wardrobe_remix in Adorn Magazine! again!

the summer 2007 issue of Adorn Magazine is out! in it is the second installment of my column in the magazine, called "remix_redux", featuring the photos of four amazing wardrobe_remix contributors: gala darling, sara, michelle citrin, and erica mc clendon. thanks for participating ladies!  the summer column is all about amazing accessories, and how they take an outfit to the next level.

and thanks to everyone over at wardrobe_remix who keeps it real, on topic, true to it's mission, and make it what it is! you rock. really and truly!

btw: the summer 2007 issue of Adorn Magazine also features an article about DIY/crafty weddings by crafty blogger/writer extraordinare susan beal of west coast crafty, an inspiring patchwork bag fashioned by one of my favorite artists and fellow san franciscans, lisa congdon, and a bevy of brilliant ideas for embellishing your clothing that are beyond cool, such as: adding metallic sequins and rhinestones to your clothing and accessories for some glitz, a big fashion feature inspired by modern artists like jackson pollack, warhol, and matisse (and more) that shows you how go crazy with splatter paint and appliques and other artful decorative techniques on your threads in the most awesome way, and a way cool article about fabric printing with stamps carved from potatoes and other foods and things you can find around your home. and of course, a whole bunch of other stuff, of course.

the whole magazine is simply amazing...bravo, Adorn girls, you're really hitting your stride! keep it up!

if money was no object...

so, i'll admit it...i haven't been thinking of shopping retail much for a while.
two reasons:
1.) i'm getting ready to jet off to amsterdam, paris and antwerp in mere days (umm, friday!? eep!!), and truth be told i'm saving myself for all the great, interesting special, unknown to me yet stuff i hope to acquire on my travels over yonder...
and 2.) i've been sewing like a madwoman. and thrifting like a madwoman. so i've been sort of absorbed in those endeavors and spending somewhat less time scouring the 'nets for pretty things to obsess over.
BUT, that doesn't mean i haven't been doing ANY virtual perusing...i do have a few odd little wearables i wouldn't mind snatching up, if of course, money was no object...

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this may not be known by many, but i really like personalized items, especially that which is of the jewelry variety. in my jewel box, there resides at least two sterling silver initial rings, and a fun and funkified tatty devine perspex nameplate necklace. i guess my love of these little things comes from a secret love of things of a preppy-ish nature or that which is a little urban, or at times, a little tacky. the latest personalized item i am coveting are these namepate gold hoops, from personalized boutique dot com:

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i like the simple chic of the knit dress by lux (@ urbn), that simply pops when paired with my favorite color obsession of the last few years, orange:

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i'll admit it, i have about 20 pairs of jeans. to call them a staple item in my wardrobe would be an understatement. i've got skinny and straight styles (the cuts that look best on me), gray ones, red ones, and a myriad of jeans in various shades of blue, of course. but what i don't have is BLACK jeans. these overdyed black skinny jeans from teen retailer delia's seem like they'd be a PERFECT pair of black jeans for me: slim cut, solid black, simple. just the way i like my wardrobe staples.

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for many many MANY years i've had a strange aversion to white shoes. i think the reasons behind this avoidance of white in the form of footwear has been their inherent propensity for picking up street dirt like the dickens, and i abhor dirty white shoes! and right or wrong, i have this idea that white is an expansive color, and subsequently, i don't want to look like i have boat-like feets! but shoes as pretty as these chie mihara t-strap white slingback heels (available at ped shoes) are conspiring to change my mind on the subject of white.

i can see them, looking sparklingly clean, OF COURSE, paired with dark, dark jeans and perhaps an orange top, or the orange dress pictured above. and oh yeah, those nameplate hoops ahh! perfecto. :)

bashing the trendbashing

it seems to me that one of the mainstays of the fashion world, and of the fashion blogging world is following and tracking trends.

what's new? what's now? what's in? what's out? who's wearing what? who looks good? who looks bad?

it is interesting, yes.

but with some, it's about rating, making judgments, making pronouncements, offering opinions of this sort:

-"i'm SO SICK OF SEEING _____ [fill in the proverbial blank], i could PUKE."

-"everyone's wearing that, it's SO OUT NOW....[this new trend] is in now, people."

-"i'm totally not wearing [that trend] anymore, everyone's doing it, and i just don't want to be associated with it anymore."

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what is that all about, really? i want to know...what is the psychology behind this?

-is it about wanting to be seen as au courant? is that really important? if so, how important?

-is it a defense of your personal style, not wanting to be "copied"?

-is "copying" offensive? is it inherently "wrong"?

-can you really prevent "copying" or the "copping of (a) style or look"?

-is new better? is original better than that which is ubiquitous?

-will the world end of someone cops your look? wears what you love?

i want to delve into this more...i yearn to know, to discuss this feeling, this push inside of us that makes us want the novel, the new, the original...

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so many fashion movements of the past decades have had connections to the past...we are, as a culture, often looking back and finding inspiration in that which has come before. the bulk of designers look at what has happened, filter it through the lens of the present, and deliver something "new", either on a conscious or subconscious level.

fashion is cyclical. what's "now" today, will be "out" tomorrow. and give it some time, and it might be "in" again.

people in positions of power (magazine editors, fashion industry people, etc.) want things to change...they have a financial and personal stake in the trendmill. new styles equal new opportunities to make profit off the sale of the latest "look". if the trend changes from season to season, year to year, they provide consumers with the motivation to purchase, lest those consumers appear "behind the times". we live in a culture (in the west, primarily, but it other locales increasingly as well, with globalization) that is about consumption...good or bad.

BUT, here's the thing, TRENDS are really all SUBJECTIVE, though culturally driven. mostly...it's just ARBITRARY.

you don't have to listen to the pronouncements, the dictates.

if some of it makes sense to you, awesome!

if it doesn't, who cares?

will the world end if someone laughs at us for being behind or in front of the times?

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i believe these words to the bottom of my heart:

EVERYTHING and ANYTHING, past or present, is UP FOR GRABS, up for consideration, is a fashion possibility.

ON THE RIGHT PERSON, anything can work. i mean that. ANYTHING. in or out or otherwise.

trendSETTING is about calculated, thoughtful risks.

and it is for these reasons, more than anything else...

that i willfully, purposefully suggest this:

let's, once and for all, bash the trendbashing.

anybody with me?

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