a wee bit skint. (a fashion blog)

hive.

if your home is just as much a representation of who you are as your clothes are, i would be remiss if i didn't mention a lovely online shop called hive modern.

i'm so into the interior design mode right now because we just moved into a new house. well, if the end of december is "just" and by "new" i mean new to us, as the house itself is roughly 100 years old... in any event, we haven't been able to totally unpack because for us, it takes a bit of time to make the house feel like it's our home. we like it to express who we are, and what we like to do, and how we want to live by slowly taking our time and figuring out where we want everything to go.

but, also because there are so many options open to us, that we just want to get it right. and i really don't think we (or you!) could go wrong with any item at hive modern. except perhaps for the bocca sofa, that may be pushing it..

why is everything i've shown eames? well, it's because i'm mildly obsessed.

but trust me, they carry a huge selection of designers...

shifty.

as mentioned in my previous post, i'm not adverse to those items that are quality and higher priced. it's all well and good to have a wardrobe full of fun and easy items that were picked up on the cheap. but, in my mind, quality does go a long way in terms of fit, cut, and longevity - and sometimes you have to pay for it.

in saying all of that and with the added disclaimer that i am salivating over this very simple, silk shape & space shift by lauren moffat, at  a price of $408, even i think it's way too expensive for what it is.

should it, however, go on sale? i'll be the first one in the electronic line-up...

tak.

i'm sure it's just so passé to go on about huge, bigger than jackie o. type sunnies, but i just can't help myself. i love the look of the large-eyed and if you're going to go spendy, which i'm okay with admitting, because i think my small but expanding repetoire of sunglasses as a collection - specs that i can go back to and wear for years and years to come. and my next purchase, as a gift to myself for the upcoming birthday? these not-for-the-faint-of heart and totally modern, in that 1967 sort of way, (which is when these were orginally created) tak sunglasses from oliver goldsmith.

i haven't been this excited for my birthday since the dawn of the cabbage kid when i was a wee thing of 5.

pumpkin.

question:

can a girl like me, who has shied away from wearing colour for years suddenly don a pumpkin coloured frock? i'd really like to find out because i quite enjoy the easiness of this 3.1 phillip lim lace up tunic. i'm all about the simple for summer dressing and this fits the bill.

but how do you become more comfortable wearing bright, BRIGHT colours when you've been wearing something close to black for as long as you can remember?

not.

i know, i know it's just a vanity case - and i'm usually able to bypass the whole juicy couture thing, but in this instance, i just couldn't - because, well, it's just not good. mocha coloured velour. it's velour people. a vanity case in velour makes no sense to me. it's just plain hideous. and impractical.

sorry.

cursed.

the three collection curse, hits chloé - which will not come as a huge surprise... although i did like his collections, i can understand why paulo melim andersson isn't continuing on. chloé has a formula, a very successful one at that, and he just wasn't able to capture the equation in a retail-savvy manner. the chloé girl knows what she wants, and isn't about to waiver...

ceremony.

being recently profiled in the new york times, will surely do opening ceremony a great service, but it isn't as if they were struggling before.

if you ignore chloe sevigny's mini-collection for the brand (which, in my opinion was abysmal, although i do like her style of style), opening ceremony deals in the chic and modern, without being overly pretentious and their stores are like mini-art galleries for clothes, carrying interesting labels along with stalwart brands like tretorn and stetson just to tip the scales in favour of hipsterism.

however, what i really like about them at this very moment? is this, classic flare coat. this is the definition of simple modern dressing and it's best. or close to it at least.

two-timing.

it's a good thing that i'm resolutely broke - wait, perhaps i should rethink that statement.

due to my being resolutely broke, which is a bad, bad thing - these jerome dreyfuss bags will not come in to my possession. i'm all about the big, interesting bag - and this was way before it came and went out of fashion to carry one. i've been doing much damage to my right shoulder for years and my right side slants ever-so slightly towards the floor, and that is something that is not about to change.

this is the 'tom':

and this is the 'robert':

mmmm, i love tom. and robert. i'm such a two-timer...

go-to.

a handy go-to collection of quips that cuts all the fluff and gets to the point...

warm.

i'm thinking i'd like to not carry a huge leather bag for the entirety of the upcoming summer. especially when it gets to late july, early august when black leather feels like extra flesh that's been glued to your side. like sitting really close to someone in the sauna. uncomfortably close... shudder.

wait, what was i talking about? right. so in looking for something a little lighter and colourful, i'm thinking these gorgeously hued brontibay bags may just do the trick...

also? if you're thinking of picking one of these up, it seems going directly to the brontibay website is the better bet. oddly, after conversion rates and shipping, coming directly from france, the total price ends being much less than anywhere else that i've seen online.

birky.

is it just me, or do these 3.1 phillip lim for tatami eros sandals err a little too much on the side of birky to you? i know the brand is of the therapeutic bent, but i feel as if i should get the zep out and wear some tie-dye... or, it could just be me.

 

pragmatic.

what better way to end the fall 2008 season? lanvin designer alber elbaz, (with a photo attached below, because he is do darn cute) is obviously a designer who thinks more about how a woman should feel in her clothes, as opposed to only how she looks.

his clothes seem to lack the uncomfortable, the constraining, the pretense. he has said that "part of a designer's job is to be pragmatic. not to be ashamed to think about making life easy for a woman." and as a woman, how can i not respect a man who respects a woman? his clothes are sumptuous, never staid and utterly wearable. so, it's nice to end on a high note.

jockey.

the thought processes that a designer must encounter, must be quite extreme. how else could one explain miuccia prada's last season of french maids and ballerinas for miu miu, to this season's horse jockey? and although this collection surely used the imagination, i'm not sure the end result was successful...

feu.

limi feu - very much her father's daughter... with a twist.

straightforward.

john galliano, is not one of my favourites. my eye veers to designs that are bit more straightforward, a little less layered under theatrics, make-up and sets. this is not to say that i do not think he is talented, of course, i do - his is just a look that i could not approach, and so, his looks are better left to the actresses on the red carpet. however, he does know how to put on a good show...

paulo.

it's nearing the end of paris fashion week, and i, i am getting tired. sure, i'm viewing it all from a comfortable chair in my kitchen - but, after three weeks of talking clothes, you find yourself needing a good solid nap. however, there are more shows to digest...

chloé, fall 2008 - paulo melim andersson is no phoebe philo and gone is the boho girl that she styled to perfection. now, the chloé girl is a bit more current, and bit more modern, and bit less girly. she's a little rougher around the edges. and perhaps andersson hasn't gotten completely steady on his feet at chloé, but i think he's getting there...

adored.

if i had to name the reason i adore sonia rykiel, the one reason would not be the clothes, but the fun she (and her daughter) seem to be having with them. it's the one show you can always expect to see the girls smiling and looking like they're actually enjoying themselves, as opposed to the robotic version of themselves they usually are. i mean, even karlie kloss was seen smiling. it's a good thing to, that the clothes look as good as they do. trapeze dresses, skinny little pants, voluminous coats all in bright, but not scary-bright colours, textures and patterns.

how could you go wrong? rykiel never fails.

rue.

the fact that the rue de mail collection by martine sitbon did not show one pair of pants may be annoying to some, but for someone like me, who wears only (98%) dresses and skirts, it was a collection that really spoke to my sense of style. i loved the shapes and the deep tones of green and aubergine, with flares of orange here and there. it was modern and not too frothy, a pretty close approximation of how i would describe myself.

lighter.

for the past couple of seasons, alexander mcqueen was seemingly in a very dark place. and barring his spring collection, the clothes were hard, confining, almost sinister. and that isn't a complaint, but compared to his fall 2008 collection, it would seem mcqueen has found himself in a lighter sort of place - a place found somewhere between queen victoria's england and india. and although most of the time his clothes are more spectacle than wearable, this collection can actually be worn...(by the very rich, of course).