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Wow guys, this girl is amazing! By now you may or may not have realized I love bold architectural clothing and that means Alexandra Groover is right up my alley!

Look at her fabu designs!

And here is the stylish girl herself, wearing her 5-hooded sweatshirt, as photographed by the Sart:

Happy Weekend, Everyone!

[images from Alexandra Groover's blog and website]

Erte

Hello Sweetayzz!

Last night I watched a snippet of Oprah's interview with the Olsen twins when she did a show on tween moguls. How depressing. The twins have been running a multi-billion dollar empire since the age of 15 or something like that. The twins failed to show much personality or intelligence, but I forgive them because: a) it's Oprah b) they were visibly nervous and c) they can't be a day over 22. I wasn't exactly a font of poise at 22 -unlike those incredibly beautiful and intelligent girls Scarlet Johansen and Natalie Portman...who were.

If you are in love with the Olsen twins (even if it is very reluctantly and both feet planted firmly in the closet (like me)) you should check out this blog dedicated solely to them: Inside the Olsens Closet.

Anyhoo. Since starting my second semester of fashion illustration at school I've been researching famous fashion illustrators. I've already shown you my favorite thus far, Mats Gustafson, but I am loving Erte as well. Art deco, highly stylized, highly awesome, Russian born, French schooled. Nuff said.

He did an entire alphabet and letter series:

Z:
L:

G:

zer0:

Some others:

selection of a heart

seagulls - harpar's bazaar cover

bride

ebony and white

Yummy.

[images from erte.com]

The Hollow Women

Chalayan's SS09 collection reminded me of TS Eliot's "The Hollow Men" for a few reasons.

Chalayan describes his collection saying, "It's about the speed in our lives and how it can only result in a crash." In fact, as the models were walking the runway, the soundtrack was provided by the eerie melody of wineglasses that had previously been lowered onto the catwalk being played by fingers running around the rim.

At the end of the show the wind machines got louder and the lights flashed out just as all the glasses were smashed.

"This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper."



Chalayan's piece de resistance were 5 latex molded dresses that implied the blurring of shape that comes with high velocities:



"Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion."

Ultimately Chalayan was commenting on the current social and political state, which let's be honest, seems pretty dire but could definitely be worse:

"The eyes are not here
There are no eyes here
In this valley of dying stars
In this hollow valley
This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms"

Lower postage rate!

Just trying to get you excited about my lack of posts....Honestly, the recession is to blame. Ugh.

This will cheer you up: fun fact: cashmere comes from the chest hair of mongolian goats.

And also: Swedish born fashion illustrator minimalist guru Mats Gustafson:



(Above: Comme des garcons, '97 and '05)





(Above: Yamamoto)

The power of silhouette, color, mood, and most of all: simplicity.

He also did cut-outs:



There's something so great about the fact that in such a layered and flamboyant industry the narratives of collections and designers, etc. can be distilled down to such poetry.

This last one is the sky:




(Images from fig, the fashion spot, anti-corporation, and tatielle)

blogs away!

Sorry for the long delay in posting. It's been pretty crazy here and I've been too distracted for even the blogosphere to distract me.

But this beautiful jewelry from seller Lunasa on Etsy totally cheered me up:






I call the two above her Wild West Collection. One looks exactly like a beat up western saddle and is called "Cowgirl," and the silver dappled one is named after my favorite horse: "Appaloosa."


And isn't this cute? A mushroom ring!


But this totally takes the cake. Cast from a juniper pod from NM. Gorgeous!

skull-diggery

Bones were big for SS09. But the cool bone hoy dia is the spine/rib cage. Oh well, I guess Alexander McQueen can be forgiven because look:







Look closely at the details, because they are gorgeous:
I love the faux bois material and I love the white embroidery.







I even like his wiggly wooden root heels:

Alexander Mcqueen is in my top 10, no doubt about it. Once we're done covering the shows, we'll do top ten designers SS09 and now you know one of them.

P.S. Watch Leanne's audition video here to see LOTS of her really beautiful designs!

[Images from style.com]