The funkadelic shamans of dance !!! (chk chk chk) have answered our prayers for the perfect boombox party jams with their new LP, Thr!!!er.

When it comes to triumphs, people have formed all kinds of strange superstitions to come out on top. After the Giants swept the World Series with a tie-breaking run in the tenth inning on Sunday, effectively delaying the Band of Horses show at Fox Theater from starting, we’re thinking about making BoH shows our new winning ritual.

Read full Band of Horses review on The Owl Mag.

Yesterday, I wrote about the 5 sins so often committed in plus size fashion, and though I said it would be a week before I posted something on the flip side that would showcase some examples of doing it RIGHT, I honestly just couldn’t wait. So here you go, lovelies. I have evaluated the following designers based on the following elements before deeming them deserving:

• Quality of the garment – if it falls apart in 5 washes, forget it
• On-trend design – no mu-mus or grandma wear here
• Fit and flattery – but seriously, does it actually look good on a human, let alone a model?
• Worthiness – does the price point match the quality of the garment?

(Source: Pinandhem.com)

Over the weekend, the bestie and I made the pilgrimage to what has become many stylish plus-sized women’s fashion Mecca: Torrid. I have been shopping at the plus size haven since it first opened as a place catering to Hot Topic’s more voluptuous goth girls. It’s undergone a few transformations since then, and it’s starting to feel like a public identity crisis. So I have to ask, what the hell happened?

Ok, so they have the gorgeous Candice Huffine as their leading model (Lane Bryant does, too — she’s rocking the silver sequins below like only a fierce supermodel can), which is an upgrade, but they clearly downgraded the quality and selection of their clothing to compete with the likes of Forever 21′s new plus size line, despite still charging Torrid prices. Over the years, I have seen all 5 of the following plus size fashion sins appear on Torrid’s racks, but I couldn’t believe that the only things I found that I like from them, besides the clearance rack bathing suits, could only be found on their website. Seriously.

But they’re not the sole offenders. Here, I highlight 5 of the worst styles I see over and over again in plus size fashion.

Read more here…

Thanks to a wonderful recommendation by a mutual friend, I was given the opportunity to fly to LA in August and manage a wardrobe overhaul for Sons of Anarchy star, Chris Reed, aka “Filthy Phil.” The premier for Season 5 of the show was coming up, and Reed wanted to show fans and the media that Filthy Phil cleans up nicely. Here’s a side-by-side of Reed’s outfits for this year’s premier vs. last year’s, when I hadn’t yet taken over his closet. Call me biased, but I think he really dressed to kill this year, and knocked ‘em dead (even if he did make a goofy face on the red carpet… at least he made a goofy face in a good suit!).

Read full story on my new style blog for men & women, Pin&Hem.com

(Source: Pinandhem.com)

If Carina Round‘s not the hardest working woman in the music business these days, she’s pretty damn close, and she’s no rookie in the game, either. A touring member of Maynard’s Puscifer, the UK-bred Round has been putting out records and touring the world for nearly a decade on her own. Though Round’s latest self-released album, Tigermending had only hit stores a week prior to her show at Cafe du Nord in San Francisco (her second performance of the day after an earlier solo appearance at an Apple store), it became clear that her album had already struck a chord with this audience as nearly everyone seemed to know the songs. In an unexpected unison, the whole room joined in singing the “do do do’s” to “You and Me,” as Round cooed, “Ohh, San Francisco,” clearly taking the crowd’s response to heart.

Read my full review on The Owl Mag.

If Carina Round‘s not the hardest working woman in the music business these days, she’s pretty damn close, and she’s no rookie in the game, either. A touring member of Maynard’s Puscifer, the UK-bred and currently LA-based Round has been putting out records and touring the world for nearly a decade on her own. Though Round’s latest self-released album, Tigermending had only hit stores a week prior to her show at Cafe du Nord in San Francisco (her second performance of the day after an earlier solo appearance at an Apple store), it became clear that the album had already struck a chord with this audience as many in the crowd sang along to new songs. We sat down with Round after the show to talk about the ups and downs of defiantly creating an album and tour without a label.

Read my full interview with Carina Round on The Owl Mag.