Design

Purse Power!

Alexander McQueen Breaks Records at the Met

British Vogue writes that the Met’s Alexander McQueen exhibit has shattered the attendance records of both the Chanel and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis exhibits. The show drew 5,100 visitors last Wednesday, forcing the museum to suspend guided tours. 600 catalogues were sold that day. Read all our coverage: Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty | Woman Reconsidered.

Susan B Anthony ‘It Bag’

On Her Arm, a Symbol of Freedom NYTimes

In her wildest dreams, I doubt that Susan B. Anthony thoughts she would inspire the new ‘it’ bag among Smart Sensuality women. Alex Baldwin ponied up $5,000 for one at a charity auction. Senator Kay Hagan, Democrat of North Carolina, has also ordered one.

Called Ms. Anthony, the 17-inch-long crescent-shaped bag was designed by Gail Riggs of the Abigail Riggs Collection to benefit the museum. It is inscribed with two of Anthony’s mottos: “Failure is impossible!” and “Every woman needs a purse of her own.”

The bag represents a special collection edition of 2000 individually numbered and sells for $250.

An 18-minute video comes with each purse, writes The Official Susan B. Anthony House.

Living

Shattered Fairytale Marriage

Carol Ross Joynt: Debt Becomes Her Vogue.com

‘Innocent Spouse: A Memoir’ by Carol Ross Joynt will be published May 10. In this excerpt on Vogue.com, the author tells the story of her luxe married life gone south when her husband Howard died at 57, leaving her an IRS bill of $3 million.

The devoted wife never saw it coming, but luckily had her own connections as a talented professional journalist. The comments about her excerpt are as interesting as the piece itself.

I am also troubled by the message communicated in the lead photo of Ms. Ross Joynt. Her son is front and center with her leaning over him. The article is not about him. The article is about her. The message I get as the reader is that Ms. Ross Joynt is still putting males ahead of herself. That’s problematic as the article tells me she has changed and has taken charge of her life. The photo tells a different story.

Brainiac

Asian Excellence

Paper Tigers at New York Magazine

The publication of Amy Chua’s ‘Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother’ stirred up major discussion about high-achieving Asian Americans. Wesley Yang writes an in-depth cover story for NYMagazine, focused on the Asian individual and especially in America.

Asian-American success is typically taken to ratify the American Dream and to prove that minorities can make it in this country without handouts. Still, an undercurrent of racial panic always accompanies the consideration of Asians, and all the more so as China becomes the destination for our industrial base and the banker controlling our burgeoning debt. But if the armies of Chinese factory workers who make our fast fashion and iPads terrify us, and if the collective mass of high-achieving Asian-American students arouse an anxiety about the laxity of American parenting, what of the Asian-American who obeyed everything his parents told him? Does this person really scare anyone?

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