DJ Z-Trip at House of Blues Chicago

Come find us at the DJ Z-Trip show at House of Blues Chicago!

We like to think that Z-Trip is to hip hop what [meen kyolë] is to fashion - can't figure out the connection? Then check out a show.

"A World of Things and Persons"

Madonna called it a material world. Called herself a material girl. Then, of course, she called herself British and developed an accent. So what does she know about the subject?

Actually, she touches on the periphery of an interesting point. Phenomenology is an old study of how our conciousness percieves the world around us. "What we observe is not the object as it is in itself, but how and inasmuch it is given in the intentional acts."

Basically - 'what do you think about what you see?' and 'what makes up a vision that provokes thought?'. The image on the right is reputed to be from a graffiti campaign that had it's roots in phenomenolgy. The image was created and spread around to provoke thought and interest in a subject, without any real meaning. There isn't any real subject. All there really is is the image. But it entices people to think, and to think creatively.

In our case - what is it about each minute detail of our clothes that makes us want to wear it? What do we see, and what do we want others to see in us? How do we get others to think about us the way we want to be thought of? How do we show our individualism and creativity?

The funny thing about Andre is, that he was reputed to be one of the most gentle and warmhearted people in the world if you actually knew him. Maybe he just didn't have the right clothing designer?

Guest Author - Suggestions for Selecting Your Wedding Musicians

As a professional Chicago pianist and wedding musician for over 21 years, I have been a significant part of thousands of celebrations that included “behind the scenes” negotiations, phone discussions, music selections, rehearsals, recommendations for additional vendors, etc. Particular brides were searching for only the best, and I’d like to share suggestions in how you can do the same to ensure that your special day be memorable, beautiful, and special.

Let the Professionals Handle the Details

Relax and trust the wedding professionals to help you by virtue of their expertise. For instance, I have had countless years of experience and witnessed a bride faint just before saying “I do" as well as brides who heard the Bridal March and stood frozen in the doorway.

Despite the challenges presented, these weddings were absolutely beautiful, with much credit given to professional vendors who knew how to handle them.

Remember: You are planning one wedding; we help plan thousands!

Live Music is Recommended

All beautiful, elegant wedding ceremonies and receptions will have “live” music. If you are absolutely on the tightest budget, you can hire a solo musician for what two dinner entrees or a lovely floral centerpiece would cost. It’s smart not to “cut corners” with ambience: your guests will notice. Keep this thought in mind, as well, for your wedding showers, rehearsal dinners, and post-nuptial champagne brunches. A celebration without music is only a meeting.

Ask for Qualified References

Ask your friends to share names of local vendors they have dealt with for their special occasions. If you don’t know of anyone, the facility where you are planning your event usually has a list of preferred musicians for wedding ceremonies, receptions, and corporate events that include wonderful people such as bands, orchestras, DJ’s, florists, photographers, caterers, videographers, etc.

Also, consider asking your catering coordinator for their list of professional musicians in your area. This is the best possible resource you can find in that recommended vendors do not pay to be listed. Preferred vendors are specifically recommended for consistent quality service and impeccable reputations.

Church Rules

Chicago brides planning Catholic wedding ceremonies need to consult with the musical director of their local churches before selecting musicians. It is common practice for the church to require you utilize their “in house” musicians and will not allow you to bring in “outside” vendors. The church often has an “approved” list of musical selections allowed. Be sure to call first.

Article Written By

Kathie Nicolet

Chicago Wedding Pianist

email website

Phone: 630-830-2345

The Happiest Day(s) of Our Lives

I want to tell you a bit about our wedding day as a introduction to other wedding related entries that I am almost certain to write.

It was May 28th 2005, and what a blast we had - how absolutely overwhelming and wonderful and unforgettable.

We were actually married already on December 5th 2004 at the not so romantic Cook County Court House - in the basement of the building in a rather dull little room. In accordance with immigration laws we had to get married in order that I might start applying for permanent residency status. So we were married - almost in secrecy - before we had even finished planning our wedding.

Our 'real' wedding was in Denmark on a beautifully sunny and surprisingly warm day.
The sky was very blue, the trees were very green - every one of nature's colours was simply vibrant! My girls - in spring green dresses with pink, fuschia, and burgundy accents (yes, made by my very own hand as was my own gown) were perfectly beautiful, and the fellahs looked very smart in their matching green ties. Mine in particular!

A great number of our American families and friends came all the way to Denmark to celebrate our wedding with us (little did they know that we were already husband and wife). It meant so much to us that they had taken the time out to come to our wedding - not to mention the somewhat above average wedding travel expenses they had had to overcome to be there.

We tried our best to blend both Danish and American wedding traditions - and to be bilinugal whenever possible. The result was better than we could ever have imagined in our wildest dreams! The silly Danish during-dinner traditions of songs and speeches and general merry making struck a chord with the American guests and was lifted to a whole new level of celebratory fun.

For us, the party lasted all night long till we finally left around 4.30 Sunday morning - a few friends outlasted us some... However, the wedding celebration was not quite over yet. Sunday morning we had brunch with some of our guests, and on July 25th we had a reception in Avon Lake, OH for those who could not make it to Denmark.

It may be a bit extravagant to have three weddings and it was sometimes rather bothersome to do all the planning, but it was all worth it.

Fall Favorites

The magazines will shortly be booming with the latest trends for the coming season. Already it seems that early favorite themes are Imperial Russia/Military, Victorian Ruffles, Frontier Cute/Mongolian Invasion, Fur, Fifties/Futuristic, and of course, Black is Back!

Personally I've been looking forward to a return to black - like I always do this time of year. Too much sun and heat seem to lull me into the belief that dressing in black may bring colder (nicer!) weather. So far black has done very little to ensure that.

Other than black and fur I find myself somewhat luke warm towards all of these trends - we've been there before and besides, who wants to do exactely what the trendsetters tell us to do? However, they all have their glimmers of light as well as their somewhat dull and tedious aspects.

One trend that I will be sure not to sport this season is the overgrown beads. Still with us I'm afraid. Ridiculously overgrown pearls, yes! Beads... Not exactely hot for them. To me they say too much 'let's follow the 1970s kindergarten teacher' and not enough 'intelligent and independent individual' because it is not the tasty 1920s and 1930s necklaces - long, fun, extravagant - that are out there, but the awful plastic and wooden ones of the 1970s. Why? Most of them are ugly. I rather expect them to be completely forgotten by this time next year, or perhaps they will have evolved (devolved...) into the sleeker and more stylish look of the roaring 1920s.

Another trend that I certainly do like is the flower accent. For years I have worn a big rose in my hair and various floral jewelry, I have old boots with embroidered flowers on the shafts and I generally adore flowers. I shall be happy to continue incorporating flowers of all sorts in my wardrobe this Fall and Winter.

I have decided that this year my favorite colours are probably teal, purple, orange, red - and as always the basics: black, grey, brown, and navy. Teal is a colour I decided to like last year - purple too, whereas orange is a newcomer. Red has always been a favorite, perhaps because my mum always thought I looked so cute in red.

Textures of all kinds: smooth, slugged, soft, coarse, raw, fuzzy, and preferably all mixed together to create exciting and perhaps surprising looks.

I want dresses - long and short - and I want them tailored from great gabardines and other woven fabrics as well as comfy and casual from knits and jersey. Puff sleeves and skirts, and tee-shirt dresses. I have a few new designs in mind and just need to find the time to make them.
As always I'm looking for those beautiful and comfortable natural fibers, and the plan is to make a new Winter coat from a silk and angora blend. It will be accented with micro suede and perhaps a satin trim. I do believe that it is going to be a coat I will wear for years to come.

Did I mention fur? Yes, I am one of those evil people who wear cute little animals just to stay warm and look fuzzy. I see no need to defend the fact that I like and wear fur - I also eat meat and I accessorize with leather shoes, belts, and bags. Besides, fur - acutal fur - is so warm and cozy, and it gives you a feeling of exclusive style that hardly any other garment can do.

Fall and Winter is going to be great! Aaah, to actually dress again, to wear proper clothes again, to wear wool again - I can hardly wait. Fall is my favorite season, and I do believe that it will bring many new fashion favorites.

Hairbanger's Ball

OK. So not necessarily fashion related, but...

Hairbanger's Ball show tonight. If you have the means - I'd highly recommend one. It's so choice.

OK - so the fashion here is somewhat questionable. But can you really blame them?

The reality of it is - a lot of this thrashy garb seeps its way into the mainstream. We're at a loss for words to describe the Christian Dior image below. What do you suppose we'll do when the 80's have fully returned?


Maybe we can go for some custom made acid washed jeans?

Wondering About Good Looks

These days I'm reading a book called The Secret Life of Lobsters by Trevor Corson. It is a great and very intersting read so far (and it makes me quite hungry for seafood), however, the thing that struck me today was how everyone in it is described as being good looking in one way or another and it got me thinking: does everyone look good in someone else's eyes?

Being quite the Star Trek Next Generation fan, my thoughts naturally wandered on to an episode, in which Worf comments on the beauty of a couple of fish-like personages (exposed by Lwaxana Troi, they turn out to be terrorists), who - like the lobsters in my book - eat something that looks like festering bits of fish.

Different cultures have different ideals and fetishes that dictate what is attractive and sexually arousing and what is not. But is our perception of beauty nevertheless so personal and unique that everyone, regardless of conventional parametres of beauty, will have someone out there, who'll admire them and describe them as being good looking? Or have we all been so thoroughly influenced by our cultures that we find no beauty in those who "break the mold"? Or are we born with an affinity for certain physical features?

I am just wondering...

I know that most people find something in their partner that makes them melt and gives them butterflies in their bellies, whenever their partner turns that particular indescribeable something on. But do we all find our loved ones unparallelled attractive?

In my experience there is a certain distinction between "real life" beauty and the beauty we aspire towards - iconoclastic beauty if you like. Hardly anyone really expects their real life encounters to live up to the standards set by supermodels or other culturally accepted beauty role models. So we look for something kind of like them, but not quite, in those whom we meet. Or perhaps we end up seeing their less tangible qualities in their physical appearances?

We all have friends and aquaintances, whom, when first we met them, we found less than attractive but over the years have come to see perhaps in an altogether opposite light. And looking back we'll sometimes wonder why we thought that other someone was soooo hot. Yes, personal preferences and tastes change, but perhaps our feelings for and esteem of others show themselves best in our physical perception of the people in our lives? But what if you are ugly and nasty? Will anyone find redeeming qualities in you to soften your appearance?

Or is beauty just all about being average? I wonder...

... even Worf found love...

The Corruption of Sizes

I am a vain person - perhaps sometimes even a little too much so. I am also a rather petite sort of person - which is something that I often curse in spite of actually being somewhat lucky that I am. Why? Because I have never had to lie to myself or anyone else about my size. I am something like a size 0-2 American, or size 30-34 European, or size 38 Italian - ok, the Italian is sometimes a little big.

My Italian size has never changed - I've grown sligthly bigger, but I have always basically fit into an Italian size 38 (supposedly a European size 34/American size 4). However, according to European and American sizes I have miraculously shrunk! I weigh more and all my measurements tell me that I cannot possibly have shrunk, nevertheless I've shrunk a few sizes.

I know that some of my friends stand firm that sizes - if anything - have shrunk, so if they are right, I have shrunk even more than just a few sizes. Odd... Back when I was a teenager and probably what some might call skinny, I fit quite well into a size 32 - my only problem back then was that hardly any Danish clothes manufactures made anything that size. But even then a size 34 (Amr. 4) or even a size 36 (Amr. 6) could easily be altered to fit me. Back then there was no such thing as a size 30 or 0 because no adult was that small.

So did we all shrink? No, I really don't think so. The sizes grew! They grew because we chose not to; because our vanities would not allow us to buy bigger sizes. Now I am all for vanity - I believe that we're all vain and rightly should be so. But that kind of self delusion is simply mindless. It doesn't do anyone any good, really, but it does make us appear rather silly. A size 0! What are you? A "nothing"?

How can anyone be a size nothing? I know that I am so much more than that - well, acutally according to most of my recent clothes purchases I am a petite size nothing. I resent that. I am a lot more than that and proud of it!