a material world

Is Richard Avedon's FASHION book the new It Bag?

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 04:24:00 +0000

Not that I mind. I'm unhealthily obsessed with Richard Avedon's work and when he died I honestly was crushed that it meant I'd never know what I "truly looked like" because he would never photograph me.

But in the world of internet decor porn, the new(ish) AVEDON FASHION coffee-table book definitely seems like the new Maltipoo / green juice / Eames chair on shag rug.

Erika Bearman has it.

Nick Olsen's room at the Lee Jofa showroom in NYC's Decoration & Design Building has it.

It was originally a Harper's Bazaar cover (April 1965, lucky bastards).

But I may like this original alternate version the best... I suppose the initials don't hurt.

I was about to say snarkily "Let's see how long it takes for the image to become the very hippest of wallpapers," and then I realized I already use it as my (desktop) wallpaper. No one is immune.

(Could you tolerate this, tiled, as your desktop background? I CAN.)

grimes is perfect

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 00:09:00 +0000

New year, new look for the eternal vessel of cool that is Grimes.

In this shoot for designer Iris van Herpen (whose other collections are... insane. Not using that word hyperbolically.), Grimes' formerly pinky-bleached Gwen-Stefani-as-a-street-kid locks have turned dark and stormy. I've been hunting this dark teal ombre hair look for months and want it even more now. Gorgeous. Gorgeous. Marry me Claire Boucher pleeeeease... and bring that chevron-front dress as your dowry.

UPDATE: Also, THIS.

(so last year. also featured here.)

(also, hi, it has been forever and three days since there was any new content on this little site. partially due to 27-hours-a-day clients and resulting mental overload/paralysis and partially because there are newww developments coming. whoop whoop.)

SECRETS REVEALED: why stores think christmas starts the day after halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 06:42:00 +0000

I hope it's not a sign of my staggeringly old age that all I'm hearing right now is people tsking about How Absurd It Is That Stores Are Already Decorating For CHRISTMAS!. Because I Mean If Things Keep Going This Way Christmas Will Be In August Soon, Amirite?(!!??[?!]!?!)*
*Apparently some people are even driven to Yahoo Answers with this issue.

I hope this is a universal current status that you recognize and perhaps have even participated in, because if it's not, not only will it mean I live in an old folks' home, but also that you won't care about this post, which reveals the marketing and advertising industry's super-secret reason for whipping out the sparkly plastic fir trees as soon as the sound of trick-or-treaters' footsteps fades. I'm writing about it because if I hear one more person bring this up as a small-talk substitute for the weather or something, I'm going to blow a gasket or a basket or Hank Baskitt. I live in Los Angeles and as a former East Coast person let me tell you there is NEVER any justification for talking about the weather here, but that's still not a legitimate reason to talk about how the early appearance of reindeer decorations is a signal that our society is doomed.

It's really easy to explain. The explanation is: money.

Basically, there's no financial incentive for decoratey-type stores to decorate for Thanksgiving. The only real moneymakers at Thanksgiving are food-related items and plane tickets (and probably Xanax), and those aren't really things you advertise 2 months ahead of time via color-coded banners. Halloween is another story: it's never too soon to start thinking about buying more, and more, and more costume parts and party props and candy to practice eating before the big night. So as soon as school starts and all the notebooks and multi-colored backpacks have been bought, out come stores' Halloween decorations, to hurry up the buying process. Hopefully, if you start thinking about it on September 1st, by the time Oct. 31 rolls around you've changed your mind 3 times about your costume, your party plans have expanded wildly, and you've bought $19,000 worth of stuff. Starting November 1, the decor real estate market is open again, and CVS just does not stock anything that paper turkeys will help to sell. Those three weeks are much better used reminding people that Christmas (and Hanukkah, and New Year's, but come on we all know what this is about) is coming and they will need to buy... EVERYTHING.

That's really it. The ROI on Thanksgiving decorations is low.

[I remember when my old boss's boss learned about ROI and casually threw the term into every client meeting after that. So endearing.] There's a more science-filled article about how stores start preparing for Christmas in August here if you're into that.

I tried to google image Thanksgiving decorations to illustrate this post but they don't exist (except, apparently, in my childhood home. I definitely had cartoony paper pilgrims taped on my bedroom window.). I mean, you don't want to put a giant inflatable ear of corn outside a car dealership. Let's be honest, you really don't even want to look at a charming photo of a cornucopia. You know what ARE awesome, though? Sparkly, snowy, wintry, ridiculous Christmas ads. My friends' agency (No Subject) did a good roundup of their faves, and Cartier provided me with my current #1 ad -- a hallucinatory, snow-covered mixture of jewels and baby animals.

The fact that Cartier believes that those are panthers makes it even better.

the grass is always greener: winter fashion in los angeles, or the lack thereof

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 18:03:00 +0000

Winter lookbooks are to our heat-waved L.A. what tropical Hawaiian panoramas are to the snowbound: glorious, magical sights of the seemingly impossible. Depressingly out-of-reach, but still hard to resist gazing at with wistful, hungry eyes.

images: j. crew, "color confidential"

songs to end the summer

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 23:01:00 +0000

After a heat wave that thrilled fans of formal shorts and almost killed my lemon tree, Los Angeles has finally, finally, had its first days of fall. Seems like a year ago I was jumping around excited for the frenetic laze of summer; now, the grey morning clouds and chance to wrap oneself in sweaters are a welcome change. There's kind of a moroseness to the fall; thank god for the sparkling endless summer whose oversaturation makes its ending a weird kind of relief.

A few songs really fit into this moment's happy little sadness corner (i.e. if I'm not listening to either one at any given time, I wish I were). Sweet-sad, light-dark, grimy-innocent, beginning-of-an-ending songs.

Solange Knowles made "Losing You" retro fun and sun-baked and sweet, but wistful, and it'll tear a little hole in your heart if you feel like it.

I loved Sky Ferreira's "Everything Is Embarassing" when I first heard it but only started playing it over.and.over. the other day. Turns out both of these songs are produced by Dev Hynes (Blood Orange) sooo it all makes sense. Little Sky is so baby-grunge and plaintive-voiced and serious, and all that plus the song's hyper-retro drum track and synths make you nostalgic for something you maybe never even had.

photos: thedayafteryoudie

emmys fashion review: my little pony feet

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 18:39:00 +0000

Modern Family's Ariel Winter "makes the scene in a printed Katharine Kidd gown with an asymmetrical hemline," according to THR. Shoe credit: unidentified stable.

I hate platform heels. I really do. They just... bug me. And finally, scrolling through Emmys red carpet photos this morning, I realized what is so eye-twitchingly annoying about this type of big, snub-toed, platform shoe: their clompiness, especially on skinny-ankled actress/model/socialites, makes them look exactly like horse hooves. HORSIE FEET: so hot right now!

I thought that the platform heel had retreated in defeat once the mainstream's love for those wood-bottomed things of '06 finally faded, but this new generation of suede- or leather-covered blocky pumps has been showing up everywhere for a distressingly long time now. Why? I get it now. Previously, there's been no way for former Girls Who Were Into Horses to keep their Black Beauty/Saddle Club fantasies alive. The revamped My Little Pony's been claimed by bronies, so the only recourse for a generation of women subconsciously aiming to combine their childhood aspirations of becoming a pony crossbred with Barbie is to buy these vaulted, clacking, bedazzled hooves by the multipack.

Ariel Winter is totally ~Dark-Kirara on deviantART

Maybe not the worst way to live out your fantasies... though I'm not sure what I can put on my feet to bring to fruition my childhood dream of being a puma. Maybe THAT explains my 1997 obsession with velvet overalls?

**UPDATE: I think Ariel's shoes are by Brian Atwood. Whatever.

how to be kate moss for only $1600 (approx.)

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 06:00:00 +0000

The second I saw these delicate little star & anchor bracelets on the Colette instagram, I knew exactly what they were. Is it sad that I'm more familiar with the tiny star & anchor tattoos Kate Moss has on her right hand than I am with, uh, a lot of other things?

[kate moss x FRED bracelets, sold at colette]

It helps that this is the southeast corner of my bathroom:

my "concept of cool" corner*

*it's not really named that. i just made it up. but that is what it is.

Note: I have larger-than-life tee-shirted Kate staring at me every morning as I detangle my bangs because, as Cat Marnell explained in this post that like totally resonated with my craggy little hi-low-fashion-world-imprinted soul, "this Supreme ad, my dears, is a CULTURAL MOMENT, and I have been mesmerized by it."

Anywayyy I DON'T want these shiny new Kate products (actually most of the stuff she's come out with -- the Topshop line, the perfume -- is kind of yuck, I think). But they are super interesting! Because, I mean, they are diamondy versions of her tattoos, which is kind of insane when you think about how tattoos (especially hers) are a humble, permanent way of branding yourself in a personally meaningful way; meanwhile, bracelets are flashy, take-offable ways of branding yourself with someone else's inspiration. These bangles are calling to mind Mossy's prison-looking art, while serving a totally opposite purpose. BASICALLY we can all agree that jewelry is the opposite of tats, right?

I know these'll be drooled over by everygirl and her mother, and I'm weird to think it's weird, but really the cool that the bracelet-wearers get is as to Kate Moss's cool what the bracelets themselves are to the inked originals: a flashy allusion to someone else's Thing for people without a Thing of their own.*

*see: every celebrity endorsement ever. why am i even talking about this.

materialist monday

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:14:00 +0000

matthew korbel-bowers' "secret surf map"

via society6

WANT.

dressing your iPad (or, the point of a baby is the cute little clothes)

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 01:07:00 +0000

I am a total baby clothes creeper. I lovingly pick up toddler shoes (have you SEEN the rainbow lineup of tiny Vans at Undefeated? I mean really.) and shriek over teensy cardigans. HOWEVER, I do not have a baby, and my cat doesn't like clothes.

BUT! I have an iPad.

The first thing I did after installing Exquisite Corpse (look it up) was start shopping for new outfits. My faves are the holy grail of people-chic: leather and wool.

the "2point turn" iPad case from Hardgraft

the iPad cover WITH A MOLESKINE POCKET!!! from The Good Flock

rad striped leather iPad case by Claire Vivier x Splendid

(ok it's not wool, but it is grey + orange!)

seen in the hands of Natalie and Jackie... just a tad jealz.

more adventures in bridal shopping: shareen vintage

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 06:51:00 +0000

PART TWO: BRIDESMAID DRESS PARTY

(yep, just like this.)

Okay, so back to the warehouse full of naked girls. We're back, this time with all the bridesmaids and several kinds of cookies to keep us fortified. Erin’s wedding will be a picnic-y, late summer affair, and she wants her bridesmaids in assorted retro floral day dresses. She’s fine with different colors and patterns, as long as they stay within her general teal/blue/purple/peach-ish color scheme, and she’s incredibly generous and doesn’t want her friends to have to spend millions on dresses; obviously, vintage is the way to go. Inspired by this post, we coordinated a bridesmaid-dress-finding party at Shareen Vintage the weekend after Erin’s bridal consultation.

Joanie, the main head of operations there, was a total peach to work with: from making sure they had a selection of what we were looking for in all the right sizes to patiently answering my 19 obsessive emails. 4 out of 5 ‘maids were able to come, and we started off by pulling anything and everything we liked.

If you want to go frothy mcfrotherson, you are COVERED.

We were kinda going for the opposite… STILL COVERED. That there is our rack of maybes. At this point, we enlisted the S.V. team to assist and advise. They were attending to a slew of parties at once, but did their best to keep us high-priority and went running to the racks many times to find a certain dress they knew would look perfect on one of us. They whisked us in and out of our finery (have you ever been caught in a tight-fitting 50s brocade dress? I have.), and dude, they bring out snacks! Clif bars and mini Snickers are basically designed to fuel bridesmaids trying on dresses.

The Shareen ladies are also quick to whip up insta-belts if they see that a dress needs one, or to suggest in-house tailoring (sleeves off, skirts shorter, etc.) to suit a certain body. And they’re never wrong.

Despite the fantastic selection and dozens of dresses we loved, it was a challenge to find a group that all were in the same color family, flattered each wearer, and didn’t violently clash style-wise. We ditched a whole bunch of adorable minidresses and floaty sundresses before landing on one perfect piece (my purple/blue floral shirtdress) and building off that. The rest came together pretty quickly; the assortment is a tad more formal than we’d originally envisioned, but so is Erin’s dress, so it’ll work. And despite how we all know that once you slap the “wedding” label on anything it gets twice as expensive… our dresses were all around the $50 mark or under, and we’ll definitely be able wear them in the real world afterwards. Too good to be true?

Nah… we still need to find SHOES.

[first photo: "supermodel pillow fight," shot by stephen meisel for vogue, 1993. we die.]

adventures in bridal shopping: shareen vintage

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 06:29:00 +0000

Okay, so with THREE of my closest friends getting married this year, I've seen a lottttttttttt of wedding dresses. I'm definitely not getting on the marriage train anytime soon, but there's zero way to stop myself from developing strong, pseudo-expert opinions about my favorite wedding looks and what is awesome and what is played out and what is just TURRIBLE. Therefore, when my wonderful friend Erin asked me to help her find a vintage dress, I was STOKED. That's exactly what I would choose, so of course I was down to put on my scout uniform and start the hunt for The Real Deal. I mean, “vintage-inspired” is all well and good, but why not go straight to the source, right? If you live in Los Angeles or New York, “the source” is definitely Shareen Vintage, famous for its MASSIVE stash of incredible vintage finds, unconventional location and charismatic owner/queen bee. Thinking of going vintage but overwhelmed with how to find what you need? Shareen might be your perfect one-stop shop. I first met Shareen herself at a wedding, actually, where she’d re-made a stunning vintage ivory column dress for the bride. It was the opposite of cheesy-retro, and was proof right off the bat that Shareen’s eye is less about loving the ‘60s or whatever and more about finding the perfect dress for a woman’s body. Since then, I’ve been to her eastside L.A. vintage treasure trove-slash-warehouse many times -- most recently on this mission to scope out wedding dresses for Erin, and bridesmaids' dresses for myself and the rest of Erin’s lady posse.

Did we succeed? Did we get mugged in the alley? Is Shareen really as imperious as Yelp reviews imply? Read on!

WHERE ARE WE?

Sure, it’s an industrial part of town – a nebulous no-man’s land between Chinatown and downtown and Echo Park. So what! Look how scenic! And parking is endless!

I told you, it’s no-man’s land.

Step through the sketchball-looking front-door-that-looks-like-a-back-door, and find yourself in a vast landscape of garment racks and half-naked women breathlessly pulling things from their gorgeously colored piles of vintage dresses (and blouses, and shorts, and corsets, and oh my my it never ends). See why the “No Boys Allowed” rule is essential?

PART ONE: WEDDING DRESS CONSULTATION

We had an appointment with Shareen for a bridal consultation, so to start off, Erin browsed the (extensive!) bridal racks to pull what she liked best.

Despite being tempted by a feathery number and this very fetching jumpsuit, Erin was really looking for less of a full-length lace extravaganza, and more of a knee/tea-length corset dress or wrap dress.

Unfortunately, they were pretty short on shorter options, so we started talking custom. Shareen has recently launched her own line of dresses, with some really simple and chic options that are definitely worth a look. The gathered wrap dress below left can be made in several kinds of jersey and silk (this one was just a sample and is meant to be worn with a liner, obviously… though it’s pretty BANGING solo, no? Reminiscent of a certain 90s Chanel, even?). Shareen showed a few shades of ivory that Erin could pick from for her custom version. The dress on the right from her collection is what I perrrsonally was obsessed with but that's irrelevant.

In the end, Erin decided to go with a more classic princessy style from Dolly Couture, but visiting Shareen was definitely worthwhile. E found a whole new range of things that look amazing on her, we learned that custom can be cheap (under $200!), and Shareen herself is SO MUCH FUN. She keeps up a nonstop stream of intense, breathy commentary that ranges from passionate discussions of fabric options to heartfelt compliments that would thrill any self-conscious bride to hushed confessions about her own soap-worthy love life.

So what about me and the bridesladies? Tune in next time for more half nude adventures with Shareen!!!

a hot chevron minute

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 05:39:00 +0000

My Pinterest homepage today is blindingly chevron.

Clearly HAVING A MOMENT.

[pinned by top gurlz Natalie, Jen and Eileen.
my pinterest is linked over on the right somewhere if you care.]

palm springs playdate

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 18 May 2012 21:39:00 +0000

What to do after a nerve-fraying week? Soak yourself in the beauty of something bigger than your own issues. I'm super visual, and for me, it's so inspiring and cheering to just walk around looking at beautiful things I've never seen before.

So... for maximum sun, palm fronds and glorious mid-century design eye candy, a fave lady friend & I shipped ourselves off on a Palm Springs playdate. Drank it all in through a Jonathan-Adler designed straw.

First stop: Route 66, the world's best source for vintage Bakelite. These golden cherries were SO darling. The very flaming and talkative proprietor insisted they were sour cherries. Not so... RANIER, DUH.

Up the aerial tramway as the sun set...

Cocktails at the peak, darkness and city lights on the way down.

There's no way to be catty about how gorgeous tiny lights look in the dark below a mountain range.

The Parker knew we were coming.

We closed down the sushi place partying with these crazy kids.

They sing Nat King Cole classics at the Mesquite Country Club every Tuesday night.

If I ever disappear from L.A. without a trace, I'll probably be camping out in Palm Springs' Trina Turk store.

While collecting bakelite at Route 66, we encountered the most enchanting creature. She was tiny, tan, wore a vintage fluorescent coral belted shirtdress and a Pucci headscarf, and made Dieu and me stop and stare after her with jaws hanging slightly open. Amy Cox is perfect, her vintage shop is called Mr. Cox, she has a Pierre Cardin bar, and her Joan Mad Men Barbie is cooler than my Betty Mad Men Barbie. She also sold me and Dieu our new favorite tennis dresses.

For actual informative guides to the marvelous nooks & crannies of Palm Springs, read ESB or Fashion Intel. For general wandering and luxuriating, follow the eye candy itinerary above.

Don't forget to try and crash a wedding at the Parker (bonus points for two).

L.A. indie boutiques: your starter list

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:55:00 +0000

OOPS! I never linked to the guest post I wrote for another site with my roundup of independent Los Angeles boutique recommendations! Of course, there are like a bazillion more (yet another reason L.A. is great), but I stuck to ones that focus on independent labels and have their own identifiable aesthetic, ranging from clothing to awesome modern design and crushworthy stationery. Included both west- and eastside options, even though I could have listed five without even leaving Echo Park.

If you're visiting the city, or live here but need to break out of your Urban Outfitters (or American Rag if you're fancy) rut, start with this list. Do you have faves that should go in the next roundup (there are already so many new ones I love in Silverlake, aghh)? Thanks again to Sarah Von of Yes and Yes for the referral!

linky link: Vianza's Indie Boutique Guide: Los Angeles

the beauty of merchandising; e.g., pretty pretty stock's picture-perfect party.

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:40:00 +0000

visual merchandising. [c. bettic for j. crew]

OK, so I was GOING to show off my newly sorted & organized & design*sponge-ready jewelry displays in my newly sorted & organized dreamy Elfa closet... but I only have the cringe-inducing "before" pictures and no "afters," and I'm in Boston until Friday. The best-laid plans... blargh. Therefore, I'm forced today to talk about something much less self-absorbed and much more visually impressive (darn): a recent event I attended in L.A. that renewed my appreciation for superior merchandising. Eh wot?

Merchandising is the methods, practices, and operations used to promote and sustain certain categories of commercial activity. In the broadest sense, merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to the variety of products available for sale and the display of those products in such a way that it stimulates interest and entices customers to make a purchase.

Merchandising is like branding: no normal person outside the fashion and marketing industries has any idea what in hell they are. These also, incidentally, are my two favorite subjects/areas of expertise, which makes for really fun cocktail-party conversation.

Well-meaning partier: I like your Docs! What do you do?

Me: I'm a branding consultant. Brand identity and development, creative direction, merchandising, etc.

WMP: [ gone ]

But no, seriously, it's really cool! In fashion, merchandising usually refers to the layout of products in a store, as well as the selection of products itself. One of the cooler parts of the entire retail cycle is the hidden world of visual merchandising: the design and arrangement of those "mood pieces" and tableaux that make your fave stores extra enjoyable to be in. Successful visual merchandising creates an environment that expresses the mood of the brand, and ideally both hits on notes of the customer's own life & tastes as well as on notes of what they wish their life were like; in other words, it makes the target customer say "hey, that's me!" and in the same breath "I wish that were me...," and then buy every piece on the rack. Just think about the vintage-camera-collecting trend, and the immediate appearance of an absurd number of vintage cameras in every gatt-danged hip contemporary shop in every major city.

My friend Chelsea is a visual merchandiser for Forever 21, and she gets flown all over the world to create the window displays and store islands for new F21 stores. Notice the brilliantly put-together ensembles on the cheeky mannequins welcoming you to the new London outpost? All Chelsea. Remember when I was super-fangirl-excited to work with Simon Doonan? He was the visual merchandiser who made Barneys' window displays the stuff of legend.

visual merchandising. [chelsea montes for F21 london. how fun?!]

Another industry great whose work I really admire is John Moore of POP Studio, with whom I've worked on a few projects; he was the original mastermind behind the Hollister brand rollout (um, you may have heard of it), later the creative director for Modern Amusement, and is generally rather visionary at creating a branded experience. When baller-about-town Natalie invited me to the Culver City launch event for POP Studio's in-house women's line, Pretty Penny Stock, I knew it would be a good one... and oh man, you guys, not only were the clothes really sweet, but the event was so perfectly put together and WELL-MERCHANDISED that it was truly inspiring. .

This is the brand. Classic Charlotte-Gainsbourg-on-Cape-Cod, easy breezy yacht club steezy.
Get it? Yeah, you totally do.

This was the spot-on branded wall display. Framed lookbook sketches, framed prints used in the line, product on blonde wood hangers, text screened directly onto the wood, Linus freaking bicycle (with the same woven basket that I used to have on my Schwinn before some Silverlake b*tch stole it). [photo: Danielle K.]

Mini lobster rolls & nautical cupcakes. I'm from Boston and these lobby rolls were LEGIT.

[photo: Fashion Intel]

Also on the menu: homemade cotton candy & beer. All the adorable POP Studio crew members were decked out in Pretty Penny gear, making for a total live-the-brand experience. Really wish I could remember the DJ's name because her collection of obscure soul was really boss. [photos: Danielle K.]

Activities ranged from eating cute stuff to making little nautical rope bracelets (that's me and Natalie on the left -- me in black and NJ in a poncho, that hippie -- getting all crafty) to getting nails did (the ONLY element of the party I thought wasn't on-brand... but it is trendy and all so whatever) to the ubiquitous photobooth.

The power of merchandising is strong, my friends! After their event, I cannot get PPS's perfect little chambray ballerina dress out of my head...

[Pretty Penny Stock fer sale]

Newly inspired to really blow it out for the next events I work on, because it just makes SUCH a difference.

I was thinking of the shops or studios I like that have truly innovative merchandising... By George in Austin sticks out as a really cool one. Any faves among you tasteful crew?

grimes X citizen kane - an explanation

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:52:00 +0000

People asked me why I posted this Grimes "Oblivion" video alongside a Citizen Kane clip on my Tumblr. It was hard to answer with anything that made sense outside of my brain, so I'm working it out here on (digital) paper.

Well, the song is kind of entrancing and retro-synthy and rad, and to me that makes sense juxtaposed with the stately, black-and-white sobriety of the CK clip. I always post Tumblr images in sets, color paired with b&w, because of the mood that the combination creates. The "Oblivion" video also seems like a big sharp-eyed montage of American base instincts, and Charles Kane is the ultimate American stereotype: has everything, never satisfied. We all just want to win.

But really it was the unexpected imagery in Grimes's video that hit the je ne sais quoi button for me; those stadium shots filled with coarse, sweaty dudes who become surreal here, moshing silently to the femme, airy track. Just like any art piece that displaces the ordinary, this one makes you take a moment to think about what you're really looking at: violent, testosterone-y pursuits that massive numbers of Americans can't get enough of, but which couldn't be farther from the aesthetics of the high-fashion world... complete seriousness about the task at hand, followed by crazy, buoyant joy... corporate suits pouring huge marketing budgets into the spectacle, all riding on the shoulders of such young, young, sweet boys.

The surprise of the visuals worked for me too; in a Pitchfork interview, singer Claire Boucher said, wide-eyed, that "While we were shooting, we realized the beauty of these spaces. The motorbike rally was in a 50,000 person arena, it's insane."

We, this messy proud high-low society, are pretty insane. I'm not trying to rag on us; it's all a beautiful, sweaty spectacle.

read all the things

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 04:51:00 +0000

Hey, wow, I finally updated my LINKS LIST (to your right) so it more accurately includes the pieces of the internet I think you should look at! Fashion and art and design and life stuff without any obnoxiousness. Except for Bai Ling, and her obnoxiousness is just adorable.

YAY SMART THINGS ON THE INTERNET.

Note: I wish I read everything every single day, but I don't. If that were a list of my most-visited sites, it would probably be Rappers Doing Normal Shit and J. Crew.

*Photo: Bodleian Library, Oxford University. For more library porn, click here.

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.