still trying to take the camera out every day...trying to capture what catches my eye. this is clear: san francisco is a very colorful place.
i'm still posting to my tumblr blog almost daily. go look, it's all about what inspires me. :) what inspires you??
-the fashion industry and upscale designers whine and bitch and threaten suit when they are copied...and yet, they are so very often also guilty of copying other people's work themselves. sometimes rather blatantly. on that note, how the HELL is belgian designer martin margiela getting away with pretty much ripping off an iconic t-shirt silkscreen image almost exactly, and then charging $1395 for his version of said t-shirt? (via the la times) anyone else think that's pretty ridiculous, not to mention audacious? am i missing something? also...who is buying this t-shirt? aren't there better things to do with nearly $1400 in this day and age? just sayin'...
-those wardrobe_remix(ers)...they are such smarty-pants(es). they make a wardrobe_remix founder/mama hen so proud. *sheds tears* check out these deep questions they have been discussing over in the wardrobe_remix discussion forum of late: what makes your style distinct? and how would you start over? [if you somehow devastatingly lost your whole wardrobe?]
spill your thoughts on those deep questions here!
or, if you're so inclined, or join wardrobe_remix (if you haven't already!) and add your own thoughts to the aforementioned discussions, natch!
-as you might surmise, if you're a particularly astute reader, i'm not so much into discussing (or even wearing many of) the latest seasonal trends or regurgitating and picking apart the latest offerings in the way of mainstream designer wear or posting runway photos. i feel like that's usually best left to those who enjoy talking and digesting that sort of thing. instead, i find that i have more of a penchant for smart, high-level, conceptual discussion of all things fashion: fashion theory, fashion history, the business of fashion, how fashion and culture interact and influence one another, how real style really happens, and of course, how real (read: non-industry, non-famous) people dress and why they dress that way.
taking all that into account, either previously or now, you might guess that i am generally more interested in reading intelligent fashion blogs that concentrate on said subjects, and whose authors share at least some of my interests and ethos. sometimes i stumble across these smart blogs...and sometimes they find me. the latter is the case with threadbared, a fashion blog from the minds of "two clotheshorse academics who write and teach the politics of fashion and beauty"...one of their authors (mimi!) emailed me this morning to bring their blog, which focuses on said topics, to my attention. and hoo boy, i'm so happy she did. nevermore was a blog totally up my alley. thanks, threadbared!
prey tell: what are YOUR favorite *intelligent*, offbeat, and/or academic(!) fashion blogs? care to share? please, please, please?
thee quicke and dirtee:
-ever seen knitting maverick elizabeth zimmermann's february baby sweater? ever wished it came in big girl sizes? like, to fit a 'grown-ass woman'? well, wish no more: flint knits has designed an homage to said sweater, the february lady sweater! and it looks flipping amazing. the pattern is FREE. woo! if i can find the time sometime this lifetime, i want to knit one for me (and maybe a matching one for le bebe royal?).
-the summer 2008 issue of knitty is live. get knittin', kittens.
-i bought the latest issue of readymade just because i was obsessed the god's eyes on the cover! relatedly, design*sponge recently posted a tute on how to make them, here! you can't wear god's eyes...can you? :) maybe a teeny weenie one with thread and silver or gold "sticks" would make a cool necklace? yeah!! anyway, if nothing else, god's eyes are def. a lovely way to use up all the yarn you have left over from those other knitting and crochet projects...hmm!
-free people is running a bag design contest. check out the details on the contest rules and such-like here.
-swan diamond rose made a post this week that reminded me to mention zigzaggers...a cool blog i read about somewhere on the internets a while back. it's mission is to serve as a resource for those who own and buy used/old/vintage sewing machines. it's full of reviews and opinions on a myriad of machines. similarly, whether you're buying a used or new machine, it can't hurt to also check out the sewing machine reviews on patternreview.com.
-fan of knitty gritty on DIY, hosted by vickie howell? allegedly, there's some talk of canceling the show (can anyone confirm this?). not sure how much this will help, but apparently there's a petition to protest said cancelation and advocate for a better time slot for the show, here. probably wouldn't hurt to write a personal letter to the network, either, imo, if you really care.
it's been a while since i have done any book reviews! but a motherload of cool books as fallen into my lap (ouch!) lately, and i'm so enamored with these tomes, i feel like i have to show them off and share what i think is great about them. so be on the look out for some reviewed by me, for you! posts in the coming weeks, as i have time to make them. a peek at the books i am planning to give an overview on is here:
whee!
several weeks back, i got my hands on a super cool little jewelry-making title entitled junk jewelry, by jane eldershaw. ms. eldershaw, a jewelry designer who has worked for australian vogue, the new york post, and new woman magazine.
junk jewelry, in the simplest terms, is about elevating everyday or ordinary objects to the level of art, fashioning artistic jewelry, and then daring to wear said jewelry in an inspiring way on one's own body. not everyone will take a shine to making or wearing junk or trash-to-treasure jewels...but this book celebrates and inspires those who do. it's a positively sound little jewelry making book that differs from the typical jewelry-making book in a number of areas...particularly in its overall philosophy, approach, and execution...as i'll detail some below.
from the outset of her book, jane aims to educate, not just inspire. it's not merely a book with projects and pandering explanations...it's jam-packed with tons of food-for-thought and information from the get-go that go beyond the basics...it's really a course on art, art-making, and style.
junk jewelry is broken up into four parts. part one deals with the historic origins of junk jewelry, giving the reader and budding jewelry-maker/designer a little education on the trash-to-treasure movement, informing the reader on notable art trends that inspired and birthed a rage for junk/offbeat jewelry, particularly the dada and surrealist movements (many of the artists in said movements actually dabbled at jewelry design).
jane also highlights a litany of iconic fashion and accessory designers of past and present who used junk to great effect when creating their jewels, including elsa schiaparelli, karl lagerfeld, moschino, coco chanel, paul smith...and many more.
part two is all about the conceptualizing process. jane shows the reader how to think like an artist, and illustrates a myriad of artistic techniques, all to get the reader/budding designer's mind spinning. some of jane's suggested artistic techniques that i really adore and find really inspiring include "elevating the mundane to art status by isolating it" and "for unity, group by color shape or texture".
the third part of the book is the creating section...it's the part with all the projects. most of the projects jane has in the book are simple and spare in appearance, a tactic i think is really a great move, design-wise. showing off simple projects makes for easy completion, which is of course gratifying for beginners and appealing to minimalists, but i feel like keeping the projects and photography of said projects simple also looks visually clean, and gives those who desire the moremoremore a clear, inspirational jumping off-point for their own, more chaotic, or daring designs. said folks can look at a simple project or nicely shot photo and easily see where they'd care to add this or that, i.e., how they'd change the project to add their own idiosyncratic flair.
seen here is a peek at a few of the projects from the book that i particularly took a shine to:
the last bit of the book focuses on the wearing of junk jewelry...it's a little primer on the art of wearing your quirky baubles (handmade by you, or otherwise) with panache and attitude. here, jane touches on sound accessory and clothing styling principles that range from donning your jewels with an eye and mind for "suitability", focusing on a "focal point", or dressing around a "theme" (and several more, natch). said suggestions are so strong, they move beyond the styling of junk jewelry...they find relevance and context in the styling of oneself in general.
lastly..
i feel compelled to mention a nice bonus feature of junk jewelry that metaphorically speaks volumes about the book as a whole: from front to back/cover to cover, the book is peppered with great quotes, hand-selected by jane, that touch on art and art-making, as well as fashion, implying there is a strong thread between the two, a notion i wholeheartedly support and share. this implied relationship between art and fashion as seen in her book is, i'd guess, a reflection of what jane's ethos just might be...that making (junk) jewelry, and the results of said making, are not just fashion, they can also be art. in this book, she's not just showing you how to make jewelry or follow instructions on a project...she's giving you the tools to be artistic, *and* stylish, too. all in all, very, VERY cool.
bravo, jane!
also, for more smart junk jewelry-related goodness, check out jane's blog...