with a concise description. I fell quickly for the Little Vampire Mary-Janes and, at US$22, how could I resist?

The shoes turned up at my Australian address less than two weeks later and were packaged securely in a pretty blue tissue paper. And oh, my Babushkas – how cute they are in person!

Excuse the phone picture, but – oh. They’re comfortable, and the Little Vampire faces are secure and not likely to go anywhere, despite me being rough on my feet. Plus, I work with kids – and needless to say? They thought they were pretty ace, too.

Sorry for this blatantly consumerist post, but I had to share. They’re possibly not for every twenty-something out there, but you have to admit they’re damn cute.

Shop at Em&Sprout’s Etsy store in your pyjamas, 24/7. I recommend the Frankenstein M-Js, if you’re feeling nostalgic for Halloween.

Or, The Lesbians’ Guide to Tom Hardy.

I was going to start my time on The Plaid Babushka (plaiding? babushka-ing?) by writing about something elegant and classy (much like myself). Then I decided that I should begin as I mean to go on — with something fairly ridiculous and nonsensical — and, so, my ridiculous and puzzling crush on Tom Hardy.

I’m not going to lie — I am a Johnny Come Lately to the Hardy wagon in that I saw Inception and thought “My, what a fine looking gentleman” and didn’t give it much more thought. However, a quick Wikipedia spiral and Google Image Search soon put paid to that. For example:

HOW COULD I REFUSE?!

He is odd, has a variety of . . . interesting . . . tattoos, enjoys the company of kittens and dogs, takes hilarious MySpace photos of himself and posts them on the internet, has an adorable child, seems to enjoy guns a bit too much for my liking and appears to be a good actor. He is articulate, amazingly honest and, hooray, will be in The Dark Knight Rises. Also, he’s handsome.

Well played, young man. Welcome to this lesbian’s man-harem.

There’s so much you could say about American painter Dave MacDowell. Subversive, ridiculous, too self-referential, too self-aware – a thousand adjectives that suggest his work makes whoever views it extremely uncomfortable. They’re like a mirror – a mirror that, through the mish-mash of pop culture references, reflects something that speaks to you (whether you like it or not).

"Free To Be You and Me" (2010, (c) Dave MacDowell)

His work is interesting mainly because it’s full of riffs we know all too well. It pushes them together to create something fun and flightly, while also working as a far-left commentary on the state of modern art and the people who consume it. It’s confronting, because it is so damn familiar.

"The Breakfast Fight Club" (2010 (c) Dave MacDowell)

But really – all art wank aside – MacDowell’s paintings are smart, funny and they get you talking – all the things art should be. Snap up a print in his store, or follow his blog for more information on his upcoming shows and new works. Awesome.

Ryan Gosling
Interview Magazine, November 2010

(via justjared)

It’s not often I get a crush on a product, but Moleskine makes it oh-so-easy.

Although they’ve been around for a couple of months, I got my hands on one of the Moleskine Passion range – the film one, to be exact – and have obsessively been spending the twenty minutes post-movie watching scribbling away in it’s easy to use, functional pages.

Here’s how Moleskine are touting it:

And here’s mine in action.

The front is similar to a normal Moleskine, but with cool, film-related icons embossed into it. (Possibly to help you differentiate between the seven Moleskines already in your bag.) Mine’s already looking a bit dirty, so excuse the handbag dust.

Inside, it’s separated into four handy-dandy sections, the main one being the alphabetised and indexed section for you to write in the films you’ve seen.

Each page breaks the film down in to sections, allowing you to fill in your favourite parts of the films (and not so favourite).

The layout is fun and easy to use, with lots of space for sticking pictures/ticket stubs/useless titles you give to films that no-one else gets (that last one may just be me). The only downside is the pressure to fill everything in, but usually I just record reactions or things I’ve overheard the audience say, especially in the Quotes section.

Towards the back are four blank sections for you to fill in yourself. Mine’s mainly a “To Remember” section – so films I’ve been recommended or want to buy when I go out to a specific event. I’ve also added a “Favourite Actors” tab, so when faced with rows of DVDs, I can grab the ones I know have a familiar face in them. It also comes with a range of do-it-yourself stickers, which have other helpful suggestions if you can’t think of your own section labels.

As well as the two major sections, they include – and this is cool – an index of the Moleskine you fill in as you go. There’s also a little calendar of events that you can pop in the films you want to see or who you want to see them with, as well as a list of major film festivals around the world. How handy is that?

And it wouldn’t be a Moleskine without the pocket at the end. Here you can store the stickers that come with it (which also feature thumbs up/down, hearts and all the other naff stickers you can pop all over your favourite films) and ticket stubs. Genius, let’s be frank.

All in all, I love the Passion range, and already I’ve called upon this Little Black Book of Film when asked about a film I’d recently seen, or to add in recommendations from friends and strangers. It’s versatile enough to be open to a DIY nature, and structured enough for nerds like me who love filling in forms.

The Moleskine Passion range is AU$39.95 and is available from their website, Borders stores and all good Moleskine retailers.

Like all liberated ladies of the internet, ours is a crafty contingent, with the majority of us picking up the needle or the thread at least once in our lives (with varying results, naturally).

My drug of choice is cross-stitch, and I was taught this delectable art by the extremely talented and patient Essie, of Penelope Waits fame. I’m lucky not only to have her instill the way of the floss in me, but have her as one of my very closest friends. Don’t be jealous.

Recently, she’s branched out her stitchyness to include a series of cross-stitch patterns and kits that are available from her Etsy store. They’re infused with her distinct sense of humour and easy enough for even the most beginning of beginners.

Above is the Nuts About You kit, which is a steal at $22 – it includes the pattern, aida, all the floss you’ll need and a needle (just in case). Bargain, right? The pattern itself is laid out in a logical way, in full colour with a lovely note from Miss Essie herself. And? Best of all? You have a pun-a-riffic heirloom to pop on your wall whilst basking in the oohs and aahs from your not-so-handicrafty friends.

With the craft boom that’s engulfed the internet and magazines recently, it has been a real struggle to get smart, fun cross-stitch patterns that don’t cost the earth – so indulge your inner LOLZ and stitch up a Penelope Waits kit!

Here at the Plaidquarters, one of the biggest things we believe in is inspiration is inspiration, no matter where it comes from. One particular facet of popular culture has, in recent months, taken a hold of my little heart and not let go. I mention it now, because it’s probably going to come up a bit – come on down and take your place at tPB’s table, Korean Pop Music.

We’ll go into the intricacies of a twentysomething Australian girl pulling love-heart eyes at music squarely aimed at Korean teenagers later, but for now – ladies and gentlemen, miss A.

Their new single, “Breathe”, has been getting quite a bit of play on Ye Olde iPod, and the filmclip has some of the most infectious dance moves this side of the Macarena. If you can, crank the resolution up to 1080p and enjoy the inside of Willy Wonka’s bubblegum room:

It’s enough to make you feel guilty, isn’t it?

The other tracks on the Step Up single are just as infectious, with the title track made to be a bloopers montage at the end of a romantic comedy. It’s not deep, and it’s not going to last – but miss A personify the flightly, fun nature of an industry that’s built on satisfying the right now, not the maybe-in-the-future.

2NE1 will always have my heart, but I feel a faux foxtail may be making it’s way into my life sooner rather than later, along with an earworm that will have me screaming for Cheap Trick’s “Dream Police” in a few weeks’ time.

It has been said that everything must begin somewhere.

Let us, then, begin The Plaid Babushka with our current favourite picture, courtesy of Tumblr.

If that’s not a sign of things to come, I don’t know what is.