From the Shows

Apparently fellow Paris Vogue-rs Emmanuelle Alt and Carine Roitfeld were seen sitting next to each other sporting the same Alaia stilettos! Mais non!

Wearing Today

Broke out my new Balenciagas for lunch with some friends. I stopped by Nordstrom afterwards to look for shoes for a friend, and one of the sales associates complimented them and then asked if I was trying them on. I almost laughed out loud. How I wish Nordstrom was cool enough to carry Balenciaga. In any case, it was pretty warm so I didn't get to get creative with layers or anything. Warm weather makes dressing such a boring task. Or maybe I should look at it as a challenge, something to test my creative skills.

Chanel Fw08 Ads

I've seen two of the new Chanel ads fullsize, and I have to say I kind of like it. It's not absolutely stunning, but it's a different direction than the shiny high-polish feeling I get from their older ads. What I like about these new imagines is that they're kind of gritty and pretty in that not-quite-so-perfect way. The images aren't so squeaky-clean and glossy, they're a little grainy and hazy-looking, which I love. It's a different aesthetic, but I've always been drawn to that style of fashion photography. And I like how they took the lace motif and really ran with it. Smart of them, since lace is going to be big for fall. And I loved those gloves (are they gloves?) and tights on the runway. And the short hair. Kind of makes me want to cut even more of my hair off.
image: source

Ballet and Fashion!

I found this fun little bit of information floating around in various places and thought I would share it because my roommate is a ballet fanatic. It seems that designer Magda Berliner created special costumes for a piece in the New York City Ballet's first annual Dancers' Choice program. The performance was last night, and raised money for the Ballet Dancers' Emergency Fund. The clip doesn't really have anything to do with the costumes, but I thought it was kind of cool.

P.S. S- One of the pieces they did was Gerome Robbins' "Dances at a Gathering."

So What If I'm Not Leaving the House?

I've finally motivated myself enough to snap a picture of what I'm wearing on this particular day. I love seeing other people's style diaries, but I've always been to lazy to do the same. And I'm not like the now reclusive Agathe of Style Bytes, who always managed to take pretty pictures with interesting backgrounds. Anyway, I'm not even wearing anything at all interesting or nice, mostly because I'm probably not going to even leave the house today. But I wanted an excuse to debut my new Fendis. Please excuse the horrible photography skills, lack of hairstyle, and general mediocre-ness of it all.

Daily Double

I am a little addicted to Jeopardy. So I was overjoyed yesterday when one of the categories was "Christian." Msr. Lacroix was one answer, as was my favorite Christian, Msr. Louboutin! None of the contestants got the answer. They obviously know nothing about shoes. Tsk, tsk.

Let's Get Some Shoes!

Yesterday I made a little run over to San Francisco to do some late afternoon shopping and have dinner with my parents. Well, a couple quick hours of shopping turned into a veritable shoe-fest, and I did something unprecedented in my shopping career: I got four pairs of (amazing) shoes in one night. Here they are in all their badly photographed at 1 in the morning because I just could not stop obsessing over them:
A pair of gorgeous gorgeous Lanvin sandals in a dark navy blue. I finally have some Lanvin in my life! Joy! They're a lot darker than they appear in the picture. Did I mention they're gorgeous?
A pair of awesome Pierre Hardy neoprene sandals. They're fun and a little crazy, just the way I like them. And I just love that signature architectural heel.
A pair of cute but (especially compared to the others) basic Fendi sandals. I've been searching for a nice pair of sandals to wear during the summer months, and these fit the bill perfectly.
And, last but certainly not least, a pair of Balenciagas with the crazy neon floral-ish print! They are so amazing that I changed into them last night so I could wear them to dinner. Hooray!
They make me want to play around with my wardrobe to see what kind of fun outfits I can come up with. All in all, a pretty triumphant day for my shoe addiction. As Miuccia Prada says, shoes are the new bags! It's so true.

AA Branches Out?

I cringed a little when I found out that American Apparel is starting a line of "jewelry". As a jewelry designer, I am always a little appalled by how much really, really crappy jewelry is being made these days. I always wonder who makes this cheap (and i mean cheap-looking, I have no problem with inexpensive stuff) jewelry and thinks it is actually good in some way. And that's what I kind of feel about the American Apparel line. It seems like a waste of good resources. As Racked aptly put it, it's less a jewelry than just metal chains. Heck, AA didn't even make them, the "found them"! What does that even mean? Why?! Just...WHY?!?! Even if you wanted chains for your awesome Mr. T costume, why would you pay close to 50 bucks for them? Please, hipster "I'm so ironic I'll wear ugly jewelry because it makes me more hip" kids, stay away! Go to a thrift store or something. Those are hip, too, I think.

Something to Look Forward to...

I happened upon this site and discovered that The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is having an exhibit on Yves Saint Laurent's work, which is perfect, because I'm visiting Montreal this summer! I'm excited that I have at least one thing to do, because although I'm sure Montreal is an awesome city, I didn't exactly know what specifically there is to do. But victory! I have the beginning of a list!

Forgive Me, for I Have Sinned

I have a confession to make. This week, I have been dressing so incredibly badly, and I decided I have to fess up. You see, it's been sweltering hot here in Northern California (my computer says it is currently 91 degrees. ugh.), and in between frequent trips to the gym in a desperate effort to get back in shape, running errands, unpacking the prodigious amount of stuff I brought back with me from college, and sitting around the house in a dazed, sweaty stupor, I have not been at my sartorial best. When it's this hot, all I care about is wearing the least amount of clothes possible. It's really no excuse, I know, but I have difficulty enjoying clothes when IT IS SO GOD FORSAKINGLY HOT. I look something like the picture above, except my white dress is much less cute, I look a lot less perfect, and I can't be bothered to wear shoes. So I basically look nothing like this, except for the fact that I have taken a liking to lying on the floor. Marble floors are very cold. It is quite nice. But I'm praying that it cools down even just a smidge so I can again care about what I am wearing.

Qiu Hao

I consider myself to have a very minimal knowledge of fashion, especially since I'm not exactly in the business. So I don't really have a lot of exposure or information about the really emerging designers, because even the designers I am familiar with but the average non-fashion-obsessed person doesn't know of are pretty famous in the fashion world. I'm no Susie Bubble, who always seems to discover tiny little emerging brands or designers fresh out of design school. But I recently stumbled on the designs of Qiu Hao, a Central St. Martins-educated designer from Shanghai. You don't hear a lot about designers from China and, in the East, Japan really dominates as the fashion superpower of the region. But Qiu Hao's designs are interesting because they are a good mixture of wearability and concept. His clothes gently push the envelope without sacrificing wearability and they seem to have great details and lots of subtlety. I found this interesting interview on YouTube. I love when he says that people don't understand his work, because he doesn't do it in a drama-laden, suffering artist way, so it really just makes you pay more attention to his clothes and try a little harder to figure out what kind of message he's sending out through his work. I kind of wish I could go to China and see his clothes now. Feel free to check out the video.

All Hail the Kaiser

This is (partly) why I love Karl Lagerfeld. He is just so hilarious/awesome. This is a French PSA message. The ad reads "It's yellow, it's ugly, it doesn't go with anything, but it could save your life." And I absolutely love it. Hah.
image: source

Travel Time

It may only be the middle of June, but I'm already thinking about my big trip for the summer in mid-July. I'm making a nice little jaunt to New York City and visiting my roommate in New Jersey (and then heading off to Montreal with the fam-bot). Point is, I'm going to be in NYC, which I absolutely love, and, more importantly, I don't know what to wear! I've never been to the East Coast in the summer, and I've heard it gets pretty humid. I can handle humidity pretty well considering I'm a born and raised West Coast girl, but I'm not so psyched about being in the city when it's that sticky. So what to wear in a big city when its sweltering hot? And is it going to get cold at night? Packing for New York will definitely be a wardrobe challenge. Hopefully I can look as good as the cool kids above (Alexander Wang <3). href="http://www.thesartorialist.blogspot.com/">Sartorialist the ENTIRE time so I can grovel at his feat in pure admiration of his awesomeness. Some people are starstruck by celebrities or whatever, but I worship designers and other awesome fashion individuals. It's pretty dorky.

On the Fringe

Victory! When I tried on that fringed Phillip Lim shirt dress a few weeks ago, I kind of fell in love with it. And now it is mine! When I saw it in an extra small while I was in San Francisco the other day, I knew we were meant to be. I love it dearly. The picture is actually just the shirt and not the dress style, which has fringe all down the back as well as around the neckline. It's awfully fun to bounce down the street, swinging my fringe around. Joyness.

Striking

I just wanted to put this up because I felt bad I haven't been putting up many images with my posts. And it's gorgeous.

A Bit Late

I finally caved. I had been eying (wow that word is incredibly weird-looking) high-waist pants/shorts/what have you for a long time, and yesterday I finally bought myself a pair of Diesel high-waist, wide-leg jeans/pants. They need hemming, because I am approximately 2 inches tall, with legs to match, but at least I have them. I am pretty convinced that when I wear them on campus in the fall I will be made fun of for my strange-looking pants, but I don't care, because I am crazy. High-waist everything seems to be everywhere to me, with even Urban Outfitters selling shorts of that variety, and I feel like I'm behind in adopting the style, but I still have yet to see a single person on campus wearing the style. But I guess I don't really know the most adventurous dressers. Heck, I'm feeling very mundane. It needs to cool down so I can wear my pants. Or I need to get a pair of high-waist shorts. And some shirts to go with them. And some shoes to wear with those shirts. I guess I'm just totally unsatisfied with my wardrobe. Boo.

Hooray Inspiration!

My friend left me a message last night saying that I had inspired him to start his own blog (not about fashion, but about hip hop, which I also love). There are probably approximately 3 people who read anything I write, but I feel like if I inspired one friend to get out there and start writing, I can't really ask for anything more. I've put his blog on my blogroll, so if you're randomly clicking through the mainly fashion-related links and happen upon a blog about hip hop, that's why. It's really great, I love the videos he puts up, and how much heart he's putting into his writing. If fashion isn't inspiring you, check it out.

It's a Hug

The other night my friend put on this awesome sweater and described it as "wearing a hug." I then realized that I also in fact have a sweater that feels like a hug. That is just so cool to me. The fact that a piece of fabric could embody something as warm, as comforting, as human as a hug speaks to just how important clothes are, even if nobody realizes it. Clothes literally keep us warm, but it's not just that. If it was simply that clothes keep us warm, we would say that "this sweater is so warm" (which we do also). But they don't just keep us nice and toasty on cold walks outside, they comfort us, wrap us in their layer of protection, hug us. Not that many other inanimate objects can do that.

Something Weird

I love things that are a little bit weird (or maybe very weird). It's so great when you can wear something with some little detail or aspect that makes people tilt their heads a little and go, "Hmm...that's kind of different." A lot of times that means people just think you dress strangely and don't appreciate it the way you do, but I think it's worth it. The favorite parts of my clothes are probably the parts no one notices, like the way my Trovata jacket has a story stitched into it or how the toe of my nude Louboutin pumps have the perfect mixture of round and pointy toe. I love those crazy statement-making pieces, but sometimes, great clothes whisper rather than shout. Not that I have any problem with clothes that shout. I mean, I'm wearing a dress right now that has fringe all down the back. I like to think it's a little subtle, though.

Triviality

Did you know: Legendary editor of Vogue Diana Vreeland was related to George Washington. (aaaahhh...Washington, Washington...)

Musicology

Stuck in my head: Rocket in the Sky by The Benassi Bros.

Adorable

It seems as if the super-adorable Phillip Lim hand-wrote his invitations to the opening of his Los Angeles Store. So cute. I adore him. I'm sad he didn't invite me, though. I'm always been a big supporter of his, and am currently in love with one of his dresses covered with fringe in the back. ;)

Triviality

Did you know: The late Yves Saint Laurent was the first living designer to be honored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a solo exhibition in 1983.

That's Laughable

The funniest/most ridiculous thing I read yesterday: When someone asked Betsey Johnson what young designers excite her and she replied "Those girls that make those clothes that look like ragged spiders," referring to Rodarte. When prompted with the name, she went on to say "Yes! I relate to them in their great raggy-ness." First of all, she doesn't even know their names. She is obviously out of it. And it is ridiculous that she would relate to them, because Kate and Laura are already infinitely better designers then she will ever be. When I pass by her store, I want to vomit a bit, her clothes are just that tacky. The carpet is hot pink, for crying out loud. The Mulleavy sisters create pieces of art, demi-couture in their intricate craftsmanship and immense creativity. Betsey Johnson makes candy-colored tutus and bags that look like that monstrosity. Good God, woman.

Quote of the Day

"Fashion will prevail." -Vera Wang
In case you need some inspirational words. I know I did, and I feel a little better now. Heh.

Tribute

Coincidentally, Marc Jacobs' newest resort collection is a bit of an homage to the late Yves Saint Laurent. As he said, it's "Unfortunately, extremely timely." Lots of bows and hearts (some of Saint Laurent's favorite motifs) and modern interpretations of his iconic smoking jacket. I have developed a theory that Marc Jacobs is actually psychic. He always seems to know things. But I am a little peeved because I lost a button on my fairly new Marc by Marc cashmere sweater. Shoddily made, I say. Not a happy camper. Maybe he'll read my mind like he always seems to do every season and send me a new button.

image: source

Musicology

Stuck in my head: My Only Offer by Mates of State

Inspiration

My newest little bit of inspiration is, surprisingly, John Galliano's Fall collection. Not because John Galliano isn't a great designer, but mostly because his collections (especially this one) isn't really something I would simply assume would inspire me the way I know Balenciaga and Lanvin, etc. would. His collections are usually pretty riotous and loud, with tons of color and lavishness. I don't really dress like that (at least not with that much color). But I randomly decided to watch the video of his most recent show, and I was immediately mesmerized. The models actually seemed to have personalities when they walked, something you don't see much in shows. They actually posed, with attitude, even! There was this one moment where Mariacarla Boscono comes out with this strange, nubby pink hat and hair that is literally huge, glossy, black feathers (kind of like the ones I've been obsessing over), and she pulls her hands across her face in this awesomely unexplainable way that I just loved. There were lots of feathers as hair in the show, and even a whole stuffed raven carried by Raquel Zimmermann. And he was inspired by a poem I love, Kubla Khan. I will have to see how I can incorporate this into my wardrobe.

image: source

CFDA Awards

I was a little (read: very) confused when I read that, of all the accessory designers out there, Tory Burch had won accessories designer of the year. I would have thought that someone with very innovative, creative, accessories would have won. Who knew putting a gold plate on a pair of ballet flats was this year's most exciting fashion creation? Personally, those Tory Burch flats that I feel like I see absolutely everywhere make me grimace a little. But maybe I'm biased. I'm not known for liking girly, preppy flats that I see at least one person wearing nearly every day. Blah. Disappointed.
On another note, Kate and Laura Mulleavy won the Swarovski Award for Emergint Talent for Womenswear. I love a lot of the designers that were nominated, so I probably would have been pretty happy even if someone else had won, but I am so happy that the Mulleavy sisters won. Their clothes are so amazingly intricate and beautiful and artistic. I was absolutely floored by the Spring show and loved the Fall show just as much. Hooray Rodarte!

image: source

Triviality

Did you know?: Alber Elbaz (of Lanvin fame) was born in Casablanca, Morocco.

Yves Saint Laurent Passes Away at 71

The brilliant, legendary Yves Saint Laurent passed away Sunday night, at the age of 71. He was the last of the old guard of fashion. His influence will undoubtedly continue for years to come. He will be missed.