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Friday, June 13, 2003
ELECTRO-CUTE
JCReport.com has a "citytrend" report up focusing
on London and guess what? It's supposedly just as New Wave
80s like any other city, only more enthusiastically so. While
the suffix of "-clash" thankfully did not appear
in the report, "electro" really is the prefix du
jour. Anyone in London want to give their own electropinion
on the electrowave happening in your electrocity?
FLAIR FOR ELEGANCE
Long before Visionaire, Flair was a hallmark in the tradition
of the art publication-as-fashion-bible. Lookonline.com has
a nice exhibition
report of the Pratt Manhattan Gallery show on Flair, which
is legendary for its one dozen issues of classic 50s design
and culture. Each spread was an artwork in and of itself,
and issues often used inserts of different papers and materials
to great effect. The result was a true treasure of history,
encapsulating the aesthetic intersection of an era that is
having a great influence on fashion and design right now.
A CRY FOR HELP? YOU DECIDE
This is just so madcap:
mismatched tights and socks. In my grade school in the 80s
it was cool to wear pompom socks, each little ball a different
color. I didn't really dig it then and I don't dig it now
for myself, but it could have a sort of odd, mod charm on
just the right type of person. Plus, if you've got socks without
a mate, this may be up your alley.
SPOTTED
The boys are getting their own "Spotted" today.
First I saw a Japanese guy wearing a grey and black tiger
striped nylon windbreaker with a mandarin collar, Helmut Lang
jeans, black Caterpillar boots and spikey, messy dyed light
brown hair. Then I saw a skinny white hipster boy with the
Julian Casablancas scruffy longish hairstyle wearing a very
80s Nike sweatshirt, acid wash jeans and Converse hightops.
It was very much "Oh my god, we're dressing like all
the people we hated in junior high."
REMAINDERS
+ I'm oddly fascinated by these Balenciaga sunglasses on ebay.com.
+ It's gotten cold again in San Francisco, so there have been
less people spotted. There are only so many vaguely sporty
and/or retro coats, jeans, Campers and scarves one can spot;
the official uniform of San Francisco can have only so many
variations.
Thursday, June 12, 2003
FASTER THAN LIGHT
A little piece about the fast turnover between runway and
high street knockoff is at The
Telegraph. It is remarkable how quickly responsive
"fashion for the masses." London is known for its
fabulous shops (I'm still so sad that there isn't a Topshop
here), but even the malls in America are quick. A stroll through
the San Francisco Shopping Center revealed that Express has
a 50s diner dress a la Louis Vuitton in an adorable shade
of lavender, lots of Balenciaga-inspired cargos and a top
very similar to the Gaultier dress that Nicole Kidman wore
to the Oscars. (I admit, I bought that—it's very sexy.)
But still, everyone out shopping was wearing a variation of
the same thing: jeans, Camper-like flat shoes, sporty little
jackets and scarves fit for a cold San Francisco summer. (Although
I did spot a blond sporting a very tight denim mini with white
tube top and strappy sandals, which confused me because I
thought I was in Miami for a moment.) You can bring high fashion
inspiration to the masses, but will they bite?
SHANGHAI SURPRISE
Chinoiserie always comes back into style periodically and
it's supposed to be back for this summer. Besides the residual
cultural appropriation issues that my former semiotics-studyin'
self has with this trend, I'm always a little irked at how
literally this is interpreted: everyone just gets a cheongsam
or throws on some satin mandarin collar blouse they bought
at Pearl River. This is why I'm so into these tops by Ballroom:
the shapes have changed and the prints have mutated slightly
to create something much more modern with an expiration date
that will survive a little longer until the fashion cabal
decides to (inevitably) move on to something new.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Someone wrote in and wanted to know who Katy Rodriguez is,
which made me realize that the style world has an enormous
amount of names to learn and then drop like crumbs to little
birds with mouths gaping at how knowledgeable you are. Someone
could easily make some sort of Dungeons and Dragons game out
of the various personalities in fashion: "My Donatella
has power over your Carine Roitfeld because Carine just bought
up all the black eyeliner in Paris. But Versace Cosmetics
can always manufacture more, so I'm turning you into a model."
Ah, but I digress. Here are some various Kates and Katies
and Katys of fashion:
+ Katy Rodriguez is the co-owner, along
with Mark Haddawy, of Resurrection, a premier vintage shop
in New York on Mott Street and in Los Angeles on Melrose
Avenue. She also designs (designed?) the line caitie et
marcs with Haddawy.
+ Katie Grand is a highly influential British
stylist who began at Dazed and Confused, is former fashion
director of The Face, creative director at Luella and is
generally all over the fashion world, styling Cacharel and
Miu Miu and a million other things.
+ Kate Betts is a fashion writer whose
work appears in the NY Times and a former editor-in-chief
of a particularly unfocused incarnation of Harpers Bazaar.
She also was a former protegee of Anna Wintour, queen bee
of American Vogue.
+ Kate Moss is a supermodel who epitomized
the "waif" in the 90s. She is also renown for
her personal style, her rehab stays and her boyfriends,
which is what any model should be famous for, really.
+ Kate Spade is a designer of those ubiquitous
handbags that say "Kate Spade" on them. Duh.
COLLECTIVE IS THE NEW ATELIER
The real name you should drop, though, is Lansing-Dreiden.
According to style.com.
Take that as you will.
HIGHLY SPORADIC DAILY REPORT (THANK
GOD)
+ Wearing: Olive green cropped Buffalo jeans,
light grey Diesel turtleneck, weird Japanese clogs.
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
TOM CAT
A friend of mine is moving to San Francisco and recently inherited
a boatload of "stuff" from a well-heeled pal moving
to Europe. While we all bemoaned a loss of a garbage bag full
of Prada, Miu Miu and Manolo shoes accidently thrown out in
the trash, there was a wealth of old magazines to leaf through.
It's interesting to read old articles on fashion; since it's
a world that moves so quickly on principle, it's amusing to
read the breathless praise and razor-sharp analysis of seasons
long since forgotten. Therefore you can imagine how interesting
it was to read a profile of Tom Ford in the March 1998 Vanity
Fair. It was typical Tom, all ambition and matinee idol charisma
and slick glamour (although, back then and now, I could have
done without the revelation that he foregos knickers in order
to achieve that slim silhouette.) But it was all about his
love affair with Gucci and his big plans at a moment when
he had yet to exhaust his magic of reinvention. It's interesting
to read in light of rumors that he
and his CEO Domenico de Sole may be leaving Gucci.
DESPERATELY SEEKING ROGAN
A reader named Denise wrote in to let us know that you can
buy Rogan jeans at Barneys Co-op in New York. I'm making a
trip to New York in a few weeks; maybe I'll go try them on,
and the Barneys salesfolk can look at me like I'm a virus
or something.
MARC, PUT DOWN THAT TRUCKER HAT
Gawker is reporting that
Marc Jacobs' store in New York has trucker hats in their display
window. I'll have to concur with Gawker here: that is soooooo
five minutes ago. I don't know if Gawker secretly controls
the fashion industry, though—everyone knows it's a secret
cabal of models, high off the fumes of a cigarettes-and-champagne
diet, who meet in a dark secret room at the Tribeca Grand
to scheme about wearing the most ironically gauche things
possible and trading insider information about what Katy Rodriguez
will be stocking at Resurrection next season. They even control
the weather and right now they're setting their stylist monkeys
after me to take my Members Only jacket hostage and replace
it with some sweaterdress straight out of Dynasty.
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
I SHOP MY WAY THROUGH CITIES
Superfuture.com
has some nifty "global" shopping guides and shop
reviews organized by your favorite world metropolis, and the
cool thing is that some of the cities are organized by neighborhood
maps. My favorite part is the little one-word reviews that
pop up when you mouse over locations.
+ via LockhartSteele.com
A NEW SLANT ON MUSE
 Style.com
has put Angie Dickinson as their Beauty Icon for this month
(or whatever standard of time websites follow.) While Angie
Dickinson rules, especially as Pepper, No Good would like
to see more contemporary folk cited as style inspiration.
My first nomination is Chan Marshall, the indie rock chanteuse
behind Cat Power. Marshall has put out one of the best records
this year, the haunted, sensual, oddly hopeful You
Are Free, which has justifiably put Marshall in the
spotlight.
While she's musically talented, she's also gained fashionable
fans like Marc Jacobs and Nicholas Ghesquière of Balenciaga
who dig not only her off-kilter folk but her penchant for
jeans, Ugg or motorcycle boots, plaid shirts, floaty dresses
and heavy dark eyeliner. It's a relaxed indie New Wave boho
style that has a hidden glamour and edge, and it never tries
too hard, which is practically hipster fashion crime #1.
SHOPPING LIST
Because the well-dressed person also has a well-dressed mind...
+ Army cargo jacket in the smallest size possible
+ White cotton dress from House of Spy from karmaloop.com
+ Buffy
the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Fourth Season DVD, if
only for Joss Whedon's commentary on brilliant episodes like
the Emmy-nominated "Hush" or the spooky "Restless"
+ Yes
New York compilation featuring all your favorite scene
culprits like the Rapture, the Walkmen, LCD Soundsystem
+ Erase
Errata dance remix record: Bay Area art-punk reimagined
by Kid 606, Adult., etc.
+ Radiohead,
Hail to the Thief. Shut up, you know you'll buy it.
FOOTNOTES
The webmaster at activeendeavors.com
kindly pointed out to me that Humanity jeans have redesigned
the waistline to eliminate the gap when you bend over, which
means an even more streamlined fit. (And I hope it means no
peekaboo thong effect as well.) And in my shout-out to James
Perse making the most comfortable t-shirt, they throw down
C&C California, which they can't keep in stock. Any other
gauntlets to be thrown?
Monday, June 9, 2003
MY WORLD HAS FALLEN AND IT CAN'T GET
UP
Madonna has supposedly signed to be the latest face
of the Gap, co-starring in an ad opposite Missy Elliott. First
Blonde
Redhead, now Madonna - is nothing not sacred in this world?
+ vogue.co.uk
THE DENIM CHRONICLES
+ Shopbop.com is now
selling a plethora of Humanity jeans. I get all the girls
names mixed up, but you should get them before they all sell
out. It seems like Citizens of Humanity is replicating the
strategy of Seven, making them hard to get and constantly
selling out those smaller production runs. It ups the "want"
factor. And yeah, I admit that I do want a pair. It's working.
But I'm holding out till my Earls and Sevens die a natural
death.
+ But all the models are wearing Rogan jeans, apparently,
from what I'm hearing and reading. Their detailing sounds
amazing, I do admit, but seeing as the only place I know where
these sell is the DDC Lab in New York, I don't foresee them
gaining critical mass--only cult appeal among downtown stylists,
editors and models. Which means that anyone who hears of them
will want them. Which means me, and now you! It's worse than
a virus!
+ And yet another reader inquiry! This one asks:
What designers carry jeans with relatively shorter
inseams? for example i like the way paper denim fits but
they are a bit too long for me (i am 5'2). what can i do
besides wearing monstrously high heels?
Being 5'2" myself, I can sympathize, because I honestly
can't think of any niche denim line that makes a shorter inseam
for petite women. I do think if someone did make shorter inseams,
they'd make a lot of money. Obviously places like the Gap,
J. Crew, Levi's or Express make inseams for more petite women,
and Express is actually doing a good job keeping up with more
directional trends in denim. (I can personally recommend their
stretch low-slung flare, although it's not yet in the lighter
washes that are coming back now.) But as far as the world
of Earl, Seven, Paper, Blue Cult, etc., i.e., companies that
set the trends, there isn't much out there. Actually,
Paper and Seven are both known to have longer inseams
than most, although I think Sevens are well-cut enough where
even shortening the leg can't ruin the flattering fit and
sense of proportion. One lady I know travels to Brazil and
says some of their no-name local brands are fantastic for
short girls. But my ultimate answer is a good tailor. Just
be sure to bring a wide variety of shoes so that your hem
will work with all sorts of footwear.
DEVO WOULD BE PROUD
The line for the Hyphen
Magazine launch party was winding around the block so
we bailed, but we did manage to catch a Hyphen associate or
two sporting eye-catching duct tape miniskirts. I
know there were ingenuously designed duct tape wallets on
sale inside to raise money for the fledgling publication.
Going a step beyond the punk rock staple, many of their wallets
had pockets, clear slots for ID cards, clasps and such, with
great names like the Taye Diggs (a sleek black model) or the
Heiress (a club-friendly model with currency clots, ID slots
and lipstick holder). But the skirts were pretty brilliant,
with very mod A-lines and velcro closures. It had a very trendy
60s mod feel in shape and hit a very 80s note in execution,
which means it'd be perfect for your next electroclash band's
fashion concept.
WILL YOU STILL REMEMBER YOUR FRIENDS?
Christian Joy is famous for her "distressed" prom
dresses she designs for Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer Karen O, but
she's now apparently going to be dressing Debbie Harry, the
iconic punk and pop blond of the 70s and 80s. Joy was apparently
approached by Harry's agent and is "currently at work"
making costumes for the former Blondie singer. We're not sure
if Harry will develop the beer-spilling and karate-kicking
that made Karen O famous but stranger things have happened.
+ fashion.net
Friday, June 6, 2003
FOR WHOM THE BELLS TOLL
No Good gives advice! Whoo hoo, this blog can be
silly yet useful. From a recent email:
Besides Vera Wang, what are some other cool wedding
dress designers? Also, any advice on finding these things
- I am in Florida so it's not like New York or Cali with
boutiques on every corner.
Not that I would know from personal experience, being the
unmarried type, but there are many, many bridal designers
out there, so many that all of my engaged and married friends
get boggled and flustered to the point of hyperventilating
when presented with stacks and stacks of bridal magazines.
On the couture-quality, upscale end of things, Vera Wang is
the most famous, of course, but there's also Amsale, Carolina
Herrera, Givenchy, Reem Acra and plenty more. (You can read
up on some high-end bridal houses here;
this site also offers gowns for sale online, although I can't
personally vouch for them.) I believe that your top-quality
department stores will carry ready-to-wear versions of their
wedding gowns, and you may want to seek out your local bridal
shops in your area or hunt for them online.
But it wouldn't be my type of weblog if I didn't suggest
alternatives to the typical bride route. Adding "bridal"
in front of anything will guarantee a higher price paid for
anything: flowers, napkins, silverware and of course the dress,
and there's often a lot of pressure to go the big, formal
way in celebrating a new marriage. But there are so many brides
going down more untraditional routes, and they come out looking
beautiful, sophisticated and utterly themselves,
which sadly sometimes doesn't happen to some who get overwhelmed
by all the planning and meeting of expectations. There's vintage,
of course: a friend of mine snagged an amazing 60s Valentino
dress at a vintage shop for her weddng dress and had it altered
and tailored to fit her perfectly, and another friend got
married in Vegas wearing a 50s cocktail sheath she snagged
on ebay. You can choose to work with a local designer or tailor,
collaborating on a designer on a dress perfectly tailored
to your body, budget and bridal fantasy. An acquaintance of
mine in San Francisco worked with Miss
Fit, for example, on her Audrey Hepburneque dress. I've
known people to take a weekend trip to make a pilgrimage to
Morgane
Le Fay, known for edgier, romantic gowns for edgier, artier
brides. You can find any dress that suits your fancy and have
it copied by a wonderful tailor or dressmaker in white; I
know someone in Hong Kong who got the spring 2003 Louis Vuitton
satin diner waitress dress copied in cream for their married-at-the-embassy
affair! You can also work with a personal shopping service,
often based out of a department store or even a boutique or
store you may love--I'd really love to see what a boutique
like Language,
based in New York, would come up with for someone, but talk
to a manager at a favorite local shop and see what they recommend.
Or you can just get a dress fron a regular collection found
at Saks, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Barneys, wherever; for
example, if you want to be a modern, sexy bride, the fall
2003 collection from Narciso Rodriguez, who designed Carolyn
Bessette Kennedy's iconic wedding dress, has some divinely
tailored
evening gowns for the big occasion and even nice coats
and cocktail frocks for a city hall affair. And of course,
you don't have to wear white or even a dress. (A friend's
recent mantra was, "Catherine Deneuve wore black. Bianca
jagger wore pants.") Whatever you do, remember to have
fun, and congratulations!
Thursday, June 5, 2003
REMAINDERS
+ SPOTTED: At the Castro Safeway in San Francisco,
a nonchalantly rock-and-roll cute girl wearing good old Levis,
brown worn-out cowboy boots, dark blue t-shirt and black leather
jacket with perfect black eyeliner and shaggy hair
+ WEARING: Blue-grey soie Martin Margiela
dress with diamond-print stitching tossed over jeans and a
black tank top, black leather ballet flats.
+ WANTING: I've been avoiding ebay to prevent
temptation and to save up all my little shopping energies
for a NYC trip later this month. But I love this dress
so much!
A QUICK STUDY
My dad caught this blog a few days ago and emailed me, asking
"Who are these fashion people that you like
to waste your time writing about?" (Sometimes I ask myself
this, too, but I'm a lot more existential about it.) Anyway,
in honor of my poor befuddled father who came to this country
as an immigrant and worked and sacrificed
in order to send his daughter to college just so she could
move to California, make experimental films, drink lots of
margaritas and write a fashion blog...here are some
nice intros to the friendly neighborhood known as the fashion
world:
+ Vogue.co.uk's
Who's Who is a well-written directory of major fashion industry
people, although it's missing some key personnel
+ This is a pronunciation
guide, although again, missing some key people—I
can imagine myself explaining, "No, Dad, Ghesquiere isn't
a cheese, he's the Balenciaga designer...no, Dad, Balenciaga
isn't a whale, it's a French fashion label...okay, Dad, freedom
fashion label, whatever..."
+ And while a real hipster would never put their info on the
web, my dad could hit mrhipster.com
and the
hipster handbook online to at least get started on the
down-low end of things. But if he's going to start telling
me whether or not my outfit is "deck", I'm going
to switch his meds or something. He already runs around yelling
"Five-oh! Five-oh!" like the old guy in the Boost
Mobile phone ads.
STILL STRAGGLING
Nypost.com
on CFDA Awards, with a bit about some lame jokes and a little
"who-went-with-whom" flavor thrown in. They say
that CFDA awards are the fashion Oscars; I think it's more
like the fashion world prom, only with fewer wine coolers.
HUMAN SERVICES
A very nice reader named Anna wrote in and mentioned that
she bought her pair of Humanity jeans at http://www.activeendeavors.com.
A quick cruise of the site indicates more sizes are available
in both the regular Ingrid and the much-coveted stretch Ingrid
style than eluxury.com (Shopbop.com seems to be good at replenishing
their fluctuating stock lately.) Any denim aficionadas out
there want to give their opinions on these or any other pair
of jeans? I could easily take this blog into a "all denim,
all the time" direction if I wanted to. Or we could get
way intellectual and talk about who makes the best t-shirt
out there. (Throwing down the gauntlet: James Perse, hands
down...)
Wednesday, June 4, 2003
STRAGGLING IN
Still yet more coverage of the CFDA Awards at vogue.co.uk;
excite.com
has an amusing one from last year's, which has an
amusing attention to the "backscratching" involved
in a big fashion event. (Thanks, Betsy,
for the correction! Many giggles on this end!)
WHAT WOULD BRITNEY DO?
I personally think seeing a thong peeking out from a pair
of low-riders à la Spears is gaucher than gauche, so
I'm sort of into the idea of snagging boys' knickers to wear,
as fuk.co.uk
advocates. Boy-cut hipsters are infinitely more comfortable
than wearing dental floss, but I'm not sure dropping the Y-fronts
is so hot. I'm of the old school in this; I'd rather not show
my underwear at all, thank you very much.
BOWS AND RIBBONS
I think ambivalence is my middle name today: not sure I can
fully advocate the "beater with a bow" at shesheme.com.
It's certifiably adorable and cute, which should make it a
shoo-in for the Lucky crowd, but where could you
get away with this? But ribbons are all over the place for
fall, used to elegant effect at Carolina Herrera for instance,
and I've seen girls wear them with their jeans as belts. I
even read somewhere about people snagging designer gift ribbon
from Chanel and looping it as belts or using them as hair
ties. People will do anything for a logo.
Tuesday, June 3, 2003
REMAINDERS
+ I suppose a quick mention should be made of the Council
of Fashion Designers of America dinner held yesterday. You
can read the official party line at style.com
or read some more interesting perspective on the event by
Marilyn Kirschner here.
I just want to go on record and say that Claire Danes doesn't
look so good in the pictures at lookonline.com, and Renee
Zellweger is scaring me more and more with her disappearing
act. I was also most excited to see Eve in Alexander McQueen,
and saw that Pharrell from the Neptunes was there sporting
diamonds.
+ Oh, what the hell, here goes: wearing black Earl jeans
and a grey Helmut Lang tank, with white flip-flops and my
new favorite silver "thorns" earrings from Claire's.
Don't laugh (although I do), but they are really rad and worthy
of putting holes in Anouck Lepere's famously unpierced ears.
SPOTTED
Yesterday I saw two Swedish girls sporting Citizens of Humanity
jeans with army jackets and bright blonde hair. (They were
a matching set!) They seemed to have that Seven styling, only
with different stitching on the back pockets, but I did notice
subtle differences in the seaming. I just hope they didn't
notice me studying their jeans-as-Rosetta-Stone like a big
fashion nerd.
THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMMM
Tara Subkoff may be expanding Imitation of Christ and designing
for Capucci these days, but her former partner and fellow
IoC co-founder Matt Damhave is attempting to launch an "anti-magazine"
this fall in collaboration with graphic designer Neville Wakefield.
What's an anti-magazine? Supposedly a critique of the fashion
machine, it has no title, no fashion, no bylines and no ads,
except for the cover. They're apparently looking for someone
to pony up the $10,000 to $15,000 for that coveted cover spot.
My theory is that it's a coloring book.
[ fashion.net ]
PLEASE, MAKE HER GO AWAY
It looks like Posh Spice will have her second day in the sun.
Not only is she representing the new Damon Dash streetwear
label, but those newly-choosy celebrity fashion designers
at Dolce & Gabbana have decided she's the one celebrity
from Britain to dress. On top of that, Anna Wintour has apparently
taken a shine to Mrs. Beckham, hosting a welcome dinner with
some high-profile fashion folk. Who decides this stuff, anyway?
[ vogue.co.uk
]
LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU
Flip-flops are the eternal summer shoe, and despite Sigerson-Morris's
attempt to luxe them up with kitten heels, most people still
choose the humble version. However, you can get these
charming variations and brighten up someone's day on the
beach. They imprint "make love" or "love you"
with every step you take in the sand.
Monday, June 2, 2003
THE WEEKEND REPORT
I did manage to extricate myself from the sound editing to
swan about town during the weekend. It was gorgeous weather
and the biggest trend I noticed here in Cali was the white
skirt. Ruffled, denim, assymmetrical, pencil, A-line, long,
hippie, mini—it didn't matter as long as it was white
and usually paired with a denim jacket. Everyone from the
Chrissie Hynde punk lookalikes to the immaculate sorority
girls sported the look. It was quite fresh and relentlessly
girly on the eyes, but after awhile I felt like I was trapped
in a Lucky magazine editorial. Wait, I think the white skirt
trend was in Lucky a few issues ago!
On the more boringly self-obsessive tip...
Wore: mostly black yoga pants and tank, but
managed to get into cargo pants, black leather ballet flats
and a black-and-white Art Deco floral-print kimono top on
Saturday for gallery-gazing.
Bought: an army green ballet-style tank with
ruching up the center
Wanted: this Comme des Garcons dress.
(And as an unwarranted aside, I also just want to say that
the new Rapture album coming out soon is incredibly good.)
GOLLY GEE, BOYS LIKE CLOTHES TOO!
Here's someone who could probably teach Rick Marin a thing
or two about men, shopping and fashion: Notes
of a Shopaholic is authored by a man who has the good
taste to be down with Yoox.com.
There's also a stellar listing of links on the side, which
I know I should do for this site eventually. (Thanks to the
peeps at the Prosemarket board for the ups on this and the
next blog.)
I'M NOT ALONE IN THIS
See, I'm
not the only one who keeps track of their outfits in an
online journal. All you haters can move on and leave me alone
now!
MAKING THE CUT
Ladies and gents who like to keep up on the suits sweeps,
take note: men's bespoke designer Ozwald Boateng is looking
to blow up in the near future. The man who has clothed Laurence
Fishburne and Daniel Day-Lewis at fancy Hollywood events will
be opening retail space in Moscow and will also be launching
his first women's collection and fragrance. Awareness of wonderful
tailoring has blown up faster than you can say "Hedi
Slimane for Christian Dior", but perhaps the real test
is whether or not Karl Lagerfeld is willing to alter his body
to fit into one of your suits.
YEAH, BUT ARE YOU HARDCORE ENOUGH
FOR LEG WARMERS?
NYPost.com has a little item about knee
socks as a trend. The schoolgirl thing will never die,
of course, but the current way of wearing them with boots
isn't as obviously provocative as wearing the black over-the-knee
stockings from 1994-5. (Although something about this trend
is very Jodie Foster-in-Taxi-Driver.) But headline
jesting aside, most of the hipsters I know, especially the
candy punk people, really are wearing leg warmers.
I hear roller rinks are coming back as the latest ironic leisure
pursuit as well.
Sunday, June 1, 2003
NOTETAKING
I've decided not to update on weekends, as you may have guessed...although
I really do enjoy writing about fashion, I have a life to
attend to that isn't linked to this computer or the Internet!
(I'm preparing some work for a film screening this fall, not
to mention ekeing out my daily living...do you think I get
paid to do this?! I wish...) But keep checking back
on this space during the week, and I'll also have a type of
weekend report to post on Monday. Also, I'm also extending
an invitation to whoever reads this to send in photos and
items about what style heroics they're "spotting"
in the streets around them. (Please, no naked people!) You
can send 'em directly to me at kat at nogoodforme dot com.
Oh, that's another new piece of news as well: you can now
point your browser to http://www.nogoodforme.com,
although the subdomain one will work of course. I'm working
on getting this moved over to Movable Type (all the cool bloggers
do it) as well as some syndicate feeds to make the geeks happy.
And by the way, there are no outfit reports lately because
I have been a slob, holed up with my laptop editing sound.
Maybe my life is irrevocably attached to a computer after
all...scary.
Friday, May 30, 2003
STYLISH WOMEN AND THE PUDS WHO LOVE
THEM
I just finished reading Rick Marin's piece in the June issue
of Allure—wow, those are fifteen minutes I'll never
see again. It's ostensibly about how men do notice
the way women dress, and oh wow! They have opinions and preferences
about this! They like things that remind them of their first
crushes! They like matching bra and panties sets! Such is
the stuff revelations are made of. It's no surprise that,
even if they are supposedly clueless about fashion, men have
opinions on what women wear. What confounds about the article
is mostly the sense of arrogance that seeps into the sentences,
or the weird notes of self-satisfied smugness, even from someone
who admits up front that they are not the best-dressed man
on the planet. But even that seems disingenuous. For someone
who references an "epic fight" they had with a ex-girlfriend
who wanted to wear a fisherman's sweater to a party in an
attempt to do a Pygmalion on the poor woman, he sounds awfully
like a full-fledged fashionista to me. And a jerk. I suppose
this means that I probably shouldn't read his book.
SPOTTED
From yesterday: A socialite-type with very blownout blonde
hair, pink belted trench, tan pants, tan heels and pearls.
(None of this was worn ironically, by the way.) A pretty indie
ingenue with bright-green 70s floral print knee-length skirt
and a burgundy-and-cream colored seersucker jacket with little
black flats.
COMMENCE SQUEALING NOW
For those of you who dig Marc by Marc Jacobs but still can't
swing those prices despite their "bridge line" status,
Marc Jacobs is in talks to do a third line with lower prices
and larger distribution. Does this apply to those amazing
handbags? Are they going to make the Stella bag in vinyl or
something?
SHOUT-OUTS
Mightyflirt.com has
a wonderful mix of vintage and "emerging" designers;
there are some wickedly sexy dresses for sale in the emerging
section. Umbrellanyc.com
has some stylish leather accessories, including some leather
wrist cuffs that should appeal to the urban warrior woman
in someone.
FUTURE FASHION
Your dreams of looking like a Star Wars character are coming
true now: Gizmodo
has an item about a WiFi detector that you can wear to pick
up signals from wireless networks. I'm not exactly sure how
this should be worn. It could make an interesting addition
to a messenger bag for the techno-Moby contingent, but perhaps
a more risk-taking fashionista could fashion a sort of obi
belt. (Or not.) I do like the idea of beeps and lights going
off, however; fashion could stand to be a little more interactive.
Thursday, May 29, 2003
NICE ROBES
Anna Wintour gave the commencement address at F.I.T's graduation,
where Calvin Klein was also presented with an honorary degree.
I haven't found the entire speech that Wintour gave, but I'm
sure it's out there, being pored over like the Rosetta Stone.
It sounds a bit like "First There Were the Socialites,
Then There Were Celebrities." Riveting, darling, just
riveting.
NYTimes.com and Vogue.co.uk
I'M STILL WAITING FOR "GASOLINE"
If you've ever wanted to smell of angel food, dirt, grass,
sugar cookie, or gin and tonic (hopefully not all at once),
a girl could turn to Demeter Fragrances, who make these intriguingly
nostalgic scents available in colognes and eau de toilette.
Now Demeter is extending the concept and launching a new home,
bath and beauty line of candles, room sprays, and soaps—your
whole house can smell like dirt now. In an unrelated question,
why hasn't there been a Simpsons episode inspired by this?
I can hear Ralphie saying, "Your house smells like wet
laundry."
JERRY IS SO VERY
In terms of the go-go seventies, Jerry Hall was the yin to
Bianca Jagger's yang. (And both were wife-units to Mick Jagger,
of course, but not at the same time. Unless someone isn't
telling me something.) I can't explain why a beauty profile
of a former supermodel who is more famous now for her marital
woes than her gams can be so absorbing, but Jerry slobs out
in silk kimonos and I do too! We're like twins! Ohmigod!
Timesonline.co.uk Jerry Hall beauty profile
DOES ANYONE STILL CARE?
Dolce & Gabbana's fashion shows used to be the celebrity
smorgasbord to end all smorgasbords, but now it seems that
they're getting choosy about whose bods they'll swathe with
their increasingly irrelevant fashions. (Come on, if your
fall collection is "celebrating house classics",
you've been phoning it in.) I understand the need to increase
the sense of specialness and exclusivity to revive a diluted
concept, but exclusivity can backfire if you're dressing the
wrong celebs. Dido? Isn't that very 2000?
Vogue.co.uk
news
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
SPOTTED
It was a very New Wave stripes sort of day: girl on Powell
St. with green and blue striped silk short-sleeved v-neck
shirt and blue jeans and very 70s shag haircut; a middle-aged
black woman wearing white tights, black boots and a black-and-white
floral-printed dress; a guy wearing a white polo shirt with
blue pinstripes, aviator sunglasses, and very 80s looking
Rick Springfield hair.
DAILY REPORT
Wearing: Black short-sleeved shirtdress (the "diner waitress"
dress, as I like to call it), black Japanese slides.
Wanting: Romeo Gigli gathered
backless top. Viktor & Rolf dress:
both mini & Grecian, you can kill two trends in one garment!
WINONA THE MUSICAL
A high school is putting on a musical satirizing the shoplifting
trial of the five-finger discount's patron saint, Winona Ryder.
Entitled "Sticky Fingers: A Tale of Saks, Lies and Videotape,"
Saks Fifth Avenue is donating shopping bags to the production.
No word on whether pilfered Marc Jacobs is being thrown the
mix.
[ Salon.com
article ]
STUDIED YET UNSTUDIED, COOL BUT OFFHANDEDLY
SO...
Times
(UK) Online has a nice profile on Marc Jacobs; not as
boldfaced name-heavy as the usual article about Marc and the
cool girls who love him, it has a certain surprising candor
and insight into his design process. He reveals he thought
his last collection was "a mistake" and "too
literal," there may be more can't-miss bags coming soon
and his mother had a fondness for dressing like Jane Fonda
in Klute. (No analysis of the psychological ramifications
of that was offered in the piece.)
CANNES
Coverage is straggling in about Cannes 2003, which has been
roundly criticized by many as one of the weakest cinematic
seasons for some time. The fashion seems to be equally derided
by critics (but not as harshed upon as Vincent Gallo's latest
film, which even Gallo himself put down.) It can't be as bad
as any other "glamorous" occasion dominated by a
bunch of petrified stars and their frenzied stylists, right?
Well, check out Eva Herzigova's dress. Even someone conceptually-inclined
as myself can't explain it.
Vogue.co.uk
NYPost.com
Fashionroom.com
Worldonline.co.za
Tuesday, May 27, 2003
OH NO, IT'S THE HAMPTONS
LockhartSteele.com
has a little mention
of trends spotted at the Hamptons. I'm sure "the kimono
thing" refers to the Gucci kimonos for spring/summer,
but what kind of hair extensions were we talking about? I
know that socialites are cross-pollinating with the hiphopoiserie
faster than you can say "C.Ronson" but I'm rather
fond of the idea of Aerin Lauder sporting a zigzag weave.
Somehow, I think it's just the Beyoncé stuff.
DAILY REPORT
Wearing: Cream-colored linen halter dress thrown over jeans,
black flip-flops.
Wanting: Black
Balenciaga heels. Issey
Miyake dress.
Loving: The new Nars
seasonal line.
SPOTTED
Yesterday was all about lounging in the park, so everyone
was wearing some combination of flip-flops, Dr. Scholls, cargo
pants, shorts, tanks, tees. But as the sun set and it got
colder, a la San Francisco, I did see a new trio of plaids:
a man wearing pink and red plaid long-sleeved button-down
shirt, jeans and Clarks with tortoiseshell glasses, an adorable
girl wearing a tomato-red-and-blue plaid swing coat, a little
Chinese man wearing a tan newsboy cap, a red plaid sport jacket
and blue New Balance sneakers well-worn at the heels.
A NECESSARY EVIL
Keeping on the Northern California kick, I've always thought
there was too much fleece happening here. It's very practical
and all that, but those North Face designs remind me too much
of all those Outward Bound evangelicists that plagued me in
university. GreatCoats.com
makes coats out of fleece but cuts them in more stylized,
almost retro shapes. The demure ladylike aesthetic was on
the runways for fall; the swing coats even remind me a bit
of Viktor & Rolf's show this past season. I still can't
come around to fleece, but perhaps if someone would cut them
into a mandarin collar form-fitting jacket with an assymmetrical
zipper and some straps and buckles...
Monday, May 26, 2003
I CAME TO SEE THE FASHION SHOW, NOT
A BUNCH OF HOT BROOKLYN BOYS PLAY MUSIC
The Calla show at
Bottom of the Hill last Saturday was a perfect little encapsulation
of a certain flavor of West Coast indie rock fashion. No Christian
Joy-for-Karen O deconstructed prom dresses, but there were
enough pigtails, princess punk jackets, perfectly low-slung
jeans and tops that walked the right side of quirky: cheongsam
blouses, v-neck Flashdance sweatshirts worn backwards, striped
mod t-shirts and ironically prim schoolmarm blouses. There
were even rock boys sporting 70s feathered hair 'dos with
sport jackets and ratty t-shirts, which would have been Indie
Rock Guide to Hair-approved, no doubt. All the cuties looked
correctly offbeat and jejune, right down to the matching-yet-contrasting
shoes and handbags. There was so much eye candy that the aesthetic
cacophony seemed to create a strange homogeity, and all the
magpie mixing-and-matching in the audience makes the band
the most underdressed people in the room. Yet curiously, a
band's understyling makes them all the more distinctive. A
few weeks ago at the Kills
show, lead singer VV was the plainest girl at the club with
just jeans and a t-shirt, but she still managed to be the
most captivating presence that night with her foot stomping
and chainsmoking and throaty vocals. (Making sex eyes at her
guitarist also helped.) Nothing like a stage, a guitar and
an adoring audience as the ultimate accessory. Which is why
more of you ladies out there should be picking up guitars
and ripping out Sabbath-like riffs like so many jelly bracelets
dangling off your wrists.
"LIKE I WOULD WORK AT THE PLANT
BAR"
Then again, it takes more than just the right bag, shoes and
clothes to have style. Especially if you're of the slipstream
variety of person—you gotta know the right adjectives,
bands, bars and names to drop. It's gatekeeping, and you need
to know the secret password. Take notes from this extremely
funny scenester,
who gets it right with just the perfect tenor of snottiness
that should work at North Six. Or wherever. I just can't keep
up. (But be sure to read the archives!)
WE MAKE OUR OWN FUN
For those of you tired of the indie rock, you should just
go make these guitar
pick earrings and dance to the new Beyoncé Knowles
record in your bedroom. Every few years, staying in is the
new going out. All you need to do is sit tight and wait for
everyone to catch up with you. But then again, if you didn't
go out, you couldn't parade the fruits of your DIY style genius,
like this MUNI transfer bag that my friend Lisa made:
MARGIELA OBSESSIVES, TAKE NOTE
From Fashion Net, written
by Johanna Lenander:
Meanwhile, ladies who have gotten used to swathe themselves
in the simply luxurious cashmeres, linens and wools that Margiela
created for Hermes, do not need to despair. The day after
Hermes announced the Gaultier take-over, spokespeople for
House of Martin Margiela said that they were launching upscale
line of classic women's clothes, accessories and shoes to
be labeled "4." The launch of "4" suggests
that Margiela is using his Hermes experience to expand his
house, which received a major investment from Diesel owner
Renzo Rosso last September, when he took a majority stake
in Margiela's business.
Sunday, May 25,
2003
SPOTTED
From Friday: A girl wearing an ankle-length grey fleece sleeveless
hoodie, black boots, her short hair gelled up into little
devil horns.
From Saturday: Gray flannel trousers with black silk camisole
and no coat in cold, windy weather—brrrr.
DAILY REPORT
Wearing: Just jeans and a black sweater, and a perpetually
tired expression.
Wanting: Three more hours of sleep. In lieu of that, a Commes
des Garçons dress.
Saturday, May
24, 2003
DAILY REPORT
Wearing: Dark rinse Seven jeans, thin black
wool long-sleeve shirt layered over black tank, black-and-cream
colored trainers. (It's a cloudy, foggy day.) I'll be changing
into Earls, black 80s flats and a plain white muscle tank
for the Calla
show tonight.
Wanting: Some discerning vintage collector
out there should snag this
Zandra Rhodes dress.
SPOTTED
Day before yesterday: cotton candy pink Members Only jacket
and matching pink newsie cap on a girl wearing a 40s-dress
black and white dress and black heels. One day later: the
same pink Members Only jacket, only worn by an elderly Chinese
woman on the train.
A NO-BRAINER
Marrying art and fashion is nothing new, whether we're talking
about Louis Vuitton's productive partnerships with Julie Verhoeven
or Takashi Murakami or the Rita Ackermann-printed dresses
that Chloe Sevigny wore before she went Hollywood. Even Miuccia
Prada is using the artwork of a 50s illustrator in the sweaters
of her last collection. I have always liked seeing hand drawing
and paint on clothing; something about seeing the imperfect
execution of line drawn (and sometimes printed) by hand seems
to add human presence to a garment. It can make something
as humble as a t-shirt into an artisanal object. Dailycandy.com
mentioned these girlish, almost fragile bird-themed t-shirts
by Ambriel Floyd a few days ago; for a punkier take, there's
also this more flamboyant 80s-inspired airbrushed bag by Blairwear
at girlshop.com.
Sometimes, though, you just miss a good old-fashioned screenprinted
t-shirt, like this "Oh Bondage!" shirt from Smashing
Grandpa. You just have to love anything where you can
wear your X-Ray
Spex affection close to your heart.
Friday, May 23,
2003
DAILY REPORT
Wearing: Boy's white oxford shirt, denim
mini I "converted" from an old pair of Levis, and
Vivienne Westwood dark grey Pirate boot rip-offs. The mini's
going to change soon, however—I'm off to the beach!
(UPDATE: Changed into dark jeans and tank top with Jil Sander
short-sleeved black chiffon shirt—it was feeling neglected.
Still wearing Pirate boots, with jeans tucked into them.)
Browsing: This
tropical orange Holly Harp dress. It's not really my thing,
but I'm sure that the Palm Beach socialite in someone will
snap it up!
Wanting: I usually don't do the one-shoulder
top because it makes me feel like a refugee from a 80s Robert
Palmer video, but this Costume
National one does it quite elegantly.
NO PLAID ON THE GLAD RAGS
Apparently Burberry is relaunching its collection this fall
in Britain, this time slanted towards the "trendsetting
youth market." It's going to build buzz through ads in
media such as skateboard and music magazines for its offerings,
which range from outerwear to the prerequisite accessories.
However, what the line won't include is its trademark
plaid. Odd, isn't it? Especially when the appeal of a brand
like Burberry is getting its trademark plaid on even the most
throwaway object from a bikini to a hoodie to Air Jordans.
[ from Trendcentral's
newsletter ]
A SHOCKING SOLUTION!
Remember yesterday's "conceptual art assignment"
asking for fashion ideas designed to protect and empower women
navigating the dangers of the urban jungle? Well, Peter from
our favorite gadgets blog, Gizmodo,
is pointing to a possible answer: The No-Contact
jacket, which delivers a good dosage of electric shock, conducted
through a special material, to anyone who literally tries
to lay a hand on an unsuspecting lass. There's only small
glimpses of a prototype, but it's very sleek and urbane-looking,
with a bit of 90s Pradalike minimalism—perfect for that
stylish woman warrior in you. Too bad it doesn't come in leather,
but then again, leather wouldn't conduct electricity as well.
[ From Gizmodo
via Wired.com
]
DENIM DEATH MATCH
Luxuryfashion.com
has a feature up about Blue Cult, yet another denim contender
that has been taken up by all the celebrities from Britney
to Cameron to Gwyneth, who has her own jean named after her.
I don't know, though: Harper's Bazaar had Cameron showing
up to the (inane) June cover interview wearing Ya-Ya jeans
to go with her omnipresent Uggs. And shopbop.com is showing
only a few sizes left in stock of Humanity jeans, a few days
after announcing them on their site. What's a girl to choose?
It makes you wish for the days when the only option for denim
dominance were stonewashed Guess jeans. Or Sassoon. Or Z.
Cavaricci. Or whatever.
[ Luxuryfashion.com:
Blue Cult jeans ]
AND SPEAKING OF UGGS...
...which have been on the streets everywhere on the feet of
many a fashionable girl. Cam has a pair, Gwyn has a pair—but
are they bold enough to take the next step and get a pair
of yeti boots? The hardcore Viking look isn't that absurd;
I spotted a white pair on model Jessica Miller last winter
in New York, looking like a very young, very lovely Patti
Smith. (At least, I think it was Jessica Miller;
the frequently nude model had all her clothes on when I spotted
her.) I can hear the Uggs vs. yetis catfight now. All of this
is sure to distress my Aussie roommate. When I told him that
Uggs were quite hip at the moment, he made a face and wailed,
"Why? Thair soooo trash-ay!" I couldn't really bear
to tell him about trucker hats after that.
[ The next step: yeti
boots! ]
LIKE GRAND CENTRAL HERE
Photographer Patrick Demarchelier, currently shooting for
Harper's Bazaar, is decamping to Conde Nast and probably American
Vogue in May 2004, according to yesterday's fashist-online.com.
(Good thing, I think; his, um, relaxed photography
style was a little out of place among Bazaar's more stylized
stable of contributing lensers.) Jil
Sander returns to her own label, held by Prada Group,
which bodes well for her cultlike fashion following, who have
been missing the magic since she left her label three years
ago. The label has been lacking Sander's clarity since her
departure, so it's good to see the luxe classicist return
to the fold. And Kathie
Lee's label is being phased out by Wal-Mart. Oooh, I'm
so sad!
Thursday, May
22, 2003
SPOTTED
Carrie Brownstein-lookalike
wearing a black-and-white diagonal stripe canvas motocross
jacket.
A couple sporting quite the array on Mission Street: she,
a Louis Vuitton Murakami pochette and pink Manolo Timberlands.
He, Gucci-print Jordans and a bleached blonde Jheri curl.
Looks like folks had a shopping spree at goodkicks.com,
which also sells T-Mobile Sidekicks. Can I get one in the
cherry blossom LV print, yo?
[ goodkicks.com: if
you work for LV, Manolo, et. al, you may have a heart attack
if you click ]
DAILY REPORT
Wearing: Sleeveless white t-shirt with canvas wraparound
belt by Helmut Lang, black Katayone Adeli trousers, Charles
David heels with leather lacing. (It's a "meet-with-the-clients"
sort of day.)
Wanting: Does anyone know if this
is an Alaia? Whatever it is, I really like the back of this
dress. Not really down with the Demi Moore mention. (Or Indecent
Proposal, for that matter.) There's also this
gold-colored Alaia dress. Azzedine Alaia is completely
hot right now; his influence was felt all over the runway
this fall, and his clothes are very collectible at the moment.
(A few months ago I found a bustier dress at a thrift store
and sold it for someone's soul!)
THERE'S A CONCEPTUAL ARTIST IN EVERYONE
The latest issue of Wired,
guest edited by one of my intellectual heroes, architect Rem
Koolhaus, is all about our changing ideas of space and its
impact on culture. Miuccia Prada weighs in on the idea of
body space: "Every piece of clothing shapes
your body but also the space around you, the emptiness around
you." She points to the transparent raincoat from the
winter 2002 Prada collection, which went from clear to clouded
upon a change in precipitation. The conceptualist in me thinks
this could be taken even further. We've had fashion that actively
morphed the shape of a human body, such as the famous Rei
Kawakubo "bump" dress—memorably used in a
Merce Cunningham dance piece. Why not garments that extend
even further into the space around you, protecting the body
from the intrusions in that space? I'm thinking of those crowded
subway rides when I lived in New York; how about an inflatable
coat that would give you a little cushioning for when you
are stuck standing and rattling against everyone in your vicinity?
(Also, this would be good to keep the stinky old perverts
who like to press against women on the train at bay.) Your
assignment, should you choose to accept it, is this: Every
woman who lives in a major metropolis contends with street
harassment. For every fashion adventuress eager to try out
the new crop of minis that are au courant this spring,
this is a problem. Design a garment that allows you to wear
a mini yet creates a space around a woman that disrupts and/or
dissuades the lewd comments that wearing such a mini would
incur. There's no prize for this, but if I get
some good answers, I'll most definitely publish them here.
[ "body
space" by Miuccia Prada ]
ONTO SOMETHING A LOT MORE SILLY...
...like indie rock hair! Oh, what are those crazy kids up
to now? According to this guide
to good indie rock hair, if you're a boy, you must either
have the helmut hair of a Lego toy figure, an okay New York
band or a 80s male figure skater. If you're a girl, you must
have short hair and look like Winona Ryder. Having been to
more than enough indie/punk shows, I have to say that this
is mostly true. The boys do look like they could be members
of the Strokes, especially if they're wearing tight Diesel
jeans and a Journey t-shirt. As for the girls, I've seen a
lot more variance, but the omnipresent usage of Winonage is
right-on. She's been romantically connected to so many indie
musicians, it's like she's earned her Girl Scout badge in
indie rock credibility.
[ Guide
to Good Indie Rock Hair via Catherine
]
AND EVEN MORE FUN
What's faster than the speed of light? Many things, but most
colorful of all is the kaleidoscopic nature of Japanese street
fashion. I've dug the site Japanesestreets.com for so long
that I just have to mention it now, if only for those fantastic
photos of the everyday girl-on-the-street in Tokyo. It's up
for a Webby!
[ Japanesestreets.com
]
OBLIGATIONS!
Sigh. I suppose I should mention something about
roman-à-clef The Devil Wears Prada. I suppose
this just isn't a real fashion blog without it. It's a great
title, I have to admit, but I tried reading this
excerpt and simply couldn't make my way through it. Does
anyone out there have any good recommendations for fashionista
fiction? Do send them my way...
SPOTTED
A bright red rectangular tote bag with a 80s old school boombox
face printed on it, yesterday Wednesday afternoon, corner
of 16th and Valencia in San Francisco.
Wednesday, May
21, 2003
DAILY REPORT
Wearing: A "reconstructed" dress
made from discarded sweatshirts, sewn into a sort of shortened
flamenco dress shape, layered over Katayone Adeli pants. (I
live in California—we wear everything over pants!) Got
dressed while listening to James
Chance.
Wanting: I have no reason to wear a suit
in my daily life, but I like this
Balenciaga suit.
MON DIEU!
Is it really true that Jean-Paul Gautier will be taking over
the women's line at Hermès? Will Hermès finally
go punk and put out a conical bustier? (Imagine the gold plating
on those fastenings and buckles!) While JPG is certainly known
for his flash, he also can cut and tailor like no one's business
and his exuberant creativity could also inject a jolt of something
into the subtle, sometimes sedate elegance of Hermès
ready-to-wear. After all, I do remember similar notes of shock
when Belgian designer Martin Margiela was announced as Hermès'
designer. I really enjoyed the subtlety of that particular
aesthetic intersection between French old-guard grandeur and
Belgian deconstruction, and I liked watching it seep into
Margiela's own collections. One wonders what will cross-pollinate
with this latest partnership.
[ UPDATED: YES,
IT'S TRUE ]
AND SO IT BEGINS
Citizens of Humanity, the new denim label by the people responsible
for Seven For All Mankind, are now selling their jeans on
shopbop.com. Truly worthy
of my freshly minted adjective: asstastic.
SHOPBOP.COM
MY OWN PERSONAL INSIDE SECRET
Continuing with my Ebay shopping obsession, I have to say
that it's my favorite way of buying vintage. I don't really
have the time to comb through thrift stores and charity shops
anymore (unless it's one of those rich lady castoff shops
on the Upper East Side in NYC), so I am always cruising Ebay
for that 80s clutch or some perfectly Marc Jacobs short-sleeve
sweater. Retrofit! is one of my favorite sellers on ebay.com;
I have no idea who this person is, but it's a very well-curated
vintage selection, perfect for that type of girl who paints
her nails coral while listening to either Cat Power or lots
of electroclash and doctors up old prom dresses a la Karen
O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs after cutting up all her old issues
of NYLON. I was going to keep this one all to myself, but
I'm buying less vintage these days in my attempts to collect
more of that Belgian and Japanese deconstructionist fashion
I love. (Although I never saw a 70s-inflected short-sleeved
sweater I didn't like.) Consider this a public service.
retrofit!
on ebay
ELEGANCE IS REFUSAL
Lookonline.com
has a little bit from yesterday that seemed to mourn "old
world" style and elegance—you know, when ladies
wore gloves and had seasonal handbags and men wore hats and
killer suits, all sorts of 1950s motifs that were all over
the runway for Fall 2003. Also referencing a recent NY Times
article citing the influence of hip hop and urban street fashion
on today's aesthetic, editor Marilyn Kirschner writes, "In
short, there is no such thing as bad taste anymore…bad
taste IS good taste to many." There's no denying
that the bling can get out of control, what with sequins on
nipples being eveningwear and all, and I'm down with subtlety,
modesty and manners in fashion. I do think there can be elegance
found in all sorts of fashion vernaculars, including street
and hip hop (thinking especially of how nicely cut those Triple
Five Soul parkas can be.) And perhaps I equate the 50s with
not just pocketbooks and pillbox hats, but restrictive gender
roles, racial segregation and a deadening encroachment of
Ozzie-and-Harriet suburbia. While "it's just fashion,"
it's also historical memory at work when designers reference
the past. (After all, Yves Saint Laurent's legendary 1940s-referencing
collection in the 70s created outrage and disdain at the thought
that someone would want to resurrect a style of dress that
seemed to echo the depressing realities of wartime.) Everyone
is entitled to their definitions; I suppose what one sees
as elegant can come across as repressive elsewhere. But whatever,
the 1980s were also all over the runways for fall, and that
decade was all about bad taste.
http://www.lookonline.com/blogger.html
NOT GOING THERE
No matter how fascinated I am by Silver Lake/Williamsburg
hipsters, I refuse to write about trucker hats. Because there's
plenty to read about these hats elsewhere.
Tuesday, May 20,
2003
DAILY REPORT
Wearing: Black silk viscose Martin Margiela
dress with frayed edges layered over black tank and Seven
jeans in dark Detroit wash, with t-strap sandals and hair
pulled back.
Wanting: Because
you can never have too many drape-y blouses for the spring/summer.
Catherine Malandrino = pretty. And being suckered by these
Habitual
jeans.
AN EQUIVALENT OF THE HEAD SPINNING
IN "EXORCIST"
Style.com, the online front of W and Vogue, is the most couture
of all couture-covering fashion sites out there. It has great
show coverage but it is almost exactly like the magazines
it represents: socialite-friendly, insider, expensive. In
other words, not punk rock. (Well, except for the insider
part.) Anyway, style.com's item of the week is a slab of limited-edition
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
vinyl. Not much mention of the music, of course, but it helpfully
suggests the following if you don't have a turntable: "Use
it as wall art, a drinks tray or simply a badge of your terminal
coolness." Now I know what to do with all those weird
records by The Locust.
Style.com
Item of the Week
ONCE MORE WITH FEELING
I'm obsessed with all things Buffy the Vampire Slayer and
truly bummed that the show is ending. Not only was it brilliantly
written, acted and directed—and not only did it combine
the mythic, dramatic, comedic, romantic and horrific in a
truly original way—but Buffy herself was something of
a fashion arbiter, perfectly encapsulating a certain chic,
modern style that a certain type of skinny, perky blond girl
would wear. (And somehow they all seem to go to my gym.) She
went from being a Contempo Casuals California teenager to
the sleek, urban woman warrior sporting the latest by Marc
Jacobs, Katayone Adeli and any other designer at Fred Segal
worth the credit card debt. I'm going to miss her little jackets
and perfect jeans and her stylish yet affordable boots. But
maybe I can come up with the two grand I need to bid on some
of the Buffy costumes currently on auction at Ebay.
Buffyauction.com
I
LOVE THIS JACKET!
"CULT" WOULD BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT
Yet more coverage on the expensive jeans front: Trendcentral.com
has sullied forth with their predictions for jeans
du jour, which are Rock and Republic, Serfontaine,
Saddlelite. Naturally, most of these jeans are attached with
a constellation of celebrity names. Personally, I don't touch
anything that has the name Britney Spears or Sarah Jessica
Parker associated with it. (Except maybe Manolo Blahnik in
my fantasy life.) The formula for a certain type of "hotness"
in this area is a self-defeating prophecy: first you up the
obscurity hype in which you only have your jeans available
in so many places and only so many people can wear them (read:
celebs.) Then you hit critical mass and soon everyone has
them, which sends the cultists off to a new brand to satisfy
their itch for insider obscurity. What does this reall all
mean? Look for the newest batch of "it" labels in
a few months.
[ READ
]
SPEAKING OF MANOLO...
Word has it that Juan Antonio Carlos is the newest wunderkind
to inherit the throne for sexy shoemaker, according to some
fashion rags I've been reading lately. Manolo Blahnik is the
lynch pin of amazingly elegant shoes, and the famous Blahnik
heel is a vision of sculptural perfection. However, I'd nominate
Holly Dunlap, creative director of Hollywould shoes, as the
current ultimate shoe genius. While her shoes aren't as socialite-friendly
as Manolo, Christian Louboutin, Jimmy Choo, et. al, I say
she combines a really sexy shape with the youth culture tip
of Marc Jacobs. (Sorry, not feeling the peep toe pump, Marc.)
The result is a shoe that can be both punk, preppy, fun and
yet totally hot. Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks
Hollywould rules: Dunlap is up for a CFDA award.
Hollywould Shoes
Dunlap
nominated for CFDA award
Monday, May 19,
2003
DAILY (OR SOMEWHAT DAILY) EBAY LUST
Believe or not, I don't shop a lot. (Surprising for someone
who is writing a fashion/style blog, right?) But I love scoping
out items on Ebay; it's like virtual window shopping, and
putting items on the Watch list can be like putting together
a fantasy wardrobe. Anyway, some finds: for boys, a
nifty Italian army jacket that evokes military just enough
without being overt. For the ladies, a Rick
Owens jersey top with his signature draping. It's impossible
to find Rick Owens sometimes; his production lines are notoriously
small, so even the Ebay bidding can skyrocket into insanity.
IN SEARCH OF OBSCURITY
Just read in the latest ELLE that the founders of the ubiquitous
Seven jeans have decamped and started a new label called Citizens
of Humanity. Will Citizens be as fabulously asstastic and
successful as Sevens, which no doubt grace the bottoms of
every girl in your favorite urban zip code? Maybe a better
question is whether Sevens can still dominate in the increasingly
crowded upscale denim niche, which is getting more and more
fragmented as the clock ticks. Perhaps it was inevitable,
since this category is all about buzz and trendiness - but
at least there's a pair of jeans out there that should flatter
every aspirant to bootyliciousness. Someone needs to start
a expensive jeans zine. But don't look at me; I'm still wearing
my old-school Earls.
GIRL, YOU'LL BE A WOMAN...SOON?
I'm obsessed with all the high-fashion mags for teens:
ELLEgirl, Teen Vogue, etc. While I read and enjoy the grown
folks' magazines, there's something more looser and accessible
about their youthful counterparts. The usual publishing wisdom
is that we tend to read "up" from where we are,
but I'm finding more and more twentysomething ladies I know
dig these younger mags. While I'm sure it has something to
do with being in my 20s and being able to tilt both girlish
and womanly, there's also just the fact that they're more
fun: there's mod makeup and hipper bands and even craft
projects, not to mention the fact that they're simply geared
towards more affordable, accessible fashion. (Although pay
$70+ for a pair of terrycloth sweatpants is still a little
insane. Jeans, on the other hand...) While I can certainly
rock the high-end cerebral deconstructed designer end of things,
let me have my fun while I can.
http://www.teenvogue.com
http://www.ellegirl.com
DAILY REPORT
I originally got the idea to do this weblog because
of my personal journal, where I'd sometimes describe whatever
outfit I wore that day in minute and loving detail. Someone
said, hey, you should do a fashion blog! (No doubt
they were probably sick of my obsessiveness and would rather
read about me complaining about my boring love life.) I hunted
around and found that there weren't many fashion blogs written
by nonindustry people or non-supermodel-obsessives. I like
to follow industry stuff in my own half-assed way, but I certainly
like style that originates from the outside and the down-low.
And I don't really pay attention to models all that much (except
for Kate Moss, who seems to transcend model-ness by being
a highly influential style icon, at least according to many
professional fashionistas.)
Anyway, onto the daily outfit report: black Earl jeans, white
short-sleeved shirt with waist-tie and pinstripes from 5-7-9
(YES, THAT MALL STORE), green pointy-toed flats with brassbuckles
and mesh straps. Hair in messy ponytail, silver feather earrings
from urbn.com.
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