sculptural wearable wool: hisano takei

i love these outsized organic wearable sculptural necklaces by american artist/jewelry maker hisano takei (via crust station). anything that pushes the limits of normality in such a thoughtful way with use of texture and dimension in the way that these sculptural pieces do is a winner in my book. i like the idea that they are so dominant in their look, due to their size...they would *be* an outfit, and the person wearing them would be secondary to them, art wearing the person rather than the person wearing art. a fun way of playing with proportion that's not for the faint of (fashion) heart.

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(photos via hisano takei)

(not so) random links

-as if the ubiquitous skinniness wasn't enough...what's UP with the overwhelming white-ness and blonde-ness of today's runways? (via the wall street journal) seriously! what happened to that (obviously short-lived) fashion runway/magazine trend some time ago for the quirky and offbeat, the "ethnic", and the diverse? is that a distant memory now, given up for gaggles of gaunt gals that look like ghosts? i think it's really gross, and feel like it veers far, far away from reality as we know it in 2008. beauty is not just the domain of the white, blonde skinny, and tall...that's so last century! anyone care to venture as to why this particular look is the current look du jour? what does it say about where we are right now fashion-wise, and culture-wise? -real tattoos, in my opinion, can be incredibly sexy, and contain some powerful and personal imagery. they really become one with a person and their personality, on many levels. i really love and relate to that idea conceptually. but, yeah, some folks are too scared of the needles and others aren't able to commit to one design. tattoos have become a (trendy and temporary) fashion accessory: certain individuals are instead opting for being tattooed for a day, wild for a night (so says the new york times). i guess some like to only play with the concept of subversion.

-from the DUH! "tell-me-something-i-don't-know" insipid proclamation department: bland is banished - now it's primary colors (from the international herald tribune), concerning the fall 2008 runways and the trends therein. here's my proclimation, since so many are being bandied about now: bright colors aren't going anywhere...they are, i feel, the perfect antidote to cold temperatures and cold economic outlooks (which could impact the fashion industry quite harshly).

-i'm totally grooving on this hot trends post on etsy's storque about neons. YES. see previous link just above for my reasons why, so i don't have to repeat myself.

-counterfeiting runs in reverse?: did abaete rip off delia's? (from counterfeit chic)

-one of the reasons i look (primarily) for older/vintage pieces when thrifting is quality...generally, older things have better fabrication and better construction. is it just me (i know it isn't!), or has the quality of most clothing (designer or otherwise, especially the otherwise) increasingly gotten utter crap over the better part of the past decade? finding good stuff is becoming increasingly difficult...the thrifts are filled with overpriced, newer merchandise that was crap even at retail prices (i'm looking at you GOODWILL!). soon, there may not be anything good left at the local thrifts and resellers. how sad! outsapop brings up that exact issue with her recent post, recycling clothes: a dying business?. bonus: she links to an article from the seattle times about where our discards go once we're through with them. this subject never seems to die...and for good reason. said it before, will say it again: this ridiculous fast fashion cycle needs to END. people need to stop being slaves to goddamn trends. we (not to mention the earth?) would all be better off.

maternity style: finding inspiration...is it out there?

now that i'm with bebe and the belly is ever-growing, i've been doing a lot of thinking about maternity fashion (or the lack there-of) and how i am personally going to navigate this (rather short but ever-changing and expanding!) period of my life and state of my body with my personal aesthetic, individuality and identity intact. is such a thing possible? do i have to suffer through this time wearing hideous chintz muu-muus with gigantor bows or minging maternity trousers...or can i somehow make it work?

where can i even find inspiration for maternity style? is there any decent maternity wear even out there?? and, most importantly to me, is any of what that inspiration inspires accessible, attainable, and reasonably affordable?

so, i decided to go on a mission: quite recently, i began googling my fingers to the bone, and forced myself to wrack my pregnancy-addled mind. i started on a quest to look for and find about for maternity motivation via the rocking personal style of others who've been down a similar road, and have devoted myself to rooting out that which is awesome, sexy and cool to wear and to make, while simultaneously creating this little human.

over the next couple of posts (including this one), i'll be exploring maternity style, with focus on finding inspiration, making maternity duds oneself, and seeing what's available to-go out there (maternity-wise and otherwise) how it can all work together with some semblance of style. the aim? to ensure that i (and maybe you?) can remain lookin' good/and be myself (ourselves?) even after getting knocked up.

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(before i get started, this has to be said, lest someone pipe up and inundate me with links to the rich and/or famous: celebrities are NOT inspirational to me , while with child, or not. why? much of what they wear is out of the reach of the wallets of me and most, and most of the time their bodies (with child or not) are just as unattainable. let's face it, most of us don't have the body of nicole richie or most of her ilk, pregnancy or no. so what she and her super-famous sisterhood wears while in waiting is mostly irrelevant to me. beyond these few sentences, i refuse to even give the famous any more attention than they deserve. i find real women and what they can and do wear while their belly expands and contracts far more interesting.)

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the first place that came to my mind as far as maternity style/mama style inspiration is that always amazing maverick of the street fashion website world, hel-looks, my favorite street fashion site, EVER EVER, and the fact that they feature folks like this, in all stages and ages of life, makes me love them even more.

to my knowledge, hel-looks is one of the only street fashion websites to occasionally feature stylish pregnant women, or women/couples with their young children. there are only a few in the hel-looks archives, but seeing just these few makes me yearn to see more!

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(all three from hel-looks)

the first photo is a recent addition to that site, and the later two are a bit older, of the same family, approximately one year apart. clearly, style IS the domain of parents, if they would like it to be.

seeing these few photos begs the question: where are all the stylish pregnant women and new moms/families on other street fashion sites? beyond hel-looks, do they exist? or are they considered invisibles and untouchables, left to the wayside for the young, svelte and childless (much like the stylish though disabled vasiliisa mentioned a while back)?

i have also seen a few of pregnant ladies post their photos to wardrobe_remix now and again, and for that i am very proud. but, again, i wish there were more!

generally though, i had a hard time finding much of anything else as far as maternity inspiration goes via google. tis a pity.

you know what though? feel free to correct me on the lack of maternity street style inspiration supposition; i'd absolutely LOVE to hear about more/other street fashion sites that feature stylish pregnant women, new mommas, or families. perhaps i wasn't looking in the right places...your eagle eyes may have spotted something i hadn't.

but the important point is this: i think seeing other real women going through the same thing and remaining themselves and stylish is really important, and could be really powerful. at least, it would be for me. for the third time, GIMMIE more!

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i've also been thinking...do many women just plain drop out of the style stakes whilst pregnant? do they give up on it all, instead focusing on the baby instead (of course, a very worthy cause!), or do they sometimes give up because, despite the alleged claims of more offerings in maternity fashion of late, they just can't find pieces and clothing that suits both their personal style, budget *and* their current form? do they give up out of frustration? really, can anyone blame them? i certainly can't.

i can't help but think the latter bit plays a large part...the whole maternity fashion world, from what i've been able to glean, is one of extremes: okay, so maybe there's more stuff out there, but a lot of it remains expensive, especially for temporary wear. who can afford a closet full of that stuff? and sadly, the affordable options are limited in both quality and style. so, what to do?

while it's okay for others, i just don't want to sit back and just give in. who i am, how i put myself together, mother or otherwise, means a lot to me, and always has. i want to find a way to make maternity style work for me. and it is just that, how i hope to make it work, that'll explore from here on out.

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for those of you who've been (or are) pregnant, and survived with your personality and personal style intact, enlighten me, and the rest of us!

how did you manage? care to give the rest of us tips on how YOU made it work? where were your go-to spots for maternity fashion (actual maternity shops, or other sources you depended on)? chime in!

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to kick this whole thing off, some antenatal style linkage:

-i'm obviously not alone with this desire to want to remain me whilst becoming a mama: 'i still want to be me' (from the guardian).

-the pregnancy survival kit: maternity fashion victim: does having a baby mean you have to look like one? (from salon). love these two parts of the article, by writer christine pakkala:

"I left the store humbled and empty-handed. I had just learned The Secret Commandment of Pregnancy: Thou Shalt Not Look Sexy, Funky, Hip or Cool. After all, some designer figured, you're pregnant. You're big, bloated and bizarre. How can you be sexy?"

True, pregnancy and motherhood change us utterly, but it doesn't necessarily take away our personal sense of style, our sense of what makes us beautiful or our desire to be desirable.

-a NEW flickr group focusing on maternity style: pregnancy style (formed by flickr user/wardrobe_remix member juicifer...go join!)