Jump the Walls & Run

Lookbook is the new social networking site for folks to share their sense of fashion. I admit that I was blown away when I first checked it out. Most of the people are beautiful enough to be models (many ARE professional models), the photographs are class, and most of all, the threads are consistently rad.

In addition, it was startling to see people’s comments following the “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it at all” saying.  I was expecting I might see a few snobby sorts posting “OMG! Kill yourself or burn that dress…“ , but I didn’t see even one!

All I saw were “Loveeee love love it!” and “You’re the most adorable thing!“, and the like. I suppose friendly fashion has arrived.

On a more personal note, I was inspired to see such a wealth of creativity.  A huge number of the folks on Lookbook are also artists, musicians, stockists…, and will often have links to check out their sites or blogs. Does the site provoke vanity? Yes, and sometimes it’s taken to extremes, but I think that factor pales in comparison to the friendliness of community and creativity that exists on the site. Glad to have found it.

I came accross a website recently called “The Selby” that I thought I’d like to share. It emerged from a photographer named Todd Selby (clients include Elle, Vogue (UK), New York Magazine, …) who decided to start taking photographs of the homes and workplaces of his artistic colleagues. Most of the spaces are really shnazzy and filled with eclectic artifacts that are a lot of fun to take a look at. Below is a main link to the site as well as links to some of my favorite spaces he’s shot so far.

<<<<<<<THE SELBY. COM>>>>>>>

Home of Krysten Ritter (actress/musician as seen in 27 Dresses, Gilmore Girls, and Veronica Mars)

Krysten Ritter by Tom Selby

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Below is a hyperlink to an article I came across called “The Creative Personality” in Psychology Today that was written by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a psychology professor at the Claremont Graduate University who has spent 30 years studying creative individuals.

Three of my favorite creative peoples: (From left) Thomas Edison, Jim Henson, and Ben Franklin; creativity doesn't always look like a tortured poet or an androgynous rock-star.

Why read the article? The article covers ten “antithetical” (directly opposed or contrasted) traits that Csikszentmihalyi found to be in most all of the successful, working artists and creative types he studied over the years and I think it offers…

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