Too Gallant

Cardboard Safari

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 16:30:00 +0000

For those that want the prestige of a mounted head on their wall, but don't have a long lineage of blue-blooded relatives to inherit from (or a taxidermist on speed-dial), step in Cardboard Safari. The ethical brand produce a whole series of 'mounted trophies' from recycled cardboard. There are also skull-inspired designs, for those who want to take their macarbre home decor one step further... a goth is for life, not just for Halloween, kids. All available from eco-fashion site Fashion Conscience.

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 23:21:00 +0000

"Girls fantasize about school trips to galleries

And men who don't meet their parents' expectations

Who want to introduce them

To illicit Russ Meyer films

And dance 'til dawn to old Kinks records"

- The Long Blondes, Fulwood Babylon

Despite having these song lyrics ingrained in my heart (not to mention my Last.fm chart), only last night was I introduced to illicit Russ Meyer films - faced with an internet connection gone haywire I rummaged through my hard drive and upturned Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

A black and white 1965 experimental film about a violent troupe of large-breasted go-go dancers, it drips with style as much as it does attitude and wit. I'm particularly besotted with the Bettie Paige-fringed ring-leader Varla, a feisty seductress who in the space of one day breaks the neck of a macho boy-racing type, hurls a dagger into the back of her accomplice, mows down a wheel-chaired old man and crushes a weight lifter against a wall with her sports car.*

*Disclaimer: Too Gallant does not endorse violent behaviour of any kind, even if it is towards boy racers, misogynist old men, treacherous blondes and weight-lifters

Famous blue raincoat

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:54:00 +0000

One of my besties in high school always donned a blue duffel coat throughout the winter months, which we affectionately dubbed The Paddington Bear Coat. But the appeal of blue outerwear extents far beyond that of everyone's favourite Peruvian bear. There is the mythical blue raincoat of Leonard Cohen (which was apparently based on a coat Mr. Cohen acquired for himself from Burberry in 1959). And this season, there is this Bernice cocoon coat from Diane von Furstenberg.

With its oversized lapels and loose, mannish shape, the garment achieves a level of comfort and slouchiness to hide away in come darker (and colder) days, yet the opulent bright blue hue render it strikingly fashion forward: a seldom found combination. (I am inclined to add, however, that the €1000 price tag means it really should double up as a statement wardrobe piece alongside a cocoon of comfort).

Other desirable takes on the slouchy blue outercoat come from:

Rag & Bone, €948.55 from Saks Fifth Avenue

Sonia Rykiel, €655.56 from Bloomingdales

Versace, €2159.93 from Nordstrom

Jil Sander, €1670.03 from Sak's Fifth Avenue

Michael Kors, €1697.71 from Nordstrom

So there you have it: Paddington Bear, style icon for AW11/12. Whoddda thunk it?

Grace Coddington c.1975

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 18:10:00 +0000

It's no secret that stylist-extraordinaire Grace Coddington used to hold her own on the other side of the lens. My imagination is captured particularly by these luscious and previously unseen images from the mid-seventies, taken by her then-husband Willie Christie.

P.s. If you haven't see any of Christie's other work before, do check it out. It's as rich, sensual and evocative as these beauties. Throw in that other past-muses include Jerry Hall and you quite possibly have the ultimate capturer of seventies glamour.

Buffalo Stance

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 14:27:00 +0000

When Neneh Cherry burst onto the scene in 1989 singing "we all stand in a Buffalo stance", she brought to the mainstream a very distinct style which had been bubbling under the surface throughout the eighties.

"Who's that gigolo on the street
With his hands in his pockets and his crocodile feet
Hanging off the curb, looking all disturbed"

"That's the girls on the block with the nasty curls
Wearing padded bras sucking beers through straws
Dropping down their drawers, where did you get yours?"

But what was Buffalo style? A little bit rude boy, a little bit raggamuffin, and very much androgenous, the style was mostly seen in the pages of magazines like The Face and i-D, in shoots by the style's founding father, Ray Petri, and his friends. It was the antithesis of the slick, yuppy-ish dressing that had dominated mainstream eighties fashion. Petri and co shunned big labels, and embraced experimentation - it was "smokin, not cokin" in the words of Cherry.

Ray Petri sadly died of AIDs in 1989, the same year 'Buffalo Stance' stormed the charts. However I think his influence as a stylist has only grown since then - the Buffalo style is still very much living on as far as I can see...

From various magazines (but mostly The Face):

Further reading:
"The Man Who Dressed a Decade" by Kathryn Flett, The Observer, 2000

P.s. this blog post was definitely NOT the productive high-point of an afternoon spent lying in the sun and listening to late eighties hip hop.

Common Ground: fashion and architecture

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 16:44:00 +0000

Fresh from the triumphal launch of Thread magazine (where you will also find articles by yours truly, so please do pick up a copy), the work of superstylist Aisling Farinella and her trusty go-to photographer Rich Gilligan will also be on exhibition at Dublin's 28 South William Street this week. This time their attention will be turned to the links between fashion and architecture, under the title 'Common Ground'.

Watch yourself a sneak preview here:

G.H. Mumm Common Ground from Conor & David on Vimeo.

The exhibition will run from July 13th - 19th.

Couture, and its visual cues

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 22:50:00 +0000

Couture collections are always the most mesmerizing. This is of course largely due to the no-expenses-spared approach to detailing, but also I generally think couture collections have the best points of reference - and will explore these references in more daring ways.

Here are some of my favourite looks from this years' Autumn/Winter couture collections so far, and some of the visual inspirations that may lie behind them...

Christian Dior - pierrots

I have a thing about pierrots. Every year I consider dressing up as one for Halloween just so I can do my make up like one, then realise I don't have anything to wear for the dress (I always decide on costumes at the last minute, and with a minimal/non-existent budget). If someone wants to buy me this Dior creation, I'd be happy to actualise my pierrot plans this year. Thanks.

Alexis Mabille - Robin Hood

Alexis Mabille wasn't the only designer to drawn upon medieval points of references - as you will see - but he was the only one to take medieval menswear as his inspiration. This look in particular was very Robin Hood.

Illustration by Louis Rhede

(Interestingly enough, I've also pondered dressing up as Robin Hood before. Maybe this is why I like couture collections so much - it's a goldmine for fancy dress ideas.)

Giambattista Valli - Rogier van der Weyden

For his debut couture collection, Valli gaves us the feminine ruffles we love from ready to wear collection - topped off with headwear like that found in a Rogier van der Weyden portrait. This one dates from c. 1460.

Armani Prive - ukiyo-e prints

Armani Prive went for a very Japanese aesthetic for this collection - so woodblock prints are a natural source of inspiration. Many ukiyo-e prints depict women from the infamous 'Pleasure Quarters' of Edo (Tokyo), such as this one by Utagawa Kunisada: I guarantee there were some similar images on the moodboards for this collection.

Givenchy and Valentino - Queen Guinevere

There were lots of similarities between Givenchy (left) and Valentino (right)'s couture collections. The long, elegant silouhette. A tendency towards a lighter palette, despite it being an Autumn/Winter collection. A weightless aesthetic, aided by sheers and chiffons. Natural, dewy make up. Breath-takingly intricate detailing. All of these point towards the same woman: Queen Guinevere, painted here by William Morris.

Chanel - Boy George

Okay. I admit it. This probably isn't the aesthetic that Chanel hoped to evoke in their couture collection. But it really was the first image that popped into my mind when I saw that hat/eyewear combo. And now I can't think of anything else when I look at it.

Elie Saab - Ginger Rogers

Elie Saab's collection oozed thirties glamour, just like Ginger.

Jean Paul Gaultier - Roxy Music, and Art Nouveau

Finally, Jean Paul Gautier's collection was a diverse one. Though the eighties make up was a constant (hello Boy George again), different looks reminded me of radically different departure points. Amongst these, Roxy Music's iconic album cover for For Your Pleasure, and Art Nouveau illustration...

Markus Lupfer Resort 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 13:47:00 +0000

I've been posting up a lot of fashion films lately, but I think this one might be my favourite so far. Whilst most explorations of the medium have taken on the form of an art film - set to music, with no dialogue but lots of delish visuals - Markus Lupfer has taken the fashion film one step further by creating a light-hearted mockumentary style clip to promote his Resort 2012 collection.

The collection itself is looking good - knitted dresses and stripe detailing in greys, mustards and emerald greens. The early sixties aesthetic of the clothes is complemented by lashings of mid-century inspired graphics (this in itself is enough to make me swoon). Topped off with a star-studded cast (Sadie Frost and Florence Welch both appear) and a dark sense of humor, Lupfer's film really brings the collection to life.

I have to confess. I also enjoy this film because it begs the inevitable question 'which Lupfer girl am I?' making me feel like I'm fourteen and posting up quiz results to my MySpace page again.

And which one am I?

Undoubtedly Valentine.

The birds, the birds...

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 23:42:00 +0000

My last post highlighted the use of taxidermied birds in Orla Kiely's bewitching video lookbook. And it seems it's not only here that birds have cropped up - they're having quite the fashion moment.

Not only do they adorn the dresses in Miu Miu's autumn/winter ad campaign...

...they appear on the ever-controversial cover of Love magazine's autumn/winter edition.

Though bird motifs can be the epitome of twee, most of the ones I've seen so far are more on the sinister side. This isn't the first time the trend has come around - as Into the Fashion duly pointed out in this blog post, Gareth Pugh and Alexander McQueen are just two designers to have worked eery bird designs into their collections in the past.

I can't conclude this blog post without mentioning how much these creations remind me of Polly Morgan's art. The London eccentric is a registered taxidermist and frequently utilises (ethically sourced) birds in her pieces....

Creeped out yet???

Orla Kiely AW11 film

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 15:09:00 +0000

Styled by Lula editor-in-chief Leith Clarke and directed by Mercedes Helnwein, this video lookbook is perfection... I love the Orla Kiely girl it portrays - bookish but mischievous, twee but with a dark side. And as for those birds? I think we have a clear point of reference here.

Toulouse-Lautrec and Jane Avril: Beyond the Moulin Rouge

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 13:26:00 +0000

Jane Avril's flinchingly high kick on the poster for her Jardin de Paris performance is perhaps the most defining image of turn-of-the-century Paris. Even at the time, Avril credited the Toulouse-Lautrec designed poster with launching her career, and now it's become one of the most widely reproduced posters of all time.

However most peoples' knowledge of the enigmatic dancer largely ends here (unless they rely on the heavily fictionalised story based on her life in Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge - which they really shouldn't). Like so may of the icons from this era (which is why this is probably my favourite era to learn about), her life was full of vibrancy, tragedy, mental illness and intrigue. The daughter of an abusive alcoholic courtesan, Avril (then Jeanne Richepin) fled home aged thirteen only to be incarcerated in a mental asylum. She was diagnosed with Syndenham's chorea, a condition characterised by the rapid, jerking movements of the hands and feet. At one of the balls held for hospital patients, however, she astounded her doctors and fellow patients with her dancing: Avril channelled her ailment into the medium of dance, explaining her infamous eccentric style and later earning her the nickname La Mélinite (after a powerful form of explosive).

A newly opened exhibition at the Courtauld Institute explores this lesser known aspect of Jane Avril's life, presenting research on the links between contemporary theories of female mental illness and hysteria and Avril's dancing. It will also explore the close relationship with Toulouse-Lautrec which blossomed alongside her dancing career after her release from the asylum aged 16. Their close friendship is revealed by the more personal and subdued portraits of Avril that Toulouse-Lautrec painted: revealing the complex and melancholic figure which lay behind the celebrated performer.

Illustrating Joyce

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 17:47:00 +0000

Seeing as though today is Bloomsday, and this blog is obviously a little indebted to James Joyce (anyone who thinks Too Gallant is named after the band should probably stop reading at this point), I figured there's good room for a Joyce-related post.

I've actually stumbled across two websites dedicated to illustrating Joyce's novels recently - www.joyceimages.com, which illustrates Ulysses using period images and documents; and also Wake in Progress, a blog which aims to illustrate Finnegans Wake (but is, unsurprisingly, a work in progress). Just to, y'know, put to shame those of us who've failed to finish even reading either of these tomes (I profess, Finnegans is still on my 'to read' pile, and I seldom come close to crossing it off that list).

I'm not sure if breaking the texts down line-by-line and presenting them with accompanying images makes them more accessible, or just demonstrates even further the complex nature of the works in question. But if you have even just a passing interest in Joyce, both the sites are both well worth a gander. Here's some samples (click to enlarge!):

Ulysses

The illustrated Ulysses uses contemporary images to accompany lines from the text - sometimes these are very literal, some not so. Expect lots of vintage photographs (particularly of Dublin), newspaper cartoons and nouveau illustrations.

Finnegans Wake

Conversely, Steven Crowe, the Wake in Progress blogger, creates his images from scratch ("except for that stuff that James Joyce did", naturally). Crowe draws upon almost as wide a pool of cultural references as Joyce does in this series - with designs referencing everything from the Bayeaux Tapestry to tube maps.

Chloe Sevigny x Opening Ceremony Resort 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 12:13:00 +0000

Chloe Sevigny's style can be kinda hit and miss for me. When she gets it right, she gets it really right, and when she get's it wrong... well you catch my drift. I feel very similar about her line for Opening Ceremony. The Resort 2012 collection, which was presented on the runway this week, fluctuates dramatically between sartorial splendor and catastrophe.

The collection itself revolves loosely around a high school theme, opening with cool college jackets and gym-skirt inspired numbers. The capacious room housing the runway show (Sevigny's debut) was done out to resemble those sports halls we all dreaded at age 14. However it soon departs from the confines of the schoolhouse to include a flurry of other mischievous but unnervingly youthful looks. Pouffy sleeves, stiffly starched skirts and punch-hole detailing bring to mind the Lolitas of Harajuku, or Gretel stumbling towards a succulent manor of gingerbread and sugar cane.

But while the concept is engaging, and the detailing beautiful, Sevigny's range doesn't always quite master proportion, cut and shape. A couple of the looks just seem askew, or sit unflatteringly on the models' frames (which, even though Sevigny didn't cast deathly thin models to walk her collection, still shouldn't be the case - they're still models after all).

Nevertheless, most of the collection was a hit in my eyes. Here's some of the highlights!

Kathy Kirby and signature styles

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Thu, 26 May 2011 14:48:00 +0000

My hairdresser referred me today as "the one who always wears red lipstick."

"Like Kathy Kirby," he mused, standing over the sink in which my hair was immersed. "You'd be too young to remember her, wouldn't you? She died last week."

I Googled Kathy Kirby when I got home, and sure enough the late starlet (a sixties songstress, if you too are too young to remember her) always donned a glossy pout of bright red.

Being defined solely by the colour of my lipstick has made me acutely more aware of how easy my style is to break down.

Red lipstick, a menswear top, pencil skirt, black tights and brogues = a good 90% of my outfits. I have two signature scents which I wear on rotation, but they're both by the same brand. My hairstyle has changed little for over a year, bar growing a bit longer between cuts. I own few items which aren't either black, white, grey or red.

To a certain extent, my restricted sense of style is financially related - I don't get to spend much money on clothes, so when I do, I tend to buy things I know will go with the rest of my wardrobe (hence the masses of monochrome and red). But I also think there's also an appeal in finding a look that best encapsulates who you are and sticking to it - like Edie Segdwick, with her uniform of leotards, black tights and chandelier earrings; Vita Sackville West in her menswear; Coco Chanel's tweed skirtsuit and pearls; or Kathy Kirby's bright red lips.

I like to think I take a bit from each of these - the boyishness of Vita thrown in with ladylike Coco, and the monochrome of Edie topped off with Kathy's red. Which essentially makes my 'signature look' an appropriation of various others' signature looks - and thus, not really 'mine' at all. I'm not sure if that's post-modern or another sign of sartorial laziness.

What's your thoughts on 'signature styles'? I'd love to see some comments on here!

Dress up: Scarlett Johansson reworks the stars of early cinema

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Tue, 24 May 2011 20:36:00 +0000

I'm not usually keen on celebrity-orientated fashion editorials, but this one is kind of exceptional. It features Scarlett Johansson dressed up as some vintage stars of the screen, shot by Tim Walker. The styling is delish, and I've a bit of a penchant for the early stars of cinema, so naturally I love the concept...

Marlene Dietrich

Buster Keaton

Though Scarlett looks mesmerising as Marlene Dietrich, I'm also loving this Buster Keaton shot. It has a psychological intensity not often found in the pages of glossy fashion mags (the shoot was published by W magazine); it's not particularly flattering and you'd never guess it was Scarlett Johansson.... told you I didn't like sleb focused shoots.

I also like the way they went with stars not usually covered by fashion editorials. I've seen dress ups portraying the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Brigitte Bardot too many times to mention, but never Sarah Bernhardt - despite the actress's fascinating life and striking appearance. (In fact, expect a Bernhardt blog post over the next few days - seeing this has reminded me how awesome she is).

Sarah Bernhardt

Guilietta Masina

The Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Sat, 21 May 2011 17:04:00 +0000

The end of the world might not have arrived as prophesied (not yet at least), but today did see The Hepworth Gallery open its doors. The UK's biggest modern and contemporary art gallery outside of London, the Hepworth piques my interest not just because its an exciting project in itself, but because it's situated in my hometown of Wakefield - which, to be frank, rarely gets much in the way of cultural attractions.

Some of the works by Barbara Hepworth in the permanent collection

The gallery is of course named after Barbara Hepworth, who was born in the city; her works constitute a large part of the collection. Other highlights include Henry Moore (stemming from nearby Castleford); John Skeaping and Ben Nicholson (both at some point spouses of Hepworth); a Mondrian and a Turner. At the moment, there's also a great temporary exhibition of works by Eva Rothschild.

Sculptures by Barbara Hepworth outside the gallery

There was also some entertainment put on for today, including a band playing inside one of the gallery's specially commissioned artworks, many balloons, and also these two unicycled chaps zipping about.

Is the project a success? Well, time will only tell how successful it will be at bringing tourism to Wakefield. But the building is spacious and incredibly well designed, and the collection impressive. As far as modern and contemporary art institutions go, this is one of the best I've seen.

Oscar de la Renta Resort 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:55:00 +0000

Oscar de la Renta's Resort 2011 collection - with its bold prints, bright colours and beautifully structured shapes - is bound to be a hit. The collection is allegedly inspired by Picasso's Cubist period, and some of the prints certainly hint towards this influence...

But whilst I can see a resemblance in terms of the shapes, the colours used by de la Renta are far more opulent than the sombre palette of browns and greys favoured by Cubist-era Picasso. Tonally, if not always geometrically, the collection also bears more than a passing resemblance to the cut out works of Matisse.

Uncanny no?

Louise Bourgeois on fabric

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Sat, 14 May 2011 10:17:00 +0000

Almost a year on from her death (RIP, 'Maman' of contemporary art), a new New York exhibition has opened celebrating Louise Bourgeois's rich artistic output. Though Bourgeois is most famous for her large-scale sculptural installations, such as her 1999 Maman (a 30 foot high spider), this exhibition, at Cheim & Read, will focus solely on her textile based works.

Textiles have a special importance for Bourgeois. Growing up, her parents were dealers and restorers of antique tapestries; lending the medium a filial significance. Just as her father's infidelities and the resulting strain on her parents' marriage would haunt her forever, constantly resurfacing in her emotionally-dense artworks, the textiles they worked with also never quite left her consciousness.

In this series, created during the last eight years of Bourgeois's life, the artist utilises discarded towels, sheets, clothes and other fabrics from her personal collection to create both 'drawings' and 'sculptures' that explore themes of motherhood, sexuality, marriage, femininity and domesticity. The intimate nature of the fabrics she works with - all embedded with memories (she once declared "Clothing is...an exercise of memory") - coupled with the parental association with textiles stretching back to early childhood, render this series of works an intensely personal experience, as well as a visual spectacle.

All images from Cheim and Read

McQueen at The Met

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Tue, 03 May 2011 11:22:00 +0000

Less than a week on from wowing the world with that dress (or rather - those dresses: Pippa Middleton seems to have commanded as much attention as her royal sister if this Facebook page is anything to go by), the McQueen brand name is set to become even more interlinked with 'the establishment', with the opening of a large-scale exhibition at New York's Met Museum.

Though the exhibition will focus on the late Lee Alexander McQueen, rather than the designs of his successful-successor and royal-couturier Sarah Burton, some of the designs that will be on show serve as a reminder just how bizarre/ironic it really is to see the McQueen name catering for HRH. Collection titles like 'Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims' and 'Highland Rape' demonstrate Lee's love of controversy. And then there are the many anecdotes attached to his name (such as the time he turned up at a party with a bucket of cocaine), which will no doubt be omitted from the prestigious exhibition. It's hard to think of anything further from the bland inoffensiveness of Kate Middleton.

But seen as though the Middleton/McQueen incompatibility has no doubt already been done to death on a million fashion blogs (even if the dress she wore was, admittedly, not too shabby), we'll move on to the exhibition. The designs seem to be arranged thematically, with rooms devoted to different influences, all of which share the common link of romanticism: 'The Romantic Mind', 'Romantic Nationalism', 'Romantic Exoticism', 'Romantic Primitivism' and 'Romantic Naturalism'. (See the way sticking the word 'romantic' on the front of otherwise politically incorrect concepts like Nationalism and Exoticism renders them more acceptable?)

If these illustrations by Joseph Bennett (all taken from the Met Museum website) are anything to go by, a lot of thought has gone into the curatorial process though: the rooms being utterly transformed to suit the garments on show within them. No 'white cube' display practices here. The end result should be pretty impressive. However I'm not sure any exhibition can ever encapsulate the awe I imagine would have accompanied seeing one of McQueen's collections at Fashion Week. Crossing the boundary between runway show and performance art, creations like this can never be relived.*

(Except with the benefit of YouTube. Thanks YouTube.)

Daft Punk x Trinity Orchestra

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 19:49:00 +0000

Given that I've my head buried under many a book at the moment, a vaguely college-related post seems apt. That, and the fact that - despite a Youtube video's inability to capture the excellence of the on-the-night performance - everyone should watch this clip.

This is the encore of Trinity Orchestra's rendition of various Daft Punk songs, performed in the college's majestic but intimate 18th Century Exam Hall. Hopefully I'll have the same success in that very same hall over the next couple of weeks...

Maser lazer

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 14:19:00 +0000

Okay there are probably no lazers involved, but who can resist a dubstep pun. Street art maestro Maser, on the other hand, is involved. He's the subject of the Art Park's latest exhibition - opening tonight - at which he'll present 'Maser is Home Made': a unique six-minute film intended to help create "a sense of community between the business district and its surrounding residential areas".

For those that don't know, The Art Park is a project by the Sebastian Guinness Gallery in which powerful projectors beam out slideshows of different art exhibitions onto the back of Dublin's colossal Convention Centre. Obviously the projector format limits the types of media which can be used, but so far they've successfully screened exhibitions of the works of renowned photographer Barry McCall, and also a poetry project called 'Hearts Loop'.

The Barry McCall opening reception actually happened to coincide with Deadmau5's gig at the nearby O2. The mixture of oh-so-tasteful art connoisseurs gathered for McCall's opening and the passing onslaught of loud, vodka-bottle bearing ravers en route to the O2 arena made for an amusing culture clash. (At least I was vaguely amused; not sure the rest of the exhibition attendees were). The head-to-head confrontation between 'high' and 'low' culture was poignant, so it's kind of funny that Guinness has decided to go with a 'street art' exhibition this time around; I'll be interested to see what kind of crowd shows up to the opening tonight at 8:30pm.

The film will continue to be screened from dusk until 1am until May 6th.

Bullett magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 20:28:00 +0000

Too Gallant is always on the lookout for snazzy publications to pour over, and Bullett is the latest new love of mine. This New York based magazine features particularly lustworthy fashion editorials (with a good balance between menswear and womenswear) - spreads like 'The Dinner Party' (in their latest issue, readable online here) goes to show you don't have to be a long-running, established publication with lots of cash to splash in order to create a visually explosive shoot. They're also hot on art, music, travel, cinema on the like. I highly recommend scanning a casual eye over it (or if you're a geek like me, hungrily ingesting its contents to the point of excess).

If I didn't sell you it enough, here's a short video 'teaser' for the issue.

Volume II Teaser from BULLETT MAGAZINE on Vimeo.

eBay.ie Online Fashion Week

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 11:12:00 +0000

Today marks the first day of eBay.ie's Online Fashion Week!

Though the online nature of this 'event' makes it international, it's an Irish event, and highlights the great talent the Irish fashion industry has to offer. A series of live talks held at 1pm each day of the week will give us an insight into the working lives of some of the country's top style professionals.

First up, streaming in approx. one hour from my time of writing, is the bewitchingly wonderful designer Eilis Boyle.... regular readers will know I'm a huge fan, so I urge you all to log on to http://www.facebook.com/stylehunterireland at 1pm and tune in for this one!

The rest of the line up is just as exciting:

Tomorrow (Tuesday): leading stylist Aisling Farinella
Wednesday: ethical fashion advocate Kellie Dalton
Thursday: Constance Harris (fashion editor of the Sunday Independent)
Friday: stylist and blogger Angela Scanlon

This is actually turning out to be an incredibly active week for Irish fashion - Thursday night sees the inaugural Irish Fashion Awards taking place in Dublin 2's Mansion House, and on the thriftier end of the scale, a new designer-discount event 'Ragtime!' launches in the Twisted Pepper on Friday (see here for more details on that one).

Micro-philanthropy

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 20:11:00 +0000

First micro-economics, then micro-blogging, and now micro-philanthropy is on the agenda.

The Irish Museum of Modern Art has just sent an email round to it's mailing list subscribers asking for help buying a collection of four drawings by Bea McMahon: art lovers are asked to contribute a donation from €5. If IMMA fail to meet the asking price, the money stays in your account. If enough people donate, you may have just helped secure a major piece of art for about the cost of a pint (depending on on swanky your choice water hole is, admittedly).

Bea McMahon from Irish Museum of Modern Art on Vimeo.

It's a solution to the funding crisis that get's right to the point. Once in a blue moon, an old-fashioned exceedingly rich (and exceedingly refined) figure may appear and donate a vast and rich collection of artworks to a public institution, however, this is not an outcome any gallery can feasibly rely on happening. Micro-philanthropy, however, allows the keen but perhaps not as deep pocketed art lover to play a part in contributing to the public's art collection.

What's more, this approach makes galleries' choices of purchases a little more democratic - works bought are ones which the public want to see the most. Though there would undoubtedly be problems with this X-Factor like approach to buying art if it was adopted all the time, I think it's only fair that the public should have a little say in what works get bought, every once in a while.

I'm in half a mind to start rallying round for donations to allow me to buy a Bea McMahon of my own, but I suspect the public will be less sympathetic with my cause - so I'll help spread the word about IMMA's plea instead. As the video above shows, McMahon is a really exciting young artist, who would really add to IMMA's collection (from an economic point of view as well as an aesthetic one - her works are bound to go up in value as her career progresses). Anyone who fancies themselves a connoisseur and has a fiver to spare should head over to Fund It, where donations can be made....

Note: the images posted are all works by Bea McMahon, not all are amongst the works IMMA are looking to buy, however... watch the video to see what works are on their wish list!

Yohji Yamamoto at the V&A

noreply@blogger.com (Rosa Abbott) — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:37:00 +0000

Having kicked off this weekend, a major retrospective of the Japanese avant-garde designer Yohji Yamamoto will run until July. There are few fashion designers who could carry off a large scale exhibition of their designs - however beautiful - without viewers loosing interest. Yamamoto, however, is one of them. Subversive, humourous, and always pushing the boundaries, I imagine his garments would feel quite at home in a gallery setting.

There are many things which set Yamamoto apart from the rest of the fash-pack. He tends to stick to a very restrained palette of, well, black, black and more black. In womenswear, he often makes loose shapes which distract from the female body which lies underneath his garment - protecting them "from men's eyes or a cold wind" - a far cry from the ethos of Western designers like Tom Ford. He works with local artisans, eschewing the temptation to outsource his production to cheaper neighboring countries (Japanese wages are amongst the highest in the world). Finally, he prefers imperfection and unfinished states over highly polished designs, in line with the traditional Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, an aesthetic in which objects of beauty are "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete". Delight is found in subtle variations and unexpected 'flaws' - a rough edge, an asymmetric shape - and the intrigue they add to an object.

After his latest show in Paris, Yamamoto called upon the world to voice their discontent: "In this moment, we need flower power... but we also need young people's anger."His characteristically punkish collection (above) supported his plea. However these words were spoken a matter of days before the earthquake would hit Japan; now it seems the urgency for people to act is far stronger, albeit not in the way Yamamoto anticipated.

P.s. I know there's talk of fundraising events in Dublin at the moment; I'll report back on anything I hear being scheduled.