if money was no object...

this week's if money was no object... is all about the graphic and the colorblocked!

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australia's dinosaur designs has been a long time favorite of mine as far as accessories go. they just relaunched their website and have been showing off their lovely, colorful jewels and home accessories for all the world to see! i think these orange teardrop-shaped slightly dangly earrings are simple and lovely and have an organic, almost tropical feeling:

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i've always had a fascination with all things medical and biological, particularly when they have to do with the human body. so i am particularly into these 19th century-inspired necklaces by etsy seller paraphernalia (from manchester in the UK), like this so-called 'anatomica tooth necklace'. it would be a particularly fitting homage to the 3 wisdom teeth i recently had removed. HAH! love the oversized images of these objects...it elevates them, gives them a reverent importance:

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i wasn't enthusiastically bowled over by much of the fall collections in the past month (yes, i finally looked), but if this fendi leather patchwork bag is not me, i am not sure what is!:

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i actually see this spirograph tee (from delia's) under this amazing marimekko supergraphic strapless frock (from anthropologie):

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these rainbow-y(!) colorblocked pumps from office in the UK are so loud and 80s in a way that i just love. i'll never own them (because of that damn exchange rate that punishes americans!) but i still like looking at them...:

you (inspire) me

the above photo mosaic and the prevalence of rainbows within it reminds me of my undergrad studies. i was an art major at the university of north florida, and in my last semester there during my final year i was doing an independent study printmaking course, under the tutelage of my printmaking professor. i was trying to come up with a concept for a project, and was showing my professor what i was thinking about, using some quick and dirty sketches in my sketchbook as illustration. one of them used every color of the rainbow. she was a very restrained artist herself, kind of bitchy frankly, and saw my little rainbow-y ideas, and shot me and the idea down, saying "that's too RAINBOW-Y."

you can take the girl away from the rainbow, but she'll always come back to it, if it's inside of her. frankly, it's what i like, and no bitchy person or their judgmental opinions can take that away from me.

i think it was about then that i truly started becoming obsessed with and falling in love with color...i became fascinated with how colors interacted with one another, and i started playing with color on my person and in my creative work, which i am still doing today. it was around that time that i also had pink and orange hair (both colors at the same time). ha! that was fun.

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other things that happen to be inspiring/entrancing me *right now*:

-the amazing little blog treats & treasures where the author, marieke, who's studying graphic design in amsterdam, netherlands shows off the contents of her sketchbook, and occasionally shares cute little knitting patterns, like this one, for a simple yet lovely scarf. -neet magazine. the idea of it, really. wouldn't it be great if more "fashion magazines" were online? for the people, by the people. a way to circumvent the often elitist magazine world and fashion world. also, it totally reminds me of zines and that whole movement back in the 1990s, as does blogging in general. -all my fashionable peeps over at wardrobe_remix, especially this gal and this gal and the way they put clothing together in general. -anything marimekko. -the concepts in joseph albers' book the interaction of color. -the look of acid wash, STILL. i'm starting to see it more and more in the stores. this tickles me to no end! i've been predicting this since 2004 or 2005. -geometry and geometric shapes. -clothes that combine simple lines and bright contrasting colors or clothes with interesting texture or piecing. -this knitting pattern for a bolero that features feather and fan. i can see them in bright, bright colors over my other bright, bright colors. and that acid wash above. hah HAH! i have some other knitting projects to attend to first, but i'm definitely giving that one a go sooner rather than later. -all of lisa congdon's work. period. end of story. -the thought of going to amsterdam, paris and bruges in may.

rare bird of fashion: the irreverent iris apfel

when stylehive interviewed me for their blog a while back, they questioned me about my style icons, and who they were/are. it's a great question! but honestly, i thought, what does that question mean? whose style do i like? whose style do i feel some affinity with? i feel as if the question sort of implies celebrities, people whose life and style are well-known.

truth be told, i find celebrities (including almost all current and former actors/actresses, models, musicians, and other "famous" folk) to be exasperatingly boring, and styleless. most don't have a clue how to dress themselves, and depend on equally clueless stylists to dress them, and the fashion world makes it easy for them, giving them first dibs on the fashions of the moment. no thinking is involved. they so often miss the mark, and don't exhibit any real personality. bottom line: celebrities don't arbitrate fashion for me, so by and large, they aren't even on my radar. i don't let them influence me or what i want or what i'm going to wear last season, this season, or any other that might occur in the future.

so, for the most part, i stand by what i said in the interview...in general, as a personal rule...real, stylish everyday folks are more interesting to me.

but iris barrel apfel, the irreverent and envelope-pushing new york city fashionista socialite and businesswoman, is an exception to my style icon rule...and for good reason: ms. apfel is a person who follows her own muse, makes her own trends, and is unabashedly unafraid of fashion. she is a dramatic, iconic woman who thinks about and delights in the art of fashion and the art of dressing up. she is a complete original...and is the rarest of the rare birds: an individual who embodies and displays the concept of cultivating TRUE personal style. for all these reasons and more, i consider her a style icon.

(images from the metropolitan museum of art/panache mag)

i fell in love with the style and wardrobe of ms. apfel following a large and amazing display of her bold clothing and accouterments at the metropolitan museum of art's costume institute in 2005, called rara avis: selections from the iris barrel apfel collection. after viewing the show, i was hopeful that there would be a catalog accompanying the show that i could purchase, as i wanted to be able to peruse her wardrobe and admire her style sass over and over again in the comfort of my home and studio. alas, no catalog or book, or even a paltry postcard commemorating the show was available at that time, much to my chagrin.

i was delighted to read recently that an expanded version of the aforementioned iris apfel exhibition has now been sent to the norton museum, in west palm beach, florida and is on view between february 25 through may 27 of 2007.

and...along with the show, a catalog has been created! the book is entitled rare bird of fashion: the irreverent iris apfel, and for those of us not privy to perusing the show hosted by the norton, it is available at amazon.com.

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