(not so) random links

-i'm not usually not threatened by style jackers (aka, other peeps who might deign to copy my style or ideas) (from the telegraph). maybe it's because i don't think i own absolutely everything i create...and, really, it's easier to keep going on being myself, keep moving on and forward, and to keep churning out new ideas than to bother with caring what other people do or think. for those who are bothered by style jackers, take comfort in this illuminating, and rather sad quote from one of their card-carrying members:

"I find that I have little confidence in my own choices. My choices have been frequently laughed at in the past. Electric-blue fishnets, a denim skirt fashioned from boyfriend's jeans and a heavily sequined top from a charity shop were some of my biggest faux pas. To get round this, I think about a stylish friend and try to find things to match their look. I'm careful not to wear the items in front of them, but I do declare them when we meet."

my answer to those style jackers and those having their style jacked? tis better to help those copy cats to love themselves and urge them to own their stylish decisions unquestioningly. also, style jackers, remember: faux pas are only such if you think of them as such, i say. let go, find yourself, move on, move upwards.

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-according to the international herald tribune, the consumption of clothing for every man, woman and child in britain rose 30 percent between 2001 and 2005. makes me wonder what the figures would be for americans, or any other developed nation, for that matter? likely to be similar, methinks. in response to all that consumption, at least in the UK, is a new retail focus on the organic, the sustainable, and the fair trade. in the parlance, can this new trend be sustained?

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via swissmiss: blogs can kill brands. blogs increasingly seem to have the power to build up and break down brands. according to the aforementioned post, "today, the customer is active and has true recourse". messages, opinions and words, are now broadcast with utmost ease via the world of blogs. blogs can and do wield a tremendous amount of power, and marketers and companies are being forced to take heed. take that, anyone who claims that blogs or bloggers as a whole are irrelevant! you can't stick your head in the sand or fingers in your ears forever...you must move forward and accept the new paradigm of this powerful brave new world of media, or be left behind.

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me and manolo (blahnik) are on the same page as far as the latest trends in fashion (and footwear) are concerned. we've both been in "aesthetic hell". everything these days seems like sort it's extreme for the sake of being extreme without much design sense, or as an equal and opposite reaction, so blah and plain and colorless they threaten to put one into a coma induced by boredom.

says he in the times online:

“I’m totally confused. I don’t even know what taste is any more. Frankly, I can’t bear to buy magazines. I just get so upset.”

i'm with you, manolo. it's all so crazymaking right now.

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other bits and bobs hand-picked just for you:

-a super cute (and free!) chunky cabled cardigan pattern designed by twinkle by wenlan, via canadian living

-cloches are chic, says etsy's storque. agreed, agreed!

-make your own feather and fan cowl! via the sweet, stylish knitarista stay fancy free (of yarn over movement).