beige and blue

i found this blog this evening, and was really taken with its most recent post. "one perfect morning" is based in australia, and posted this lovely photo shoot that she shot with here friend, ana.

her introduction to the post was what really struck me: "I have had a lot of free time lately. Even though it involves living on a tight budget, it has had its advantages: I finally got to work on things I had been willing to work on for ages, but never got around to. This blog is one thing. Styling a photo shoot with my friend ana behind the lens was another."

as someone who's reentering the dredges of a student budget (which i say like the state of my budget ever increased during my year between undergrad and grad school), i couldn't relate more to the need and desire to spend your time creatively and enjoyably, inspiringly so, while trying to conserve limited funds. not to mention the complete satisfaction in having the time to blog, and blog continuously.

so when i look at what they've done, i'm so inspired by it. there's so much vulnerability in having your friend behind the lens, and for them to style ana so intimately, braless, pale make-up, photographed from all different angles, while remaining very direct and close up. there's a lot of trust between the two women, and it shows. the amazing "girl with a pearl earring" styling inspiration (whether intended or not)is stunning as well.

i really love creating with my friends. and although many impromptu photo shoots have commenced, there's an intoxicating sense of elegance and honesty, while remaining completely unassuming, achieved by the blogger and ana in "beige and blue."

ysl fall campaign!

i like the campaign, and i think it aligns with the aesthetic of what have been ysl's fall collections for the past couple of years, so i think it makes sense. it's clean, its chic, they've been hearkening back to the old school supermodels, and, for all intents and purposes, i think it's a lovely campaign



but then i see this, and my heart yearns for something just a bit more conceptual...


or i could just be a sucker for alien women in pink fur coats with balmain-inspired shoulders.

blogger love!

i love my dear, wonderful brandon and arlene at twentythirtforty.net. not only are they the most stylish women i know, but they're fabulous, fabulous people, in every sense of the word.

not surprisingly, i'm not the only one who finds their stylish impulses to be completely unstoppable, as they've been asked to write a fashion blog for Chicago NOW, a new site comprised of different blogs written about different topics (art, music, food, free things, crafts, etc) relating to the chicago social/culture scene. their blog, Styled in Chicago, is awesome, and you should totally check it out.




that's arlene at the top (who's really going to kill me for this), brandon in the middle, and me at the bottom, taken when brandon and i did our own ridiculous street style photography during dinner on monday (you can just imagine how much everyone sitting outside loved us). aren't they a delight? such wonderful summer fashion.

hope you're out enjoying the phenomenal weather (if it's anything like chicago where you are)...i'm off to rollerblade along the lake, and then i'm going to inaugurate my first foray into rollerblading-as-transportation with a trip to trader joes. we'll see how it goes...

ardent hypocrisy / resort part tres

yes...there's more.

proenza schouler: i am a die hard fan of everything they do. they're the epitome of cool, however lame that sounds. so stylish and so confident are their designs, i really have a deep respect for everything they do. love those boys, love their fabulous fabulous clothing.





givenchy: i LOVE this. i love it, i love it. the whole collection is so grecian, so ornate, yet with a really masculine edge. there's nothing dainty or elegant about the footwear choice, and although the draping is beautiful, some of the pieces were paired with really structured blazers, offsetting the usual elegance and flow of the grecian influence. i think the whole collection is really well thought out, and impeccably styled.




burberry prorsum: i fall more in love with burberry every season. this collection is so haunting, so "i'm a dead person in an old fashion photograph," and so fucking chic, i can't stand it. those shooooooes with the socks, and the rolled pants, and putting men and women together like they're a creepy, uber-stylish brother/sister pair...the aesthetic of the entire thing is magnificent, so androgynous. i think androgyny is one of the sexiest things in the whole world.



okay, i'm done posting/discussing resort now, i promise.

thanks for listening, i feel so much better now.

ardent hypocrisy / resort part deux

i'm a terrible shit of hypocrite. luckily this is my blog, and i can do what i want.

i have been perusing, daily, my veritable scroll of fashion blogs, looking for something that is inspiring...and not that there isn't a wealth of brilliance being parlayed to and fro in the blogging world right now, i'm just tired of searching for something to inspire me. i was thinking about this yesterday evening (pre-yslgasm) and was a little weirded out by, not my lack of interest in blogging, because i adore blogging and sassafras wholeheartedly, but by my complete and utter inability to be inspired by what i was finding. or not finding, rather. i then realized, i'd been searching so hard to see what everyone else was posting, which images were floating around, that i'd made an egregious lapse in keeping up with the foundation of it all. recently, i've not been reading my magazines much, and had hardly perused the resort collections...i had been keeping up with cheeky trends and quick fix info, but not with what i really fell in love with in the first place. the designers, their 3 collection/year perpetuation of fashion, my magazines, the grandeur of the industry. once i made that realization and went back to the basics, i breathed a sigh of relief, and instantly felt revitalized...it was exactly what i had been looking for.

this entire existential rant is part explanation, part apology for reneging on what i so aggressively stated in my previous post i would not do: post resort. i shan't go crazy...just a few of my favorite looks. despite this post's every parallel to the cliche fashion blogger, i do hope you enjoy.

mama's going back to the basics today. it is, after all, always important to remember where you came from.


sonia rykiel: ohmygod. if anything says summer...it's this collection. abso-freaking-lutely adorable, and it was incredibly difficult to only post 4 looks. you must check out the entire collection immediately. the shoes are unbelievable, and i LOVE the colors and respective color combinations. so much slouch, and so totally everything i'd want to live in all summer song.





chanel: i absolutely ADORE karl lagerfeld's annual approach to resort. he always chooses (or fabricates) an unbelievable location which instantly evokes travel and summer and all things resort-like. and i mean, he created 78 looks...seriously? those boots, the jewels, the 20s inspired hair-dos, the sun glasses on a stick...he makes resort so much fun, and it should be. summer inspires fun, once-a-year type activities more than any other season. we should all be dressed just as joyfully.




marc jacobs: i love his marriage of ethnic prints and proportions with the schmaltz of '80s gold and prints. there's so much character and humor infused into this collection. and those shoes...a big old wedge kills me everytime.







**edit: i'm getting such a kick out of this, a third post will follow. i am thinking of you guys here...at least i'm trying to break up the madness that is my mind right now.

my type of resort

at our dinner date, brandon and i were talking about how, as bloggers, we don't have much interest in posting tons and tons of resort collections. style.com is available to everyone; you don't need to see each collection re-posted here.

UNLESS, of course, we're discussing the love of my life, ysl (or, in this case, his protege, the lovely stefano pilati). fall, i wasn't that in love with...it was super black, super basic, and didn't do much to pull me out of the recession blues. but with resort, ysl has done goooooooood. i mean, beyond good...the whole collection oozes unbelievable charm, character, and impeccable style. i absolutely love all of his layering...the footless tights under the slouchy/harem-y pants, the structured blazers, the artful and intelligent experimentation with proportions...it's ridiculous. amazing and perfect and the stuff dreams are made of.

when it comes to my own personal style, i am someone who completely adores edgy, high fashion to no end. but, although i generally fall in love with one trend per season (09-10: the harem), my style tends more towards classicism, infused with a youthful edge. i'm always so drawn to ysl, not just because i'm obsessed with everything yves saint laurent was as an individual, but because i feel like that's continually what this parisian institution accomplishes in its collections. when it comes to pieces like blazers and pants, ysl has always effortlessly iconocized the basics, while kicking them up a notch by skewing the proportions, adding an insane shoe, ornamenting the face noir style.

ysl wanted women to feel beautiful. that was the thrust of his desire to design clothing, and i believe that he achieved it honestly, articulately, and sensationally with everything he created. when i see the photos of this collection i get so excited, because it's inundated with looks i want to create for myself. i feel terribly sexy just looking at it all. what he did, what stefano does now...this is precisely what excites me about fashion, making me want to give my life and passionate soul to this art form with everything i do. dramatic? whatever. it's ysl. he's a goddamn freaking genius.

and also, you'll forgive the severe amount of photos, i'm sure. look on and love, pretties.
















*all amazing, stunning, superbly perfect photos taken from style.com

hooray!

i've hit 100 posts! i just realized this as i signed on to do a verrrrry belated post. i don't even know what i've been doing that's kept me from blogging recently. our internet has been a big, old bitch, and that, on top of being generally busy (doing what?! honestly.) has kept me from posting with the regularity i usually enjoy. also, i won't lie, haven't been crazy inspired recently...i don't know what it is. i'm going to read more, and hit up the new modern wing of the chicago art institute this week to help avert some of that. but, i'm here!

brandon and i had a blogger meet-up last night over burgers and pinot, and it was lovely...especially the part where we decided to take street style photos of ourselves in front of the crazy facade of the restaurant at which we were dining...hamburger mary's. a really kitchsy restaurant that specializes in gay bingo and karaoke. they also present your bill in a sparkly high heel (no loubis, so sorry), and they made fun of us when we ordered wine. overall, a perfect evening...as soon as brandon emails me photos, blogger meet-up @ hamburger mary's will be posted in all of its magical glory.

i discovered these photographs taken by claudia grassl on wildfox and FINALLY found something inspiring...namely, this first picture, but i love the ethereal quality of the following photos. they're all slightly different in tone, some being more aggressive than others, and more straight forward (the first shot...i need those glasses), but she's really good at capturing emotion, capturing slight little stories that give the photo that much more of an edge. enjoy, amors.

coffee, sunshine and punky b

it's 8:48 and i've been up for nearly two hours...only 23 and my body responds to sleep and waking like an 85 year old. oh, well...i'm not much for sleep any how. and it is lovely to sit in my bed with a cup of coffee and to look outside at the beautiful sunshine-y day (a much different experience than the torrential monsoon that was yesterday's meteorlogic fate). this led me to check the weather, which led to the knowledge that it's going to be 85 degrees today, which led to the ultimate realization that summer is here in chicago. so, no more pretending it's "summer," while still swathing myself in the comfort of fall attire. after this i thought about my jumpsuits, and then i went to punky b, and then this whole stream of unconscious thought finally narrowed itself into a focal point as i saw the delights she had waiting for me.





it's quite possible that a lovelier individual has never been born. everything about her is so utterly delightfuly, so fun. fun styling, fun photography, fun attitude, fun posing. and nothing she wears is terribly extreme, but it's all styled with such an impeccable, unique touch. like that huge leopard envelope clutch in the second photograph, or the simple camel belt tied around the jumpsuit (that belted jumpsuit is what started me down this whole slippery slope in the first place).

i think i'll wear a jumpsuit today, belted with a bright green scarf.

lovely how looking outside can bring you (not so directly) to a fun new outfit.