Reunited and it Feeeels so Good

Paths Fashion Show Spring 2012

The coolest designs at the PATHS  fashion show held no particular similarity to each other. Some I could envision myself in, like the green romper or the asymmetrical silk tank top, others I could never pull off (blue wings are just too Lady Gaga for my sty). The show itself was made up of high school age designers parading down the makeshift runway modeling clothes that they had either designed or modge-podged together from two different items of clothing. The clothes ranged from inspiring and totally grool (Mean Girls anyone?) to kind of crappy. For instance, the bottom of one jacket was just blunt fabric with no hem. Aside from a couple other oversights like that, the clothes were pretty snazzy. The dress second up from the bottom was made out of the top of a wedding dress the girl wearing it found at Goodwill and a skirt that she made. By far my favorite design however, was the long blue sheath/cape/gown/fabulous thing pictured on the woman wearing the crown of sticks. That, my friends, is art.

Juergen Teller

Dear Charlotte,

This afternoon I had the opportunity to wish upon a stray eyelash. I take these things very seriously and yet often find myself wishing for the impossible (getting a pet owl, preferably named Hedwig, was a frequent wish in 4th grade, and ok 5th and 6th grade too). Today, I wished I was Juergen Teller, fashion photographer extraordinaire, the creator of countless advertisements for Marc Jacobs, Missoni, Celine, Comme des Garcons, and Vivienne Westwood, among others. He started out by shooting Kurt Cobain (eek!) before Nirvana was very famous back in 1991 and soon enough was famous in the fashion industry. I can always tell when a photo is shot by him because he makes everyone look extremely, incredibly, impossibly, cool. There's no other word for it. In most of his shots there is an aspect of strange, but the person, or people in the photo always look like they don't give a shit about what you think of them. This, I have learned, is the only way to get away with doing things differently. Bravo, Juergen Teller, Bravo.
luuurve,
Sarah

P.S. Holy moly me oh my, (you're the apple of my eye, moats and boats and waterfalls, etc etc) SPIDERMAN. How I love him, his ladies, and of course the actor portraying him in this summer's rendition Andrew Garfield! Let him BE MIIIINE

Spider-Man Ladies and Rants

Dearest Sarah,

Yesterday my day was spent eating alone and reading 60 whatever-year-old Spider-Man comics so ya-know it was productive. And as much as I love the rip roaring fights between Peter Parker and Doctor Octopus I always enjoy reading the tragic love stories that take place in each issue more. WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LOVE AND ACCEPT HIM AS THE MASKED HERO HE IS BETTY? There are significantly less female roles in the comic but the ones that do exist are always well dressed and inspired me to draw some fabulous-fifties attire with a twist:

On the left is basically a classic dress that's seen a lot throughout the series, although it primarily worn in black so I FUNKIFIED IT UP BITCHES(plus she has blue hair which made the outfit a lot cooler than it would have been) and if you will kindly move your gaze over to the right you will see the shape of a regular dress of that era with a hood (Ooo) and some strange design I put down the front.

ALRIGHTY. So with the outfit on the left I basically copied a look out of Spider-Man but than I changed the top so it looked more Asian-y which I liked. On the last one, I took the top of a striped dress and made it a crop-top(how does she do it?) and then gave the little lady lovely high-waisted mom-jeans. Classy! 

Side Note: Excuse the broad shoulders on the orange-shirt girl. She has an unfortunate birth defect.

Now I will fully understand if you cease to continue reading as you scroll down to my upcoming rant but I am going to get it out of my system.

FAIR WARNING WAS GIVEN:

So as I was reading one of your recent posts Sarah,(I loved them by the way!) I came across a reference of yours to Us Magazine's "Fashion Police". Now I am in no way denying the fact that I've read the magazine before. I can't lie and say I don't enjoy reading 99% false celebrity gossip on occasion. HOWEVER, the article "Fashion Police" reeeeaaalllllly gets to me. If you're better than me and have escaped the lure of Us, than I'll explain. Basically the last two pages of the magazine are dedicated to 10+ images on celebrities apparently caught in the act of fashion "blunders" and then a panel of 15 or whatever "comedians" degrade and mock them. Lovely!

I often view Hollywood as a producer of cookie-cutter celebrities. This isn't the fault of the actors, actresses etc. but of society for dictating what is acceptable and what is not, and without society actors jobs would no longer exist. So, in effect they're forced to conform to the strict ideals presented to them . As a result, seeing celebrities featured in "Fashion Police" drives me crazy. These are people who have decided to be brave and think outside the box in a world that tries to stifle creativity. Yet instead of being praised for their fashion intelligence or daring choices they're ridiculed. Often the celebrities that end up in this article are the likes of Anna Wintour, Elle Fanning etc. Each of these ladies have such amazing style and independence. Anna Wintour is literally the face of fashion and in so many circles, the newest fashions are drawn from what she has decided. Elle Fanning, is years beyond her age and I'm literally obsessed with her. She's not only a minor being attacked through paparazzi but one of the most individualistic people in Hollywood at only fourteen. 

I wrote a while back to the magazine complaining about the article. I wasn't expecting to get a response  because I probably sounded like a psychotic bitch raving about the faults in today's society but it kind of felt good anyway. To rap this little diddy up, I get it if you like reading the magazine or others like it. I really do. Just maybe next time look over they articles similar to "Fashion Police"(dumb name by the way) and maybe kind of get what I'm talking about. OK SO I'M DONE NOW. You can breathe a sigh of relief. I'll go quietly back to my spider-man now and weep to myself.

(To be honest I really like this look so boo to you Us)

XOXO-

Char

Badgley Mischka

While Spring is supposed to be '50s style "pretty," as so many magazines screamed at us, Badgley Mischka's Fall 2012 collection is keeping pretty without losing Fierce (with a capital F, mind you). This is the brand that oh so many Red Carpeters have worn (Sarah Jessica Parker, anyone?) so their looks have to be of the moment while keeping that semi-conservative classiness that is important for those who fear the "Fashion Police" section of Us Magazine. They, as always, stick to these parameters without losing the cool-factor. My favorite part of their Fall Collection is their commitment to shoulder detailing. Whether encasing the shoulders in black shoulder-enlarging material or revealing the shoulders through cut-outs, I love it all. 

Hi!
It's me Charlotte, I'm not dead. Saturday was LE FASHION SHOW and it was amazing! I don't think I've ever experienced such a high-stress situation before with missing make-up artists and wardrobe malfunctions,  but I loved every minute of it. I spent my time getting water for the designers, fixing lights, dressing the models and helping with transitions. The show began in a darkened room  with only a single spotlight that illuminated a woman who began to recite a poem. She was standing inside a giant dress made out of plastics and newspapers that was probably ten feet tall. She would switch off between chanting and singing and as she did so, a model came out wearing this elaborate ring around her with metallic fringe and a large circle on her head with tassels made out of the same material. Then the show began. I'll post pictures soon after I sort them out! I loved your art post! BONNE! (I'm working on my French, how's it coming?)
Salut mon cherie!
--Charlotte

Dear Sarah,
As you know I'm in Africa. Ehh that's really weird to say even though I have been for a few weeks now. Sorry for not posting sooner but everything seems to be moving so quickly right now and I'm just standing around like:

But things finally seem to be finding a somewhat steady pace leaving time to just enjoy the fact that I am here, getting this experience in the first place. 

BUT ABOUT THE CLOTHES:

-yes my school has a uniform.

-yes I look like a man.

The uniform isn't exactly a typical one in the way that here students are allowed to wear what they want as long as their clothes fall into the guidelines of what has been set (much different from all the other schools here, private and public *gasp* THE HORROR) ie. white collared shirt and black pants(nothing tight or revealing) which leaves somewhat little to the imagination. As I got ready for school yesterday (the first day) I looked into the mirror; I won't lie and tell  you I enjoyed the sight of myself in black slacks and a boys polo from Patagonia, but when in Rome...

I'm going to have to find some time where I can model or display some the beautiful clothes here since I'm not able to wear them on a regular basis. I love how totally different fashion is in Botswana and I can't wait to check out what their couture lines look like. 

So here's a little taste of the culture here with a dress my dear mother bought recently to wear around as she has now been abandoned by her children for the sake of their education:

SO LONG AND FARTHEEWELL I'm sure I'll be posting soon<3

P.S: In reply to your latest post on tattoos I think I've always wanted one but I've never known what I've wanted to get/where I've wanted to get it on ma bod. Although as of late my letters to Mr. McCartney have been sent and hopefully someday I'll be getting a tattoo of his autograph. Writing that down sounds totally lame but I WANT ITTT I WANT IT SO BAAAD(getitgetit? heheh lyrics...get it...no...ok peace.)

Paris Fashion Show 2011

Dear Sarah,
This summer I was lucky enough to visit France and Italy over vacation. To keep things short, here are a few photographs from a fashion show I attended while in Paris! The clothes were magnificent, and many were collaborations of various designers such as Galliano, Kenzo, Givenchy and Diane Von Furstenberg. The overall theme was that of 50's and 60's Hollywood with bright turquoises and pinks galore.
Enjoy!
--Charlotte

Mary Katrantzou

Spring 2012

Spring, 2012


Spring 2012 (All photos above credited to Style.com)


Rodarte uses the digital projection technique--Fall 2011 source: Vogue


Anna Dello Russo in Mary Katrantzou, source: FAJO magazine

Dear Charlotte,

I am aware that you aren’t a big floral fan. This is a fact that I have always accepted due to the froufrou 80’s prom dress that pops into my head upon the mention of floral attire. However, somehow Mary Katrantzou has changed my mind.

Katrantzou has a knack for prints. That’s actually quite an understatement, seeing as she’s at the forefront of a new era in fashion, in which digitalized images can be incorporated into clothes. Both Rodarte and Alexander McQueen have dabbled in the use of such technology to high acclaim. However, it is Katrantzou who really captured my attention because her clothes transform the wearer into a walking collage.

When Katrantzou was first beginning to really be noticed, for her Spring 2011 collection, she was mostly using images of rooms in her designs and adding details like skirts shaped like lamp shades to keep things out of the ordinary. While the collection did leave a lasting imprint on many viewers minds (how could it not?!), it was a little too wacky for people to really want to buy.

In her Fall collection for the same year however, she amped things up, and used Faberge eggs as a motif as well as Chinese pottery. This garnered the same fascination as the collection before, but now the designs were wearable-a perfect combination of art and semi-normalcy. Soon enough her designs could be found on the likes of Anna Dello Russo and Keira Knightley. 

For her Spring 2012 collection, she used a combination of nature (hence the floral comments above!) and man-made images to produce some surprising designs. The meshing of metals and florals is hypnotizing, and if I had bajillions of dollars at my disposal, I would be buying the whole collection.

And THAT is the perfect transition into very exciting news for us mere-middle class consumers—she is doing a collaboration with Topshop coming out this Spring. Praise all spirits that be, we may have some Mary Katrantzou clothes on our hands sometime soon!

AU REVOIR MADAME,

Sarah