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Some things are too good to keep to myself.....hence I am passing on this delicious mix.  It's from the Fall fashion shows.  Hope it makes your day less mundane, more Milan.  Strut it out. 

Pop Portraiture

While I devour the work of my favourite street style snappers--namely Garance Dore, Scott Schumann and Tommy Ton--there is an over-saturation of hipster "style" documentation that I find troublesome and horribly formulaic in its contrived irreverence.  It's often ugly, ill fitting, slutty and worn while pouting.  You're edgy.  I. Get. It.  But it furrows my brow.

Refusing to post those images here, I wanted to share you two alternative portraits. 

This picture is from LookBook, who have just kindly invited me to participate in their amazing online pictorial merry-go-round of worldly style.  I love how the subject is self-fashioned in costume, rather than common clothes.  He is creating a character, evoking a persona, taking a risk.  Plus he is rather pretty, dandyish really.   This artfulness elevates the image from just another attention-hungry poser.  

Speaking of dandies, here is a film portrait of Rick Owens by the legendary photographer Nick Knight.  Mr. Owens has a whiff of dandyism to him that fascinates me--perhaps because it's the topic of my pending paper I need to quit putting off. I love the displaced heady drama, the choppy perspective.  Rick is It.  

Plaster of Paris

Mesmerized by these girls...

Click above to watch their petite film.  Love a good fish out of water scenario--here we have naive Parisian follies in sinister sunny Los Angeles.  Escapism ensues.

Doesn't this make you wish you were in a band?

This is a reminder that mais, oui--it's good to be young.  

Sofia's Choice

Sofia you are effortlessly brilliant--quite like your LV creation. The perfect bag. Thought I was done coveting new handbags. Apparentley not, and a Louis, no less. I'm transfixed by the unusually nondescript style and clean look. It's not overly tricked out, not begging to be noticed, not logofied Just a buttery new best friend. SC, voulez-vous etes amis avec moi?

Fashionably Late

Forgot to post this...

If the new justification for closet additions is the CPW equation (cost per wear) then I've definitely got my money's worth out of this vest.  It's Pink Tartan and I wore it to their show because it felt polite.  

Get Shorty

2007 Vogue Paris, styled by Carine Roitfeld.  This picture makes me want to literally leap into the outfit and dash to a lunch meeting at the Hotel Crillon.  The little fella is a covetable accessory, though pas ma style.  Officially off short guys.

Uniform U

"I’m not really into clothes. I wear one outfit like a uniform, and I have for years. Black sweatpants, black baggy shorts over them, a black or white cotton t-shirt, and a black cashmere t-shirt over that. I couldn’t imagine having to change outfits every day or having to change for the gym.  This outfit takes me to the gym, to work in the studio, and then to dinner with a mink coat over it."

"Working out is modern couture. No outfit is going to make you look or feel as good as having a fit body. Buy less clothing and go to the gym instead."

"I've lived in Paris for six years, and I'm sorry to say that the Ugly American syndrome still exists. Sometimes you just want to say '"Stop destroying the landscape with your outfit."

Hair and shoes say it all. Everything in between is forgivable as long as you keep it simple. Trying to talk with your clothes is passive aggressive."

There's something a little too chatterboxy about color. Right now I want black, for its sharpness and punctuation."

Some snappy snippets of a recent Rick Owens interview.  I am oft-fascinated by the self-fashioning of designers.  The constant presence of various materials, the multitude of choice, the need to be constantly creating the new.  This quest for the best necessitates a uniform.  From Donna Karan's bodysuit, Marc Jacobs' man-skirt, Alber Elbaz's bow-tie, Alexander Wang's threadbare t-shirt, and on and on...I want to write more about this.   Future article.