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

Cozy up beside me

Autumn is here, much to my dismay. I am cheering myself up by pondering winter coats. Those that know me will know that I have a teeeeensie coat obsession…to the tune of twenty-odd of the things. Still though, I think I can justify perhaps a fresh one this season. Well, you know, fresh city, it just seems fair!

Giles AW11

Chloe AW11

Giles and Chloe rocking Gestapo chic, DELISH

So this is what I have been thinking….I am in the mood for something functional yet stylish, something that screams – I AM A DESIGNER, living in LONDON. haha. Seriously though, I’m only half joking. I want an oversize, anti-fashion, functional thing. I really like when garments go beyond fashion to become pure design, the beauty is in the simplicity, the lack of superfluous embellishment. A pocket where you need a pocket, just the right amount of warmth, a neutral colour that works with everything, the works.  As much as it is boringly on trend, I am really crushing on Barbour at the moment, if just from a quality perspective. The high street is flooded with imitators, but only the original is as warm as it is stylish….I just can’t decide which one I want more!

 

Barbour Beadnell

Barbour xLiberty Beadnell

Barbour National Trials

 

 

Living in Dublin, London, anywhwere similar,  means that for basically half the year, the most important garment you have is your coat. Because you need to wear one almost all the time. The most well thought out outfits have come undone by forgetting to incorporate the coat. And given that I am the whatever-is-closest-and-cleanest kind of dresser, getting a coat that says the right thing without having to figure out in-depth outfit plans is a major bonus.

 

Simone Rocha AW11

Celine AW11

 

Antonio Berardi AW11

Philip Lim AW11

Alexander Wang AW11

Contrasting textures & colours for added interest

I have been on the hunt for the perfect parka for roughly two years now. I have had terrible luck, because I didn’t want to pay loads of money, because in my head a parka is a casual thing, and casual things should be cheeep. But the high street ones are useless quality, flimsy and just not even worth the more reasonable price tags. Furthermore, the shape needs to be just right, long enough but not too long, utilitarian, just the right amount of oversize and straight.

Turns out I have been a FOOL, because I have found a bucketload of them on the interweb from army surplus style sites. Why I didn’t head straight there is beyond me, but now all I have to do is decide which of these babies is just right.

Aquascutum AW11

Dress Monster via Asos

Won Hundred

Swedish Military Parka

Or maybe a Duffel Coat? Maybe?

Burberry AW11

Christopher Raeburn via Brownsfashion.com

Barbour

 

I LOVE this colour!

Celine AW11

and the highstreet version…

Topshop

 

And finally, it’s not practical, nor affordable, but if someone wants to buy me this, I’ll love you forever…

Alexander Wang AW11

 

Can I Have It?

Today’s challenge of “an outfit you wish you had” ties nicely in with my desire to share my thoughts on the Resort 2012 collections. I really enjoyed looking through all the collections, as I felt like recently despite being totally immersed in the creation of fashion things, that I was totally divorced from what was going on outside my little bubble. So, since I last checked, I realise that I have developed a penchant for massive trousers, and more print than usual. I still like shirts, although I could have told you anyway, seeing as I bought three of them the other day…So here are the outfits I wish I had from the latest collections…

3.1 Philip Lim Resort 2012

Alexander Wang Resort 2012

Celine Resort 2012

Celine Resort 2012

Chloe Resort 2012

Erdem Resort 2012

Givenchy Resort 2012

Jason Wu Resort 2012

J Mendel Resort 2012

Jonathan Saunders Resort 2012

Preen Resort 2012

Proenza Schouler Resort 2012

 

It’s quite a varied selection, granted, but I think the overall feel is a sort of relaxed glamour, luxe sportswear, classic shapes with a twist. I am continuing my love affair with shirts in all variations. Leather and print feature heavily in my favourites, although I don’t think it’s indicative of the general mood of the season, but rather my own preferences. If I was severely loaded…I think I’ll play the lotto tomorrow…

PS Full review of the NCAD Grad Show to follow, either this eve or tomorrow.

PPS This is where I got the post title from, they have disabled embedding, but click the link it’s fierce funny!

MAD TV – Can I Have Your Number

 

Bout time…

So last September I decided to ignore the SS11 shows, because it was Autumn and there was Winter on the way and I didn’t feel like looking at Summer things. But now it’s fashion week time again. Talk about missing the boat. Anyway, in the spirit of doing things arseways, here’s one of my favourite colour trends for Spring Summer 2011. I’m digging the new neutrals, heading towards reddy orangey earth tones. And blue is basically my favourite colour so I’m happy as larry.

3.1 Philip Lim SS11

3.1 Philip Lim SS11

Edun SS11

Edun SS11

Diane Von Furstenberg SS11

Celine SS11

Akris SS11

Yves Saint Laurent SS11

Tibi SS11

Let me fix my weave

I’ve been spending all my time lately being a giant nerd, obsessing about textiles and my thesis, so I decided to do a really nerdy, textiley post today, just for consistency between my real life and my procrastination-driven internet ramblings….

Exhibit A: Céline coat, Spring Summer 2011 Collection

via style.com

This coat caught my eye because of the unusual weave structure (a wha?!!!), which is as much textile art as it is fashion. Why do you care? You probably don’t. But it IS interesting because, well, sorry for the diabolical pun, textiles are literally the fabric of clothes, and too often these fabrics underutilise the amazing potential of textiles to create texture, volume and touchyfeely deliciousness. Even though fashion & textiles are sisters, designers rarely veer away from the most plain knits and weaves.  Most people don’t even know that textile art is a thing, because it is largely seen as a craft activity, and generates very little attention. For some reason people don’t take sculptures made of fabric and yarn as seriously as ones made of metal or wood. Same-sies with wall hangings and paintings. Places like Etsy.com are starting to change people’s minds about craft being a dirty word, but in terms of gallery art, textiles artists are still pretty thin on the ground. The art vs craft debate is an ongoing hot topic, and I’m not here to weigh in on it, so I’ll leave it at that and get to the point… With the under-representation of artisan textiles in mind, it is noteworthy that a brand like Céline included a piece as textile-y as this one is. Given that they are famous for their clean lines and sleek, sexy minimalism, this coat is really special.

It reminded me a lot of the work of Sheila Hicks, a famous-if-ur-into-textile art artist. She has done a lot of white on white work focusing on different textures and yarns and the like. Working with just one colour she creates blocks of texture to create variety and interest within the surface. Much like the above coat. Even if you couldn’t care less about textiles and craft and things that are handmade, I think people always like to see where designers find their inspiration. And I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Phoebe Philo was flicking through Sheila Hicks’ book when she was designing this collection.

So now you know.

 

Hicks' yummy, tactile book

source: here

source: here

source

source

That’s nice

Let’s be honest, noone really likes NICE. Nice is almost an insult, it’s bland, it’s forgettable. Of all the adjectives in the world you can use to describe something, nice is so passive. It’s the default setting to describe something that does not offend you, but you don’t care enough to search for a better description. Fuuuck that.

When it comes to fashion, “nice” dresses are for people who don’t like clothes. You know them, the “sure why would i spend my money on the fancy one” people. The people who forget/don’t realise that everything is designed, and that everyone reveals an awful lot about their personality by the objects they choose to surround themselves with, no matter what level of design or style it is. Dressing to look invisible is as telling of a personality as dressing to stand out.

And given that fashion, at it’s best, is a visceral and joyous manifestation of art, feast your eyes on these looks from Spring Summer 2011 that are a whole lot more than nice….

 

Akris SS11

Celine SS11

Galliano SS11

Herve Leger SS11

Versace SS11

Valentino SS11

Burberry Prorsum SS11

Toasty

I LOVE coats & jackets. They are my favourite type of garment. I have far too many. Every time I go away I come home with like 2 or 3 more coats. I am aware that this is not normal behaviour. But I can’t help it. So, it is hardly surprising then that I am VERY excited when this time of year rolls around. It’s winter coat time. Well, almost. It’s actually autumn jacket time, which is like the prelude to proper freezing weather. BUT, it is quickly getting cold enough to be thinking of winter coats, which is just fine by me. Here’s what I’ve been thinking of….

3.1 Philip Lim

Aquascutum

Behnaz

Celine

Fendi

Gareth Pugh

Giambasti Valli

Hermes

Malandrino

Roskanda Illinic

All images via Style.com

So Last Season. So What?

Fashion has a tendency to lose the run of itself. Well, actually, people have a habit of blaming clothes for their own tendency to lose the run of themselves, but to hell with taking responsibility for your own actions – let’s blame fashion. I say this is because “fashion” these days moves at warp speed. Driven in no small part by the knock off merchants, I mean the high street, the rag trade mentality seems to drive fashion in terms of sales and selling new things to people like me every two weeks. TWO WEEKS!

Sorry, but I call shenanigans. We have allowed money makers to let us replace values such as craftsmanship and design integrity with newness, constant shiny newness. It doesn’t matter that the quality of the fabric is bad, it doesn’t matter that the design is poor and that the cut is rubbish. If it is new, it is good, right??

So if new is good then old is bad, yeah? To be “last season” is the ultimate fashion faux pas of our society. I guess there are sociological reasons for this… technology moves so fast, the world we live in…blah blah blah….but I mean COME ON!!!! We are obsessed with vintage, yet we look down on last season? Not vintage enough, it’s inauthentic and it’s not new enough to be relevant. REALLY?!!

Wow, I didn’t realise I was going to have such a rant. Heh, oops! To bring things back to a more light hearted note, below are a bunch of last season’s clothes. And they still rock. It’s handy to look at our old clothes to see what can be reworked into our current wardrobes. A good trick when wearing last season (always handy around sale time) is to pick something that is classic or so completely out there that it never really fit into a season as such to begin with. Doing things like changing the belt or the buttons on clothes can update them. I know that sounds really stooopid but the difference between a shirt buttoned all the way up and three buttons down is huge!

And then there are just some things in every woman’s closet that they love so much who gives a flying fuck whether people think they are this season, last season, soooo last season its not even funny or just plain ugly. If you love it, wear it. Even if it’s just around your bedroom!

Moschino Cheap & Chic SS09

3.1 Philip Lim SS09

3.1 Philip Lim SS09

Alexander Wang SS09

Badgley Mischka

Balmain SS08

BCBG Max Azria AW09

Celine SS09 (how awesome is that necklace?!!)

Chloe SS09

Erdem SS09

Malandrino SS09

Marchesa SS09

Max Azria SS09

Prada Resort 2010 (not technically last season yet, but too good to leave out!)

Rodarte SS09

Tibi SS09

Tory Burch SS09

YSL SS09

(all images via Style.com)