Breathnaigh

The kirkin of the tartans.

On Thanksgiving I made like F.E. Castleberry and attended an unashamedly prep event--the annual kirkin of the tartans at the Washington Memorial Chapel in Valley Forge, Pa. The event, closely translated as the churchin' of the tartans but more honestly the blessing of the tartans, celebrates Scottish-American heritage and commemorates a time when wearing tartan in Scotland was forbidden by the ruling British. I'm of primarily Irish extraction so I can identify with resistance to Britain, but it's a little less strongly felt in an Episcopalian ceremony originally held to raise war funds for those very British during WWII. I wear the Anderson tartan when appropriate (it's Scottish, but it'll do) but I wore some Rob Roy (MacGregor) tartan to the kirkin'. On a bright, unseasonably warm November day in Valley Forge, a dozen pipers and dozens of tartan'd out congregants cast long shadows, processed in, and prayed over the plaid in the Gothic revival chapel, which is peppered with G. Washington's coat of arms (pretty much DC's flag). A few snaps--

We also took a walk up into the bell tower (112 tightly wound steps, yikes). The rugs in the carillonneur's office, halfway up, were great.

I don't care to belong to any club that would have me as a member.

The latest in shamsclusivity in DC is a private styling service run by Kelly Muccio of Lost Boys, one of the only passable men's clothing shops in the city. The bar here, as is often noted, is pretty low. M St in Georgetown is essentially a pretty nice mall, and Lost Boys gets credit for not being J. Crew or the Levis store. Which, OK; I appreciate it. Muccio has gotten a lot of similarly worded press for her styling prowess and depending on where and when you read about it, you can enlist her services for $100 or maybe $250 / hour. I've no experience with this service, so I'll withhold judgment on the saps who pay a salesperson to sell them stuff.

But now Muccio/Lost Boys is pushing The Black Room, a "private styling service and second-floor hideaway" where Muccio will select clothing for you and only you, for $600+ per appointment, according to the Urbandaddy ad. For that, you'll apparently be allowed to buy at least three full outfits, some from Lost Boys stock (straight Barney's Coop circa 2009), with other pieces "flown in specially" from "New York." You'll also get a drink or two, which you could do in the store already.

This bullshit concept confirms some of the most tired stereotypes about DC and sustains the lamest trends in customer service. DC can't dress itself; everything has to be a speakeasy; everything good is expensive and exclusive. Curation! Designer! Depressing.

Nepenthes styling.

Nepenthes, the parent company of Japanese lines like Engineered Garments and Needles, has been updating an online stylebook that provides solid introduction to the pitch, yaw, and quirk of the brands under its umbrella, and the many others it sells in its retail outlets (three Nepenthes shops plus outlets for EG, South2West8, and a women's shop called Lyla).

Partly because of the language barrier and the differences in Japanese vs. Euro/American retail, Nepenthes remains slightly mysterious, which is certainly part of its pull. You never know what's going to pop up in their store or on their sites, except it's probably obscure in origin and steeped with references to culture and subculture. Of course the best things to have are those things that no one else can buy, and paradoxically, Nepenthes comes close to offering that.

Check out the combinations they've styled--there's American workwear, Trad, vaguely Edwardian stuff, hippie wear, outdoor gear, borderline ninja, and native crafts. And most of it seems to work (not giving a pass to Sasquatchfabrix, which I still don't get).The styling site has been updating every week or two, but now, midfall in the northern hemisphere, it seems to be hitting its stride.

 

William Christenberry and Coleman's Cafe.

I'm fascinated by the deadpan style of William Christenberry and William Eggleston, whose haunted/haunting color images spurred the recognition of color photography as legit art in the 1970s. Their Kodachrome documentation of rural America is like Walker Evans's, but without the academic arm's length Evans seemed to put between himself and his subjects. While many of Eggleston's most affecting pictures involve people, Christenberry (who lives in Washington and has taught at the Corcoran) focuses more on what people build and then forget. The Smithsonian American Art Museum had a sprawling exhibit of Christenberry's work a few years back, including both his photography and sculpture, much of which is architectural. His photos and three-dimensional depiction of Coleman's Cafe, a restaurant in Alabama, are honest and sad without descending into nostalgia.

The sculpture is part of the Corcoran's collection.

See also Secret Forts' post on Eggleston's South.

Spike Lee's All-Star B-Boy Caps.

Spike Lee: not a Celtics guy; fandom otherwise flexible. Photos shot by Ari Marcopoulos for SPIN, 1990.