schematically thematic

Peter Jensen showed last week in london for spring 09. Peter who you may say? Peter our new paramour. Each season he devotes the entire collection to a rigid theme which ends up ruling my brain once i see it. Last spring (08 season), vastly ahead of trend, he channeled the heroines of John Waters movies. Pops of bright, drop crop, light wash denim, fringe; he had it all! All looks were on-point, pre-trend, and wearable, but still cohesive to a tangible theme. There may be nothing I love more than adherence to a concept. Rigid follow through and excellent outcome. Making it centric to J.Waters is just an added bonus. For spring 09 it was all about Jodie Foster. Each look paid thoughtful, affectionate, patronage to every film Mlle Foster has appeared in from Taxi Driver to Silence of the Lambs (that new one where she played a futuro assassin was excluded). It is so refreshing to see a designers spring09 theme that isn't intentionally a mass cash cow digression: ahem...the various permutations of prada lace; its expensive to make, but still exists in every price point from 5$ to 50$K making it easy to adopt the trend which can go ridiculously wrong and will most likely make you look like an (attention) whore if you dare to err on the cheap end of the spectrum. Anyways, below are images from P.Jensen's spring 08 and 09 shows which are fresh to death and in homage of Cry Baby and Taxi Driver respectively.

lyell lyell

Lyell, one of the first boutiques to go the route of having a store front, then a store brand, then a runway show for the store brand, has a creepy-dreamy spring look-book up on their website presently (as well as their fall 08 premiere runway show). The Spring line is a little 40s vintage and a little 'Wonder Years' and a lot wearable either as a collection (as this pretty thing photographed by fashionista shows) or piece by piece. Fall collection has a similar theme, but in more seasonally appropriate fabrics and palette; as though the spring dream girl has grown up into an authoritative lady. Lyell is located in NYC on Elizabeth street and refinery29 sometimes carries a selection of their collection online.

marni and LV:studies in wit and protection

glossed leather armor, cocoons to dwell in, outer layers treated as diaphanous under layers. not a haiku, but you should none-the-less appreciate the freshness of textile usage and the irreverence of form and concept.

fashion nerd excitement

so! judging from the shown accessories for s/s08 there may be a new shape in balenciaga handbags! i am honestly excited for this because balenciaga makes some incredible shoes, handbags, small leather goods, and jewelry, but none of them are ever seen in favor of the ubiquitous and throughly played out motorcycle bag. the real ones are nice, but can never be carried lest you feel like looking like a mid-western college sorority sister with a love of all things celebretarded with only worn copy of Star! to introduce you to new fashions. now, balenciaga will obviously still produce and make truckloads of money off of the motorcycle bags, they just will, but these new bags are appealing; they have compartments! patent and matte leather! shoulder straps! good hardware placement! lady like but not stuffy! smart but not unwearable!

you know what they say

they, or maybe just me, say. those who cant design pay way too much for shit. some of these items below i honestly don't know the price for, but given their provenance and the fact that they come from s/s08 it's safe to guess that its more than my rent. so, arts and crafts will rule my life this winter. so here are some projects ranging from easy you know what peasy to may-need-some-time-or-booze-aided-patience-and/or-a-brainy-friend to make this work. you can even make an arts and crafts party of it if you are feeling particularly hostess-y. if so. invite me, i'm a good party attendee and have some applicable craft skills.
(braided metal necklaces: gemma redux; beaded necklace: carlos de souza; woven leather clutch: chloe; linen and patent tote: lacroix)

spooky shit

ok so i decided i need to update with some news or nonsense. how about this? pete wentz has a 'store' for his 'brand' clandestine industries. its full of cool tee shirts! and colorful nikes! and sobbing teen girls! and wall art of such poignant phrases as 'this fashion machine kills me' or something to that extent that i cannot recall because (a) it was stupid and unmemorable in the first place and (b) wooo halloween beers. anyhow i hope his chicago store burns or fails or someone just tells him that he is no fashion icon for profiting off teen girls wanting to hold hands with him and wipe tears from his face so his guyliner doesnt smudge. boy needs to get some maybelline, but i digress. am i just too old to see the commercial beauty in this? would i feel the same way if devon sawa had a brand? or am i just hating the flash in the pan idiocy of his exploiting whiny teens who have ample parental funded spending power on pete wentz approved apparel or me hating the fact that he thinks he is some sort of design maven when really he is just another product that the people who in-turn own him profit from? the bottom line is someone needs to pay ME a jillion dollars to find puppet-y pseudo-celebs to hawk a crash and burn brand while i rake in the dollars off their loss. oh. and here are some easy breezy vacation appropriate Yigal Azroeul spring/summer 08 photos; i totally saw his botani trim order sheet today.

vena cava loves beer

It's true. One of their hand drawn silk prints is actually the silhouette of a pile of empty beer cans. So not only do i love them for making everything i want to buy in this life AND my after life, but they are rad girls who like to party and make all of their stuff by hand in their brooklyn studio. Please note these images from SS08 and scope shopbird for what we have at my place of employment otherwise known as what will soon be in my closet.

oh mi corazon

Maurizio Pecoraro showed in milan for spring 08 and was panned by style.com for being TOO influenced by art and not concise in his inspiration leading to a disconnect between styles. style.com needs to get it's eye's checked//lighten up sometimes. Who would NOT like native american head-dresses on a rothko/pollack inspired dress with a wispy hair-do and some fringe-y heels? if you answered 'me' the x in the upper right hand cornor of your screen might be useful to you. If you answered 'fuck yea i love that stuff im so wasted' then you are in the right place. Enjoy your wind down from work and scope these choice images from M's spring collection; the rest can be found on the devious style.com website.

the devil is in the details

alright, im no class act, but i sure appreciate some fine intern labor (akin to your normal slave labor but with more ass-kissing, errand running, and lower wages) detail work. my money is on that interns are to blame for the prototypes of the beautiful detail layouts of the following garments. i mean, takes one to know one and all, but none-the-less be inspired and hyper-into the navajo-bauhaus-rad extras of already awesome spring 08 biznizz.

dior news bits

so. galliano=ridic talent and vision and execution all wrapped up in one brain that puts theatrical displays for both dior and his own brand. however. spring 08' is definitely wearable than previous albeit lovely collections, and personally like quite a few of the pieces, is contrasting in my brain with the jezebel article that the house of dior is upset at the proliferation of young adults (read: teens buying 200$ j'adore dior tees) and is steering their collection pieces in a more adult manner (read: tripling already exorbitant prices) thats just not fair as this is the first dior collection that i have liked and would like to wear. i mean id still kill for some fall 07 dior just to have around.

spring 08

Sorry for the lapse. My laptop is broken and I am just now catching up on Spring 08 shows despite being 2 blocks from the bryant park tents. My only, and most important comment for now until I can elaborate is: HATERS BE HATIN'. That is all; see you soon xxoo