Bitter tears keep me going

I've spent a fair share of this winter curled up inside watching movies.  While mindless comedies of yore always provide a good mood fix, sometimes serious films can serve up some much needed escapism.   One of my all time favorites is Rainer Werner Fassbinder's The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, which is a film classic that also contains incredible costuming that has inspired numerous designers, photographers, and stylists alike.  The title character, Petra, is a fashion designer, and the movie follows her sadistic relationships with her assistant, as well as her obsession with a young model.    While this might not sound terribly exciting, everything is filtered through Fassbinder's twisted interpretation of the female psyche.  Additionally, through Petra, we see fashion as the ultimate costume to mask one's true, unknowable self.  This film is definitely worth watching and rewatching, but as a teaser, here are some stills I found floating around the internet.

-Tiffany

Norma Kamali 3D

Rather than presenting a traditional runway show during fashion week, Norma Kamali took an alternative route, and showed a 3D fashion film featuring the whopping 67 looks from her new Spring 2012 collection.  Audience members were given pairs of 3D glasses shaped like Kamali's famous cat-eye sunglasses, and then gathered to watch the fun short film featuring dancing models shimmying around in Kamali's sexy, space-age clothes.  Why 3D?  Kamali, ever the tech-savvy innovator, states "fashion is a beautiful partner for 3D, it is fun and makes the clothes pop!"  The video is now up online, and you can even shop the collection in 3D.  Don't have a pair of 3D glasses lying around the house? No worries, you can always sign up for the Norma Kamali email list, and they will send you a pair.  In the meantime, you can glimpse some of my favorite looks from the collection below, in 2D, but still popping.

-Tiffany

Ice Cold

Bijules Bone Cross earring

Last Friday, I went down to Tribeca Grand to hang out with my friend Jules Kim of Bijules Jewelry, and view her new film short, Amasia, which was made especially for Diane Pernet's curatorial project at Vicenza Oro. As I've mentioned before, I've been working with Bijules on sales, but putting all obvious biases aside, I've always been a huge admirer of her work. The more you know about Jules and Bijules, the better you understand the deep introspection that goes into making such extroverted jewelry. I think the film provides as good of an image of the inner workings of Jules's head as an outsider is likely to get.

Viewers might be surprised by the lack of jewelry, as only one Bijules piece appears at the end of the film, and promotional shots are eschewed in favor of monumental images of metamorphosing icy and craggy landscapes. Jules chose a more metaphorical approach to the subject, saying "If nature is systematic, then there is a calm before the torrents and an unleashing of perfectly normal change. The moving imagery of terrain is pure. Its realness fools an untrained eye as visual effects may trick the sharpest one. The jewelry industry is a well - mapped frontier in search of discovery. The scenes in this film welcome a new generation of raw talent and poise to an unexpected universe." Everything that Jules creates is unexpected indeed.

Amasia | Jules Kim + wardenclyffe from Wardenclyffe Institute on Vimeo.

-Tiffany

In Search of Halston (and Baby Benny Liu)

A shot from Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston

A few weeks ago, I was offered an opportunity to do a group phone interview with Whitney Sudler-Smith, the director of the recent Halston documentary, Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston. Disappointingly, the timing was completely off, and I missed it, as well as the screening of the film at The Tribeca Film Festival. I have to admit though, I'm more familiar with (and interested in) the legend of Halston the 70's playboy than his actually work as a fashion designer, mainly because I've been regaled with so many salacious stories courtesy of our fairy-godfather, Benjamin Liu.

Of course, it would be natural to assume that Benjamin would make an appearance in the documentary, but I didn't know until he came out to celebrate my birthday, and one of my friends asked me, mouth agape, if he had seen Benjamin in the movie. In typical fashion, Benjamin himself had missed the screening too, and joked that he was surprised that the people making it managed to get the thing together. Disappointingly, there's no indication that the film is set for a commercial release, so we have no idea when we'll have the opportunity to view it.

In the meantime though, Benjamin did reveal an ancient music video by The Cars that he appeared in for their song "Hello Again." Directed by Andy Warhol and hilariously lo-fi, a flash of Baby Benny appears halfway into the clip dancing on top of a bar in a leopard leotard complete with tail (predating Jeremy Scott x Adidas's similarly styled leopard hoody by twenty five years) and Halston heels (naturally). I think we all died a little when we saw it. Benjamin has promised to show us his old drag costumes and attire, and I definitely can't wait to see this one!

-Tiffany

The September Issue Discussion and Signing at Barnes & Nobles

Andre Leon Talley and Anna Wintour in The September Issue

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to participate in a phone interview with The September Issue director, R.J. Cutler. While I unfortunately didn't get to make the interview, I did receive a preview copy of the DVD, and viewed the film for the first absolutely delightful time. They just don't make enough films about the fashion industry, and when they do come out, you have to savor every moment. And it doesn't get much better than an inside peek at the offices of American Vogue. It's always refreshing to see a real portrayal of the fashion industry, which inevitably entails plenty of unglamorous work, petty bickering, warring egos, frazzled assistants, ridiculous fashion-speak, etcetera.

While Anna Wintour does deliver moments of the cruelty she is famous for (watching her jovially tell the film's cameraman that he needs to hit the gym while pointing to a photo of his puffy stomach is particularly wince-worthy), Cutler also manages to show Wintour in a relatively human light. Many of these moments are captured in the Bonus Feature material of the DVD, and there's a particular poignant clip of Wintour speaking at Isabella Blow's memorial service in London. Grace Coddington is particularly mesmerizing to watch, and Andre Leon Talley delivers plenty of quotable quotes and much-needed humor. Each editor is a fascinating character study in themselves, and it is a treat to watch the deleted footage that focuses on them (although the the boring boardroom meetings might be unnecessary).

The DVD is available today, and if you are in New York, Director R.J. Cutler, Grace Coddington, and Andre Leon Talley will be having a discussion and signing at the Union Square Barnes & Nobles this Thursday at 4pm. I know I will definitely try to make it.

-Tiffany

Just The Two of Us

A couple of days ago, Christina and I were at an incredible vintage shop around the corner from her apartment in Williamsburg. Run down, un-trendy, and completely cheap, the little rag shop was filled with vintage dresses from the 60's and 70's, my favorite choice of attire throughout my college years. Lately though, in this Alexander Wang-ed out world, most of the bigger vintage shops have stopped buying these "less relevant" pieces in favor of the vintage 80's driven punk looks that are selling so well. I myself have sold 90% of the flimsy polyester dresses that I loved so much. Now I still feel slightly nostalgic for that look, but am wondering if there's a new and interesting way to wear these vintage pieces, without looking too retro.

I immediately thought of one of my favorite films, Sedmikrasky (Daisies), a new wave Czech film from the 60's, featuring the adventures of two outlandish acting females named Marie. For each one of their riotous antics--like setting loads of streamers hanging from their bedroom ceiling on fire, getting smashed and having a very grand food fights, or literally swinging from chandeliers---they dress in appropriately fun attire. While pretty 60's dresses abound, they're matched with expertly tousled hair, deep dark kohl eyeliner, and a daisy-chain crown. It just shows that you can be both pretty and subversive at the same time. Here are some of my favorite moments, and you can watch the entire film on youtube (my favorite scene, which I can't embed, is here!   Maybe it's time to go back to the vintage shop and pick up a few of those dresses?

-Tiffany