nature the body and fashion

i still love this editorial from the december issue of vogue nippon. the way daria uses her body with the clothes is perfection, and i find the setting very thoughtful...

the contrast between the backdrop and the fashion is made coherent by darias natural treatment of the clothing, and the fact that she seems primarily aware of her body and the clothes are a secondary.

at the same time as we discover the world around us

i often think about individual perception and the way people react to their surroundings... being as enamoured as i am with the concept of flanerie.. and its always interesting to me when photographers are able to capture moments of perceptual impact, whether subtle or obvious. louis charles can tap into these moments and somehow provide the viewer with a sense of immediacy in the scene. whether freezing rapid motion, or catching an intimate moment in the bustle of a scene (like eye contact), the photographs make me think about intersections of chance, anticipation, and personal vision that are so unique to photography.

he also plays with fashion, close-proximity portraits and intimate, familiar scenes with strangers. portraits are presented almost uncomfortably close, taking away the usual arms-length perspective that the freedom of anonymity grants us, leaving the viewer with little agency.
these photographs are from four different series.

more spring palettes. burberry

*

“ah, spring is coming! and God knows, when spring comes to paris the humblest mortal alive must feel that he dwells in paradise.”— henry miller, tropic of cancer

and in the gulf of boredom plunge entire

danse au moulin rouge, henri de toulouse-lautec, 1893. housed at the musée d'orsay.

****
day 8 of freedom. its amazing, after all the time i have spent talking, thinking, writing about art in the last seven years, i still love art. i was reading over some notes on my computer, and i found this exerpt that summarizes what fascinates me about 19th century art in paris (and london) from richard thomson's essay “modernity, figure, metropolis: importing the new painting to britain in the 1870s”

Life in modern cities such as London and Paris had a mobile, hectic character, simultaneously crowded yet spatially and psychologically fragmented, that fascinated artists of an inquiring and observant temperament, challenging them to explore beyond the descriptive or anecdotal norms that held sway in the establishment exhibitions of the two cities. Within that informal fraternity a dialogue of example and exchange began to be generated about how one might more effectively render the modern urban experience pictorially.

urban contemporary intellect

i have lots of time now that school is over and im commited to a unemployed existence for at least two months. i have always wanted to try being aimless.. its day 7.. not old yet! im moving to toronto at the end of june. now that i dont need a workspace at home anymore, perhaps i will play with book stacking on my surfaces.. hmmm. notice how even my musings are aimless? i'll work on that.

atlantishome

missing the motherland

americans in paris is a nice guilty pleasure from mays american vogue. shot by testino and brought to my attention by veronicahhh (btw i agree, i wish the lighting wasnt quite so soft). but you have to give them credit, this is what american fashion-meets-paris looks like: stylish but a bit too safe to be relevant. and how much does daria remind me of jane birkin in the second image?? you know the one, where shes walking by the train tracks with her basket. didnt think it was possible to like daria more but there you go.

colour palette ftw

although i am still dreaming about missoni's palette from fall 09, mentioned here, i have been thinking about it for a while so ive also been searching for a way to 'agitate' it if you will. this rust colour takes care of that. although still muted, it adds the richness needed. and i just think carine is a dreamboat in this picture in general. also note: paparazi in the reflection of her glasses.

image source: citizen couture

a woman has the age she deserves

"teheran" from the coco rouge line. a colour that scared me at first, but i have been wearing since i got it.

a jewelery dish with a french envelope design and an antique-inspired key. (with a handmade card made of magazine editorials behind)

a french fashion journal from april 19, 1885: exactly 100 years before i was born.


soaps that i cant stop sniffing.


roses, classic.

the worlds most concise book about piet mondrian. i have already expressed that this forward turns me on; so clear, so piet!!!

i dont say it often enough, but over the years i have been extraordinarily fortunate with friends. not only have i met so many amazing and inspiring people, but they are all realtionships that give me a lot of support in my life. they also know me very well because their gifts are always on point even when i give them no hints. im not saying who got me what!

xox

french royalty du jour

what makes a good photograph? composition... subject matter.. colour... unique moments.

CHECK

dior homme circa now

because of the popularity that dior homme has attained since around 2000, the line will be launching a womens line in the aesthetic of dior homme. this is a first, no? there is obviously a significant difference between the brand and the world of john galliano.. and it actually now surpises me that this idea wasnt initiated during the reign of hedi slimane (could have beat balmain to the punch?).

***

that being said, im curious to know what you think about the line under kris van assche. slimane made such a huge impact so hes definitely not an easy act to follow, and i doubt an impact that drastic is needed again, but is this brand still carrying the same cultural weight that it used to? i watched the autumn 2010 show this morning, here*, and realized that the clothes were still relevant and evolving (the cut of the dress pants !!!), and you dont want to stray too far into a new direction (i think).

the feature that made me think of pre-assche dior homme too much, i discovered, was the set design which kinda steered it into a been-there-done-that direction. i imagine the entirely black and cream collection would be more interesting with an unexpected backdrop. well those are my musings. anyone else?

***

*i like that i opened the site and had no choice but to watch the show first

starting off on the right foot

a new day. how better to proceed than with carine and emanuelle. carine's pose kills me, i love that photograph of her.

via style and the city

04.19.2010

today kinda significant in the story of my life. im defending my MA thesis, which is kind of a milestone

because i have never not been in school.

its also my 25th bday. yikes! im not going to say thats old but its another milestone.

its an age that makes you realize that you are not immune to aging.

so after today its just me and life. en route to figuring out what life is like

outside of academia i might be doing a lot of this ^

time for a change.. stay tuned.

***

image source: garance

chez mado...?

hello, please be my future apartment in the 7th arrondissement. thaaankks.

it.s.time.. printemps

when i was in vancouver a couple weeks back, i had to make my ritual pilgrimage to holt renfrew to see the spring collections up close and personal. the victor? celine by a landslide. i was enamoured with the precise cuts, perfect proportions, and the complexity behind its simplicity. on top of all that, it would be so easy to wear and would make you feel effortlessly pretty.

noteworthy: the leather tshirts and the draped tops (like the middle left)

words of wisdom

from garance dore's post today...

i just want to say to everyone like me who chose slightly more complicated paths, the roads less traveled, the ones with lots of roadblocks and long stretches of anguish, i just want to say that the most important thing is to always be moving toward your desire. just do the things that make you smile and you’ll always end up somewhere. even if that place is not anywhere you’d imagined you’d be at the start.

désaxé

today in the library i..
cried in my cubicle
laughed in my cubicle
had to go to the restroom because i couldnt hold back my laughter (dont text in the library)
leaned up against several walls to see what was holding the artwork up (for paish)
dropped my pen from the mezzanine (by accident)
nearly told the girl next to me to stop breathing so loudly.

this picture represents what i wish i was doing instead. also i took sporatic breaks to listen to bb and pretend i was in south france.
its over monday. the first day of the rest of my life in so many ways.

breath of fresh air

last night charlotte gainsbourg made me stop in my last-week-of-my-degree tracks. she made her way to victoria and put on an inspiring show that was exactly what my life needed.

she came on with her balenciaga denim and leather pants, a white tank, and a skimpy yet ruffly black vest, masculine, flat ankle boots and her lovely, messy hair and enchanted me.

even if you dont like her music, my friend pointed out that her "poetics and execution" are where a lot of her talent lies. she definitely has her mothers style and charm that keeps you fixated on her and wanting more. and ending the encore with her fathers song couleur café was perfect. also she made me miss european style.. the clothing and the charm. *please inspiration stay with me until monday*

question du jour

im about to come into a considerable inheritance of freedom that ive never had before.

because of this, i will have more mind space to make my blog more refined. i have some ideas, but i want yours too. what do you really like, and what do you want to see more of?

im very curious!

***

image: dirtyprettything via palais royal

on the other side of the lens

the lovely ms garance shot by scott for vogue pelle. photographer as subject, blogger becomes the blogged!

on that note.. so uh.. guess what i did today? i wandered around downtown victoria in my nude colour pallette and wood heeled wedges and got my picture taken for flare magazine :0

i will be in the june issue, for the "shes got flare" segment for being a 'fashionable art historian/fashion blogger in victoria.' crazy eh?

wilfred little moon

this is wilfreds third line that was launched this season at aritzia. yeaahh i like it, its intriguing. bottom left dress, i want. but really i'll take any of it. although the prices are a bit higher and it is more of a niche aesthetic the colour palette is great, it doesnt really remind me of any other brands, and it isnt falling victim to the more overt trends of the season as artizia usually does. well done, wilfred, well done.