a material world

behind the tents of NYFW

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:22:00 +0000

Last week was prep time for New York Fashion Week, and I was asked if I could fly out to help coolify some sponsor activations at Lincoln Center. Clearly a REALLY DIFFICULT DECISION. It was fascinating, a lot less glam than you'd think (like everything usually is), and I saw more avant garde heels in one place than ever before. Lots of fun and not much sleep.

Photo evidence below:

PREP TIME

The future entrance to the Grand Lobby of MB Fashion Week. Elegant, no? Turns out the tents are really... tents.
Fashion Week is a tent city. A runway ghetto. Hope you're not disappointed.

Think there's enough electrical being supplied to the tents?

Backsttaaaaaggeeee

48 hours later, this backstage area was filled with naked models.

The "you can't fake fashion" bag exhibit. A zillion big-name designers each contributed a design, which is essentially preaching to the choir; I doubt anyone attending New York Fashion Week has ever dreamed of buying a "fake Spade" or fake anything else. They should really have installed this on a street corner in Chinatown.

The Grand Lobby lounge we designed for our lovely client & fashion week sponsor, Diet Pepsi. The print is Jonathan Adler (how did I NOT KNOW that he and Simon were a pair?!) and I put together video content and merchandised stuff and blah blah blah if you really want to know I'll send you a project summary. The lounge turned out pretty swanky and evvvveryone was stalking around sipping drinky drinks with our Jonathan Adler-printed straws.

DHL did a pretty bang-up job with their lobby display; they had Parsons design students create fashions using only DHL packaging. Kind of want the airplane fascinator on the left for myself.

The inimitable Simon Doonan at fittings for our runway show event. I was wide-eyed in love with his floral shirt & yellow string tie.

Simon reviewing a design with Elise Bergman, my fave of the 4 DP Style Studio designers.

I'm putting this photo from my hotel room balcony here to signify sunset, but it's probably sunrise, since I was never back from work early enough to catch the sunset.

Late-night bi bim bap is one of the few things that makes me consider moving to Manhattan.
Inspired a new song, "Put An Egg On It," for my webseries Takeoutlandia.

THURSDAY, OH YOU KNOW FASHION WEEK LAUNCH DAY

The chicest registration crew I've ever seen. Compared to some of the attendees,* they proved that black is not a bad way to go. [I didn't include the girl with the 2-tone Chanel tights... hoped they were fake so I didn't have to envy-hate her with the fire of a thousand suns.]

*="some of the attendees." oh dear.

Christian Cota's sketches up on our video wall. Photo taken after an hour of troubleshooting video screen connections. Thank god for Greg the tech dude.

THE RUNWAY SHOW COCKTAIL PARTY EVENT THING @ THE BOX AT LINCOLN CTR:

I could post boring setup pix, but instead I'll feature this guy, head of sound engineering for Lincoln Center and also Santa.

I doubt the excellent DJ Steve Kream has ever had to score a runway show before but he killed it, AND got all the Diet Pepsi girls to fall in love with him.

I bet even puckerface Kelly Rutherford cut a rug or two. She's the only one I pap-stalked, but

Mary-Kate was there (didn't see her, I think she's below my line of sight) along with Debra Messing and Kristen Chenowith. Job well done, H&S.

The only way for me to see the runway was to scale the light riggings. 4-inch heels don't stop me NOSIRREE BOB. The runway was made of cans under glass, and the chandeliers are Jonathan Adler. There are also waaay better pix on Nitrolicious.

Evidently was VERY HAPPY to see Jess.

Other appearances included Eric and my uber-fashionable 70-something cousin.

Speaking of fashionable, check out my bartenders. Silver ties are the new awesome. Yes, this is a joke, I bought them online and they're pre-tied, which is kind of great. How cute are the boys, though? Tempted to ask the one on the left if he was even old enough to be there, but didn't in case it made him stop pouring my drink.

The final looks with their designers on the runway.

ALSO:

Such a treat to stroll into Bergdorf's and see client Coquette Atelier in the window!

P.S. Bergdorf's restaurant is probably the most plush and comforting place in the universe and I'd recommend it if you're in NYC and missing your therapist. The chairs are just as good.

Only had a few minutes of downtime, but where better to spend them than the hippest flooring store I've ever seen? LV Wood in Chelsea. Huge spare space, midcentury chairs, air plants and library ladders...

...and the most jaw-dropping espresso machine. And check out those HIP STACKED BOOKS. omg. This place made me want to drop everything and study wood.

Know what else is rad? Restaurant supply stores.

ALSO RAD:

Jess for inviting me to the best hipster Super Bowl in Bushwick, Eric for housing me and showing me the best of Jersey City, Simon Doonan for all the haircut compliments (Sassoon, darling), Peel's on Bowery for saving the day with bougie brunch, and JetBlue for those delicious Popcorners.

guess where I'm going...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:29:00 +0000

Rather very excited to be attending New York Fashion Week for the first time. Actually, not attending per se, but producing... I'll be out there all week doing this & that & the other to orchestrate a small runway event & cocktail party at The Box at Lincoln Center on Thursday, and a designer lounge in the Grand Lobby that all attendees will be traversing all week.

So yes, it's much cooler to attend NYFW than to produce it... but you didn't think I was THAT cool anyway, did you? Hoping I get to slide into a show or two on Thursday before my show, but I'll probably be too busy chasing models and testing out runway lighting and framing cocktail menus to succeed in that mission.

But it's been far too long since my last New York trip (= MOMA trip = Uniqlo trip = Muji trip = Cakeshop trip = Taschen store trip), and I've a million people to see, and even if my status-show dance card is empty, the Fashion Week frenzy will all be in the air and the evenings will be intense and the streets will be full of people hoping to be snapped by a street style photog and everyone will be running in heels at 9 in the morning and craving bagels if only their lipstick wouldn't smudge.

Anything I must, must not neglect to do, veterans? Tell me on Twitter @amaterialworld (where I'll be updating frequently, randomly, and cattily, as usual).

happiness is: rappers doing normal shit.

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:53:00 +0000

Method Man smiling the fuck out of things in a hoodie with a balloon is probably the happiest thing I've seen all day or even all week, though it's been a long week so that's debatable.

photo credit: Rappers Doing Normal Shit*

*Congratulations to my friend Rory for being so naturally brilliant that he created a Tumblr purely for his own entertainment that proceeded to practically overnight accumulate over 10,000 followers, including probably you. He didn't do it for the glory (glory, Rory); people spend jillions trying to create what he just does 'cause he feels like it and his instincts happen to be THAT GOOD.

Anyway, look how happy Method Man is!

Good night, everyone. My gigantalicious faux-cinnamon-latte coffee that I got at 7-11 at ten pm (with the inspired addition of those fake hard tiny marshmallows that normally only come in Swiss-Miss packages), because apparently that monstrosity is my guilty-pleasure equivalent of secretly binging on Almond Joys or something, may finally be wearing off and I watched like fifty things on television while I wrote out invoices and made all kinds of lists for tomorrow and so now it's all watched and written and I'm going to New York in a week and happy Friday, everyone.

sunday melancholy from lana del rey

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:21:00 +0000

If you're not sure what Los Angeles is like, watch Lana Del Rey's "Video Games." Hard to explain exactly why it's so perfect to me -- not much in my life here resembles this video -- but it's something about the dreamy glamour and debauchery of old Hollywood mixed with the sunny extendable youth of this place combined with the nastiness of city streets and the pretense and tragedy of fame. The whole filthy mess is kind of sad and sweet because, really, that's what people are.

I could make more of an effort to make sense, but instead I'll just go put this on repeat.

*also, regarding the whole Lana-is-a-Fake thing, because her real name is Lizzy and she injects her lips: isn't that just an even more multi-dimesional comment on fame and fickleness and societal standards, which is clearly what she's getting at with all her imagery anyway? And look, even her pre-makeover work is still striking those same chords: Lizzy Grant - "Kill Kill."

"Pop doesn't do 'keeping it real.' It never has. It never will."

--good point & a neat article on her from the Telegraph.

[the straw that broke the] camel's back

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 03:49:00 +0000

Have been noticing a lot of neutrals-on-neutrals recently. Used to think I hated earth tones... oh, how things do change. Something's clicked and here I am wanting a long, swingy camelhair coat.

A hint of black also seems to do these tone-on-tones a favor....

all photos: JAK & JIL

Have Fun Friday: cats are trending.

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 02:33:00 +0000

I notice trends.

I know cats are hot right now (and then).

Therefore, I feel justified in posting -- and, if you're in any trend-conscious industry, you should feel justified in reading -- this highly useful and on-trend guide to

the most entertaining things on the internet about cats.

These have all been sent to me, unasked for, by friends (why? could it be my lifelong cat ownership or the fact that as a child I used to draw only cats? surely not. it must be my status as a trendsetter/tastemaker, I'm sure of it.)

Enjoy.

The Cat Scan

It's a pun, and it's also completely literal. Squished cat feet are surprisingly funny.

Procatinator

Each song gets a new cat GIF. Try to get the one with the Siamese in the bathtub.

Dreamcats

Kind of the cat tumblr version of a hipster wedding album. Pretty, hazily lit pictures that

make you want to lie in a pile of clean sheets with the windows open. And they're of cats.

OOH, there's a dreamcats calendar with rad colors & typography! HINT, HINT.

Catwalk

Okay, this is not a website about cats, it's a 90's movie about models that's only available on VHS. It's impossible to find, which makes me want it reeeeallly badly. Discovered via this blog post, which is perhaps the next best thing.

[Summary: A camera follows model Christy Turlington through the spring fashion shows in Milan, Paris, and New York one year in the early 1990s, probably 1992. She and others dash from one designer's unveilings to another. Extended footage looks at Versace and Armani in Milan, Galliano, Gaultier, and Langerfeld in Paris, and Isaac Mizrahi in New York. With Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, and Christy Turlington.]

All right, kittens, time for me to lock up and go home. Hope you spend some of your Friday reading this when you should be doing something far more important.

Origami Phoenixes, or The New Rise of Fashion Magazines

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 01:39:00 +0000

Reading my daily dose of digital yesterday, I pulled three items in a row up on my screen that were about... magazines.

Style.com/Print - Style.com's inaugural large-format print magazine, available "on select newsstands." [Get it? The magazine's title is a URL, but it's actually print! GET IT?]

Vogue's Newsstand Sales Are Up This Year, Unlike Nearly Every Other Fashion Magazine (via New York Magazine) - Vogue's numbers are up (the only fashion title in the ever-fashionable black) by 7 percent. As WWD notes, that's a 17 percent difference, in the magazine's favor, from any of its competitors.

Upcoming Zappos iPad App Mimics a Fashion Magazine (via WSJ) - Zappos expects to launch its first attempt at recreating the catalog experience on the iPad in early December, just in time for the holidays. *[OK, yes, I know this is not actually print. But it wants to be.]

Huh? I thought print was dead! Haven't trends turned the page, and 300% of words worldwide are now read on an iKindle or something?

Right?!

[quite wonderful "OUT!Dated" recycled-magazine magazine by Tee Chee Yee]

No, not right. It is now -- in the midst of more websites, iPhone apps, RSS feeds and reading gadgets than I can count -- that the list of real-deal, glossy, fashion-centric publications is growing. Seems that it's not just folly, either; demand is high. Just watch the Style.com Twitter for an hour and see as it reposts the clamor from enthralled readers:

RT @ivvalentine: If you haven't gotten a copy of the @styledotcom mag: You're missing out on some serious #inspiration.

RT @EstherhLee: @styledotcom I'm obsessed with the magazine! Have read it 20 times and counting..

20 times, huh? When was the last time you re-scrolled a webpage 20 times?

And therein lies the key, I think, to understanding why fashion is, in this case, bucking the trend:

RT @BLANQIgirls: @styledotcom LOVE print mag! paper feels sturdy when flipping through amazing editorial/photos & nothing beats rip'n out pages that inspire!

Feels. Flipping. Um, rip'n. None of those verbs can be executed on a screen. There's just something about that magazine FEELING -- the heft, the big pictures, the gloss, the read-at-the-nail-salon-ability -- that the digital arena can't capture. In her article "Is Fashion the Future of Print?," the Toronto Standard's Style Critic, Sarah Nicole Prickett, spoke to The Kit periodical's publisher, Doug Wallace: “The print product is the same as and kind of different from our digital issue,” explains Wallace. “Tabloid size, glossy paper, the colour and richness of the visual experience is going to be richer, and juicier. I know I can’t really get the gleam in the eye of a model to look online the way it does in print, the way the retoucher does it for print.

Exactly. As much as I like the ease of tapping my way through i-D online, Lara Stone's latest pictorial is way more lush on the printed page. And what would I do with my spare time if I couldn't sit happily tearing out pieces from magazines to make mood boards and kitschy DIY collages? Prickett also has a really interesting point about why fashion, in particular, would engender the loyalty to paper (versus, say, architecture); it's NOT just picture quality. "Anyone who really loves clothes loves material, the swish, the feel. The tactility. Everyone I know who’s obsessed with fashion, no matter their age, is equally obsessed with magazines. You buy them, collect them, throw them out, trade them, cut them up, recycle them; in short, you treat them just like clothes." That couldn't be more true -- looking at myself, my hoarding and preserving of old magazines (currently stashed in chronological order in color-coded milk crates) is identical to the hoarding visible in my closet (which is jammed with things dating back a hundred years, and color-coded!).

And that's not all. Prickett points out that "There is a glamour, a rarefied sense of validation and authority, that is crucial to fashion—moreso, I think, than to other forms of art/commerce—and that can never be reproduced online." On the nose. Paying more for a cup of coffee and having to stand in line for it makes us feel like big shots; paying for our fashion news and taking the time to sit down with a big book rather than an iPhone gives us the same feeling of investment, of dedication, and of visible sophistication that we get from, say, shopping at Barneys, or swinging a luxuriously buttery leather tote bag (which you'll need to carry around all your new magazines).

Was that too many words, it being the internet and all? Sorry, I'm a nerd. In short:

LESSON: Fashion = touch + feel + glamour = Print.

*Postscript: If I'd finished writing this last night, I'd have beaten TrendCentral to the punch. But as of today, their latest trend report is entitled... yep... "New print magazines dare to launch in the digital age." Hey, at least I was right.

color theory: freja in blue, teal, taupe and acid yellow

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 08:02:00 +0000

Ignore the frightening toothpick legs, gleamed up by Photoshop, and focus on the magical creepy beauty of this photo of Freja Beha in a spread for British Vogue.* I am completely, utterly, devastatingly romanced by the color palette of many of the recent fashion shoots I've been seeing, both for Fall '11 and Spring '12. The rich light blue, very 50s/60s kitchen-y to me, paired with acidified earth tones (peach, green, taupe, yellow)... not sure how to say all these things but the cool colors infused with warmth really have a magical effect. Have a feeling I'll to be going a bit tearsheet-mad over the coming season, especially after I install my new enormous cork wall. These colors and modernized retro silhouettes are just too delicious and I'm in constant sensory overload.

*photo courtesy of my new fashion blog crush, Alabama Eyes.

Blue Skies --> Blue Jeans

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 23:35:00 +0000

Hi, guys. I have a confession to make. I'm halfway through a really cool post with pretty pictures that cleverly ties together Prada, modern art, and my Texas road trip, which I think you'll enjoy and will enhance the culture factor of your blogroll. However, I took a break to read Twitter (BAD IDEA ALERT); got distracted by a tweet about the Alexa Chung for Madewell collection being a huge hit, and remembered that I needed to check the collection out online, since I do find Alexa Chung to have pretty good taste most of the time even with her annoying tendency to wear hats; stopped writing that nice blog post; and turned my full attention to looking at jeans at Madewell instead. This led to developing a mad crush on a pair of denim trousers supposedly designed by Miss Chung, which are perfectly retro without being too annoying (despite the hideously annoying "It's All Happening" style name, as if we had to be told that it harkens back to the era of "Almost Famous," which is itself just a retro harken-er. Oy vey.). Said crush in turn led to a rush of online comparison shopping (never accept a first offer), which in turn led to a very sensible (I think) decision to buy multiple pairs with the reasoning that they're all returnable and ONE of them might be The One. Summary: instead of finishing my original post, walking to the Marfa Book Company and browsing their excellent and terribly hip book selection, I sat on a cowhide chair at El Cosmico (my "hotel," where I have a charming li'l rented yurt) and shopped for jeans online. COWER AT MY INTELLECTUAL PROWESS, GRASSHOPPERS.

But, I mean, driving through parched West Texas just gave me the itch to make like our fave 70s chicks and... flare.

(photos: instyle.com)

Jane Birkin & Farrah Fawcett flaring it up

Look how teensy Farrah is! Her jeans are hemmed, like, 4 inches! I, on the other hand, have to seek out the longest of the long to avoid the dreaded Highwater Syndrome. These are the contenders... once they arrive next week we'll see if any of them are poster-girl worthy.

Alexa Chung for Madewell - it's all happening denim trousers in "playlist." (I know, pukesville, right? Not just the Almost Famous name, but PLAYLIST as a colorway?! Gag me with an incense stick.) These are the most spendy, but they were the original ones that caught my eye... and Madewell does in-store returns.

Madewell - widelegger jeans in "windswept wash." Slightly better style/colorway names. I love me a uniform medium wash, they're nice & flarey, come in 36" inseam (!!!!), and are on sale. Cha-ching. Ordered 2 sizes... I really want these puppies to work out.

Paige Premium Denim - Roxley High Rise Wide Leg Jeans in "Heaven." OK, I guess all jeans names are dumb. It's been a while since I actually bought any. And gotta love the classic ShopBop model pose, right? Just so you know, 100% guaranteed she is stretching her arms way above her head to try and flatten her poor stomach as much as possible. Awkwarrrrd. But yeah, these are on sale (such a tempting quality) and I really like the sky blue wash. I THINK Paige fit me pretty well... but I ordered 2 sizes anyway. My credit card points are going to be racking upppp, y'all! Shopping will make me richer! SO CLEVER, I AM.

OK. That's all. Just had to let you know with this pseudo-post what I've bought (hey, everyone loves when Mindy Kaling does it, right?). Now off to go find a pair of those adorable Nikes and a little baby skateboard.

Anyone else fall prey to the flares recently? Show & tell!

On Preparing for a Birthday (or, Wardrobe Purging for Aging Ladies)

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 07:21:00 +0000

I don't know about any of you, but I NEVER feel ready for a birthday. I remember being in about fourth grade and thinking hard about this: how you have an image in your mind about what an X-year-old is/does/looks like/knows how to do, and then you get to that birthday, and you think, wait a second - did I pass the test yet? Do I really get to be X years old now? Seriously, guys, you SURE? And then the sun comes up and you're labeled with a new number and no bell goes off, no heavenly choir bursts into song, no gold coins ka-ching in the video game of your life, but, well, you must have checked off enough boxes, because there you are.

This feeling never leaves me, no matter how many birthdays I have. Upon age 27's looming in my immediate future, my first thought was, oh dear GOD, do I qualify? Will the Late Twenties let me into the club? It's been a somewhat rocky year, and I've felt behind the 8-ball most of the time, but, you know, while I may not have written the Great Un-American Novel, nor won the Nobel Prize for curing general malaise, I have sort of ended age 26 with a great rush of box-checking-off all right at the end, as if realizing the final exam was drawing near and reading the whole textbook in one night. Starting in August, I went with my boyfriend on the first real tropical-palms-swaying-in-the-breeze-style vacation I've ever taken; I managed the best season ever of my show at MAGIC (my 7th--!!); I, um, got a new JOB (more on that later); I got a haircut (these things are also important); and the roomies and I got a dreamy new sideboard and finally rearranged the living room! (Not to brag; I still haven't done about nine million other things on the list, like, say, plant my lime tree or mend about fifty things or learn to play the bass for realy reals). But I still had one big huge giant to-do waiting on my mental checklist: PURGING MY WARDROBE.

Oh man, you guys. I have so many clothes. The problem with not being a kid anymore is that you don't grow out of anything, and so you hang onto everything FOREVER and then your closet explodes and you're constantly wracked by the very American guilt of having fifteen times too much crap for one human being, yet still wanting more. It's awful and I'm guessing that most of you, being ladies with some affinity for fashion, know exactly what I mean (except Alicia over at Instant Vintage, who is the absolute forever master of closet cleaning, as far as I can tell). But maybe this whole aging thing DOES make you better at stuff, because finally, today, I managed to get rid of (almost) every single item of clothing & other miscellany that I don't love and need and use. It took the biggest suitcase I own (I can fit inside it) and a hot pink milk crate and a Target bag, but I managed to haul it all up my 35 front yard stairs and over to a friend's yard sale, after which we took all the swanky leftovers to Crossroads and the rest to Out Of The Closet.

[My teabags are wiser than I am.]

WHAT. A. RELIEF. I got rid of a J. Crew denim skirt I've had since high school. I got rid of countless ironic thrift-store finds. I got rid of so many vests - who knew I even owned vests? I got rid of designer jeans that I'd hung onto just because they were expensive (but guess what, I didn't even pay for them in the first place, so that logic is doubly dumb). I got rid of things I only bought because they were so cheap. I got rid of things that reminded me of exes and of times when I was skinnier and times when I was less skinny. I got rid of the IKEA rice paper lamp that hasn't left its wrapper in 3 years. Each subtraction from my inventory was like a little gold star. It gets kind of addicting.

I know my calculus...

Selling stuff at yard sale = a few dollars (but let yard sale hostess keep it in exchange for my raiding her stuff - see below).
Selling 1 pair of Diesel jeans (gifted in 2006 when boyfriend's band played a Diesel party at SXSW. Man that makes a girl feel cool.) + 1 pair of Stronghold jeans with suspenders (gifted, so cute, so too tight) + 1 Tracy Reese dress (gifted in exchange for photoshoot for Beverly Hills store that didn't want to pay me real money) = $40.
Taking everything else to the thrift store and returning home with an empty suitcase and a joyous soul = PRICELESS.

[Remember what I said about having too much stuff, and still wanting more? It's OK if the incoming is less than the outgoing... right? I mean, look at those beads. I had to adopt them. And everything's colors go together, so I couldn't separate the family, obviously.]

It's after midnight, so we're in this together now, 27. Check it out - I got you some vintage swag, 40 bucks and a massive sense of accomplishment.*

*Perhaps unjustified; cleaning a closet isn't exactly rocket science. But I know I'm not the only one for whom a cluttered closet feels like a festering tumor. Check out some of my fave bloggers' posts on how to perform the necessary surgery:

Nubby Twiglet's The Art Of Closet Organization
Gala Darling's Wardrobe Taming series
Yes & Yes's Closet Case including fab inspirational photos I'll be revisiting as I design my newly freed-up closet!

An A-whatta?

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 05:34:00 +0000

Every Outfit Cher Horowitz Wears in "Clueless" In Under 60 Seconds.

so necessary.

Courtesy of my fave Yes and Yes.

Milk Fed Memories

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 06:22:00 +0000

[seventeen magazine: "see sofia shop!" via cat party]

I don't even know where to start with this story I'm about to tell you, I love it SO MUCH. It combines multiple things I love: late 90s nostalgia, this one Milk Fed tee shirt that's haunted me for years, and a crazy number of small-world coincidences! Plus, at the end, I get to rant about branding & trends!

Where to beGIN? Let's take the sparkly A Material World time machine ($14.99 from Delia*s) back fourteen years, shall we?

Year: 1997

Location: Boston, MA; the mauve-painted bedroom of thirteen-year-old me.

Scene: I'm probably lying on my stomach, wearing my favorite black velvet Gap overalls, waiting for my blue nail polish to dry and reading the latest issue of Seventeen. Reading the article on Sofia Coppola and her fave L.A. hangouts (Wasteland, Little Tokyo, No Life Records) was akin to reading about Glinda the good witch and her fave Oz hangouts, but I did grasp one key thing: HER TOTALLY TRANSCENDENTALLY COOL NAVY BLUE MILK FED LOGO TEE. This was a point in my life when I still wore tee shirts (when did this end? 2000?), and this was somehow just the coolest tee shirt I'd ever seen. The Milk Fed catalog still wasn't out yet, but if I'd had $25, I could have written a letter to a store somewhere that sold Sofia's magical shirts.

Year: 2010

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Scene: I'm working with my boyfriend on the merchandise mix for a pop-up shop we're planning with his company, XLarge, in my company's event space. He's offering to bring in other associated brands: X-Girl, Silas, Milk Fed.... "Whoa, Milk Fed, for serious?" I ask. "I love Milk Fed!" (Memory of navy Milk Fed tee is still seared permanently into my brain.) "Really?" asks the fella. I explain about Seventeen, the shirt and my early insta-fandom. Of course, when I was lying on my stomach studying Sofia's favorite shade of Delux nail polish, he was already living in L.A., working at XLarge and in the thick of it all with team Milk Fed. I tried to Google Image the shirt, and even though I'm usually a really good Googler, apparently no one had taken the time to scan, upload and tag The Milk Fed Shirt Photo. It continued to live only the charred branded spot in my brain. Until...

Year: 2011

Location: The Internet

Scene: I'm sitting at my dining room table, late at night, surfing the faceboox instead of going to sleep. The latest update from hyper-cool art teacher/L.A. fashion veteran friend Kristin read "14 years ago I was working at No Life Record Shop," and the link posted was to... THE SEVENTEEN ARTICLE. WITH SOFIA AND THE SHIRT. Not only is the shirt photo exactly how I'd remembered, but -- extra awesometown bonus -- Kristin was the girl pictured in the article advising Sofia on new records! And she went on to work at Milk Fed later on! ZOMG CRAZYTOWN COINCIDENCELAND! (AS WELL AS VALIDATION THAT MY MEMORY IS STILL GOOD! At least my memory of pictures of clothing I wanted in 1997!)

Awesome story, right? Worth all the time spent reading all those words about my tween obsession with a random shirt pictured in a now-crappy publication? If not, here's a little brainworthy content to leave you with a less condescending evaluation of me. What I ACTUALLY think is really interesting about my story, fourteen years in the making, is how a little logo tee managed to worm its way indelibly into my mental archive. And I'm not the only one; based the comments on the original post, as well as my friends' responses when I showed them, a LOT of girls remembered the photo instantly, as well as their intense 1997 cravings for that little navy blue logo tee.

This tells me that ol' Sofia Coppola had a knack; she somehow hit the nail on the head at that moment with pieces that struck a perfect chord with us girls-now-women. It's no accident that she made a tee we all still remember; that we think her movies are some of the more visually arresting of the past decade and we love them; and that her look/haircut/style has been coveted by us for coming up on twenty years. I wouldn't have thought to name S-Copp as a trend pinpointer of the ages, but thinking about it, there's no other conclusion. Major props, homegirl. Even if you were wearing a really dreadful skirt/tube top combo in the above photo... at the time, I'm sure it was the very cutting edge.

OK, maybe I don't miss 1997 THAT much. Let's leave tube tops in the twentieth century for good.

stop and...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:03:00 +0000

Wonder and beauty, most often found in the incredible or the incredibly mundane.

[1, 3: thedayafteryoudie; 2: thomas hawk]

color smeary

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Tue, 17 May 2011 01:03:00 +0000

you all know by now how HAPPY THIS PICTURE MAKES ME.

[refinery29's summer nail polish trends]

small things in boots.

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Sat, 14 May 2011 15:04:00 +0000

LESSONS ON FASHION

* * *

The smaller you are, the better you look in wellies.

Exhibit A: Kate Moss

Exhibit B: Cinders the mysophobic pig

*Thank you to my brilliant lawyer friend, Genevieve, for the pig in boots. SERIOUSLY, this is the best thing to happen all week.

Derby recap: hats over horses

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 09 May 2011 08:00:00 +0000

You knew Saturday was Derby Day... didn't you?

Clearly, Kentucky Derby watching, even from the faraway land of Los Angeles, requires a serious hat (and a serious cocktail). One of my vintage Elizabeth Ardens fulfilled the first requirement, and a Bulleit-mint-honey-and-lemon (courtesy of my friend Rory, who clearly should put aside his brilliant graphic design career to tend bar at The Varnish) took care of the second.

Lovely lazy day with all of us lounging on the deck -- I mean, the verandah, dahling -- pre- and post-Derby (after all that buildup, the damned race is only 90 seconds long!) and soaking in the sun. Giddiness was in the air and the hats kept getting better as the afternoon went on. Definitely considering instituting Sunday afternoon teatime simply as an excuse for verandah-lounging and hat-wearing.

Oh, right, the race... yeah, my horse didn't win. I guess even a name like "Derby Kitten" isn't quiiiite foolproof.

dna x space1520 x saturdayyy.

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:28:00 +0000

if i hadn't just dropped a bazillion bones on the most fabulous vintage coat ever, i would be first in line at this big bad bidnass tomorrow:

A Current Affair at the Cooper Building

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 07:49:00 +0000

I'd already been planning to check out the "vintage pop-up marketplace" event, A Current Affair, at my fave downtown fashion venue, the Cooper Building, when I got a note from one of the heads of the event, about potential future events. Even more of an excuse to go, as if I'd needed one. Boatloads of premium vintage fashion -- real vintage, not raggedy-90s-tee-shirts vintage -- from a carefully curated group of vendors in a mini show-like setting? Yes, please.

I got to meet the founders, stroll around gawking at gorgeous 50-year-old pieces, catch up with Rony (who was about to kill the cruel friend making him walk around looking at clothes on a Saturday night), visit my fave vintage supplier... and I even got a prime street parking spot. Win, win, win, win.

Step one to hosting a successful event: create a really nice flyer.

(Step two: market effectively, have powerhouses like Refinery29 and the L.A. Times take notice and buzz about your event. It must be extra hard to get the general public excited about premium vintage, so double props for this!)

Fabulous mannequin merchandising

Obviously my favorite rack: the rainbow row at GlamAmor.

Kimberly's taste (and display): beyond impeccable.

Sooo sparklyyyyy

This serious ball gown was the closest thing to a security guard.

"Warning: no casual thrift shoppers allowed. Everything in this booth costs over $300."

I posted this photo of an amazing teal swing coat (by fab '60s designer Lilli Ann) on Twitter just for fun, and instantly got about 17 responses. Everyone from my (male) roommate to my (female) graphic designer friend to my (male) friend in publishing told me some version of "omfg that is the most incredible thing you'll ever wear and you must acquire it post haste."

So... I did. Thanks, Twitter.

What a treat to get to browse aisles of gorgeous pieces with true history and with careful work put into selecting and displaying them. I'm a diehard thrift store junkie, so I have nothing against digging through musty racks full of American Eagle castoffs in the hope of finding a perfect grandpa sweater, but A Current Affair is an entirely different ball game. More fantastic coats than I've ever seen in one place (lots of Lilli Ann, some great old ones from Saks' private label), costume jewelry to die for, handbags that would make Jackie O weep. These guys are in the big leagues, and it was clear that the crowd appreciated what they were getting to see. I do wonder how many actual serious vintage buyers attended and made the whole thing worthwhile, versus casual browsers; but I suppose A Current Affair wouldn't be an ongoing event if it weren't sustainable. More wow to that!

Thank you to Richard for the lovely conversation, Kimberly for the catch-up, the coat recommendation, and the rainbow skills, Kelsi of Stylesmith & Two Point Oh LA for reaching out (we'll not miss each other someday, I swear), the hosted bar for the free SmartWaters (score), and the entire event for loads of eye candy, ideas and apparel show inspiration!

beauty on the outside.

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:52:00 +0000

in which we discuss

The Exterior

Inspired by the new JR piece above Gjelina, just down the street from my office...

[via the fox is black]

[via thedayafteryoudie]

[via thefashionspot]

[via my surreally talented illustrator friend, Fabiana Pigna]

georgia may jagger + hudson = retro sleaze fab. that's a good thing

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:01:00 +0000

georgia may jagger wishing you a happy st. patrick's day

Looking forward to swanning around the Beverly Hills Neiman Marcus tonight at the launch event for Hudson Jeans' new collabo line with Miss (not Mick) Jagger. I haven't been to that Neiman's since my very, very fabulous great-uncle and great-aunt invited me to lunch there a few years ago. She was a former hand model (of course) and NM in Beverly Hills was her favorite place to lunch when she came to the city (naturally! why not?). This time it will be less about caesar salads and more about a trashily appealing mix of 80s-chic poured-into-em jeans and fifties sweaters... minus a few inches (making them ideal for 90s enthusiasts and Cher Horowitz fans).

GMJ herself will be there. Hopefully recreating these poses all night on this sofa. Photo op? Ohhh yes.

teally, madly, deeply

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 21:52:00 +0000

You bored with deep teal yet?

Tough cookies. I'm not.

Today the internet brought me multiple visual swoons, with a color palette approved by Pantone:

This room in "dashing City Council President Eric Garcetti's" Elysian Heights post and beam house (just down the road from mi casa and now for rent). Love the deep teal mod chairs with the white/charcoal/au natural color scheme. The rest of the house isn't too bad, either (cough, small swoon). [via: curbedLA]

Retro-future shades. Coral lips. Victorian-chic blouse. Deep teal. It's a trend mash, and I love it. Could we also note that the sunnies are $12?!? [via: pixiemarket]

b-b-b-burberry

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 02:21:00 +0000

So in love with my 3D lettering. Wish I could take this piece home with me.
Made of custom laser-cut acrylic, on plexiglass with white direct-print check.

OK fine. You want photos of the Market Week installation I've been doing all weekend for the Burberry eyewear collection? Here you go. Fun stuff resulting from many hours of designing, endless conference calls, and some fierce blood/sweat/tears. Really happy though to be working with a brand I've followed for years and that just keeps getting better. (If you haven't read the recent Vogue article on the brand & Chief Creative Officer Christopher Bailey, please do so post haste. The way he's integrated digital media, not to mention his effing fantastic creative direction, is really just wonderful.)

Massive framed images from the SS 11 print campaign. Custom 7-foot-high metal frames.

Note: god those glasses are cool - they fold up! Also, in case you hadn't noticed, those models are absurdly hot.

And you thought my intense collage-making skills weren't practical?

[One of 3 Luxottica brand trend galleries, using printed images on cork & multimedia iPad galleries displayed on branded walls.]

Even the glass doors get the Burberry treatment...

[The style suite is where the VIP gifting goes on - tiny Burberry fragrances in color-coded boxes wrapped in the spring 2011 trend colors.
Over-the-top? Yep... just as I intended.]

There's a whole lot more but that's enough for now. It's 8:53pm but I feel like it's about 2 in the morning. Sooooooo tired.

a brief interruption in our regularly scheduled programming

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 05:06:00 +0000

You'd think in the middle of creating a market week event for Burberry at their NYC eyewear brand HQ, I'd write about that, no? Apparently, no. I've never been one to report on what I'm in the middle of. Sort of like the last thing I want to do is think more about the thing I'm already thinking about 110% of the time, you know?

So I pause my trend gallery creating -- which currently involves me, google images, a velvet sofa, and three iPads scattered around me -- for another "deep teal" spotting:

[turquoise ponyskin? but of courrsssse. thank you fashiontoast.]

Talking Shop With Vidal Sassoon

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 15:55:00 +0000

Mr. Vidal Sassoon has a way of saying "Los Angeles" that makes this city sound so charming, so cosmopolitan, yet so old-world, that even I find myself feeling far more enchanted than usual by being in this city, in the sunshine, at the end of February. He pronounces it "Los An-jell-eeeez," with a lilting British accent and permanent tongue in cheek, and I wish wholeheartedly that I could get away with saying it this way, rather than the requisite resident's slurred, hasty "EllAy."

How do I know how the greatest hairstylist of the 20th century pronounces the name of my town? I had the good fortune to be invited to speak with him a few days ago, as part of the promotion he's doing for the new documentary about his life. Slightly odd how much it seemed like a culmination of my years of interest in the psychology of haircuts;* my accidental entry into the world of Vidal Sassoon hair modeling; and my dubious, but apparently trusted by the media, status as a fashion blogger.

*my first creative journalism piece was a study of people's emotional connection to their hair. Turns out that people look to their hair not just to reflect their personalities, but actually to help them change their identities to the outside world. Next time your girlfriend chops all her hair off, ask her what else she's trying to leave behind!

I was more than excited to speak with the man who had singlehandedly eliminated the 1960s woman's need to get her hair "set" every week, sleep with a hairnet, and generally shoo children, lovers and flying objects away from her carefully laquered 'do. The young Vidal saw the absurdity and "I made up my mind, if I was going to be in hairdressing, I wanted to change things." Change things he did, with revolutionary ways of cutting hair so that it fell into shape, rather than having to be pinned and glued there.

This photo, which I've had tacked on my wall forever, turns out to be a (very!) young Grace Coddington after receiving the first legendary Five-Point Cut from Vidal Sassoon.

Me after my first Five-Point Cut
(lack of combing doesn't do the awesomeness of this haircut justice)

So ANYWAY, I called in for the interview, and after a few minutes of waiting on the line with a blogger from BellaSugar, one from Metromix, and a couple of others, we heard a secretaryish voice announce, "I have Vidal Sassoon for you." My my, you don't say. And my, my... a more charming, articulate, mahhhhvelous 82-year-old man I've never spoken to. WHAT a doll. And by "doll" I suppose I mean "incredibly accomplished, funny man, able to make small talk as well as discuss his role in the women's movement and OMIGOSH THAT ACCENT!" I mean, half the notes I wrote down are about the charming things he said, with little hearts next to them (e.g. "If everyone calls me Vidal, I'll feel much better. Mr Sassoon is a banker.")

What I always wonder, when I go to the Sassoon Academy to get my hair newly shorn by a stylist who is guaranteed to take at least an hour perfecting the levelness of my bangs (excuse me, my "fringe"), is how closely the current M.O. there corresponds to Vidal's original methods. I've heard their spiel about him, and about the attention to detail and careful rules of the techniques he pioneered, but ever since hearing that he was no longer officially running the Sassoon empire, I've been curious as to how, well, legit their worshipping-him-as-a-god is. Are they forever faithful, or is it in name only and the standards and methods have swerved off his road over the years? So I asked him: are you happy with the way that the academies and salons bearing your name represent your work?

In short: yes. The emphasis on the rigorous training that his original partners, Roger Thompson and Christopher Booker, put all stylists through, which was then repeated when those stylists trained others, worked the way Vidal intended: it kept the finer points of his teachings pure. "Keeping that standard was key," Vidal explained, and now, "Every time I walk into one of our salons -- ours, mind you, not just any salon with our products shown off in the window -- I'm thrilled that the attention to detail and shape and technique has lasted." I told him that I certainly thought it had, and that people on the street stop me to tell me how fine my haircuts are, and he laughed and asked if I wouldn't mind standing on the street outside the salon telling the same story.

But the story that's much more interesting is his -- how a boy raised in a London orphanage fell in love with modern architecture and in turn modernized hair -- and the film, just out, that tells it, alongside the story of the man behind the making of the film, none other than Bumble and bumble founder Michael Gordon. No matter how important or utterly unimportant the vast world of haircuts is to you, this is a film about passion and about revolution.

Oh yeah... and some TOTALLY AWESOME '60s OUTFITS. Ohh baby.

For more info on Vidal Sassoon: The Movie, check out the official site.

THIS GUY!

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 03:07:00 +0000

<br><br><br>dsf

As an extraordinarily lucky girl who gets to have my hair made over every few months by the geniuses at Vidal Sassoon, I am BEYOND excited to have a call scheduled tomorrow with Vidal himself! I have a few questions for him, about his role in the women's movement and his thoughts on current (hair) affairs, and I'm sooo tickled to be able to hear his British drawl coming through the phone!

This is all thanks to the premiere of Vidal Sassoon, The Movie; I wasn't able to attend the advance screening since I was in Vegas for MAGIC (weep, weep, I know), so am super itchy to get a chance to see it now that it's playing at the Laemmle. Friday night, anyone? Seriously, I'd love a date.

*more detail from the Tribeca Film Fest site, where it premiered, here.

Must run, glad tomorrow is just a call and not a face-to-face since my hair is a bit of a shaggy mess right now....