Never Nude

Connector necklace and bracelets courtesy of Naked Label, Ideeen sweater, Todd Oldham dress, Chloe heels, sunglasses courtesy of Norma Kamali, Slow and Steady Wins the Race bag

While plenty of designers list futurism as a source of inspiration, few manage to translate the concept as gracefully as Allison Press of Naked Label.  For her latest collection, Cosmos, Press created necklaces that looked like they are adorned by tiny swirling planets, pendants that resemble alien vertebrae, and space-age laser-cut acrylic bangles.  The pieces touch on the universe and the cosmos in an abstract manner, without ever getting too literal.  My favorite group, which Allison kindly sent me, are a set of Connector bracelets and necklaces, made out of rubber tubing filled with tiny blue beads, and connected by three different sets of magnetic clasps that serve as industrial looking accents.  I'm also obsessed with the UFO necklace, which I've been wearing non-stop.

Naked Label UFO necklace and Rapscallion by Samantha Pleet romper

-Tiffany

Dress Up Dress Down

All photos courtesy of V by Verlaine

The summer heat wave has rolled in with full force here in New York, and frankly it is just too sticky and humid out to wear anything nice, anything that's dry-clean only, anything that you can't toss into the wash after drenching it in sweat.  Durable, machine-washable jersey is a good material of choice for this weather, and while I have many thin tees and tanks appropriate for the soaring temperatures, sometimes you want to put on something a bit nicer--something that doesn't make you look like you're permanently on your way to-and-from the gym.  That's where V by Verlaine comes in.  The Verlaine diffusion line maintains the same design principals and draping techniques that are trademarks of the main collection, but the clothes are all constructed in lightweight jersey, and priced between $150-$250.  The result is effortless and easy without looking sloppy, which is just about as high-maintance as I can get in this heat.

-Tiffany

Knitwits

All photos by Mark Fina, courtesy of Degen

After stumbling across Degen knitwear on various blogs and Tumblrs, I had the surprise pleasure of stumbling across the magical designer, Lindsay Degen, in real life, while visiting her studio mate.  Lindsay shares an inspiring space in the sprawling Brooklyn Navy Yards with my friend Becca McCharen, the designer behind Chromat.  It is not often that I come across exciting new knitwear designers, and it thrilled me to see Lindsay's work up close and personal, as it is truly one of a kind.  Using a mix of hand knitting and crochet, as well as machine knit pieces made on looms in her studio, Lindsay creates colorful, tongue in cheek, and downright absurd attire using the most traditional and age-old techniques and methods.  While your average knitwear designer's repertoire includes a range of sweaters, socks, scarves and mittens, Degen presents peculiar jersey shirts with boob holes, crochet nipple pasties, and underwear with wooly fake pubes stitched on the front.  Even the Degen version of mittens are a slightly off creation: half mittens and half gloves.

Anyway, the inspiration behind the Fall 2012 Degen collection, Ask Tell, is explained in the lookbook, which I've posted in full here--something I rarely do, but I truly love each and every piece.  What I'm most excited for is not even knit at all; Lindsay is collaborating with Converse on a line of platform sneakers, which you can get a peek at here.

-Tiffany

Instagram Diaries

Jonathan's Birthday Cake

In the midst of my entire apartment falling apart (windows, lights, and plumbing somehow all simultaneously must be fixed), my camera also decided to give up on me this week, leaving me with nothing more than my iPhone to document everything I've been up to and everyone I've been visiting.  Seeing as it's my last free week before I start my new job, I've been running around town getting all my errands done, and catching up with some of my favorite friends and local designers.  Better photos of said designers are on the way, but in the meantime, here's my past week via Instagram.


Floral bouquets at the opening of the new Bijules flagship store at 355 Bowery


Jules presenting the latest collection of her jewelry at the Media Seance at her new shop


Hearts on fire at the Bijules flagship store


Becca custom fitting my Chromat bikini at her new studio in the Brooklyn Navy Yards


The Chromat inspiration board


Degen Knitwear mood board


Anne Koch's installation at Allegra LaViola Gallery


Carved tree stumps at Figment on Governor's Island


Figment


Stilt walking musicians at Figment


Victoria on the Statue of Liberty installation at Figment


A puppet from the Children's Museum of Art's stop motion animation program at Figment

-Tiffany

Cat and Mouse Game

I am about to move to a much colder climate, and as I pack up all my worldly possessions, I'm wondering what I'm going to be wearing though the long Swedish winter.  Fall is fun, winter is oppressive.  However, looking at Lars Andersson's latest video lookbook has made me feel a bit more inspired.  Lars is Swedish, so he must know the old adage, "There's no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing."  Therefore he provides a perfect way to counter the elements in style: layer upon layer of thick, lush, heavy knits.  In his video, two models chase each other across the rooftops of New York wearing his dramatic creations, which have the practicality of warmth, yet are still elegant, moody, dark, and romantic.  Hoping to master this look by the time deep dark December rolls around.

-Tiffany

Season of the Sea Witch

Last week, I stopped by the Langolier's showroom to view the new Spring collection, and of  course pre-order some jewelry for myself. Designed by my friends Zon and Pam, the collection started as a series of pieces based on knits, mixing knit chain, knit fabric, and metal castings of knit thread.  While the collection is still heavily based in these textile oriented roots, I'm awestruck by how much they've managed to develop this concept and expand their collection with other ideas that compliment their base collection.  This season's show-stopper is the Ursula the Sea Witch inspired breastplate necklace and matching earring set, which both look like slightly malevolent yet majestic gills, worthy of the wickedest sea witch.  The giant necklace is of course suspended from a net of knit chain. Another example of Pam and Zon's ingenuity comes in the form of intricately patterned metal mesh bracelets that were made from weaving gold and silver chain together.  The amount of anal-retentive labor required to produce such a piece is pretty much beyond my comprehension.  I naturally couldn't leave without ordering something, and I can't wait for my Ursula gill earrings to arrive this spring.  If you also feel like you cannot live without some Langoliers, you can find their pieces on their online shop.

-Tiffany

Six Six Sick Presents NOMIA!

After months of talk and planning, we're incredibly excited for our party this Thursday for NOMIA, a New York based women's wear collection designed by our talented (and drop-dead gorgeous!) friend Yara Flinn.  We'll be screening the new NOMIA Fall/Winter Collection Video, and toasting with complementary Asahi Beer and an open vodka bar from 10-11PM.  Just in case you're not familiar with NOMIA, here's a peek at the new Spring collection, which centers around an agate digital print applied to minimalist, body-conscious silhouettes.  I'm personally obsessed with the dresses with agate panels.  Hope to see you on Thursday at Anchor Bar!

-Tiffany

Mini Me

Andrew with my finished doll

A while back, Christina and I made some miniature jewels for our dear friend Andrew Yang, and his collection of couture inspired Kouklitas.  In exchange, he promised to make us each one of his signature doll in our likeness. A year has passed, and Andrew has since had his dolls displayed in Barneys New York and Joyce in Hong Kong, and has received a continuous stream of special orders from the most prestigious retailers around the world. He even just got back from a trip to China, where the sale of his dolls built an entire orphanage!

Now I'm getting ready to leave for Stockholm, and Andrew is packing his bags for an extended stay in Paris, where he will be doing a special window installation for Galeries Lafayette.  Since we will both be moving, I thought it was best to finally pick up my doll, which has been in the works for many months, and sat to have my face drawn on.  I found my doll in an Erdem-like floral dress, made by our gifted friend Soteris, complete with a matching ruffled hat.  I'm already dreaming of all the little outfits I'll make her, starting with some cold-weather appropriate attire for our impending move to the North.

Even though we will both be moving, I'm really happy that Andrew will be nearby in Paris, and am already thinking of visiting him for the opening of his Galeries Lafayette show in November.  Although all of the dolls have already been shipped to Paris, he showed me the preliminary sketches for the all-doll rock band he created, complete with groupies, photographers, roadies, and screaming fans.  There's a sneak peek below, but you can see more photos of the actual dolls on Andrew's blog.

Before the face was painted

Filling in the eye whites

Adding some eyeliner

Blush for the cheeks

Dolls from Andrew's collection

Sketches from Andrew's new doll collection for Galleries Lafayette, incorporating a few of our friends. There's Gabi!

One of Andrew's RTW dolls

-Tiffany