LEST WE FORGET: LIFE THROWS A CURVE

As spring finally, slowly, painfully makes its way into the Hudson Valley, I’ve been feeling euphoric and uplifted. However, it is important to remember for the sake of proportion that life ain’t no crystal stairway, as the poet said. At least, it ain’t crystal every day. This week not one but two official bummers clouded spring’s blue horizon.

The first of this week’s two bummers was the news that Takashimaya is closing soon. Oh, my poor heart just flopped down and slumped when I heard this. There is no shopping experience I have ever had to compare with the absolute joy of a slow, idle wandering afternoon in this most gorgeous of stores. From the magnificent collection of hand-crafted, exquisite objects for the table and home to the avant garde clothing in rich silks and hand-carded wools to the amazing layers of soft fragrance that fill New York’s loveliest flower shop, Takashimaya is just incredible. And when the loveliness is almost too much, you can sit in the tea shop and refresh with a fragile china cup of jasmine pearl tea and feel the world fade away. So sad to think about the end of this beautiful legacy of craft and artistry.

The week’s second major bummer:Anthony's elimination on "Project Runway." I know he isn’t the most envelope-pushing of designers, and this week there was – yet again – another sweetheart-neckline cocktail dress that he described as “ladylike.” Well, yes, but Anthony himself being the epitome of ladylike southern charm is what made us love him so much. Jay was almost literally ripped to shredded Rodarte-style chiffon by Michael, Nina and Heidi, not to mention Vivienne Tam, the guest judge. The fabric he designed was actually rather beautiful: very subtle and quiet and restrained. Tim loved it. Michael Kors compared it to a dirty tablecloth. Heidi fell back on “bee-zaaah”. Nina went straight to “full-on catastrophe.” There was mention of a strait jacket, of sadness, of poverty. All right, some of the detailing was poor, but the judges made Jay into a kind of Dickensian orphan chimney-sweep loser. To make this bummer even worse, Emilio won the challenge with a rip-off LV graffiti/Sprouse-like pattern of his own initials (can we spell HUBRIS, Emilio?) that Tim mistook for a kind of love letter in code to Seth Aaron. Emilio dissed Tim sharply on camera; Tim dissed Emilio in his blog, and Anthony kept his head up as he snapped out his worktable light. There will from now on be precious few laughs on Season 7. My hopes are still alive, however, since there was a hint of a shocking turn of events to come next week. I am praying that the entire Bluefly Accessories Wall will fall on top of Emilio, paving the way for Ping’s triumphant return for more insane fabric draping and Zen hysteria.