if money was no object...

yes, yes: it's been a while! with my recent vacation and pressing need to get some work done (for maker faire and other assorted jobs of a freelance variety), there's been little time to post, but time is back in my side again, at least temporarily. i'm back in the style saddle again! or something close to it.

needless to say, there's quite a big backlog of covetable items in my if money was no object... coffers!

this time time it's about the cute, colorful and cartoonish, versus the classic. i quite like combining the two. it's all about the juxtapositions, right?

***

first, the cartoonish:

these handmade fabric and felt pins by kookii:kooky of singapore are the epitome of cartoonish cute:

i imagine these adorning the chest or shoulder a rather simple dress, kind of like, well, the first of kooki's photos there! the simpler the frock, the better, because a brooch like that needs to stand alone to be appreciated to the fullest.

***

i'm totally enamored with the found object jewelry of grainne morton.

jewelry like this is idiosyncratic if not completely unique and is bound to get comments and catch eyes...the best kind of jewelry to wear, in my (not so?) humble opinion.

***

these 1940s reproduction leather peeptoe heels by remix vintage shoes are perfectly here and now, and huh, they just happen to come in two of my favorite hues!

what's old is new again, right?

***

to the classic!:

classic with a twist, that is! these earrings are the perfect balance of simple with a difference: the setting is minimal, but the gem is oversized. they remind me of a pair of brown clip-on oversized gem earrings i already own and unabashedly love, but these stunners, by jewelers conroy & wilcox are far more luxe:

***

i actually caved and bought this linen/cotton blouse, from j. crew, because i am in love with it's simple preppiness, and subsequent, implied versatility:

the rolled up, tabbed sleeves suggest casualness, as does the linen/cotton fiber mix (both are sort of wrinkly, and wrinkles looked relaxed and a touch disheveled, but in the good way). but then, it's also this buttoned-up, super-classic, part-of-the-canon-of-classic-pieces shirt, that looks totally put-together, too. i bought it to wear with pencil and circle skirts i am planning to make, tucked in and bloused out a bit to show off a cute belt, one i own, or perhaps one i will make. perhaps those skirts or belts will be a bit crazy, the way i like them! i can also think of a myriad of other ways to wear it, so therein lies the beauty of this particular blouse. see?

(as a related aside: i'm actually rather in love with j. crew as a concept. more on that in another post, perhaps. :D)

5.22.2007

shown here getting ready to go out and do a little thrifting, as it was allegedly supposed to be a somewhat warm day here in SF (around 70F). as i am in dire need of some exercise...i walked there (it's about 1.5-2 miles away). too much beer has been imbibed lately! bah!
-acid yellow scarf: shop on haight street -red sweaterdress: thrifted @ thrift town, SF -gold bracelets: thrifted @ thrift town, SF -vintage orange enamel flower pin: thrifted in florida. -gold/acrylic cocktail ring: designed by pierre boisset, bought in paris 2 weeks ago. -dark jeans: joe's jeans -red suede salvatore ferragamo flats: thrifted @ thrift town, SF

georgia o

for about six months now, i have loosely committed myself to reading biographies about artists, particularly women artists. this commitment is not one that started intentionally, it has merely become a serendipitous trend over the past several months, and i'm going with it. more something that i've stumbled upon, that i am really loving.

it started with frida kahlo, whose bio i devoured in december and january (or thereabouts). now, due to some chance finds at local san francisco thrift stores, i have moved on to georgia o' keeffe.

i absolutely adore reading about artists, particularly these women artists, and how their strong personalities and amazing life experiences affect their work. after reading the kalho book and nearly completing portrait of an artist, about o' keeffe, it occurred to me that these artists, and others like them (female or male), have at least one shared secret to their success:

they have a clear and nearly unwavering commitment to their own personal aesthetic vision, and to the way they want to live their lives. they have strong opinions about politics, art, and personal expression.

but what really excites me (from a fashion perspective) about these two women (and perhaps more women (or men!) artists i've yet to read about!) is this: in the case of both o' keeffe, and kahlo, there is a direct and strong connection between the art that they make, and how they express themselves through their personal being and personal style.

i wrote about kahlo and the artful way she dressed herself here. but i want to now turn to o'keeffe, whose simultaneously lush and passionate though controlled and ascetic style is evident even in her everyday attire.

here is a passage from portrait of an artist: a biography of georgia o' keeffe by laurie lisle concerning o' keeffe's unique fashion sense/ personal style, love of color, and amazing resourceful side that i particularly love and want to share with the world at large:

For years Georgia had stitched most of her simple clothes out of the finest fabric, often sewing when she wanted to think. She made luxurious white silk blouses, white cotton nightgowns with white embroidery, and petticoats edged with white lace. In cold weather she donned a black wool coat with a collar that buttoned up to her chin and black gloves of the best leather. At one time, she sported a pair of black bloomers under a tentlike black tunic. Throughout the years, when asked the reason for her monotone clothing -odd for a painter- she gave several, all with some truth to them. Once she said that if she began to choose colors to wear, she would not have time to pick any to paint. Another time she explained that she was so sensitive to color that if she wore a red dress, she would be obliged to live up to its flamboyance. She claimed she liked being cloaked in anonymity. "There's something about black," she remarked. "You feel hidden away in it." Deadly-serious black also served to transmit the message that she was not to be treated frivolously or flirtatiously. Also, she must have realized that if her clothes were one color, they would match and she would achieve a look of maximum elegance with a minimum of time and money.

O' Keeffe was a woman painter in an early-twentieth century modern art world that was undeniably dominated by men. In order to be taken seriously in this context, it seems to me that she embraced her propensity to be sort of masculine and strong through what she wore: what was primarily a wardrobe of black and white, luxurious but spare clothing. Over time, her hair was also worn in a very spare, even severe style, pulled back straight from her forehead. She wore little to no makeup, and plucked nary a hair. She unapologetically faced the world as she was, standing tall. Some even compared her to a nun. This front she created was significant and in marked contrast to what most other women in the late 19th and early 20th century donned: ladies of the day throughout many of a decade often wore vividly bright and flamboyant colors and patterns, depending on the fashion at the time. O' Keeffe wanted to set herself apart, wanted to appear almost mannish, wanted to lessen the importance of her clothing and let her powerful, colorful work take center stage.

however, it seems clear that in not wanting to indulge the fashion of the day, she embraced a particular, idiosyncratic personal style that she actually worked very hard to maintain, for most of the rest of her life. She cared greatly about how she would be perceived in the world at large and fashioned a look that reflected her persona and how she chose to make her art, but at the same time, never really conceded to the fashion trends of any of the decades she lived through (and they were many...she lived to her 90s!). she always stood steadfastly, even defiantly apart from the crowd, and did not mind that one bit.

***

next up on my reading list of women artists? this tome about coco chanel.

movies transformation female to malewebsites movie scriptmovies free scatpiss moviessoft porn moviesdisney messages subliminal in movie sexuallinks teen movie gaugetorture movies Map