Obsessed

Fendi window shopping - $tunning

I love the color deemed "nude". Beige, cream, very off-white, nude. This applies to everything right now, too - dresses, sweaters, blazers, pants, shoes and nails. I'm obsessed.

It all started when I saw the windows at Saks gleaming with Fendi's nude collection. When I got home I went on a beige induced frenzy! Below is the result of some serious Saks and other web browsing and dreaming.

It's so clean-looking and fresh. Simple and chic!

Metropolitan Leather ankle boots by J.Crew - $265

One-button boyfriend jacket by Chloe - $2, 320

Belted Chevron-Print Mini Dress by Dior - $4, 800

Linen/Cupro Skort Dress by Araks - $1, 125

Scoopneck Jumpsuit by Alexander Wang - $420

Chevron Illusion Mini Dress by Herve Leger - $3, 900

Draped-Front Silk Twill Mini Dress by Fendi - $1, 670

Sleevless Tricolor Dress by Fendi - $1, 315

Elysee Trenchcoat by Moncler - $800

Ballerine BB by Repetto - $175

Tickle My France-y by O.P.I - $7.32

Natalia Mary Jane Slingback Pumps by Fendi - $770

Camden Leather Brogues by J. Crew - $250

Song of the day - Justin Faust - Holdin' On (Moulinex Remix)

Tribalations

I have a new idea. I just need to figure out how to do it.

I remember back in September '09 or so, Rodarte had all these tribal designs drawn on the model's bodies for the runway show. It was supposed to be henna-inspired make up because MAC senior artist Chantel Miller wanted people to see make up almost as an accessory to ones outfit, something that can be worn on the body as well as the face. The looks of the show were ultimately created by the team of Miller, Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte and James Kaliardos of MAC; there ended up being four different full sleeve, one neck and eight half-sleeve tattoos, defined as "futuristic tribe". (Images via MAC & La Roux)

BUT the plot thickens... the suspense arises... , I then saw La Roux's jacket (below) and decided that I need to figure out how to do something similar that involves nothing permanent. So the problem becomes how to create the look - ribbon on jacket? paint on jacket? Ideas as to how this can come to fruition?

Song of the day (which, in turn, inspired the title of this post): LCD Soundsystem - Tribulations

The Shop that is just so Top

TopShop. Described to me by a friend as "Forever 21 quality at Zara prices". I agree but only to a certain point. Ok, the quality isn't that fabulous and the prices are sky-high, but the ideas are there. TopShop has become, for me, a place of serious inspiration. I guess Kate Moss allows me to walk into a store choc-full of stuff that has been studded, pierced, cowled, jeaned, bleached, cut, draped, diagonal-ed, zippered, bowed etc... and see what's going on in the world. Also, it gives me some absolutely great ideas for DIY projects! The above shoes are so cute! The bows! The height! The colors! I love beige shoes - and these are so girly and fun!

I've always loved backless dresses - I think the back is one of the more beautiful body parts, especially on women, and showing it off is subtly seductive. I think I might make one of my own...

This jacket is amazing. First off, it's white - not so common, but so cool. The shoulders peak right at the line between Balmain and everyday blazers. The single button is also a great feature, although I might not have chosen it in gold.

Love. This. Jacket. Jean with a bad ass buttons and a bleach effect on angled cuts. So 80s with a 21st century flare.

Song of the day: Jan Turkenburg - In My Spaceship (Pilooski Remix)

The beauty that is H&M

Over the years, I've come to realize that when you are looking for a quick, snazzy getup, H&M is usually the way to go. Items are cheap and generally have just the twinge of style I'm looking for. Ok, they don't usually last very long and probably aren't made of the most upscale, expensive-looking fabrics, but they are the best last-minute costume changes (aka work-to-night clothes because I can't get home and back in time to partayyy). Annnnd it's cheap! I've come to find that H&M works best when you pair with something of quality - i.e. a super blazer, some insane shoes, crazy accessories. Actually, H&M has some pretty nice shoes. Anyway, I found some cool stuff there today that I would like to share with you, because as you may or may not know sharing IS caring. And I care! So.. THERE!

Dress with chain shoulder details, which I love, but fear will break (or dissipate naturally, whichever comes first - they are sneaky little buggers) quite quickly.

Also had shoulder pads for sextra 80s volume (typo intended).

Amazing, light jacket made of some sort of crepe type material - studded (my favorite, as you may have been able to tell from some of my previous posts...) - also came in black, but the white one accentuated the studs in a much nicer and bolder way.

Another Vain DIY project (pt. 5)

I'm not going to lie but this photo-shoot stuff is kind of fun. That's my inner-Leo peeking out I'm sure. Or maybe it's my deep inner desire to BECOME THE NEXT POP SUPERSTAR. The looking through the pictures and editing the colors (ok, Kevin Colombu did that part) and seeing something I made in artistic and perfectly framed images is also kind of fun. Not so fun is clicking "publish post". I guess I find it too vain to have all these pictures of myself but, in my defense, these clothes are mine and therefore fit my being the way I like them to be fit. I guess what I'll have to do is start making clothes and shtuff to fit others so that I can make them the models! Who's in? :)

p.s. P. Diddy, if you're reading, I also sing and dance.

Blazer: Thrifty Shoppy! It's basically the magical epicenter of the universe, no big deal. $12.

Asian-inspired appliqué: again, one of those beads-n-stuff places in NYC fashion district (I'm going to guess somewhere around 37th & 7th or so - think 5 block radius) - it's actually a two-part piece that connects in the middle, meant to be a variation of a button, if you see what I mean (click on pictures to enlarge) - $8.

+ a peekaboo of my previously DIY studded jeans.

Song of the dizzay:

my new obsession = Erik Hassle.

This version of "Hurtful" remixed by Penguin Prison.

Reinvention - DIY (pt. 3)

Photos by Kevin Colombu

"When you place a value on things like health, love, sex, and other things and learn to place the material value on what you've previously discounted for being merely untangible - a thing not seen - you realize you're much much wealthier than you ever imagined." - Rory Sutherland, Life lessons from an ad man

Blazer - Vintage Ralph Lauren - a real steal at Thrifty Shoppy (also known as Thrifty Shopper for those who don't feel the need to rhyme everything) for about $14

Shoulders - two necklaces (the kind that originally came with black satin ribbons to tie around the neck - it would've made for a golden crescent moon shape atop the collar bones) from Forever 21 (I was suprised, too!) - $18 each

I'm a fan.

Reigning in our disposable lifestyles - DIY (pt. 2)

And another post of vanity!

Blazer - Village des Valeurs (Pie IX, Montreal, Quebec, CANADA) - about $4 - with black velvet lapels

Feather stencil - found at an awesome second hand clothing / costume rental store called Eva B on St. Laurent (in Montreal); thick ink (feels almost like black glue) on muslin fabric, made by local artist (unnamed) - about $7

Dark blue + black and white = great combo

photos by Kevin Colombu (http://www.kevincolombu.com/blog/)

Let's call it DIY, studs

Lauriane (photo by 4Mika - 4Mika.com)

Lauriane (photo by 4Mika - 4Mika.com)

fig 1.

fig. 2

fig. 3

Military style became particularly trendy after the death of the King of Pop. We saw the gold rope-like embroidery across the chest and epaulettes, which veered into familiar faux shoulder insignia, colorful ribbon strips at the wrists and bright buttons. Of course, we've all seen the boyfriend blazer trend as well. Recently, however, I've noticed an amalgamation of the two with the increase of an edgier side to these looks - studs. There seems to be a punk version of the military jacket and blazer- studded shoulders, studded wrists, studded pockets. Balmain (fig. 1) has created a few of these and I've seen some nice studded lapels at Zara (fig. 2). A couple weeks ago, my brother's girlfriend Lauriane was wearing a plain v-neck grey sweater with the perfect studded detail on the shoulders from Sandro (take a look at the studded Fall '09-'10 collection here: http://www.sandro-paris.com/). Fond of the look, I decided to search for some studs to DIY a sweater myself. I went first to Omer de Serres, an art supply story in Montreal, where one of the employees showed me her studded belt (making sure I was in fact referring to the right peice of metal) and directed me towards St. Denis, to a punk store store called X2O-Rio, where I could find studs. They were selling 10 for $2, so I bought two bags, went home, and carefully folded 5 metal prongs into each shoulder of the sweater. Et voila! Not as nice as last year's Givenchy studded number (fig. 3), but still cool.