BLACK FRIDAY

My shift started at 5:45 this morning and there was always someone waiting in line to pay. Good for my paycheck, but bad for my sanity. And afterward, I headed to the Toys R Us in Time Square to pick up a gift, which also proved to be bad for my sanity. HOWEVER, I have never been happier to be in bed. 

With this post comes yet more belated pictures. But one of the more exciting moments of my life is presented below:

Picture it: Nordstrom. Downtown Seattle. October 15th, 2010. I had just finished interning at Crescent Down Works on Capitol Hill when I took the bus to meet my dear friend Alex, because we had plans to meet one of my very favorite designers, Betsey Johnson. We laughed, I cried (almost) and ended up getting her work phone number on the back of my business card.

BEST DAY EVER.

Farewell!

Hello faithful followers!

You may have noticed that I fell off the blogging radar for a hot second. Well, rest assured I'm back and ready to share my fashion favorites. The reason of my prolonged absence came for a number of reasons:

1) After graduation in September, I took a trip with my alma mater to New York City for a week in October.

2) Upon my arrival in New York City, I went to an interview I had previously set up with Macy's and got a permanent job in Men's Collections, on the spot.

3) After the New York trip, I spent the following two weeks buying suitcases, one-way plane tickets, and black clothing because:

I NOW LIVE IN NEW YORK CITY. 

Well actually, New Jersey for the time being but close enough for the purposes of working in New York.

Just a few highlights from the trip: I met Anna Sui and Robert Savage (Nanette Lepore's husband) and was in a photo in Women's Wear Daily for an article about the rally to Save the Garment Center.

And because I'm so behind on my Spring 2011 coverage, here are my final two favorites that got left behind in the whole picking-up-my-life-and-moving-across-the-country thing.

Betsey Johnson took my favorite theme of all time and went faux luxury with the gold accents and gaudy jewelry.

Christian Dior's John Galliano took that same favorite theme of mine and took it 1940's South Pacific goddess.

Enjoy!

Moschino May Be From Italy...

... But I want to run down the streets of Paris in nearly all the Moschino Spring/Summer 2011 collection! Moschino is known for being fun and flirty and I feel like this collection really represented so many parts of my design aesthetic: primary colors, polka dots, stripes, a-line skirts, and belts; it's like an amazing pin-up dream! Beloved pieces below!

A Sweet Melody

As a person with a lot of respect for "streetwear," Karmaloop is a website I go to often just to take a look around. On one of my many trips to this website I stumbled upon jewelry designer Melody Ehsani's work.  Most of her jewelry is made using laser cut plastic and Swarovski crystals and her inspiration seems to come from some pretty iconic imagery that maybe wasn't iconic, at least to me, until I saw it in jewelry form. As always, here are some of my favorites:

It's Smythe, Not Smith Dear.

Except in reality, or in this case at least, it really IS Smith. Paul Smith. Paul Smith Spring/Summer 2011 to be exact. Personally I'm a big fan of his menswear anyway because the tailoring is always perfect. And surprisingly his womens collection is more of the same. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw a menswear vest tailored romper/leotard combination on the runway (and when I say runway I mean the runway pictures from Style.com). Please, PLEASE enjoy some of my favorite looks below!

A Little Portfolio Teaser...

As graduation looms over my head with only 3 days to go, I've been putting the finishing touches on my portfolio and still have quite a few things left to do. One of the things I needed to do was make an "intro board" for my portfolio. Basically it is a concept board for what inspires me as a designer, not necessarily for any one particular collection and I wanted to share it below!

Anjelica the Muse

Watching Wes Anderson movies, in this case more specifically The Royal Tennenbaums, always makes me think of Anjelica Huston in her younger days running around modeling, acting as muse for designers Valentino and Halston and being photographed by the most iconic photographers of the seventies. She was discovered by Diana Vreeland and her career rose from there. Not many people knew she was a model before she was an actress and these pictures are too good to not show. Enjoy!

Clockwise from the top left: In Vogue 1972, with Halston in his studio, photographed by Gian Paolo Barbieri in Valentino and for Walter Albini, by Bob Richardson (Terry's Dad), and by Richard Avedon.

My Lookbook!

Sheer Style

I just finished my last day interning at Sheer Style yesterday and it is very bittersweet for me to leave there! It's a small design business based out of Seattle but we've had and have some high profile clients that we work with. I started there in April of this year and really learned a lot about the whole design and manufacturing process which I feel has given me enough knowledge to enter the fashion industry with confidence. My friend Shannon offered me the position and I am forever grateful because of everything I learned. But while I was there we were working with a brand called Society of LES and a vest that we (Shannon, Alyse and myself) worked on for them is in this month's issue of InStyle, something we were all very excited about and that I had to share with you! It's something I am VERY proud of so please enjoy!

The 3 RRR's

This past Friday was a culminating point in my fashion design existence; I had my very first photo shoot (EVER) and my senior collection was the subject at hand, plus a few garments that had never really been in front of the camera before. My FANTASTIC photographer AJ Ragasa does amazing work so I knew from the start it would be him to shoot my work. I also enlisted my equally talented friends Alexander Aesthetic and Jake Treat to do makeup and hair respectively, and the looks are modeled by Kaylee Petter and Christina Wu-Martin. The shoot took a little over 9 hours and I am so thankful for everyone there to help! This collection is designed for Spring/ Summer 2011 and I hope you enjoy seeing my work! (Please be aware that if you click on the photos below, they will become larger and clearer!)

This is the first delivery called Revelation. There is very little structure, lots of draped fabric and pastel colors.


The next delivery, Reformation, is all about illusions with fabric layering, cut-outs and bright colors matched with muted colors.


Revolution is all about the bright and metallic colors, structured silhouettes to the extreme with a serious Lady Gaga influence.

Pin THIS Up!

I know, I know. I am so clever with my post titles. In any case, pin-up retro fashion is officially back! Flipping through this month's issue of Vogue introduced me to the most amazing editorial I have ever seen! Titled "Sweater Girl", Grace Coddington was the fashion editor for this spread and her taste is impeccable. The styling perfectly replicates every photograph from the fifties EVER. Not really but you'll see what I mean:

Model: Lara Stone

Photographers: Mert and Marcus

Slick BP

So I don't know if you've heard but there was this big oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico a few months ago... just kidding of course we ALL know about the BP oil rig explosion which sparked a massive hemorrhage of oil that is basically going to kill the seafood industry in southeast America. In the August issue of Italian Vogue, Steven Meisel shot a 24 page spread of Kristen McMenamy as a wounded animal covered in oil. I feel like she interprets the effected animals really well and that this editorial was such an unexpected yet effective way to illustrate the effects of the Deepwater Horizon explosion. My favorite images are below:

Sevilla Squared

During spring break this year I took a really quick trip (like 6 full days quick!) to Spain and Morocco to visit my friend Sarah who was studying abroad in Cadiz. The first and last days of my trip were spent wandering about Sevilla and more specifically at Plaza de España. While flipping through this month's Harper's Bazaar I turned a page and there was Jessica Stam posing at the very same Plaza de España I had been at a few months earlier!

Above (from left to right): Jessica Stam just looking natural and me striking a fantastic model pose!

Just had to share and say "I'VE BEEN THERE!"

Rear Window

A couple weeks ago I saw the Alfred Hitchcock movie Rear Window for the first time while madly sewing away on a couple different projects. Basically a man, James Stewart, breaks his leg on a photography assignment and is wheelchair bound for eight weeks and while staring out his rear window he believes the man across the way murdered his wife. In the meantime his girlfriend Lisa, played by Grace Kelly visits him and also becomes obsessed with the happenings in his apartment building.

The film was made during one of my favorite eras for fashion, the fifties. With Grace Kelly as the leading lady, it was the perfect time to showcase a little fashion throughout the movie. Besides having one of the most classic beauties of all time starring in this Alfred Hitchcock movie, the legendary Edith Head did the costumes and judging by Grace Kelly's wardrobe throughout the movie it was a match made in heaven. This is one more piece of inspiration for my forthcoming pin-up inspired line!

Clockwise from the top left: A version of the Rear Window poster, Kelly in the "Paris Dress" designed by Edith Head, Kelly, Hitchcock and Head in discussion, and three more Edith Head creations.

BTW my absence in the blogging world can be blamed on the fact that I a) graduate this quarter and b) just turned 21 last week Wednesday. Just FYI!

Gaga Kitty

When browsing through my daily websites I came across pictures of a Lady Gaga x Hello Kitty collaboration, two of my fashion favorites! The photos were taken for Hello Kitty's 35th birthday and are going to be used in a limited edition re-issue of Lady Gaga's first album The Fame (which will also include a lock of her hair and 3-D glasses to view other photos)! Throughout the shoot, Gaga keeps her eyes closed the entire time to show eye makeup on her lids that make her appear to have what I call "Sailor Moon eyes" or Manga-style eyes. Photographers Markus Klinko and Indrani were the masterminds behind the shoot below:

A Fall Preview Indeed

The Fall Preview 2010 issue of V magazine is proving to be an excellent issue indeed. While I haven't seen it in its entirety in print, I have seen many of the spreads in digital form via their website. This issue is one you may have heard a lot about because this is the issue in which five models (Adriana Lima, Isabeli Fontana, Natasha Poly, Lily Donaldson and Eniko Mihalik) each have their own cover with strategic parts of their body covered by a scratch-off V.

Above: The issue I bought with Isabeli Fontana on the cover looking crazy fierce!

I graduate this quarter and my obsession with pin-up girls is going to be the focus of my portfolio booth when I present my work at Benaroya Hall in September. The spread below named "A Woman in Full" is a big part of my inspiration for an extra line I'm designing which will focus on creating clothing for a modern and sophisticated pin-up girl.

The color palette, the hair and makeup, the poses of the models as well as the type of undergarments which make the silhouette is what makes these pin-up inspired pictures so representative of that era.

"I live for fur. I worship fur!"

Cruella De Vil is probably one of the most fashionable villains out there. Not only was her hair way ahead of that whole two-different-hair-color thing but she also wore big fur coats around all the time with her little cigarette holder completing her fierce look. As I was looking through photos of the Jean Paul Gaultier Fall 2010 Couture show, one picture stuck out to me in particular and SCREAMED Cruella De Vil. The drape of the fabric and the model's cigarette holder made me think of what Cruella might be running around in if I saw her somewhere now.

Above (from left to right): The "Cruella" look from the JPG Fall 2010 Couture show, the animated Cruella De Vil, and Glenn Close as Cruella De Vil in 101 Dalmatians.

Walk Like an Egyptian

Since I was a kid, I've always been fascinated with things about Egypt. From all the archaeology and artifacts to the Mummy movies with Brendan Frasier. The hieroglyphics, jewelry and coffins always show an extreme attention to detail and are ALWAYS visually pleasing. Egyptian influences are sloooowly making a comeback in fashion and I'm feeling pretty inspired by the mosaic techniques and symbolism used throughout ancient Egyptian culture. Expect to see some Egypt inspired fashion from me!

Above (from left to right): A look from the Spring 2004 Christian Dior couture show, Janelle Monae's album art for The Archandroid, and Kanye West wearing Jacob & Co. jewelry at the 2010 BET awards.

Stay tuned...

Gettin' Around Town!

Lately, in many a recent fashion publication, I have seen some adorable Miu Miu dresses that I haven't been able to locate in any of their fashion shows. In any case this collection (which ever it came from) seems very Easter inspired with pastel colors and applique flowers and tons of loveliness!

Above (from left to right): January Jones in C Magazine, Lily Allen for Elle UK, and Carey Mulligan at the Met Costume Gala.

A Pairing for Style Champions

It's amazing the kinds of things you discover as you slowly finish finals and have this weird thing called free time. Like today I had time to go to Style.com and check out more Resort 2011 and fell in love with Proenza Schouler's collection. Later, my browsing brought me to Osborn, a company that makes shoes out of recycled materials. And in a wacky and crazy turn of events, the two go together perfectly! Both include ethnic inspired prints (something included in my senior collection) and remind me of something you could buy in Tijuana... and I mean that in the best way possible.

Gorgeous Givenchy

One of my first looks at the Resort 2011 collections brought me to Givenchy. The limited color palette of black, red, white and leopard really drew me in and I actually think it made the interesting designs stand out more with those few colors. I especially loved the jodphur pants and sheer skirts.

Photos via Style.com

Doc Kitty

The search for adorable can stop here. Doc Martens and Sanrio are collaborating to create boots and mary janes with a Hello Kitty theme for Sanrio's 50th anniversary. Below is my favorite pair on the far left (and the ones I hope to get for my birthday) and the other two to the right of those:
Update: According to Fred Flare, they debut in September!

Nautical! Wu!

Hello all 7 of my readers! My posts have been few and far between and I apologize. But for those of you who love pretty nautical inspired clothing here is a treat for you! Jason Wu (you know, THAT GUY I MET LAST POST) designed an ADORABLE Resort 2011 collection and while some of it was part Mississippi riverboat inspired, my favorite was the sailor, red-white-and-blue garments. Here are my favorites for your viewing pleasure:

Nordstrom in April

Apparently, April is a big fashion month for the Nordstrom headquarters in Seattle. Not just on one occasion but on TWO occasions, Nordstrom hosted trunks shows and meet and greets with the designers. Here are the pictures below of who I met:

Above: Me giving Jason Wu my business card.... "Workin' it!"

Above: Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte, me and Olivia.

Art Institute of Seattle "Wear in the World" Fashion Show 2010

It wasn't until today that I a) had time to write a blog post and b) got the pictures from my school's "Wear in the World" fashion show. On March 11, students from our Fashion Department participated in the Art Institute of Seattle's annual student fashion show. Last year, all I entered were purses, but this year I entered the best garments I've made yet: two menswear outfits and a dress I like to call "the Circus Tent." Here are the photos below:

All pictures by J. Andrew Towell

Boy by Band of Outsiders Goodness!

Dear Readers,
My apologies for not writing sooner, things like moving, finals and traveling overseas for the first time got in the way! I am writing to you from the Madrid Barajas airport (but I won’t be posting this until I’m back in Seattle because 5 euros is far too much to pay for half an hour of internet). I decided to take this time to write about one of my favorite collections from the Fall 2010 Fashion Week(s) and one of my favorite lines in general, Boy by Band of Outsiders. It seems to be that anything Band of Outsiders puts out be that Boy or otherwise, is always the most whimsical, wearable clothing. I also appreciate the fact that men and women’s outfits are oftentimes designed together and included in the same collection and that everything is very cohesive. In my opinion, cohesiveness in a line is one of the harder things for a designer to achieve. Two hours into an eight-hour layover would make you think about these things too!

The Fall 2010 line is very campy... As in this line seems to be inspired by the great outdoors and things you’d wear if you were at a very glamorous and fashion-conscious campsite. The skinny cut jeans have kneepads, the vests have cargo pockets and hoods and the fingerless gloves have tufts of fur on the knuckles. And while the designs are semi-utilitarian there is clearly an über-feminine feel. The heels and the colorful piece-dyed fur vest alone illustrate that well. The long sleeve tops resemble thermal underwear and the slacks remind me of men’s khakis and skinny hammer pants (a trend I now know the Spaniards love).

Anyway, here are the photos of my favorites, via Style.com as usual:

The Most Amazing Jacket EVER!

As I've been browsing the more recent issues of Vogue, Elle and Harper's Bazaar, the Spring Moschino ad campaign has caught my eye with this one in particular being my favorite:


After seeing this ad, I fell IN LOVE with the leather jacket the model is wearing! Upon further research, I found the jacket on the Moschino website. It's $5500 which means I will never own it myself but I think these images are magical enough. Well, magical enough to post on my blog anyway.


I love all the studs and cherry blossom leather cutouts and that tassel zipper pull, OH MY! This jacket incorporates two of my favorite things: fashion and art... TOGETHER AS ONE. As it should be. Enjoy!

A Movement I'm Excited For!

It's no surprise to me that curvy, plus-size models are starting to show up more and more in the fashion world. And while being overweight isn't the healthiest thing to be, there is NO good reason why anyone's self esteem should be in the crapper. These plus-size/ NORMAL size models have become a large (no pun intended, haha) part of the modeling and fashion industries in a very short amount of time and I think shows that the industry is moving into a more positive, all-body accepting direction. This movement is something I've been paying a lot of attention to and this post is dedicated to all the plus-size model tidbits I've come across.

Last Fall model Lizzi Miller was commissioned by Glamour for what the editor called a "comfortable in your own skin" article and following the September issue, there came an outpouring of POSITIVE feedback about the photo featuring Miller.

Above: Lizzi Miller in the now infamous Glamour photo.

More recently Italian Vogue started a blog focused on curvy women called, you guessed it, "Vogue Curvy." And during London Fashion Week this month, Canadian designer Mark Fast used plus-size model Crystal Renn in his Fall show.

Above: Crystal Renn in Mark Fast's Fall 2010 show.

Even more recently, V Magazine did a "One Size Fits All" spread, photographed by Terry Richardson, with skinny model Jacquelyn Jablonski and plus-size model Crystal Renn wearing the same clothes.

Above: Images from the V Mag shoot.

Vikram Ray's Other Job

It's no secret that I'm a big Wes Anderson fan. In fact, if you walk into my apartment I have The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou movie poster framed above my bed. So when I had been going through an old Vogue from last Fall and saw that Vikram Ray A.K.A. Waris Ahluwaria designs jewelry, I was pleasantly surprised. His company House of Waris is based out of India and he was a finalist in the 2009 CFDA/ Vogue Fashion Fund competition. You can see some of his jewelry under the Press section of his website and also here.

Above: Waris and some of my favorite pieces of his House of Waris jewelry.

R.I.P. Alexander McQueen

I woke up at 8:58 AM today and immediately checked Access Hollywood's website from my phone. The first thing I saw read "Rep: British Fashion Icon Alexander McQueen Found Dead." So I put on clothes, grabbed a yogurt and my laptop and booked it to campus.

No one knows the details yet, but his body was found in his London home this morning. Here is his family's statement. He was one of the most, if not THE best designer out there right now.

Rest in peace McQ.

UPDATE: Suicide. He hung himself. So sad :(

Above: Final look from Betsey Johnson's Fall 2010 show.

I Heart Jeremy Scott

I swear, everything Jeremy Scott touches turns to GOLD. I had seen a few items from his Adidas collection, but when I went on the Adidas website today, the whole collection was pictured! Here are my favorites:


Please notice that the left sleeve on the giraffe sweater pretty much makes you and your hand into a giant giraffe puppet. Uh... AWESOME!!! And I just enjoy graphics.

Here's a video of the collection as well:

Hipsters are ALWAYS the Cool Ones!

It's like Hipster-style to the infinite power! Loving the touch of punk in this Fall 2010 trend! "The season's mix of oversize knits, distressed denim, sequin leggings, plaid shirts and military jackets completes the look."

Pictures via California Apparel News.

Enjoy it. Embrace it. HAHA.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

We established last month that my favorite costume designer is Colleen Atwood in my Tim Burton post. I hadn't really looked into other movies she had done but I stumbled across one on Friday night. One of my friends let me raid her DVD collection and I grabbed A Series of Unfortunate Events. I had read all the books in middle school and high school but had no desire to see the movie... until Friday. I popped it in and so many elements of this movie made it AMAZING. First thing I noticed was the cast. Meryl Streep, Jennifer Coolidge, Craig Ferguson, and Catherine O' Hara were just some of my personal favorites. Their parts were pretty small but really important to the book's story. Then the set of the movie. It was very similar to Tim Burton's world in some of his darker movies. Which we know I love.

ANYWAY, back to Friday night. I fell asleep through the end of the movie and finished it Saturday morning. I was sitting on my couch and was literally MESMERIZED by the end credits. The music and the animation were so well done! And it was when these end credits were rolling that Colleen Atwood's name popped up, billed as the costume designer. Which brings me to my last favorite part of this film: the costumes! (These pictures DO NOT do them justice!)

Uhm... Hey Guys...

FYI. The "Pauly D" hair is not some brand new thing!

Above: John Gotti from Growing Up Gotti and Pauly D from Jersey Shore

KTHANKSBAI.

Hearts I'd Like to Steal

While flipping through the February issue of all the magazines I subscribe to, each has a Valentine's day spread of things with hearts and things that are red and pink that you should get for your sweetheart. Upon a heart based search of my own I found some cute little things I'd like for Valentine's Day. BOYS TAKE NOTE.

Above (left to right): Marc Jacobs silk twill heart top, Juicy Couture Love You heart sunglasses, Dior Joaillerie heart ring, and Leifsdottir Queen of Hearts silk skirt.

Lawn-ja-ray

In my Advanced Computer Apparel Design class we recently finished a three week unit researching and designing a lingerie as outerwear line. It's a HUGE trend for Spring and it's been in quite a few publications (Vogue and Elle had some excellent spreads). Anyway, most of my research consisted of consulting WGSN but it wasn't until yesterday that I went to the Agent Provocateur website to check out their product and here are a couple of my favorites:

Above: The Pantheria bra and brief and the Black Swan bodysuit.

Bette Davis Eyes

I saw this collection and died! John Galliano is already one of my favorites but this Pre-Fall 2010 line made me feel like I was in America circa 1940. World War II was going on, there were rations on fabric and the silhouettes turned masculine and looked very similar to military uniforms. Galliano also made sure to include glamorous dresses we would have seen in the forties as well. I felt like this collection bared a resemblance to Edith Head's designs for Bette Davis and Elizabeth Taylor.

Above: A few looks from the Dior collection.

Above(left to right): A sketch from the forties, Bette Davis in a flowing dress, a design sketch by Edith Head, and Elizabeth Taylor on the set of A Place in the Sun.