The Ephemerist Lexicon: Flip-Flop Stigmata

Flip-flop stigmata (flpflp stg-mät)

n.) The parallel, irritating blisters that occur on each foot from extensive city walking in flip-flops during the first warm day of the summer season.

The Ephemerist Lexicon: Hairc*nt

Earlier I mentioned the term “haircunt” in reference to the preening, pretentious souls whose wounded demeanor and overly-sensitive swagger is tinged with a shade of condescension. An art fag for the Aughts, as it were. Herein the definition (with help from my friend and former salon employee Jules):

haircunt (hâr’knt)
n.) an image conscious hipster who spends more money on hair cuts and styling products than necessary in an atempt to look as though they use no hair product at all; a look that is, to borrow from Bowie “unwashed and somewhat slightly dazed.” The same effect could be accomplished by not bathing for a month. Male haircunts tend to accentuate their presentation with guyliner and mancake.

See: the MisShapes (pictured); Pete Wentz; countless riders of the L train; most everyone from Gawker’s Blue States Lose

Chin Musing

Ye gods! Over at the Huffington Post, for their “What’s My Logo?” feature — which “address[es] the professional importance of personal style with prominent businesspeople, leaders and personalities” — they’ve chosen to interview none other than CNN’s bearded blusterer Wolf Blitzer. Wolf. Blitzer. Talks. Style. Take that concept for a walk around the block. Still if you were dying to know how often he trims his beard (“every 4-5 days”) or that his wife picks out his ties give it a read. It is as sleep-inducing as you might imagine. Then there’s this exchange:

Why do you think they were so interested in your jackets?
Maybe they were bored with the subject I was talking about and just started paying attention to the outfit I was wearing — I have no idea!

If what you’re reporting on, which is usually of national import, ostensibly, is less interesting than your dark suit/striped tie combo, maybe you’re doing it wrong.

What’s My Logo?: Wolf Blitzer On His Beard: “I Work Hard To Look Good” [HuffPo]

She’s Crafty

Amy Sedaris, continuing her quest to usurp the fusty Martha Stewart of her home-making crown, recently sat down with Metropolitan Home to offer some tips on entertaining. And yet again, she’s photographed in her fantastically kooky Greenwich Village apartment, which is chock full of taxidermied animals, plastic food, and of course her pet rabbit.

How do you cater to guests who have specific food allergies or dietary restrictions?
If they end up eating something that they were allergic to, I take a snapshot and mail it to them in December and say “Hope your holidays are swell.” I keep prescription allergy medicine in my house. Hopefully I knew beforehand that they had allergies. Generally speaking, I don’t make peanut sauce or serve crab claws, just in case.

 

Ten Questions: Amy Sedaris [Metropolitan Home via SLOG]

Revisting a Trend: Mancake

Those bloggy vixens at Jezebel took notice of Salon’s “fakish trend piece” on Zac Efron’s use of bronzer, which posited that his “mancake” and Pete Wentz’s use of “guyliner” could be seen as the sign of a possible sea change in men’s grooming. Wonder where author Kibum Kim got the idea? Guess I’m just one of the unlinked blogs that was “buzzing” about Zac (or mayhaps Kim just got around to looking at Buzzfeed for story ideas).

The Salon writer gave the hypothesis a serious bent, even adding historical context: “Roman men used chalk-based foundation to brighten their complexions, and, in the 18th century, Louis XV and his court made it vogue for men to put on gobs of toxic lead-based makeup and rouge.” (Ya don’t say!)

I chose to eschew any attempt at justifying this inanity in favor of taking a cheap swipe at Mr. Efron (is historical context necessary when dissecting a pseudo-trend?) while Jezebel did due diligence and asked some regular dudes whether or not they dabbled in “instant skin enhancement.”

Can’t wait until Efron’s hairy feet inspire a slew of male toe-waxing pieces. Oh wait, yes I can.

Bronzer Gods [Salon]

Will Man Makeup Catch On? We Asked Some Regular Dudes [Jezebel]

Earlier: Trend Forecasting: Mancake and the Efron Effect