Alexander Wang shoes, Proenza Schouler jacket, BCBG striped tee, Ostwald Helgason leggings, Slow and Steady Wins the Race sunglasses, Forever 21 hat, bullet bracelet gift from Frou Flu, Triskaidekaphobia friendship necklace
One of my favorite stores in New York, Opening Ceremony, is in the midst of their seasonal sale (30-70% off), and when I saw that the open-toed striped Alexander Wang boots that I've wanted all season were on sale, I knew I needed to pick them up. When I got to the store however, someone else had the same idea, and was trying on the last pair. I might have had a fashion freak-out moment, but luckily the other lady passed on them, and I scooped them up even though they're one size too big. They need some breaking in, but I have another pair of his boots for winter, and I know that once I've worn them a bit, they'll fit perfectly. While I was at the store (I had to lurk around like a creep for quite a bit while the other shopper was debating), I also got photographed for the O.C. blog. Check it out here, and do stop by the sale in person, or online, before everything good is gone!
Last month, I finally had the pleasure of meeting Katja Hentschel, the fabulous lady behind the street style and party blog, glamcanyon, and the recently launched travel blog, Travelettes. While I've been virtual friends with Katja for a while, the last time she was living in New York, I was living in Stockholm. We met up several times on her latest visit to the US, and she's just as outrageous and amazing as I expected her to be. And even though both Christina and I are pretty terrified of video cameras, Katja managed to convince us to do an interview for Travelettes. While the interviews aren't up yet (don't expect me to tell you when they are!), Katja made this video documenting her week in New York before she embarked on her cross-country tour. I think it perfectly encapsulates the mood of the city during the summer, which is the city of my dreams, in spite of the loneliness and alienation which many people feel when first visiting such a large and overwhelming place. We make a couple of appearances, as do our friends Jermaine Jagger, and Zana of Garbage Dress.
Hopefully the next time I see you Katja, it will be in Berlin (which I find a bit alienating, but hopefully you can show me otherwise), and we will be throwing a party together!
A couple of days ago, Urban Outfitters sent over their Fall Preview catalog. I was pleasantly surprised when I opened it up and found that it was packed with pieces from some of my favorite Scandinavian designers, including Carin Wester, Rodebjer, Wood Wood, and House of Dagmar, who will all be carried at U.O. this fall. Up until now, most of these designers have been relatively difficult to hunt down in the U.S., so I'm really looking forward to seeing their reach extend to a wider audience. My personal favorites are a drape front velvet blazer from Dagmar, a lace blouse from Rodebjer, and the wedged Sherpa boots from Carin Wester. In addition to the Scandinavian lineup, you can expect to see a new collaboration between Urban and Timo Weiland, called David Page, and pieces from French basics label A.P.C..
Savannah Wyatt's original video lookbook, co-directed by Savannah Wyatt and Bon Duke.
Back in January, I posted images from my wonderful friend Savannah Wyatt's lookbook, featuring her line of headbands and hats. Since then, her work and the accompanying video has attracted plenty of attention, including a post on Kanye West's blog.
It all seemed like magic, especially when Savannah received an email from Rihanna's publicist thanking her for her inspiring video, and crediting it as the source of inspiration for Rihanna's new video, ROCKSTAR 101. Savannah was honored, offering to make a piece for the pop star, until the actual video was released. She saw that the opening sequence of the video not only directly mimicked her own video in style, movement, and costuming with black body paint, but they had additionally knocked off one of her signature crown of thorn headbands rather than asking to borrow it from her. She received absolutely no form of creative credit, monetary compensation, or publicity for her line--which would naturally have served as compensation enough for a designer at the beginning of her career.
I know that fashion forgery is ubiquitous, and that part of being a successful designer is getting knocked off left and right. In fact, after a couple of times you learn to forget about it and move on. Nonetheless, it's still not okay, and I find it particularly egregious that more and more, young and unknown designers are being targeting. I think this is because there is an assumption that the original work is of an obscure and unrecognizable origin to the general public, and additionally because young designers usually have no means to fight back. I think Outi from OutsaPop wrote an excellent post about copying here.
Savannah's case is a little different, since it was her lookbook video which was copied, and even though her designs were knocked off, they were never sold for commercial use. Still, it is disappointing that an artist as famous and successful as Rihanna would knowingly partake in what amounts to creative thievery. At the very least she could have borrowed the real piece from Savannah, who would have certainly lent it to her, and thus gained some amount of attention for her brand. Instead, all she got was thank you note for her unknowing creative contribution to the making of a video which has already received more than 16,465,000 views on Youtube.
Rihanna's ROCKSTAR 101 video inspired by Savannah's lookbook video
DIY marbled Keds and tote bag, Gestuz dress, Eugenia Kim biker cap, Cara Croninger resin bracelets, Triskaidekaphobia necklace and ring.
A few weeks ago, my friends over at Keds sent me a couple pairs of sneakers. I already had white ones, so when I got a second pair, I decided it was a perfect opportunity to do a DIY. At first I was only planning on dying them at home with some Rit, but once I got to the art supply store I was overwhelmed by the possibilities. After a good amount of deliberation, I ended up picking up the Jacquard Marbling Kit for Fabric and Paper, choosing it because it seemed to have the simplest and most straight-forward directions. Plus, Dick Blick, the art supply store I bought it from, has an extremely helpful instructional video that walks you through the entire process. I didn't want the shoes to be too bright, since I want to be able to wear them everyday and with anything, so I just dyed them very lightly for a watercolor effect. While I was marbling , I also decided to dye a giant white canvas bag that served as a goody bag from the DIY or DIE event we did at Urban Outfitters last year. I decided to go for more intense colors, and you can properly see the marbling effects.
Rather than posting a full set of instructions, I posted the Dick Blick video below. It's a bit time consuming with all the preparations, not to mention a pretty messy affair, but the actual marbling is very easy. It's a really fun way to customize all of the free totes and tees you have lying around, and I definitely suggest you give it a try since the whole kit and all of the extra supplies costs less than $20 total. Next up I'm going to do some notecards, and maybe even try that Marbled Nails DIY that's also floating around youtube...
The Jacquard Marbling Kit
My lightly marbled Keds
Close up shots of the marbling on the canvas bag
The Dick Blick instructional video for how to use the Jacquard Marbling Kit
A couple of months ago, my very dear friend Brandon told me he was modeling for a lookbook for a t-shirt and accessories line called No Lost Witches. He showed me a couple of shots from the shoot and I promised to check it out, but of course I'm a terrible friend and totally forgot about it until I stumbled upon the collection again on The Shiny Squirrel. The line, designed by NYU graduate Christina Acevedo, are simple, everyday graphic tees that are meant to serve as an endearing addition to your wardrobe. My favorite is the childhood photograph of the designer herself wearing her Halloween witch costume, an image which has become representative of the collection. Here are some images from the lookbook, as well as the video which Brandon is also a part of!
The witch tee, featuring a childhood photograph of the designer in her Halloween witch costume
Winning our first Paper Magazine Nightlife Award for Best New Party with the original Six Six Sick crew: Christina, FengFeng, Jon, me, and Mike.Jon is currently touring with his band, The Drums, and FengFeng is designing a line called Savant.
Sorry for the major slowdown in posts. I'm still waiting for my hand-me-down Mac to arrive, and using Jimmy's Swedish PC is not only torturous, but also sets off minor-to-major domestic disputes over computer possession. Anyway, Christina and I have been working hard on our jewelry, and throwing parties has been put on the back burner for quite a while now. We still do them, but not at the same pace as we used to (three nights a week). While we're happy to be concentrating on our day jobs now, it makes me a little sentimental to think about our namesake party, Six Six Sick, which ended about a year ago. Here are a handful of my favorite pictures from that time, filled with some of my best friends, many of whom are scattered across the globe now, and all of the outfits we made. These are only a few shots from two full years of weekly parties, but I think they capture the recklessness of it all.
Shelley, Christina, Gabi, FengFeng and myself. We made shirts covered in googly-eyes, and even put them on our headbands and our pumps.Shelley is now doing a band called GHXST, and Gabi moved to Stockholm to be with Jimmy's best friend Tobias, and to start her own eponymous fashion label, Gabriella Loeb.
We did a sports themed night for Jon's birthday, and made gigantic prize ribbons with 6's on them since we aren't big into sports. This is our friend Jordan Bunny Kinney, who has since moved to London to live in a squat called Squally which you can read all about on the slutever blog.
Miss Six Six Sick Pageant Queen night!
Our nautical themed night with Patrick Wolf, who would stop by with Greg K. whenever he was in town.
At the end of every school year, plenty of aspiring fashion designers debut their graduate collections. While many move on to work for other designers, it's always interesting to see how the ones who go on to start their own lines progress and develop. For Danish designer Anne Sofie Madsen, her Fall 2010 collection appears to be build on her original Maori inspired grad collection with a slightly more commercialized and sporty looking garments. She still uses plenty of shoelace straps and bursts of tulle frills, but these embellishments are juxtaposed against hoods that look like swimcaps, and silhouettes that sometimes echo wetsuits. I love the contrast that results...
Alexander Wang sunglasses, Alexander Koutny top, Lerario Beatriz skirt, VPL sandals, 'shark tooth earring and bull shark jaw necklace.
After waiting for approximately nine whole months, I finally got my Alexander Wang cat eye sunglasses in the mail last week. I did a personal order for them at the Coterie show in September, and even though they were supposed to arrive in February, it seems that they were massively backlogged with store orders and re-orders, being that they pretty much sold out everywhere. I'm not a very patient person, so as you can imagine, I was emailing and calling non-stop to see when my beloved sunnies would arrive. They got here just in time for summer, and are the perfect addition to my very small, but mostly strange collection of sunglasses.
I'm going to resist saying something inane about how they're life-changing, but I've been wearing them everyday for the past week and they've certainly changed my style, as I've found myself in the curious position of determining my entire outfits based around my gigantic sunglasses. They're such a massive statement in and of themselves, that I have to tone down my usual choice of attire quite a bit. Yesterday I wore them out to the Vane x Sebago store opening party, and paired them with two of my latest sample sale finds, an Alexander Koutny top that I picked up at W29 Showroom and a Lerario Beatriz skirt designed by my former boss, Ana Lerario-Geller, at the Fiftytwo Showroom sale. Since I can't wear most of my favorite hats with these oversized sunglasses, I opted to keep it simple and put my hair up in braids, although it took me quite a while to create since I never ever do my anything to my hair...
These sandals have the heel on the inside of the shoe. The fit is a little funny, but they're really cute!
After we stopped by the EVA party, we headed over to Panda to take a celebrate five years of 80%20 shoes. Designer Ce Ce Chin chose the name of the company based on her observation that we tend to wear our favorite 20% of our wardrobe 80% of the time. Her shoes are meant to be the cool, casual, and comfortable pieces that you always reach for. Still, they can hardly be mistaken for simple basics, and each pair has a distinctive downtown flair. For spring Ce Ce designed a collection for the LES ladies who lunch, and created plenty of super easy to wear cork wedges, tea-party florals, and mesh leather booties. One of the most intriguing designs were the multicolored sandals with inverse heels (padded cushioned platforms inside of the shoe), although I have to say, I tried them on and the fit was a bit off. If I could figure out how to make them work, I certainly would!
More shots of the inverse heel sandals in all thefantastic colorways
I love the minty green color of these canvas cork wedges
My favorite bag of the night, the Collina Strada Mandy Coon leather bunny purse!
Yesterday night I had a date with two of my favorite boys, Jimmy and Brandon, to hit up a bunch of events. We started the night at EVA, one of my favorite spots to find up and coming local designers and avant-garde pieces, to preview Mandy Coon's Fall 2010 collection, as well as Collina Strada's line of handbags and leather accessories. Coon is a fellow downtown designer who wears many hats, DJing as one half of Two Mandy DJs. She started her career working for Camilla Staerk, and it's wonderful to see her strike out on her own. For fall, her collection was inspired by anatomical drawings, and to highlight the effect, she paired the work with a video displaying the clothes through an x-ray machine.
I was less familiar with the Collina Strada collection, but very impressed by what I saw. Designer Hillary Taymour combines traditionally ethnic textiles with sharp details, bold color choices, and geometric shapes to impart her work with a distinctively modern spin. My favorite pieces were the highly covetable leather vests, and the noirish-adorable black leather bunny bag. EDIT: the bunny bag was actually designed by Mandy Coon! Anyway, EVA will be offering up to 50% off of Collina Strada and Mandy Coon's Spring collections and their latest collections until Monday, so I suggest you stop by and take a peek yourself--after the discount the pieces are quite reasonably priced!
Two of the Mandy Coon fall looks with accompanying x-ray photographs
My favorite boys, Brandon and Jimmy
I loved this electric blue Collina Strada vest
Ikat print hobo and clutch bags
Another Ikat print in blue and purple
I love the way the construction of the vest makes it look like leather pleats
It's a little hard to see in this picture, but the ribcage shaped trim on this Mandy Coon jacket iw made of covered chain.
Pastel Ikat print bags combined with leather deets
Just a quick note to my fellow New Yorkers to make time this week to stop by Fiftytwo Showroom for their sample sale. I went yesterday and the highlights include plenty of Rue jewelry, hundreds of Rosa Cha and Jo De Mer swimsuits, Coven knits, and adorable Lerario Beatriz dresses, all at extremely discounted prices and perfectly suited for summer. I picked up a beautiful white dress and silk skirt from Lerario Beatriz, and am seriously tempted to go back again for some Rue rings. My friend Katie (the cute blond wearing a Triskaidekaphobia necklace) will be happy to help you out!
Mother x Uniqlo oversize tee, Balenciaga vest,H&M tights, VPL boots, Devaki hat, Slow and Steady Wins the Race bag, Annti Asplund necklaces, Iossolliani ring, Triskaidekaphobia ring.
The thing I hate about Uniqlo is that they don't always publicize their many collaborations. Sure, we've all heard plenty about their Jil Sander collection, and even a bit about the recent collaboration with local favorites Costello Tagliapietra, but there's been barely a peep regarding their ongoing work with Japanese designers like furfur, mother, and G.V.G.V., which they've been releasing throughout the spring. I stopped by the store last week hoping to pick up something from the Costello Tagliapietra line, which was unfortunately mostly sold out, when I stumbled upon the small rack from their Japanese lines. It looked like they'd been sitting around for a while and were mostly picked over, but I still found the last oversized mother shirt, which I immediately fell in love with. The shirt definitely resembles hospital scrubs with ruffles attached to the sleeves, but no matter! I know that this baggy tent shape is just about the most comfortable thing to wear during a sweltering New York summer.
I'm also a big fan of the mother line, which I can only describe as the perfect balance of ugly and cute, looking somewhat like the deranged red headed stepchild of Cacharel. I love the way they take traditional floral prints and render them in off-kilter color combinations, boldly mix and clash patterns, and add plenty of unnecessary fringe and trim in unexpected places. Here are some shots from their Spring collection, but if you can't make it to Japan, I definitely suggest you stop by Uniqlo before everything sells out!
Alexander Wang shoes, Proenza Schouler jacket, BCBG striped tee, Ostwald Helgason leggings, Slow and Steady Wins the Race sunglasses, Forever 21 hat, bullet bracelet gift from Frou Flu, Triskaidekaphobia friendship necklace
