back on it.

Since, evidently, I'm back on the rings (see last post...), it's pretty good timing for KumKum to celebrate their 15th (!) anniversary.

The Swedish label is about to become available in the UK and has been seen on various celebrities*, and though they do a bracelets, earrings and necklaces too, I am, of course, more interested in the rings. The bigger the better, obviously.

Intrigued by the stackable ones (to wear together or with other rings, that is the question...) but the big clusters in black or turquoise are my faves, all in sterling silver with precious stones and freshwater pearls and so on and so forth.

And props to Liselotte Watkins, the illustrator behind the second image down as part of the 15th anniversary promotion. Adore the doodled rings.

*You may note I don't talk about celebrities much on 'ere; not in the 'oo look who's wearing this label' etc sense. That's partly cos I don't care which person is wearing what label, and partly cos I wrote my dissertation on celebrity and fashion and have had quite enough of that subject thankyou.

sketchy.

Do you remember June, when I had loads to write about? 'Tis but a distant memory now.

August is a slow month, and I've been preoccupied with moving and making as much money as possible from ebay and car boot sales to help with that (and I'm moving countries, nonetheless - I'm off to Berlin next Tuesday for seven months or more, so hopefully I'll have more to write about there... *shrug*)

Anyway.

Enough about me.

I came across illustrator Rachel Meckling on tumblr and instantly loved her sketchy illustrations - the pencil faces are adorable and the colours and patterns on the clothes are fantastic. Some of her drawings below include looks by House of Holland, Band of Outsiders and LAMB, and her blog contains lots more sketchy girls with cute faces and abstract photography.

visual diary.

so, a friend linked me to this photo the other day:

i was instantly drawn to it, so the oblig 'full internet search' commenced - meaning i glanced through her flickr and followed the links to her tumblr and blog (all linked below!) to see what other delights lay within.mischelle evan broy's flickr/tumblr/blog are full of shots of everything - some fashion-y, some not; what would best be described as a visual diary (hence the title) and well worth a look/follow. similar pictures to the one above (the most intriguing in my eyes!) were to be found, and so posted:

imgs by mischelle evan broy

you can find her here at flickr, at tumblr, or at her blog, playground strokes.

doodle II.

this autumn; one wishes to dress like this:

cropped biker jacket.

ankle length print dress.

doctor's bag with overbody strap.

chunky black boots. we will refer to these as goth boots for the sake of argument.

it's a well publicised (by me...) fact that my must have item this winter is not the coveted-by-everyone shearling coat (though there is a Rick Owens number that i would kill for. surprise surprise. damn you Rick.), but rather, a pair of tan chelsea boots*.

and a cropped biker jacket.

and some goth boots, again a wish that has been well publicised.**

luckily the doctor's bag and ankle length (leopard!!!) print dress are already in my possession. THANKS EBAY!

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*with a small stack heel and black elastic panel; accept no imitators.

**at the time of writing that post, i wanted the 3rd pair mostly. now i want the first ones. LE SIGH.

doodle I.

Cafe 1001, Brick Lane, 8/8/10

sea within a sea.

mm, Horrors title.
which is kind of approps, since this graduate collection could almost be the get-up of a lady-Horror. maybe. if the Horrors were from the 90s. maybe.
=/.

given my 'wooo the 90s!*' stance right now, and also the thoughts of 'argh i'll be a graduate this time next year wtfffff' and 'oh god i have to do a collection, i should really be doing my sketchbooks right now' that pop up on a daily basis, any graduate collection which includes 90s influences appeals instantly.
well, i'm automatically interested in any graduate collection, just to see what i've got to live up to, but ones I love are even better, if more intimidating.
this is all a roundabout way of saying, "hey, check out Westminster graduate Hannah Sea's collection, dude."

woah, back up now - sheer, fuzzy, awesome proportions, great details (button up centre back on a skirt, yessum), check prints that are tartans, but not quite. smoky tartans? idk. the boots and bags are awesome too:

if you've been reading this blog for a while (and I know a bunch of y'all haven't - hey new followers, btw, I just hit 60 ^_^), you'll know how big a fan of fash illustrations I am, which is why I love graduate 'season' so much - LOTS of grad collections find their way to the internet/blogs with their portfolio images attached. it just so happens that Hannah's are wonderful:

pic-a-tures from style bubble

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*woo to anything 90s, really. i was gonna say grunge but it's not that limited. also woo the 70s and woo 80s punk/goth styles, too. some sort of mix of the three. idk.

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heyheyheyhey >>>> vote

petra dish

Another CSM graduate (this time 2009!), now - Petra Metzger, whose collection 'Mirror in mirror' is essentially a celebration of all that is organza. WOOHOOOO!

That last one is STUNNINGGGGG.

A little jellyfish like, but in the best way, non?

Petra's concept was the 'repetition of a detail or part of a garment in different angles, use of different textured, grey fabrics and plain blocks of colour, blurring shapes and detail with lots of layers of organza' - she aimed to make functional garments, and unfamiliar shapes softened by masses of voluminous organza; which produces some beautifully unique, cloud-esque pieces.

What stood out to me, through the miles of grey organza, was the beautiful, bright and bold shoes - yo Petra, if you have some size 5's lying about, y'know, I'll give em' a good home, yeah?

drool.

Coming across her blog (which is essentially an online CV, employers!) I was enamoured to find illustrations along with the photos of designs - I do love to see the thought process.

And I wish I could illustrate like this; my art background is not fit for tidy little line drawings....

Must invest in some tria pens, I think. Yesyes.

slouchy suede

Even before I started the blog, I'd pore over all the collections during 'Fashion month' - for research and inspiration, as part of my course, if anything - but given the sheer number of designers showing during the month, some interesting and exciting ones sometimes slip through the cracks. Particularly newer designers (almost always showing in New York or London) such as Joseph Altuzarra (in the NYC camp!).

He only popped back onto my radar whilst reading Garance Doré's blog, and mostly from see the AMAZINNGGGG shoes!

Some shots from SS10, followed by some shoe shots from Garance:

Love the colour palette, the shoes, the sheer polka dotty-ness (look 3 in particular), the slouch, the 70s feel, and EVERYTHING about look 1!

Oh, then there's these slouchy ankle boots! Paired with the matching slim fitting trousers!!!!! NEEDWANTNEED!

And because I love a good illustration/design sketch more than anything - I have to do these kinds of things, I like to see how actual designers do 'em too - here's another Garance shot. I should take note, for all my love of them, I can't draw shoes to save my life.

All photos from Garance Doré & Joseph Altuzarra