They giveth and they taketh.

Christian Siriano

This is old news to anyone interested, I'm sure, since I'm probably the only Style reader who first gets to their Fashion Week photo recaps months after they've actually happened, but today I stumbled across Payless' On the Runway site and was instantly anxious for fall to arrive. Though the Lela Rose collection does nothing for me, there was quite a few styles from the Christian Siriano, Abaeté and Alice + Olivia lines that I could already picture purchasing. For a minute, anyway. I scoured the 'net for more recent info, hoping that the shoes showing up in stores would retain at least a smidge of their runway glory, but alas, Racked tells me that Payless has completely neutered Siriano's entire line. Just when you think shoes that can double as weapons are about to come into your possession, they pull the plug! I think this is even worse than the disappointment Alexander McQueen's GO International line for Target left me with.

Abaeté, Alice + Olivia

Abaeté

5 favorites: music videos.

Wow. I'm not too good at this blogging regularly thing, am I? Okay, let's get this thing going again with music videos. I'm afraid my collection of favorites isn't the most varied (the same director pops up three times), but at least I'm consistent, right? ;-)

1. Untitled #1
Artist: Sigur Rós
Director: Floria Sigismondi

Although the five videos here are listed in no particular order, I figured my favorite video of all time needed to be placed in the number one slot. It's the first of three Floria Sigismondi-directed clips to make my top five, and any descriptive words I could try and muster would just be trivial.

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2. O' Sailor
Artist: Fiona Apple
Director: Floria Sigismondi

"O' Sailor" is one of those rare instances where a video actually changed my opinion about the song itself. Taken from the much-discussed Extraordinary Machine LP that leaked online in Jon Brion-helmed form before a largely revamped version was officially released, I remember internally bemoaning how lifeless she sounded on this track. And what do you know, Floria (hi again!) got Fiona to embody that word quite literally, having her haunt a spooky, ghost-infested ocean liner for the video. Filmed aboard the RMS Queen Mary, smoke curls through the corridors and a chandelier becomes an unlikely place of entrapment for our listless castaway. It's just all-around stylistically and atmospherically pitch perfect in my opinion, and made me see the song in a wonderful new light.

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3. The Scientist
Artist: Coldplay
Director: Jamie Thraves

Forgive me, dear readers, but I'm going to talk to myself for a moment. Remember the good old days when Coldplay had great music videos, Heather? Remember how "Trouble" would always give you the willies because it reminded you of some childhood memory that you never could put your finger on? Remember, back when videos actually got played on those now so-called "music stations," coming across "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face" and anxiously awaiting to see what happened to that poor guy? And then there was "The Scientist." Yeah, that was a good one too.

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4. Spark
Artist: Tori Amos
Director: James Brown

Ambiguous and open-ended, I'm almost afraid to say anything about this one for fear of impressing my interpretation on someone else. Tori has aptly described this video as being about a girl having a really bad day, so let's just go with that. People have asked me what happened to the girl in the "Spark" video ... They say "But what about him? He's still out there." And I say "Yes, I know." -Tori

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5. Blue Orchid
Artist: The White Stripes
Director: Floria Sigismondi

The last video I'm including in this list is again directed by Floria (why, hello again). Shot inside a burned-out L.A. mansion, white horses, apples and snakes pop up around Jack and Meg, who are busy smashing plates and plucking the strings of a charred piano while a woman teeters around on extreme heels. Floria's trademark jittery camerawork is a perfect match for the song's chaotic pace.

So there they are! My five favorite music videos. What about you? What would your list look like?

Fall rainbow.

I wanted to dress like autumn today, for traipsing through fallen leaves on cemetery outskirts.

Maybe we don't want to be found.

The past week has been a very pleasant one. The weather has not been so miserably hot, and there's been plenty of shopping while I try to figure out what to wear to my cousin's wedding. In the process, I found the GO International tiered ruffle dress at my local Target for half-off! I've been eyeing that piece since it came out, but thrifting has left me painfully unable to buy anything that is over $3. Fifty percent off is still quite the splurge for me, but I managed to talk myself into it.

The soundtrack to my week has been almost exclusively A Fine Frenzy, aka Alison Sudol. I discovered her earlier this week while listening to my last.fm radio station. She can get a bit too sweet and precious for me; for example: her song "You Picked Me" is gorgeous, but when in the chorus she compares herself to an apple hidden among leaves, I cringe. Still, I'm drawn to songs like "Rangers" and "Come On, Come Out." I like her best when she's immersed in nature-inspired metaphors and stories, maybe because the photographic presentation gives the impression that she travels the country with a piano strapped on her back, trekking through fields and forests in flowing lace dresses, waiting for a stream or leaf or cloud to inspire her. Perhaps all meadows should have flame-haired songstresses twirling about.

One Cell In The Sea - A Fine Frenzy

Excessive? I think so.

With an excessive heat warning in effect (through Tuesday!), today was a day spent staying in, catching up on photos and watching Charlie Chaplin movies on TCM. Air conditioning, "City Lights" and reliving my Eureka Springs trip? I think I made the right decision!

The photos below are from my second day in Eureka, which was spent walking miles up and down the town and chasing dragonflies in the courtyard outside of my house.