May 13, 2021
Kim Cook
AP – If ever a 22-inch square of cotton could tell stories, it would be the bandana.
This simple piece of cloth has swabbed the sweat off the brows of sailors, farmers, miners, soldiers and factory workers for generations. And you’d be hard-pressed to find a Western film without a cowboy sporting some version of it.
Around mid-century, bandanas evolved from a strictly utilitarian item to a fashion statement. In recent years, rappers and other celebrities including Rihanna, Christina Aguilera and Hailey Bieber have rocked bandana fashion. Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, Coach and Japanese designer Hidaeki Shikama have employed the motif in collections.
Kim Cook
If ever a 22-inch square of cotton could tell stories, it would be the bandana.
This simple piece of cloth has swabbed the sweat off the brows of sailors, farmers, miners, soldiers and factory workers for generations. And youâd be hard-pressed to find a Western film without a cowboy sporting some version of it.
Around midcentury, bandanas evolved from a strictly utilitarian item to a fashion statement. In recent years, rappers and other celebrities including Rihanna, Christina Aguilera and Hailey Bieber have rocked bandana fashion. Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, Coach and Japanese designer Hidaeki Shikama have employed the motif in collections.
The Stoop: Creating a welcoming spot for hanging out
KIM COOK, Associated Press
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1of5This combination photo shows planters placed on the stoop of homes in New York. Front stoops have long welcomed visitors to city homes, and have served as gathering spots for friends and neighbors engaging in what urban design activist Jane Jacobs called “the sidewalk ballet.” (Kate Cook via AP)Kate Cook/APShow MoreShow Less
2of5A procession of conifers in sturdy pots provide a welcoming guide up the stairs to the stoop of this brownstone in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Front stoops have long welcomed visitors to city homes, and have served as gathering spots for friends and neighbors engaging in what urban design activist Jane Jacobs called “the sidewalk ballet.” (Kate Cook via AP)Kate Cook/APShow MoreShow Less
Setting up home in a small apartment poses all sorts of challenges.
First, there’s the floorplan: With small rooms come issues like storage, and where to put the bed.
Then there’s the furniture: Will it fit up the stairs, and will you need a toolbox and an engineering degree to put it together?
Retailers and design services have answers. Design-your-space websites can give you accurate floor plans and helpful decor suggestions. Cleverly designed furniture is scaled for smaller footprints, and might come to the door in easy-to-assemble formats, or with assembly service as part of the package. There are now more options than ever for the diminutive nest.
NEW YORK (AP) â Front stoops have long welcomed visitors to city homes, and have served as gathering spots for friends and neighbors engaging in what urban design activist Jane Jacobs called âthe sidewalk ballet.â
Since the pandemic left many people isolated and locked down at home, stoops have become more central again.
New Yorkers, for instance, “have discovered that from the top of their stoops it is possible to safely catch up with a friend, commune with neighbors, clap for essential workers, or have a drink at a responsible distance, a quarantine rite known as the `stoop hang,’â Marie Solis wrote in Gothamist last summer.