Meat Market Vintage Now Open on Mill Avenue

A couple months back, after spending an afternoon drooling over eBay shop Meat Market Vintage’s eclectic, sometimes out-there stock, we mooned over the possibility that the couple who run the online store, Cory Martinez and Ben Funke, might someday have a place where we could admire their funky wares IRL…

Dress Pant Sweatpants: Oh, Give Up Already.

It’s Monday. And if you’re headed to any environment with four walls, a computer, and a semi-professional coworker or two, it means you’re going to work. But why bother getting all dressed up for the beginning of the week? Who says “Dress for the job you want,” anyway? Thanks to…

The Seven Greatest Names for Strip Clubs … All Found in Phoenix

Strip club owners will try absolutely anything to get you to step through their front door (preferably with pockets full of cash). For many of the Valley’s numerous ecdysiast parlors, it means two-for-one drink deals, theme nights, or special appearances by porn stars. Other establishments, however, entice patrons by giving their…

Spotted: Arizona, the Land of History and Mystery (c. 1925)

If you can’t make the trip out to the The Boston Public Library to take a long, drooling look at its print department, take advantage of its updated flickr set.  Recently added, was an album of the library’s poster collection, including more than 350 vintage travel posters from the 1920s…

Avengers Cologne: Oh Yeah, We’re Sure the Hulk Smelled Grrreeeeaaat

Fair warning: Just because you smell like Thor doesn’t mean you’re going to score Natalie Portman — or any girl for that matter. In fact, there’s no guarantee of any direct (or physical) benefit of smelling like a big, sweaty superhero, but that hasn’t stopped fragrance company JADS international from releasing…

Diane von Furstenberg Crochet Dress at GROWop

Each week Gem features one standout piece from a local shop. Whether it’s a jacket, necklace, or handbag, it’s on our have-to-have list. What: This vintage Diane von Furstenberg dress is cut in a mod, slouchy silhouette, with an orange Creamsicle color scheme. It’s a summery crochet that could fashionably…

Five Sure Signs the Mustache Trend Needs to Die (Please)

Dear anyone (and everyone) who has ever considered cutting a mustache out of felt and putting it on, well, anything, It’s time to let go. Not only is your fascination with this variety of facial hair a little disturbing, it’s a little late. The mustache (as it’s currently known in embroidered pillow,…

Fashion Fantastico: Be Part of the Second Annual Event

Calling all fashion inspired uniquely gifted artists: For the first time in Arizona, Fashion Fantastico is hosting a wearable arts event. Fashion Fantastico is an event that allows the human body to become a canvas and allows fashion and art to become a performance. And this year, the group’s members are…

Pinterest: An Illustrated Field Guide (Plus a Few Survival Tips)

​Friends, creatives, crafty types, and internet obsessed — meet Pinterest, the prettiest time suck you’ll ever see. No need to worry about small talk, Pinterest will cut to the chase. It already knows all your friends from all your networks and is wide open to anything you’d like to pin on…

Downtown’s Roller Skate Shop SEVEN13SK8 Hangs Tight with Plans to Expand

Inside the ever-open door of SEVEN13SK8 in downtown Phoenix is a space home to quality roller skate parts, street-fashionable accessories, and abstract paintings by Kristine Brambilla. The local artist just finished the store’s exterior mural (and a few others on the neighboring storefronts in the OPtic complex on Third and McKinley…

Burlesque at FilmBar, Vernacular Typography, and Christopher Walken Reads Where the Wild Things Are

1. Scandalesque Presents: FilmBar VignettesThis Saturday, the Scandalesque Vixens will perform center stage at Downtown’s FilmBar. The group, known for their acrobatic ballet and burlesque performances, will perform vignettes featuring individual scandalesque talents. The feather and leather-clad ladies will take the stage at 10 p.m.. Tickets are $25. More info here. …

Julia Chaplin Talks Gypset Style at Phoenix Art Museum

Despite Julia Chaplin’s seemingly constant globe-trotting (she’s recently spent time in Uruguay and Brazil, and travels to Mexico today), the writer insists she’s an interloper — a sort of Margaret Mead when it comes to understanding and documenting gypset culture.What’s “gypset”? It’s pretty simple actually. Combine the roaming lifestyle of…

Nostra Style House Opens on Sixth Street in Downtown Phoenix

The GROWop and Butter Toast, two of our favorite hunting grounds for vintage treasures in downtown Phoenix, welcomed a new (and stylish) neighbor last month. Located in a converted historic home on Sixth Street, Nostra Style House is a new boutique in the former Roose Salon space on Roosevelt Row.  Style-wise, Nostra straddles the line that…