close to home.

style icons come in many forms. example: who knew ms. benes would be such a fabulous muse?

but while fictional characters and celebrities are all well and good, sometimes inspiration comes from mere mortals. note the huge rise of street style: it's in blogs, it's in magazines, it's in books; one assumes it's inspired dissertations and the like. a trip to the town centre could get your creative juices flowing (or, of course) make you curse your town's lack of style). but how about inspiration EVEN CLOSER to your own person?

i stole this picture from facebook.
i assume mam won't mind.

my mam, some time in the 80s.
i will update this when she comments on this post telling me the exact year. she will. ; in 1984

dear mam,

i covet your top, with its adorable collar (lace? crochet?), and can only wonder what 80s-tastic garment graces your lower half. i am, however, quite aware that you no longer own any of these wondrous vintage items and so can't pass them to your daughter, however much she would've appreciated it.

there are some charity shops that gained some great pieces a few years ago; a mere few years before my interest in such items peaked.

OH MAM.

WHAT ARE YOU LIKE?

kthnxbye

jenn.

part II; beehives and concealer.

following on from yesterday's post, i wore this for oh-so-exciting trips to asda. having not found the perfect checked shirt* yet, my somewhat dishevelled pyjama top had to make do. believe.

H&M necklace//Topshop trousers//thrifted bag+pyjama top//Mam's shoes

i swore off pointy toed shoes, and kitten heels, a number of years ago.

but a combo of a) only having pumps which didn't suit the trousers or 5 inch heels with me, and b) mam's feet being a bit dodgy right now resulting in her poor heels going unworn, meant i reconsidered.

turns out i love them and wore them today as well.

wonder if she'll notice they're missing?

the bag is from a charity shop when i was looking for 4th-year-research books last week. fell in love INSTANTLY. £3 for a slouchy leather number reminiscent of AWang with gold accents? yesyesyes. if i can find flat bottomed studs for a decent price in that same gold, the bottom of the bag is getting well and truly "wanged".

as for the concealer of the title:

my touché eclat ran out and Ana said i could have this cos it was too light for her. benefit itstick - it's like a crayon, and while i need a big sharpener for it now, it is actually brilliant. couldn't recommend it enough.

PS

this popped into my inbox this morning - part of an Outnet newsletter - but i loved the silhouette/closeup effect. might inspire some sketchbook-ery.

PPS

go see Toy Story 3. it's brilliant. then come back and discuss the genius of Buzz in spanish mode with me.

-----------

*much like the denim shirt fad, i wasn't into checked shirts when everyone else was. but i found the perfect denim shirt in a charity shop, and now it's never off my back. so there you go.

calla-ing all nudes

I guess that was supposed to be a play on "calling all nudes"? Asif that's a well known phrase?!?

Gah. Thinking up relevant and interesting blog titles is hard, kay?

ANYWHO. Guess what? Calla is a label, and these are some of their Spring/Summer looks:

See?

More specifically, Calla is a Canadian-but-based-in-Paris label run by Calla Haynes, who has worked with Olivier Theyskens at Rochas AND Nina Ricci, and has designed prints for Alexander Wang, amongst others.

And as you can see, S/S10 is alllllll nudes. And blacks. And subtle prints, and light layering, and seams and piping details and vintage inspiration and interesting but simple cuts, *breathe*, theeeese are a fewwww of my favouriteeee thiiiiiingsssss...

zac posen: hitting the target

Given the much publicised (but not by me, whatsoever!) Rodarte for Target collection, and previous successful designer collabos, it seems natural and totes approps for more big name American designers to get up in Target's grill...

Fashionista reported on and posted up the first looks - all pics are from there!

Bring on Zac Posen; April 25th 2010.

OK, so, my main problem with the Rodarte collection is/was that it looked sometimes ridiculously cheap...obviously the price points are a major factor, but they'll have known that - I mean, if you only have the budget for, say, cheap, plastic-y faux leather, you're not gonna design leather products, right? Unless that's the look you're going for... I use leather as an example cos it's pretty obvs, but I'm aware the Rodarte ladies were not down with the leather, kk?

Howevs I will congratulate them on their marketing campaign cos OBVS the hype and the bloggers and the ad campaign helped to sell that shit out, youknow?

Given that point, I think overall I'm much more of a fan of wor Zac 'ere...

That's not to say I love all the pieces, but I am a fan of certain looks. Taking these all with a pinch of salt though; again, it could be excellent marketing.

Talk through them? Don't mind if I do.

1. Oh, bright coat! I enjoy the black geometric lines.
2. Cute look, overall. I like the bra, but this is the only example of the fabric working in any sense of the word, right?
3. SO CUTE. So actually cute...I feel like I'm gonna overuse 'cute' in this review type thing, fyi...but the ditzy floral with the pleat details and full skirt is just sooo sugary in the best possible way.
4. I covered this fabric up in no.2, so, nuff said, non? Puckery, cheap looking.....if you're gonna do metallic jersey, you gotta do it right, and this is not it. Oh hell no.
5. .....
6. Recalls CKane x Topshop, non? I don't feel like this fits with the others, but I kinda like it.
7. Maybe the black was the theme. Hmm. This is nothing spesh, but I want to know what that ruffle affair is, cos if it's a bag I am down with it insane amounts. I smell a DIY.
8. Feh, kinda tacky...
9. Sweet; extremeeeely girly; like the seam detail. Not my kinda thing but I can see it working IRL.
10. I wish I could see the one piece suit in more detail. I kinda think I kinda like it, the print and such, and could see it working as a body kinda deal, but the previous swimsuit has totes put a downer on it. I love the sock/shoe styling, as I do often with a sock/shoe combo, but I wish the shoes were more.....something.
11. Yeah yeah, it's cute. That's the same print, I guess. It's alright, but I think I'd enjoy this more if it was an all over print on the top as opposed to a patch...reminds me of that early noughties trend of a different sleeve/bodice colour. Not into it.... BUT an all over print could've added some oomph to this look, a little Proenza Schouler S/S10, yeah?
12. I like this - mostly the styling - but I really want to feel the jersey in that skirt. I don't trust it. I don't know why.
13. I feel like this is the output of a thrifted outfit challenge of some sort. Cute short details though.
14. Gawwwwwd you can tell this is a spring/summer launch. More swimsuits....feh.
15. This dress keeps catching my eye. Cute details. Is it denim, or just denim look? I don't actually care.
16. This is where he steps up his game, as far as I'm concerned. Hot look. Smart but sweet trousers. Perfettamente.
17. This be what I is talkin' 'bout when I'm all up on fake leathaaaa an ting. Red faux leather? Really?
18. I have lots of love for this. It looks like posen, to a tee. I am a fan.
19. Sweet. Simple.
20. Oh maxi dresses, I have love for you. Yeahhhhh s'cool.
21. Bitch gon' done a suit. Clearly I'm not a suit laydee; clearly I won't be donning this full look; but clearly this is the best look of the bunch, IMO. The cut of that blazer looks like perfection, the scarf against the black of the suit and the crisp white of the blouse is just wonderful.

So, as it turns out, apart from that shiny gold terror fabric, my main problem with the Zac Posen for Target line is that it won't be on sale over here....

Hmph.

Oh, wow, that was a lot of typing.

"the original hipster"

oh, a blog post!

the internetz has been off for a couple days, and I'm a bit lazy I've been crackin' on with the ol' uni sketchbook (finally).

Fully booked life for the next week - house party tonight, Edinburgh to see wor Daniel tomorrow, Dundee for 3 nights, then Yeah Yeah Yeahs next Thursday...I enjoy busy schedules.

I should have shares in the trains.

But this is not the point!

I came across this shoot on Modelizing via a link on Luxirare's Twitter (oh, how the internet is connected. Blogging and Twitter go hand in hand, I find. Cross promotion an' ting.) and I thought it deserved to be shared.

Quote the original post:

"I thought I'd share a story I recently created with the insight of wonderfully talented art director Ali Lee. It was our first time working together and hopefully not the last. The concept was based on the book The Pushcart War. Our lovely model, Chris, has lived on Mercer Street for a few decades by choice. I'm calling this series The Original Hipster because on most days he doesn't even look like he's truly homeless. The post processing is a bit of a departure for my real colour obsession and I'm really into it. I hope you guys enjoy. And for those with really great memories, yes this is from the shoot I did that the Unknown Hipster drew."

Quote the Art Director, Ali Lee:

"As the art director I can say my vision came alive. As a culture we look for explanations, reason for cause, and labels. Forgetting what’s in front of us, the beauty and truth is pure stop and see that each moment and day is enough. Appreciate the people who are real. A nobody is far more attractive than a somebody."

And of course, vidi le pictorals:

I find these incredibly interesting and beautiful, both in concept and in execution; and it appears they're causing a little controversy over on the Modelizing post (see the comments if you do head over there), but often these are the best examples of photography, or indeed, any art, non?

All pictures by Julia Chesky @ Modelizing

Twilight Nerds Are Gonna Love This

And apprantly most of my friends are Twilight Nerds.

I am not.

I have yet to pick up one of the books/glance at a film.

So sue me.

But this was on instyle.com! And I am fascinated by top designers' original sketches. As such, it's getting a good blogging.

Quoth instyle:

"While we don't want to ruin the plot for any latent Twi-hards, ever since Eclipse started filming we've been dying for a sneak peek of Bella's wedding dress. In the meantime, we reached out to some of our favorite designers to see how they envision her gown.

In Eclipse, Bella's dress is described as an early 1900s design (which complements her antique engagement ring) with friend and Maid of Honor Alice Cullen's modern tweaks to the train and veil. "You look like you just stepped out of an Austen movie," Bella's mother says to the bride-to-be when she spies her in the gown in the final book, Breaking Dawn. "It's gorgeous! So graceful, so elegant." "

Vidi:

Sketches by Badgley Mischka, Brian Reyes, Christian Siriano, Erin Fetherston,

Lela Rose, Max Azria, Monique Lhuillier, Prabal Gurung, and Zac Posen respectively.

I'm quite the fan of Monique Lhuillier and Christian Siriano's efforts, personally. Thoughts?

Tales From The Alley

Who knew a trip to Morrisons could be so fun?

We are clearly above stealing trolleys from Morrisons....but we are not above taking already stolen trolleys from one of the alleys between the supermarket and our house.

We may or may not have also found a chair to add to our dining table. It will be sanded and sorted and added to table. 3 chairs are better than 2, I heard.

Josh did not break the chair. It broke all on it's own. We will fix it though!

Luke looks a little like he's filming one of those adverts:

"I want my chairs sourced fresh from the alley"

Wearing this, FYI:

Trying out the high waisted jeans I got off of eBay. So far, so good.

Practical for food shopping? Probably not. I've worn less practical clothing. Such is my life.

Ahhhh looking forward to tomorrow! Hopefully pics. It will be sushi/charity shopping/alley bingo/stereo based EXCELLENCE.