Beauty Regimens Reach For The Gold Standard [NYT]

Developmental psychologists and sociologists say this phenomenon of attachment is only now beginning to be studied. They have identified several factors that could be contributing to an intensified mother-daughter symbiosis: technology that makes it easy to stay connected; the smaller number of children in each household; young adults who are prolonging decisions about career, marriage and children; parents who want to have a less-hierarchical relationship with their offspring; and parents who feel the need to keep their grown children close at a time when anxiety and depression levels among young adults are at some of their highest points ever.

Mommy Is Truly Dearest [NYT]

According to the authoritative reference guide Urban Dictionary, 37 out of 47 voters agree that the "white man's overbite" is "derogatory term used to describe the facial expression white people make while dancing." How laceless Chucks are similar to this offensive display of whitey unhipness it is difficult to say. And the ethnic complications of wearing John Varvatos become more complex as Alex continues. "His men's clothes are clean and fitted in the European sense but slightly rumpled, as if you took a well-dressed wealthy young Italian, got him drunk and let him sleep on the beach overnight." Unhip whiteys? Drunken Italians? What about ... self-hating black people?

Over a large wooden table of T-shirts at the front of the store hangs a homage, unintentional or not, to Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man": a tangle of scores of light bulbs, strung together and hanging from an iron rack, the electric wires braided together. It resembled, in fact, a photograph by the artist Jeff Wall titled "After 'Invisible Man,' by Ralph Ellison, the Prologue, 1999-2000."In the book, Ellison used light to define his identity: "Perhaps you'll think it strange that an invisible man should need light, desire light, love light. But maybe it is exactly because I am invisible. ...Without light I am not only invisible, but formless as well; and to be unaware of one's form is to live a death." Mr. Varvatos, it is clear, is trying to do the same: on sale at the table are T-shirts that read, "Who the hell is John Varvatos?"

"It's an iconic indication of some sort of rural lifestyle, I guess. It's like, if a store has antlers on the walls, that somehow makes them legitimate." —a designer whose store once featured antlers on the wall.

"Antlers have a kind of maximalism that satisfies our urge for things to be overdesigned."—a trend forecaster.

"Where once the stag was a symbol of religious regeneration, it could be said that today it appeals to those who worship modern design."—a jewelry designer.

"People are tired of dealing with war and death. This is their protest."—a menswear designer who employs a stag skull motif as a logo.

"Um... Williamsburg finally got over wolves and unicorns?"—Emily

If There's A Buck In It Somewhere [NYT]

But What if You Get Hit by a Taxi? [NYT]

• He's excited by closets. "For the first time in my life I have a grown-up apartment. There's a closet in the bedroom!"
  
• But he's not in one, that's for sure. "I was the one they called the horrible slurs that ended up being prophetic. Little did I know."
  
• His childhood was rough in an archetypally gay way: "He had been an unhappy child, introverted, a stutterer, spending sunny days in his room reading books, practicing the piano, playing with Legos, idolizing mad King Ludwig II, who spent his spare time designing castles. He was the last one chosen during mandatory team sports."
  
• His dad was J. Edgar Hoover's ghostwriter.
• Somehow it all fits. Carry on! —Emily

  The Headmaster of Fashion [NYT]

"Now it's 'What do the kids want?' " Dr. Kavaler said. "My father would say, 'Who cares what the kids want?' "(Of course, in places like ancient Egypt, where Tutankhamen became King Tut at 8 or 9, they had to care.)

Mommy and Daddy's Little Life Coach [NYT]

"It's stunning to be able to access something so obscure so effortlessly," said John Hoffman, vice president of documentary programming at HBO. He was recently at WD-50, a Lower East Side restaurant, arguing with two friends about whether the Immaculate Conception referred to the birth of the Virgin Mary or to Jesus. Before you could say "Parsnip tart with quinoa, hazelnuts and bok choy," Mr. Hoffman used his BlackBerry to connect to Wikipedia and recited that it was Mary who "was preserved by God from the stain of original sin at the time of her own conception." "This research use of the BlackBerry verges on magical and it's not alienating," he said in an e-mail message. "So much more was learned by all. And no one felt bludgeoned into admitting they were wrong."

Supercharged With All The Answers [NYT]

[Image via Getty]

On the thoroughfare below, a hardware store stands near a glossy West Elm outpost. On Front Street, a deli with fluorescent lights is not far from a high-end organic grocery store on Adams Street called Foragers Market. It's safe to say the only foraging going on in Foragers is the search for the American Express platinum card at the bottom of one's handbag.

Of course, that's not all.

When the Kucz finds herself in Brooklyn, in seems as though all bets are off. How else to explain the conclusion of her piece:

A DISPLAY of Eau de Brooklyn soap ($10 each) was on sale near some vintage books, including "The Blue Flower" by Henry van Dyke ($40), an American clergyman who wrote fairy tales with a religious bent. I opened "The Blue Flower" and read: "He felt an irresistible desire to bathe in the pool. Slipping off his clothes he plunged in. It was as if he bathed in a cloud of sunset. A celestial rapture flowed through him. The waves of the stream were like a bevy of nymphs taking shape around him, clinging to him with tender breasts, as he floated onward, lost in delight, yet keenly sensitive to every impression."

A clergyman longing for the touch of nymphs' breasts, a boutique for disco crochet in Brooklyn: in the shadow of the Manhattan bridge, it all made sense.

Crochet Undergoes an Upgrade [NYT]

I am so sick of the matronly box — the rest of America doesn't dress like that," said Ms. Bono, 45, who, with her Palm Springs address, affection for the martial arts and her marriage to the late Sonny Bono, is decidedly un-Washingtonian. "We all want to be taken seriously and you certainly don't want to be too sexy," added Ms. Bono, a California Republican, "but you have to maintain your femininity. Pelosi is a beautiful dresser. I'm hoping she has great impact — fashion-speaking, not politically speaking."

Speaking Chic To Power [NYT]

But she wouldn't be the straight-lady-Bob Morris we know and love if she didn't get into chidey mode at some point in her column; that point comes when she talks about T Casan's ($210-$425) prices, which strike her as quite reasonable, in contrast to the diabolically expensive footwear she usually purchases:

I think $400 to $850 is a lot to spend on a pair of shoes, but in recent years well-to-do American women have been suckered into a bewildering fashion conspiracy.

To anyone who looks at Vogue or W, it would appear that in order to be fashionable, to be stylish — to be, in fact, footwear — shoes must cost $700. There is something dark about this, as if we have become Stepford Wives, marching off to the high-end shoe brands as if our brains had been sucked out of our skulls and replaced with slots for charge cards. Ka-ching.

A Store To Make Your Feet Say Ol [NYT]

Well-endowed women should view [silicone bras] with caution, though. "They're not supportive," Ms. Borish said.

Just last week Carolyn Fitzpatrick, 32, a retired lawyer from Wollaston, Mass., spent 20 minutes drafting a "no" response to an Evite.
"Twenty precious minutes," said Ms. Fitzpatrick, the mother of a 3-month-old and a 2-year-old. "Do you have children? You don't understand what 20 minutes to yourself is.

With a boatload of in-laws in town, I unfortunately will be doing nice nice in my own home when I'd much rather be doing eggnog shooters at yours. Please keep us on the guest list. With luck, I won't be pregnant, traveling or hosting extended family who hate me next year! (Bah Humbug.)

See how it works for you!

Online RSVPs: A Simple 'No' Just Won't Do [NYT]

This year there are 40 shows, among them 28 Kazakh designers. One is Kuralai, a brand that incorporates ethnic Kazakh themes into its beaded evening gowns, sequined culottes and paisley turbans.

For Make Fabulous Kazakhstan [NYT]

• Article: Cosmopolitan Moms Sentence: Some moms like to drink white wine at their kids' playdates. Quote: "This is not really exotic behavior."
  
• Article: The Golden Torso Sentence: Model Jamie Dornan is hot and Guy Trebay would like to do it with him. Quote: "There are certain faces the camera loves. Mr. Dornan's is one."
  
• Article: Wrinkle Rivals Go To War. Sentence: Rich people have more choices now about what toxin they'll paralyze their facial muscles with. Quote: "You are basically injecting more Jell-O soup into your skin."
  
• Article: Books And Boots: A Texas Odyssey Sentence: Alex Kuczynski free-associates about a trip to Texas to promote her book. Quote: "I think I had a witchy baby sitter long ago who wore [mule boots]. She scared me somehow, and I can't remember exactly how she scared me, which scares me even more."
  There you go. Spend those twenty minutes you just saved doing something socially valuable, ok?

One Hairy Lip, A Mix of Messages [NYT]

Isn't Anyone In This Town Wearing Pants? [NYT]

Ask most women what a modern-day sex symbol looks like, and you are likely to be greeted with a description not of a brooding movie star, but a smiling cleanshaven man with a toned muscular frame, a brown uniform shirt and a year-round dedication to wearing shorts.

This is all by design, of course - couriers encourage their drivers to stay in shape and offer incentives for working out, though they insist it's for productivity and injury prevention.

What really completes this piece, though, is the sidebar item showing the U.P.S.-recommended stretches. If we didn't know any better, we'd think the Times was trying to turn us on.

'Industrial Athletes': Men With the Goods [NYT]

The trend is so pervasive it has been written about by college students in campus newspapers, and Carlos Mencia, the comedian, jokes that Halloween should now be called Dress-Like-a-Whore Day.

Still, nice to see that they're finally crediting sources.

BONUS Great Moment in Journalism:

IN her thigh-highs and ruby miniskirt, Little Red Riding Hood does not appear to be en route to her grandmother's house. And Goldilocks, in a snug bodice and platform heels, gives the impression she has been sleeping in everyone's bed.

Also nice:

Many women's costumes, with their frilly baby-doll dresses and high-heeled Mary Janes, also evoke male Lolita fantasies and reinforce the larger cultural message that younger is hotter.
"It's not a good long-term strategy for women," Dr. Tolman said.

There's so much going on here you may just have to read the whole thing.

Good Girls Go Bad, for a Day [NYT]

Thursgay Styles [NYT]

Earlier: Does 'Slate' Ask Too Many Goddamn Questions?