Sofia Coppola Inspires!

I realize it's been a while since I've posted anything about my fashion life but I'm back now and my new topic of inspiration is Sofia Coppola. Personally, I feel there are only a handful of directors that are completely hands on when they do a movie i.e. writing, producing, casting, directing, etc. Not only do I love the way her films portray young women and exactly how they feel, I especially love her distinct color palettes. Marie Antoinette is a perfect example of this:

As is The Virgin Suicides:

And with Lost in Translation:

Lately I've been obsessed with Sofia Coppola movies and the topic of distinct color palettes is particularly relevant to me right now because the Spring/Summer 2012 line I'm developing is going to have the strongest color palette I've ever worked with.

Pictures to come soon!

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!

"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.

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.

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.

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!)

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.

A Love for Tim Burton Colleen Atwood

Yesterday, my Tim Burton obsession manifested itself. Today I figured out why exactly all the costumes were so, I don't know, enchanting? It's because each of his movies, the ones that I really like anyway, have the same costume designer behind them, Colleen Atwood.

I basically just spent the entirety of Edward Scissorhands looking for pictures of costumes from all my favorite Tim Burton movies (Beetlejuice not included because of today's previous post). For the sake of my OCD I'm going to put the pictures in chronological order. Because I know you needed to know my thought process. Heh.

First off we have Edward Scissorhands:

The color palette in this movie was particularly stellar, in my opinion. I love all the bright colors pulled right out of the sixties. It was an awesome contrast to Edward Scissorhand's dark leather suit. But in terms of silhouette, it's very eighties which is probably why I love this movie.

Next up is Sleepy Hollow:

What I really liked about these costumes was that their silhouette was very nineteenth century, but the colors and prints were otherwise. Very Tim Burton sort of colors and prints, if yaknowhaddamean.

Then we have Big Fish:

Almost all the costumes are pure magic, but according to the styles I love most, Sandra Templeton's are my favorite. Fifties silhouettes and two of my favorite color combinations: red, white, and blue and blue and yellow. Also, the small details are very apparent (more so on the film than in the above pictures) like the dots on the Ping and Jing's costume and general choices in trims and embellishments.

And lastly, Sweeney Todd:

Not one of my favorite Tim Burton plot lines BUT the casting and the costumes were impeccable. I think the time period for this movie is the same as Sleepy Hollow because some of the costume choices are very similar. This movie's costumes are very neutral, lots of browns and greys but when there is any amount of a real color, it stands out. I think that right there shows how powerful a strong color palette can be.

Say it Once... Say it Twice... But We Dare You to Say it THREE TIMES

Today, I woke up at 12:53 PM. Well, I guess, make that yesterday. As I write this, it is 1:37 AM and I can hear Daft Punk's Face to Face playing on the other side of my apartment. It's in this bout of insomnia that I felt compelled to write an inspiration post.

Right when I woke up, ya know, this afternoon, a few friends came over and it was decided that we should watch Beetlejuice. It had at least been since Halloween since I had a little Tim Burton magic in my life, so I agreed. Just as it started, I realized how much I loved this movie. Lydia Deetz is like the OG emo kid with lines like: "I myself, am strange and unusual."

As a kid, I was first introduced to Beetlejuice in cartoon form on Nickelodeon. It wasn't until later that my Mom introduced me to the Tim Burton original.


Besides a plot line I find fascinating with the whole only-some-people-can-see-ghosts thing I, of course, love Lydia and Delia's clothes. They're all very dark and pretty, a concept I am really loving, dahling.

The house used in the movie with the weird add-ons and Delia's sculptures deserves an honorable mention too:


UPDATE: Did anyone notice I only typed out that name twice in this post?

Inspi-red!

Recently, I was at Target and I was directed by Jake to the "value" DVDs that were on sale for $4.75. I checked them out thinking there would be nothing that I would like or that I would already have the good ones. But as I was browsing I found one of my favorite movies that I didn't own, Clue! If you haven't seen this movie, you need to go out and rent it or add it to your Netflix queue because it is full of eighties amazingness and has probably one of the greatest casts ever.


One character in that movie that I was perticularly intrigued by was Mrs. White played by Madeline Kahn. I love her hair, her clothing, and her personality in the movie. Her character has a lot of subtlties you just have to keep an ear and eye out for because they are some of the funniest parts of the movie (particularly her actions towards Wadsworth played by Tim Curry).

Above: Madeline Kahn as Mrs. White

When I was thinking about Mrs. White and how she "immasculates her husband" it made me think of a similar female character, Lilith from Frasier. With her clothing style being masculine and feminine at the same time, just like Mrs. White's, I decided to design a line inspired by these two women.

Above: Bebe Neuwirth as Dr. Lilith Sternin

For Fall 2010, WGSN has forecasted something like what I had in mind for this line. So far I'm thinking that there are going to be a lot of mix and match garments and lots of suiting. And the color palette is obviously going to be a lot of neutrals and metallics but with pops of red too.