Posts Tagged ‘fashion’
sound advice from anna dello russo
I see fashion as a way to play with your personality, to flirt with a part of yourself. It’s like when you go on a date with someone. You’re excited, you dress up, and you look phenomenal. When you get dressed, you should always be dating someone — even if it’s just yourself.
excellent advice from the fabulous anna dello russo, from her must-read blog ..
a fashiony launch
so i was invited to attend the launch of the twentysevennames s/s collection. this sounds fancy but it isn’t really; the wonderful goodasgold invited their clients to come along for drinks, cupcakes and pretty summer clothes. seeing as the weather is just about allowing us to think that winter might end — one day, one day — racks of pastel deliciousness were just what was needed. i grabbed a vitamin water and wandered.
there were pretty cupcakes, although i didn’t get a shot of those. they were disappearing pretty quick. fun fact: in new zealand, fashion people actually *eat*. scandal!
but most importantly, the clothes.
(all the above photos by me)
these two photos are from twentysevennames’ lovely website and are my favourite looks of this collection. i totally adore the transparency of that navy blouse .. it looks like a starscape, is diaphanous and glorious to touch and is a perfect alternative if you’re not really feeling the pastel for summer. and the proportions of the parma violet coloured blazer with that white dress and boots — love.
the first, i would happily buy for myself and wear it with cropped khakis and brogues (yes, still). the second look i think might be a little too pale for me — i am dark-haired with a sort of olivey complexion and i’m not sure i can rock that much pale. but you know? this season might be the perfect time to experiment. cast aside the blacks, the neutrals .. after a long wellington winter full of blacks, greys and the occasional bust-out into dark red, maybe a light shade is just what’s needed. like a fresh sour sorbet after a too-heavy main course.
anyway. seeing the collection reminded me of the kind of quirky spin that the best new zealand design is able to put on the overseas trends. yes, pastels are a clear reference to the northern hemisphere summer trends. but these clean lines, the perfect proportions with only the merest hint of boho, make me happy.
pretty people, pretty clothes. thanks, goodasgold and twentysevennames. really lovely stuff.
a guilty pleasure for a sunday night
more actual content shortly, i promise. but in the meantime: i know plenty of people have already mentioned this, but if you haven’t checked out what courtney wore today yet then you really ought to treat yourself. a mixture of magazine editorials, archive shots and blurred fash-blogger selfportraits of la love’s current stylings (hermes birkins and milk-white skin one moment, “upcycled vintage” confections the next) it never fails to entertain. me, i think i like the 90s riot-grrrl looks the best, simply because that’s the era when hole and courtney blasted into my life; what’s your favourite?
the importance of beautiful packaging
as evidenced by my possibly-favourite-ever shoe manufacturer, melissa:
detail of the gorgeous box:
i have to say i am not *gagging* for the shoes themselves (although they could look pretty cute with jeans and a simple teeshirt) but the box is utterly precious. as the company themselves says, the total concept of a brand isn’t just restricted to the product itself but to the packaging .. because that’s the first impression a consumer gets of a product’s quality and its essence. i couldn’t agree more.
now, as for a pair of melissas that does make me go “ooh” .. check out these babies, the melissa ocean II (great heel height, right on trend, and i particularly like the bronze/gold combo, perfect for what the rockstar terms the perua rica or rich bitch look):
and then speaking of babies, well. this link may make you die of the cute, i warn you. but if you ever thought that vivienne westwood’s collaboration with melissa couldn’t get any better, it just has: dame viv + melissa for kids. check it. those miniature-sized lady dragons! eeeeee!!
(all images from the lojamelissa blog)
the lust list
the autumn/winter collections are in store, coincidentally at a time when i have (a) hardly any money to spend and (b) a need to equip myself with a slightly more corporate wardrobe than i’ve been rocking this past few years. (i did say slightly. there will be no navy suits for *this* bunny, unless martin margiela makes a deconstructed one).
so instead of spending actual money, i present you with things i would buy if i could, thus indulging my magpie-like eye for the sparkly and new (ooh, a shiny penny!) here are three things i really, really want at this point in time.
exhibit one: the dress
the karen walker bunting dress. isn’t it beautiful? the rockstar actually picked this one out of a magazine, believe it or not. there is something about colourful prints on a dark background that men really like, it seems. and i like it too. although it isn’t exactly an autumn dress, it looks so fresh among all the nude colours and ditsy florals — or big shoulders and studding — that it feels like i’ve been looking at for ever :-/ i think with a base layer, thick tights and boots, this would transition through a wellington winter just fine.
exhibit two: the accessorything
this belt harness hybrid from kate sylvester is calling me and i may have to succumb. i love the dark brown, the raw edges of the leather, the solid hardware. it stops it all from looking too dominatrix-y for everyday wear, which is often a problem with these harnesses, i think. this would look equally fabulous over a blouse and skirt as it does over this divine oversized coat. and the socks and shoes! i die. thinking about it, there is something a tiny bit reminiscent of an old-style girl guide uniform about it, which is probably why it appeals. the rest of my guide uniform was pretty horbz, but i loved the belt. wish i still had it.
(also, snaps to kate for the fabulous lipstick .. and for always, always having great gothy-post-punky music playing in her stores. she rules.)
exhibit three: the totally lush and rich scent
well, i ask you: if you could smell like daphne guinness, why would you not? according to the fabulous review on now smell this (my favourite perfume blog) daphne has notes of bitter orange, incense, saffron, rose centifolia, tunisian jasmine, tuberose, iris, patchouli, oud, amber and vanilla. it is produced by comme des garçons, who consistently make some of the most interesting fragrances around. i sprayed it on a card at mecca cosmetica, sniffed it joyously and put it in my bag. for the rest of the day, every time i opened my bag i was assailed by this rich, heavy, spicy scent .. oh my gosh, just gorgeous. i want this. it is the kind of perfume that turns heads .. like ms guinness herself, of course.
anyway. that’s just a little of what’s been rocking my socks. for now, i shall lust on ..
(images from karenwalker.com, katesylvester.com, doverstreetmarket.com)
fashion inspiration: miss olivia
oh, come *on*. like you’d have got any further than the title if i’d written “fashion inspiration: olivia newton-john”. so olivia-ya-ya is not someone you tend to think of, fashionably speaking, unless you have a secret childhood yearning to be sandy from grease, complete with so-tight-she-had-to-be-sewn-in spandex pants. (did anyone else kind of really hate the message of that film, by the way? like the only way to Get The Boy and Be Cool was to turn into some kind of skin-tight cigarette-smoking minxtrel? i guess there were enough teen films before and after that saying that the only way to win at life was to just be yourself, maaaan, but it still pissed me off. possibly because i wasn’t allowed to see grease when it first came out and i first saw it many years later at the age of 13. for realz, i am so cool. anyway.)
but i want to put it out there that i think that olivia newton-john’s wardrobe deserves to be known for a little bit more than a rat’s nest of corkscrew curls and a pouty “tell me about it, stud.” she was a stylish dresser, you guys, for serious. as exhibit A, i refer you to this video. will you just look at that frock, kids, and the way her headband is invisible from the front but has this kind of cascadey thing happening at the back? and the black opaque tights? a more obvious person might have teamed that foxy dress and heels with fishnets or lace tights (especially in the early 80s) but olivia keeps it edgy with solid black .. a touch of solemnity just heightening the fabulousness of the frock. can the lady dress or what? i rest my case.
this next one, well it’s always sort of cited as the quintessential squeaky-clean-popstarlet-goes-sex video, innit. forget kylie: ONJ was years ahead. the tights! the headband worn just so! the colour combination in the first outfit, the clean white chic of the second! omg i’m having a fashion moment. and you can’t tell me dov charney doesn’t watch this scribbling down inspiration all the while.
(also, sidenote: i had forgotten how all the buff boys go off hand in hand with each other at the end! awesome. that’s got to be nearly a first in a rock video, surely?)
and then there’s this. the jumpsuit! the batshit crazy lyrics! i *loved* this movie, i had the tape and i practically wore it out. oh how i wanted to be kira, good at rollerskating and blonde, probably because in real life i am neither of those things, hee ..
(i tried and failed to take a screen shot of the jumpsuit but seriously, didn’t happen. this is from another HD version on youtube and dayum, this outfit is pretty good too. sequin strange half-leggings-half-harem-pants arrangement! yes and yes.)
anyway. from the excess of squealing (and hyphens) in this post, you may gather that ninetwelvetwentyfive is a big fan of olivia newton-john in her 80s starlet incarnation. forget grease, forget the laura-ashley-style frocks of the “i honestly love you” era: this is olivia at her fabulous best. now if you’ll excuse me, i’m going to try and get my hair to behave like that. it may take some straightening irons and enough elnett to choke an elephant, but dear *god* i’m going to try.
(all photos screenshots courtesy of youtube. obv.)
also, because it’s important:
(image from harpers bazaar)
rip, alexander mcqueen. i’m sad to hear about this, of course i am. he was a unique and sparkling talent, a visionary. the only upside i can think of is the extraordinary body of work he left behind. aimee mullins and her carved legs. a perfect white dress spray-painted by robots.
others will write better tributes, obviously. but i just wanted to leave this image. philip treacy and alexander mcqueen, two enormous figures in british fashion, creating something so utterly perfect it takes my breath away.
the wellington sevens: a fashion report
in case you are not a wellingtonian or a new zealander (or, i guess, a rugby fan, tho i’m guessing not many of you who visit here will be) you might not know that once a year wellington hosts the irb rugby sevens tour. the rugby almost seems like an afterthought, though. it’s the party that matters. people dress up in fancy dress, and *boy* do they dress up. a lot of care, imagination and thought goes into the costumes, which are then often trashed by two days and nights of drinking and debauchery. this year norman jay played in courtenay place and he said it was the best street party he’d played since the notting hill carnival.
anyway. i decided it was better to leave my fancy cameras at home this year. but i did manage to snap a few pix of the revellers:
(these guys were dressed like giant crabs. or maybe crayfish. the iphone’s weeny lens couldn’t cope, so it turned out this rather abstract shot instead .. but i still like it.)
(it also didn’t much like the strobe lights at norman jay. but, happy accidents, etc.)
so, fashion report.
the most popular costume: angels/fairies. male and female. actually, probably more male than female. take from that (and new zealand’s oft-quoted maxim of where-men-are-men-and-sheep-are-nervous) what you will.
the best costume: well, my personal favourite were the video-game-inspired groups. people dressed up as tetris shapes. as pac-man plus ghosts. as the mario brothers (there were many, but i never get sick of them).
what i would have gone as, had i been so inclined: a pox on these costumes for women that seem to involve the word “sexy” automatically; sexy nurse, sexy policewoman, sexy traffic warden, sexy rugby ref, etc. i’d personally love to be part of a phalanx of anna wintours. or karl lagerfelds. that would rule.
what i felt was sorely lacking: where were the pregnant schoolgirls? or the local order of the sisters of perpetual indulgence? personally i don’t think any party’s complete without them.
the sevens party is clearly not about fashion in the strict sense. but for two days a year, wellingtonians get to let it all hang out. wear whatever they want, no matter how ridiculous. act however they want, no matter how outrageous. grown men get to embrace each other and grab each other’s bums etc in shows of affection which border on the homoerotic. it’s fantastic. and then, monday morning .. it was as if nothing had happened. the streets were clean, the sunlight was bright, the crowds lurching off to work dressed in black and grey and navy. because, after all, wellington may host a great party .. but at the end, it’s still wellington. and we love her for it.
inspiration: vanessa bruno
this video, of the charming and graceful lou doillon modelling the vanessa bruno ss10 collection, has quite made my morning.
i love the black skirt she wears while she’s stamping around in the flour. long and floaty in the front, knee length in the back .. i can see that working great for a windy summer in wellington, moving into autumn with tights and killer boots. hmm .. thinking, thinking ..
consumption alert: glassons designer collabs
kiwi fashionistas take note: glassons‘ annual collection of breast cancer research tees has dropped, and it’s wicked cool. i think my favourites are either the karen walker design on the left (it comes in grey and white too, but i think the black is the most rawk) or the stolen girlfriends club one on the right (the tiny type says “her essence was rare”, which is a nice little nod to the gang of four, i think).
the other shirts feature designs by trelise cooper, cibèle, lonely hearts and zambesi. we’re kind of starved of designer – high street collaborations in new zealand .. so this is a great chance to snap up some kiwi design talent while helping an excellent cause. go get 
