chic simplicity

distracted

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:00:00 PDT

currently distracted by: - new technology - vintage chanel jewelry - dog tag necklaces (à la stephen webster, heather moore and especially black sheep and prodigal sons commission scrimshaw (on pre-ban vintage piano ivory/fossilized mammoth ivory!) mystic nostalgia... - finance figures - tim hamilton sheer silk tulip pants -flacons of serge lutens anything (almost seems that way)

[continue below. x.xx.]

ben gorham. byredo.

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:40:00 PDT

I went on to Colette to indulge my lace mania via Valentino (you know, just in case the French market was getting whatever was left over from this season's past exploration in fairy-like lace decadence) and Ben Gorham was giving me the 'look'!! I. love. this man! He does have a daughter, Ines, so perhaps he's married and I shouldn't say anything naughty. I will, however, say that if he had been wearing a dress shirt (in this Colette pic) *large air gulps* I would have had to take a time...

[continue below. x.xx.]

kelis. acapella.

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 10:18:00 PDT

because i love(d) kelis; naturally i'm only finding out about this video two months later. pop music flies by me. Ciao!x

[continue below. x.xx.]

lace. romance was born.

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:08:00 PDT

There's just so much going on, isn't there? Feverish excitement. What with Resort showings and London's Graduate Fashion Week collections (Hilary Alexander's reviews are keeping me grounded), I'm positively manic. Just looking at the (resort) pieces is like a welcome breath of crisp fresh air in what's already becoming a stifling summer up here. There's more craziness from the fact that: One, I'm standing on my tippy-toes trying to get a peek into the mobile tech sparring...

[continue below. x.xx.]

black. and white.

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:43:00 PDT

This is a sham of a post. By that I mean, I'm hardly writing more than four sentences. Okay maybe more. While I really do want to rave about these Sharon Wauchob dress available in black and white (both of which I must. have. if it's the last thing I do), I've a meeting in half an hour. Can we just talk about the turnover cum falling neckline at the back? Can we say modern day romantic decadence? Thank you Reborn for being my sanctuary. You may not realize how often I'm daydreaming about...

[continue below. x.xx.]

the short on shorts

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Mon, 31 May 2010 10:42:00 PDT

I love shorts. However, I do sincerely feel like I can't justify paying over a certain price (twenty bucks) for a pair of shorts. My reasoning's something like this: except a pair of shorts, I mean the short shorts variety, is in itself a fashion statement — which let's face it, is usually less than 15% of the time — it just shouldn't be that expensive. Now, since it is not a fashion statement, it is merely a piece of fabric to protect my derrière and uphold my arbitrary claim to...

[continue below. x.xx.]

moving.

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Mon, 31 May 2010 10:06:00 PDT

i'm going to try to move my memoirs over to wordpress. it may take forever. meanwhile, sale season starts. shop wisely. if you wouldn't buy it for whole price, think carefully before you buy it on sale. tender kisses.

[continue below. x.xx.]

gilt fingers

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Tue, 25 May 2010 10:42:00 PDT

I came across this finger ring over the weekend when I found myself on tumblr wondering a million things about the utility of the site. I thought I saved the tumblr page, but apparently not. (I've just been looking, but no swish!!) But I did 'like' the Cornelia jewelry page of facebook, a means of avoiding my ever-growing bookmarks, I 'spose. I love this ring very much because I never paint my finger nails — I'd rather plain finger nails than a glaringly chipped one every few...

[continue below. x.xx.]

five brilliant summer jackets. (men: oki-ni)

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Mon, 24 May 2010 05:50:00 PDT

So when the tide turns and the women begin to get naked at the merest peek of the sun's rays, I think the men should oblige and add a little something extra to their ensembles. And I'm not talking the ubiquitous pastel polo that every tom, dickster and harriet is and will be sporting soon. I'd love to see a few more men in these... (all available at the oki-ni emporium, jackets section) This is so girl-meets-boy-girl-takes-boy's-jacket-and-they-live-happily-ever-after...

[continue below. x.xx.]

global gathering: from how to spend it. (ft style mag)

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Thu, 20 May 2010 11:19:00 PDT

These have got to be the one of the most beautiful styled works I've seen in a bit. Okay, quite a lot of people do sweet things with editorials; so it has to be the vibrant colors and patterns that made me gasp with pleasure upon seeing the images, there's no way to describe it. I want to be the woman who owns half these clothes. Mission impossible sta(r)ted. Go. (The sweater Alex Wek wears in pic 5, (maroon, white print is by Duro Oluwo and available on Couture Lab, not too crazy...

[continue below. x.xx.]

a disappearing act in five scenes: the case of dissolvable wedding gown

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Wed, 19 May 2010 13:54:00 PDT

At three o'clock in the morning, one is bound to find the most fascinating happenings. (I mean this with the utmost sincerity — the part about the fascinating endeavours (to which people commit themselves).) I fall very fast head over heels in love peppered with rapturous pleasure and mixed with a good helping of reverential awe — at least for the few moments when a piece of clothing or artwork catches my fancy. Immediately, I want to be BFFs with the person behind the...

[continue below. x.xx.]

pretty knits. mark fast.

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Sat, 08 May 2010 17:16:00 PDT

Last fall, I fell for this Mark Fast skirt (pictured left). Given that I've a love-hate relationship for hair/hair-y textures as adornments or clothing attachments, this skirt was one piece for which I fell hard and, decidedly, without any reservations. Brown's — which carried the skirt at the time— was the only place that any of the designer's pieces anyhow back then; I'd searched, but while there was a slowly whirring buzz with each successive search, I'd never find...

[continue below. x.xx.]

luxury personified. celine handbags 2010

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Tue, 04 May 2010 13:58:00 PDT

Just when I thought I'd narrowed my faves down to four (haha! choices!! choices!!) simple, albeit rather pretty and very capable-looking totes — the Fendi Peekaboo, Lanvin Toucouleur, Balenciaga Papier and the Hermès Cabag GM totes — the Céline S/S totes slipped back into my consciousness. When I first came across a matte black piece in early January, I didn't want to touch it. I'd already failed the first rule of avoiding temptation; thou shall not let thine eyes linger. Touching would simply...

[continue below. x.xx.]

sometimes only a woman could 'get' you so well...

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Tue, 04 May 2010 05:41:00 PDT

Who is Yvonne Beever and why do I want her as my adoptive fairy godmother?? Without having ever seen me, she's captured my only true,and beloved! form of what may or may not be termed 'exercising'. She must have seen me do it, slipped into my room... Watched. How else would she have known? I mean, I simply thought I put on such a show — many a-time, it might as well be noted (Me, espied.) These — the rest of the collection at 20ltd —could be anyone of you. There's a...

[continue below. x.xx.]

a lesson in flawless fluidity: roksanda ilincic

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Mon, 03 May 2010 10:14:00 PDT

As I reminisce over the recently paraded collections of this season — just making their way into shops — I'm fundamentally drawn to Roksanda Ilincic's series. In typical fashion, she continues her love affair with satin woven fabrics and manages to create chic easy pieces that are finished beautifully. I find with satin it could all go wrong very easily; a simple cut or seam requires a more delicate exactness, an expertise in wielding this particular fabric or one ends up with an unsightly...

[continue below. x.xx.]

fashionable transduction. iris van herpen

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Sat, 01 May 2010 13:41:00 PDT

There's something in the North Sea waters, which presumably supply the Swedish, Dutch, Danish and Norwegians etc. How else do I explain the intoxication with intricate lines and symmetry of a significant number of designers from the region; which it turns out they're very capable of incorporating into beautiful articles of clothing. And very wearable too. Sandra Backlund (oh my!) and Viktor & Rolf pop to mind immediately. With such abstract terms as Synesthesia (A/W '10) and Radiation...

[continue below. x.xx.]

in print. prada.

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:09:00 PDT

Since we're on the topic of beautiful prints, and all and sundry is clamouring for the a ride on the mix-print bandwagon, I thought I'd share the prettiness that is a capsule in the Prada SS 2010 collection (UK Vogue). It's simultaneously delicate and elegant, and the dresses!! — for the name — are relatively well-priced. What's with all these a-tad-above-reach-but-not-completely prices?!! I do so love the quilted bags (£710). Okay, and the dresses (£425-£475). and ballerinas (£235). Well...

[continue below. x.xx.]

skin alive

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 08:07:00 PDT

I don't think I can adequately describe how I feel about the skin print series in Alexander McQueen's SS 2010 collection. I've been staring at this decadently bunched top/jacket and all I can say is pure awesome.ness. I know. I absolutely detest the gross overuse of the word (awesome) *accompanied by the bobbing head that tends to follow it* but, in this case... Seriously! If snake print ever looked so enchanting!: the luxurious richness of the varied colors, precisely gathered to bifurcate...

[continue below. x.xx.]

figs: threads for threads. ties and bow ties.

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:46:00 PDT

I am a sucker for fashion philanthropy under the kindly umbrella of social entrepreneurship. And if it's got bows as pretty as you'll see here — notwithstanding that said bows are umm... for men — I'm all for it and will find away to partake of the prettiness. Sending up a whisper of thanks for the little man in our — my sisters and I — lives, our tween bro, who will continue to have his clothes picked out by us for a while forever. Ohh... and my imaginary future hubby!! Mwahaha. FIGS is...

[continue below. x.xx.]

(fine) nail art

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 11:22:00 PDT

Even as I key in the post title, there's a hint of a naughty smile spreading across my lips. Deceptive. It's nothing to do with the laughable scrolls you've decided to sport on a centimeter sq of your fingers and/or toes this summer, which your mind conjures up on reading the title; instead it's got everything to do with your shoes! After over a decade working in TV, Rob Goodwin returned to school (CSM, natch) to learn how to make shoes and good thing he did. It's a new take on...

[continue below. x.xx.]

dover street market 2nd ever sale!!

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 08:12:00 PDT

Well well well... It's all I can say with the untimely communication of this little mailer. I can only begin to imagine the dreamy chaos that the London Newcastle Old Depot will be transofrmed into — revered vintage and unsold pieces from Givenchy, Lanvin, Roberta Furlanetto, Anne Valerie Hash, Alaïa, YSL, the (biggie here!) entire Comme des Garçon collaborations and range... 70-80% off!!! I ache. X.XX.

[continue below. x.xx.]

couture lab: karry'o jewellery.

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 21:53:00 PDT

Distracted by the number of tabs and windows I manage to get going when I settle in for some good fashion foraging on the interwebs — which, simply, is always — it wasn't for another good hour that I returned to the CoutureLab window. After a few moments of "she'll-love-this!" "i-still-haven't-given-her-a-gift!" and planning my imaginary apt via the Home e-section, I was admiring Beavaldes's jeweled bag. It's sort of a habit, when I visit the Lab; musing about how pretty these beaded bags are...

[continue below. x.xx.]

beautiful kenyan (inspired) prints. SUNO ny

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 10:28:00 PDT

In this instant, I want to be, literally, in this model's shoes. The calm of the ethereal locale merely punctuated by a whispering flutter in the delicate shoulder ruffles of her blouse; the colors and the patterns — a cheerful interjection. Now, what does one say about Max Osterweis, a man who is all fashion goodness through and through? Thing is, I remember calling my uhh (Kenyan) friend when the designer launched his SUNO line in 2008. We had the requisite ethical fashion-fashionably...

[continue below. x.xx.]

revolve. recycle. save.

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 07:17:00 PDT

I stopped wearing jeans about five years ago. Actually let's make that all trouser or pant pieces — I've tried to make the preceding phrase sound less dirty/odd. Imagine if I'd said, "...stopped wearing all trousers or pants..." uhh what?!1 Anyhow, after a series of spring-cleaning battles last month, I unearthed heaps of jeans that simply hadn't seen the light of day in years. They are now neatly folded. In a box. In the spare closet in the living room. I think I can remember which just by...

[continue below. x.xx.]

sheer serendipity. rachel freire.

noreply@blogger.com (xx.e) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 08:32:00 PDT

Incoherent. I wished I smoked. Gauloises? Is there an easier way to upload pictures unto my memoirs or am I just terribly stupid and masochistic?!! (That's not the term I'm looking for; I'm not deriving any sort of pleasure from the annoyingly tedious and (ulna)bone-twisting process!) I can't bear to be hot (temperature-wise) at bedtime. Has the ash made London warmer?? I'm almost holding my breath; waiting for a plop of rain drop on my nose each time I step out (into the deceptively cooler...

[continue below. x.xx.]

Links for 2008-08-15 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:00:00 PDT

Links for 2008-08-07 [del.icio.us]

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:00:00 PDT

Links for 2008-07-30 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PDT

Links for 2008-07-24 [del.icio.us]

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PDT

chic simplicity - a fashion memoir: must-have: cazal sunglasses

Links for 2008-07-21 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PDT

Links for 2008-07-16 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PDT

chic simplicity - a fashion memoir: the art of pretty dresses (vicente villarin)

Links for 2008-07-14 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PDT