longing for summer...

             I cannot wait for those lazy days of summer.  

I look at these Urban Outfitters catalog and I think… 

         

I really want to get this relaxed energy in my life....

 

  Loved  the retro 70's  proportion here.  It reminded me of the items I have stolen from my mom's closet... 

 

 These lovelies are just croquis waiting to happen... too cool for school, and I love how their poses just make those maxi skirts look so easy.. I am loving these tank shapes too... what a cool proportion.

 I like this because she's bouldering in a dress :)  any girl who dares to rock climb in chiffon is OK by me. :) maybe this should go on the other blog...

Fully obsessed with Mila Kunis, and Ellie Saab

HOLY S!(&#2!

I didn't think anything in the fashion world could EVER take my breath away again! Mila Kunis took the Oscars to a whole new level. Her dress was incredible, risky, romantic, and sexy. 

 Ellie Saab, the dress was  fresh, & relevant.  Something I would actually want on my body.  (Ahh ! One day....).

I think this dress had just as much " fashion intellect" as Cate Blanchett with the added bonus of looking like clothing, not architecture ( and also, I didn't wretch when I saw it.. sorry Cate). 

I mean can we say intense draping?  This is no easy task, and it was tailored to perfection, melted onto her. Someone probably died in the process of making this dress because of the complex construction. Lace and chiffon is  a tortuous mess to control and here it is. Not ONE puckering seam, not one weird section  at the chest, not one awkward bubble where the zipper might be. How exactly she puts this on and takes it off is a crazy mystery. Clearly no zipper exists.

The hair was elegant, soft, sweet and simple.   Notice the way her hair color is lighter right around her eyes ( not so light at the roots). This is what makes it look as if she is actually glowing (Abbie Klenzman at Arte Salon in NYC  is great at this technique if you are interested).

Her warm- bronze eye shadow was the perfect compliment to the lavender gown. And of course her globes are forever framed in black eyeliner for that extra POP that made this look so successful.

too bad Jolie didnt make it! cat- eye showdown, MEOW!

All Keyed Up – March 2011

All Keyed Up – March 2011

an editorial by Seth Friedermann

The relationship between these three words is ultimately a story of ascending levels of concreteness versus abstraction. Fashion is a sprawling global industry which has created a structure in which its participants function. It has hard and fast rules and is governed by the marketplace, as is every other commercial enterprise. The goal of fashion, as a business, is to make money, and style and design are secondary concerns.



Style has as much to do with fashion as paint has to do with painting. You can’t have style without fashion, but that’s the sole relationship they have. Style is personal; style is the ability to express yourself through the medium of clothing and accessories. The goal of style is to create as pure a relationship as possible between who you are and how you are reacted to. As much as it’s a fool’s errand, because no one can control how people react to you, it somehow works because people are acclaimed by some majority for having an impressive “sense of style,” even if they can’t read it. The consensus is proof of the existence of some objectivity, and therefore more concreteness. It is possible to “have good style,” but it is not possible to “have good fashion.”
Design sits at the top of this pyramid of ever increasing importance. For linguistic scholars, “design” is an annoying word. The word “design” is an abstract noun, you can’t taste it, touch it, see it, smell it, or hear it. However a “design” is often produced, which means there it is now a product of said design, which is a concrete thing. But people don’t speak that way, we remove the last wall between a designer and their design and refer to “the product” as “the design.” It is not insignificant that we speak that way, as it strongly reflects how we feel about designers and their creations. We want you to claim it. We believe it is more than simply a product of you, it is a facet of human greatness. This is your legacy. Designing and creating is critical, and not a casual act.

A great number of fashion designers either studied architecture or were, in fact, practicing architects. This is hardly a surprise, as the two fields share a massive common feature: you have to live in both. But humans always want more than just a simple space, or a plain covering. Great fashion design is exactly like great architecture, it performs powerfully in every respect. It fits well, endures, expresses ideas, and most importantly, it has the power to touch and move people. American culture has become so homogenized, and everything that humans produce has become measured only as a commodity, that it actually sounds silly to say, “fashion can inspire.” But fashion is a form of artistic expression, and the entirety of human history is proof that art is powerful and can incite massive change. The first step in killing the putrid, greedy, uncaring thing that the global fashion industry has become, is for you who are reading my words to reactivate the switch in your head that allows you to see fashion as good or bad design. Is what you are looking at a McDonald’s off the interstate or a Frank Lloyd Wright building? Does it make you look twice, does it make you feel something, and most importantly is it difficult to forget? If it stays with you, stays in your mind, then it has permanence and is as concrete as the sidewalk beneath your feet. Because in the end humanity is built on ideas, and the designs they spawn, and not on the chase for cash. Money does not inspire.

Happy Birthday to ME!!

Oh, Slouchy Girls. Your "slouchy-ness" is the envy of us all.

I have tried many a times to pull of this "slouchy" look.....

you know what i mean...

 "Hi Everyone, i just woke up, and wandered onto this shoot, but I am currently off duty-- soo skinny the damn clothes i own barely fit... all these bangles were gifts from suitors and young designers whose work i have posed for. Off to the cafe for a coffee and a cigarette. ta ta.... "

Asos.com $137.92

 http://us.asos.com/One-Teaspoon-One-Teaspoon-Tiered-Dress/vo602/?iid=1431445&cid=8799&sh=0&pge=0&pgesize=200&sort=-1&clr=Cream&mporgp=L09uZS1UZWFzcG9vbi9PbmUtVGVhc3Bvb24tVGllcmVkLURyZXNzL1Byb2Qv

I am literally just the wrong body type for this. You need, ZERO in the boob department so that the fabric can cling from your shoulder down away from the bod with out even a glance over your curves.  or in this case we have a sweeping line from shoulder to sweep.

That is what makes slouchy so cool.   Models and skinny chicks can do this all day long with none of the effort of brushing their hair.

For the rest of us with the boobs, let these images serve as a cautionary tale:

( boob interference)

 Even the skinniest prettiest girls on earth look like they are wearing  maternity when they wear these tents!! But whats a curvy girl to do these days??   Curvy girls want to look skinny/ slouchy /modelly TOO!!!

 I try not to forget this horrid image as I browse the Internet for MY perfect "sexy-but -i-don't-care" number.... 

And then I found these, that I think would be much better options for a girl like me.

The slouchy portion gets HUGGED into the waist or hip, creates a much more slimming silhouette. 

SEEE? curvy girls CAN have it all!! 

Warehouse Waisted X Front Dress

$112.06

( i don't LOVE the bandeau neckline.... but it has such a nice line, really funky/ wearable)

ASOS Mini Cold Shoulder Kimono Dress

$60.34 NOW $48.27

 

Vero Moda Cut Out Detail Waisted Dress

$43.10

ASOS Long Sleeve Draped Slinky Dress

$68.96  NOW $55.17

Sheer Sided Leggings

Its days like this, when the weather just SUCKS and the town is wet and dreary that I feel like I need a new outfit, whether I do or don't. I think shopping just makes me feel better.

I am really in love with these leggings from 1to3 @ Seven NYC for a whopping $85.00

http://sevennewyork.com/women/womens-styles/leggings/s11to3-leg1

I love these because every miserable winter day has been harsher than the next. Each day is like another "bad outfit" day where I just want to be warm-- fashion be damned!  But with these leggings, we shock the eye with a graphic taste of the unexpected and suspend belief in the structural possibilities of leggings. Oh sweet variation on an old steady that I just cant seem to wake up without.  Something new that I can wear to shreds!  Let the legwarmers replace the ski socks and lets feel the warm embrace of a trendy outfit that is also (potentially, sort of but not really) practical!

Yes. $85. for a pair. I mean, it is SO unfair.

I am just a NYC girl who wants to look fuckin RAD.  

Why must I sell my first born to have a decent pair of sheer sided leggings?

Isn't that what we all want in life?

 I mean, a NORMAL person would go to American Apparel and buy the 1/2 priced knock off for $40...

 RNT64 Nylon Tricot  Micro-Mesh Two-Sided Legging

http://store.americanapparel.net/rnt64.html?cid=905

.... but I really don't want to.

#1 -- BIG NOTE : These are not the same leggings.

 We can all clearly see that. 

If you wore these you risk a flash of the chocha and you are wearing a skirt or a dress and not a tunic (I would hope, anyway).  Already risky and limiting.

#2  I  made this  New Year's resolution to try to support independent boutiques whenever possible and to stop shopping at chain retailers all the time. 

 (**skip this part if you don't like preaching**)...

 Stores like H&M and American Apparel are like a BK drive through of fashion. When we shop those stores exclusively, all the time, we are living like sad cattle in a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation.  Its extremely convenient, consistent and well-priced.... BUT at what cost to our wardrobes and the collective fashion ecosystem?

Much like fast food, our nation is overconsuming a dangerously processed version of  trends.  We have lost originality, and our clothes all look basically the same, the stores' stock is repetitive, etc etc etc... I wont continue. We can do better that's all I am saying.

 whole foods, whole fashion. 

That is my resolution.

(**OK stop scrolling**)

So I debate the "grass fed" model, after seeing this girl who attended Berlin Fashion Week last week... (I hate her shorts, but the tights are cool.... )

  back at Seven NYC I find them... a little different.. a little cheaper...

Pretty Polly  PP "Garter Belt" Stocking $28.50

http://sevennewyork.com/women/womens-styles/leggings/f0hoho-suti-os

can i GET AWAY with these? 

( i have Big Mac withdrawal already-- someone just tell me what to do!)

 I think  I could be asking for a world of slut in the wrong ensemble.....

It takes a printed tunic of the PERFECT length to pull this off and play it down  without looking like the walk of shame.  It needs to be casual but right on the nose.

 should wait for the spring thaw perhaps and see how this trend plays out? ..... or should i just buy them now  so come spring i might have finally found that perfect outfit?

The Wedding ......The Enchanted Forest