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: