american apparel, defiling my name

american apparel's newest ad concept

i'm totes gonna sue you for libel, american apparel. this is seriously the most embarrassing use of my name i've ever seen. EVEN WORSE THAN RACHAEL RAY.

i get it that there's this sort of anti-fashion-fashion thing about making fashion don'ts into fashion do's. but this is just such an era-spanning, eye-searing combination of major, major don'ts that i CANNOT condone it.

rachel in nyc, let's talk.

first of all, you have generic secretary hair and bad 80s glasses.

then you've combined a contempo-casuals-style sheer button-down with an unsupportive bra. if you absolutely must bring back a tackily risque trend that never should've happened, at least give the girls something a little more flattering.

THEN, you have lame leggings worn as pants, which is NEVER EVER OK. i know you live in american apparel land, but honestly, i don't care. as an a.a. model, you have thousands of impressionable girls around the world looking up to you for no justifiable reason, so it is completely unacceptable that you imply to them that leggings as pants are ok. nor is it ok to put a zipper on your leggings to further pretend that they are pants. this just makes them more offensive, since it's clear that they're actually intended as pants and you didn't just get caught before putting on your skirt.

finally, and this is more your photog's fault than yours, you are doing some weird things with your legs and the result is not attractive. photo on the left is just unflattering. photo on the right looks like your left leg's been trussed like a chicken's.

sigh. i was going to end on some really insane and incendiary rant, but i'm too tired and disillusioned to bother. never look at american apparel imagery when you're feeling vulnerable.


oh yeah, here's the source of the badness: http://store.americanapparel.net/rachel.html

gold rush

ok this has been sitting on my desktop waiting for me to post it for WEEKS. how could it take me weeks to post a CHANEL CLUTCH SHAPED LIKE A GOLD BAR?!?

it's probably been all over the blogz by now, but...

love. it.
(hilarious, right?)

you can get it on shopbop for only $4,180.

one ounce of gold currently goes for $1,180, so weight-wise, this li'l number is a total steal.

dripped on drive

Last year, I had a very long and violent crush on some paint-dripped Sergio Rossi heels...


I've gotten over it, but my dripster love flared up anew when I saw this incredible little number on the Staple Design blog. Jeff Staple has the best taste... when I bumped into him at MAGIC last year while nabbing one of their luggage tags, I may have hyperventilated a tiny bit.

Artist Krink did his magic on this Mini Cooper, and goddamn it's the only time I've liked one of those goofball cars. Seriously, how cool?!?




this is the best shot, where it's on its "canvas."

comme des garcons plus converse all-stars = aww.

I actually called For The Greater Good in DC and put the one pair in my size on hold so that I could call back, buy them and make my sister pick them up for me. Then I remembered that chucks don't look that good on me and that I purposely collect Keds instead. Damn... guess I just saved a ton of money. Something in me just still wants to give them a hug.

pic: thanks to the always charming frank the butcher at concepts, where you can also snag them for lots of money.

hello, kitty

in case you're wondering where to find me tonight...

Hello Kitty is turning 35, and there's no better venue for her birthday party than Royal/T, Culver City's own art space, store, and Japanese-inspired "maid café." Celebrating the adorable pop icon's massive influence on art and culture, Three Apples (a reference to Hello Kitty's weight) features one-of-a-kind displays, events, and a Sanrio pop-up shop where fans have the opportunity to stock up on Hello Kitty-related bounty. Over 30 artists, including Gary Baseman and Luke Chueh, interpret Hello Kitty in an art show curated by owner of JapanLA, Jamie Rivadeneira, with a portion of proceeds going to charity. There's also an apartment installation and a Hello Kitty retrospective, honoring the enduring celebrity of a childhood legend.

When

Oct 23 – Nov 15

Daily (10am–10pm)

Where

Royal/T

8910 Washington Blvd

310.559.6300

[thx flavorpill]

unashamed fashion fangirl night

a little excited to see scott schumann (the sartorialist) signing his gorgeous new booky at the bev center tonight. normally i avoid crowds like the plague...but this might be worth it. 8-10 pm, level 7! see you kittens there.

probably going to say hi to old friends at the new satine space, and maybe opening ceremony if i feel dangerous....

fabulosity friday : warped modern

[thx: thedayafteryoudie]

[thx: nosigner]

TONIGHT: Maxine Dillon's Spring 2010 Installation @ LA Theater

Very pleased to announce where I'll be this eve: my friend Maxine's supercool installation of her Spring 2010 line at the L.A. Theater! I consulted with Maxine last season on her mission statement and collection description before her BOXEight runway show (previously she was a Gen Art Fresh Face in Fashion), and she very nicely asked me to do it again this season. FUNNNN. Fun because I love that kind of project, and extra fun because it meant I got to see the lookbook ahead of time... and the collection is SO good! Am kind of covetous now. Can't wait to see it & report back!

Maxine Dillon Spring 2010 Installation

Wednesday Oct. 14th 5pm-6pm

The Los Angeles Theater
615 South Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90014

The installation will be in the grand ballroom in the lower level of the theater.

Where The Hyper-Chic Things Are

I get that "Where The Wild Things Are" has somehow become the most insanely hip piece of media currently sweeping the globe (off the top of my head: art and costume exhibit installation at Space15Twenty, collab skateboards with Spike Jonze's co. Girl Skateboards, collab sneakers with Lakai, songs by Karen O, and much more at colette's W.T.W.T.A. gallery, including "Wild Things," an adaption of the original story by Dave Eggers, for chrissakes).

So, yes, I get it. But it didn't REALLY hit me until I took a closer look at the Opening Ceremony x Where The Wild Things Are capsule collection. Yes, most of it is ridiculous. Yes, it seems like just a random way to justify coming out with goofy clothes (see Fig. 1: Chloe Sevigny). But LOOK AT THIS TOTALLY BITCHIN' WILD THING DRESS YOU GUYS:

[o.c. didn't give me enough resolution here, but you get the idea. it is awesome.]

I would wear that in a heartbeat. Maybe for Halloween... or to go see the movie premiere on Friday... or maybe just all the time. Especially with those shoes.

Anyone else with me? Shall we all congregate in a bizarre fashion blogger posse standing in line at the Arclight wearing multi-hundred-dollar monster costumes and heels? Clearly a good enough excuse to hit up Opening Ceremony... we'll figure out the Visa bills another time.

* * *

More hyper-hip silliness:

[Bearbricks x WTWTA - pic: hypebeast]

[eternally hip Kime posing with the Christian Joy x WTWTA costumes at her Space15Twenty bash]

amelia earhart: so hip right now

OK, so, you guys, Amelia Earhart is totally hot right now. Gala just wrote up Skin.Graft's lovely fall line of leathers, which includes the very-AE-inspired masterpiece above. [credit: chinashop]

Reminded me of the New Yorker article in the 9/14 issue about, uh, Amelia Earhart. There are some more books coming out about her or something, and with the whole Americana trend continuing on in seeming perpetuity (Opening Ceremony x Pendleton, blah blah blah), makes perfect sense. Here's what TNY had to say about our girl's style:

Even in her late thirties, Earhart looked like an adolescent boy who had chopped off his own hair. She was lanky and nonchalant, with no hips or breasts—no visible womanliness—to speak of. One learns from Butler that she flew wearing men’s underpants (they were apparently superior to a woman’s for the purposes of a quick pee). For public appearances—at White House dinners, in a ticker-tape parade, on the lecture circuit—her wardrobe was unfrilly but elegant, and for a while she designed and modelled her own fashion label, an undistinguished line of tailored dresses and soft, two-piece ensembles. But in her flight gear—a jumpsuit or jodhpurs (“breeks”); flat, lace-up knee boots; a white shirt and a man’s tie; a bomber jacket or a leather coat—she seems, at least by the codes of this century, flagrantly androgynous.
Earhart herself were aware that there was something troubling about her appearance that had to be neutralized. Her photo spreads, Lubben writes, were often laid out like a book of paper dolls, in which pictures of the cavalier in trousers and leather were juxtaposed with pictures of the well-bred lady in a long skirt, a fur wrap, a girlish middy, or an evening gown, her arms full of flowers.

Whatever, I'll let you ponder the sociological implications of what her style meant then and now and stuff, but check out how insanely hip the woman is. Dear god.

Really, Balenciaga?

I'm not sure what to make of these new hi-tops from Balenciaga F/W'09. On the one hand, I usually love everything that comes from Nicolas with unreserved abandon. However, this shoe just makes me think of pocket lint, and costs about $500.

Is it a totally failed attempt by an avant-garde designer to cash in on the streetwear craze, or could it be a secretly mocking comment on the state of fashion, implying that the whole designer sneaker culture is really just, well, much ado about pocket lint?

Via Slam x Hype

Discuss: Steven Alan S/S 2010 Video Lookbook

Steven Alan Spring 2010

For their Spring/Summer 2010 collection, homespun-luxury brand Steven Alan decided to unveil their lookbook in the form of a long, rambling video sequence instead of a glossy (or, considering it's Steven A, probably matte and raw-edged, perhaps with hand-stitched binding) book mailed out to retailers. It's basically an unstructured day-in-the-life of two exceedingly carefree and apparently jobless New Yorkers, who are way more relaxed, healthy-looking and tic-free than your average Manhattanites, and who also happen to deck themselves & their friends out in the entire Steven A. S/S10 collection by the end of the (looonnnnng) video.

Interesting concept that capitalizes on the popularity of internet video, lifestyle marketing and general hipsterdom? Yes. Does it work? Not sure. I can't help cringing at its hyper-calculated casual dialogue, and its envy-inducing idyllic landscape. I also am slightly weirded out by the inane party conversation that must have been designed to fit some notion of cool. All this careless tossing oneself around and asking coy/languid questions doesn't really inspire awe in me...but they must have done a focus group or two, no? Am I just a snarky meanster with twisted insides, or do you think the S.A. team may have overdone it a tad, too?

But I have to admit that they've made the clothes look awful nice.

video source: hypebeast

Really, Proenza Schouler?

scuba influences? REALLY?


http://www.style.com/fashionshows/complete/S2010RTW-PSCHOULER

new favorite thing

["untitled (computer)," brian alfred, 2000]

I've completely fallen in love with Brian Alfred after finding his book "There is a Light That Will Never Go Out" at Colette. Simple, melancholy city landscapes that strike some personal chord for me. There's something I can't explain that I love about the weird desolateness as well has humanness of cities and utilitarian objects, which is, I guess, why I never tire of walking around, even in ugly neighborhoods. Colette's book description reads:

New book from american artist Brian Alfred gathering 20 prints 38 x 28 cm.

limited edition of 1000 copies signed.
printed in Japan.
Published by utrecht.

Of course. Printed in Japan, only available in, uh, Japan. Or Colette. THANKS BRIAN ALFRED.

In the meantime, I've now fallen in love with the video, which, maddeningly, can't be embedded. Just click it and watch.

There is this one, which is entirely different...but amazing....

["what do the spaces and structures we create / say about who we are?"]

skyscrapers & studs

this weekend's lesson: skyscraper heels are best worn on top of a skyscraper.

a ridiculous weekend. normal blogging to resume shortly. oh, i guess it's relevant here that dieu and i did see the september issue, and it was good. i want grace coddington to be my friend real bad.

andre: "you know what, it's a famine of beau-ty. A FAMINE of BEAU-ty, honey."