[STREET STYLE] THE GENTLEMAN

That pale yellow leather overcoat...the double-breasted suit jacket...the worn-in loafers...how wonderful, no? I get a whiff of Margiela from the way he's put this all together - and I just love his expression!

Like this post? Check out some other guys who've put their own spin on suiting here and here!

Andy Lifschutz Jewelry

I stopped by Andy Lifschutz's Bushwick design studio last week unsure of what I might find. I'd discovered his unique jewelry line at an event and eagerly got in touch via email to set up this studio tour, but hadn't actually met Andy himself. Would he be a little old man with a monocle inspecting errant flecks of gold? A lanky hipster working out of his apartment's kitchen? Well, it turns out Andy Lifschutz is *Le total babe*, a studly Boring, Oregon transplant whose determination to defy the name of his hometown has resulted in a truly spectacular artistic output. And his studio? One of those dreamy white boxes with big windows in a converted factory, of course! Layered with knick-knacks and personal paraphernalia, the space doubles as a showroom for clients seeking out custom pieces.

The line's organic aesthetic is rooted in the spirituality of creating. Lifschutz repurposes found materials in his custom work and incorporates those objects into the design process of his main line as models. All of his pieces are made of reclaimed metals. I found a compelling assortment of assembled sculptural objets d'art in one corner of the studio, reminders of the line's integrity and roots in handicraft. Lifschutz inherited his love of art from his grandmother, who encouraged him to make a living by creating. He believes there is a shift from masculine energy to feminine energy occurring and his designs reflect a harmony between hard and soft, bold and restrained. I, for one, love the line's unisex appeal and eco-friendliness!

Lifschutz's passion for the secondhand extends to his vintage-centric wardrobe. I had him switch outfits a few times so you could get a sense of his style, if that pompadour didn't quite capture it for ya!

What do we think? This is some pretty amazing stuff, no? To see all of the different collections, visit Andy online - then follow him on Twitter and Instagram! PLUS I made a short video to accompany this post - really just a taste of what it's like to be in the studio while Andy's working. Check it out below.

DEAR INTERNET No. 31

It's been awhile since I did a Dear Internet post and an even longer time since I did one this way, as a giant list instead of an infographic-y thing. I feel like this is easier for people to digest, maybe? Ah, well, let me know in the comments if you have a preference!

First up, these are some of my favorite street style shots from the menswear shows, by Tommy and Nam. The Japanese guys are like, impossibly good at layering, of course, David Gandy looks like a modern Dick Tracy in his three-piece suit in muted tones (with a fedora!) and that guy with the bike...how perfect!

Some more of what I'm loving...these rooms I found on Pinterest - a great mix of modern furniture and art (top two photos) and different ways to have books on display (bottom two.)

This outdoor wedding shot by Kate, entirely on film. The gorgeous California setting, the succulents as centerpieces and the strings of lights in the air...love it!

Speaking of weddings, Diana is getting married and did a post on cakes and long story short, look how cute this carrot cake is:

This stir-fried broccoli with pesto looks delicious...I never would've thought to stir-fry with pesto!

The Honey & Bloom Etsy shop has adorable things, like totebags and stationery.

Monica Ramos has the coolest prints for sale on her Etsy shop, but if you aren't in a shopping mood, check out her Tumblr.

You should drop by Leah's blog A Future Present. Aside from cute cat pictures, she also takes pictures of her cute Brooklyn apartment...it's pretty cute.

Annnd that's a wrap. Hopefully some of these will be new to you and you'll enjoy them as much as I do. Happy (lazy) Sunday!

WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS

Chelsea recently moved to the city and I couldn't be happier. Nothing like having a bestie around for frolicking and galavanting...and also eating your weight in good cheese, drinking tons of coffee and rhapsodizing about Paris. Speaking of, I just finished David McCullough's The Greater Journey (I blogged about starting it here), a historical work that's unexpectedly gripping from the get-go. McCullough artfully weaves together the lives of American expatriates in 19th-century Paris; I wish it were twice the size, really. One of the details I found most fascinating is the way art students would spend days and weeks replicating paintings in the Louvre.

As much as I respect and appreciate copyright law, it made me think about how truly helpful it is to attempt to copy something as a part of the learning process. It can teach you so much about which elements of a work you really appreciate and why. It's one of the reasons I think Instagram is such a great tool for photographers - there's endless inspiration and no harm or hassle in trying different styles of shooting. I've found that my favorite Instagrammers make great use of shadow, negative space and a simple or muted color palette.

Instagram is not the Louvre and an iPhone photo is not Degas, but here are a few of the accounts on IG that have influenced how I shoot: @jasonhudson, @alice_gao, @dabito, @amerrymishap and @lifeserial. And don't forget to follow me @thisfruitsnaps! Images, clockwise from top-left: spoon at La Colombe, Chelsea at home, the backyard of Saturdays Surf NYC, my book.

PERSONAL STYLE VS. THE INTERNET

The other day I thought to myself, "That guy's outfit is so Tumblr." A strange sentiment on the surface, but as I got to thinking about personal style and the internet it occurred to me that the symbiosis between online style stars and the omnipresent photographers that celebrate them has created a chicken and egg situation with far-reaching repercussions. Are these people popular because they're photographed so much, or are they photographed so much because they're popular? More than that, what does their popularity mean for the sizable audience digesting their de facto style creeds on a million different dashboards?

Image-based platforms for social interaction have inevitably wound up as tools for sociocultural coding, providing a visual demarcation of who gets It and who's from Florida. You can see it in Pinterest's evolution beyond its humble beginnings as an online scrapbook and content-bookmarking service; the site now serves as a portal into a world of rough-luxe Scandinavian cabins, artisanal fig tartines and fireplace-adjacent thoroughbred labradors. The same can be said of Tumblr, with its users' adherence to an aesthetic equation that drives the popularity of most images on the blogging platform. Conformity can come as no surprise - what else could be the end result of 10,000 reblogs? Is Tumblr more of a collective digestive system than anything else?

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IF IT AIN'T BROKE

Then I ain't gonna fix it. What can I say? I love these shoes and I love the way they pop with an all-black ensemble. I'm still really into the sporty thing I've had going (seen here and here) and can't bring myself to get too adventurous in the dead of winter. Granted, there've been some crazy warm spells this season, but I'm playing it safe. The jeans are Cheap Monday - I traded in an old pair of Levi's 501's for 'em. That may sound sacrilegious to any vintage fans reading along, but I had to be honest with myself - I just wasn't wearing the 501's! As much sentimental value as they held, they were simply taking up valuable closet space when I needed a pair of black skinnies. Economics can be brutal.

The sweater is from Saturdays. I found it originally at OAK, held out on buying it because of the cost, then tried to find it during sale season to no avail. Luckily, the Saturdays boutiques are also having a mondo sale right now, and the folks at their SoHo location were nice enough to call their West Village location and have them put an XS on hold for me (one of two left!) The joys of successful bargain hunting. Shop similar: t-shirt, jeans, sweater, sneaks. Thanks, Ian, for taking my pics!

[STREET STYLE] BODY TALK

Street style photography is really impromptu portrait photography - if you're doing it right - which can be a blessing or a curse, depending on a few factors. Is your subject uncomfortable? Are they in too much of a hurry to unwind a bit for the camera? Do you have to be in the middle of a busy street to compose the shot well? Seeing how people react when you ask to take their picture and while they're having their picture taken is telling, as not everyone settles into the role like Louis XIV. The street shots on this blog are all of total strangers I accost (less this one) and the diversity of the resulting portraits is always intriguing and, when I do a good job, quite satisfying. Today, we take a look at two recent shots (neither of which I got hit by a car for) to consider the role that gender identity plays in these impromptu street portrait sessions.

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[EATING] POTAGE PARMENTIER

This here soup is my actual, honest-to-God winter specialty. I have spent like a year perfecting it, give or take half a year and a few months. Ok, so I've made it like four times in my life. But this last time it was really delicious, soooo #authority.

What you'll need...
One large or two mid-sized (local, organic) Yukon Gold potato(es)
One giant leek (you'll find this at Whole Foods) or about 4/5 regular leeks (at Farmer's Markets)
One/two cloves garlic
Half an onion
A giant chunk of unsalted butter
Organic low-sodium chicken broth
Organic (preferably artisanal and local) heavy cream
Chives for garnishing
Sea salt & pepper

Toss a chunk of butter into a large pot. I love butter and it is delicious, so you can't really go wrong here. Probably like 1/3 to 1/4 of a Plugra block of butter. Let it melt and chuck in the garlic, diced, and then the onion, sliced. Let them get all translucenty while you slice up the potato, then add that in. Now I add some sea salt and pepper and maybe some other herbs that I think will be delicious - have some fun here and toss in whatever smells good and seems like it would go with potatoes. Once you've let them simmer in the butter for a bit, drown it all in chicken stock - enough to just cover everything. I don't add water to this soup because I like it to be really flavorful. You could add a little water if you wanted, but that's partly why I suggest low-sodium broth - so that you don't have to worry about oversalting the soup if you don't dilute it. Bring this to a boil and then let it simmer down again, maybe for twenty minutes or so. Then pop it in your food processor (I recommend this guy) and purée the shit out of it. I like this soup to be smooth and creamy (teehehe). Put the puréed soup back into your pot and add the heavy cream until it looks pretty. I went through half a pint of cream last time. Taste the soup and see if you need to add more broth/cream/water and then season it with some chives on top. Et voilà! This should make roughly 3-4 servings.

Like this post? Check out some of my other favorite recipes here and here.

THE EVOLUTION OF STYLE

My style has changed a lot since I was a teen. Like, a lot a lot. Luckily for all of us, the magic of Facebook is here to archive all of those less fortunate life choices and turn them into a handy-dandy Timeline feature you can share with your friends endlessly (and shamelessly). In the spirit of publicly embarrassing myself before some boy I Facebook friend trolls through all of my photos hoping to find something of me shirtless (I know I'm not the only one who does that)[not to myself, to like, other boys], here are five of the biggest changes in my style over the last few years (with pictures!)[duh.]

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YOU NEED TO KNOW: GEORGIE WILEMAN

And because sometimes girls love boys...a lazy Sunday post dedicated to the work of UK-based photog Georgie Wileman. Black and white and angsty all over? Yes, please! I love how Wileman has her male subjects hide or obscure their faces in some way, creating a portrait of masculinity that's romanticized and intriguingly vulnerable. Like this post? Check out some other photography favorites here and here.

De Gournay Grows in Brooklyn

I have a confession to make: I am obsessed with Miranda Brooks. It's a slightly weird thing to say about a landscape designer, I admit, but the feeling is there in a very real ripping-pages-out-of-Tiger-Beat-and-plastering-them-all-over-my-walls kind of way. (Well, not my walls, but I do have Brooks' entire wedding—also featured in Vogue—torn out of the magazine and saved in a binder.) The lady just has such good taste! For example, harken to the custom de Gournay wallpaper in her master bedroom and the home's Parisian-esque white oak floors:

Even their young daughters (one of whom the article declares, "particularly fond of Nureyev") have hand-printed custom wallpaper in their rooms. True to Vogue form, there are plenty of other editorial gems, such as, "The countertop - however many feet - is unfinished 300-year-old white oak, which Brooks cleans the old-fashioned way, following instructions from her butcher, Staubitz... (They are big fans of Staubitz; Halard messengers the lamb to Muriel Brandolini on the Upper East Side)," and, "The base of the tub is painted a deep night-sky blue to match the indigo-dyed Japanese mosquito netting that Brooks has patched together to make curtains."

It's like taking a Nancy Meyers movie as an adrenaline shot to the heart.

High-falutin' it may be, but damn if that ain't a fine house. All photos © François Halard / Vogue.

ON BEING A GIRL, BY A WOMAN

Y'all didn't think I'd let Girls Week come to a close without actually featuring the wit and wisdom of an actual, real-live girl did you? Of course not! So I Googled, "girl" and compiled some feedback on being a woman from a mash-up of Wikipedia entries probably written by women. Joke! I asked one of my best friends from college, Nicole, if she would mind contributing a piece about what it means to be a girl. Considering the pointed use of the term as the title of grown woman Lena Dunham's hit show, and further considering that show's second season debut as the impetus for this entire themed week, I feel it's only fitting to analyze the conditions of its usage and ask what it feels like to be a girl vs. a woman (in a man's world?) Graphic obviously from Texts From Hillary. P.S. Hillary 2016.

About four or five years ago, a male friend told me to turn on my TV because there was a girl talking about the presidential election. I fumbled for the remote. I'd seen a few adorable videos with children exploring their early political interests and singing parody songs about the election, so I was excited to hear what this girl had to say. When I flipped to CNN, my eyes popped when I realized that this girl was actually a middle-aged woman with a Ph.D in foreign policy. I'd expected to see a little kid and instead I was watching an incredibly articulate adult. To me, girl meant child and to my friend, girl meant female. That's when I started paying attention to the usage of girl versus woman.

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[STREET STYLE] WINNING STREAKS

And for today, some lady street style...what really intrigues me about this woman is her total beauty look - the streaks of gray with the lucite frames, not to mention those lips! She looks like she could kick some ass, no? Or maybe like the Hollywood action-star version of Rachel Maddow! Like this post? Check out some other ladies here and here.

FRUIT FANCIES: LADY EDITION

Seeing as it's Girls Week on *fruitpunch, I feel it's only fitting to have a ladycentric Fruit Fancies! I decided to create three different looks based on place...all black and ankle boots in Paris for the Isabel Marant-ophiles, bold colors and sleek accessories for the Milanese fashionplate and denim, leather and Loubs for the Big Apple bloggers. Sorry there aren't any dresses or skirts - I think I ended up putting together outfits I could see myself wearing, if that makes any sense! Which look is your favorite? All images via Net-a-Porter.

jeans PROENZA SCHOULER // shirt ERDEM // jumper ALEXANDER WANG //

necklace PAMELA LOVE // cuff EDDIE BORGO // boots RAG & BONE

sweater JIL SANDER // pants J. CREW // sunglasses VICTORIA BECKHAM //

earrings ERICKSON BEAMON // sandals MARNI // bag MARNI

jeans MARNI // sweater CREATURES OF THE WIND // jacket ACNE //

boots CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN // sunglasses LINDA FARROW //

bag vintage HÈRMES // watch PATEK PHILLIPPE

KAREN ELSON X VOGUE UK

Hooray for bad hair, socks with platforms and track pants! Images via TFS.