Feature: Will Chalker

He was my first male model crush (sorry Marcus Schenkenberg.)

It was the protruding ears, the fact that he’s British and his paradoxical mix of boyish manliness that made him so attractive (not that everything aforementioned isn't applicable now.) He’s also an amateur boxer, and I covet any model that approaches life with that degree of impudence.

Chalker's visibility has decreased and I’ve since moved on, but like an ex-lover you spot suddenly after a long period of no contact, he still gives me something. Here's Will being himself in the September issue of Velvet.

Feature: the Mermaid

Den lille havfrue (The Little Mermaid)
Edvard Eriksen, 1913

Their lore is universal; their image is beautiful; their appeal—unquestionable. For centuries, the mysterious and strangely sexual allure of the merfolk has been the inspiration for writers, artists and designers alike.

So here’s a Paper Maché tribute to the marvelous, magical, mythical, mystical mermaid.

(I named my sisters Ariel and Madison, what do you expect?)


A Mermaid
John William Waterhouse, 1905

The Fisherman and the Syren
Frederic Leighton, 1856-58

Riccardo Tisci’s gorgeous gothic mermaids, from the s/s 2007 Givenchy couture collection.

Jean Paul Gaultier’s literal mermaids, from his s/s 2008 couture collection.

Feature: Bruce Weber

Autumn chills may be right around the corner, but while it’s still here I give you a tribute to the man who, for over 30 years, has put the sex into summer.

Welcome to Bruce Weber’s waspy world of the tastefully gratuitous and sexually ambiguous, where beautiful bodies frolic in fields and forests, eternally youthful, frozen in black and white snapshots of ecstasy.

We love you Bruce. Bravo.


from the W editorial, Summer Camp.

Feature: leopard print

If you don’t like leopard print, it’s probably because you’ve drawn mental parallels to something like this. Yikes.

You don’t want to look like a prostitute, but trust me, leopard is terribly chic and glamorous (ask Pilati, Prada or Galliano.) However, like plastic, neon, sequins, lame or anything metallic, leopard print can be tricky to pull off tastefully. If done correctly, though, the results can be phenomenal.

Of course there are no rules governing the print, but I personally think it looks best as an accessory: shoes, scarves, small bags, wallets, even ties.


Sometimes it does look good as a bigger piece of an ensemble...
And, rarely, the whole outfit purrs...

So don’t shun the leopard print please, just treat it like you would the actual animal—with respect and extreme caution.

photos: Style.com and the Sartorialist

Feature: the French Château

Long before the apartment in New York, I wanted a château in France. As a kid I would run around linoleum floors that made for marble in powdered wigs fashioned from mops, pretending to be at parties in my provincial palace—sometimes a lord, always a lady.

You might think that châteaux, the historic dominions of the ennobled and self-indulgent, completely contradict the egalitarian ideals forged by this country and, yes, that’s true. But in America we’re born with the privilege of possibility, so it’s practically an act of patriotism wielding $$$ to fulfill your fantasies.

I don’t want anything too extravagant, just a small estate with some history (pre-1793 is optimal), so this place, built in 1790, is absolutely perfect.

On the market for a little over 2.3 million USD, this petit château in France’s Limousin region is a virtual steal. So let them buy up Brentwood and those wooden shacks in Aspen; I’ll have my pleasure à l’ancien régime.

Feature: Louis Garrel

Most famous for his role in Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Dreamers, 25-year-old Louis Garrel is a living synonym for sex. In his brief but becoming career, the tall, pale, dark-eyed actor has played love interest to young girls, older women, teenage boys and even his onscreen mother and sister. And none of it has fazed him.

“I’m a sexual object,” the César-winning actor once told the International Herald Tribune. “It’s true, for me there’s something very sexual about the cinema. Not in the sense of the act, but of creating desire.”

Ah, oui Louis. Love me.

photo: Vman

Feature: this poem

entitled "The Quiet World," by Jeffrey McDaniel


In an effort to get people to look
into each other's eyes more,
and also to appease the mutes,
the government has decided
to allot each person exactly a hundred
and sixty-seven words, per day.

When the phone rings, I put it to my ear
without saying hello. In the restaurant
I point at chicken noodle soup.
I am adjusting well to the new way.

Late at night, I call my long distance lover,
proudly say I only used fifty-nine today.
I saved the rest for you.

When she doesn't respond,
I know she's used up all her words,
so I slowly whisper I love you
thirty-two and a third times.
After that, we just sit on the line
and listen to each other breathe.


(Once, a poetry professor banned us from writing love poems all semester because she thought the topic is worn. I agree. But I think this is a modern love poem that's poignant without being sentimental and beautiful without being boring.)

Feature: When Art Meets Fashion

For my first Feature, I present a double pleasure.

On the left is Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, painted in 1907 by Gustav Klimt. The exquisite work, a composite of oil, gold and silver on canvas, was at one time the most expensive painting ever sold.

Acquired by American businessman and art collector Ronald Lauder in 2006 for $135 million, the painting was meant to be the centerpiece of the Neue Gallerie, a museum dedicated to early-20th century German and Austrian art. On your next trip to the Met, be sure to walk a few blocks north to the posh Beaux-Arts building on 5th Ave. and 86th St. to see Bloch-Bauer and the rest of the collection. Student admission is $10—a little expensive considering the small collection on view, but trust me, it’s completely worth it.

On the right is model extraodinaire Jessica Stam, wearing a Dior dress at the Met’s Costume Institute Gala in 2007.

The juxtaposition needs no explanation, just a reminder of the beautiful relationship art and fashion share.

Feature: The SoHo Loft

Before you raise your eyebrows in skepticism, think about the iconography of the SoHo Loft.

Here's a few albeit midly uncredible sources to prove that something glamourous and sinister lurks in the cast-iron buildings that line the cobblestone streets of SoHo.

Zoolander -
a satire on fashion

America's Next Top Model -
an embarrassing "reality" show about modeling/Tyra Banks' lifelong struggle with inadequacy

Unfaithful -
drama about a bored suburban housewife's sultry affair with a young, mysterious book dealer

Each of these feature a loft where some turning point takes place.

Get into it.

A Paper Maché Original

I present to you The Paper Maché's first daily feature: aesthetics!

Though we have already posted a few random photographs and paintings, this post makes it official. Should my handsome partner-in-crime choose to participate, you can expect one or two posts containing a photograph of, but not limited to: actors, actresses, paintings, sculptures, architecture, models, photographers, designers, musicians, etc.

These are picked at random (though probably guided by narcissism, carnal desires, nostalgia, or any other expression of self-absorption) and may very well be irrelevant if we goddamn please.

The point of calling these photographs "feature" is to acknowledge that the subject posted, beyond the material on which we write, has transcended "news" and is reaching toward or has established iconography.