This is the short version of the 3rd issue of Ilikemystyle Quarterly, the first user generated fashion magazine.

1. the first user-generated fashion magazine
i like
my
style Quarterly
The
Beautiful
Fall
Fr/De/Au: € 12,- UK: £ 9.50
Nadia Rosenberg
Be/Es/Gr/It/Lu/NL/Port.Cont.: € 10,-
03 1
(username: cocalola)
4 191858 912006 from San Francisco

2. NEws
Flash
Mash
up New projects,
fashion lines,
art objects, and
photos from
the users of
ilikemystyle.net
Oh, dear. Where to start? from Lausanne
By Frida Wannerberger / username: featurette
Frida Wannerberger grew up in Lund, Sweden, where she lived in peace for 16 years before
moving with her mother to Lausanne, Switzerland. She spent two years battling through high
school, surviving only because of the little accessory label she ran on the side.
This fall, Frida, now age 21, will start her BA degree in graphic design at Central Saint
Martins in London. She is launching a small collection of accessories and prints and is publish-
ing an illustrated children’s book for grown-up siblings. She will share her vision on her blog:
pigeophysics.blogspot.com.
Oh, dear. Where to start with this picture? It’s a bit mashed-up, but you can see doll
faces, one for Frida and one for her American “petite soeur.” There’s a knee dress, a blacklight
Avatar Turkish eyebrow, a mini-Frida, wool boyfriends, and a feather ring.
I initially put the hat together to show my work to a magazine, but I had so much fun that
I just kept going. I would wear it out if it would stop falling apart every tenth of a second. The
hat base is actually my pillow, as a symbol for the sleep I can never have. Either I wonder about
what the polar bear’s grandfather’s name is or if Anubis, the Egyptian god of death, might be in
my bedroom. He’s not evil, he’s just…well, his presence can’t easily be ignored.
13

3. NEws Mash
Flash up
chic kids
withsofija gujina
By
problems
username: debaser from Manchester
My drawings are always of
young people. I love pop
culture and fashion; I inevi-
tably incorporate a few ele-
ments or pieces from collec-
tions that fascinate me into
my work every season – the
Miu Miu cat print, for exam-
ple. My characters are usu-
ally born spontaneously in
my head. Boris Vian’s writ-
ing inspires me, and bands
like Mogwai, The Knife,
and Mú are all influences.
I had the image of a
crying girl stuck in my mind
for a while. I decided to dress
her in the Miu Miu print col-
lar, thinking it might make
her a bit happier. It didn’t
help dry her tears, but at least
she looks chic while ponder-
dEaresT JokO
Martin Cho / username: bucnam from New york on user joko from Berlin
ing her problems. My style
is more about general ambi-
ence than a particular tech-
I’ve been desperately trying to reach you, but here I am, ‘rejected.’ Mystery makes for the nique: depictions of moody,
most potent allure, but in your case, calling your appeal alluring is like mistaking a world-class vaguely odd but relatable
diamond for a plexiglass knock-off’s knock-off. To sum up your look as very ‘Leigh Bowery’ kids. They have big heads,
would be an uncouth observation, unbecoming of a magazine of our diversity, since you are a temperamental faces, and
sweetheart, I can tell, and definitely a handsome man as a starter. Searching your username on wear heavy patterns. The
ilikemystyle.net turns up the ‘Universe of Joko,’ worthy of a Mattel toy line as varied as Barbie’s Commes des Garçons tartan
and a million times more fun. However, my desire to feature you also stems from your timely coats and all their signature
and uncanny resemblance to the late Alexander McQueen’s Fall/Winter 2010 collection. All the layering make for a fantas-
same, the coolest and most creative of our users all managed to travel through space-time and tic mix – come Fall/Winter
find the steps to your shrine – and left adulating comments on every single one of your looks. 2010, my kids will definitely
Each one could be read as a new book. Here’s my tribute to you – holler back! be wearing them!
23

4. NEws
Flash
Dressing Room Piracy
Would a $15,000 Chanel dress
change my life? Does a Burberry
sweater feel as good as it looks?
What’s the best way to wear
Christian Dior? Users of ilike-
mystyle.net went to some of the
fanciest stores in New York,
Berlin, and Tokyo and checked
the collections for Fall 2010.
(To be continued in the next issue. Feel free to send your
pictures to magazine@ilikemystyle.net)
Right: Judith Innerhofer (username:
JuJuJudith) wears Sass & Bide
pants, and Chloe Sevigny for
Opening Ceremony sandals.
Bottom: Judith wears Charles
Anastase fur jacket, Rag and
Bone pants.
Kirk Millar (username: kirk) Heather Jones (username:
wears Burberry Prorsum hjones0117) wears embroidered
sweater and pants. dress and boots, both by Chanel.
27

5. FaShion
Hotels are
my Tiffany’s
For Nadia RoSeNbeRg
(username: cocalola) the world
seems to be one big
undercover editorial.
armed with a self-timer,
the girl explores her
multiple personalities on
her missions from Tokyo to
Moscow to San Franscico.
Cocalola is wearing some guy’s
shirt and jeans that are too big for
her. Taken at Hotel Nikko, San
Francisco by Analog.
43

6. Hotels are
my Tiffany’s
Lovely tackiness.
Gold shoes from Primark,
London. Sheets provided
by the Econolodge,
Tucson, Arizona.
opposite page:
St. Basil Cathedral,
Moscow, Russia. Taken
by Anna Skladmann.
Nadia is wearing a
traditional Russian shawl
and a giant toiletries
bag from Target.
51

7. Hotels are
my Tiffany’s
Hi...i’m Nadia. definitely, i am.
Nadia suits me well. But when I lived in Japan, I had to pick a hostess name for my job. This
was basically the best thing about the job – the opportunity to call yourself something else. It
was pretty obvious that I would call myself Lola. I mean, how could I not?
At first, I would have liked to have a cute Japanese name, so I picked Momoko. But it’s
clear that I’m way too rough around the edges to have a darling name that means “peach child.”
One lover in Japan said that I am indeed a Momoko, a really fuzzy one (but just as sweet). A
prickly peach, if you will. He was a very sweet man as well, but later I found out he was married
all the while. Now who’s fuzzy?
I was pretty adventurous to begin with, so I didn’t need to invent an alter ego to go with
my crazy, wild side. But to be Lola, I didn’t need to have any decency or shame. Take even the
most outrageous of girls, give her an opportunity to go by a different name, and a whole new
level of self-decadence will ensue.
I mean, Lola! She was a showgirl with a yellow feather in her hair, and her dress cut down
to…there. She got whatever Lola wants, and sometimes she was so aggressive that you’d have to
wonder whether she was not a man and how come the champagne you drink tastes just like cherry
cola. Lolita would be a too in-your-face kind of reference, but Lola would be just right.
And since I do have a mean bone in my body, when asked to pick a name for Japanese
customers to call me, of course I chose two syllables that would be impossible for the Japanese
to pronounce. “Lo-ra!” “No baby, not Laura, definitely not Laura Bush.” “Ro-la?” “LO-LA!!!”
It’s okay. Japanese men deserved to sweat a little bit, and Lola-chan was going to do it.
When I left Japan to travel to Hong Kong, I wasn’t sure how to introduce myself. But
I decided to hang on to Lola, since it was such a fun name and I had no idea how long I would
be in a situation where no one knew my name and I got to represent myself however I wanted.
But the real interesting part of that, and of traveling in general, was that though some
met me as Lola and others Nadia, I was always the same person. There really was no Lola, it
was just a very particularly decadent facet of me. I did not invent Lola to escape myself, but
to accept a certain part of myself that was hidden until then. I suppose you can blame it on my
Soviet-Jewish upbringing. A mirror is a utilitarian object, there to prevent you from leaving the
house with ketchup smeared on your face. It is not to be stared at, not to be paraded in front of
in all your finest secondhand clothes. (Who do you think you are, princess? You better wake up
from that glass coffin and get to work. Stop eating poisoned apples and braiding your hair and
be realistic.)
After Hong Kong, I went to China, where I think I was so confused as to what I was do-
ing in that country that I didn’t even care about being called Lola. Plus, Japan was soon becom-
ing a distant foggy dream, an island in the sea of amnesia. From there I flew into Uzbekistan,
Mr. and Mrs. Washington are
wearing nothing at all. Taken at the
Best Western President Hotel, Times
Square, NY by a certain David
“jealous Ben Franklin” Kullmann.
55

8. FaShion
Elly
22-year old Elly Tran Ha
started her career as a Flickr
sensation. This summer she
starred in her first movie, Saigon
Electric, followed by a title role
in Vietnam’s first 3D flick.
Cinematographer Bao nguyEn
(username: baonguyen) from new york
explored Elly’s sultry side in
Ho Chi Minh City.
59

9. FaShion Elly
65

10. FaShion
new
School Keep your eyes peeled
for these fresh talents
from China, Australia,
South Africa, Germany,
France, and the USA.
Users of ilikemystyle.net
pick their favorite up-and-
coming fashion designers.
clock wise from top left:
Ingeborg Har ms
Jennifer Rubell
Cay Sophie Rabinowitz
Delusional Downtown Divas
Cordula Reyer
Daniel Reich Pom-pom jacket by Gerlan Jeans.
69

11. FaShion
A Vexing take
on PauvrE Bohème
Enrico IpPolito / username: enriCo
on the German label Anntian
I love all things broken and unfinished. In my eyes, the rough and individual embodies the
ultimate natural and gives instant authenticity – which might explain my infatuation with Ber-
lin designers Anne Hilken and Christian Kurt, who partner for the label Anntian. The duo is
fascinated by mistakes, disharmonies, and the abnormal. Their clothes are a strangely vexing
and unusual take on pauvre bohème. Yet a closer look reveals a keen eye for details: high-end
materials and surprising wearability. In their minds, “it’s the people that bring beauty to fashion,
not the other way around.”
There’s another thought that these designers and I share: a passion for contrast and dis-
covering the hidden beauty in nature. Their Spring/Summer 2008 collection dealt with the clash
of high and low tide. Two years later, it was about triangles. Their current collection is all about
light and shadow. Anntian’s clothes are by no means direct; you have to approach them slowly
to fully absorb their hidden gems. The designers combine contrasting elements into something
stormy. Anne and Christian work with exciting graphic elements and intriguing shapes, mixing
art and architecture, Constructivism and chaos.
The designers’ most striking feature is their mode of practice. At the beginning of every
collection, they build small paper sculptures and use them to develop their patterns. What years
ago Viktor & Rolf used as a joke on the fashion industry – an installation of miniatures in lieu of
models – the Anntian designers use as a means to translate their wild ideas into multi-referential
beauty.
77

12. new
School
SMudged BabY Powder
and SavaGE Metal
FionA Fraser / username: mEanatosome
on the South African designer Suzaan hEyns
Gothic meets comic strip superhero is not the obvious hybrid one would expect from the Rain-
bow Nation, but Suzaan Heyns begs to differ. She is one of the most original designers in South
Africa and her work excites me a lot. Culling inspiration from architecture, old medical instru-
ments, and sketches from the 1800s, Heyns creates garments that exemplify beauty, form, struc-
ture, and craftsmanship. Her designs are worn by the most experimental rather than the fashion
P.O.W. Black plastic lips, mesh wimples-cum-headpieces, latex hoods: the deliciously paired
combination makes me want to lick her face! I prefer her designs for women to her menswear
because that’s when she unleashes her full palette of colors and fabrics, making every look
Smarties for the eyes.
She determinedly moves away from the cliché of the bright colors and beadwork endem-
ic to the so-called South African aesthetic. There is a lot of talent in South Africa, as evident in
numerous street style blogs, but the works produced by local designers hardly tend to be excep-
tional. This is another reason why Suzaan Heyns’s universe jumped right out at me with her loud
and proud boundary smashing. After all, smudging baby powder on clothes and savaging metal
sheeting to create sculptural headpieces are her daily bread. She manages to playfully contradict
her own ideas every season without losing her aesthetic train of thought. Her previous Spring/
Summer 2009 collection was a stunning opposition to Fall 2010’s fashion wardens from District
9, in which she skillfully used the magic of origami to create body-conscious silhouettes. The
colors were daylight brights to Fall’s moody dark neutrals, and the overall look was as fresh as
skinny-dipping in a waterfall.
I believe that she could conquer the international world of fashion with her unique fla-
vors intact. Suzaan Heyns is definitely one to keep your eye on.
79

13. FaShion
Careless
Whispers
He’s a party boy who
seamlessly merges
Chilean, Swedish, and
Catalan influences.
Though today he’s still
straying through the
streets of Barcelona,
tomorrow he might be
gone – London, Tokyo,
the beach…who
knows. Here’s Nika
SCHeidemaNdeL
(username: nikabianca)
from Cadiz on the
photo: Josefina Cerveró
credit!! phone with BiLLy
CriSTiaN (username:
billy) from Barcelona.
83

14. Careless
Whispers
photo: Josefina Cerveró
60 jackets and one sheet:
Billy’s bedroom.
89

15. FaShion Careless
Whispers
Nika: Hello, Billyboy,
why don’t you iNtroduce yOurself?
Tell us a little bit about who you are, and how you ended up in Cataluña by way of Chile and Sweden. I saw
your pictures. You have a great face – though not very Swedish. Ready?
Billy:I’m ready. My name is Billy – actually, my real name is Cristian. But after I moved
away from home when I was 15, I started my own life as Billy. I’m 22 years old, and my
parents are from Chile, but I was born and raised in Sweden in a little city called Gävle. I
moved to Uppsala where I studied visual merchandising, exhibition design, and market-
ing, and also worked in a Levi’s store. After a couple years in Uppsala I moved to Oslo,
Norway, and my plan was to work a lot and save some money. But Oslo had nothing for
me – that city is so small and so dead that I panicked and decided that I needed sun, fun,
and good parties! So I packed my bags and left for Barcelona...and here I am.
Can you describe the Catalan style?
Oh, it is just horrible; they shave their heads but leave dreads on the back of their necks.
Their shoes are too big and they carry ugly purses around. I love them anyway, though;
they’re beautiful in their own way. But I’m a person who always needs something new.
I’ve had the most fun in my entire life in Barcelona. But London is calling.
You’re doing great so far. Are you comfortable? And what are you wearing?
I always wear comfortable clothes. Shorts, Vans, a cap, and a tank top. I’m sitting on my bed.
What’s your bedroom like – favorite sheets?
My bedroom is pink; it’s big and makes me feel safe. I love that there is enough space for
my clothes – well, almost – and that I have a balcony. I am not going to lie and say that
I have some favorite bedspread because I only have one, and it’s black.
Your personal blog is in Swedish so I couldn’t really get a sense of what you’re all about. What kind of mes-
sage are you trying to convey?
My blog is more like a diary. I write what I feel. Sometimes I only write when I am sad,
or when I want to mention a good party. And you can always use Google Translate if you
want to understand it some!
What do all the Swedes in Barcelona have in common?
We come here for the same reason – to get away from the cold weather and the unexciting
people. Though I miss the fresh air, the food, the water. It just tastes sweeter in Sweden.
And your family is still in Sweden? How’s your relationship with them?
My family is my everything. It’s hard to describe the love we have because I know it’s
super-special. My parents have been married for over 25 years and they had their first
baby, my older sister, when my mother was 15 years old!
I’d love to meet your parents. Can you describe their style so I would be able to dress appropriately for the
occasion?
photo: Maria El Tigre
My father is rock ‘n’ roll, he has long hair, and is very cool and funny. He loves to steal my
clothes – when I saw him in Sweden he was wearing my Converse shoes! My mother is
a shopaholic, I got that (and my nose) from her. When she came to visit me in Barcelona
she left with seven pairs of shoes and my father forbade her from buying any more shoes,
91

16. smart & ilikemystyle Quarterly present
smartypantz
Anatomy of a revolutionary vehicle:
Artist MArtin Fengel (username tino)
takes a close look at the new generation
of urban mobility - smart fortwo cabrio
& coupé and smart fortwo electric drive.
95

17. smart & ilikemystyle Quarterly present smartypAntz
105

18. StOries
Girl
vs. GirlBesides vuvuzelas, Eat Pray Love,
and Michelle’s holidays in Spain,
there were also some real issues
this summer: the Greek-German
Euro spat, continuing troubles
at the Mexico-US border, and the
Turkish flotilla ambushed by Israeli
forces. Users of ilikemystyle.net from
these countries got to talking.
Concept, matchmaking, production: Michael Ladner / username: aPollinaris
Hande
username:
selofan
109

19. StOries
ISrael vs. TurkEy:
ThE nOn-Political GEneration
By MOnICa HaIM (username: Monica812) from Tel aviv
and HandE SaadET (username: Selofan) from Izmir
HandE: Hey
MOnICa: Hi!
HandE: How are you?
MOnICa: Nice to meet you finally. I am good, a bit sick, but otherwise cool. My birthday was
yesterday and I had a big party.
HandE: Wow :) Happy birthday.
MOnICa: Thanks!
HandE: You’re a Leo.
MOnICa: I sure am. It’s practically written on my face. What do you study?
HandE: I’m studying accessory design at the fine arts university. You?
MOnICa: Nice! I am a writer and a documentary filmmaker. My sister is a textile artist. And
my other sister is an interior designer, so I appreciate your world :)
HandE: Oh, that’s so nice for you and your family. I have no sisters or brothers. I’m the only
one who loves design and art hehe…
MOnICa: That means you are unique :) I visited Turkey for the first time last year – it was
amazing!
HandE: Where?
moniCa
username:
MOnICa: I was on a boat for two weeks in the south, starting in Bodrum, hopping around from monica812
port to port. Then four nights in Istanbul.
HandE: I’m in Izmir.
MOnICa: Nice. Were you born there? HandE: Thanks :) I think you have beautiful and stylish photos.
HandE: I was born in Sakarya, near Istanbul. Sakarya is a conservative town. But Izmir is the MOnICa: I am actually not photogenic at all, so I don’t have that many pics, but I will take
opposite. All the people are so relaxed. some and keep adding.
MOnICa: That’s a good atmosphere for a creative type – relaxed. Tel Aviv is the same – relaxed HandE: How is Israel? I have heard all the political news, but it must also be different being
and fun. there.
HandE: You see retired people in their 20s. MOnICa: The crazy thing here is that there are so many opinions. You have the hardcore right,
MOnICa: Here too! A culture of fun. That’s how life should be! There’s too much negativity in the hardcore left, and everything in between. I am curious to hear how an art-pub-cafe
the world as it is. We should all be sitting in the sun with a cocktail and a smile. city like Izmir feels about Israel/Israelis?
HandE: Sure! HandE: Actually, Izmir is a more liberal part of Turkey. In Izmir, the government is also more
MOnICa: Have you been to Israel? to the left, the exact opposite of other towns. And our left is against the right. Everyone
HandE: I haven’t yet. But I really want to. How do you know ilikemystyle.net? says: “atheist/Christian Izmir” about our town.
MOnICa: I was referred to it by a designer/publisher here in Tel Aviv, who is in Berlin now. MOnICa: So what do people in Izmir think about what happened recently between Israel and
And you? Turkey?
HandE: I’ve been a user of ilikemystyle.net since it began. HandE: I heard that Israel publically snubbed our ambassador, and Israel’s attack on our ship
MOnICa: Your profile is super cool. carrying aid to Gaza. I cannot understand why they are behaving like that. And people in
111

20. StOries
Bedside
Stories
What used to be a place to
dream and make love is now often
a hybrid style haven/multimedia
center. Users of ilikemystyle.net
on their beds and the people,
things, and animals they can’t
sleep without.
by
My WiFe and /Our Unborn Son
Filippo Falleroni Bertoni
username: filippo from Ferrara
I usually sleep in just my underpants all year round. My wife says I’m a stove!
I only like to keep a few things close to my bed: my iPhone (without it I don’t
wake in the morning!), a book of erotic Japanese prints that was given to me
for my birthday, and a picture of me as a child. I like to sleep on our futon
always wrapped in cotton sheets (colorful and often striped), and gradually
slide into the night with my head falling off the pillow and almost off the bed
– I love to sleep! Every morning I wake up, kiss my wife and her beautiful
tummy, wash myself, I dress, mount my old vintage bike, and fly to the shop
where I work. I can say that I am very lucky!
123

21. StOries Bedside
Stories
Dream of Me asusername: HappyBerlin
by Joachim Bessing /
the jbessing from Man
I’d been warned many times over the years, but I never thought it could be
that bad. Yet after having done Peru, Hong Kong, and San Francisco within
a few weeks, I lost my Koerperzeit (circadian rhythm) somewhere in one of
the airports, or maybe in a hotel room, and I was left on one of the most hor-
rible frequencies the mind can tune into: insomnia, AKA the “Hammer of the
Gods.” After three months without any sleep, my mind was in a state that felt
beyond suicidal, beyond hysterical, beyond nirvana. I had almost completely
lost hope that I could ever recover. It was around that time that the people
from Hästens offered me one of their beds. The beds are hand-crafted in
Sweden, made of two extremely thick, extremely heavy and extremely soft…
let’s call them “units” – a far cry from any other piece of furniture called a
bed. A Hästens is something else. A nation that raised their people from day
one in Hästens could surely rule the world but would refuse to do so – they
already would’ve reached that enlightened state of mind the Dalai Lama
claims to have a monopoly on.
I had to move and find an apartment that would present my loved one in the
most perfect way. My bedroom has now become the center of my life; I do
almost everything in or on my bed. The picture hanging above the Hästens is a
panoramic shot of an entire girls’ school from 1964. I often study the hundreds
of girls’ faces. Some of them are blurred because they had to laugh or shrug
while the photographer tried to get them all right. It also reminds me of my
favorite movie, Mortelle Randonné, in which one of the characters plays a
very cruel game using a similar photograph.
Also crucial is a stack of good books. Most of them I choose for their com-
plicated titles or for the design – I judge books by their covers and I like to
show off. These nights I’m reading Über die Seele by Katja Crone, Tomboy by
Thomas Meinecke, and Imperial Bedrooms of course. An item I really use a lot
in bed is the so-called Inspektionslampe (inspection light), basically a flashlight.
It’s black, very flexible, and very useful for almost every purpose. And then the
photo: Judith Innerhofer
black Fisher Space Pen, which is another trusty companion because it lets me
write while lying on my back – the Space Pen writes even upside down (and in
space). Everything else I have to do, I do on my iPad. I don’t have trouble
sleeping anymore. You can dream of me as the happy man.
125

22. StOries Bedside
Stories
DiamonDBlatzHeim / username: chantal from Brussels
by chanTal
StUds
Tivoli Audio Clock, a bottle of sparkling water (usually Perrier), my cell
phones (iPhone and Blackberry), my platinum wedding ring, my engagement
ring, chunky wood and metal bracelets, big golden earrings, diamond studs. I
usually read a few books at the same time, some about photography because
I am doing a PhD on the history of photography, and others to relax: Susan
Sontag’s About Photography, Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness
of Being, Colum McCann’s The Dancer, Roland Barthes’s Camera Lucida:
Reflections on Photography. Newspapers (Die Zeit, Süddeutsche Zeitung) that
I did not manage to read the day they came out and try to read on the week-
end. A babyphone, pictures of my loved ones, Chapstick, Kleenex. And a few
magazines like Paris Vogue, Grazia, and others.
135

23. StOries
Around the
World
in 80 Flats
It was almost 50 years ago and the
world was a different place, full of dirt
roads and unknown territories. In
1962 a group of 20-somethings drove
from London to Melbourne by car.
Everything broke down, but it didn’t
hurt their adventurous egos. They called
themselves ThE OvErLandErS.
Driving across the absolutely horrendous
roads in Iran. Soon, one of the Land
Rover’s fan blades broke off and flew
into the radiator. The Overlanders tried to Sam Cate-Gumpert / username: SaMm from Brooklyn consulted the Overlanders’
reattach it with chewing gum. archives by Tim Groome and spoke with richard Banham.
137

24. Around the
World
in 80 Flats
In 1961, bored of working in London, Angus “Gus” Gibbs, Timothy “Tim” Groome, and Alan
(not “Al”) Stewart decided to take a trip. The plan was hazy: just get out of England and indulge
in youthful wanderlust. After a series of false starts and several pints in a Chelsea pub, and with
the addition of Lawrence “Larry” Ford, an Australian trying to get to Melbourne, they formu-
lated a concrete plan: London to Melbourne, over land, in two Land Rovers. The four rapidly
roped in friends and relatives and set about planning their trip. Leaving in August of 1962, the
group decided to travel through Asias Minor and Major, through countries that today are all
but inaccessible to westerners. They lined up sponsors, including Wrigley’s (for chewing gum)
and Benson & Hedges (for cigarettes). Their Rovers experienced about 62 mechanical failures,
consumed 913 gallons of petrol and traveled 14,938 miles, across 12 countries and two conti-
nents: France, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, India, Malaya, and Singapore. They had to take a boat to Australia.
This kind of youthful adventure was only possible back then, before the age of Ry-
anair, Wi-Fied airports, inflatable vinyl pillows, and Skype. These nine 20-somethings (and
one 37-year-old German ex-prisoner of war) are the archetypes for every waxed canvas–clad
fashion plate dreaming of sand, oil, and authenticity. Just look at those outfits.
A trip like this is always magical in retrospect. You remember playing rugby on a de-
serted island off the coast of Singapore, the generous Pakistani farmers who fed you steak after
months of bruised tomatoes and bread, the endless rum and cokes served on the British naval
frigates that kindly carted your Land Rovers from Calcutta to Penang. But in reality the journey
was plagued by a panoply of mishaps: the Aussie rugby men roughed you up; the sand burned
skin off your feet; the delicious dinner was the result of your tripmate’s thoughtless proclama-
tion, “I’d kill for a steak,” forcing the overly hospitable villagers to kill their only cow. Those
rum and cokes weren’t actually free – in fact they cost you the last of your precious sterling.
Not to mention the border hold-ups, the constant culture clash, the black-market swin-
dles, and, far beyond anything else, the absolutely endless equipment failures of the two old
Land Rovers. Really, it was a miracle that the Rovers made it across the miles of unpaved roads,
not to mention the dense traffic jams of Tehran; the abused vehicles even found themselves
Sam smoking hookah in Pakistan.
She had bad luck with hookahs – in
dangling, at one point, in a jury-rigged cradle over the port in Calcutta, onto an Australian naval
Iran, she was bedridden for three frigate for the last leg of its journey. Oh, and the flat tires. In the words of Richard Banham, the
days after smoking from a communal Overlanders’ journey was something akin to “around the world in 80 flats.” Or thereabouts.
pipe in a bazaar.
London to Melbourne, with 15 punctured tires – according to their logbook. It sure felt like 80.
It was the kind of undertaking only possible for a bunch of 20-something-year-olds: Gus
Gibbs, 24; Tim Groome, 23; Alan Stewart, 22; Larry Ford, 24; Joseph “Jim” Stich, 37; Margaret
“Maggie” Rought-Rought, 19; Valerie “Sam” Anstis, 25; Richard “Rik” Banham, 24; Patrick
“Pat” Culshaw, 22; and Anthony “Fitz” Fitzgerald, 21. Only in your third decade of life do you
still retain the thirst for adventure, the restlessness, and the right mix of inflated self-assurance
and naïveté to really commit. The lack of steady, secure employment didn’t hurt either.
An epic journey as such also meant setting off without having properly tested all the cru-
cial equipment. Pots and pans, for instance. And beds. After the first night’s drive, which began
in France (the Land Rovers were flown in), the group set up camp. They pitched their single tent,
meant to accommodate all ten members of the group. They lit their camp stove, which almost
exploded in their faces. As the water came to a rapid boil, the plucked ducks donated by Mag-
147

25. StOries
Music
makes the
people There’s talent in everyone,
from air guitar to opera.
Plus, instruments make
excellent accessories. The pop
stars of ilikemystyle.net share
their passions and playlists.
username: julie182 from Oizumi
153

26. “I love music and I love to make music, but
I can’t sing nor play any instrument at all
well. No reason for me to stop trying. I was
singer in a band when I was a teenager and
I wrote a lot of lyrics in my rudimentary
English (i.e., “I am a millionaire, I have the
millions yeah. I just look like a cow, but I
am happy now”). Now I am playing in an-
other band as drummer with my flatmate (on
guitar) and another friend who is playing
bass (actually he plays any instrument better
then us). We are called Muri Kimmer. Muri
Kimmer used to be a Finnish solo artist, but
he got sick, so we act in place for him. We
would love to perform for large audiences
but the large audiences don’t want us to
perform for them. I am working hard on my
breakthrough, but I need to face reality: I am
the worst musician on Earth.”
Christian’s playlist:
1 “Piano Man” by Billy Joel
2 “Kill Your Friends” by CS Rockers
3 “Idioteque” by Radiohead
4 “I Wanna Be Me” by Sex Pistols
5 “Battery Acid” by Queens of the Stone Age
6 “I Can’t Put My Finger On It” by Ween
7 “Valse in a Flat Major, Op. 64 No. 3”
by Chopin
8 “I Need a Dollar” by Aloe Blacc
9 “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera
10 “Concert No. 3 in D Minor” by
Rachmaninov
CHristiaN Kirberg / username: rio13 from Berlin
161

27. kulturkritik
clOSe-
upS Fashion is only as good
as the people who look
at it. Experts from the visual
arts on some of the finest
photos from ilikemystyle.net .
Hot tranny mEss memorieS
by LeE Carter
Who doesn’t love a she-male named after a state? Texas here is giving us classic walk of shame,
drag-style. If the walk of shame had a Hall of Fame, she’d be the first inductee. Notice the dirty
sequin halter top, the furry things on her hands, the oversized sunglasses, the wayward wig, the
pilot’s hat that could only have materialized over the course of a bender. Now look at the ratty
jeans and sneakers. These could be the items that the last of her night’s paramours let her have
if she would “just leave.” Let’s face it: this hot tranny mess has fantastic style!
Texas reminds me of the time, a million eons ago, when I was approached by Björk at a
downtown club in New York. It was the 90s, and I was super skinny at the time, almost as skinny
as Texas. I had on a bandeau top just like this one (sans dirt), some enormous afro wig just as in-
tentionally cheap-looking as this one, leather thigh-highs and the tightest, shortest denim shorts
on the planet. Björk said to me, in her squeaky voice that sounds like a child or like she’s about
to go crazy on your ass, “Pardon me. I don’t mean to be rude, but can you tell me if you’re a boy
or a girl?” Somehow I kept my cool and answered truthfully, but on the inside I was so stunned
and star-struck that I almost lost my tuck!
texasBochum
from Lee Carter is the editor-in-chief of Hint Fashion Magazine. He lives in New York.
169

28. kulturkritik clOSe-
upS
Please, a LittlE more
tHOught to the GlassES
by HaideE Findlay-Levin / username: haideefindley
I just can’t help myself. I am compelled to examine the style of Spjork, a fellow glasses wearer,
but funnily enough, her glasses are the least compelling part of this picture, with plenty room for
improvement. They add a seriousness (don’t all glasses do that?) but lack the clarity of vision
she clearly has in the rest of her look. Don’t get me wrong; my criticism is strictly constructive
– you can see that I’m already impressed with her state of dress. And speaking of dresses, I love
the simplicity of her pale gray A-line one, enough to inspire Miuccia for a whole season. It’s that
dusty, elephant gray – so neutral that it’s almost nude. It’s the perfect nail polish color; I obses-
sively trawl for it from salon to salon. And here she is, wearing a whole dress of it, matching
belt and all. She is so wonderfully fearless – no need to break the flow of gray, like an endless
sky over the horizon. To me, there is nothing more calming than monochrome. No interruption,
no annoying need for ‘contrast’ accessories.
This dress makes me believe that she’s confident, that she has conviction, and not only in
her sense of style. She isn’t swayed by trends since she knows what suits her. She likes the 70s.
So do I. It’s hard to imagine her in trousers; she seems so perfect in a dress. But if she were to
wear some, I would imagine that they would be as high-waisted as her dress, as fitted over the
hips as her skirt, and they would flare out into wide legs that would fall over varnished wooden-
heeled shoes, or better still, over the same tan leather spectators she is wearing now. Her blouse
would be neatly tucked into the trousers and secured with – what else? – a belt that perfectly
matches its waistband.
Her only real, noteworthy accessory is her guitar. I imagine she sings solo. Blues. Indie.
Soul. Please don’t tell me it’s country. I don’t know why, but her hair suggests it’s something
retro: lyrics borrowed from another era, the songs the experiences of others. I don’t mind. She’s
young, with plenty of time and confidence to have her own. At the same time I’m prepared to
be completely wrong, to be surprised by her taste in music. But please, a little more thought to
the glasses – may I suggest something quite large and curved, unpredictable, nude? Two-toned
even, with a semi-tinted lens – grey or rose-hued, of course.
Haidee Findlay-Levin is a stylist. She lives in New York.
sPjorkLondon
from
173

29. Kulturkritik
Daily
Bread
Do try this at home.
Robin KRanz
(username: robin) and
VolKeR Hobl
(username: vlkr) share
images and recipes
from their fabulous
food blog,
taeglichbrot.tumblr.com.
Blueberries and
milk, shrimp salad
on black bread, pear
juice and ice cream.
181

30. Kulturkritik Daily
Bread
Suckling pig on
Olaf ’s houseboat
189

31. KulturkriTik
With
Compliments
This season’s most accomplished
fashion stories. Broken down,
reconstructed and worshipped by
the editors of Ilikemystyle Quarterly .
199

32. KulturkriTik
V #66
“Footballers’ Wives”
photographer: Sebastian Faena
stylist: Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele
V #66 V’s “Footballers’ Wives” is a monster truck rally of an editorial. Photographed
by Sebastian Faena and styled by Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, it features a series of trashezoid
faux-tabloid layouts packed with lip liner, bronze-scaped tits, bling, and aspirational handbags.
There are pouty male models clutching soccer balls, gold snakeskin, thigh high fur boots – and
that’s only the first few pages.
Meet the cast. We have Dree Hemingway – up to now my favorite spread of her was
in Vogue Korea in black lipstick and diamonds, and here she is furred over with leopard – just
leopard up the waz, draped on the hood of a Ferrari. Then there’s Constance, in a G-Star denim
jacket and cutoffs, sporting D&G rhinestone-encrusted ski goggles and a Chanel purse that
looks 100% made in China.
What’s insane – and this is legitimately a feat – is that V pulls it off. The editorial does
not snarl at the viewer with an evil I know you know we know you know glint in its eye. In-
stead, the spread is open before me, and there is Maryna, wearing a fringed leather jacket, cut-
offs, gold belt, bamboo-textured gold hoops, gold bolo tie, gold Rolex, and monogrammed LV
Speedy, plus a beige baseball cap with a pair of mail-order bride spangled sunglasses, while she
BREASTFEEDS A PLASTIC INFANT DOLL in a tiny Adidas jersey, and I am staring at this
seriously, like entirely convinced of its pleasurableness/veracity.
It’s possible that 90% of the vérité quality of this image comes from the angle of the
model’s wrist holding her phone. For a long time I wanted a Blackberry exclusively so I would
have reason to torque my wrist that way (it’s totally different than the iPhone clutch, way sexier
and nastier). Which begs the inevitable question: is this about consumption? Sure. It’s also
about paparazzi, Ed Hardy, Restylane, The City, the New Ugly, Electric Youth! – but thank god,
mostly about the plain Quotient of Pleasure derived from looking at an image, post-taste.
Tastelessness is juvenile in a good way. These images bypass whatever lame, tempered,
semi-adult taste I might currently have and go straight for the parts of my brain left over from
when I was a kid – just a crude cultural instrument whose mother had to explain to her that those
glitter-encrusted shoes were ‘tacky,’ or that I should STOP furiously taking notes during a tour
of a Newport mansion because it all but condemned me to being a faggy interior decorator. Not
to mention, there are plenty of photos of me from preschool, around the time my little brother
was born, pretending to nurse a plastic doll. Stars, they’re just like us!
“Footballers’ Wives” is all surface tension, tabloid distillate – you know, fashion. At its
core, the spread works the Wintour-led conflation of celebrities and models to great effect: since
the backstories of most tabloid images really aren’t that important anyway, V just does away
with them. Who knows, these models could be famous Eurotrash celebs – after all, the Chanel
looks fake, the tattoos look real, and oh yeah, there’s a plastic baby in most of the shots. But I’m
certainly not about to play the vigilante – this editorial has transformed me from a citizen into a
vulgarity processing station, and I’m having too much fun.
by emily Segal / username: rIPyourself

33. KUlturkriTik
Remember
where you
lost it
Pit bulls on the dance ★
pawkid
floor, the kindness of from Melbourne
strangers, and generous in Barcelona
read on page 212
amounts of excess.
Snapshots from the
beautiful trap called
nightlife – plus
fact sheets about the
hours between the first
shot and dawn.
209

34. KUlturkriTik Remember
where
YOu lOSt it
kiRkDify
★★★
from new York
on the roof of his apartment
read on page 216
215

35. KUlturkriTik Remember
where
YOu lOSt it
acid and
★★★
Parallel UniVerses
by KiRk DUval / username: kirkdify from new York
When? Early May. Molly, Zoe and I had just completed our college degrees a song he wants me to hear on the headphones. He’s also sneaking sideways
and we’d met Peter a couple days earlier. glances at Zoe’s breasts – she’s sunbathing. I’m looking at a magazine about
Where? It was taken on the rooftop of our apartment. We’d taken acid the skiing which I have no interest in, but I’m acting like I have no interest in
night before. Peter. Molly Vila is improvising on guitar.
Most importa n t p e o p l e ? A random guy we heard about who was selling acid Transportation? After we took acid, I remember being the first to decide
on the balcony of a party we were at for the band of a friend of a friend. it was time to leave the party, and in a panic I ran into the bathroom and
Topics? The universe. Performance. Gender. Sex. Aging. Cigarettes. Fear. collected the girls who needed to be collected. We made a dash for our
Seclusion. Paolo, our cat. Music. Colors. Time. Energy. Ashlee Simpson. How apartment, which we got to in a cab thanks to the assistance of our only so-
happiness and the meaning of life only exist in the present moment. Internal- ber friend. We spent the rest of the night in our apartment making a ruckus
izing your own messages. Kelly, my ex-boyfriend. Destiny. The emergence of until it was late morning, when we ventured down our fire escape and out
form from nothingness. Paradox. Dead fish. onto the roof.
What were y o u w e a r i n g ? I was wearing pink shorts that I’d gotten from Drink/Stimulation? We drank a lot of alcohol. Dropped acid. And smoked a
American Eagle when I was still in high school, my roommate’s sunglasses, lot of weed. The acid really took the cake.
ratty boxers that I stole from my sophomore year roommate, and a necklace I Highlight? I had a moment with Peter where he telepathically told me that he
found in our costume box. loved me and then I realized that it had really happened only in an alternate
What was spe c i a l ? We’d just finished college. We were at the end of our first universe which caused a chain reaction of epiphanies: there is a universe of
acid trip. The sun was shining. There was a cute boy. universes in which every possible outcome is played out, our imaginations
Soundtrack? “Williamsburg Rooftops” by Peter Kelly himself, “Outta My are only glimpses into these other universes, everything that emerges in our
Head” by Ashlee Simpson, “Bulletproof” by La Roux, “Sweetest Thing” by universe is inevitable and required. I also shared some really special quality
Camera Obscura, “Go Long” by Joanna Newsom, “Mister” by Molly Vila, and time with Paolo, our cat.
“Sincerity 4Ever” by Kirkdify. Sex? Yes. With Peter. In a parallel universe.
Other people? Peter Kelly (username: scoparli) is being sexy and seducing us Sleep? Long after this day was over I finally fell asleep. I was the only person
all with his aloof flirtation, genuine kindness, and enthusiasm. He’s finding in my bed. I think I slept for years.
217

36. KUlturkriTik
thanKS to the lOvely
Miley cyruS
by MaUlde cuerel / username: ingoldWetrust from geneva
When? Spring break 2010.
Where? We were in Barcelona. We started the evening in little local bars
where we had a couple of beers sitting on skate ramps while watching surfer
movies on old school TVs. The picture was taken in a little bar called Never-
mind or something like that.
Most import a n t p e o p l e ? We stayed in a pretty creepy apartment where we
shared toilets with 20 other people – a real Spanish hostel. But it was still fun
because we didn’t sleep much, thanks to my best friends Coline and Lavinia.
Topics? We talked about Spain and how much fun our holidays had been!
What were y o u w e a r i n g ? Jeans by H&M, top by Primark, coat by Zara, and
the fragrance Daisy by Marc Jacobs.
What was spe c i a l ? It was the last night of our trip, so we did absolutely what-
ever we wanted to!
Soundtrack? “I Gotta Feeling,” “Poker Face,” and “I Know You Want Me.”
We were delighted to hear “Party in the USA,” thanks to the lovely Miley
Cyrus. Luckily, we were drunk enough to find it amusing.
Other people ? For our last night out, we met a very funny and very rich guy
from Dubai, which was the most perfect coincidence because we were three
girls who wanted to party hard on their last night out, but we had only 8 Euros
left! He invited us to this very classy nightclub where we met these dumbass
American college boys who told us that they “looooved” Swedish girls. Then we
told them that we were actually from Switzerland, not Sweden...so that was that.
Transportatio n ? Metro and cab. We didn’t have enough money to pay the cab
driver at the end. I remember the taxi driver’s face when he asked for 15 Euros,
and we proudly offered him our last 2 Euros and 50 cents...and ran off. Oops!
Stimulation? I didn’t smoke but I drank. Maybe too much. After yet another
round of tequila, the most sober of us realized we had to speed back to the
hotel, pack our bags, and leave.
High l i g h t ? What happens in Barcelona stays in Barcelona...
until you read about it.
S e x ? Haha, what a question! No, I didn’t.
Sleep? Our flight was at 7am. We slept for like 30 minutes in a creepy restau-
rant before the flight. Then: “Oh Shit! Where’s my Blackberry?”
One of my friends had forgotten it in the X-ray security check.
225
19

37. The
words
hardboiled interviews, deep-
digging chitchats about fashion
and literature, semi-serious
writing about sex and diplomacy,
and off-the-cuff essays by
users of ilikemystyle.net on the
phENomENa of our world.
plus a gracious nod to the ever-
amazing donatella Versace.
227

38. THe WoRds Ping Pong Review i
Ping Pong Review i: On Aug 3, 2010 at 1:08 PM, Ingeborg Harms wrote:
Retroactively Dear Emily,
reinstate feminity
So glad to be reminded of John Waters. His sense of the grotesque seems to be alive and
kicking not only in Comme des Graçons and Watanabe, but at Louis Vuitton as well. I liked all
of Peter Som, dresses by Derek Lam, and coats by many designers like Dries. But I was really
as an icon?
Talking points: Alexander Wang cat eye sunglasses,
touched by Marco Zanini’s Rochas Fall collection: light, rich, and modern. As for what I am
personally looking forward to: buying a felt coat from Uniqlo’s +J collection and sporting my
old lavender boots, skin-colored Marni cardigan, and my new bottle-green John Pearse heavy
moleskin coat.
the acid green haze of a veil, the disputable You’re so right: pumped-up cleavage is as boring as a McDonald’s ad. But I have to
blessings of mad men style, truisms of soccer admit that Mad Men fashion got me, insofar as it differs from a calculated offering of hormone
players, and handbag-bashing in Berlin. shots on top of latter-day androgyny. Magnificently orchestrated, Mad Men fashion is also about
Plus: the affrontery of hats. the appeal of forgotten silhouettes, the kind that Bernhard Willhelm tries to resurrect. Long A-
line skirts, that sort of thing. For women, that period was incredibly complex as they didn’t have
by emily segal / username: RiPyourself the suit to drop back to. Dior and Balenciaga gave them all kinds of new ideas, ways to curve
and ingeborg HArms and indent their silhouette. I see 50s female fashion as a predecessor to pop and the space age:
it deconstructed the principles of the male suit and transported them into an experimental stage.
On Aug 2, 2010 at 3:23 PM Emily Segal wrote: They were explicitly applied to the invention of new proportions and individual idealizations of
specific female shapes.
Dear Ingeborg, Living in Berlin Kreuzberg, I am intrigued by the Muslim fashion all around me. Last
How are you? night, after taking a swim at a Hermannplatz club in the center of Kreuzberg, I couldn’t believe
In preparation for the first ping of this Ilikemystyle ping pong, I was looking at what my eyes when I stepped out of the elevator: right there were three veiled girls, ready to start
Style.com proclaims are the ‘trends for fall’ – specifically, “Something Fifties,” which is pretty their night shift as cleaning ladies. The skinniest one of them would have created a sensation
vague itself. They seem to be playing connect-the-dots with fall collections, Mad Men, and the on any runway in Paris or London; she was wearing low boyfriend jeans, a black long-sleeve
(by now 100% boring) advent of ‘curvy’ models on the runway. A few designers (notably Nina top, high collar, and a delicate, acid green haze of a veil nonchalantly tied around her head and
Ricci) have remembered that women have breasts. 50s style does seem to be having a moment shoulders and somehow tucked into her pants. Anyway, I should have taken a picture, but I was
– I’m thinking of the airbrushed, cleavage-y new Louis Vuitton ads with Christy Turlington (I too intimidated by her allure. And this was to go on a night shift!
have a vivid memory of my mother instructing a seven-year-old me that Christy was “the very I see all kinds of headwear in multicultural Berlin, plus dramatic cloaks – mostly black,
best model,” which I accepted and have yet to shake). I like the clothes just fine but I think that sometimes embroidered, always expertly done. I don’t want to get into the political discussion
Mad Men 50s is a million times more of a yawn than John Waters Cry-Baby 50s. These evil/ that rages in Europe concerning religious veiling in a secular state. It happens that cloaks or
spiky Alexander Wang cat-eye sunglasses do the talking for me – I want a teen with a blazing elaborate headwear are, as of today, the most striking affront to the ideas of transparency and
bad attitude, not an executive with ‘secret problems’! I think the best version is Cacharel’s Fall nakedness, which have been with us since the Enlightenment. Fashion has been x-raying man-
2010 RTW collection, full of mixed prints, full skirts, high collars and belts – retro without be- kind for 200 years to a point where it sometimes feels as if clothes serve no other purpose than
ing staid. to tell the market value of a body. A black cloak, meanwhile, sweeps it away. It has an eloquence
Looking at all of these dandy clothes and thinking about the sick, sad, oil-slicked state of its own, alluding to other things of a less optical kind, to matters of the mind; secrets, realms
of the world couldn’t help but remind me of the photobook Gentlemen of Bacongo, about a of fantasy. Or, as Vicente del Bosque, the head coach of the World Cup–winning Spanish soccer
club of snappy dressers in the Congo whose outfits are incredibly elegant in the midst of abject team, put it: “There is nothing more important than intelligence and modesty.”
poverty. I guess that’s what New York will be like once China pulls out and all of the US turns Aside from cleavage, we see another remnant from the 50s: the hat. We missed it dearly.
into a giant shantytown! It gives momentum to the face, improves facial and bodily proportions, hides receding hairlines,
But enough doom and gloom – what are you looking forward to for fall? shelters from the sun and scrutinizing glances, provides instant respect and an aura of purpose.
Talk to you soon! People spend a lot of time at the hairdresser to compensate for the absence of this simple device.
Emily Every man wore a hat in the 50s. Muslim female headwear serves the same purpose, especially
229

39. THe WoRds 5 life Changers
5 life Changers
encounters with, impressions of,
which violently provoked everyone else’s unimaginativeness, because nobody could think of
anything else to say except “wild!”
Carine allowed her dress to take care of whatever imagination remained: sleeveless,
black, down to mid-thigh. As for the cut, all that can be said is that it would have no wrinkles,
performances by... at any moment, in any situation. I forgot the rest of the night, which I mostly spent with Marc
Jacobs by the doors of a lost property office-turned-ballroom in SoHo, as Marc stood in front of
a black, spandex wall working his Blackberry, smoking away countless Marlboro Lights from
...Carine Roitfeld America (I don’t smoke). Carine passed by me again, without saying goodbye. As she was star-
by JoacHim Bessing / username: jbessing from Berlin ing into Derek Blasberg’s camera, I got a look at the back of her dress: an extremely wide, also
matte black zipper led all the way from her neckline down to the hem.
My relationship with Carine Roitfeld can only be described as intimate. I think about her fre-
quently and intensively – alone, since we don’t see each other all that often. Plus, I see her more
often than she sees me. From an outside perspective it may seem a bit imbalanced, but who ...sNoop dogg
knows? Perhaps that’s exactly what keeps things going. by Josh segal / username: tpaine from New York
The second to last time we met was in New York, after the Hilfiger show in the white tent
in Bryant Park. I was stuck in a crowd that must have been pushing me towards the exit, though It’s mid-April and I’m at school talking to this girl named Ava. She says something about some
it was too full for me to tell for sure. Just as a midnight-black square appeared before me, the bluegrass music festival she goes to every July. I say I don’t really like concerts.
right side of my body bumped against something solid: Carine. She says: What do you mean you don’t like concerts? Have you ever been to one?
Whoever has attained a steadfast conviction that Carine Roitfeld is all about black ge- I say: Of course I’ve been to concerts. I’ve been to like a million concerts.
nius (in the same vein as black pedagogy, black magic, death metal, etc.), as I have, will have She asks: So what was the best concert you’ve ever been to?
distilled a large part of this presumption through regularly reading Vogue Paris and from repeat- I say: I have no idea. I mean, I guess I’ve been to objectively good concerts before but I
edly looking at her portraits. The well-nigh perplexing interplay of her cannibal’s grin, her anis- can’t think of a “best.” I just don’t like standing for that long. I have knee problems and I get tired.
ette-colored eyes, her ironed hair, her steadily bronzed skin – evil, evil, evil, evil! Furthermore, Fast-forward one week and I’m in Providence, RI with my sister about to walk onto the
if you summon the charming round of the editors-in-chief of the other Vogue franchises before main green at Brown University. There is a big stage set up right in the middle. Snoop Dogg is
your eyes, you get Ms. Wintour (USA), Ms. Arp (Germany)…exactly. Whatever, n’importe going to perform.
quoi, as Carine would say. But before Snoop can take the stage we have to endure Wale and the Black Keys. Wale
At the exit to the accursed tent, I was pushed up against Carine, and for a crack-of-a- is funny but stupid. He screams to the crowd: This is for all the ladies out there! And his DJ
whip moment, we looked at each other. From that, I divined the secret of her gravitational pull, plays Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” and Wale jumps around and sings along. Then he
perceived as supernatural by many men: her gaze. That’s it! The precisely “anisette” eye color is raps a few of his own songs and he’s gone before I even really notice. I hardly notice when the
somehow light and foggy at the same time, the source of the inevitable impression that she’s stand- Black Keys play at all because I ran into four kids I knew in high school and they kidnapped me.
ing in the fog lights of a matte black Range Rover. She is said to possess a kind of miniaturized fog We walked away from the stage, ignoring the Black Keys because honestly who wants to
machine that ceaselessly produces beautifully shaped clouds directly in her field of vision. see them at a RAP concert? And we do an auxiliary activity and talk about high school.
And then she turned away and disappeared into the night without saying goodbye. Then the Black Keys aren’t on the stage anymore and all of a sudden I’ve never been
The next encounter – this time in London – proved to be even more intense. It wasn’t this excited for a concert before. I’m about to see Snoop Dogg, the Dogg Father, up close and
too long ago. The opening of a new, four-story Louis Vuitton flagship store on New Bond Street personal. I find my sister and start thinking: Holy shit holy shit SNOOOOOOOOOOOP.
brought us together. I sauntered somewhat awkwardly through the designed interior – described And after only a few minutes, he comes out on stage and you’ve never seen more white
by Peter Marino as the beach house of a drug-dealing compulsive gambler. Its centerpiece is a kids more excited about rap music and Snoop says something like: What up Brown University???
magical, levitating, mounted display stairway made of green-blue reflective glass steps. I lin- Snoop is the most innately famous person I’ve ever seen. He oozes fame from the Brown
gered there around its reflections and was admiring, as were other party guests, the adolescent hockey jersey he’s wearing to his bomb-ass diamond-studded four-finger mic holder.
presumptuousness with which the Brazilian supermodel Alice Dellal had usurped the potential And the whole crowd goes crazy and he immediately starts rapping “Gin and Juice”
effect of Marino’s little stairway. and you’ve never seen more kids saying the same words at the same time. He puts his hands up
I found it too unambiguous, but whatever. ’Cause then came Carine! She had bleached and every single person in the audience does the same. Snoop directs the crowd effortlessly. He
her gaze with Clorox; her hair was, as if out of sheer carelessness, only ironed in some spots, knows exactly what to do and what to say to make everyone there extremely happy. Or maybe
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40. THe WoRds Ping Pong Review ii
Ping Pong Review ii: and flinches constantly. Must be from the pollution.
Bret eAston ellis
The cover of your Dubai book is ace obviously. Zak Keyes is such a genius. Ellis should
get him to do his covers. I’m not too fond of Ellis’s covers. He doesn’t seem to care at all. Unlike
in Reverse order
Coupland, who is a complete control-freak. But then again Coupland is gay and Canadian and
Ellis is so incredibly American and somewhat not gay. To my Teutonic eyes he’s the ultimate
American male, wearing hoodies in public. Who is he kidding?
Talking points: the author’s latest novel and Greetings from the Mango Republic, E
his first one, cover art, The smurfs movie,
Putin, Afghanistan, lacan, and Joan didion. On June 25, 2010, at 7:04 am, Ingo Niermann wrote:
Plus: the man-machine Beyoncé Knowles. Dear Eva,
It took me a while to get into Less than Zero. I remembered it to be an okay read. Now
by eva munz / username: evvAa from New York I have serious problems concentrating on whatever happens and doesn’t. Less than Zero feels
and ingo Niermann / username: ingo from Berlin exactly like Waiting for Godot. Not just because it’s soaked with existentialism and nihilism –
no juvenile novel of the 20th century could do without those monovular twins. But Less than
Zero works like a laconic play, claiming that the laconic play itself is a metaphor for the modern
On June 23, 2010, at 12:59 pm, Eva Munz wrote:
world. It’s just a surface and basically empty; everyone in it just pretending within a limited
Dear Ingo, frame...bla bla bla. The characters talk about drugs, consume drugs, and don’t feel any effects.
How was Afghanistan? You look awesome in that Kabul beach pic. Where are you now? I’ve read the first 50 pages and there’s not a single sex scene.
I’m back in Bangkok shooting another batch of commercials: my life as a robot. Kind of Cali- Did you have a chance to watch Katy Perry’s and Snoop Dogg’s latest video “California
fornian: the A/C way too cold, CNN oil slick, World Cup, always in a car, traffic jams, treadmill, Gurls”? At least it put a smile on my face.
loads of Starbucks and sleeping pills. Yours, Ingo
Listen: I’d like to talk to you about Bret Easton Ellis for the next issue. Have you read
On June 26, 2010, at 10:25 am, Eva Munz wrote:
Imperial Bedrooms? I haven’t, but will go get it in a sec. Maybe we can chat about it via email.
What do you think? Ingo,
Peace, Eva “The characters talk about drugs, consume drugs and don’t feel any effects.” I remember
you saying exactly the same thing about the novel Unter diesem Einfluss by our friend Henning
On June 23, 2010. at 1:41pm, Ingo Niermann wrote:
Kober. I think it’s a description of people who use drugs (prescription or not) to zone out, switch
Dear Eva, off. They pop an Ambien or puff a fatty after work and watch the World Cup on their IKEA sofa.
I haven’t read Imperial Bedrooms yet. I want to reread Less than Zero first. Perhaps we That concept escapes me completely; if anything, I want to zone in.
should read it in reverse order. I’ll start with Less than Zero while you read the new one. Perhaps Reading Imperial Bedrooms (IB) reminded me that I cannot remember a single scene
you could describe the purchase to me as well. from Less than Zero. Nothing. A blackout. A blank page. Anyways IB is full of surfaces. They’re
Attached you’ll find the cover of my Dubai Democracy book. We should talk about your all shiny and every surface serves merely as a screen: the screen of the cell phone, the reflection
Afghanistan book for the Solutions series. in a mirror, a window, the water, a windshield, a TV set, the computer screen. A lot of the screens
Yours, Ingo emit light (hope?) and are sometimes the only source of light in a scene. And because the main
character Clay is a screenwriter, everything is basically written for the screen anyway. BEE re-
On June 24, 2010, at 2:58 am, Eva Munz wrote:
ally hammers one idea home and he does so in his trademark bland prose (you call it nihilism
Dear Ingo, and existentialism): the modern world in general and LA in particular is a huge hall of mirrors,
I want to re-read Less than Zero too. It’s been forever. Asynchronous reading, yes. Let’s a hairball of simulacra.
do exactly that. Last night I called the Kinokunya bookstore while editing one of the gazillion Interestingly enough I totally enjoyed the beginning. It’s a little like chewing sugarless
commercials I’m doing right now. I had to spell out Ellis’s name: “E for England, L for London, gum. It starts at a screening of the movie Less than Zero that all the characters of the book are
L for London, I for Italy, S for Sweden.” People here don’t know his work at all. I sent my fa- attending, except the ones who are dead.
vorite motorcycle messenger Mr. Sow to pick up the book. He’s a hardcore supporter of the Red Ahoi, Eva
Shirts anti-government movement, yet he is extremely polite. He has a number of nervous tics P.S. Watching the “real” Katy Perry feat. Snoop video is a challenge. There are soooo many
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