pour homme, pour moi?

this iconic image of ysl, used for the original campaign for his pour homme fragrance was taken by jeanloup sieff, and will soon be auctioned off at christie's in paris. read more about that here.

dibs on being my best friend for life to whoever procures this for me.

Suzy Menkes and Pierre Berge

suzy menkes talks to pierre berge, ysl's former lover/business partner, about ysl's first-ever retrospective at le petit palais. perhaps it was just sheer exhaustion (writing a paper about ysl's pop art sensibilities, no less!), but the images of ysl's iconic designs + pierre's perfectly smooth french accent brought tears to my eyes.

there is a gorgeous parisian light at the end of my academia-haunted tunnel. i. cannot. wait.

ysl retrospective at le petit palais

this exhibition will be at le petit palais while i'm in paris! could the fates have possibly been more aligned? i'm almost more elated about this than the entirety of my trip to paris (i mean, not really, but let's be honest - kind of)! the website in and of itself is a visual spectacular. seriously. a 55-page slideshow filled with amazing images, as well as a vast array of information on the exhibition and ysl's career. check it, lovies. i'll send you photos on the flipside.

images: yslretrospective.com

also, check out this tres fabuloso times online article all about yves and the advent of his new biography.

ysl tuesday part deux

ahh! a young ysl on "what's my line!" completely priceless. perhaps "ysl tuesday" should become a regular installment...

ysl tuesday

i found this interview from 1959 with ysl this morning. a beautiful man, with such a light, innocent, unassuming vocal quality.

happy tuesday :).

mohawk

ysl shoes, fw2010. 

image: style.com

ys(i)l(ove you)

oh my goodness! i can't even believe how long it's been since i've posted. life has been turned upside down and around and around and it's fitting that i make this announcement when i post the ysl fall collection (my sweet, dear stefano...how i love his insousciance), but...

i'm going to paris to study fashion!!!

i'm going for the month of june, and i'm so ecstatic and over the moon and all sorts of other things, that i really just can't even articulate it. so, my faithful, adoring readers - for those of who you who've let the jetset lives of which i've always dreamed, i beseech you to comment, email, tweet your very favorite parisian hotspots. my dear kate, as a "you're going!! thank GOD we're finally getting you on this damn trip!" gift, gave me a french journal in which she's already documented and listed the addresses for her favorite places in paris. i'm not going for a couple months, so we really want to add to that and have a lovely little travel book all compiled and ready to go for when i leave. i would love to have a "sassafras" section with reader suggestions, too, so please share!

now on to ysl: i love the playfulness that stefano brings to ysl, especially with that gold lady necklace he dripped over everything. i loved when he used it as the waist rosary (technical term?) on the nun's habit look the most. always chic, there's an edge to this collection - with the use of plastic, and the gloves, the structured shoulders, that modernizes the classic ysl look in a way that i really appreciate. we all know my bias, but when i look at current ysl - especially fall - i can feel the energy and thought that pilati puts into his designs, and into maintaining ysl's vision. i think this collection is so fun, and i like it way more than last year's fall collection. i reaaaally want those to-die-for green glasses. j'adore!

images: style.com

vogue germany: best friends

let's be honest. i'm not a dog person, i just love the insane amount of ysl in this editorial. 

image source: fashion gone rogue, vogue germany

it's that time again...

it's that time of the year when i grow insanely jealous of new york, paris, london, milan, tokyo, hong kong, and, for the first time, berlin. the ysl manifesto will be released to 2000 gloriously lucky individuals (if you're one of those, and you don't want it...you can certainly send it my way). the pixillated strawberry tote accompanies the gorgeous manifesto campaign photos of natalia vodianova.

perhaps i get too excited about the little things, but i think it's charming. when i finally receive my ysl manifesto, it will be quite a special day for me, yessiree.

image source: style.com, ysl.com

bruce weber for ysl

a short film from bruce weber for the fall 2010 ysl menswear show. it's an analysis of nudity, featuring the music of marvin gaye.

i call it "just the kind of eye candy i need to get me through a monday morning."

gimme yo campaigns, baby

i love refinery29 because they love ad campaigns, and so do i. they also like to post the best of the best, which makes it quite easy for me because then i don't need to search for them.

so here are the best, in all of their marketable high fashion glory.

i ADORE the balenciaga campaign; i think it's genius. and the prada one is fabulous, as well. i love everything prada does, visually. their campaigns, their aesthetic, their styling - all divine.

i wish that my life was a montage of ad campaigns.

the cuff of dreams

who has $600 bones to throw my way? sigh. i'm such a sucker for ysl. and gold. and gold ysl. this is cuff is a dream, and only enhances my lifelong goal of someday having a closet which will be comprised of enough ysl pieces to keep me outfitted from head-to-toe, every day of the year.

do you love?

miranda kerr for CS

it's not exactly a secret that chicago's not the capital of the fashion magazine world. although there are always new publications emerging, ny is unquestionably the us hub for magazine publications.

chicago social is a free glossy mag that's distributed throughout the city that, per its title, features chicago culture. and i was delightfully surprised to discover their fab photo shoot with victoria's secret model miranda kerr - no doubt in homage to the new massive victoria's secret that's recently opened on michigan ave (accompanied by a ton of pop-up victoria's secret angel wing sculptures, in front of which aspiring VS angels can pose). in any event, it's a saucy shoot, and ms. kerr looks fab. i love the beauty shot they chose for the cover, and that ysl puffy-shouldered vest in the shots 2 & 3 is sensational (go to page 90 on the site to read the whole article). good job outta chicago social.

photos from fashion copious

so frassy

yesterday, while doing some serious blog surfing, i found befrassy.com and fell in love. so much personality, wicked photos, and really well built.

but...

i REALLY died when i discovered frassy rags, frassy's vintage store counterpart. the clothes are sensational, and i've spent a great deal of my working morning cursing international shipping, as i'm coveting pretty much everything. check out this fabulous fash:











all of these beautiful treasures are on sale at frassy rags...check it out.

covers article!

so i've just recently started writing for a new la-based music/fashion magazine called "covers." i'm quite excited about it, and really love what they do: creating issues discussing music and fashion based on a certain style/genre/band each issue. i wrote for their jazz issue, and, of course, found a way to tie in my dear ysl. click here to check out my article, "le scandale" - i'd love to hear what you think!

they did some amazing photo editing...i'd love to have a poster of the center image with their coloration. oh, what a dream he is.

stefano, i will be your bride

now, i have a bit of a problem. my problem is that, when it comes to ysl, i found it indescribably difficult to be truly critical. i love ysl, i love stefano pilati, and i love the aire of a fashion house that is one of the industry's most iconic institutions. that being said, i am going to put in a little extra effort here and try to present opinions on the ysl spring 2010 line that go beyond, "i live and breathe for it, it can do no wrong." as i was looking through the collection, i'll be honest in that i was constantly wavering between "love it" and "ehhhh, it's okay." there is a lot of white, which is quite different, and the collection definitely improved, for me, as it went on. for stefano pilati's ysl, the beauty is often in the details. so what may look more subdued is actually experimenting with tailoring, cut and shape. out of the entire collection, i want to own one of the uber-voluminous, draped and belted creations in every color (shown on the runway in polka-dot, forest green, and black). ysl started the menswear for womenswear revolution, and stefano has carried that into his designs one thousand fold, infusing more and more of the unisex appeal with which he is so enthralled. the pieces i love, i really love, and those i don't, i appreciate endlessly for the workmanship, love, and thought that goes into them. no matter what, i'll always bow down to ysl, it would just feel too wrong not to.

all photos taken from wwd.com

take a look at my YSL review on secondcitystyle.com!