Katherine Norton


Leisure

Crêpe balls of fire

Whether or not Georgetown needs a new crêpe place is debatable. When a lust for thin pancakes and gooey filling strikes, we already have two strong choices: Snap for quick and affordable fixes and Café Bonaparte for classier meals.

Leisure

Trick-or-treating in style

They wink at you every time you open your underwear drawer—that pair of fishnets that only gets taken out for a spin every late October. They’re aching to be worn,... Read more

Leisure

Going beyond bangers and mash

You don’t get much British food over here in the United States. That’s probably because jolly old England’s starchy, overcooked culinary offerings tend to be something less than transcendent. However,... Read more

Leisure

Raised in Captivity is mired in the madhouse

AIDS is tough to deal with. It's sad and horrible. So is murder. So too are rape, prostitution, alcoholism, depression, and pretty much every other theme found in Nicky Silver's Raised In Captivity, Mask and Bauble's fall offering that opens tonight. While the play is purportedly a comedy, it deals in dark hues, which cast shadows over its characters, all of whom are unhappily searching for something more, in themselves and in others.

Leisure

Street fashion on the web

As much as I love clothing, I've never been one for fashion magazines. Leafing through pages and pages of gorgeous clothes that I can't afford is a torture akin to window-shopping. Plus, the fact that the photo spreads look exactly like the ten million ads they're sandwiched between makes it no secret that they're just trying to buy you. I want more. I thirst for real creativity that I can approach without feeling unworthy.

Leisure

Everything good about Europe

If you love the European lifestyle, you'll love Vapiano. At least, that's what the restaurant's website claims. And while the fast-growing, upscale chain of Italian restaurants can't offer you month-long vacations or exquisite cashmere jumpers, it does provide its customers with a swanky, tasty experience for a fraction of what it would cost to hop over the pond-$7.95 for a huge bowl of pasta and bread.

Leisure

Costumes are for kids

I'm turning into my mother. This is happening to pretty much all the girls I know, and the change is manifesting itself in a variety of ways, but my fashion sense has been hit particularly hard, as I realized when I found myself less than thrilled at the prospect of dressing up for Halloween this year.

Features

Fall Fashion 2008

This fall, fashion takes its cue from the movies. Books like Brideshead Revisited and Atonement set the stage for the never-ending parade of hacking jackets, cocktail dresses and felted hats that marched out of movie screens, onto runways and into stores. High waists and sheer, fluttery sleeves abound, and it’s now possible to sit in class looking like you’re relaxing on some far off terrace, surrounded by Georgian columns with a gin fizz in your hand. This season, draw inspiration from those women from the 30s who rediscovered their waists after the flappers draped their curves away for a decade.

Leisure

Granny chic

There’s a girl in my art history class who always looks so put together. She wears really great scarves, gold jewelry (nothing too flashy, always tastefully antiqued), cozy looking sweaters, and fabulous tortoiseshell glasses. Her look is very classic and very now, but there’s only one way I can think to describe it: grandma chic. She dresses like an old lady.

Leisure

Hate the hoofs

Shoes have really been irking me lately. In my last column, I directed my grievances at the frumpy footwear of D.C.’s young women, but this week, I’m moving on to the nation at large. While my quibble is with the manufacturers of runaway shoe trends, the real issue is with our nation’s tendency to eat up horrible spin-offs of brand-name shoes that were not so great to begin with.