This month of May, the cocktail brains and taste buds of OPUS Bar have created a drink that traps Mad Men’s Don Draper and Roger Sterling into a tumbler. The suited men swim around a colossal cube of ice, soaked with the hard bite of rye, perfumed with the smoky musk of cigars, and sticky with the zest of an orange.
The Cohiba Old Fashioned, made with Calvados infused with Cohiba cigars, is a refreshing splash of amber which will warm your body as the cool spring air descends on bare skin.
Hold it in your mouth to savour the rich flavours before swallowing. The aftertaste will keep flirting with the back of your throat until it compels you to take another sip.
~ Sandra O’Connell, OPUS Insider
Escape to Los Angeles
There’s this distinctive smell in the air that hits you when the doors from LAX open into Los Angeles. It’s a heady mix of Marilyn Monroe’s rose geranium perfume, the whiskey soaked breath of Charles Bukowski, the ink from Harvey Weinstein’s pen signing off on a flurry of deals, the salty Pacific Ocean breeze, and that sweet smell of hope and dreams.
The city, spread across a sea of palm trees, checkered bungalows, and headlight-lit streets, sucks visitors in with a smacking of its red-stained lips. If you only have a weekend in LA, you must spend it imbibing in the energy with tastefully savoured mouthfuls.
We’ve got some OPUS-approved destinations to stumble upon during your visit.
STAY:
Chateau Marmont or Sunset Marquis for Hollywood and Rock and Roll histories that can be felt on your skin as you walk the hallways or lounge by the pools.
EAT:
Grab a sandwich at Joan’s on Third or succumb to vegan-ism at Veggie Grill. For dinner, savour Italian cuisine at Ceconni’s or lounge on pillows at Fig & Olive.
DRINK:
Get yourself to Santa Monica to watch the sunset while sipping on a Bitchin’ Sangria at The Bungalow. Listen to jazz at the Parisian-inspired Pour Vous. Drink a bourbon at Bar 1200 at the Sunset Marquis. And you can’t go wrong with a martini at the timeless Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
PLAY:
Hop in a car and cruise the winding roads of the Hollywood Hills before hiking through Bronson Canyon in Griffith Park (home of the Batcave). If you make it before the end of June, get inside Stanley Kubrick’s head at an exhibit dedicated to his works at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Salivate over art at the Getty Center. Admire another culture at the Malibu Hindu Temple. Shop for sartorial finds on Melrose Avenue.
~ Sandra O’Connell, OPUS Insider
Images from top: Cindy Crawford by Terry Richardson; Chateau Marmont; view of LA from the Hollywood sign; Bar 1200 at Sunset Marquis, Griffith Park Trails, streets of LA.
F. Scott Fitzgerald has never been more alive. The author, like many artists, is more prolific after death than whilst he inhaled the Parisian air into his gin and jazz riddled head. This May he has successfully infected the world with Gatsby fever as the much awaited Baz Luhrmann adaptation of The Great Gatsby is released.
The lyrical story whisks readers into a dance with decadence, excess, luxury, romance, and tragedy. The themes spin us around, dip us to the floor, and step on our toes.
Initially published in 1925, the book was, quite frankly, a failure, and didn’t receive the accolades it deserved until decades later. Deemed the “Great American Novel” and the second best English language novel in the 20th century, the book’s popularity has likely surpassed Fitzgerald’s own champagne-sparkled dreams.
If you haven’t read the novel yet, get your hands on a copy before you see the colourful adaptation starring Leonardo DiCaprio. His portrayal of Luhrmann’s Romeo stuck with us for years – we can only imagine what he will do with Jay Gatsby.
To accompany your film craze, here are some of our favourite Gatsby-isms. Try to contain your goosebumps.
“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”
~ F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
“And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.”
~ F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
“I wasn’t actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity.”
~ F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
The original Gatsby manuscript.
“In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.”
~ F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
“His heart beat faster and faster as Daisy’s white face came up to his own. He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. At his lips’ touch she blossomed like a flower and the incarnation was complete.”
~ F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
~ Sandra O’Connell, OPUS Insider
Whether or not you listen to The Clash, Ramones, or Bad Religion, followed Sid Vicious, and dream of long gone, hot-blooded nights at CBGB in New York, the punk scene has influenced your fashion choices.
Rows of studs, worn-out leather, haphazard safety pins, scuffed work boots, ripped t-shirts, tattered peacoats, and body piercings are all elements of the often-thought nefarious movement. And it’s almost guaranteed that your closet holds bold details from the milieu.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual extravagant celebration honoured the aesthetic this year with its PUNK: Chaos to Culture exhibit running from May 9 to August 14, 2013. It was an opulent affair for a cultural era that favoured anarchy and opposed the brazenly affluent - a dichotomy if there ever was one.
At the gala benefit, co-chaired by Rooney Mara, Lauren Santo Domingo, Riccardo Tisci, and Anna Wintour, punk-inspired designs by Givenchy, Giles Deacon, Vivienne Westwood, Burberry Prorsum, Gucci, and Marc Jacobs ascended the grand, crimson staircase.
Above: Christina Ricci in Vivienne Westwood Couture; Madonna in Givenchy; Sienna Miller in Burberry Prorsum; Sarah Jessica Parker in Giles Deacon.
The exhibit is an excuse to pause and appreciate one of the greatest examples of culture influencing fashion.
Rodarte, Versace, Spiked cuffs.
Kate Moss for Vivienne Westwood, Vivienne Westwood, Vogue Paris.
Balenciaga, The Clash, Balmain.
Alexander McQueen, Sex Pistols, Versace.
~ Sandra O’Connell
What we’re listening to this May
Turn these up. Spin around your room. Close your eyes tight.
Wild Nothing – Paradise
Watch video above.
This track by Wild Nothing takes you (and Michelle Williams) above the clouds to a time when we listened to cassette tapes, read hard cover books, and when Pet Shop Boys reigned. Pay attention to the words Williams speaks from A Word Child and try to make out pictures in the clouds.
Jessie Ware – Running
Watch the video.
Can we take a moment (a rather long moment) to dream about the vivacious Jessie Ware? Her voice lingers on in our ears for hours after the music stops. The South London raised woman may give Adele a run for her money…
Fever Ray – When I Grow Up
Watch the video.
There is no telling what your body may do while listening to this soulful song from the debut solo album of Fever Ray. Recognize the sound? That’s because it’s Karin Dreijer Anderssonby of The Knife. As you listen, your spine may twist and your teeth may bite your lower lip. No promises… but maybe…
~ Sandra O’Connell
La Pentola’s Whole Roasted Branzino
Winter leaves us hollow and empty, and craving something warm and rich to fill the void. In contrast, after a hot summer’s day, our bodies bursting and beaming with sunlight, all we can imagine eating is the lightest possible fare.
On such a blazing day, a month before summer’s official debut, I sat in La Pentola at OPUS Hotel waiting with mouth watering for chef and co-owner Lucais Syme to present me with a succulent Northern Italian dish, the Whole Roasted Branzino, only available at the restaurant between Wednesday and Sunday.
Swimming in a pool of herbs, tomatoes, and lemon, the presentation of the flavourful white fish will cause conversation to pause as mouths slowly drop open and taste buds secrete. The tender meat slips off bones and deliciously moistens the mouth with its juices. Intersperse heavenly mouthfuls with a refreshing sip of white wine - we suggest the Suavia Soave Classico or Vietti Roero Arneis.
Eat slowly and lingeringly to appreciate the sensations, and bustling Yaletown will quickly be replaced by the breezy Mediterranean with each bite consumed.
~ Sandra O’Connell
Mad for PARTYSKIRTS
If there’s one thing girls like to do, something that has stayed with us throughout the decades, it’s twirling. Seriously. From lush, green meadows to clothes-strewn bedrooms to resplendent ballrooms to gritty street corners, we spin to feel the wind whoosh through our hair and fingers, to blur the world around us into a dream-like state with a smile plastered on our faces.
But twirling is not truly twirling without the appropriate miniskirt swirling out around us - capturing the breeze under the hem and thrilling wandering eyes with a glimpse of flesh.
PARTYSKIRTS by Skot Apparel, the latest fashion fever out of Vancouver, are made to be twirled. The brilliant silk skirts designed by stylish and business-minded sisters Lauren and Mariel Armstrong are the most desired party companion in the city (and soon to be many more cities). Flirtatious, eye-catching, and, most importantly, fun, the skirts meet exploring and desirous attention from men and women alike, and make every night something to celebrate.
Meet Lauren and Mariel…
What kind of woman wears a PartySkirt?
Every woman! We love to see a PARTYSKIRT on a girl with a t-shirt, jean jacket, and flats and a lady length on a girl with a fitted blazer and heels. One skirt, one million ways!
What’s been the most exciting moment since starting your company?
We have two moments - hosting our own PARTYSKIRTS party at Blubird for our spring launch. AND our Teen Vogue online feature - it has been a whirlwind ever since!!!
Do you have plans to expand to retailers in the US?
Absolutely! Stay tuned to hear about our PARTYSKIRTS events we are planning in the US, hopefully for Fall 2013.
Favourite PartySkirt?
Lauren: Magenta (there is something about pink that makes you feel fabulous!)
Mariel: Poppy red (it is girly and stands out!)
What fashion icons inspire you?
Lauren: I love the 1960’s and Hitchcock movies for fashion inspiration. Grace Kelly has always been my favourite.
Mariel: I am inspired by street style. And I don’t believe in fashion rules, I always make my own.
Get your own pretty PartySkirt online here and give it a spin at OPUS Bar.
~ Sandra O’Connell
Big hearts at the CampOUT gala
Beauty is not only found in art, fashion, nature and faces, and it’s not about facades, textures, and surfaces. Beauty lives inside people, exposed by a simple action or expression of love. And nothing is more beautiful than the act of giving.
Last week, inside the airy downtown residence of John Evans, co-owner of OPUS Hotel, dozens gathered to raise funds for CampOUT, a summer program supported by UBC that encourages queer, trans and allied youth to be themselves, develop leadership skills, build self-esteem, and embrace diversity.
With the walls bulging from our expanded hearts, we listened to the sincere words of John Evans, Louise Cowan, VP Student Services UBC, Fred Lee, Reiko Mackenzie, and Kasondra Cohen-Herrendorf and John James Wilson, representing Face of Today. Everyone expressed what the charity means to them, stressing the importance of the program and touching our hearts with warmth.
While nibbling on savoury treats from C Restaurant and drinking wine provided by Sandra Oldfield of Tinhorn Wineries, the crowd showed their generosity by sponsoring multiple campers and bidding on an enticing array of silent auction items. As the moon shone and the sun set, and the sweeping view became more radiant, people exchanged stories and memories of camp and acknowledged their proud association with the cause.
When the evening ended, everyone left with the captivating look of inspiration in their eyes.
Find out more about CampOUT.
Images by Joshua McVeity
~ Sandra O’Connell
Seduction is a science. It’s a formula comprised of calculated and sometimes volatile elements. Biology, chemistry, geometry and psychology intertwine like pairs of long legs wrapped in white sheets. It’s also an art form – a colour-soaked brush caressing objects of desire and an improvised dance choreographed by lust.
Some of us have mastered these skills, fallen prey to them, or aspire to be one of the great seducers of time. Whichever category you fall into, it’s in your best interest to be familiar with the ways of enchantment so you can recognize it or play along with it.
Meet a few seducers from history… and then practice your art in OPUS Bar.
There’s no denying that the luminous Marilyn Monroe had the ability to twirl men around her fingertips with one demure look. She was unquestionably a beautiful woman, but the heart of her seduction lay in her playful attitude towards flirtation and sex. She exuded both in her calculated walk that vibrated across a room and sultry voice that could tickle ears like a feather. Her charming light and energy attracted troops of men, both single and married, and her effervescence lingers on even after death.
“Sex is a part of nature. I go along with nature.” ~ Marilyn Monroe
Cleopatra’s secret was her power to dazzle men with grand spectacles and theatrical feats. She fed Julius Caesar and Mark Antony with exotic sights, spellbinding them into enchantment. Upon her first meeting with Caesar, she transfixed him with the art of surprise – she presented herself in his chambers rolled up in an opulent carpet on the shoulders of a merchant. Once her targeted men were sufficiently mesmerized, she would feign disinterest only to make them more persistent.
The romantic allure of Casanova reverberated around Europe in the 1700s. He wooed dissatisfied women by whispering sweet words they had never heard before. The seducer snuck in windows, hid in closets, and ran from angry husbands and fathers all in the name of what his victims would call love, but what he merely called lust. He was irresistible simply because he provided a woman with something she subconsciously felt was missing in her life.
And then there’s Jack Nicholson, a man with six children from five different women. If it weren’t for his dark sunglasses, the mischievous sparkle in his eyes could impregnate women with just one glance. Even Jennifer Lawrence fell under the 71 year old’s spell backstage at this year’s Oscars (watch the video).
“I only take Viagra when I’m with more than one woman.” ~ Jack Nicholson
~ Sandra O’Connell
