HOW EVER SO BADASS

Everyone knows quite well by now that this fall, one must shed all of summer's cool, effortlessly breezy looks for something much, much harder. Sweet sun dresses have given way to leather and studs galore - no nice girls allowed! I have fallen quite head over spiked heels in love with this look (whether or not I can pull it off is undecided at this point!), and of course there is a plethora of accessories out there to facilitate my adoration. The embellished leggings are from Sass & Bide's Spring 2010 collection, and no tangible explanation is worthy of their praise; the necklaces' are by Iosselliani for Barney's New York; the brass knuckles are by Alexander McQueen, and the skeleton hand is by _____ (I have no idea).

HOW LOVELY IS THIS?

This dress is just amazing. Wish I knew who made it! I thought at first it was from Versace Spring 09, but it isn't exactly the same. I'm not big into heavy studs and looking too loaded down with metal spikes, but this is just beautifully done! I'd love this dress, any day. With the gloves and hair on the model, it reminds me of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's: this is the semi-punky version of her Givenchy dress! Absolutely love it, to pieces. I found this image here. I feel like I could make this pretty easily... hmmm...

LOUIS VUITTON F/W 09 BACKSTAGE

I know, I know, I KNOW: how irrelevant and pointless does it seem to post about fall 09, when there is just a little bit more time before all of spring's runways have been presented? The thing is, I can't stop loving the fall runways, espeacially since the spring ones thus far have been wildly dissapointing. The Louis Vuitton's fall collection was one of my favorite LV collections ever, and I've had these images on my computer for some time now. The colors are so happy for fall, the shapes so lovely! Not to mention the fact that the models themselves are so bubbly and ecstatic - certainly enjoying being paid to walk down a runway in gorgeous clothes while hanging out with their friends, I should assume (do I sound jealous?).

HEROINE

I haven't been posting lately at all, nor replying to comments: I've been such a bad bad blogger, haven't I? I must admit that although I play no role in fashion week other than spectator, it is truly draining me of any energy to post! I'm a bit meticulous when it comes to viewing the shows, and after it all I don't really feel like photoshopping and uploading my finds - what a pain it all really is! Espeacially when the runways for spring are so DULL to say the least. My god, everyone wants to be the next Rodarte, the next Balmain, or the next Rick Owens. I guess that works (since I love all three!), but after a while it can be tedious to pick over. I debate whether or not I'll even post about London fashion week, it was just that terrible to go through. There was nothing eye catching, and if there was a collection that struck a chord with me, it perhaps consisted of just a few (one or two) looks that I found blog-worthy. I am SO looking forward to Paris fashion week to bring me out of this gutter - Lanvin, McQueen, Dior, and Chanel all await!
I did, however, find this editorial quite wonderful. I never really liked Jessica Stam - somewhat indifferent over her looks (she always has the same face!). I randomly searched her on youtube one night and saw an interview with her - she just seemed so... nice and intelligent. I really loved her! The opposite can be said of the gorgeous Chanel Iman - I thought her wonderful until I read an interview with her where she came off as a vain, arrogant, ill-spoken model (wish I could find that interview again...). This editorial is for Numero Korea October 2009, and can be found here.

NEW YORK FASHION WEEK: MUCH LOVE

Now then, I know everyone has been posting about fashion week all... well, week I guess - but I'm slow and getting to it now. After spending HOURS and hours looking through all the runways, deliberating, photoshopping, and finally uploading my picks, here they are. Unfortunately, to inclue everything I loved would have taken too much time as well as made this post into a novel. But alas, as promised: my New York Fashion Week favorites! Sources are here. HINT: Clicking the images provides a larger edition.

THE QUEEN

This editorial really wouldn't have caught my eye if not for one, small detail: that bunny! He really steals the show here; in fact I kinda want one right now, much more than the clothing! I'm sure they didn't expect sales of bunnies to do better than the clothes after this editorial printed! I suppose the other images are kinda OK, just not really in my taste. I've been somewhat uninspired lately, it gets harder and harder to find material worth blogging about! The rest of these images can be found here. This was for Marie Claire Italia, October 2008. The model is Leah de Wavrin.
As for my plans to blog about fashion week: I don't really enjoy blogging about the things that absolutely everyone else is blogging about, it just kind of makes it feel redundant - and do people really want to read a million people rave over Alexander Wang's show? I don't. That being said, I feel like a hypocrite saying that I blog for myself and not for the people reading my blog, so I WILL do a few fashion week posts, but as a cumulative look at New York, Paris, Milan, and London fashion weeks, broken down by country. So that's the plan...

PARSONS FINAL PRESENTATION

I am finally, after nearly two months, getting around to putting up just a taste of the work I did over the summer at Parsons. This is partly because I am so lazy, and partly because I'm not good at drawing! To sum up, the Parsons summer program is focused on beginners who have little or no experience whatsoever in the design process. I was tempted to add my drawings from the first day of class, when we were displayed a live model and told to simply draw what we saw (I can tell you now that the drawing I produced looked nothing like the lovely girl I saw!). I still have a long way to go in terms of developing a personal style as well as mastering technique, but I acknowledge that I came a longgg way. The designs are inspired by the German silent film actress Marlene Dietrich and were for my final presentation on the last day of class.

On our final presentation day, we were required to have made a garment using XXL t-shirts and whatever other fabric, trim, or embellishment (not to mention cutting/sewing) we wanted. Some people produced some pretty cool things - I recall a girl going out and buying gobs of flower pins and absolutely covering her "dress" in them. I used a black t-shirt, cut a deep V in the back, and fastened a gold/silver embellished ribbon as well as some mediocre draping on the hips. Gold and silver embroidery finishes the dress. I absolutely loved making this dress, and while the XXL shirt makes it a bit big, with some "fashion tape" it is quite wearable! Perhaps someday in the future I shall have a photoshoot of myself in it. And, if you're wondering why I look oh-so-very-grumpy in this image, I'll let you know that I had spent the last month working day to night; by the last day I was ready to get it all over with!

Das Fräulein Claudia

I'm not a fan of Lagerfeld, and I'm somewhat indifferent over Schiffer, but a few of these photos really stood out to me. Lagerfeld shot Schiffer in Dior, which looks absolutely wonderful in black and white (come to think of it, everything looks better in black and white!). Although not all of the images were inspiring for me, I love the clothes and mysterious mood in these ones for some reason. You can find these as well as the others here.
PS: An update on my fur shopping - I bought a faux fur collar from H&M (I was so surprised at how many people commented against getting any real fur!), but I think it looks cheap - like I'm wrapping roadkill around my neck... this is going to be a frustrating ordeal!

A VEGETARIAN GOES FUR SHOPPING

Yes, I am vegetarian. Yes, I feel bad for promoting the killing of animals. Yes, I looked a faux fur scarves. But no, they were not as nice as the real thing. Anyway, I have not bought any fur items yet, so I have not sinned! So long as I don't have to eat the carcas they carve the skin off of, I think I'll be ok. I'll treat the fur I end up getting VERY nicely, I promise... does that make it better?
I stumbled across these images, I believe somewhere on this site, but I'm not sure where she found them. I don't recognize the models, besides Chanel Iman of course on the far right (NOT her biggest fan!). The look is so completely gorgeous, I can't believe I hadn't bought a fur scarf ages ago. Finding one as lovely as these is difficult and costly, so I'm trying to go vintage. Surprisingly, I've found some decent ones for around the $50.00 range; and for something I'd be wearing forever I don't think it's a bad investment! I've decided to "style" another look inspired by these models - perhaps not exactly as they've done but certainly influenced by what they're wearing. If only I could afford these...

01. Rick Owens blister leather biker jacket, $2,695
02. Helmut Lang leather in-set leggings, $460
03. Christian Louboutin small leather bag, $1,495
04. Jil Sander Narrow Fur Scarf, $695
05. Alexander McQueen riding boots, $1,295

Lanvin Fall 2009 Interview by Alber Elbaz

He is pure amazing, in human form. There is no other way to describe Mr. Elbaz. I could seriously devote a whole blog to my love for this man and Lanvin...

Les Ailes Du Dési & NEW LAYOUT

I'll start off with the obvious: I made a new layout. Obviously, it is a quite different from my previous one, far more... rather, fall less subtle; a bit more grandeur. I still don't know if I like it or not - a whole lot of white space that is perhaps too awkward and barren. While it shall take some getting used to, I will give it a fair chance to see if it truly bothers me. I liked it a lot as I was testing it, but with all my applications perhaps it gets a little tiring. I may make some slight adjustments here and there over the next few days - don't be alarmed if things are suddenly jostled about as I manipulate things a bit. I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to these sorts of things (not so much in other areas of my life that perhaps could need this eye for detail a bit more!), so any slightly annoying thing should be ironed out fairly quickly, so long as it doesn't end up frustrating me. Hopefully, no one else is bothered by the layout (perhaps, even, you like it? It's clear I'm desperate for some reassurance here!).
But besides all that "technical" stuff, are these images of Catherine McNeil in Numero's September 2009 issue not incredibly stunning? The lighting, the black and white, the chiffon - I'm smitten by every image. I love it all, every single aspect of them. You can find these here.

Natasha Obsessed

Well it seems that the world is just as in love with Natasha as I am: she is in Prada's new muse campaign as well as working with Riccardo Tisci from Givenchy. Here she is in an upcoming issue of Muse, and the rest of the images can be found here. I really want her genetics... ANYWAY, I'm already kinda really uninspired & bored by Gin & Roses' layout, so I shall have to craft another! Waiting for something amazing to come along for me to photoshop into something lovely. Any ideas?