Nadine Kam photos

There was a sea of T-shirts at the Incubus concert. While there, I took a photo of Patrick Simmons and the amulet he was wearing, which he picked up in Tahiti. It inclues the figure of a surfer carved into seal bone, set with a black pearl. For Simmons, it serves as a protective talisman whether he’s in or out of the water.

You can find similar amulets at Summer Vaimaona’s Soleil boutique at 909 Kapahulu Ave.

Then, at Green Door last night, I spotted Thaddeus Pham dining with his friends. He had just come from work as an H.I.V. counselor at Diamond Head Clinic. I liked his geek chic style with short-sleeved shirt and bow tie that he just started wearing this year “to play to my strengths as a nerd,” he said.

I didn’t get it into the photo, but inked onto his forearms are verses from Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” and “Song of the Open Road.” “I read a lot,” he said.

If you’re going to have any words on your body, those are pretty cool choices.

“Song of the Open Road” begins:

“Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road. …”

“Song of Myself” begins:

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.

My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this air,
Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their
parents the same,
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,
Hoping to cease not till death. …”

If you like gofugyourself.com, maybe you want to cuddle up with the book, just released for $19.95.

In the season of awards, one timely arrival is “The Fug Awards,” a book from Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, the creators of gofugyourself.com, that regularly digs at what our favorite celebrities are wearing.

Yes, it’s catty, but most of the time, you can’t help but agree with the pair, like when they say of this photo of Scarlett Johanssen, “That is not sexy, provocative cleavage; that is what happens when a stray ostrich wanders over and gives birth to twins in your bodice.”

There are the easy targets of course: Britney, Lindsay, Victoria Beckham, Paula Abdul and Bai Ling. But no one is spared, not even those most women generally like, such as Jennifer Aniston, chided for her boring column dresses; Gwen Stefani (”deranged showgirl”); and the generally classy and lovely Cate Blanchett.

Then there are the moments when I feel vindicated and glad I have found someone to agree with me on the matter of Chloe Sevigny. Heather wrote, “It’s well-documented that we here at GFY HQ find it perplexing that so many people and publications laud Sevigny as blessed with unerring and fascinating taste. We think she’s brutal.”

Examples of Chloe Sevigny’s “unerring style.” (more…)

Dior hosted an informal party Dec. 27 to welcome the house’s 400-page 60th anniversary tome, “Dior,” which recounts the history of its creator Christian Dior, whose name became synonymous with the post-war New Look.

The book is beautiful to flip through, with page after page of photos capturing the ambience of 1950s Paris, the couturiers who succeeded him, and Dior models from past to present, immortalized in iconic photos by Irving Penn to Nick Knight. Printed on heavy coated stock, it requires some heavy lifting to bring home. The books are $150.

Nadine Kam photos
Marisa Gey, front, and Branka Knezevic model current Dior designs.

The event also featured informal modeling of current Dior designs and was a little more sedate than usual because a lot of people are out of town or a bit worn by the holidays. Kristin Chan, just back from roughing it during trip to the Grand Canyon admitted, “I forgot how to dress.”

Me too. I wore a 3.1 Phillip Lim dress but forgot my Dior purse at home. Those sharp-eyed fashionphiles can recognize a brand a mile away. I thought my necklace was nondescript enough, but it caused some of the globe trotters to ask if it was from Rome. Pretty close. Picked it up in Kailua at Balcony Gallery, but it’s by artist Antonio Greco, who’s from Italy. The necklace features charms bearing scaled down images of his paintings, which I love for their exuberance.

Kristen Chan is flanked by models Marisa and Branka.

But it appeared she got her act together minutes before the event. While I’ve usually seen her wearing Gucci and Pucci, she’s an equal-opportunity shopper who turned up in a BCBG dress, with a fur from the Max Nugus boutique at the Kahala Hotel, Manolo Blahnik suede boots and Dior purse.

Pualana Lemelle of The Contemporary Museum showed up in a Rebecca Taylor dress with vintage faux fur, while Hiro Soma chose to dress in threads from Dior designer John Galliano’s own line. His jacket, T-shirt and underwear were Galliano’s, worn with Armani jeans. The glasses were Alexander McQueen’s and his belt and shoes are by Gucci. (more…)

Footwear addicts will get a laugh out of “The Shoes of Salvation,” a mini book by Edward Monkton, deemed “poet, artist, philosopher and interesting fellow,” on his book jacket.

In about 30 pages of handwritten text and rough sketches, Monkton seems to be a guy who gets it, offering the shoe’s point of view as to why a woman would want to spend all her cash on Manolos or Louboutins that pinch and hurt, rendering her nearly unable to do the one thing shoes were created to do. That is, walk. Or is it?

I’m sure you know one or two women like these, the ones impossible to go out with because they always have to sit down! I really hate that … unless mine are the feet hurtin’.

The book is $9.95, available at www.edwardmonkton.com or www.andrewsmcmeel.com and would be a cute gift for the fetishists that walk, or hobble, among us.

Be the first to post your comment on how much pain you will or will not endure for the sake of beautiful shoes and I’ll send you my one copy of the book.

In other shoe news:

Stuart Weitzman will be hosting a Celebrity Shoe Auction next month to benefit ovarian cancer research.

The designer has asked celebrities to design and autograph a Stuart Weitzman pump to be auctioned off at www.stuartweitzman.com from Sept. 1 through Sept. 30, 2007.

The celebs were asked to create a design reflecting their personality and interests. For instance, Charlize Theron designed the shoe to reflect her roots in South Africa, while Molly Sims and Queen Latifah decided to honor their current projects, creating “Las Vegas” and “Hairspray” -themed shoes, respectively.

Other participating celebs include Courteney Cox-Arquette, Hayden Panettiere, Kelly Ripa, Kyle MacLachlan, Marcia Cross, Nicolette Sheridan, Sharon Stone and Vanessa Williams, among others.

Doggie troubles

If you’re tired of your pet gnawing on anything from your rubbah slippahs, Chanel pumps to Nike Dunks, just got word of a product that might put an end to that.

Dog behaviorist Kathy Santo offers Don’t Chew Dare, a natural anti-chew product with a scent that repels your dog, but not you. It contains such organic bitter tasting herbs as patchouli, sandalwood and peppermint leaf along with imported essential oils: clary sage, spearmint and rosemary extract.

Her Web site says it’s non-toxic, but you should test it first before using on fabrics, keep it out of child reach and need I remind you to avoid splashing it in your eyes.

It’s $13.95 for an 8-ounce bottle, available at www.kathysanto.com.

Lastly, if you missed my Aug. 23 Honolulu Star-Bulletin story on what goes into the making of some Louis Vuitton shoes, check it out at http://starbulletin.com/2007/08/23/features/story01.html