That's Hot!

I want this. It's like 19th Century jewelry got smashed into the future and then was vomited up by a garbage disposal.

Awesome. Bling!

Tom Binns Dumont Crystal Necklace $2,670 at Net-a-Porter.

Freja Beha Erichsen

One of my favourite models.

Photo from "Writing on the Wall," a film by Freja Beha Erichsen.

Watch it here.

Obsession: Jane Fonda

"While the rest of us have just about managed one life, Jane Fonda has had half a dozen. She has been a sex kitten, a fashion model, a radical and war protester, an Oscar-winning movie star, an exercise impresario and the consort of a billionaire. Her marital history alone has made her a kind of cultural bellwether. Her first husband, the French director Roger Vadim, introduced her to threesomes; she first made love with her second husband, Tom Hayden, after he showed her some slides of Vietnamese peasants (this was back when people took foreplay seriously); and her third husband, Ted Turner, told her on their first date, 'I have friends who are Communists.'" Excerpt from the NY Times.

Model Profile: Tao Okamoto

Tao Okamoto

...pictured backstage a Marc by Marc Jacobs FW 09.

Nationality: Japanese

Birthday: May 22, 1987

Height: 5'9.5''

Bust: 32''

Waist: 24''

Hips: 34''

Born in: Japan

Agencies: Elite

Known for: My legs

The Sartorialist

Just in case you didn't catch this weeks Sartorialist, here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy! :)

RUNAROUND

I SO want to see this! Too bad I'm not in NY anymore, but in Pittsburgh.

Watch the trailer here.

regular reader?

follow me!
(pretty please)

Daily Sin: Tie Dye Suede

I shouldn't be, but I am a teeny weeny, itsy-bitsy, in love with these boots. Tie dye suede? Scrunchy folds? Sounds repulsive, but for some reason I like it!

Brian Atwood Ontorio Suede Tie Dye Boots $925 at Saks Fifth Avenue.

Atwood has also taken the tie dye suede, in the same awesome colours (...and hey! I'm not even a big blue fan), and made a platform sandal with it. Super cool.

Sandal here, for $799.

I can't wait until someone rips these off!

Spring Showers

Soooo cute! I've recently become enamored by bubble umbrellas!

They are super functional if you think about it, and super playful!

The fun floral print on this umbrella is perfect for perking up that rainy day gloom. :)

Get it for $16.99 at Amazon, or find more prints at Target!

Cute Little Asian Man How I Love You!

Rune, 29, Trend Scout (Outside Wood Wood)

Vintage jacket, trousers, hat, bowtie, and bag,
Filippa K cardigan,
Yves Saint Laurent shirt,
Givenchy shoes

From Stil in Berlin: Copenhagen Fashion Week

Universal Plastic

"Cosmetic surgery is now so popular that even young, healthy, attractive women are choosing to be “enhanced.” In a quest for insight into this $13 billion industry, the author—a five-foot-nine, 120-pound 27-year-old—went undercover, asking three plastic surgeons what they’d do to her nose, her breasts, and her, uh, “banana rolls.” The answers were as different as the doctors themselves. "

Read more...

New Obsession: The Polyamorous Affair

Slippery,
polymorphic,
seductive,
vintage,
disco,
catwalk,
fresh.

I'm sort of being obsessive. But how long do obsessions last anyway?

Catch more of The Polyamorous Affair here.

In a Tight Spot

I've been craving some floral tights for the past few months, and now they're finally becoming more and more accessible! Yay!

There are some awesome designs at lovecolour-lovetights and River Island.

You can also find some better photos of the lovecolour-lovetights here.

Rachel Roy: Asymmetrical Beauties

With the fall of the economy fashion is changing it's hemline and silhouette. The hemlines are longer and the lines sharper. All of this doesn't mean a lack of sexy or more severity.

Rachel Roy's FW 09 Ready-to-Wear collection is a tribute just to that. Sexy... without having to have a hemline that's two inches away from your crotch. Roy plays with asymmetry, neatly placed cutouts and soft colours, as well as black.

Indulge! There is a lot to be seen! PS: I'm DYING for the first outfit!!!

To the Victims of Fascism (Second Version)

“To the Victims of Fascism (Second Version),” a work from the late 1940s by Hans Grundig

New Obsession: Asobi Seksu

Music here.

Carnevale!

More photos of Venice's Carnevale here.

Free Art Friday

What is Free Art Friday?

Free Art Friday is a relatively new art movement that’s rapidly gaining in popularity around the World.

Artists create a painting, sketch, sculpture or installation and leave it on the street. The piece can then be picked up by anyone and claimed as their own.

Finders are encouraged to email the artist and tell them how and where they found it. See www.freeartfriday.com

Current Obsession: Harem Pants

Okay, so maybe 99.9999% of the world hates the way these look, but I'm completely in love with harem pants!!

Something about the way the fabric creates intriguing folds, how the low crotch is weird yet oddly flattering to your lower leg pulled on my conscience...

Then, I actually saw a guy wearing some on campus the other day, in a very structured/heavy weight material, and he looked just smashing!

Anyway, I could no longer resist temptation and I gave way to what most people would consider poor judgment, and bought a pair.

Okay, please try not to throw stones at me. I promise they are super-duper-ultra comfy; so much so that I don't care if the rest of the world thinks I look like an idiot.

The harem pants to the left are by Alice + Olivia and can be found at shopbop (if you dare to buy a pair). A more comprehensive listing can be found here.

Happy shopping ladies (and gents?).

Artist Spotlight: Katsuya Kamo

I'm loving the biblical inspiration of the Chanel Couture Spring 09 hairdressing.

These headdresses were designed by Katsuya Kamo. One could say that he's not very conventional when it comes to styling. He styled the Chanel headdresses out of paper (wow)!

He has also designed for Karl Lagerfeld. These creations looked like birds in flight.

Kamo is known to do exquisite editorial work.

View more of his work here.

Sweden by Storm

Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair

This is the name behind the first set of photos. Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair, puts up a mean structural fight. These unique, yet simplistic designs scream for attention! I'm in love!

Helena Hörstedt

Designer of the pieces in the second set of photos. She's one of Sweden's most written about designers of the moment. She graduated from Beckman's School of Design, Stockholm in 2004. Helena always works with black and is famous for her hand sewn black dresses.

A Closer Look at Fabric

Sure, models are beautiful and completely decked out at couture fashion shows... And the structure and detail of the designs may be breath taking... But have you ever looked closely at the fabric its self?

Fabric plays a huge role in the feeling and mood that a piece sets and evokes. So, here is a little snippet of fabric 101.

Weight
Some fabrics, such as silk, are light and can be billowy on the runway; whereas, a knit wool or vicuna would be heavier, and depending on the knit size droopy or stiff.

Dye
Some fabrics will hold dye better than others. Synthetic fabric generally does not hold dye well or requires a special dye process and/or to be blended with a natural fiber. Along with this, some natural cloth holds dye better than others and will produce more vivid colours.

Processing
Natural fibers go though different levels of processing or washing, and therefore have different degrees of refinement. The more refined, obviously, the more expensive the fabric will be.

Well that is just a tidbit of fabric information. Maybe I'll go more in depth on a niche of it later.

Street Style: Berlin with a Twist

Berlin is an amazing city for street style.

It's not necessarily New York, Paris or Milan, but it certainly holds it's own. Unconfined by the stuffy name brands that always walk in the cities with the biggest fashion shows in the world, Berlin takes on a rougher, almost neo-gothic/punky attitude to it's style.

Although, do not get me wrong, there are still a lot of wonderful designer pieces floating around the city; it's just that they appear to be worn a bit differently.

The girl in this photo wears a vintage cape, scarf, and tights, H&M shoes and Roeckl gloves.

At first glance I thought that the cape was a different rendition of Gareth Pugh's widely publicized rat cape. When I saw it was not, I still thought it might have been designed by him.

Alas, it was not. So bravo to the vintage find and this rockin' style.

Looks like I'll have to be making a trip to Berlin sometime soon...

Photo and clothing info from: Stil in Berlin.

Model Profile: Giedre Dukauskaite

Giedre Dukauskaite

Nationality: Lithuanian

Birthday: May 16, 1988

Born in: Lithuania

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Brown

Height: 5'9.5

Measurements: 33-23-35

Dress Size: 4

Shoe Size: 7

Agencies: New York Model Management, Viva

Advertisements: D&G, Topshop, Uniqlo,

Magazine Covers: Italy: 'D' - March 2007

Known for: My hair

Status: Rising star

Pictured here, backstage at Gaultier Couture F/W 09

Cashing in on Couture

I recently came across a well known fashion forum in which people were asking-- why are designer items priced so high? I was shocked to see some of the replies that this question received, so today we'll take a look into why designer items are priced so high.


Designer clothes are expensive for various reasons. What we know of today as 'haute couture' started in the mid 19th century. Eventually it became regulated. Today there are many strict rules as to what you must do to get classified as a haute couture house such as the number of people that mare employed in your house or the amount of workrooms, etc.


What one must understand about the cost is that each couture fashion house strives to create a collection that is timeless-- something that will be revered for its attention to detail and quality for decades to come. In couture only the finest luxury fabrics are used. Each house strives to maintain the integrity of the piece they designed while making adjustments to the clients figure and personal preference—which sometimes, will even double the work load.

When you buy a couture item, it is required of all haute couture houses that at least one fitting is held. This is labor-intensive process. You also must understand is that these houses sew all of their clothes by hand—only using machine where VERY uniform stitches MUST bee seen.

There are many different sections of a haute couture house. In these houses there is a tailoring room and a dress making room, each having its individual specifications as to how it carries out its work. This may vary from what they make down to the details of what thimbles they use.

Detailed work, such a beading and metal casting is often sent to one of the many specialty shops in Paris. Most everything in haute couture is custom made, including the buttons (and fabric)!

Pret-a-porter, or ready-to-wear collections are different in that the pieces in the collection are not primarily sewn by hand. Instead pieces are assembled my machine operators in a piece-work system in which each operators performs the same task over and over again; thus there is a considerable amount of less handwork than that in haute couture. Luxury ready to wear is made of out high-quality fabrics and sold to many high-end stores in the worlds—however hundreds of each item may be made, versus only the handful that may be made in haute couture. Most of these pieces are clean finished or lined with a rayon or silk lining that conceals the unfinished seams.

Real Purity

So what could be more alluring than the perfect one-step face wash? Probably nothing other than the most decadent chocolate cake cake when you're PMSing.

This baby has been put to the test.

This summer I traveled from San Diego, CA where it was a nice and constant 87+ degrees out, to Malaysia where a balmy 96 still wasn't considered hot. Then I hit a camping expedition, New York, and back to the ice land known as Pittsburgh, PA. It's stayed true through the triple digits to the negative ones.

A little bit goes a long way, and this face wash even melts off waterproof mascara.

Purity (Made Simple) couldn't be a better name for the product!

Philosophy's Purity Made Simple can be found at Sephora.