Net-a-Porter

Net-a-Porter - A wonderfully composed and meticulously presented on-line fashion website with every deserving international designer. This tops every online shopping website and lists over 100 designers. The packaging you get is beautiful, black boxes and careful wrapping. From Miu Miu and Oscar de La Renta to A.P.C and See by Chloe. What find great about the season styling is that everything from the previous season is put into the sale section - which is where we are up to both by season and style. A must visit website lovely ones! Bisous

Yankee

While i don't live in New York i do love it and there is a NY hint in Melbourne. The hub and melting pot of culture sums itself up in a satirical and witty magazine which i'm sure most of you have heard of - the website is just as great. The gossip girl section deserves a mention, almost as entertaining as last episode where little J did a strip tease and kissed N. The election campaigns are covered quite well but the writers do touch on lighter issues with a humourous spin (such as Sarah Palin's 10yr old with a fake LV bag, obvious because the monogram is cut off - 'der' the journalist cooly says - hah!). Still can't work out what a fashion 'fug' is.

www.nymag.com

Cropped

While Giselle's ribs may not be, isn't the jacket just stunning. No more words. Bisous.

Proud of Prada

Lets use an art-lovers word here, I'll make my naughty November examiners proud - juxtaposition. Pretty sure this won't make sense, how 'fashionable' (ugh!). So I was watching the 3rd epic adventure of Star Wars, yes boys the one where Anakin rises to evil and yes girls the one with Hayden Christensen in it. It occurred to me as Yoda was perusing the secrets of the universe to Anakin, that he spoke wise wise words which i have applied to my outlook for the past week. He says something along the lines of "fear of loss is the path to evil" - fear of losing something is in itself, a destructive force, yes that is not realllly news but i liked seeing it visually - yes i am a visual learner.



After the movie i was scrolling through fashionnation (sister of thecoolhunter.com) and delighted into this fantasia lookbook which Prada was hiding. Have a look for yourself - the editing on the fashion shoot is to die for - it bridges the gap between art and high fashion - between self expression and graphic design reflecting a time and place. The boys in the photo shoots are delicious little waifs, as are the mousy Italian girls pouting alongside them. The clothes are very new - very UNcommercial, very experimental. Look at the velvety flower-styled high heels, the cartoon flares everescent of warm hues from our parents era, the lack of shapes and yet the emergence of personality through the rebelliously cut-up tuxedos and lace dresses. The look book reminds me of the quote i begun this post with - the fear of loss leads to shitty shitty things.


The Italians of Prada must be commended for not fearing loss of reputation by skimming so close to a lazy cut up 90's tux and granny tea cosies - but yet being so far from them! They have taken a risk - as soppy as that sounds, their new collections in my eyes have made great leaps with no such alert of flashy advertising or naked waifs. They clearly know that commercialism is not here to put it's mark on everyone, that they can still be unique and brave and daring and not lose a wisp.
I clearly need a nap so i don't keep rambling on about star wars and prada - ohhh dear. Humour me, agree here. Perhaps i just wanted to talk about my two favorite things this week - the Prada look book and Star Wars. Pleasing both teams nonetheless! Bisous

Photo not-so-fabulous

Hold on one second i need a bucket... If i have to stumble upon one more wannabe street fashion photo blog i think i might scream. Since when did it become ok for people to think that a 2mega pixel photo of a fat girl in an alley way wearing a high waisted skirt or an ugly retro belt and call it street smart? News to you wannabes - it's actually not that hard to go to a vintage store and buy an 80's belt or an old fur wrap!! I can't help but wonder, when did it become about the photographer and not the photos? Quality over quantity should be the golden rule here - come on!!!!! These idiot amateurs are ruining a good thing!! The Sartorialist is probably one of the only quality street photgraphers out there. I can't stand this half quality bs. Please - do NOT quit your day job, find something you are actually good at. And i should probably take my own advice and not post on pms. I'm sorry, i just hate these shitty fashion blogs out there. It ruins it. I think style might be a dying thing. On that depressing note... Bisous.

Tali-ho old chap!

I can't believe I am including this man in my post - I was scrolling through dailypost.co.uk (great gossip page if you're bored) and look who i found looking rather (gulp) cool? He's not your George Cluney or Brad Pitt (grey hair = old in my young little books!) but - does anyone notice his glasses and sort of RL style going on there? Nice work. Bisous, don't get nightmares i promise not to mention him again ;) x

Appreciating less in Grand Garance Illustrations

There is something beyond beautiful and bold behind this young illustrators work. Garance Dore begun blogging the simple and chic (don't these two words interlink so perfectly? Not to get too sidetracked but I don't understand why people say simple YET chic - wasn't Coco Chanel so spot on when she said that before every woman leaves the house, she should stand in front of the mirror and take off one thing - ladies and wannabe ladettes - less IS more). So i haven't ever really had the patience or courage to take a blank page and just illustrate an image in my mind or a scene in front of me (and not scrunch it up within 10 seconds - there is a new task for me tomorrow in Design class). There is something i admire in this collection of work - it's something we seem to devalue too often -it's simplicity. Sure, as a society we preach that it's often the simple things in life that are the best. But how often do we sit back - and stop philosophizing it, and just - sit back? I'm determined to do so.


Maybe you'll see what i see beyond these black wiggles on the website. It's simple, it's not perfect - nothing perfect ever is, it's young but elegant and it's very very sweet. I like the shoe drawing especially. Sort of makes me want to draw my little mac or my crinkled calvin klein nightie. Maybe I'm too easily pleased at 10pm on a Monday... hmmmphhhh. Bisoussssss x

Cool hunted

My homepage away from home - this website dedicates its pages to posts perusing over the up and coming premium products circling the globe right now. From fashion, to travel and books - there has got to be something to entice anyones eyes on this heavenly design orientated website. Words do it no justice - find out for yourself; visit thecoolhunter.net and go on your own hunt ;) Bisous x

Recently played

'Music will not last' by Jamie Lidell (pictured above; isn't he geeky cute!)
'Pour un flirt avec toi (en duo avec Miossec)' by Jane Birkin
'Oliver James' by Fleet Foxes
'Young & foolish' by Corinne Bailey Rae
'You are my sister feat. Boy George' by Anthony and the Johnsons
'Eight steps' by Electrelane
'Sous le soleil' by Gotan Project
'What it feels like for a girl' by Madonna
'Unfinished sympathy' and 'Dissolved girl' by Massive Attack
'Electric feel' by MGMT
'Sure thing' by St Germain
'Tonight' by TV on the Radio
'A-punk' by Vampire Weekend

Bisous x

Post Secret

It has become a habit of mine to visit this wonderfully thoughtful yet relatively simple blog page every Sunday night when new postcards are displayed. People simply write their secrets on a postcard, and send them in. Voila. If you happen to be a stranger to this website (i frown upon you first of all!), well visit it now! It speaks for itself. Gosh i love it! It's an endearing idea, and a heart warming few minutes to read when you get the chance.


I heard of an art student in NY who made this large speech bubble and thought bubble stickers, about the size of a novel, and stuck them all around NY; we're talking on bus stops, in laneways, on shop sides, on benches. Anywhere that people could access them. Within a couple of weeks people got the jist and began writing thoughts up on them. I can't find the website for it at the moment but i will peruse over it and try to find it for you. The things people wrote in the bubbles; just beautiful! Humanity sort of reconnected itself for an instant there. The unheard voice, written so honestly and openly in such a funny way. I love it. And you will love http://postsecret.blogspot.com/ ... Bisous x

Audrey amore

I watched this for the tenth time tonight; so many things i adore about it. She [Audrey Hepburn] is fantastic - so Innocent, so frail, so petite and sweet. While the setting in Rome and the magical fairytale plot of a runaway Princess add to the excitement of the movie, one can't help but wonder... if it weren't for Audrey, would it have been the same 'Roman Holiday'? Is it her presence on screen, or her reputation off screen perhaps, that make the movie what it is? And if so, should this be regarded as a merit? Nonetheless, such thoughts when watching Roman Holiday should get in the way of its beauty and the envy created by her dainty waist, isn't she wonderful! And if only men were such gentlemen nowadays! Is it the Audrey within us that makes us yearn for such gentlemen, or do we yearn to for it in order to feel like her? Shhhhhh! Bisous x

Breakfast before bedtime

I just remembered to watch Breakfast at Tiffany's again... This photo in an old folder reminded me... I have so many neat little pics tucked away i might stuff my blog full of them in the morning. I wish we could get away with wearing these sorts of beautiful dresses today, they're so much nicer than jeans and tshirts. Grungy girls only paint their nails black so they don't look dirty gosh! No not really, i read that somewhere... Cute though. Or maybe, no, yes - it was about hookers hehe.




I like this photo, no, i love it. They are so cute! What an understatement.. This photo, in all sincerity, makes me silent, it humbles me in a strange way, unbeknown to me. It makes me smile, a sort of 'gazing out at the window' smile, a distant happiness. War time photos never fail to enthrall my attention - whether out of shock or surprise. what beautiful little things. To think they're my grandmother's age now, I feel Dorian Gray sneaking upon my thoughts now. Quick hide! Ah Sex & The City DVDs are screaming at me. Bisous x

Je t'aime... moi non plus

Something amongst the rubble of biographies in front of me has caught my hungry hunnngry eye - Jane Birkin. As if women needed another reason to put their names down on the bags infamous waiting list. Did we ever stop and think about it? I couldn't be less hungry right now, these pictures that adorn my desk of this beautiful woman have me mesmerized.

The Birkin bag was designed and named after her in 1984 after she was seen struggling with hand luggage whilst boarding an aeroplane. What ever the story may be, I think I'm in amore! You must - i stress must, go to your video store or log onto sidereel.com and watch her on screen whether its her as Penny Lane in Wonderwall (1968) or the blonde in Blow Up (1966), she is divine.

If her beauty and Birkin bag legend was not enough to make you sigh, she married Serge Gainsbourg; sharing the daughter and absolute favvvvvvorite singer of mine - Charlotte Gainsbourg. You should, no you have have have to listen to this girl, I love her as much as her divine mother - what a pair! Listen to some similar arists here, I could melt away to these trakcs day in and out. Her later years spent working in humanitarian efforts with Amnesty International also add to my admiration for this absolute diamond of a woman.


She and Serge sung a duet in 1966 called 'Je t'aime...moi non plus' which was banned in several countries across Europe because of its sexual explicitness ah! Apart from her beauty, varied talent and talented daughter, her style is strikingly that of what we aspire to today - simple, elegant, unique and expressive. J'adore! Bisous! x

New sensations in Myao illustrations

The idea of time and beauty seem to behold the new white page of my first blog. I thought it would be in fitting to include two snippets from one of my favorite illustrators in London, 'Gi Myao'. The ink juxtaposed against the clean black lines defines the women on the page; sharp but vibrant. This leads me to my next thought, strangely inspired by a documentary i just watched on the Pyramids... eternity... eternal youth/beauty; Dorian Gray rah rah rah.

"Time is jealous of you, and wars against your lilies and your roses. You will become sallow, and hollow-cheeked, and dull-eyed. You will suffer horribly...Ah! Realise your youth while you have it. Don’t squander gold of your days, listening to the tedious, trying to improve hopeless failure, or giving away your life to the ignorant, the common and the vulgar. These are sickly aims, the false ideals, of our age. Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations." - O.Wilde

So i decided to start a blog like most of the teenage population i read about, perhaps i will understand something by sitting on the other side of the fence - to be read, to sort of read myself. I like the idea behind Oscar Wilde book 'A Picture of Dorian Gray', a wilting beauty against the race of time. At the moment, at the tender age I behold, beauty is a strange and magnificent idea. I read somewhere recently that the human body begins to age (which is just the body oxidizing, yum!) at 16... Yet the notion of physical beauty seems like a bug caught in amber. I like the last part of that quote up there, 'Be always searching for new sensations' - perhaps that is what this blog might become, another new sensation. Oh well, its only a page in a book. If that! So until i can find some new yummy photos... Bisous x