Shopping: January 2006 Archives

Some people say groping leads to sex. I say, it's simply the foreplay before an American Apparel store opening--this one in Cobble Hill at 237 Smith right next to Banania. I actually like the label's anti-sweatshop rhetoric, but I can't help taking a jab at the ultimate hipster seal of approval in a neighborhood. Previously, a pit stop for form-fitting T-shirts opened in Brooklyn Heights. According to the company's website, a store is also planned for this corner of Park Slope. Happy shagging, I mean shopping. (For more barely-there advertisement pics, check out BlogNYC.)

I don't want anyone thinking I don't like vegetarians, so I thought I'd report on their excellent taste in lamps. Had the chance to go to Heirloom last night, a vegetarian and vegan place on Orchard Street in the Lower East Side. If you are vegetarian you will think it's the cat's meow--and if you are not vegetarian you will probably still really like it (unless you only ever eat meat, in which case you are a very boring  person, culinarily speaking).  Anyway, the lamps on the wall caught my eye, as the light they sent out made it appear that the wall had been textured somehow, or maybe painted with special effects.  In reality, the walls had been painted au natural, but the lighting really livened them up. A little research led me to James Dieter and his lighting studio dform, located in Williamsburg on Grand Street. He puts out some very cool wood veneer lighting products, including the ones at Heirloom. If I were in the market, I just might have to splurge on one. And while I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy, I'll report that Russell Simmons is a vegetarian, a super nice guy, and also appears to appreciate vegetarian restaurants with cool lamps.