Saturday, March 31, 2007

Make-up look for spring #1

Inspired by Alexander McQueen's spring 2007 ready-to-wear collection and as talked about in FASHION magazine, I'm going for a pale, powdered look all throughout April.
Look shown off by Bruna Tenorio (left) and Kim Noorda (right) at the McQueen show.

Friday, March 30, 2007

Designer: Paule Ka

I was reading FASHION when I came across a photoshoot and the shoes took my breath away. They really aren't for everyone, but I am going crazy for them. Designer Paule Ka's website revealed even more sights for sore eyes. The first three dresses are perfect for April and I am staring at the feet of the last four models in crazed delight.


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Tuesday, March 27, 2007

young birds in the '20s

I'm currently reading Fall On Your Knees (which is not an instruction manual, if you are wondering), by Ann Marie MacDonald, a book that takes place during the first decades of the 20th century, thus briefly baring mentions of gaudy flappers. In case you're not familiar, flappers were young women during 1920s who wore short dresses, cut their hair into bobs and picked up black jazz musicians (seriously--is there a better lifestyle than this?).

Since at the turn of the century, societal dictations and honest-to-goodness decency imposed strict dress codes (ie long skirts and buttoned collars), these women were seen as somewhat outrageous.

Louise Brooks, actress, who followed suit with the flapper trend

Flapper fashion circa Autumn 1928


louise brooks pic from
flapper pic from wiki

info taken from wiki

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Saturday, March 24, 2007

in vogue, self-portrait

While doing a project, I needed some cutouts from Vogue, and I decided to reread the September 2006 issue. Just goes to show you, that the magazine does get it right occasionally.Picasso's Self-Portrait, 1972.

Chuck Close's Big Self-Portrait, 1967-1968. (I covet this piece, and love to imagine hanging it in my future home).

There's that wonderful Picasso self-portrait, crayon and whatever, of a big head with very big eyes and stubble all over. It's such a great, great work, one of the last things he did. It looks like a skull. My self-portrait with beard stubble, which I guess was done a few years earlier than Picasso's, is in the same spirit--nonheroic, not portrait-as-celebrity or the Warhol sense of superstars, but reality and awkwardness and painfulness and all of that stuff.

It's hard to remember how late Picasso was trashed, as was late de Kooning. To really have an impact, an artist has to finish great. Had Matisse not done his cutouts, which he reinvented in Nice, I don't think he would be considered a great artist today. You really need a great endgame. And when Picasso was marginalised at the end of his career by the critics, he had tremendous urgency for artists. Artists looked at that work and saw unbelievable energy and invention at a point where most artists are just content to plow the same field. Attitudinally he's saying, vital to the end, inventive till the end, take risks. It was extremely encouraging.

What you do is you go out and reinvent the whole God-damn ball game.


source: Vogue Sept 2006

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full metal jacket

I was watching Full Metal Jacket yesterday, the first half of which is one of the most enjoyable moments in cinema. The film has some of the best stylistic and thematic shots and camera work. And the special lenses and techniques Kubrick and co. worked out specifically for this film are now widely used.

The film reminded me of Junya Wanatabe's Fall'06 collection, whose theme was war and battle.



watanabe pics: style.com
Film Facts

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shoes, shoes, fall's accessories

Miu Miu, Lanvin, Burberry Prorsum.
Reading Style.com's Top Ten Accessories list, only three things leaped out at me: Miu Miu's demure pumps, Lanvin's sky-high heels and the Burberry's looooong gloves. Not a particularly engaging list.

Not impressed:
Fendi, Giambattista Valli, Balenciaga
Furry bags? Skull jewelry? Wide belts? Not too many new concepts this season.

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the tease

Dita von Tease on the runway for Gaultier Spring Couture Show 07.

One of the celebrities, if you will, that I've been fascinated with is Dita von Tease. I don't know if this is strictly true, but here is a quote from Wikipedia:
In spite of this, Von Teese states that she never uses a stylist. "The one time I hired a stylist, they picked up a pair of my 1940s shoes and said, "These would look really cute with jeans." I immediately said, 'You’re out of here.'" She does her own make-up, and dyes her naturally blonde hair black at home.
What's really refreshing about Dita is the old school Hollywood glamour way she has about her. I remember reading an interview with her in Flare, where she said that she always tries to be overdressed wherever she goes. And isn't it the final irony that a burlesque dancer looks the classiest at a premier?

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Monday, March 19, 2007

@ mango fashion awards party


My God, this girl must have the longest legs I've ever seen. She is gorgeous.

from face hunter

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LOULOU, don't let me down too!

LOULOU has to be the magazine I look forward to every month the most. It's not the smartest mag around (in fact, there are hardly any articles at all). That's what makes it so fresh - instead of reading recycled material EVERY month like with other mags (read: Flare, Elle to name two), you're treated to trend dissections and how to make them work for you as well as style hunts around Canadian cities. It's the perfect way to spend a lazy afternoon.

A while ago, LOULOU added a web feature called "Street Styling," where readers can submit a picture of a friend (or themselves) who they consider to be fashionable. I went to check it out today, and I was not impressed. This is one of their featured photos and Q&A:Where did the clothes you’re wearing in the photo come from? Top: Abercrombie and Fitch, tank top: Urban Behaviour, skirt: GAP, shoes: Aldo.

What are your favourite stores or boutiques? Abercrombie and Fitch, Aldo, Urban Behaviour.

Who is your source of inspiration? Heidi Klum.

Maybe it's just me, but is that outfit at all suitable to be posted in a web feature called Street Styling? People can dress however they want, but come on, let's call a spade a spade. Or boring, in this case.

Source: LOULOU Street Styling

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Thursday, March 15, 2007

Matching business sense

A while ago, Aesthetics + Economics did a post about Lancome Pout-a-Porter collection, especially the Proenza Pink (based on... you guessed it--the Proenza Schouler Spring 2007 show). The post outlined the brilliance of using a fashion brand to market make-up, which can be accessed here.

So what topic had a two-page spread in April's Flare?

MATCH GAME: Hit the right note with the perfect scents inspired by spring's top trends

Now, anyone who's read my earlier entries knows that perfume is really not my thing. But this Agent Provocateur bottle is almost irresistible.











matching Agent Provocateur Maitresse Eau de Parfum with the dominatrix look at Dolce & Gabbana
So what do you make of this trend? Is it a joining of companies with similar styles? Or just another chance to grab our money by attaching make-up and perfume companies to fashion? Or a little of both?

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Tuesday, March 13, 2007

"We are diverse!"

What do savvy politicians and proud Torontonians have in common?

When asked their favourite thing about Toronto, they are most likely so say "the diversity of the city."

It's certainly true, but for all the pride, we still seem to have some cultural and business lag. Yesterday's Metro News had a front page headline: Fashion rap on province. MPP Cheri DiNovo is trying to get the provincial government "to add fashion design to its list of recognized cultural industries..."

Milan has a minister of fashion, Quebec spends tax dollars to support designers,
and Japan pushes its fashions around the world. But here in Ontario, the fourth-largest design centre in North America, the government doesn't even count fashion design as a cultural industry.


This article comes at an appropriate time, what with Toronto Fashion Week having kicked off Monday. It's a bit appaling that the Ministry of Culture needs such prodding. Even if you ignore the art and culture side of it, fashion is an enormous business. I seem to recall a while back that a politician wanted to make it mandatory that movie theatres keep a certain percentage of the films they screen Canadian to give Canadian films and art a fair chance. But keeping designers working in Ontario, by giving them grants to start their business, to broaden our pool of Canadian fashion apparently wasn't even considered as a means of getting Canada into the international limelight.

Arts Council of Ontario grants to filmmakers range from $2,500 to $5,000 for
emerging artists and from $5,000 to a maximum of $40,000 for mid-career or
established media artists.


ALSO IN NEWS: Marc Jacobs checked himself into rehab. Read about it here, here and here.

article source: Metro News

Saturday, March 10, 2007

To the lip rescue!

This winter had been particularly bad for my lips, to the point where the cold had made them chapped and unsightly. Using the Burt's Bees chap stick didn't work as it didn't so much a moisturize as go over my lips in a caked-on, goopy mess. At Shoppers, I was debating which clear lip gloss to buy when I came across...
This stuff is magic in a tube. It smells fantastic, it absorbs easily and, although its price is fairly up there in terms of chapstick, it won't set you back by very much. So if you have the same problem as me, and are tired of trying product after product to no prevail, give this a shot.
NOTE: Wow, I just Googled one of the chapstick's active ingredients (oxybenzone - which absorbs UVA rays) and it could be or could not be potentially dangerous for you! Because it is either quickly absorbed by the skin or it's not absorbed at all. So basically, use at your own risk, is what they are saying. So either suffer the consequences of going out in the sun without adequate protection, or suffer the consequences of using adequate sun protection.
source: article

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Balenciaga, nice jackets, and gymwear


Apart from some killer shoes, I really loved the jackets at Balenciaga fall 07 show. There are naval tones (especially in the bottom left and centre) as well as military undertones (top left), and they are very striking and beautifully cut.


But...

I am all for deconstructing fashion and crossing over boundaries and casual wear as formal, yadda, yadda, yadda. But those are exactly, exactly, the pants I used to wear to the gym. Down to the 2 white stripes along the side. There is no distinguishing detail. They are pants you will pick up at your local supermarket, without the $400 price tag.


images from style.com
Balenciaga video (for clearer visual of the gympants)

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McGrath: Pat on the head

At Gucci Fall'07, models made up as cross between scholar and femme fatale.

In the past, McGrath, at Dior couture show, works her magic.


Time Style&Design article (2003): The Shape of Things to Come (Pat McGrath)
Gucci stills from style.com
Oscar de la Renta Fall'07 backstage Youtube video
Gucci Fall'07 backstage video

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Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Jumpin' Jill

A bit reminiscent of the last season, but the color appeals to me.

source: Spanish Vogue

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Blast from the past

I'd like to take you to a pre-Civil War time, to the time of cinched waists, flaring skirts and oversized sleeves, when a man called Franz Xaver Winterhalter did paintings of royalty (was appointed court painter by French king, Louis-Philippe).Portrait of Madame Barbe de Rimsky-Korsakov, done in 1864. (Technically, not pre-Civil War, but I'll let it slip.)

Portrait of Elisabeth of Bavaria, Empress of Austria, painted in 1864.


The Empress Eugenie Surrounded by Her Ladies in Waiting, painted in 1855.

pics/info from wikipedia

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Saturday, March 03, 2007

Where's my hair again?


The weather reports have officially made clear that we are at the mercy of the elements. I don't about you, but the thought of wearing new clothes onto to get salt or mud on them (completely inevitable, if you are me) is disheartening. Especially since it is so disastrously cold. (For you non-Torontonians: our fair city had a serious snow storm on Thursday, March 1--coinciding in an unfortunate manner with my friends' birthday party--and due to shifty planning, I managed to stay outside for an hour and a half waiting for my ride). I don't know about you, but trudging around in freezing weather with a constant sheet of snow falling onto your clothes and hair, then standing on a painfully crammed bus for half an hour with your oversized tote cutting off circulation in your arm is about as glamorous as shopping at Sears.

So I can't wear particularly what I like during winter. Instead of pining or risking pneumonia by defiantly refusing to shelf my flats and heels, I've been concentrating on my face. I'm not going to lie; I'm a fairly boring make-up operator, but only because what may look cool and matching in my bathroom mirror looks freakish and garish in the proper outdoor light. So I have been discouraged after pulling a few "ooooh, that's embarassing" faces in the girls' bathroom mirror.
But I am determined to change all this over the (hopefully) last several weeks of winter by getting some inspiration from the runway looks (toned down to fit the everyday life). I've always had two ideal looks: heavy eyes (mascara, eyeliner and a vibrant eyeshadow) and natural blush-only for a (this is an awful description I've seen used in too many magazines) "just-did-yoga" type of aided healthy glowing look.
I was going to post a couple looks that I'm trying to master these days, but my camera is out of commision. For hair, I've been trying to get it in a sort of polished wind-blown look, but so far, it just looks like I've got ponytail bends.
By the way, what's with Vogue having Jennifer Hudson on the cover of their "Power" issue? Shouldn't they have picked someone who actually wields power instead of a girl no one's ever heard of 3 months ago?
pics from style.com
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