Trend War Survivor: Bullets & Shotgun Shells

I am completely obsessed with following trends.  It's an odd characteristic considering that my wardrobe is about as dull as it gets (hello jeans and a black t-shirt) and I would have had the same hairstyle since I was 20 if my hairdresser didn't force her scissors and color upon me.  But, nonetheless, I love me some trend-spotting. I treat the act of predicting next season's color as though it were a sport and I'm always on the lookout for the animal du jour (you know the hipsters always have an animal, they're just now getting over bears, fyi).  What I find most fascinating about trends is their evolution:  from the '04 hipster adoration of sweet little deer to the '06 demand for taxidermy; the leap from skulls etched on everything, to the less predictable pirate craze.  Most recently I've noticed a trend that has risen from the ashes of another well on it's way out:  bullets and shells have evolved from the gun trend that has been set on, ahem, overkill, for a while.

Long-time friend Alex Reh, sorry, Alexander, left all of us Austinites for Industrial Design School in the Big Apple several years ago.  Apparently all those tuition fees were good for something because our native Texan walked out the doors of Pratt with this quaint shotgun shell chair in his portfolio.

Each Chair is made from 388 once-fired shotgun shells (I'm pretty sure he does this himself when he comes home to his ranch in Texas).  The Steel frame is gun-blued by hand, honestly, this finish almost rivals gold in my book, almost.

The buyer may choose from any of the bullet options above to work seamlessly with their decor.  All this customization can't be cheap and Alex promises me that I can't afford one.  And I thought we were friends.

I've been in love with his chair for a while and have been trying to coordinate an interview but apparently he's working on new things and wanted to wait until they were done.  I was Patient-Pam for a few months but then I started seeing bullets and gun shells pop up everywhere and I knew I needed to do this post before the trend passed me by.

Sorry, Alex, I promise a follow up on your new goods whenever you're ready.  

So, last week I was at a party during SXSW and caught the cute lady on the left wearing a bullet bolo tie, she was kind enough to let me snap a picture and mentioned that she found it on Etsy.  I managed to track down the artist, awelldressedbullet

At THE VERY SAME PARTY, I also spotted another gal with a bullet necklace, I forgot to snap her picture but I did grab her card.  Turns out, she's the artist behind Unearthen, a lovely jewelry site with lots and LOTS of bullets.

I knew that the bullet thing was about to go all trend crazy and I had to move forward without Alex's blessing.  I scoured the internet and found all of these bullet goodies:

Bullet Bracelet by Astali.  Man I love things in clusters.

Left: 22 Shell Necklace by etsy user oliveselkie; Right: Bullet, Padlock & Pearl Necklace by Etsy user sebastianjaramillo

Etsy continued to turn up the bullet charm with these finds as well:

Clockwise from top Left: Brass Bullet Belt Buckle by badassbeltbuckles; Mini Shotgun Shell belt buckle, also by badassbeltbuckles; Bottom Row: Shotgun Wedding Lights by awelldressedbullet

And, finally, rounding up the fashion portion of our program are these 2 t-shirts:

Lipstick Bullet, Left and Safety in Numbers, Right

Before you get all scared that this has become a fashion blog (remember I opened with a chair!) let me show you the few home goods I managed to dig up:

Clockwise from Top Left: Bullet Cocktail Shaker available at Amazon; Shotgun Canister at (wait for it) GREAT BIG STUFF (I'm so sifting through everything on this site after I write this post); Bullet Ice Cube Tray and the Bullets it produces along the bottom row.

This Bullet Vase by Robert Langhorn was easily the prettiest home decor item that I found, consider it the Y2K9 version of the gun vase

If you're looking for something slightly less charming to cover your house with, might I suggest this:

Bullet Tape!  Who doesn't want Bullet Tape?  It's just so practical.

Speaking of practical:

Bullet ipod touch skin available here.  Does anyone even own the ipod touch?

And finally, if you hated todays post and want to send me a nasty letter, don't send an email, do it the old fashioned way, using these:

Bullet Pens

Letters of praise are accepted as well, however, we encourage you to use the comments section for anything of a positive nature for speedy response.

Silver Is the New Gold.

Oh, you heard me. I've been thinking that silver's getting a bad rap on the 24K-clad pages of our beloved Design Crisis. Okay, maybe not a bad rap so much as completely ignored. Uh-huh, talk to the hand, silver. Well, silver's feelings are hurt. Gold is an attention whore but silver is not the homely stepsister. Not today anyway. Today is silver's day to shine. Greetings D. C. junkies, I'm Hello Gorgeous, former advertising copywriter and blog raconteur. I was heavily into retail both in home and fashion but home is really where my heart is. Now, onto the glittering goodness.

The Grand Entrance Hall by Randall Beale and Carl Lana, Kips Bay Showhouse '07, House Beautiful

Foil-covered wainscoting? How clever. How Warhol-esque. You know you've been looking for just the right symbol of your disdain for the bourgeois ethic.

The only thing more fabulous than aluminium foil-covered paneling is a slinky, Medusa-like mercury glass chandy, compliments of the room next door:

If you are not into tentacles sprouting from your ceiling, you may be interested in a glistening wad of balls (oh, don't be coy; you know who you are).

The silver ball chandelier from Graham and Greene appears to have nipples, which would make it porny perfect for this blog but, alas, I believe it's an illusion and is merely cut glass detail.

Speaking of nipples and porny perfection, Dancer by Jimmie Martin. Perfect if you're looking to give a special room a certain luster.

More traditional tastes will love this sunburst mirror from 1st Dibs. (Perhaps if we call it mirror flambe, Raina and Molly will like it. :-))

It would go perfectly over this carved marble fireplace flanked by the incredible edible Arne Jacobsen silver egg chairs.

House Beautiful

Edible, maybe if you're this guy:

Jaws, James Bond circa 1977

You'd like to be a fly on the wall of that room, you say? Rob Wynne's oversized ode to Kafka might be just what the Orkin man ordered.

Photo New York Times 

How can I let this post go by without a shiny horsey for Karly: heigh-ho silver, away!

Italian art glass pony from 1st Dibs

 

And it wouldn't be a post by me without a lustrous deer head.

From worldbuyers.com

I am undecided about these Sau-sage chairs by Jimmie Martin. Half of me likes them and half of me doesn't.

Will somebody please put this lamp on a table between those two chairs? Because crocky looks like he may need a dog morsel or two for lunch. From the land of overpriced fug, Vivre, $2500.

If you are still suffering from delusions of market grandeur, behold the bull stapler for dazzling office dreamz. Ironic that Bullshizzle should be the symbol for Wall Street, no? Vivre, again.

And finally, a bit of gratuitous room decor compliments of the silver-tongued Silver Fox himself:

Just turn on your TV and add him to whichever room you wish.

See? That wasn't so bad now, was it? In fact, I'll bet you're thinking that silver's quite the hot commodity after all.

Disclaimer: All opinions expressed by Jim Cramer Hello Gorgeous on this blog are solely HG’s opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Karly, Erin, the staff of Design Crisis, its parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by HG on television, radio, internet or another medium.

When Pigs Fly

Are you pissed these days? Well, I'm totally teed off. Who do those AIG mofos think they are, spending all my (our) money money on fancy getaways and million dollar bonuses? Hell to the no. I really think The Beatles said it best:

Have you seen the little piggies Crawling in the dirt And for all the little piggies Life is getting worse Always having dirt to play around in.

Have you seen the bigger piggies In their starched white shirts You will find the bigger piggies Stirring up the dirt Always have clean shirts to play around in.

In their sties with all their backing They don't care what goes on around In their eyes there's something lacking What they need's a damn good whacking.

Everywhere there's lots of piggies Living piggy lives You can see them out for dinner With their piggy wives Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon.

In the interest of keeping this post design related, I'd like to point out a new trend, possibly influenced by the overwhelming greed exhibited by jerks like these: Pigs.

I think Hannes Grebin is on to something here with his piggy bank, Fat Rosie. She does look a lot like former AIG exec Martin Sullivan, pictured right above her.

Tim Flach Photography

But really, I hate for all pigs to get a bad rap just because some A-holes are methodically destroying our entire economy for their own self interests.

It's ok to like this adorable silver pig clutch by Etsy seller, Tsurubride. It's cute. Perhaps some of that bailout money should go towards purchasing it for me... Would that make me a piggy, too?

And then there's my favorite Piggy Bank -- cast from a real pig that died a natural death -- by Harry Allen, available at Design Public. Oh, I just want to hug him, and squeeze him, and name him Martin. Or Hank. Or Edward. Really any of the AIG guys will do as a namesake.

Send a clear message that gluttony and greed are in fashion with this Oink Pillow from Etsy seller, Bumblejellydesigns.

Or you could really get into the piggish mindset with this Hair Hat from dearly departed designer, Nagi Noda.

While some little piggies may have gone to market, this little piggy stayed home. The Hey-Sign Felt Rug is available in a few different shapes, but I am digging Le Cochon the best.

Perhaps it would be nice to make the piggies fetch and carry for a change. The Pig Table by Front Designs would be happy to hold your watered down well cocktail or light as a feather wallet for you.

Catherine Ledner's idea of barnyard fun is pink and frilly with flowers on top. Who says that pigs is dirty animals?

Meanwhile, Belgian artist Wim Delvoye has some decidedly less orthodox ideas about how to treat pigskin. Harbinger of things to come for scam artist cum jailbirds like Bernie Madoff? Let's hope the AIG swine head in the same direction.

Thanks for letting me vent, friendsies. I'm going to leave you with one tiny parting shot, courtesy of Pan-Dan. It's so good that I'm just going to post the link right here.