seemly avant-garde: YSL spring 2009 collection (the new power suit)

mood: sombre.

YSL 2009 refashions! the new power suit (a sharply tailored gray jumpsuit).*ow!* I want to kiss Stefano Pilati. Worthy of mention, eons ago, (2007), Mr. Pilati showed the now-seemingly ubiquitous harem/dhoti/*flo'-rider* pants¹ (oooh go Flo Rider!! Actually, it might be 'Rida'!! But, whatevs. I'm unbecomingly proud of my pop culture knowledge.). Like I was saying, that's just how innovative Mr. Pilati is.

So much I could write about these pieces...

Refined, but restrained; restrained, but avant-garde; avant-garde, but familiar; familiar, but new; new but (pleasurably) refined.

Beautiful kisses.

Footnotes:
1. You've seen those pants; and unfortunately you'll be seeing more of them on everybody!! Arrgh, it just doesn't look good on everybody. *sigh*

chic challenge: fair-trade, eco-friendly full skirt a la oscar de la renta

So, I've come up with a challenge for myself; I want to find a gorgeous 'printed' full skirt (knee-length) like Oscar de la Renta makes, but it must be produced with fair-trade organic fabrics. I know, it's daunting! But I'll see what comes of it.

As no one can tuck and gather like my darling adopted God-father¹, Mr de la Renta; I know I'm setting myself up for disappointment already. But notice, I didn't say I just want this skirt instead of one of Mr de la Renta's... (I'll leave it at that.) His fall pieces are seventy! off; the particular print I wanted ― the purple hibiscus dip-dyed skirt ― was, ummm... pretty expensive. 'How do I say, originally over three thou?!' And it's not that de la Renta's pieces couldn't possibly be eco-friendly, I just want to find one made explicitly so on my own.Fall '08. I want the third skirt from the left.

This spring, de la Renta's skirts, some made of (silk) faille, have this extra side-flounce that's just so alluring. Ahhh...

Spring '09


Wish me luck.
xoxo.


Footnotes:
1. Mr de la Renta may not publicly acknowledge my existence, but no matter. He will someday. And you need not point a finger at me, you calling yourself part of our new prez's family! Umm.. no Barack Obama is not your uncle either. Haha.

labour of love

Speaking of, for the most inexplicable of reasons I've become delightfully enamored of these Labour of Love jazz shoes. Paired with cigarette ankle-length trousers or short shorts, they'd be so chic!! This patent fuschia pair is wild!! But, they come in fourteen!! pretty colors. At Far Fetch.



Bubblicious bubble-gum kisses.

the romantic edge (givenchy sandals!)

Single-handedly Riccardo Tisci (Givenchy) has ensured that the gladiator sandal or its continuously more refined and evolved clones will remain the impossibly chic accessory for the possibly next two seasons!! (...a lifetime in the fashion world!)

Just imagine the delightfully treacherous cycle: pieces appear six months before on runways, editorial buzz, fast fashion replicas months avant la saison (none of which truly eco-conscious glamour gyrls will touch with a twelve foot pole; we know it's not cheap, despite what the price-tag says!), designers feed off buzz and incorporate similar motifs into next season's pieces... Nope! The original pieces haven't hit the stores yet! But that's the way it goes, you see.

'Tis a tremendous feat when we think back to the style icon of my lifetime, the exceptionally chic Carine Roitfeld, sporting Givenchy gladiator sandals last fall/winter! Tisci's pieces, both clothes and accessories, are marked by an unsurpassed sophistication that is the result of his own keen aesthetic, a futuristically cool reinterpretation of a Romantic history.

I will be keeping a close eye on these pieces online and in store and when they do go on sale (believe me, they will, do I even have to say, "look at the economy?!" haha. I know it's not funny, I'm sorry) I will snag possibly three? pairs!! Yikes!! I mean I absolutely need one of the gladiator-applique pairs (top), definitely one of these lace pairs (below) and a pair of this to the right!! *wistful sigh*







The pieces have started arriving in stores, Barneys, Shopbop, Zappos, Net-a-Porter. European designers are cheaper in Europe for Americans without VAT (ha!) so Luisa Via Roma it is for me. Bellissimo!!



Delicious kisses.

flower power (valentino totes!! *heart*)

You don't have to dig deep to find that I'm a gyrly gyrl whose heart blossoms into a million little petaled whorls. So why not wear my heart on my sleeves??
This is my bag of the year, hands down. I'll be rocking it like the glamour puss that I am once I can afford it! HA!

I also love these pieces, very terribly. The ends of black bow bag fold inwards to form an irregular hexagon just like the 'Printemps' (French for spring) bag (to the left).All Valentino
Available at your nearest Valentino boutique; would you still love me if I told you how often I went in the past month just to touch them?! Be back to tell you where I found them online. Dashing to an appt!


**Okay, you'll find these pieces at:
Topmost (my fave!!!): Marissa Collections
The rest; Top Left: Tender Birmingham(Big *heart*)
Top Right: Saks (Also love!)
Bottom: Neimans



Sweet kisses on the lips.

one loopy dress

Is it terribly pathetic that every time I remember, I check the eLuxury website to see if an online sales rep. has become available to chat (with me). I need to ask about this gorg! dress of flattened helical piping overlain on French tulle (currently NOT on sale on the site)??

I would call, but I'm saving my voice to try out on the next Idol and per my voice coach's instructions. Ha!! Okay, it's just too early and if I don't have to speak to anyone, I'd rather not!



Kiss.Kiss.

sprouse it up

What I love ― having learned ― about the artist, Stephen Sprouse (1953-2004), is the unreservedly glamorous aptitude that pervaded his 'rock and roll' fashion sensibilities; an intense mix of his ardent love of art and punk-rock. Heralded as the American Punk Glamour God, esp. of the eighties ― and I would say the only one since then ― Sprouse made beautifully tailored "punk" clothes; becoming famous for his natural flair at integrating uptown sophistication with a chic downtown edge. It wasn't just punk garb, it was punk garb made from luxe cashmere from Italy, and constructed delectably. It's a cheeky balance he honed especially whilst under Halston's tutelage.

The on-going retrospective of Sprouse's work at NY's Deitch gallery includes pieces he commissioned for Vuitton, graffiti-tagged bags and RTW pieces with emblazoned large, brightly colored rose prints (2001). Inspired by this original partnership, Marc Jacobs reworks these dominant motifs into a darling of a limited edition Sprouse collection for Vuitton. They're screen-printed on the monogram canvas in reminiscent Day-Glo colors, and I think I might finally be on my way to owning my very! first! piece! of Vuitton monogram canvas accessory.

If you know anything about me ― anything at all― you know my utter aversion to the monogram, damier and really all 'logo'-fied canvassed bits and pieces!! (It's not the styles, of course, but the widely-accepted notion of LV monogram bags, wallets etc as some sad status symbol amongst overlapping circles of my beloved wannabe-fashionable sets. Yes, I said it. (I think to myself, "Is it really a status symbol if you get the cheapest logo-fied bag of the bunch?? (usually a Speedy 30 or whatever))
Sad that I might be joining the disillusioned pack, even if the bright Day-Glo colors of the Sprouse collection offer a pretty distraction. But, that's just how much I love the collection!! ...And the legend, as which Sprouse should be celebrated, even though he never quite reached that pinnacle during his lifetime.


Lip smacking kisses on each cheek!!
P.S. An incredible article in the NYMag at the time of Sprouse's death.

the heel factor

It wasn't impulse shopping, not in the least. I knew when I got into London ― en route to cold-as-numbskulls New England, from holiday (I love this word) ― I'd need a pair of heels. (I'd checked my luggage all the way through. Pathetic excuse.)

Besides, my stay wouldn't have been half as thrilling, myself, half as sexy, if I hadn't made the mad dash to Harrods that evening; barely giving myself a measly hour to find a worthy pair of pumps (and anything else that caught my eye). I must have encircled the shoe dept. at least three times, but I kept coming back to 'it'. It was as if there was some gravitational force drawing me back... to this pair of shoes.
New season too.
Way to thwart my non-resolution for the new year.

When I accepted that I wouldn't be leaving the store ― which happened to be closing in ummm... twelve-fifteen minutes ― without the lovelies, the world became a much more pleasing space.

(Really, it was the black faceted fake haematites ― or whatever those stones are ― on the heels that kept whispering my name oh so seductively. I told you I was a magpie in my former life.) I've tried to look for them on the Dior webbie, but they aren't there. There is a silver pair with plain heels, but that's no even close to what I paid for my encrusted heels. All the better, notwithstading. My brain, being the clever center that it is, has helped me remove the memory of the price I'd paid for it, so I don't have to dwell on it. Such brilliance. I just know I must subsist on air and ramen noodles for the next few weeks, I think.

I may have found a mini-dress/top (call it what you want) whose sleeves I may have chopped off; but these are the things we must do for style. I'm going to incorporate the sequined portions of the chopped sleeves (ha!), which really is about six inches long! and possibly ten inches wide per sleeve into a fab new black mini that my darling tailor will sew!!


Big kisses with sugar atop.

green is the new black (by tasmin blanchard) :: swishing parties

I finally got to read my book Green is the new black : How to change the world with style by Tasmin Blanchard over Christmas break. I'd misplaced the book since September after returning from LFW, so I was quite thrilled to find it just before leaving for Christmas. Then, of course, it took me all of one day to read... But no matter, it was terribly enlightening. I advocate that if you ― like me ― have been slacking off in your fashionably eco-conscious lifestyle, then you really ought to read this book. Simple.
(At Amazon UK and Amazon, but apparently not in American bookstores til Feb?!)

While I'd love to delight in you in what-would-be a grossly inadequate summary of the book's wonderful points ― of which there are many, I'll pass. I always hated writing book reports!! However, from its discerning perspective on 'fast fashion' to its all-encompassing little green book: the stylish and sustainable shopping directory at the end, its well thought-out guidelines to pleasures of guilt-free sprees and swishing parties!!, Ms Blanchard's book is a must-read for every fashionably-green, chic chick.

I didn't even know the concept of swishing parties existed!! I'm always toying with the idea of swapping purses, belts, accessories, and sometimes, clothes I know I'd never wear again. I think I'm developing a bit of a thing about my clothes; they're really personal, but even more complicating, I usually have them reworked so I doubt anyone could really use them but me. Anyway, my obsession for purses, really, has always been the repressed motivation for wanting to swap pieces with friends, either temporarily or forever. *gasp* *faint* I am now, however, thinking very seriously about organizing a quarterly-sort-of event. It'd be such a great way to get rid of stuff one doesn't use regularly, and perhaps, lay claim to a friend's say Smythson purse for a bit.

So, If green is the new black, and the new black is 60 percent off, does this mean what you think it does?!! Perhaps. If you're thinking of that Stella McCartney cardi or McQueen hand-stitched ostrich-feathered skirt (eco-fashion is all relative, I think, except for obvious gaffes like cheap, non-decomposable fabrics of indeterminate origins!!); it's probably is 60 off now, but that's because the economy is undeniably the pits!! The truth is wearing well-made, eco-friendly styles made by socially-responsible designers isn't cheap. In the simplest of terms, it explains why couture is so expensive; the best fabrics sourced out by astute craftsmen to make the finest of garments!
Ahhh.... *pleasurable sigh*



Pretty, pretty kisses.

great escapes (resort 09)

A bit gloomy.
Back in the cold of New England. While it could be construed as partly my fault,¹ my suffering from rather irritable cold symptoms, that is; I'm awfully grumpy and wishing for terribly hot weather (the kind that permits only the merest of fabric patches to cover the bare necessities!!).

To lift my mood ― somewhat, I settled under my blanket to review this season's resort wear. Granted, I don't vacation mid-January/February like the rest of you, my fab beau monde (ahem!!), the timing is just right (for me). I know for a fact, disconcerting as it may be, that I can NOT spend a brass farthing on any 'new' pieces this month because... Well, I'll just mention that on my stop-over in London (from holiday in Nigeria), I thought it wise to nip into Harrods. (I really needed a pair of shoes; and it was supposed to be my primary purchase... *end of explanation*)
I'm spewing venom at the venerable Harrods.
*whisper: I still treasure it, however.*

Like I was saying, I won't be buying anything new, so I can just refresh my mental cache of pretty resort pieces and wait for the sales so I can get a measly one or two pieces!! (In my head, I'm thinking, "Shouldn't some of these darned pieces be on sale already?? They've been in the shoppes since fecking December, really.) The pieces that catch my eye are made of feathery light fabrics and pale in color ― best not to assault my cones with bright bursts of colors at four in the morning, eh??² Even more desirable, many of the pieces afford a seamless transition between settings. So, in my sunny castle in the air, I'd be walking through a busy little district at 5.47pm; and at 7.00pm I'd be polishing off tasty canapés in an open air³ gallery; a change of shoes, perhaps, being the only spot of difference.

L two: Elie Tahari. R two: Phillip Lim. The Phillip Lim sequin/beaded dress is in stores but as separates: a tank and skirt. Fine by me
L-R: Marc Jacobs (I AM getting this pair of pants, if I get anything), Roberto Cavalli, Giambattista Valli, Zac Posen
L-R: Temperley London, Stella McCartney, Missioni, Tory Burch
L-R: Marc Jacobs, Valentino, Zac Posen, Roberto Cavalli



Two feet away, air kisses. (I told you; I'm sick.)

Footnotes:
1. Let's move past finger-pointing. So what if I love to sleep with little to nothing on, and especially in the cold.
2. Insomnia
3. I'm so eco-conscious now, you'd be so proud!!

engaging time: haute (joaillerie) horlogerie

In my dreams: Chanel tweeds, smoked salmon blinis and secret pleasurable rendezvous everyday ― my joie de vivre. But, this is neither here nor there.

Aptly, I'm taken with the passing of time; seemingly infinite and yet, a constant measurement of the beautifully intricate details in the lives we lead, so to speak. Perhaps, not as timely ― in, dare I say it, these economic times ― these jeweled pieces, now the objects of my desires set the mood for my year's fantastical journey and kiss-off of the on-going r.e.ce.ss.ion. Shouldn't my fashion indulgences be a reprieve from our depressed states?? I totally think so. (I hear too much about 'it', 'it' saddens me, but we can and should dream in the most resplendent of colors... So, not just watches, but haute time pieces.)

I've hardly worn a watch in the past two?? years (I know, it's so unladylike, maybe I'll start wearing one again). Natch, these aren't just any timepieces. Two autumns ago (2007), when Jaeger LeCoultre launched its 'Extraordinary Watches' collection at the Venice Film Festival, I was simply awestruck. In a most delightful reverie, I think I'd rather therose watch than an engagement ring. HA!! Let's saunter down a most enchanted path...




Some of my fave pieces:
Top. L: Jaeger LeCoultre la tulipe watch. R: Audemars Piguet Carnet de Bal haute joaillerie cuff watch (There's a matching choker necklace!!)
Bottom. L: Chanel coco watch, Cometes Collection. R: Van Cleef & Arpels Farandole watch.

There's also a Boucheron time piece I really fancy, but I can't find a piccie of it. I dream of a time I can't afford.


Happy New Year.

Best wishes and deep mouth-searching kisses.