What I'm Wearing 29.05.09

I haven't taken any steps to solve my technical issue yet. Part of me calls the other part lazy, but the other part was happy that she got to spend some time with friends this week since I can't get a hold of any of them during the school year. Still, I feel a bit frustrated not being able to update as often. Today I finally backed up my files and I'll start seeing what I can do with my wireless connection tomorrow if I have some free time. In the meantime, here is what I'll be wearing out tonight to meet with friends for a night on the town. The varying earthy tones remind me a bit of Chloe, which isn't my usual look but sometimes I enjoy a softer girly look too. This is also the first time I wore a ponytail (outside of fencing class) in probably years. Somehow at the tender age of 19 I seem to believe that I look too old for ponytails.



I'm wearing two Urban Behaviour tanks, a thrifted skirt, belt and bag, and Aldo shoes.

My apologies for the over-sharpened photo!

Nooooooo!

From news.yahoo.com:

France's US-owned couture house Christian Lacroix SNC has declared insolvency after falling foul of the global crisis, the company said Thursday.

Arguably one of the most exuberant couturiers in Paris, Christian Lacroix SNC said in a statement that the company owned by Falic had declared insolvency before a Paris court due to "the sharp downturn of the luxury market."

The company said it "has filed a voluntary petition with the Tribunal de Commerce de Paris to put itself under the protection of the courts" but intends "to present a continuation plan" and "intends to maintain its business operations throughout the proceedings."

Declaring insolvency is a first step towards bankruptcy protection.

After being bought by the US firm from luxury group LVMH in early 2005, the company launched "an ambitious and costly restructuring plan to reposition the brand offering to higher end collections," terminating ready-to-wear lines and opening two stores in the United States, one in Las Vegas, one in New York.

"Unfortunately, this longterm strategy for repositioning of the brand was dramatically hindered by the current and ongoing world financial and economic crisis which severely hit the luxury sector," the company said.

Christian Lacroix still remains one of my favourite established fashion houses and news of its insolvency greatly saddens me. At the same time, as a commerce student, I can't help but me fascinated by this whole process. Topics like restructuring and brand repositioning fit in perfectly with the courses I will be taking next year. What a terrible case of bad timing! Maybe if the execs at LVMH studied the Austrian business cycle theory instead of following those darn Keynesians, they would have been better prepared... Just sayin`.


Images via style.com

What I'm Wearing 22.05.09

I haven't made an outfit post in ages! I've basically been living in a variation of skinnies paired with grey, navy, black and beige for the past couple of weeks. Nothing worth posting really. Today it's nice and warm out so I'm finally breaking out my leather skirt. You'd think it would be an ideal item to wear when it's colder, but I've never found a warm enough jacket that balances the fullness of the skirt. I like to wear it during the month-long open window I may get in late spring or late summer, when it isn't too hot or too cold outside.





I broke the outfit into two looks, one for this afternoon and the other to wear out tonight. I'm wearing an Urban Behaviour tank top, vintage skirt and Aldo shoes in the first photo, and the same items but with a Zara dress worn as a top in the second photo. I'm planning to go thrifting in a bit. Hopefully I can find a good jacket to pair directly with the skirt!

Pelican Avenue Fall 09

I think technology and I need a divorce. Or at least some time apart, so we can maybe figure out where we are in our lives, because I think technology needs to get its priorities straight. Case in point, last night the wireless network on my laptop just disappeared. POOF! Just like that. Gone. I've googled the problem already and found out that I'm not the only one this has happened to. Thank you malware for making my day harder than it has to be! Unfortunately I'm not much of a techie so following directions on a forum just isn't working out. So now I'm blogging with two laptops in front of me. One doesn't have internet and the other doesn't have photo editing software. Brilliant. But anyways, let me refocus on the purpose of this post, the wonderfully colourful Pelican Avenue fall 09 collection.

Pelican Avenue is the brainchild of Carolin Lerch, a graduate from the Antwerp Academy of Fashion and former assistant of Bernhard Willhelm. The label is intended to propose a different approach to fashion, to oppose constantly changing trends yet avoid stagnation and complacency. The collections are represented through different types of media including photography, live installations, performances and video. I definitely recommend a visit to their website, where the collections are broken up and displayed as themed projects, most with a fantastic accompanying video.

Although their intention is to avoid trends, I can't help but point out that the nomad looks in this collection are rather similar to work by the likes of Damir Doma and Rozalb de Mura. The "avante-garde" group it seems, still has it's own microcosm of recurring trends and themes, but they do seem to have more staying power and enjoy a longer time span before saturation. I'd still wear every piece and treasure them forever!




Images via LondonTokyoStyle

How to Make the Fur Fly

I've been falling a bit behind on blogging lately, so please bear with me while I catch up and respond to new comments and e-mails tonight! I haven't even turned on the computer in the past three or so days which is unheard of, for me. But I finally had the time to do some reading and see the new Star Trek movie! They could've toned down the special effects overload, but I did enjoy the many comedic pauses. Are there any fans here reading the blog?

Anyways, here are a few shots from one of my favourite vintage Helmut Newton editorials from the December 1967 issue of British Vogue. Flying furs aside, I love the suspended action in these photos. I am especially fond of the last two which are just epic and definitely not fashion pretty.





Images scanned by iluvjeisa from tfs.com

Polanka, the Future, and First Contact

I come accross blog material in funny roundabout ways. For example, while catching up on my google reader this morning, I came accross a post on A Shaded View recapping a photoshoot for the Austrian Fashion Awards. Two of the outfits caught my eye and I decided to google further to see past entrants and winners. So this is how I happened upon Jakub Polanka, winner of the Kontakt Award from the 2007 AFA Festival in Austria and one of the 10 finalists for the Mango Fashion Awards.

The first thought that popped into my head was "Queen Michelle would be all over this!" Indeed, you have the drape, the harem-style pants, a few pairs of fantastic leggings, bits of sheer here and there... All in all, a perfect collection for our 21st century Queen.

Sometimes I wonder if collections such as this one are an example of a designer's present view of what the future could look like, or if the future has indeed already arrived. On the streets, much still looks the same, but judging from the multitude of collections sporting similar complicated constructions with minimal colour palettes, I can't help but be optimistic that we are on the cusp of a newer, more stylish fashion era.

Now if only we can end war and band together to eradicate famine, disease and achieve warp speed... Yes I have been watching Star Trek! I have also had a rather sleepless night spent with ideas of first contact zigzagging through my mind. Needless to say, I feel a little loopy today.










Images via jakubpolanka.com

What I'm Wearing 08.05.09

This morning I decided to stop resisting the cloudy weather and just join along, with a more somber palette of my own. But as luck would have it, the sun decides to peek out and I find myself mismatching the weather again. Darn you spring, don't be such a woman! Seeing the sun again makes me wish I had something to do outside this evening. It's been a mellow day. I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark and started reading The Time Machine. Maybe that had a slight influence on the earthy colour palette?


I'm wearing a thrifted blazer, shirt, beaded top, shoes and hat, and Urban Behaviour skirt.

I just purchased these shoes yesterday. I've been secretly wanting to buy a pair of Docs since last summer. Last fall, when it was cold and murky and I was sick of wearing rainboots, I really wished I had some of my own. This pair has a similar feel, but they're more sleek and thin. I'm looking forward to beating them up, which won't be too difficult, considering the sorry state of my Aldo wedges... All I know about the booties is that they're made in Canada by a brand called Henri Pierre, which sells at Sears. I know, I'm so fashionable, right? But it feels like I'm walking on clouds!

Health is a Choice, Choose It

Sometimes I wonder why I became a fashion blogger. There are so many other things I would probably prefer to discuss with people. But then again, I sometimes also wonder why I went into the commerce faculty of all things. On the one hand, focusing on beauty keeps me balanced. I'm one of those horribly serious people who are always bemoaning the state of the economy, the state of health care, the state of war and peace, the state of the media... I can go on. In fact just this morning my dad told me to go watch a comedy and stop reading depressing news articles. So I switched to gathering blog inspiration from magazine scans instead. Unfortunately, it looks like the fight in me isn't quenched just yet.

I love the styling in Vogue Italia's May 2009 Glitter editorial. I love the feathers, I love the shiny jewels, I love the hats, model, and Christopher Kane's scalloped dress... What I don't love is fashion's continuing love affair with cigarettes. They are so non-essential to this editorial and I can't understand why they even bother. I didn't mean to single out Vogue Italia in particular, but this is just the first editorial that caught my eye today and I remember being annoyed by this many, many times before.

A good part the fashion world obviously isn't committed to health in any way whatsoever. Whether it's the promotion of cigarettes (in editorials or backstage) or the promotion of unnaturally skinny models, or calorie counting over nutrition counting, fashion obviously has some issues that need sorting out. I see a lot of finger pointing and it's getting old, fast. Every individual holds the choice to opt out if they don't like what they see. If they don't, they have only themselves to blame, really.

I think the defining moment came when I saw a photo of Laura Stone in Love magazine holding a carrot like one would a cigarette. I'm vaguely aware of seeing her smoke in backstage shots before, but just this one image completely made my day. How about that! Why not pose with a carrot instead? Or grass? Or nothing at all?


Image via hapsical.blogspot.com






Images scanned by Diciassette (17) from tfs.com

And a little fyi, the title of this post is a play on one of my favourite books (which I've mentioned once before on the blog): Never Be Sick Again - Health is a Choice, Learn How to Choose It by Raymond Francis, M.Sc. I'm driving my family and boyfriend a bit nuts already with my ranting about what a nutritious diet should be. Oh dear, looks like it has spread to the blog! My boy is probably reading this and laughing to himself.

Hyeres Recap

Maybe to the few (or many?) of you who have already seen A Shaded View on Fashion's recap of the Hyeres festival, this is already old news, but I still wanted to share tidbits of my favourite shows just in case. I quite liked Steffie Christiaens' beautiful "accidents" created by studying the movement of the wind and Maxime Simoens' colorful kaleidoscopic prints. The stiching on the middle dress in Simoens' collection reminds me somewhat of Balenciaga's famous SS 08 flower dresses. I always found it funny when people on forums would compare everything they see to Balenciaga but, sometimes, it's just unavoidable! I quite like that baseball stitch. This year's winners, Latvian designers Marite Mastina et Rolands Peterkops, churned out one of the most impeccably tailored leather dresses. I like their twisted take on film noir stock characters. French designer Anaïs Dougnac's collection was inspired by aviation, but I find it rather angelic. And I also give mad props to Harald Lunde Helgesen for recognizing aesthetic potential in something as dusty as archaeology. What gorgeous color gradients!






Photos from here, here, here, here and here.

1 Shirt, 1 Pair of Shoes, 5 Outfits

Eep I've been purposely staying away from blogging for the past few days. It's party because the weather has switched back to rain, and I don't feel up to doing something creative with layering at the moment. Can't summer just come already? I've mostly been wearing skinnies, sweaters and my leather jacket. Nothing worth posting really. But since I didn't have work today and spent most of the day alone inside, I decided to put together a few outfits with the hope that I could wear them sometime soon.


Wearing an Urban Behaviour tank and skirt, Aldo shoes, vintage Ports blazer.

I used an Urban Behaviour tank that I picked up on sale last week as a base to all of the outfits. I quite like wearing it backwards, it's my version of underwear as outerwear, except it's still technically layered underneath. I wonder if I'll get this crazy lace tan on my chest this summer... Now there's a trend to start!


Same as above with a thrifted skirt.

I started styling the top with a few longer skirts, because I realized that sometimes I go far too short and I don't always like that kind of attention (refer to this post with a few creepo encounters). I've worn this blue skirt to a job interview before. I love how the pleats are so exact and precise. This outfit is a bit of a mix between racy and demure. Maybe it's slightly more practical to wear out during the daytime.



The above skirt is also another thrifted find. I should really wear it more often but it's slightly too wide. I keep meaning to have it taken in... or just do it myself. But I'm a lazy, lazy blogger. The leather jacket is also a thrifted find (actually it's my mothers hah). What sort of jacket does one wear with a longer, fuller skirt? This is the best fit that I've come across so far with jackets from my closet.



Again, the above skirt is second hand. I love how nothing matches in this outfit. Cotton and black lace? Purple suede and burnt ourange corduroy? I always purposely mismatch when I'm wearing this skirt because I can't really think of anything that goes with it perfectly.



And lastly, another thifted skirt and blazer. It's the first time I've attempted polka dots in a while! For some reason I've never much taken to the pattern, but I love every other print imaginable. It works to my liking here though.

I hope you've enjoyed my little experiment! I threw in some 90s-supermodel-stong-arm-flexing poses in the mix. Obviously mine still need a little work. I've resumed fencing practice again for the summer (I don't think I've ever mentioned that I fence on the blog), and my shoulders and hands are in desperate need of a bit more strength. It's sad when your hand cramps up after only two minutes into a bout...

Me by Kevin

I'm feeling a bit lazy and uninspired after coming back from work so this post is just a quickie. My boyfriend sent over some pictures that he has taken of me recently with his film cameras, and so I decided to show you one of them today. I think this one is more recent, taken just a couple of weeks ago after my finance final. Isn't it so much more interesting than my recent blank wall backdrops? I'd love to post his photos all the time but they either take a while to process or I'm making awkward faces. There is no second chance with film, I'm afraid.



Kevin has recently sparked the interest of a local gallery owner and might get to display a couple of his photographs. He has also entered a photography contest for a $10,000 grant from Magnum and the semi-finalists will be announced sometime within the next week. Good luck Kevin love!

Check out his flickr here