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Today has found me hungover and wanting to dress more like i used to last year on hangover days where the layers and the scarves accumulate into a big mess like my own state.

A bit like this:



photos from facehunter.blogspot.com

So the 90's are making a comeback

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6XE1XRiLeY

Everybody, yeah
Rock your body, yeah
Everybody, yeah
Rock your body right
DUNGAREES are back, alright...

Well doesn't it seem like a logical continuation from the wave of jumpsuits and playsuits that were around last year?

Dungarees. I always wanted a pair. Actually I did have a pair once but I can't remember them given I was four or five at the time; mum had me dressed in a navy and white striped OshKosh B'gosh pair with one red and one green shoulder strap and purposely mismatched-to-match red and green socks. Bless.

Then a very gangly 14 year old me decided I really, really wanted a pair. But that there was the problem - my legs; they were just too long and I couldn't get any to fit. It was hard enough finding jeans that reached my ankles whilst managing to stay up on my waist not to mind having to worry about torso lengths and associated wedgie discomforts....

So I gave up hope and moved along from the idea resolute to one day fulfil my fashion dreams when I have a big belly bump. Because pregnancy is all about the dungarees, non?

NON!

Because now it's Spring and nearly Summer and it's 2010 and people are talking about dungarees and they're doing it in all seriousness.

I would advise, however, that they be worn with light fabrics such as silk or chiffon and steer clear of checkered shirts, cotton t-shirts, and pigtails!

From the catwalk collections we have:

Ralph Lauren

Richard Nicoll

Roberto Cavalli

Roland Mouret

Jean Paul Gaultier

Denim still features strongly but isn't as dominant as it was in the past and they're now available in a good range of materials such as crepe and printed silk. On the high street denim pairs are starting to appear and there are even some pretty floral prints to be found like these ones from ASOS and H&M:

it's like a bounty

Like a bounty: when you think about it you should technically dislike it but at the same time you can't help but like it. Recently this is how I've come to think of clothes shops such as Urban Outfitters, somewhere that tries to mass produce an individual look. I don't know how their merchandise works, the designing or buying process behind it, but it seems to me that they raid the wardrobes of typical Lower East Side hipsters which have been formed over time through the raiding of Salvation Armys, small vintage shops, street sales and mixed with a bit of trendy high street like American Apparel, then take the contents to the factory and reproduce each item. So in theory I like this style, the general look of a poor art student who spends all their money on books and coffee, whose clothes (if they could speak) would have stories just as interesting to tell as the person wearing them. Now I can't say I dislike high street shops promoting this look because that's a ridiculously arrogant statment to make and would also be like saying I'm against most of the main shops out there, Topshop included. I just think dressing in a certain way should reflect the sort of person you are and this arty hipster style suits the sort of mildly eccentric individual and is put together in a more unintentional manner as they are simply drawn to scavanging and collecting, rather than your average girl with disposable income who can walk into their closest Urban Outfitters and replicate the look for ten times the price. This rant is supposed to be leading me on to Alexa Chung.

I do love her style. And were I to be asked if I had a style icon then no doubt her name would probably make it close to the top of my list. Which is why I'm between two minds as to her recently designed collection. I like the pieces and the general style but at the same time am hesitant to completely love it as I still hold my reservations regarding all the look alike copycats it will lead to...

She has designed a range for Madewell's Fall 2010 collection which features Alexa-inspired long sleeved dresses, peter pan collars, striped tshirts, high waisted shorts, sweeping knee length skirts. For the launch she wore a pair of black velvet high waisted shorts with a white safari shirt, and many of her friends modelled for the night includind Pixie Geldof and Poppy Delevegne. However, in an interview Chung herself said "It's actually a bit weird to see everyone walking around in the clothes today because they all look like me." Which is sort of the point I'm trying to make... What do you think? Do you like the collection?

valen-whatnow-tine?

All you need is love,

All you need is love,
All you need is love, love,
Love is all you need.

So love makes the world go round? Indeed since the times of Petrarch's struggles with his overwhelming love for Laura there seems to be more art made, more poems written, more songs sung, on the topic than any other imaginable.
Forget about the heartache it can bring because today is love day. Love a lub dub... Now call me cynical but I'm actually quite opposed to the whole notion of Valentines Day; I think if you're really in love with somebody then you ought to let them know through small, thoughtful everyday things, or express your affection those times when you get a resurgence of your passionate emotions, and not just because Hallmark says you should spend a lot of money buying x, y and z on this specific day to show how you feel.

But in the spirit of things... isn't it lovely?...

and then for the lovely loners of us:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBC7pilGoPc (sorry I can't upload the video, but just click the link instead)








images 3-9 from teen vogue

Pret a Porter

And so I've finally got my hands on a few photographs from my recent class trip to Paris. Firstly I have to put up this picture because it's of me with my camera the last time it worked. A tragic loss; where are the kleenex when I need them?


So yeah, the reason we were there was to attend the Pret-a-Porter show in Porte de Versailles.

Basically it's a big trade fair for designers to showcase their ss2011 collections and brings the designers together with manufacturers, buyers, and other professionals from the fashion world.

Women's wear fashion and accessories are exhibited according to three different market categories or "universes". There's the designers and creator's universe with 'Atmosphere' and 'The Box'; the new market universe with 'Shibuya' and 'So Ethic'; the heart of the market universe with 'Go Easy', 'Go Magic' and 'Creative By'. I thought the 'So Ethic' section was particularly interesting as all the clothes were concerned with ethical means of production and taking into consideration the relationship between man and the environment. Appearing for the first time last year it was not only host to brands who manufacture their products from organic and recycled materials, but it makes a plea to those in the industry to revise their means of production and move towards investing in sustainable development - make a stamp on its carbon footprint etcetera etcetera

It was an amazing experience being right there in the middle of all the action, to think that what I was seeing wouldn't be seen in the shops by anyone until this time next year... It was SO big, and there was something like 1,500 designers so I was definitely overwhelmed like I was probably walking around in a daze with my mouth hanging open for the half of it!

Two designers who stood out, in my humble opinion, were:

Fleamadonna ( South Korea)


Loa Andriamasomanana (Denmark)
























Jei Kim is the creative force behind Fleamadonna, and she says it's the bling of 1980's muisc divas (like Madonna) that inspires her designs . I like this.

We spent the day walking around with our special bright pink passes round our necks, oohing and aahing and asking lots of questions. There were things going on the whole time, like little fashion shows on small runways, I even saw some flamenco dancing. And in one of the corners on the second floor was EXPLOSION DE MODES which was all about the future of fashion, how influences come together to form the style of an era, the different effects various forms of art have on fashion, and a look at the expectations of where fashion is going.

Fashion of tomorrow? It's pretty funny if you think about it, considering I remember a time when we thought that by 2000 everyone would be dressed all in silver and wearing some weird futuristic version of moon boots...

RUNWAY

I remember once saying my favourite sort of photography wasn't when it looked like the photo was taken because the photographer thought it would make a good photo, but when he wanted to capture what he saw in a moment in such a way that we could see it as if seeing it for ourselves through his eyes. I was then laughed at for being "profound". But that's exactly how I would describe Steven Meisel's latest editorial for Vogue Italia. In this January issue his photographs cover an 80 page spread wherein he shoots an array of models from behind the scenes and on the runway, giving us an enchanting insight into their working world.















Models featured: Agyness Deyn, Alla Kostromicheva, Aminata Niaria, Anna De Rijk, Anna Selezneva, Constance Jablonski, Daria Strokus, Freja Beha Erichsen, Frida Gustavsson, Gwen Loos, Hanne Gaby, Irina Kulikova, Iris Strubegger, Isabeli Fontana, Iselin Steiro, Jac Jagaciack, Jamie Bochert, Kamila Filipcikova, Karen Elson, Karlie Kloss, Kasia Struss, Kendra Spears, Lara Stone, Lily Donaldson, Liya Kebede, Magdalena Frackowiak, Mirte Maas, Natasha Poly, Patricia van der Vliet, Ranya Mordanova, Rianne ten Haken, Rose Cordero, Sasha Pivovarova, Sessilee Lopez, Sigrid Agren, Siri Tollerod, Snejana Onopka and Viktoriya Sasonkina.