Part two

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The Virgin Suicides, Christopher Kane Spring 2010 shot by Craig McDean for W February. Miu Miu shoes, Lola by Marc Jacobs perfume, hand-me-down shirt.

blogiversary

Whoa whoa WHOA, today is the two-year anniversary of this blog! Which is very odd. I don't have much to say and I don't know WHAT to say but mostly I would like to thank everyone who reads it and gets it and take the time out to let me know. You guys are the bestest.
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(Number of candles on my birthday cake if it was based on granny-like dressing.)

hitchcock HI ELLA

So, as I said before, the Miu Miu offices were super rad and let me borrow some pieces from the Spring collection to shoot with Spencer for the blog and for a gift I'm making. I'm always so obsessed with the pages in magazines where they make a moodboard of accessories that all have the same kind of vibe, so with this in mind I arranged a few of these pictures but so not to combine the vibes and give each mood room to breathe, I'll post them all individually. I don't remember who took which ones so let's say they're all by Spencer and me.

So, without further ado, mood #1..IMG_8919
Creepy sophisticated Hitchcock lady! Prada skirt, Miu Miu shoes, Tippi Hedren The Birds Barbie, and Marc Jacobs sunglasses.

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This is Part Two of my posting on Herve Leger Fall 2010 as commissioned by Harper's Bazaar and Herve Leger. I suggest reading the first post before continuing on with the second part of this journey, because Lubov Azria talks about the inspiration for the collection and how the clothes are crafted and everything, and it was more interesting for me to view the collection after hearing about the backstory. Also, I sound like the narrator from Zoombinis - "BEFORE CONTINUING ON WITH THE JOURNEY.."
BUT, speaking of Zoombinis, you know that frog game they have? And you know how frogs are similar to lizards? Well, during the show, I wrote down "sportswear lizards." See how I made that connection? Very smoothly, did I make that connection! And not only did it remind me of sportswear lizards, it reminded me of architectural jersey fabrics (which is a really lovely contrast,) and the idea of sportswear fabrics with lingerie shapes (also a nice contrast.) The classic Herve Leger bodycon shape brought these somewhat all-over-the-place references together very well.
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I was also a fan of the colors-it began with muted colors like beige and grey (a nice place to go from the pastel trend of Spring)
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and for nightwear, added spots of neon green and pink.IMG_1081IMG_1083
And the shoes! Like a more classy version of The Jimmy's jumping sneakers from that one episode of Seinfeld.
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This show was a reminder of why fashion shows will always be important, relevant, and irreplaceable by any technology the Internet or crazy robots in the future can think up - the details. Again, at my first post, you hear about how much work goes into making these, and to see it up close was really amazing. That combined with the energy and power that oozed out of every girl sent down the runway, and it was very special.
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And now, please enjoy my awful video skills as well as a failed photograph of Jac backstage:
Failed picture of Jac backstage at Herve Leger

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cause this is a disaster!

So upon watching Lady Gaga's new video for "Telephone" and thinking "WHO MAKES 10-MINUTE LONG MUSIC VIDEOS" as well as "VIRGIN MOBILE WAS THE POOR MAN'S RAZR WHEN I WAS IN 5TH GRADE" I decided it would be fun to do an ongoing series of posts in which ideas for more of Gaga's videos are created. Because it's fun, that's why!

So, concept #1.
This one is for the song Telephone, still. Only, unlike driving around in Quentin Tarantino's pick up and killing a bunch of people in a diner and then singing about it while wearing American flag-printed bandannas people tie around their dog's neck on the 4th of July, it will actually be about a telephone! Lady Gaga and Beyonce are 50's housewives who work as phone sex operators at night. I mean, I know that they say "stop calling" about a million times, so it doesn't QUITE make sense, but it is still somewhat RELATED to a telephone (at least more than being really excited about making a sandwich) but in some interview later on Gaga can make up some shit about its "hidden meaning" or whatever and it'll be all good.

So we begin. It's a beautiful sunny day. We are looking, bird's eye view, at a nice little 50's suburban neighborhood. You can't really tell what it is at first - a grid, perhaps? - but we zoom in and enter the door of one of the identical houses, going through a hallway, zipping past posed family photos on the walls (but the camera goes too fast for us to get a clear view,) a dining room with a shiny table and fancy china, and finally arrive at the living room. It is the back of a couch, the back of a man's head visible, and in front of him is a television set with a baseball game on, and we pan to see that behind him - or, next to us, "us" being the camera's point of view - is Lady Gaga.
She's put together. She's pretty. She is almost unrecognizable. Her hair is back, she is wearing this look from Prada Resort 2008:and her makeup is pretty. She's pretty. She's almost as indistinguishable as those pictures of her from her Stefani days in college, or that part in Bad Romance where she is wearing very little makeup and you're like "WHOA IS THAT YOU?" and then she starts crying and you're like "CALM DOWN THERE, BUD (CORT)" and then you're like "I'M SORRY I DIDN'T MEAN IT DON'T SET THAT BED ON FIRE IT'S A VERY NICE BED."
Anyway, she's REALLY PRETTY. And it's weird. And, for once in pop music, pretty is scary. Because she isn't herself, because her expression reads like so: SAD, and because she is staring on at her baseball husband while singing things like "I can't hear a thing" and "you're breaking up on me" and he doesn't hear her and also it is creepy.
So since the dude is so entranced by the magical men with the magical gloves and bats and that magical ball that makes people GO CRAZY, Gaga is all "lol f this sh" and leaves. It's not a spur-of-the-moment thing; you get the idea that this is routine for her. Maybe she glances at a watch or something. So then she goes into the "KA KINDA BIZAYY" lines of the song and throws on her Viktor & Rolf Fall 2008 "NO!" coat:and walks out of the house. It is now nighttime. And she is bopping along down the road, passing nice little 50's suburban house after nice little 50's suburban house, and goes right into one. We again see that this isn't the first time since she tells it apart from all the other identical homes right away.

She enters, and - what have we here? Why, this appears to be a Phone Sex Operating Headquarters! With many other 50's housewives working as Phone Sex Operators! NOW we recognize Gaga! She takes off her coat. Her dress she had on is no longer there because of a little something I like to call MAGIC, and in its place is some skimpy little number designed by Haus of Gaga, and she takes her seat, and joins in on the phone sex operating, and she and her fellow ladies are having fun. And Beyonce is there, too, but it is TOO MUCH WORK to do the outfits and everything for her as well as the Ga, and while she is much classier than the Ga, she is also not as fun as the Ga, and I sort of have THINGS TO DO, BRAHS, so we will not go over all her stuff.

Well, anyway, you get the point. The song is basically a whole back and forth between her at home cleaning or dusting or serving her husband TV dinners or something and then being a phone sex operator with her pals and dancing her pants off. Well, more off than they were before. And I know she is a fan of killing people in her videos - be it by arson, poison, or sandwich poison - and she can do that too, if she wants. Not via a TV dinner because she's done enough killing by way of food, so maybe with Windex or something.

TIME FOR OUTFITS AND PRETTY THINGS YAYYYY
As far as color schemes go, muted pastels in the neighborhood and in the house, definitely, but things will change in the headquarters because...well, because I had a color scheme, but then the outfits I wanted to do didn't work, so DEAL WITH IT. Initially I thought red and black and white but that makes it seem so SCANDALOUS, so then I chose red and yellow and blue because they're just fun, and now it'll vary outfit to outfit because I have slaved and slaved on style.com and Photo Filtre working on this post for DAYS choosing the right outfits. Does my social life suffer, you ask? Ha ha! Not to worry, my Sims family was nearby!

Outfit time!

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Beige Celine SS10 top and belt, Prada SS00 skirt and AW10 glasses, Marc Jacobs SS08 inverted heels (tilt your head to the left,) and Miu Miu SS10 naked people collar. Basically this is just my dream outfit and I thought it would be fun to include? THAT'S ALL I GOT, KIDS

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Okay, you have to imagine the Dolce & Gabbana AW10 look on the left, but with the embellishments that Carey Mulligan's Oscars dress by Prada had. The mini utensils and tools of all kinds are dollhouse-like, which adds to the creepy feel of the neighborhood and Gaga's house in the opening scene. The toy-like quality brought these Balenciaga AW07 heels to mind. Gaga can make up some shit about objectifying people or using them as toys or tools or something later on.

THE TALKING-ABOUT-OUR-FEELINGS LOOK
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Any combination of pink, floral, and gingham would be too sugary for Gaga but this Christopher Kane SS10 dress is really perverse creepy good. With the Comme des Garcons AW09 makeup veil stuff, the sequined kiss and kind of face-clouding situation - SOMEONE SAY MY NAME? Ahem, anyway, that..idea, is sort of interesting when you think about her getting all emotional! and whatnot.

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Gaga really likes her headpieces and her boobs, so: Marc Jacobs SS10 clothes, Giles AW10 headpiece, Givenchy SS10 shoes.

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The pastels of the neighborhood are made more interesting and fun and sexual with the
Versace SS10 dress and shoes. The glitter and plasticness of this Marc Jacobs AW10 coat are kind of toy-like and artificial and represent a sort of cheap luxury, yet there's something really special about it, which somehow suits the video in a way that isn't necessarily conceptual but works in terms of the mood. This Hussein Chalayan SS10 hat is just all DON'T LOOK AT ME and Gaga and et cetera.

Now, since I really only wanted to do the outfits and didn't develop the story too far, I would love to hear any ideas for an ending from you guys. I would like it to end with this outfit- the glasses and dress are very 50's in silhouette but then are made of tough material or have spiders crawling on them, which is a nice contrast and very suiting to the video concept. The Trunchbull witchy laceup boots in a green color just works, okay?
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Giles SS10 dress, Alexander Wang SS10 sunglasses, Miu Miu RST10 boots.

Also, can we take a moment to appreciate the AWARD-WINNING job I did with this last photo? The proportions - especially the nonexistent arms - are so professional-looking!
Well that's that. Happy Passover.

s p r i n g

Know what I did last Spring break? MAKE LOTS OF MOODBOARDS. Know what I'm gonna do this Spring break? MAKE LOTS OF MOODBOARDS. Know what today marks the start of? MAKE LOTS OF MOODBOARDS-I MEAN..SPRING BREAK.bloom
Warm colors, lace, finding creepiness in something beautiful, familiarity or simplicity (or both) suddenly dangerous. Lanvin's flowery tulle dresses for Spring, Dolce & Gabbana's tensional lace photographed against eerie roses by Inez & Vinoodh for Vogue Paris, and the movie Vertigo-both in its looks and plot.

EDIT: Wow. This was the only mooboard I made over spring break. Fail.

all vertigo screencaps and photos 5 & 7 by me. lanvin via style.com, vogue paris via fashion copious.

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So! This thing I've been working on! Basically Miu Miu's offices were very very nice and let me borrow a few pieces from the Spring collection so I could take pictures for a gift I am making and for this here blog. I mean, that Spring collection was too good, it haunted my dreams and dominated my tumblr and also did I mention that it still haunts my dreams and still dominates my tumblr? No? Well then, I should tell you that it still haunts my dreams and still dominates my tumblr. I sent everything back today, and while it was a very painful thing to do, it was also for the best. All it might take is one extra wear to those kitten heels for my nasty germs to cause them to disintegrate and turn to silk dust right beneath my feet. And that would be tragic! Also, I get attached to things, and also, my camera would blow up after taking so many pictures. (Look at me, being all optimistic - a rare occurrence!) So, the first batch.

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miu miu dress and shoes. hue socks from laia.

I've wanted to take personal hero Courtney Love-inspired pictures for a while and the finally warm weather and Miu Miu allowed me to try and do her hopefully at least a little justice. My first and second grader neighbors saw me dragging out the tripod and wanted to help me with the photos but I wasn't sure how to explain my smudged makeup, or heavy lipstick, or huge high heels, or, uh, naked people all over the dress. I am such a positive influence!
AGHHHH, BLOG UPDATING FAILURE. I have special thingys I have been making and working on to post and thingys take time! But for now, an inspiration post:photos one, two, and three
Los Angeles is weirdly inspiring, and I don't mean just the skate and surf cultures that inspire Proenza Schouler or the girls in Clueless. I mean that so much of it is fake but in that sense it's a city so representative of uh everything and there's something sort of raw and rude and creepy about that and the idea of it is inspiring in a really odd way. Summer, PLEASE hurry up. At the moment there are not enough hours in a day and I want to be Weetzie Bat.
Meet my friends, Ooga Booga cat, Bob Dylan, eye, and Princess Diana.IMG_1854
Basically, I've decided that if I dress like it's Spring, it will be Spring. Hence, shorts.
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queen michelle tee. gap blazer. thrifted shorts. pierre hardy x gap shoes. random buttons. tsumori chisato socks.
But we all know Chicago is teasing us. Snow will be back. And it will be soon.

Ok back to analyzing misogynist traditional Irish folksongs, brb~

Rodarte fall 2010

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New York is definitely the most wearable of the four main fashion week cities, and I'm glad Rodarte is there to make things more imaginative. The Mulleavy sisters always bring a sense of fantasy, but it's not a fairytale, and it's never whimsical. It's slightly darker, with a sense of reality - something that is maybe painfully familiar, perhaps in a nostalgic way; a feeling you've grasped before, now translated into clothing. And that's part of the inspiration for this collection: the point between awake and asleep, or reality and make-believe. Sleepwalkers.

It began with a variety of colors and textures and prints, from plaids to florals to knits. There was definitely a dressing-in-the-dark quality, in keeping with the other part of the collection's inspiration: female factory workers in Mexican border towns, whose workday begins at night.
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The fabric combinations also kept with Rodarte's general aesthetic, as did the idea of contrasting elements (this time, colorful/white and awake/asleep.) It was nice to see the print-mixing expand into layering; not just draping, as the girls usually do.
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The mix of colors disappeared for the last looks, and monochromatic sleepwalkers drifted by. The nostalgic elements of light fabrics, feathers, and pearls went all-white, and I initially felt that this indicated a sort of stripping away of the prints and colors and tracings of daytime so as to make a clean palette for dreams to form. But the fabrics were drifty and the characters vulnerable. The knits and shearling jackets that had previously protected them were gone, and the new dresses resembled nightgowns, underthings visible. Then the blacklight came on, and the heels in the candlewax shoes lit up, and these were no longer sleepy-eyed girls wishing to dream. They were ghosts, drifting along with only white bits of their dresses visible so as to barely haunt us.

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photos by me and style.com. screencaps taken from showstudio.com.
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thrift shirt and skirt. gap sweatshirt.
Pictures I took back when my hair was blonde and there was snow outside and I wasn't all lazy and in a style rut like now. Any ideas as to what a story to them could be? I haven't the slightest idea.

we'll never see dennis again

Today in school we played dodgeball. Or, rather, I played dodgeball, and everyone else played kickball. But then they were all "NOO COME ON YOU CAN'T BE THAT BAD" and I was like "HAHAH THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK" and then they made me kick it and I ran to the wrong base. Actually, I didn't even run to a base, I just ran to this random mat that I thought was a base, but was just IN THE WAY, and POINTLESS, kind of like the interpretive dancing at the Oscars. But you know what would've made this experiment far less painful? IF I HAD BEEN WEARING THIS: Along with paying a visit to the 60's (my favorite era, which is probably some kind of twist of FATE) (see what I did there? Bob Dylan song? 60's?) (Oh wait, that song is actually 70's. I...fail. Anyway.) Miu Miu was almost cartoonish with its giant bows, poppy colors, scallops, exaggerated pocket piping, and shoe skirts that added an extra clunky stomping factor to the overall effect.
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And there were LOTS of embellishments with metallic bows and flowers, kind of as if the wearer was a little girl going through her grandma's jewelry box (from when grand mam mam had her 60's heydey) and sort of decorating herself with brooches.
It started out with the bright colors and cartoon-ish lace (which I will now refer to as the little sister of Prada's) but towards the end got to a place that was darker, a different kind of romantic, slightly stark..
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The silhouettes, colors, and fabrics became more sophisticated, and the playful, wiry flower brooches were replaced by some in full bloom.
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There were parts I didn't care for or that wouldn't have really improved today's game of kickball, (which is now the new standard for everything: would it improve my pitiful, athletically-challenged middle school experiences? WOULD IT?) such as the low cut-overall situations and skirts-over-pants (maybe because I was too reminded of my 3rd grade days when I decided I was really edgy and //alt for wearing a skirt over a pair of jeans. THE MEMORIES, MAKE THEM STOPPPPPP). They didn't feel out of place in the collection but my sentiments for them were those of Enid's here:

The spring collection will always be my favorite, and that kind of magic can't happen twice. But over all, it was cute and fun and Miu Miu. And it still would've made that really awful game of kickball much, much better.