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Monday, August 3. 2009

For Sarah.

“If a man talks bad about all women, it usually means he was burned by one woman” -- Coco Chanel

Posted by kate at 14:32 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Saturday, August 1. 2009

The "Paint it Black" editorial in Dazed&Confused Japan March 2009 shot by Ellen von Unwerth and styled by Lotta Valkova Adam is probably one of my favorite b&w's this year, especially in terms of practical dressing. What? You don't want to wear Mouse ears and bullet necklaces? Go lick my legs.

I think it's safe to say I would trade in the bulk of my wardrobe for the items in this shoot.

photos from papermode

Posted by kate in Fashion at 20:23 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Friday, July 31. 2009

Momento Mori

So do you like bones? How about a bone candelabra? Or a bone place of worship? The Sedlec Ossuary in Kutná Hora, Czech Republic is a grim testament to the devastation of war and famine their country faced. Legend has it that in the 13th century a priest returned from the Holy Land with a small amount of dirt and scattered it on the grounds of his cemetary. So many people died from the Plague and sporadic warfare that the church was left with nearly 50,000 skeletons to arrange. The resolution? Decoration.

Pictures from Curious Expeditions' flickr photostream. He also has some great information if you're curious.

There are are similar chapels in Poland, the best known being the Czermna "Skull" Chapel pictured below.

On a personal note, I'm doing some winter shopping (punch me) and I picked up some sweet calf hair leather boots by Jil Sander on Ebay. Also checking out a banded pair with a wicked pointed toe. If you snipe them, so help me God I will find you.

Joking, joking... kind of.

Posted by kate in Art at 18:41 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Wednesday, July 29. 2009

Whip it!

When I first caught wind of Mark Fast, I was flipping through the pages of Nylon, searching for the occasional gem of news embedded in the pages. As soon as I saw this, I ripped the page out of the mag and put it in my pile of special papers in order to remind myself to watch his progression. Well, time passed, I went to college, and the folder was buried... that is, until today! Then I notice nearly every magazine (AnOther, dazed, iD, Zoo and Love) sitting on my teetering shelf also prominently features some of his work. If only I had written columns 4 years ago.

Vanities aside, I think I am most impressed by the fact that I would never suspect that his material of choice is knitwear. Silk, rayon, polyester, maybe... no, he bends the material to his will. Says Fast, "I love when knitwear doesn't look like knitwear, where the shape is fully fashioned to the curves of the body in a severe way." Also, his attention to craft, the balance of design in the two dimensional and three dimensional planes, and strong sense of the power of line make his work truly original. Intricate cutting and layering of materials creates a passionate and unexpected collage. Fast's re-imagining of corsetry and undergarments belong only to coquettes and Mata Haris'... and those who want to pretend for a night. Especially interesting is how he reveals large portions the female body without making it appear vulnerable and weak, something I think many designers sacrifice when they send scantily clad clothes-ponies down the runway.

While the dress is genius, I think the detail of the nipple ring is really the icing on the cake for me.

Line drama!

The eye is hypnotized by the depth of his pieces and the sutures between one texture and the next seem natural rather than disruptive.

I thought the last bit was especially clever-- a built in "censored" bar. Note, it was extremely difficult for me to not post all of the photographs, so you really must just go to his website to see for yourself. My final thoughts? Mark Fast loves women.

Posted by kate in Fashion at 16:30 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Tuesday, July 28. 2009

"If it's popular, it's not culture"- V.W.

If this seems excessively whiny, I sincerely apologise but I need to get this bad energy off my chest.
For the past several weeks I have been battling an existential crisis--don't worry, I have one about every year about one thing or another. Unfortunately,this year's issue has everything to do with fashion. And I know that sounds completely inane, but when your entire life is leading up to working in the field, it's a mite bit upsetting. It's a combination of disillusionment with commercialized fashion as well as feeling underwhelmed with content on the internet. I finally realized I was completely unenthusiastic and bitter about the content of mainstream magazines and wanted to flee. Flee to the wilderness and wear bear skins and hand crafted moccasins and large hats made of willow branches because I realised what I crave is AUTHENTICITY. With LVHM attempting to buy up any artist with marketability and in turn re-manufacturing them with it bags and overpriced fragrances, I ask, is fashion still art? Also with the influx of blogging and anyone with more than 7 brain cells can tell the world exactly "how I (and my 600 myspace friends) want to be just like Rumi so look at this rubbish I bought at Forever 21"... it's just so draining. And dull. And you may ask, well Kate, can't you just ignore it? Maybe I just enjoy being upset about things, but I think it's because I care so vehemently about the face of fashion as art. Or perhaps I am just so inundated with mediocrity that after such a long time, I'm coming up for air.

Interesting bit of news: Rumor has it Vogue is getting a face lift because Anna is concerned about their impending complete irrelevance. Huzzah?

Anyway, I try to resolve all my conflicts so this stone will not go unturned. I find such great inspiration in graduate shows due to the tenacity of the young designers, the deconstructivist rage of Japanese designers like Yohji Yamamoto, and any trend shirkers I meet or read. I consequently just deleted every sub-par link on my bookmark list, hoping I will begin to separate myself from the aggravation.

Viva la (fashion) revolucion!