Street of Forgotten Men.

The Bowery in the days of yore.

xoxo COUNCIL

Girls on Film.

Louise Brooks (November 1906 - August 1985). A loner, a lady, a rebel, a haircut. After success and disillusionment, ruin and rebirth, from famed actress to the blacklist, courtesan to salesgirl, she stumbled into the warm glow of latter day recognition after long marinating in the pale light of popular neglect and obscurity. Deliverance took many shapes, and hers came not only in the renewed interest and critical acclaim for her formative acting work, but also in her burgeoning career as a writer (and a very witty one at that) in the middle of her life. Proof that it's never too late for a lady to begin again, again.

xoxo COUNCIL

P.S.

Ms.Brooks' required us to post more pictures than usual - the material was just too good...

Eve, A.D 2,000!

While researching another piece, we came across this amusing reel. Surprisingly or not, many of the predictions are not so far fetched. But where does a lady finds one of those electric headlights?

xoxo COUNCIL

Flower Girls.

This week, a pair of charming young ladies came in to the shop to introduce themselves, and now, we would like to introduce them to you. Their names are Amanda and Ruth and they have just begun a floral arranging company that they call Quatre Coeur. They pride themselves in using unusual elements (citrus! kumquats!) and vintage vases in addition to creating more traditional bouquets. For Valentine's Day, they have a cutie pie promotion offering chocolates, skivvies (our word, not theirs...), and of course, a stunning floral arrangement delivered right to your loved ones doorstep. They are accepting orders now, so take a look. We will be showing off some of their flower artistry at our anniversary party this Spring. We cannot wait to see what the girls come up with.

xoxo COUNCIL

Run-a-way.

Jean Paul may have just brought back the Urban Sombrero, which is good, because we were always fans.

xoxo COUNCIL

via NY Times

See the words.

"Everything that comes from your beautiful hand seems touched with magic that sings in my chest."

Take me away.

To kids with heart. We love this series of Take Away Shows by the people at La Blogotheque. You should really know more about this project. And, don't worry, we plan to continue posting our favorite performances in the coming weeks and months.

xoxo COUNCIL

P.S.
We hope you New York readers enjoyed the visions of Venice Beach in this performance by White Rabbits as much as we did.

Send this back, to January 19th.

Happy belated birthday to our heroine, Miss Dolly Parton. 

I wake up with new dreams every day. Dolly 

By Brakhage.

Have we told you yet that we are saving our pennies for a store projector? Maybe to play films like this, all day long, and all through the long, lonely nighttime hours when the store is shuttered. And movie nights, of course.

xoxo COUNCIL

Just one look.

(Thank you to Zoe Ghertner for making us think of contrast and pyramids and spatial relations and liquid silver and perspective and the preciousness of convergence.)

This just in!

A library of wonders has just arrived in the shop. This time around, we focused on antiquated travel guides, atlases and encyclopedias, as well as crafting manuals from the 1970's. Enjoy a tour of the Soviet Union and learn how to crochet a bikini, all in one visit.

xoxo COUNCIL Reading Room Staff

Charlotte loves Phyllis, too.

Charlotte Gainsbourg paying homage to Phyllis Nefler by way of one beautiful cape.

Photo by Jean-Baptiste Mondino for the NY Times. See the NY Times article on her new album here.

See the words.

“Your eyes,” she says, “look at some things through your heart.”

Just one look.

(thank you to Michel de Broin for making us think of the forest and trees and diamonds and prisms and surface and art and a fractured infinite.)

You Wildnerness Girls.

Don't ever forget Troop Beverly Hills.

xoxo COUNCIL

PS
We have a fab Phyllis Nefler cape in the shop right now. We hope you like black.

And PPS
Just in case you need reminding...

Tomorrow, tomorrow.

Excitedly we begin planning our Fall '10 collection shoot, and with it, a series of gorgeous still life photographs of Plume and Miranda Bennett pieces for the store. We'll show you soon, soon.

xoxo COUNCIL

by stephen shore

From Mahalia, with love.

Happy MLK day.

xoxo COUNCIL

Bon Anniversaire!

Happy birthday to us! One year ago today we softly and quietly opened our doors to the public before having our official opening on Valentine's day. It is such a milestone for us and we are so grateful to all of our wonderful friends, family and patrons who have made this experience all that it was and continues to be. And we are so excited for the year ahead! We plan to have an all out celebration this spring. We'll be sure to let you know when...

xoxo COUNCIL

via them

Science is Fiction.

via them

via them

via them

via them

Jean Painlevé (November 1902 - July 1989)

Advocating the credo "science is fiction," Painlevé managed to scandalize both the scientific and the cinematographic world with a cinema designed to entertain as well as edify. He portrayed sea horses, vampire bats, skeleton shrimps, and fanworms as endowed with human traits — the erotic, the comical, and the savage. Painlevé single-handedly established a unique kind of cinema, the "scientific-poetic cinema". Wikipedia

A few years ago, maybe even five, we got to see Yo La Tengo perform an original score that they composed to accompany Painlevé's short aquatic films. If you haven't heard the results of their project then you ought to, and soon. 

The Criterion Collection released a collection of his work called Science is Fiction: 23 Films by Jean Painlevé - click here to see a clip or to order yourself a copy. 

And, right now, enjoy this visually stunning and very psychedelic short film The Liquid Crystals below.

xoxo COUNCIL

See Saw

We were sorry to hear about Jae Reatard's passing today at the tender age of 29. We are sure that a whole lot of people will miss him lots, including us.

xoxo COUNCIL

See Saw - Jay Reatard

Just one look.

via them

xoxo COUNCIL

Lucky couple one hundred.

via them

Our 100th post!

Thank you for being there.

xoxo COUNCIL

P.S.

Somewhere, a blanket of balloons descends gracefully from a ceiling.

Warm up.

xoxo COUNCIL

See the words.

"I want to say thank you for letting me create a physical representation of my hopes and dreams."

We couldn't have said it any better. See who did here.

xoxo COUNCIL

Super Eight.

Remembering our '09 collection film for Plume and Miranda Bennett has set the wheels to turning for our 2010 film project. All that we can say for now is: Super 8. And, it's sure to be something. Until we can debut it (or make it even), why not sooth your waiting heart with this?

xoxo COUNCIL

Encore.

Some pretty, proper images from the Au Revoir Simone show this Thursday, by photographer Gabi Porter.

xoxo COUNCIL

Still Night, Still Light.

A new year and a new gorgeous performance from our favorite of favorites Au Revoir Simone.

We saw them play a beautiful show in New York last night with a set list replete with songs off of their most recent album Still Night, Still Light. Dressed in a parade of white party dresses and performing under a cascade of falling snow, their show was the perfect winter dream. Thank you for the lovely memories girls.

xoxo COUNCIL

P.S.

And how can we resist a moment of remembering for our favorite film project of '09, featuring their song, Knight of Wands.

Goodnight, oughts.

We're sorry for the pause in transmission, we missed you terribly but required some quiet as the new year arrived. And now we are back. The store has undergone a complete overhaul and is looking rather charming in its shiny new decade. It's lighter, brighter, and brimming with beautiful things. Come in and have a look.

xoxo COUNCIL