Impossible Conversations

People have been arguing what fashion is since the word was invented., It's a business, an art form, self-expression, etc, etc. It's not like it matters much, once you saw the "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations" exhibit going on at the Costume Institute. Ever since I'd heard the news back in October or something I've been laying on the floor and crying and playing The Hunger Games Adventure because Schiaparelli and Prada are two of my favourite female designers. They have revolutionized fashion with quirky ideas like shoe-hats and skirts covered in lip prints. Talk about eccentric. 

The two designers, besides both being Italian and females, have extremely radical aesthetics. The exhibition, comparing and contrasting the owrks of Schiaparelli and Prada, categorizes their work in categories such as "Ugly Chic," "The Surreal Body" and "Waist Up/Waist Down." Bit too redundant for my taste, because last time I checked we don't need 3 categories with "chic" in it("Hard Chic" and "Naif Chic") What do "hard chic" and "naif chic" suppose to mean, anyway? Another interesting aspect of the exhibition is that there are snippets of videos, eavesdropping on the impossible conversations of the two.

Elsa Schiaparelli was one of the major fashion players in the 1930s. Some people who had bitchy cat fights with her(ahem, Coco Chanel) calls her the "Italian who makes clothes." Others call Elsa an innovative visionaire. Either way, she was one of the main designers who used surrealism — putting things at weird places to make it look different — in her work. Resulting products are the Shoe Hat and the Lobster Dress. Avant-garde before her times. Pretty sure that if Elsa is still designing today she would have heel-less shoes and cage-like dresses in her collections. After all, this is the woman who designed jackets with doll hands as belts, glowing brooches and plastic necklaces with metal insects. Bad taste or not, you have to admit that she got guts.

Miuccia Prada, on the other hand, is a completely different story. She inherited her grandpa's Italian luggage company in the late 70's and started designing clothes in the late 80's. She had never study fashion history, though she did bought a lot of vintage clothes. Being a feminist, Miuccia at first felt uncomfortable working in an industry that tells women they are not flawless or perfect. But luckily for us, she eventually found ways to turn her collections into armors. My favourites? Those paillette dresses and coats from fall 2011 and everything embroidered-and-studded from fall 2009.

Other their aesthetics, there are tons of striking similarities between Elsa and Miuccia's collections. Look at the Prada skirt with bugs all over it from fall 1999. Now look at this Schiaparelli necklace crawling with bugs. Eureka! Alas! Did you see it? No? How about now? Still not convinced? Alright, you blundering idiot, now look at how both designers experiment with a myriad of patterns and fabrics. Oh, and add bold colours to the list(Schiaparelli's shocking pink, ring any bell?) If you still don't see it, just go to the exhibition. Or look at it online. Whatever. Then come back and tell me what you think.

Living Under The Sea, But Not In A Pineapple

If there's anything that's more avant-garde than florals for spring, it would be pastels(I hope the sarcasm is not lost on you) which is exactly what Karl did for Chanel's 2013 cruise collection. Now, now, now, if he only did it on the clothes I would simply turn my head away in disgust and flip my hair(not just in disgust but also because I'm fabulous) but he went all the way with the hair and makeup. Pastel, razor-sharp bangs, Chanel beauty marks and large hair ribbons? Oh yes he did. Though it's still technically pastels for spring(or summer), at least it's on your face and mane. Oh, and I always feel weird saying "mane," because it makes me think I'm talking about a lion or something.

Since the collection was showed at the Versailles and the models were spotted with girly frilly makeup, I should say something stupid, like "this is obviously inspired by Marie Antoinette!" and put a screenshot of Kirsten Dunst eating macarons. Since I've mentioned it I might as well as do it, but it's stupid and I'm too lazy to open VLC Player and dig up my "Marie Antoinette(2006)" file. Anyway, one of the reasons I'm going berserk is because the pastel bobs are so structured and defined, and little jackets are the only thing that are ever structured and defined. Not to mention, very groundbreaking. I mean, the most groundbreaking thing Karl had ever did recently were those crystallized eyebrows(but they're stupid).

So basically the only thing I like about the Chanel Cruise collection is the hair and makeup(and the jewelry! Chokers and chandelier earrings, merci beaucoup), which is not surprising considering I rarely like anything Karl did. I'm sorry but I don't. Marie Antoinette-inspired collection showing at the Versailles? Groundbreaking. Your creativeness is astounding, Uncle Karl, and absolutely fantastic. Not. Oh, and I also dissected a frog today. Let's just say that I'm really glad I'm not a frog.

I'm Sorry That I'm Not Sorry

Had a pretty crappy day today, which is a lot to say since today is Monday. My wonderful day started off with some guy jumping off into the tracks and D train was suspended "until further notice." Which means I had to walk to a bus stop to get on the N train and transferred at Atlantic-Pacific for the D train. Which also means that I was 25 minutes late to global hist. And for English I had to do that group presentation for The Bell Jar, in which I was Esther Greenwood(don't ask how that happened). I didn't really do anything much besides sitting still and saying a couple of lines. but I still got pissed off. This paragraph probably won't make sense to you at all, unless you live in New York or have a particular strange taste for rants so  just skip ahead.

>> Nothing like Hanneli Mustaparta in an editorial to cheer up your day. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of her style or her blog, I've always love the way she could energize almost everything. The former model and now style icon wore a series of quirky ensembles for this Tank Magazine editorial, wearing resort-ready prints and bright colours. Egh, she pulled off that Jason Wu neon dress so flawlessly it hurts.

Been going through my "inspiration folder lately and I found this photo of a young Mila Kunis and lots of flowers. Which means that it reminds me of Meaham Kirchhoff's spring collections, especially the 2011 and 2012 ones. Whenever I saw teddy bears lately I think of Meadham Kirchhoff, or worse, Ted the movie. Just when you thought it's another chick flick about romance and crap it turns out to be about an overly-sexualized teddy bear.

 The Locals, Stockholm Streetstyle (3 + 5),  Vanessa Jackman(2 + 4), Oracle Fox

Streetstyle-wise, most people seem to be wearing oversize coats with skirts of different lengths. Maybe it's just another backlash of the fall 2010 lady-like trend, but it's refreshing not to see any messy just-out-of-the-pool hair around. One of my favourites was this girl wearing two layers of bright stripes and a short leather skirt. Somehow she managed to pull off white ankle socks and blue stilettos. And the girl in the middle was sporting a reverse ombre! 

Found this picture of Sky Ferreira for V Magazine, and girl was I in love. She's just, you know, casually portraying Madonna flawlessly. Not present-day Madonna, more like the 80's-at-the-top-of-her-game one. Not that she is not, but I love "Express Yourself" and "Vogue" much more than, say "Give Me All Your Luvin'."


And just to end this awful post on this awful day already, I recently rediscovered everything Florence + the Machine did in the past 2 years. Practically everything on Ceremonials is the same, which is exactly why I love Lungs much more. Needlessly to see, one of my favourite music video is "Rabbit Heart(Raise It Up)" because it's actually much more complex than it seems and it's like a twisted version of Alice in Wonderland.

Just Casually Being Biased And Judgmental

It was the Met Gala on Monday. Since I live in New York, you would probably expect me to be standing in one of those barricaded areas and snapping obnoxiously low-quality cell photo photos of celebrities. But no. I'm better than that. Why would I stand there for hours when I could just go home and watch the livestream in the comfort of my home and Micky Mouse sweatpants? Besides I have no clue Rooney Mara would be going with Riccardo Tisci, otherwise I would be camping out the Met since last Friday. Since I didn't go I might as well as make myself feel better and write a post about the most eye-catching outfits that I actually like.

Florence Welch casually popped out of your screen because her dress looks like an overly-decorated cake.

First off, we have Alexa Chung just chilling in a dress from one of my favourite Marc Jacobs collection, no big deal. And Florence Welch was just being a bunch of embroidered lace designed for her by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen, looking like a fairy pulled straight out of the forest. There's also Chanel Iman being a bombshell wearing Tom Ford, as known as the dress to end all dresses. I mean, look at the embroidery. The tailoring. My creys. And then there's Lana Del Rey, being Lana Del Rey with her Altuzarra cape and dress. The cape is very damn ugly, but it wouldn't be Lana Del Rey without a cape, would it?

Oh my, is the Queen actually smiling for once? And the smile actually looks genuine! 

For once, I actually like what Queen Anna's wearing and that's a rare thing. The custom Prada dress was a reinvented version of the original Schiaparelli version, and the white fox stole added a hint of retro glamour. And she's not wearing Chanel! And Carey Mulligan was also wearing custom Prada, which reminds me a bit of the fall 2011 collection. One question: how on earth was suppose to sit? Squat on the floor? Eh. Anyway, Emma Stone literally looked like someone(or something) that comes straight out of a fairy tale. Designed by Alber Elbaz of Lanvin, it seems very out of place with the recent Lanvin collections. And there's also Camille Bell just wearing Ralph Lauren and looked like she's from the Roaring Twenties.

I had originally wanted to dedicate this entire collage to Rooney but I can't find enough photos. Damn you Google Images!

As the post title had suggested, I'm just casually being biased and judgmental. Which is also code for "I'm gonna go all fangirl on you and shit." Mia Wasikowska wore Prada, and the silhouette is very similar to fall 2012 and I love the embroidery on the collar and belt a lot. And I rarely say "I love" about anything. Last but not least we have the one-and-only Pepperooney Marinara Rooney Mara in the only thing possible: Givenchy. My wish had came true! Rooney really is wearing more Givenchy! Leather and lace are the perfect mixture of Lisbeth Salander and pre-TGWTDT Rooney Mara. Besides, she went with Riccardo Tisci. Your argument is nonexistent and invalid.

Not Some Random, Fancy-Ass Editorials

Is it just me, or do you find the "editorials" lately really dull and uninspiring? Some long-legged girl with her cut-offs running around the beach, or standing in front of a grey backdrop, is not "inspiring" or in anyway "interesting." Vogue US photoshoots have been alright lately(or ever since June 2011), but why the fuck is Natalia Vodianova rolling around in a circle? Anyway, I've decided to do this monthly sort of post that I write about the few decent magazines that I like. It'll probably only last for 3 months, but until then let's look at some kick-ass editorials.

Numéro #133 May 2012 — Other than the overly saturated and dark cover, I'm in love with the whole thing. First there Eniko covered in neutral-coloured dresses and flowers, along with Ginta Lapina just being Ginta Lapina with puffy hair. But my favourite is definitely Abbey Lee in this eye-catching photoshoot full of bright graphics and sharp tailoring. The styling, the hair, the angle of the photographs are just perfect.

LOVE Magazine #7 — Just when you thought LOVE #6 couldn't be more flawless, here comes the seventh issue. There are so much contrasting editorials and different styling that it feels like Dazed&Confused-meets-Vogue-Paris, but they work well with each other. Kirsten McMenamy is just being her flawless self with her beautiful hair, as a moth-voodoo queen and chilling on white horses. On the other hand, there's this completely wicked and random photoshoot by Mario Testino, with gems like Gwyneth Paltrow in a Viking Helmut and loads of grunge styling. Yes, grunge.

Vogue Netherlands May 2011 — Although Vogue Netherlands had only made its debut in April, its quality content could easily be compared to some other high fashion stable. Yes, there is one editorial of a girl running around on the beach but it's mostly a beauty editorial and I love the hair. Besides, look on the bright side. Look at Lara Stone being Lara Stone holding a puppy. Look at this girl modeling her bangles and tees and jeans. Look at this girl half hiding in the woods and wearing printed dresses, because people living in the woods always wear $2387098 dresses while gathering berries for dinner or something.

see complete editorials: Numéro, LOVE and Vogue Netherlands