Sonia Rykiel FW 08

It's great to see winter ads that actually evoke a wintery mood. In my opinion, this is one of the best ads of the season. I didn't even notice Sonia Rykiel's sweater dresses on the runway, but seeing them on Iekeliene and Irina amidst a blanket of white snow, they just come alive to me. Aren't those hats amazing too?




Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the campaign. Looks like it was a lot of fun to shoot!

I Love Dressew!

This morning I woke up very early (considering I no longer have classes now) to head over to the Dressew fabric store right at its 9:00 opening time. I spent about an hour browsing through the many aisles of colorful fabrics, trims, zippers, feathers, sequins, and everything else imaginable to do with clothes. I had no particular plan in mind, but armed with my trusty camera, I took note of anything and everything that happened to catch my eye. Here are some of the photos I took, along with captions of what thoughts were percolating in my brain at the time.


I really do love the combination of orange and pink. I could see these being worked in to a silky blouse and flouncy mini.


Orange and pink again! How about twisting and folding the fabric into a colorful dress a la Ungaro?


I don't know what I was thinking with this one. Maybe mixing it in with something sheer or silky?


I love this splatter print!


The white or black version of this would make a great pair of leggings. But why not other colors too?


As simple sculptured strapless dress? Or bustier worn over sweaters?


Nice accent prints. Would look great as the lining of a jacket.


Is it crazy that I want a dress from this shredded material? At least a skirt?


Very pretty lace detailing. Would make a nice necklace/collar with many of them.


I always liked how the girls from Gossip Girl wore ribbons around their neck sometimes instead of ties.


All of the neon zippers you could possibly dream of. I wonder if my grandma would be able to make a layered zipper necklace?


Faux fur in a sort of plaid-like pattern. This would make a gorgeous jacket.


I love how some fabrics are stained around the raw edges. For some reason it brings to mind something that Prada might do. I will ask if they have entire fabrics with this sort of stained effect next time. It's so pretty.


Green and blue would make a nice color combination as well.


I love this moire pattern! I have a light blue skirt in a similar fabric that I haven't posted about it. I want it shortened a bit.


I'm starting to appreciate soft color palettes more. Again, these would look nice as a silk top/skirt pairing.


The wall of fringe! I want a dress in the light blue or grey.


I could see this rope being twisted into a spiral circle and added on top of the shoulders of a blazer. Are you guys still with me or is this post way too self-indulgent?


Neck ruffles?

And last but not least, after scouring the entire store, I finally stumbled upon my beloved blue pleated trim. I thought they didn't have it anymore! It's rather odd to be so obsessed over trim but there you have it.



It was certainly a lovely way to start the morning. I then grabbed a chai latte and cradled it smiling happily on my skytrain ride home. I didn't even buy anything but I was still left with a pleasant buzz for the rest of the afternoon. Now it's time to get back to those practice exams that seem to be glaring at me crossly for being neglected.

Cortazar for Ungaro

When I browse through collections during fashion week, I sometimes get so caught up in looking for something fantastical and new that I forget to look at the little details. For the past two seasons since Estaban Cortazar has taken over at Emanuel Ungaro, I have overlooked the collections by merely taking a quick glance at thumbnails and deciding that there was nothing much to see. Last night as I was thumbing through an older issue of British Vogue and the most beautiful print I have ever seen caught my eyes. Surprise suprise! It was the light wood print from Estaban Cortazar's debut collection at Ungaro.



I love the braiding, twisting and draping on the pieces in this collection. It also features my new favorite color (for the moment): light grey-blue. But the wood grain printed chiffon stole my heart. I hope to come across something similar when I my exam schedule allows for a much anticipated trip to the fabric store with my grandma. Here's hoping!



In comparison, his spring/summer 2009 collection wasn't quite as appealing, but it did have a few treasures in the mix. How about an eye-catching rainbow of beautiful prints?


Images from style.com

My Cocoon Jacket

A couple of days ago I wore this Zara jacket that I picked up in Bucharest this past summer. It has an odd shape to it. It's very loose and the shoulders are rounded off. It reminds me a bit of the cocoon jackets in Balenciaga's FW 06 collection. Actually, I'm quite positive that's exactly what the designers at Zara were thinking of too. When I first put it on I thought to myself "what an ugly and unflattering shape." Then I just couldn't seem to let it go, so it came home with me.

I sort of dumbed down the look here by wearing it with boring skinnies, but looking at that Balenciaga collection again I think it will go really well with tights and a floaty super mini skirt I picked up at the thriftstore a while ago. It would also go well with my black draped trousers but that outfit absolutely demands sky-high heels to balance the look out.





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The Good, Bad and Ugly

I was never really impressed by Victoria Beckham or her line of dresses until I saw this promo video today. Despite her steely demeanor in front of the camera, I'll bet she's a softie on the inside. Watching her and a group of girls prance around a large mansion hiding behind curtains and lampshade put a big smile on my face.



For the bad and ugly, what on earth were the Barney's people smoking when they made this video? Nevermind. It is at once cringe worthy and kind of funny. I would like that Beatles go to India book, however.

Sabrina the Wood Nymph

This Halloween (I know it's late! This is what happens when your boyfriend only likes to shoot on film!) I set a few flowers in my hair and paraded around as a wood nymph. The original plan was to dress up as Robin Hood, since I had a short forest green dress, green tights and beige booties that would have looked perfect with his iconic pointy hat. Unfortunately, I didn't find any hats to my liking. Looking back, this Claudia Schulz hat would've been perfect. Not being one to give up, I trekked to the large dollar store at my local mall and looked around desperately for ideas. After an hour or so of bending, tweaking and adjusting my own little piece of millinery, I finally had myself a proper costume.



Even though exams are yet to arrive, I can't help but feel a little more relaxed and free. I've been wanting to visit a fabric store to see what kind of ideas pop into my brain. Last time my grandmother came over, my favorite thing to do with her was stroll through aisles of fabrics and throw ideas back and forth. I still have this one particular trim in mind after two years. It has very large pleats in a beautiful shiny royal blue. Looking back at this picture of my costume makes me itch to get my hands dirty with another craft project.

Country Club

Even though it's slightly past the time for bright autumn colors here, I still found this Elle Italia editorial very appealing. The color palette is so rich and the clothes look like something I can pull out of my own closet or find at a thriftstore right away. I love it when an editorial is both inspiring and practical. My favorite outfit by far is the first one. Is that a puffer underneath the patterned shawl/jacket? That's a brilliant way of wearing a rather boring and conventional item.













from Diciassette attfs.com

Bundled Up

After freezing my toes off walking around campus with wet feet today I was very much in the mood for some warm winter inspiration. After browsing hundreds (no joke, I spent an hour!) of pages worth of magazine threads at thefashionspot, I have come to the conclusion that the fashion industry is stark-raving mad. Where are all of the winter editorials? It's almost December! You'd think publications in the northern hemisphere would crank out at least a few warm and cozy looking editorials around this time of year. All I can find is models prancing around in their underpants with a fur jacket or two.

So in the absence of any current inspiration, I decided to dig through my messy archive of random photos to see what I can find. Ahh that's better.


ID mag via foto_decadent, A. F. Vandevorst via style.com, Stella McCartney via style.com, other sources lost

Speaking of wet feet, I've been on the lookout for simple stylish rain boots but can't seem to find any to my liking. I'm looking for black knee-highs in particular. Any Vancouverites know where I can go to solve this dilemma?

Li Xiaofeng makes your grandma's dinner plates fashionable again

It seems as if I'm not the only one inspired by blue porcelain. Artist Li Xiaofeng has made entire dresses and suits from china and porcelain. This is the stuff of my dreams right here. The cut of the dresses is surprisingly flattering, especially that piece worn my the model.

Layered Raspberry Souffle

During my trip to Prague I met the lovely Sabina, a reader of this blog, who was kind enough to show me where to go and what to see in terms of shopping in the Czech capital. One store we visited was Leeda, an apparent hit-and-miss style-wise, or so I've been told. Looking at their current collection (nothing but bathing suits!) I'm assuming that this particular season is their off-season. However, I did fall in love with a zany little dress when I visited the store last August. It has layers and layers of light pink and orange fabric. The standout of the line at the time, in my opinion. I can see it glowing prettily under neon club lights. It's a shame they didn't let me take a picture in the store, or display the dress better.



Yesterday I found a nice comparison to the dress. The Mischen version is more subtle and refined (and still out of my price range!) but still gives off that yummy dessert feeling.



On the runway, Pollini's layers of fruity colors certainly brings to mind a mix of lemons, kiwis, raspberries, grapes and oranges. I probably shouldn't blog when hungry.

Hunt & Gather

I was browsing through the website of a local Vancouver photographer a while ago and came across this wonderful editorial, set in my own backyard. I have to congratulate stylist Emilia Pelech for creating a look that is strikingly NOT Vancouver-like. The contrast between familiar sights and unfamiliar clothes is very appealing to me. I love the spats and vests from local label Hunt & Gather. There is some hope for Vancouver after all!