Resolve. And dresses.

New Years Resolutions are a load of yak. Unless they actually work. Then that’s cool. Maybe it’s yak to think we’ll instantly change into new, awesome-r beta-versions of ourselves, but maybe it’s cool to assess where we are in our lives and make some tweaks. Woah, I’m getting deep. Anyway, seeing as this blog began off the back of a resolution, it seems fitting that I share with you what I have up my sleeve for the coming 365…

1. Wear more dresses. Be a real girl.

Wearing your personality and wearing what you are interested in can be two very different things. What I mean is, people often react to you based on what you wear, not your personality. So while you (I) think studded leather everything with all the rings that will fit on your hands is something you (I) like to look at and therefore wear, you are (I am) not a bad ass biker with a massive chopper and a knife up my sleeve. Problem. So, I have endeavoured to stop scaring the living bejeezus out of people and am socially experimenting with wearing dresses. Although I’m convinced part of me must like it when people are surprised that I’m not a total witch, I am curious to see the difference in how I am perceived by looking a little less terrifying…

The real girl thing is a bigger problem. My 80′s and 90′s lo-fi upbringing makes me reticent to any kind of preening, pouting, swooning and stropping and all the fandango that surrounds being a REAL GIRL. That whole modern-feminist-minimal-independent-kinda-alt-kinda-grungy-don’t-really-care-that-much-and-I-don’ t-even-have-the-time-anyway-because-I-have-other-goals-in-my-life attitude I have going on makes me pretty much adverse to the whole thing, actually. However. I have been watching a load of old films and I’m just plain old jealous of all those real girls and their real girl ways. And sure, nearly all of them are terrible role models propped up by their times to perpetuate the notion of woman in the home and woman as object, and yada yada yada…but damn they look good. I wanna look that good. Like a real girl. Like Audrey, or Bette, of Faye, or Ginger. Or Marilyn. A girl can dream.

So while I am more than likely going to fail miserably at being a REAL GIRL, I shall make steps towards it by wearing frocks. And when they look like this, that’s gonna be easy peasy.

Top Row: Balenciaga, APC, Balmain. Middle Row: Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Valentino Bottom Row: Roberto Cavalli, Thakoon Addition, Proenza Schouler. Images via Style.com and vogue.com

Top Row: Just Cavalli, Just Cavalli, Holly Fulton. Middle Row: Dries Van Noten. Bottom Row: Theysken’s Theory, Celine.

All images via style.com

Fashion (bitch) flowers

I spend half my life raging at flowers. Proper rage, ruing them, cursing the petal-y feckers and all their petals and funny shapes that often makes drawing them a pain in the kaboose. Luckily, they have a certain magic that keeps me from wanting to vomit all over them when I’m not doing textiles. Good work, flower magic. Good work flowers, being all petal-y and pretty. There was a discussion in the studio recently about favourites and I mentioned peonies as a forerunner for best one. They were deemed “fashion” flowers, in the way girls are deemed “fashion” – the “bitch” is silent, like the k in know. And the w, actually, now that I think about it…Anyway, bite me, they are gorgeous. And while we’re at it, if we’re talking fashion flowers, eh, like, everyone knows that chrysanthemums are the it flower for SS13, as seen all over Gucci and just about everywhere else. Pssssshhhhhhh.

Also, there are no real losers in this game. Flowers are pretty. End of.

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See?!

Gucci, Etro & Dries Van Noten, Spring Summer 2013. All images via Style.com

Exhibition: Tim Walker

 

Given that this exhibiton has been open for a month, this is nothing that hasn’t been said before probably a million times and more eloquently and definitely more ebulliently.  However. Tim Walker’s exhibition in Somerset House is a must see in my book because….

He is dead good at colour – pink and blue are his thing. He like totally owns them. Like the way Jeurgen is a bit yellow. Cool colours, cold, dream like and a bit weird.

His use of light is also great. It is his own, and though much copied, rarely equalled. It’s fresh, but stifled. Diffused isn’t the right way of describing it, it’s like a dead sort of floating thing. I guess dreamlike, which is good, because that what he goes for most of the time, like a weird film full of broken dolly models or something. That’s it, his work is cinematic, not just two dimensional, but really visceral and imaginative and evocative. Yeah.

Walker really goes for exaggeration. He likes hammering his point home, making everything larger than life. Scale is for emphasis with him, like block caps “this is really important”. Again with the dreams thing I guess. Sometimes it might be fun if that was possible in real life. Like you know when you are really hungry and you want a MASSIVE sandwich??  But then I guess it would suck if you were really afraid of something and it was gigantic because it was a big deal…hmmmm. Digression aside, his scale plays with his love of fantasy and creating dreamy scenes. And he totally rocks it.
Anyway. He’s great. And the images are great. In fact, the only thing that wasn’t great were the little stickers accompanying the work – they looked so last minute and out of place (the typeface didn’t even match the blurb on the walls – morto). But that’s me being pedantic. Here are some of my favourite bits, snapped on my iPhone.

 

 

 

 

 

Trend Watch: Plaid

While I’ve been very bad at blogging for quite some time now I’ve been pretty productive elsewhere in my life. Here’s one of the moodboards I’ve been working from in the studio. Check, plaid, tartan. Whatever you wanna call it. It’s not newsworthy that grunge is back  - even Look magazine is all over that shit. It is also arguable that plaid is not, in fact, back because it never really went away…it’s just more that it has been promoted…While print is having a maximal moment, a plaid is a simpler more minimal way of doing it. Loud without being fussy. This season’s plaids are in fresh new colours, as well as referencing classic 90′s styles. What I like about plaid for Spring Summer 2013 is the combinations of print and textures, á la Dries with the florals and the mettalics. Or Richard Chai Love with the washed out, painterly thing. And if all else fails, just throw on a mini kilt and matching jacket and look like a total Betty, as per Cher in Clueless. Way cool.

Plaid Moodboard

Put a Dragon on it.

Dragons are the new tigers. If you don’t believe me, I refer you to Dries Van Noten’s AW12/13 collection. If you still don’t believe me, well, fine. But I’m telling you. Dragons rule.

This is Really Silly #7

Yea I know fashion week has started and Prabal Gurung’s stuff is awesome and we should be focusing on SS13… BUT… THESE GUYS.

Slow Loris. Slow Lori, Slow Lorises? Either way they are super cute, singular or plural.

 

 

On a fashion note, LOVE the Prabal Gurung stuff, reminds me of what I wanted my degree collection to look like. Sigh! Also, I am developing a big thing for BCBG. Colour block/cutouts for the win.

Dudes

These guys are dudes. They all like music and clothes and stuff. And they’re cool as f**k. Dudes.

BB King. He’s a dude.

 

Wayne & Garth. They’re dudes.

 

 

Muddy Waters. He really is the dude.

 

The Rolling Stones. They’re total dudes.

 

These guys are dudes. And it’s totally excellent news that Bill & Ted are coming back for another adventure. Will it be excellent? Will it be bogus? Who knows. But Keanu’s always been fine in my book.

And then there’s these dudes. <3 Outkast.

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Guilty Pleasure: Cavalli

I have a bit of a sick feeling in my stomach saying this. I think I love Cavalli now. I don’t know whether they changed or whether I changed but something has gone awry somewhere and now I can’t get enough. It has been creeping up on me for the past few seasons, pleated animals, awesome baroques, tropicals, more animals. And those baseball hats. If someone sees my good taste lying around will they drop it back to me please. Thanks.

 

 

 

 

Roberto Cavalli Resort 2013

 

 

 

Just Cavalli Resort 2013

All images via Style.com

Sunday Funday #9…

I have succeeded in getting myself a job where I disseminate the collections and am constantly working with trends and analysing what’s next. Which makes me less inclined to repeat it in my free time. It’s not that I have lost interest – far from it, I am actually living the dream. But all fashion an no play makes Jane a dull, uninspired girl and a very boring blogger. In the spirit of doing something that isn’t fashion (I think it’s called balance??), I watched a load of american teenage-coming-of-age films last weekend. For your convenience I have rated them according to their suitability for hangover viewing.

1) American Graffiti.

If you don’t know it, get on it. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola (him from Apocalypse Now) and written by George Lucas (you know, THAT George Lucas), it’s a coming of age tale set in the late 50′s early ’60′s. It is visually stunning, the music is off the chain (my favourite quote of the film might just be “rock n roll has been going downhill since Buddy Holly died). It’s got drive-ins and drag racing, teddy boys, T-birds and a hop. It’s all a bit Marc Jacobs. And a bit Moschino. If you ask me, it’s better than Rebel Without A Cause with more developed characters and a more engaging story. It’s just a pity Ron Howard is on screen more than the insanely ridey Harrison Ford.
Hangoverability: moderate to low. It’s slick stylish and character centric, so you might lose interest if you are feeling delicate. However even if you’re not following the story it’s very visually pleasing.

2) What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
Johnny Depp being a babe, Juliette Lewis being awesome and Leonardo Di Caprio in what has to be his career defining role. Given that I find touching stories almost always either saccharine or corny, this one just nails it and warmed my icy heart and had me blubbing like a sad kitten. Set in the vast American midlands the whole thing is just unreal.
Hangoverability: Very low. Don’t watch it with a bad hangover/the fear. You might die of tears.

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3) 10 things I hate about you
This film is a classic, not least because Heath Ledger is in it, being all Heath ledger-y. It’s over the top, the characters are caricatures, and the story line is silly. Exactly how a teen drama should be. And the clothes are something else.
Hangoverability: high. This film was made with people of low intellects in mind. Perfect hangover fodder.

And I listened to Alt-J. A lot. New favourite. His voice is mesmerising. Sounds a little bit black keys, a little bit bluesy, and very very now.
Hangoverability: high. It’s soothing and melodic. It’s a hug for your delicate ears.

Photo Story: Bali

Back in February I spent all the money I had on a flight to Bali. It was equal parts inspired and insane behaviour. Sadly, the too-poor-to-eat thing didn’t give me the awesome beach bod I was hoping for, because food that is bad for you is cheaper for you than food that is good for you. But that is a debate for another place (Channel 4 have a good series of documentaries if you are interested). Anyway, me and my not-even-nearly beach ready bod went to Bali and surfed, snorkled and generally acted the maggot. I went fishing at sunset and dived off boats. I absorbed the overwhelming culture, which was Aussie bogan style, and came home thinking it was perfectly acceptable to wear an oversize tie dye tee, leopard maxi, trucker hat and flip flops as a legitimate outfit. :/ Well when the place looks like this, who gives a shit about clothes…

Ps. I accidentally threw out a roll of film with all my favourite places on it. EPIC fail. Thank feic for my iphone….