Trendwatch 2009: Is This Supposed to Keep Me Warm?

First of all, I know that Oahu has been cold and windy these last two weeks, so I understand the need to keep warm. Heck, I'm the one who bought a sweater coat at Sears this morning because I got tired of freezing myself off while my other jackets are in the wash. But:




No. Just... no. I don't care if you call this a Snuggie or a Slanket, or if you were one of the few people on this island who purchased the printed rip-offs that I saw this morning: something about it is just not right, yo.

Speaking of things that are supposed to keep you warm: Will somebody please explain these hats to me?

I've been seeing this all over the place, and now with all these girls posing with these fetching little hats on this season of American Idol I'm afraid this is going to be the Mainland equivalent of the Jasmine Trias flower-behind-the-ear. Even the Fug Girls reported no less than Rachel Zoe running around with a similar knit hat perched just so behind her head.

Which begs the question: What's the point?

It's supposed to be a "beret," but I've always thought berets were meant to be worn above and across the crown (as in here and here), not behind the cranium. It looks like a rasta hat (and I should know, because I had one in 8th grade), but these ones are brimless and most of the girls I've seen are rocking the hat with flat-ironed bangs... regardless of whether or not they tuck the rest of the hair into the hat.

You know what it looks like to me? An oversize snood. Yep, you heard me: the kind of hair accessory that toes the line between Ren-Faire and Cafeteria Lady. THERE, I'VE SAID IT.

Don't even get me started on the wide gauge on some of these hats, which would probably keep the heat in if they were used to contain an appropriately generous - and appropriately textured - head of hair. (This, coming from the person who still hasn't given up on the watch cap since 1995 because it was the only hat that kept her head warm despite her baby-fine hair. Hah.)

So: slouchy knit hats in general - cute, overrated, or the hat equivalent of "Dreadlock Holiday"?

Bring On the Next 40 Days

Now that I'm back from my Mardi Gras partying, I feel like I'm so ready for Ash Wednesday... not because I'm particularly sanctimonious or anything, but after tonight's Fat Tuesday experience I feel like tomorrow's austerity is going to be a welcome break.

And speaking of Fat Tuesday... what's a costume-tastic holiday without the appropriately costumed mascara?

Nothing says Mardi Gras like a mascara clad in purple and gold. (Okay, more yellow than gold, but still.) I tried Maybelline's The Colossal Volum' Express Mascara for the first time today, and so far so good: the brush/mascara combination reminds me more of L'Oreal's Voluminous -pretty and well defined, but not over-the-top. The only complaint I have so far is with the lasting power; it held up all afternoon, but was practically non-existent by the time I came home from partying. It's still worth a few more tries, though.

Giving New Meaning to the Term "Girlcrush"

A warning to my more conservative readers: If the thought of me even discussing a "girlcrush" is disconcerting enough for you, I urge you to Walk. Away. Now. Seriously. I'll get back to you when I have less titillating subject matter to discuss... like, say, that roasted pig from Tony Bourdain's visit to Cebu, or whether or not I've purchased anything from MAC.

...Anyway. For those of you who still haven't walked away, here's a video of my latest girlcrush, BeBe Gandanghari.



Yes, I know, the weave doesn't do her justice... but look at her. Great legs. Killer cheekbones. If you watched this video on mute, as I often do, you'd think she's one of the sexiest Filipino women alive.

And I could go on and on about Miss BeBe here... except that I'd also point out to you that I've known her since she was a boy.

Yep: She's a MAN, baby.

There's not enough space in this blog (and for that you need Wikipedia) to tell you the saga of a boy who grew up in a family of macho action stars; became a macho actor himself; got married; got un-married (since divorce is verboten in the Philippines); went into seclusion; came out on national television (on Celebrity Big Brother, no less); and tried to make a name for himself as an openly gay man in an industry where most openly gay men end up with roles that are, shall we say, less than butch. And that's not even covering the life-changing trip to New York where he finally accepted his fate as a fashion-and-makeup-loving Girly Girl.

Not to mention that, as far as I know, BeBe is not even ready to disclose whether or not she... ahem... is even in the process of officially becoming a (post op) She, especially since her former boy self has been adamant about keeping his boy parts.

But I mention BeBe here, too, because it is an interesting pop-culture moment for many Filipinos; as I mentioned to Scribey earlier, if BeBe is somebody's idea of a performance-art commentary, then she's doing a better job of it than Joaquin Phoenix is doing right now. And I actually like her better, too - whereas the old boy version wasted those cheekbones on bland leading man roles where he barely registered on screen, she's funnier and much more engaging. I hate to say it, folks, but in this case it does take a real man to be a very good woman... and damned if she doesn't turn out to be a better role model (if not an enduring pop icon), just for being who she is.

In the meantime: If MAC - or even another cosmetic company - ever came out with a BeBe Gandanghari line of makeup and skin care, I would so be on it.

Edited to add: "BB" is short for "Binibini," which is the Tagalog word for "miss." So, if you think about it, the English translation of her name is actually Miss Beautiful King. Hee!

What's Your Fantasy: No Translation Necessary

And no need to subscribe to the Korean soap-opera channel, either... not when you can already check out some seriously good-looking (and anything-but-geeky) Korean men on your regular American network dramas!

Exhibit #1: Daniel Dae Kim, from Lost.

(Is it so weird that I want him to stay in HNL, especially since I've heard so much great stories about him having so much aloha for the islands? And is it so funny that I actually drooled at the thought of him partnering up on a burger joint over here?)

Exibit #2: Tim Kang, from The Mentalist.

(Okay, so this is a weird picture of him, considering that his job on The Mentalist involves not smiling, crossing his arms across his chest, and glaring heavily at suspects while Simon Baker brings his brand of crazy/sexy into the room. That said, I totally enjoyed his attempt at playing a smarmy playboy during the show's most recent episode, and I really hope that his character starts stepping it up in the wardrobe department from now on.)

EDITED to add Exhibit #3: John Cho, of Harold and Kumar and the new Star Trek.

He's not on a TV series yet, but I did catch his hilarious guest-starring turn last season on How I Met Your Mother (he was the lawyer who was trying to recruit Marshall into the shady corporate law firm by taking him out for dinner and hanging out with him). And like I've mentioned in the comments, I sincerely believe that Tim Kang's character* is named "Cho" for a pretty obvious reason.

*Also: Yep, they changed the character's first name to "Kimball" from "Kendall." Which is weird, because "Kimball Cho" sounds like he should be wearing a bowtie and testing recipes instead of conducting poker-faced interrogations with Simon Baker in the same room.

Trendwatch 2009: Manly Men with Tiny Dogs

Just this morning I found a really hot, really shirtless guy in front of my apartment building... and when I got closer to him I saw him walking not one, but two tiny Pomeranians. That ups the known number of Men with Tiny Dogs on my street to three.

Now, I don't want to judge - although I do know for sure that the one of those dog-toting men on my street does the Chihuahua duty for his wife (and ergo know for sure that it's luuuurve) - but when I see a big, burly guy with a pocket-size pup, I can't figure out if I should find it cute, creepy... or in the case of Mickey Rourke above, both.

Seriously: Macho men with tiny dogs - hot, or not?

A Moment of Silence

I lost the Stila 8-pan the other day to an unfortunate accident, which ended up with broken mirror pieces and eyeshadow pans all over the floor. I cleaned off the eyeshadow pans (and -what the heck - it was time for me to throw away one of the shadows anyway) but the mirror was irretrievably broken.

So off to the garbage can it went.

And in its place, a Stila 4-pan:

Clockwise from top left: Icon (purchased at Nordstrom for $7.00), Barefoot Contessa, Wheat, and Twig. In other words, all my workhorse neutrals in the same place. :)