Front row seats. We may just end up running links to all the Martha stories that show no sign of abating. We read today's top story in the NYTimes this morning and were actually inspired.
" With dozens of reporters looking on, she told the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia staff that their mission was not just to explain the nuts and bolts of crafts, cooking and housekeeping, but also why those things are important for building relationships in an often uncertain world."
At Apartment Therapy we are all about this emphasis on building relationships, and if Martha is ready to lead the charge, heck, we'll follow. MGR
So that's where that weird grey poncho came from...
Oh no, the *inmates* crocheted that poncho as a going-away gift for Martha.
socialitelife.com/mt/archives/000975.php
Because of all this, I think Martha has had two things happen that will bring her back either stronger than ever, or at the very least refreshed with a whole new perpsective (sounds like it's happening already, with her talking about relationships...)--
1) She has had time "away" from her life, with marginal demands on her time compared to when she was "free", leaving lots of room for recharging and plain old thought.
2) She has been in a brand-new (to her) environment (albeit prison), something that is a HUGE jumpstart to people in general but especially to "visual" people.
Just my 2 cents about Martha...
I think her style is deadly dull, watered-down old lady stuff. I'm always wondering who is buying her products and magazine and all that stuff. Is it middle-aged women in the suburbs? The press makes such a huge deal about her Kmart products and from what I've seen they're thoroughly generic, white bread things like... Light Blue Sheets!... White bath towels! How, oh how, does she come up with those innovative ideas?!?
Her interiors are stuffy, artificial and uptight, designed chiefly to offend no one, I guess. Do people who live in houses like that have tvs? Do they have stereos or CDs? You never see any. Have they heard of punk rock? Do they play video games? Do they ever get drunk with their friends and dance all night? Fight with their kids? Do they have sex? It's hard for me to imagine any of that happening in those frozen-in-time Stepford joints.
And as for the cooking, the stuff she shows people how to make is unhealthy, meat- and fat- intensive crap that white people were eating in the 1950s, and then dying in THEIR fifties. Haven't we moved past pot roast and mashed potatoes?
For some reason, suburban America wants to decorate their McMansions to pretend they live in 19th century farmhouses. Martha has figured out how to mine that tired style and make a fortune in the process. I can't deny she's a successful marketer, but that is very different from having any real artistic vision. She's not creating anything, she's re-packaging cliches, and the esthetic she pushes, that is so wildly popular, is creepy and dead.
From the nypost online... "March 1, 2005 -- MARTHA Stewart has lost so much weight in jail, she needs a whole new wardrobe. The domestic diva has dropped close to 20 pounds due to workouts, yoga and her inability to eat prison food so she sent daughter Alexis to get her some clothes to fit her new, svelte figure. Alexis and a Bergdorf Goodman personal shopper were "ostentatiously" perusing the racks last week for size 12. "They decided on a $3,980 suede jacket for Martha," said our spy, "among other things. I guess it will be Martha's 'coming out' look." Stewart gets out this weekend."
Inability. to eat prison food. Not unwillingness, mind you.
I used to watch Martha's morning show as I got ready for work, and she always managed to do something absurd that would make me laugh and give me something to think about as I headed out to start my day.
One of my favorites was a desert segment. She made little one-serving pies. To finish them off she sprinkled granulated sugar across the top of each, reached down under her magic martha counter and pulled out a mini blowtorch and proceeded to caramelize the sugar with the flame. Made me laugh to think of women (and men) across America adding mini blowtorch to their things-to-buy lists.
I've moved on to Ready Made magazine.
Actually, lots of people have mini-blowtorchs. All the major cookstores have them for creme brulee, and maybe I just have friends who love creme brulee, but I know people who have them--and want one myself. I love Martha AND Ready Made Magazine. Martha may be a little pedestrian, but god love her, she excels at things like organizing, and I need help with that in New York. Her recipes (except for Everyday Food magazine, which I really like) are a little too involved for every day, but who cares? Anyone who advocates cooking real meals should be applauded in this age of fast food. (Even Rachel Ray, who drives me totally nuts with her perkiness and posing in FHM.)
That Rob guy above has been in NYC waaaayyy too long. Rob, let's you and me go visit my relatives in rural Iowa (not joking -- my dad milked cows until he was 15) and then you might change your mind about Martha's sense of design.
I'm not saying you have to love Martha, but he's a bit off the mark IMHO.
Also, check out the mag itself -- its not as meat and taters as ya think.
I just got an email from Lion Brand Yarn saying that they are overwhelmed with requests for the pattern for Martha's poncho and they are working as fast as they can to write one. This was an email alert, mind you.
To answer one of Rob's questions, yes people who like Martha may have heard of punk rock. I first became a Martha fan back in '85- or '86 which happens to be the same year I first saw "Another State of Mind" and started to listing to Minor Threat.
I hate Martha Stewart, but I love her magazine. I am embarrassed to buy it, however. I also watch a helluva lotta TV and was quite the punk/goth fan back in junior high. She does take homemaking to absurd heights, however, I will give you that. I just watched her Fabulous Life of... on VH1 and the woman has customized burlap sacks for all her shrubbery. Like, each of them are specially tailored to the shape. BITCH INSANE! She also seems to be quite obsessive, with several large spacious traditional-style homes, all of which are located on sprawling woodsy lots in New England. I thought that was kind of ridiculous; I mean, if you have the money to afford tons of homes, why not branch out, you know?
Oh, I also wanted to let Rob know that while Martha Stewart's line lacks in originality, it more than makes up for itself in quality. I own a pair of carnation-pink bath towels that have been through the wash several times, yet all their hems are still intact, the softness is about the same as it was when I bought them, and the color is as vivid as ever. I don't buy MS for style anyway--if I want something affordable, mass-produced, and funky, I'll head over to IKEA or CB2.
Rob, Martha is producing items for Kmart, not Neiman Marcus or Moss. Sure, Target has cute designs for the price, but Kmart is trying to sell to their customers, not the customers of a store like Moss. Pre-Target's foray into cheap design, Martha's Kmart line was a revolutionary idea. Nice colors and decent quality for people who don't have a lot of money to spend--I don't really see why that's so offensive. If you are worried about paying the rent, you probably just want nice-looking towels that don't cost a lot, not some incredibly innovative high-end design.
Plus, Martha's food is not really meat and potatoes. I'm a vegetarian and I have cooked many of her dishes.
Plus, "plain and classic" are NOT easy to find, at ANY price, let alone KMart's. She identified (and with a large and talented staff and support network) filled it. To paraphrase "Evita" which seems more apt than ever now, "no one else can fill it like she can."
I work in an in-house design dept, and when I first got there a few years ago, all the designers were either just about to get married or just engaged. it was insane--a department full of Martha-channeling bridezillas monopolizing the color printers to output comps of the wedding invitations ("do you think this 8-point type looks horsey?"). Martha was their goddess. They would spend lunch discussing Martha's cake, Martha's flowers, Martha's cake with flowers on it, Martha's chickens...I found it disturbing because I constantly heard my name...
martha
I remember when I was working in film we used to go shopping at KMart when we needed anything domestic that was supposed to be dated and cheap -- country blue and mauve with ecru, crochet lace on heart-shaped pillows, chickens on tea towels, "southwestern" patterns, etc. When they switched to MSE at KMart, I had to find a new source for that stuff, and I went to the Bradlee's on Union Square, which always completely empty... I lost my source for crappy, um, crap, but I started shopping at KMart for myself...