Enchant and Doom

Hello

2008-05-14T00:44:00.009+01:00

I haven't been home in a while... I'm not even sure where to call home anymore. But here are a few projects that have been occupying my time on this planet, that were a sheer joy to work on.

The first was turning Emily Haines of Metric into a super hero for Coachella. I've been collaborating with Emily for a while now; she was the first girl I talked into a jumpsuit years ago and since then all members of Metric have become my extended family, whom I could not navigate through this crazy life without. Before Coachella, I was in Mexico City with them. They had a show and Converse shot it for their "Icons" ad campaign. The ad will feature Emily wearing another one of shorts jumpsuit (I do believe they are called "play suits" in the UK) I had designed for her. It was at that point, Mexico city became my most favourite city in the world and I cannot wait to return.

Here is a clip from Coachella: Emily killing Monster Hospital.

The second is some Gnarls Barkley madness for their next single "Going On". I really love this video, I'm so glad to be a part of something so special. Shot in Jamaica, directed by the lovely and talented Wendy Morgan. And did I mention it's Kanye approved?

This Next Week...

2008-03-27T10:47:00.003Z

I'll be in New York. Thinking of checking this out. Full report later...

Dream Team

2008-03-25T12:51:00.006Z

Radiohead and Liars, together on one bill, coming to a city not anywhere near me. Worst.

Lou Doillon

2008-03-21T14:15:00.007Z

Last year, as a present on my boyfriends birthday, I found him a vintage Playboy in mint condition, published the month and year he was born: April 1979. Looking at the soft focused pictures, I couldn't help but think how much more appealing those images were, than the ones published in modern day issues of Playboy. The images from the 70's inherently felt more erotic, more intimate; they seemed to capture and celebrate female femininity. The girls were not airbrushed and photo-shopped. They were not plastic versions of their former selves and they certainly weren't styled in trashy, suburban mall lingerie.

And then I came across this recent image of Lou Doillon posing for French Playboy. Beautiful and artistic, at least we can always count on the French to bring a touch of class. Is this the norm in French Playboy?

... Is the bf getting a subscription this year?

Picture courtesy of the Imagist. More can be found here.

A recent project

2008-03-17T11:35:00.002Z

I usually don't like posting projects I work on, but I thought I could give a shout out to a few emerging designers who I borrowed some pieces from, along with the usual high-end suspects - (Vuitton, Mui Mui, Balenciaga)... It's the video for Roisin Murphy's latest single, "You Know Me Better", which will be released March 31st.

The two gorgeous neck ruffs I used, came from No-One, my favourite East London boutique. I wondered in one day and ran into Teresa, the lovely owner. We got to talking about the look of the video and she said she would have something in, in a few days that you will absolutely need. She was right; a designer who goes by the name of KaPowWow, makes gorgeous neck ruffs especially for the boutique and has hand made some in pastel shades especially for spring. I paired the pink one with a green vintage dress and hot pink hot pants. The mint went on the head as a part of our crazy old lady look - an idea that started as a joke, but somehow made it's way into the video...

This great pink and black neck ruffle in the last shot is by Poltock and Walsh (shoes, Blenciaga - droooooool). You can learn more about this duo here, in an interview with Patricia Yaugue, for her online magazine, Milkshake Chocolate.

I'd also like to say Thank You to my extremely talented assistant, Meghan, who ran herself ragged, splitting her time between assisting me on this and interning with Christopher Kane, all during London Fashion week no less.

Edit: I originally said the neck ruffs from No-One were by Wowow. I was wrong, that is a whole other collective. It's actually KaPow Wow. I am a bad, bad, stylist.

A Letter From Montreal

2008-02-20T09:59:00.006Z

Doing some research on stuff i like ... saw these photos and they
reminded me of you.

And it reminded me of summer... sweet sweet summer. ahhh... how many more days till the snow melts?

-R

Marios Schwab

2007-09-30T18:15:00.001+01:00

Back to the New Generations pack for a second: while all eyes are on Marios Schwab’s army of dresses, mine, are still on his shoes. I hadn’t been able to find a close up picture of them, until A Shaded View of Fashion, posted one this morning, commenting that when looking at the shoes she “cannot help but think about the film Crash” (David Cronenberg, people, not that recent atrocious Hollywood film of the same title).

I love that analogy, as I was first attracted to the shoes because I liked the way the cream coloured ones, when viewed from a certain angle, looked like hospital bandages: a bandaged foot, stabilized by a supporting metal “V” structure. Kind of weird, kind of perfect.

Alejandro, meet John.

2008-02-27T12:21:00.016Z

Of Diors Fall 08 Collection, Style.com says it's a case of Mrs. Robinson meets Valley of the Dolls. I say they have it all wrong. Clearly this is a case of Jodorowsky's, Holy Mountain meets Valley of the Dolls.

Edit:
For another (slightly more articulate, academic and historic) point of view on this collection, please read Suzanna's thoughts over at Style Snatcher.

...

2008-02-23T15:04:00.000Z

Katy rodriguez

2008-02-02T21:49:00.000Z

While I'm kind of bored of coloured tights, these shoulders excite me.

Donna Picking Up The Slack

2008-01-27T20:55:00.000Z

From Donna in Sundance:

Ok, so I’ve never written a blog, and after guidance from Claire, I’ve decided to post something from my last week at the Sundance Film Festival. Basically the town of Park City, Utah is run over by media, film big-wigs, celebrities and paparazzi. With this, the small ski village, usually filled with wind-burned faces and tricked out snowboarders, fills up with city folk wearing urban adaptations of warm clothing. Take for example Dracula’s collar. No blending in with the locals here.

Lost and Found

2008-01-25T00:48:00.000Z

Was shooting in the middle of Nowhere, Canada. Be back soon...

And can someone fill me in on Couture week?! I'm in the dark, literally.

Work, Travel, Tag, Travel, Work,

2008-01-16T03:11:00.001Z

I can't keep up, so in the mean time, here's some eye candy, courtesy of Your Daily Awesome...

And

Suzanna, at the eloquently written and always informative Le Style Sauvage blog, tagged me to spill the contents of my bag. So here goes… my bags take quite the beating, so the one that runs around with me while working will never be designer and will always be large and tote-like, to fit my MacBook. This one is currently in regular rotation:

In it you will find:

•Vaseline. My one true addiction; I apply it to my lips compulsively, at least 15-20 times a day.

•A tape measure. Since everything is “vanity sized” these days, I need it on me at all times to get the real size of the garment (I'm a stylist).

•Notebook – another work must

•iPod, the new video nano (best present/best boyfriend).

•Chanel blush - an attempt to make my pale complexion look less death-like.

•LeSportsac 3 zip wallet - great for keeping my work receipts in order.

I have a busy week, so I'm trying to con my friend Donna into writing something. Because, well, she writes for a living, and I'm sure she's dying to write something for my blog and not get paid, compared to her usual, write something and get paid, routine. Plus she's the best fashion editor EVER.

Thorunn

2007-10-14T21:56:00.000+01:00

A cute photo, from a shoot with Thorunn, of the band, Fields. Shot a while ago, on a rainy afternoon in Shoreditch.

Photographer: Graydon Sheppard. Wardrobe: me.

1234, Tell me that you love me more

2007-09-25T15:43:00.001+01:00

I am happy(?) to announce, my wardrobe efforts for Feist-y, have now been immortalized by the iPod nano.

Viva el Jumpsuits!

Actual video here.

Robert Weir

2008-01-09T22:19:00.000Z

While back in Toronto last month, I was shopping in a favourite Queen Street West boutique (Delphic) when the artwork hanging on the wall caught my eye. After inquiring, I learned it was recent works by local artist, Robert Weir: exquisite illustrations that blur the lines between portrait and fashion illustration. I say this because the detail in the portrait, the face, eyes, hair, are masterfully finished, but interestingly juxtaposed with a looser style of fashion illustration.

The girls in the illustrations are all models; images from last seasons backstage life. I know Robert, from out and about in Toronto's art/music scene, so I sent him an email about them. About the style of illustration, he said, “they should resemble the little drawings you would do in your note book when you were supposed to be learning about geography. I guess I am celebrating youth and a moment in time? Or maybe I am celebrating high school drop outs. HahHa”.

It turns out this most recent body of work is an extension of themes Weir regularly explores in his art (taken from a statement on previous work):

“As someone immersed in the new reality of online social networking and self-promotion, model and actor-types are coming out of the woodwork and designing their own Web pages, self-publishing through their own blogs and of course, taking their own highly stylized photos.

Viewers want to look like them, meet them, date them and have sex with them. After all, they are real people. I've taken these photos and transferred them to a more traditional context and adjusted the images to look more traditionally attractive. Their clothes, make-up and hair are of the moment; personifying the looks for 2006. My goal in my drawings and paintings is to respond to this age of self-portraiture by creating a romanticized version of other people that can seemingly only exist right now.”

This current exhibit can be viewed until the end of January at Delphic:

706 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario

Shramms "Top Ten Rock and Roll Couples"

2008-01-07T08:05:00.000Z

I meant to post a link to this ages ago: A well thought out list of the Top Ten Rock and Roll Couples, according to Schramm. He compiled the list, based on their awesomeness, which I have interpreted to mean quality of music made, style, mystique and well, general awesomeness (minus the wife beating).

Ankle Boots and Semi-Opaque

2008-01-03T06:16:00.000Z

Happy New Year!

Face Hunted

2007-12-21T18:45:00.001Z

Lets just take a moment to appreciate/embarrass my gorgeous, dear friend, Liz. Courtesy of Facehunter.

On Losing Vivienne

2007-12-12T05:18:00.000Z

I’ve been following Vivian Westwood’s rants against consumerism, Tracy Emin and contemporary art in general, for some time now, but it was her latest interview in the Guardian that spurred me to go to her new “Active Resistance” website and research for myself just exactly what was going on with my beloved Viv these days.

Basically, she has written a manifesto and several essays’, which are intended to be a “blue print for a way of thinking” and in turn a way of living. The manifesto is hard to get through and follow, as it is a rambling narrative, told by 20 different characters, such as Pinocchio and Sleeping Beauty, intended to “penetrates to the root of the human predicament and offer a underlying solution.”

The first of a series of essays she has posted, is a lot easier to get through, but the essay itself, is disjointed in its ideas, and Vivienne is utterly self-righteous in the generalization she makes. I do, however, agree with one of the first ideas presented in the essay: “One of the things that art teaches us is that others have thought differently and that there are other ways to understand the world”. It would have been a great supporting statement for the aforementioned “blueprint for a new way of thinking”. But instead of supporting the statement with follow up ideas, she goes on to contradict herself by saying, “Don’t waste your time with conceptual or abstract art. It is exactly the Emperor’s New Clothes: there is nothing to see in it except what you invent.” Westwood does give us an art lesson on art she finds valuable. And I do find value in the lesson, as I do not know anything about 17th Century Dutch painters. It's the context in which it is presented, that I find troubling.

When she is not criticizing modern art and projecting her own artistic preference on to us, she is lecturing on consumerism. And perhaps she has a right to do so, because, as stated in the Guardian, she says the only thing she spends her money on is books, supporting this statement by claiming it only took her three hours to pack the entire contents of her apartment. But then again, I guess you do not have to spend money on clothing or footwear if you are the head of a major design label and only wear your own creations.

“Such as, isn't it just a bit contradictory to design clothes and to tell people to stop shopping? Or as Suzy Menkes, long-time fashion editor of the International Herald Tribune, put it, after one of her last collections: 'How dare she send out a show laced with anarchist messages, take her bow in a clinging dress with the word "propaganda" spiraling around her ample figure, announce that the spirit of her show is "the more you consume, the less you think" and then take the opportunity to launch her collection of punk safety pins in diamonds?

'Mmm. Mmm. Anyway,' says Westwood. 'I don't feel very comfortable defending my fashion except to say that people don't have to buy it. You do have to consume. You have to live. If you've got the money to be able to afford it, then it's really good to buy something from me, but don't buy too much. I think stamped-out clothing is just for clones and I think that everybody looks terribly miserable. Fashion is life-enhancing and I think it's a lovely, generous thing to do for other people.”

While the whole “Active Resistance” website reeks of contradiction, I understand where she is coming from (well, on the consumerist issue, anyway). Because when it comes down to it, and as much as I hate to admit it, as a stylist/costume designer, a large percentage of the projects I take on, makes me a part of that marketing machine, who’s sole purpose it to make you spend your money. But I try not to buy into it myself; I try to be conscious of what I purchase, and not give in to buying too much disposable crap. It’s Westwood's rants against modern art that I mostly disagree with; cautioning us to curb our spending habits for the good of the planet and general societal health is one thing. Telling us what art we should like and not like, is a little bit annoying.

U.R.A. Fever

2007-12-10T17:15:00.001Z

While I've never been much of a fan of Sophie Muller directed videos, I am a fan of the Kills. Here is the video for the first single from their upcoming album. And I actually don't mind the video, it works well with their style.

Poodle Ballet

2007-12-07T15:03:00.000Z

Zac Posen, Pre-Fall via Style.com. (Minus the pukey, cutesy shoes)

I missed you.

2007-12-05T23:58:00.000Z

I got sucked into a work vortex, but promise to be back with regular posts again starting tomorrow...

Human

2007-11-21T04:47:00.002Z

I was thinking about this video today, it's one of my all time favourites and I haven't watched it in a while. I thought I'd post it, since I don't have time to post much else. Be sure to check out the amazing styling on these creepy children.

Carpark North, "Human", Directed by one of my favourites, Martin De Thura.

Jet Lagged

2007-11-16T21:00:00.000Z

..Will post again when mind clears and eyes focus.