a playground haunted by awesome characters: impressive clothing, sparkling trends ready to take off, ordinary things that I like to see as extraordinary, sweet and sour cocktails sipped on lazy summer days. but the playground is caged in concrete walls, in urban visions, in the underground scene and in alternative sounds. please, enjoy!
these days i'm totally into rock&roll fashion. highlights: sharp colors and stripes the beatles haircuts. so british and cool. i noticed a small process of reinvention on bucharest streets...which is enchanting. fringed clothing items. they may look old-fashioned...but it's certainly their point. without the right attitude it just looks ridiculous the rolling stones symbol. go for a vintage t-shirt and wear it 10 days in a row. don't forget to shower. and DO NOT confound it with the Kiss FM symbol. they just lack imagination!
The swinging '60 and '70 fashion will always be linked to some girls that waited quietly backstage for their superstar boyfriends. Or maybe not. Or maybe they were right in the spotlight, living their lives to the fullest, having the nerve to stand up to rock idols that dizzy crowds adored. Rock and Roll brides and girlfriends certainly turned themselves into icons. Pamela Courson Morrison (December 22, 1946 - April 25, 1974) was Jim Morrison's (The Doors) cosmic mate, and together reigned as the regal reptile and his faerie queen (Mark Ebner). He dedicated his self-published poetry books to her as well as some of their songs - Love street, Queen of the highway,etc. Described as having an innate sense of style, Pamela ran a very expensive fashion boutique called Themis, financed by Jim. She would travel to Europe and Africa to get the most unusual and exotic merchandise, the highest quality fabrics and lavishing textures, designing exclusive clothes for the fashionable rock scene. She planned to take with her a "silver mini, silk paisley suit and hat, Indian suit, moccasins, feather fringe, hair beads" (Angels Dance and Angels Die, Patricia Butler) on one of their trips. She always dressed in vogue and moreover, she would often wear fashion-forward items, as one of her acquaintance recalls: " Pamela at a social event - she would stop the party! people would look at her because she was wearing the type of clothing that nobody else would dare to." Anita Pallenberg (born 25 January 1944), also "known" as the 6th Rolling Stone, had a long term relationship with Keith Richards, probably the most talented, deep and intelligent band member. She speaks fluently four languages and studied graphic design. Model and actress, she had a some kind of earthy glamour in the way she dressed, generating the gypsy rock'n'roll look, mixing antique clothing and short tunics with large hats, low-waist belts, scarves and hand-made boots. She is quite the quintessential rock'n'roll babe, adventurous to the bone yet having an undeniable sense of style, powered by her unique italian glamour. Her personal view on fashion "set" the words used nowadays as to describe the term "boho style". Sweet Anita, You got the silver! Marianne Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is not that much linked to the fashion world per se, as to the music world; her carreer spans over four decades, her innocent voice from the beggining, singing As tears go by turned into a sorrowful one, marked by the long period of drug addiction and a lifetime of smoking. She divorced John Dunbar to live with Mick Jagger, the Stone whom she considered to be "the best bet". She can be considered a perfect rebel: dissing conventions for a life lived by her own rules - she hit rock bottom once, living on the streets, "very high and very anorexic", but recovered as a phoenix. She is definitely considered a 60s beauty icon: full lips and long lashes, wearing painted velvet mini skirts and fur coats, oversized sunglasses and tons of attitude. She and Anita remained great friends after their separation from the Rolling Stones. Exiled in the land of fame and changing so many people's lives in such different ways, I wonder if the blessed can ever turn into the damned?
Yesterday I just ended (hopefully) what I call a series of unfortunate events, topped by a minor car crash. So I decided to make the best day out of today, thinking and reading about eye-pleasing items. First, i would like to have the most perfect breakfast: peanut butter with banana slices, grapes and cereals. I would watch Garfield, my cat, chasing butterflies in golden sunlights. Afterwards, I would check my To Do list written in an unsual shaped, hand-made notebook. Then, i would put on Manolo Blahnik's The Campari, also known as Carrie Bradshaw's urban myth, the Mary Jane's. I would spend the evening browsing through the wonderful paintings on youngatarts, spending more than 5 minutes on each art piece made by Alexandra Ecobici. I would drink a glass of red wine and fall asleep thinking of Elsa Schiaparelli's avant-garde hats. This way, I would break the night into day. p.s.: i won't rotate garfield's pic.
What could be better than a striking blue dress? Loose, tight, dotted or stripped, mini or maxi. Seems like the summerish blue dress has a lot of fans among street style queens. Not a trend, but rather a feeling that goes perfectly with Live forever - Oasis. Because the blue dress, or the black dress with a funky twist as I like to call it sometimes, will never get old.
Today, the term boho chic is usually used to describe a certain style: loose floral dresses accesorized with waist-belts, head-scarves, dirty leather boots, furs and gipsy-hats, long silver necklaces and body-cross bags. However, the definition of this style has its roots in the parisian bohemian lifestyle back in the 19th century. The parisian young artists had several things in common: they disagreed the bourgeois lifestyle and rejected all material values; they didn't have a steady home and they lived only for their art. I guess this was the period when being idle was a true distinctive and valued characteristic in this counter-culture. Writers, musicians and painters lived in glasses of wine, on drug beds, along with their muses, the so-called grisettes. During the day they worked on their art, while at night inspiration came in large amounts of alcohol. Their fashion reflected their lives: messy, chaotic and defined by contrasts. They combined different textures and patterns, different materials, adopting a subversive attitude which completed a very special, emerging category: the young, carefree artists that turned their poverty into a statement and a lifestyle into a flourishing culture.
"...wild whimsical characters, bearded, long-haired, dressed in every fashion except the reigning one, in pea-jackets, Spanish cloaks, in waistcoats a la Robespierre, in Henry III bonnets...and this in the middle of Paris in broad daylight". Victor Hugo, Hernani
Every photo taken by Richard Avedon, one of the most influential fashion and portrait photographers of the late 20th century, captures soul drops from the subject. I don't see very often, in fashion pictorials, images that can be felt, heard, tasted and touched. His pictures recall a simphony of senses, and every person captured in them seems to be naked; their well-kept secrets are revealed and they find themselves in a brutal reality. Sadness, poverty and dignity in dispair, grace and humiliation, all felt simultaneously when watching a single picture. Marylin Monroe, Ronald Reagan, Tony Blair, Audrey Hepburn, Samuel Beckett and ordinary people were left bleeding after a blitz of a camera took the hidden part of them and put it on a white, wide, revealing background.
How would you like a hand-made bag made out of advertising PVC canvases? They definitely stand out, having such a beautiful story: all Vaho Works products are made of trash, which means they are uber-necessary right now, eco-friendly and socially conscious. Stained, ripped, abandoned banners and other advertising materials turn into statement-accesories under the arms of imprisoned Spanish men. So, Vaho Works got what it takes to take the world apart: the promise that everything used can be recycled into something better. And it's not just about the canvases, it's also about the soul recycling - giving a chance to people who dance on the edge of the society.
Chanel's fall 2009 Paris - Moscow bag collection can be described perfectly in one word: original. The russian spirit shines through military decorations, golden symbols and blood red wool. Moreover, there are also the-always-fabulous chained quilted bags made of calfskin and lambskin, adorned with the classical CC logo. It's surprinsing how a bag with parisian heart evokes heavy russian winter nights, marvelous architectural details, and even Rusia's imperial tendencies captured in emblematic jewels. Bonus: Lilly Allen has been chosen to represent Chanel's bags in Coco Cocoon fall 2009 ad campaign. Well, things are getting better: a british songbird, a parisian brand and Moscow themed capsule-collection. I really like this better/glamorous side of globalization. Endless possibilities.
This concept-blog is in fact a mix between fashion, the main ingredient, music and other arts, different destinations around the globe, random cool stuff, all layed upon my personal views. It's just a style trip.
