Wednesday, April 27, 2011

April Showers: Hunter vs. Animals

On the way to the Boylston T Stop:
Rain boots galore during an April Shower
I hope you are ejoying the short-lived Spring in Boston. On a day like today, hot and humid; it feels like the Summer has already out-wrestled the Spring, but wait, and in a few hours gray clouds and a cool breeze will bring about an April shower.

In an uncertain weather like this, many of us will get away with wearing clogs, crocs (if they have no holes in them), or snickers, but some ladies will still be spotted wearing rubber boots.  It used to be that rubber boots were something that kids wore or else they were associated with a farmer stepping through a wet grass spotted with manure. Nowadays, rubber boots have attained a special veneered place int the hierarchy of knee-high boots. 

On the T (if you just search the platform with your tired eyes, careful not to cross the yellow line! :-), you might see  rubber boots in many different shapes and colors, but the leading trend is rain boots by Hunter. It does not matter if your boots are kelly green, or paisley and pink, which are, by the way, most popular choices for Hunter boots on the T, as long as it says Hunter on it, which is a big white label with a prominent red border, you are in fashion and wearing something coveted by others.

Ironically, yet another style, which is popular on the T are rubber boots with animal patterns, zebra or tiger stripes, produced by lesser known companies. To summarize, it's Hunter versus animals--you make the choice. What if one rightfully wants to combine the two by splurging on Hunter boots with animal prints. Alas, such boot does not exist. At least I could not find them online. Hunters and animals are not friends after all, not even when it comes to rain boots. I leave you with a quote from a musical called "Urinetown", "Don't be the Bunny, be the Hunter!"

PS: If you really want the animals prints, you could get the Hunter fleece Welly socks with leopard or zebra pattern, made specifically to fit Hunter boots. These socks have cuffs that go over the boot to show off yet another Hunter label.  Here is an idea, you could wear these socks with non-Hunter boots, and then you could still have the Hunter label for less. 

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Star Wars on the Subway


You probably noticed that this takes place in the NYC subway, but I could not resist to post this hilarious video. It's called "Star Wars Subway Car". Notice the hysterical laughter of the passangers; seeing Darth Vader sure brightened up their daily commute. While searching google I also found a video of Leia and Boba Fet accordions' duel on a subway station. See below. 


Thursday, April 21, 2011

Spring on the T

"April Associations"
Flowers sold on the "T" station
the wind is blowing by with dust and pollen
new leaves unfolding
like bright green ruffled tissue paper,
yellow of dandelions and daffodils, 
tulips sold by the bunch

                                                                                         



Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Shawls vs. Macchiatto?

top: Russian Woolen Shawl
bottom: Pashima Shawl in Style Now
Every year fashion trends seem to be inspired by a certain country or culture. For example 2007 was India. I recall seeing a lot of loosely fitting tunics (inspired by kameez), in bright colors with paisley patterns, dotted with rhinestones. I myself had one of those "matternity" style tunics, white with black pattern. And this year 2010-2011--where does the inspiration come from--none other but Mother Russia.

First there were the faux fur hats (ushanka as they are called in Russian, from ushi which means ears, and they do cover the ears pretty well), but that's not all. The real proof is the shawls this year. The patterns look similar to the traditional Russian shawl. Presenting you with two pictures to compare.

How much I wanted to get myself one of these shawls! There was  a girl selling them at the Charles/MGH stop, two for twenty bucks, but I never had cash on me. Alas, I floundered for too long, and by the time I was ready to get them the scarves/shawls stand was replaced by the organic fair trade coffee/espresso on the go stand.

Throughout the cold winter, I observed the sales person shifting from foot to foot at the cold T station, warming her hands on the hot coffee jugs. Do you think I ought to buy myself a nice cup of macchiatto? Though once again, like in that dear old cartoon I used to watch, about the turtle who was slow to change his clothing for each season, so he would come out wearing skies in the summer, once again I am late as it's almost summer, and it's time for a coolata.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Eggcentric Advertising

Be Eggceptional! 
Be Eggstraordinary!

Wait...Did you notice something wrong with these fabulous adjectives that describe how great you could be? Of course, you noticed this eggceptional (pardon me, exceptional :) play on words that this advertising company came up with. What is this all about? You may wander. This smart linguistic trick was designed  to convince you to donate your eggs, as in human egg cells, or to become a surrogate mother.

 Lately, I've been noticing these advertisements popping up all over the T. Considering the myriads of college students, they are targeting the right market. When I first saw these, I was struck by how far we have come in terms of technology and acceptance of in vitro for these advertisement to appear on the T. Years ago people could not even fathom this was possible. Today this has become a part of our everyday reality. 

Philosophy aside, I think by likening a woman to a fruit-bearing tree with delicate branches and flowers, the ads evoke lovely associations with feminine. I hope they get an award in the advertising world. Don Draper and Peggy of the "Mad Men" would have been proud to claim these as their own work, though again this was sci fi in the 60s.