Penguins eating ice cream. No really, penguins eating ice cream. You will not find this print again anywhere else. Ever. Could there be a more perfect winter novelty print?

Look at their happy little faces as they keep cool in a black and white cityscape here and there relieved by sepia tones, Neo-Classical buildings and faceless pedestrians. They appear to be standing on a subway grate to me (which would probably hurt their little webbed feet) but with my provincial eyes everything looks like New York. Perhaps you see something different? To me they appear to be wandering around the Wall Street area, with the colonnades of the Stock Exchange intruding, and the narrow cobblestone streets closed to automobiles. Only their feet, beaks and ice cream provide the technicolor highlights.

This amazing print is available on sale for a mere $10 from Shotgunvintage, where you can find a number of other fetching things.

Far out, indeed. Prints like these were conjured up by the casual psychedelia of a time when counter culture was transitioning into consumer lifestyle. But I wouldn't say that the designer needed to open the doors of perception to create this print. There is plenty of late 60s to early 70s stuff that mimes or references tripping, but much of it is just that, a reference. I always felt that way about that Monkees' movie, "Head". Jack Nicholson, one of the only credited writers may have been high, but one gets the sense that Bob Rafelson, the director, was not. He was just thinking: what would someone on acid do? But without the bother of the trip. After all, one has production deadlines and someone had to edit the film, and get these ice cream eating penguins printed on polyester.

Though I must say it's been a long time since I've seen "Head". Perhaps a winter psychedelic film festival is in order. Though I cannot interupt the juggernaut that is the Karen Black film festival, currently screening most nights in my apartment. I'm now reading Marianne Faithfull's autobiography and she has a keen eye for the places where counter culture and capitalism cozy up. Her reinvention as the grand dame of rock alone shows her savvy. (I really want to know how one becomes a grand dame of anything. I promise a full report if Ms. Faithfull delivers any trade secrets.)

So, it's your call. What do you think? Penguins on peyote? Or: a bunch of suits sitting around a board room saying: will this rock those hippies?

I'm special. So special. This acrylic novelty embroidered sweater didn't immediately make me think of Chrissie Hynde, I had to let it percolate for a while.

Just look at these cheerful little sheep. Can't get enough of their splayed back legs and the purple bows around their necks. The two sheep separated from the flock on the back of the sweater are a nice touch. I posted a black sheep skirt about 6 months ago, well this sweater is its cousin. The text on the arm featuring a cameo of the black sheep is just gravy as far as I'm concerned. Hilarious. Though I would expect a sarcastic remark or two when wearing it.

I'd wear this sweater to curl up with a cup of hot cocoa and read Haruki Murakami's A Wild Sheep Chase. (Or anything by Murakami for that matter, that man has sheep on the brain.)

I'm always on the hunt for good winter novelty. The novelty print does seem to belong to spring and summer, all parasols and picnics, parceling out only a few orange leaf prints for fall and the dreaded reindeer sweaters for winter. Perhaps most novelty looks like too much forced gaiety when faced with February sleet, while in the summer it looks downright jaunty.



This one cracks me up. Or rather, first I laughed, then I was in awe. Notice the pocket where a marsupial would have a pouch. Just big enough for lipstick and keys, how precious is that? I love the 80's illustration style on this oversized wool sweater, along with a block of red on the shoulder. I'd forgotten that peach, white, brown and red was an 80's color combo. The kangaroo's little crooked paws and big feet are terrific details. I also like how she's looking over her shoulder at another kangaroo off in the distance. It gives the whole thing depth.









Doesn't this one look like a Tsumori Chisato design? But it's bona fide vintage, goslings. Only you beneath the moon and under the sun. And who can resist a Cole Porter themed novelty sweater. I love the combination of brown and white, the drowsy moon and contented owl and sun. I like the way this sweater is divided up and the smaller stars creating a sense of space. It's still open for bidding.

Again the details on the back push this into ferocious cuteness. The two clouds adrift there during the day and a smattering of stars at night. But again the text is what really makes this one pop.

I'd be tempted to express myself solely with Cole Porter lyrics while wearing this one. In the roaring traffic's boom, in the silence of my lonely room.

What's your favorite Cole Porter tune? How would it work as a sweater? Could a Kiss Me, Kate sweater be possible, with "Always True to You in my Fashion" on the sleeve? Or perhaps something more obscure. I love the more saucy and risqué Cole Porter tunes immortalized by Bobby Short at the Carlyle Cafe.


And last, an Escada offering in cashmere, high end novelty long ago sold, alas. Penguins are perhaps the ultimate winter novelty since they evoke cold weather but avoid referencing winter holidays.