An American Pug’s Apparel!

It’s been a very busy few weeks here at the Pug Palace. In the past week alone, we have taken on the much avoided task of painting our apartment. All summer long, we procrastinated on this chore, finding any excuse imaginable to distract us from giving the walls in our home a much needed fresh coat of insane-asylum white (Benjamin Moore Super White in Eggshell in case you were wondering) but last weekend and every night this week, we hunkered down and painted about seventy-five percent of our home—and by this weekend, Mamma Biscuit’s Pug Palace will be completed and perfectly clean and ready to decorate for all the upcoming holidays. Speaking of holidays, in between all of this painting, I have been busy toiling away in preparation for Mamma Biscuit’s Halloween costume. Now I know what y’all are thinking and the only reason why I start this early is because our Lady Pooch is hard to fit and I suck at sewing and I usually resort to a hot glue gun and a broken dream during the process of creating—and I’d rather have that breakdown now instead of later.

Now as you all know Mamma Biscuit has been recovering beautifully from her oral surgery that took place a month ago—she’s practically back to normal except for the chopped-up hair on her two paws and her left hind leg which seems to be growing back very slowly. Hey, it was hard for her doctor to find a vein on our geriatric pug but that hind leg of hers really came through for the anesthesiologist—and until it fully grows back and blends with her normal hair length, Mamma Biscuit will be sporting this ratty, heroin-chic look!

At any rate, after a full, exhaustive day of painting, Tommy and I grabbed the Biscuit Lady and headed out to Fort Tryon Park for a long walk and some quality family time together. The Autumn season has finally arrived and we’ve rotated Mamma Biscuit’s wardrobe to accommodate the cooler temperatures—like this American Apparel hoodie in oatmeal with red stripes!



Just look at our little hipster pooch here—she’s bringing her best Williamsburg, Brooklyn with a little East Village rawness with that chopped-up, shaggy hair on her arms to Washington Heights. Now if only we had some temporary tattoos for dogs and a pair of Jay-Z-approved Roc Nation Aviator headphones, this look would have been totally complete!




So go on, enjoy all fifteen photographs of Mamma Biscuit in her new hoodie on a park bench overlooking The Cloisters. Y’all should know by now that I can’t bring myself to edit when it comes to photographing Mamma Biscuit—she’s just too damn cute from so many different angles I just have to put them all up on display!



Mamma is such a great distraction from all this painting I have to complete in our home! I mean, sometimes I just have to put the paint roller down and go off into the other room to give her a squeeze—or in this case, head on out to the park with her!


Speaking of painting, at the end of our walk, we ran into a man painting the landscape alongside a pathway overlooking The Cloisters in the pointillism style. He was nice enough to let me photograph him and his painting before we headed home.


So whether your indoors painting the four walls of a room or outdoors fine painting the four corners of a canvas, there’s always time to give Mamma Biscuit a pug hug and a kiss—especially if she’s wearing an American Apparel hoodie!

Happy Friday y’all!

Posted in Fashion, NYC Life, Outdoor Life, Portraits | 10 Comments

Soup’s On!

Mamma Biscuit is not planning to throw a dinner party with an extensive soup menu anytime soon but that still didn’t stop us from buying these great vintage stationary invite cards from a vendor at the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market several months ago! Now you all know that I love a good set of vintage stationary cards no matter what occasion they were intended to be used for. A little over a year ago, we blogged about an amazing set of twenty vintage doggy cards entitled Puppy Chuckles that we purchased from the Green Flea Market on the Upper West Side. Remember how fabulous those cards were? Now you just never know when you’ll need a Got a Bone to Pick with You card with an illustration of a puppy holding a bone in his mouth or a Soup’s On dinner party invitation at the drop of a hat! See, at the Pug Palace, we Biscuits know the importance of always being prepared for what ever life happens to throw our way! Unfortunately, the reality is that I’d rather just collect this stuff than actually use it—but that’s a whole separate issue that I intend to hash out with my therapist who specializes in hoarding at some point in the future—perhaps when my closet completely collapses from being overstuffed!

Anyway, back to these cards, what drew my attention to them initially as they sat in a pile of junk was the soup can illustration that is so highly reminiscent of Andy Warhol’s 32 Campbell’s Soup Cans piece produced in 1962.

It came as no surprise that these invite cards were actually produced and purchased in the early 60’s (that’s what the vendor told me, they were from his personal collection) because they were clearly influenced by Andy Warhol’s pop culture aesthetic!

If that wasn’t fabulous enough, these three cards were bundled up in the bag of the store they were purchased from. Card ‘N Party—a gifts, stationary and books store located in Ulster Shopping Plaza in Kingston, NY! Just look at that groovy 60’s flower pattern on this bag—WOW!

The backside of this bag was even better. Printed is a lovely note about sending notes from Hallmark—because when you care enough to send the very best, you head on over to Card ‘N Party to ransack the Hallmark shelves!

“Life is not so short but that there is always time for courtesy.” —Emerson

In conclusion, these dinner invitation cards are so cute even if the illustration on them is a bit REDUCTIVE—and if you don’t know what that word means . . .

Happy Wednesday y’all!

Enjoy

Posted in Design, Vintage | Leave a comment

Fashion Week NYC, 2012

Say goodbye to unbearably humid weather, extremely high temperatures and unsightly mosquito bites—Summer has finally come to an end! That’s right bitches, it’s time to banish your flip-flops, beach shorts and bug spray because the cooler Autumn months are upon us. With cooler temperatures on the way, Mamma Biscuit can finally take longer walks throughout this city than her usual five minute pee and poo walks—and we can finally have fun with fashion and our wardrobes at large! Now I know some of you will miss Summer and may not share in our excitement that it has ended but you have to admit, it’s kind of hard to put on something fabulous or generally feel comfortable wearing anything during the Summer months when the simple act of walking out of your apartment on any given day feels like stepping into a swampy, Bikram Yoga class! Now to further our excitement regarding fashion and wardrobes, Fashion Week has also finally arrived here in NYC and to kick off the Fall 2012 fashion shows, New York City will be hosting it’s 4th annual Fashion’s Night Out—TONIGHT! That’s right girls, boys and dogs, tonight, New Yorkers are offered a rare occasion where they can meet their favorite fashion designers at more than 700 stores throughout the city and get great discounts on fabulous clothes—all while sipping on champagne and feeling sexy and glamorous! Fashion’s Night Out is a global initiative, sponsored by Vogue and the CFDA. It began in 2009 in New York City as a means to encourage consumers to shop and support the fashion industry during the tough economic climate. The event has now expanded to more than 20 countries worldwide and will occur over the span of eight days to maximize traffic in the retail world of fashion! Now the Biscuits are all about shopping and designer clothes—although we prefer vintage garments over newly produced clothes (except for Vivienne Westwood) but that hasn’t stopped us from heading downtown to Patricia Field on this very night to play with the fashionable glitteratti and downtown drag circuit! It’s also very common to run into Anna Wintour from Vogue magazine on the sidewalk at any point during the night as she makes her way from boutique to boutique throughout New York City to show her support and give face-time to the legions of Vogue readers.

Now before we get into the bulk of Mamma Biscuit’s fashion post, there’s something I need to get off my chest regarding the September issue of Vogue—the bible of American fashion! If you have not seen Lady Gaga on the current cover of the September Issue by now then you must be living in a hut, buried under a hill of beans in Calcutta! If you have, then you’ll probably agree with everything I’m about to say so come along and let’s talk about the magazine cover before we get started with the rest of this post, shall we?

Now what in Fraggle-Rock-hell is going on with this tragic magazine cover? It’s as if Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington and Andre Leon Talley all called out sick the day this cover was approved because quite honestly, I’m having a lot of trouble digesting the overall visual here. In late August, this cover was leaked out onto the internet and the first thought that came to my mind the moment I laid eyes on it was Rupaul: America’s First Drag Superstar. Now I’ve come to expect Lady Photocopy to regurgitate Madonna, Grace Jones and Bjork in everything she does but this was truly a surprise! Don’t get me wrong, I’m living for this wild, stuffed-animal wig but I’ve seen Rupaul rock this same wig and dress many times before during the runway segment of his show—Rupaul’s Drag Race, a Logo channel original! It also came as no surprise that several hours later of the original cover leaking on the internet, Rupaul himself tweeted a revised magazine cover that was created by him and his team to reclaim “herself” and quite honestly, I prefer her version better! I guess I’m not the only one who feels the same way because there is a Faceboook page entitled Rupaul For the Cover of Vogue with almost 4,000 people who clicked like in support of this! I think America is ready for a drag queen to grace the cover of Vogue, don’t you? Haven’t seen Rupaul’s revised cover either? (shame on you) Here it is.

Now if only Mamma Biscuit had a twitter account, she would have sent this out in response to the both of them!

How dare they both appropriate the hair of a dog? Mamma is reclaiming that wild mane for all 4-legged creatures worldwide! On second look at this photoshop travesty, Mamma’s Vogue cover is looking as creepy as the heroin-chic Disney characters unveiled for Barney’s new “Electric Holiday” seasonal campaign! Click here to see that anorexic mess!

At any rate, I don’t want you all to think that I hate this magazine cover entirely—I totally approve of Lady Gaga from the neck up but from the neck down, it’s a whole other story! Firstly, this September Issue commemorates Vogue’s 120th Anniversary and the cover itself pays homage to the cover of the very first issue of Vogue, published on December 17, 1892. That cover was printed on the flip side of the actual magazine cover and I’ve scanned it and posted it below for all of you to see.

Now after knowing the back story regarding the art direction, I’m more puzzled than before because I can’t seem to figure out the “homage” aspect of Lady Gaga’s cover other than that hideous red banner beneath the Vogue type—which by the way looks more appropriate for a box of Ronzoni pasta rather than for the cover of the most influential fashion magazine in the world. Anyway, I was shocked to find out that the gown Lady Gaga is wearing was designed by Marc Jacobs. I normally love everything Marc designs but unfortunately, I find this particular dress to be quite ugly and a bit of a snore. I also don’t really find this Jessica Rabbit silhouette either appealing or modern but I guess they were going for an exaggerated body form to create something avant gard looking. I guess I can roll with that idea but the bigger problem for me is the proportions of her body in relation to the cover and the typography. It’s as if she’s a tiny ceramic knickknack sitting on a shelf and all I want to do is flick her off with the snap of my finger. See, back in 1892, a magazine cover didn’t need any type at all to accompany the primary visuals. No headlines, no cover article titles, no advertisements, no logos and the type was generally set really small and elegantly however, in our modern world of magazine covers, the standard, type-heavy template here makes Gaga’s presence look wimpy! In short, this cover resembles a fan-made supplement to Vogue rather than the magazine itself—and that’s just sad considering her first Vogue cover was fantastic! Remember that? If not, click here.

OK, now that Mamma Biscuit and I have expressed our opinions regarding the September issue of Vogue, let’s move onto Fashion’s Night Out. In honor of the events taking place tonight and the fashion shows throughout the week, we here at the Biscuit household have compiled 20 of Mamma Biscuit’s most fashionable moments since she came into our lives. Now I know what y’all are thinking, 20 fashion moments are lot for a list but honestly, I have no idea how to edit nor do I care—and since Mamma Biscuit is the most stylish and fashionable pug that has ever graced the streets of NYC, How could I not list that many? There were just too many fashion moments in Mamma Biscuit’s life in the past 3 years that I simply could not pass up. So come along with us down memory lane and get inspired—if this list doesn’t get you to drop by Saks 5th Avenue to purchase a pair of $900 Jimmy Choo heels and a Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress, then nothing will!

Mamma Biscuit’s List of 20 Most Fashionable Moments in New York City

1. How could we not start off our list with Mamma Biscuit as Anna Wintour for Dogue Magazine on Halloween, 2010? Not only did Mamma take home the prize for Best Homemade Costume at the Sir William’s Dog Run Halloween Dog Contest, she won Best in Show. To read the original post, click here.

2. Mamma Biscuit practically defines New York City style. The number 2 slot goes to her Empire state of mind. To read the original post, click here.

3. Mamma sure knows how to flex her French canine couture. Here she is in J’adore Dior—the number 3 slot! To read the original post, click here.

4. Martha Stewart sure loves Mamma Biscuit, and Mamma Biscuit loves her. The 4th slot goes to this incredible houndstooth moment in Fort Tryon Park. To read the original post, click here.

5. Luara Ashley would be so proud! The 5th slot goes to Mamma in this easy breezy Summer birthday dress. To read the original post, click here.

6. The 6th slot goes to Mamma’s impeccable advanced style. To read the original post, click here.

7. Cyndi Lauper (one of Mamma’s many style Icons) said it best, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”. The 7th slot goes to Mamma and her amazing hat collection! To read the original post, click here.

8. C’mon girls, do you believe in love? Because Mamma Biscuit’s got something to say about it, and it goes, something like this. The 8th slot goes to Mamma’s epic rendition of Madonna (#1 queen of our pantheon) as Blonde Ambition, or in Mamma’s case, Fawn Ambition! Halloween costume, 2011. To read the original post, click here.

9. It’s all about Jeremy Scott for Adidas and Mamma’s thug-pug-hub-cap-urban-city look. The 9th slot goes to Mamma giving ghetto-chic. To read the original post, click here.

10. Mamma as Factory Girl takes the 10th slot with her Andy Warhol chic cobalt blue coat. To read the original post,
click here.

11. Canine Couture takes Mamma’s 11th slot for fashion moment! To read the original post, click here.

12. Despite what Lady Gaga claims at the beginning of her Marry the Night music video regarding the color mint becoming big in fashion, Mamma begs to differ. The 12th slot goes to Mamma’s lavender dreams. To read the original post, click here.

13. Speaking of Lady Gaga, the 13th slot goes to Mamma’s Paws-Up-Born-This-Way moment. To read the original post, click here.

14. The 14th slot goes to Mamma Biscuit and her chic sherpa jacket moment. She’s warm yet very stylish! To read the original post, click here.

15. Mamma’s undying love and appreciation for Madonna never goes out of style. The 15th slot goes to Mamma and her Fawn Ambition—and where she gets it! To read the original post, click here.

16. Jennifer Lopez ain’t the only ’round away girl from the block. The 16th slot goes to our homegirl Mamma Biscuit from Washington Heights! To read the original post, click here.

17. The 17th slot goes to Mamma Biscuit going Gaga over Lady Gaga’s Christmas Workshop at Barney’s. Not only did we think she looked fabulous in the iconic hair bow but so did Bill Cunningham from the New York Times. He photographed us both outside viewing the windows and put us in the Sunday style section! To read the original post, click here.

18. Juicy Couture never looked this Couture. The 18th slot goes to Mamma Biscuit in her pale peach colored motorcycle jacket by Juicy Couture. To read the original post, click here.

19. The 19th slot goes to Mamma Biscuit and her fabulous Givenchy moment. Only Mamma can bring vintage French couture to uptown, NYC. To read the original post, click here.

20. Last but not least, the 20th slot goes to Mamma Biscuit for Marc Jacobs. Watch out Sofia Coppola, Marc Jacobs has a new “it” girl for his ad campaign and she’s as cute as a button! To read the original post, click here.

So that’s it folks, the extensive list of Mamma Biscuit’s 20 most fashionable moments since she’s hit the lottery and moved to New York Fuckin’ City! If you want to see more fashion-related Mamma Biscuit moments to put you into the mood for Fashion’s Night Out, just simply click the “Fashion” category on the side bar and peruse the many other posts that did not make the cut for this list! If there is one sentiment we can leave you all with during Fashion week, it’s that we demand you have fun with your clothes. Humor and great style go hand-in-hand!

Enjoy and Happy Fashion Week!

Posted in Design, Fashion, NYC Life | 6 Comments

Post Surgery Post!

It’s amazing how much change can happen in just one week. Actually, being a New York City dweller, extreme change can happen from one minute to the next so one week is like an eternity here in this city. Anyway, as of last week, Mamma Biscuit went from having a whopping five teeth in her mouth to now having just three teeth left. That’s right y’all, our Biscuit Lady is on the cusp of being totally toothless and that makes absolutely zero difference to her disposition or ability to eat her food. She continues to gum her food with perfect ease and attacks each meal with such gusto that I would confidently sign her up to compete in a pie eating contest for dogs—and I would bet a large sum of money that she would be the winner too!

Now Tommy and I have been making plans to have a doggie dentist have at it with Mamma’s teeth for quite some time. At first we tried our luck with the clinic at The Humane Society here in NYC—and although they took a blood test of our Biscuit Lady (which she passed beautifully), ultimately, they did not feel comfortable enough to perform oral surgery within their facility on a dog of such advanced years as Mamma Biscuit. We then decided to take Mamma to the West Village Veterinary Hospital on 8th Avenue in Chelsea where her primary doctor practices and where the dentist on-staff came highly recommended. There, she received an examination to make sure that she was healthy enough to be put under for the surgery—and she passed with flying colors. Actually, the dentist was incredibly shocked to find out how healthy and strong her heart is considering how terrible her past life at the puppy mill was coupled with her advanced age! At any rate, after all of Mamma’s tests and examinations, we scheduled her surgery for last Wednesday—and it was a complete success!

So for the last week, Mamma Biscuit has been resting and recuperating from her dental surgery—and she’s doing extremely well I might add! Here she is lounging out on our living room floor and sleeping in her white polka-dot donut bed while wearing a very cute T-shirt with a bone accent patch made entirely of gold sequins. C’mon now, don’t give me a side-eye, you didn’t expect Mamma’s post surgery wardrobe to consist of one of those hideous mint green hospital gowns that tie in the back, did you? Mamma may be geriatric but she’s far too chic for that typical hospital look! Mamma’s tooth fairy came once last year to give her an original pug charm and necklace designed and illustrated by Gemma Correll for all the teeth that were taken out of her mouth before we even got her but this time around, she got this fabulous T-shirt!


Also, have you notice how Mamma’s forearms have been shaved? They tried to find a vein in both arms but were unsuccessful. They eventually found a vein they could use on her inner thigh, which is also shaved in such an unsightly manner. No sweat though, it’ll grow back, we’re just happy that our Biscuit Lady is healthy, happy and at home with us! You can’t notice in these photo but she also had a small skin growth removed right above her nose, centered between her eyes. At first we thought it was a pug pimple but her doctor confirmed that it was a natural growth of some sort that dogs get from time to time. Her doctor wasn’t concerned with it at all but since she was going into surgery for her teeth, they removed it too—and we’re having a biopsy done just in case. Mamma Biscuit means the world to us and we will go to great lengths to keep her as healthy, vibrant and vital as possible!

So that’s the 411 on Mamma Biscuit this week! She’s like a brand new pug—spirited and happy in her prance! Now, whenever I see this commercial for Pedigree Dentastix, I think of a pair of doggie dentures soaking in a tumbler glass of water right beside Mamma Biscuit’s donut bed—because the bitch is practically all gums!

Enjoy

Posted in Fashion, Health | 10 Comments

Mamma’s Got Grace!

Pull up to Mamma’s bumper baby and get down with our pug and her Island Life! Now I’m not talkin’ about a tropical island here but rather the island of Manhattan—and our little Gremlin Lady is no stranger to My Jamaican Guy when she’s off with Tommy prancing down 125th Street in Harlem to deliver some Sweet Semosh vegan baked goods! Now some may be a Slave to the Rhythm but Mamma Biscuit is a slave to napping—and she can swiftly stumble out of a fifteen hour nap for a fifteen minute kibble-nosh before nodding off again without fully opening up her puggie eyes. So here is Mamma Biscuit in all of her napping glory as she curls up on the master bed, directly below our new and original Grace Jones Island Life poster! This amazing piece of history is one of ten that were brought over from Paris, France and I had to whore myself out like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman to get my paws on it!

Ok people, listen up and listen good, this poster has brought so much excitement into my life in the last month I can barely stand it, however, not even this fierce piece of artwork can impress our old lady of the house. It’s really my fault though, I have spoiled Mamma Biscuit beyond return and these days, she has become so accustomed to the good life that it takes a lot to impress the bitch. I mean, Mamma Biscuit can totally give Olympic Gymnast McKayla Maroney a run for her money in the “not impressed” department here—and the pug can barely roll over on her back let alone do a proper somersault.

At any rate, let’s discuss this fantastic piece of art and side-step the lazy pug that seems to resurface from photograph to photograph, we’ll get back to her in a moment!

Photographer Jean Paul Goude took this photo in 1978 for a New York Magazine profile of Grace Jones. At that time, Goude was Jones’ lover and she was his muse.

“Initially, she was flattered by all of my attention,” says Goude. “And she’s no dope—Grace is an opportunist and she knew my vision was good for her career. Initially, she let herself be taken over, but then she suspected that I had only fallen in love with her image.”

Well now, who wouldn’t have fallen in love with this particular image let alone any other image from her entire catalog of stunning photographs throughout her career? Seriously, this photograph is phenomenal and so ahead of it’s time. Take note Lady Gaga and all you ill-informed monsters out there, Grace Jones is the real deal when it comes to fashion, pop and the avant garde and definitely holds the second slot in our Pantheon of Queens—I think you all know who comes first in our gay icons department and I don’t even have to mention her name or her cone-bra wearing ways. Now about that New York Magazine article and the accompanying photographs of Grace Jones that was published thirty-four years ago, it transformed her into the major pop singer and gay icon she is today—and I have no doubt that this image was the vehicle to her rise!

Now If you’re wondering how in the hell did Grace get her flawless body into that pose, the simple answer would be: she never did! In the prephotoshop days of the 70’s, Goude employed what was technically referred to as “visual trickery” to achieve the unachievable! Goude photographed Jones in a variety of positions using clear, lucite boxes to hold up parts of her body and then combined the images in a montage that eventually became the amazing image that you see above—and here is a visual breakdown of his process.

Describing the concept, Goude says “. . . unless you are extraordinarily supple, you cannot do this arabesque” (the ballet pose in the picture). “The main point is that Grace couldn’t do it, and that’s the basis of my entire work: creating a credible illusion.” What a precursor to the current photoshop times of our lives—where everything and everyone you see in a magazine or video has been pieced together, retouched and retooled digitally but the difference is, most of what we see in magazines today doesn’t quite achieve the “credible illusion” that Goude was so interested in 1978. At any rate, in 1986, Grace Jones released an album entitled Island Life which was a collection of her biggest singles from Island Records and she pulled this image out from her archives to create this classic album cover.

While I was researching the making of this photograph and the background story of how it was used on the Island Life album, I came across this Lego version that was created by Aaron Savage . . .

. . . and for all the graphic designers out there (like myself) here’s a mosaic rendition made entirely of Pantone swatches by David Marsh. Aren’t they both so fabulous and inspiring to look at?

Now onto Mamma Biscuit and these lovely, sleepy portraits. I just can’t contain myself around my little girl when I have my camera in my hand—especially while she’s in such a lazy slumber. Our Girl can really capture the essence of pug beauty while basking in the natural daylight that floods into our bedroom through the window!



Lately, I’ve been calling Mamma Biscuit “snuggle monkey” because it just sounds so cute and honestly, she really is starting to look more like a monkey to me as the days pass. Now I know some of you readers out there enjoy the term gremlin for Mamma Biscuit but I have many pet names that have been in rotation ever since our Biscuit Lady came into our lives.



We’ve come up with such adorable names as Spumoni Face, Gremlin Girl, Batty Dog, Jalopy, Puggie-Wuggie, Biscuit Lady, My Old Lady, Daddy’s Little Girl, The Little Lady—and now, Snuggle Monkey!



Like the ever-changing image of Grace Jones, Mamma Biscuit too has a whole roster of different aliases and pug looks in her bag of tricks however, despite how they both have a knack for reinventing themselves in such fabulous and dramatic ways, at the core, they are both beautiful creatures full of glowing light and talent!

Now about that “credible illusion” that Goude was talkin’ about as the concept for this incredible image that he has created of Grace Jones, take one look at this incredibly flawless performance of Slave to the Rhythm at The Queens Diamond Jubilee Concert and tell me if she’s just an illusion or the real thing baby!

Enjoy and Happy Thursday y’all!

Posted in Design, Fashion, Music, Portraits | 8 Comments