Ce qui est beau est toujours bizarre

Swiss fashion grad Florent Tosi's collection, titled the same as this post (and found via NJAL), at first piqued my interest for the same styling reasons as Ilaria Nistri's newest offerings, with the extended bib collar, harnessed jackets, and one-armed coats. But the fact that Florent's work revolves around the male body both literally and figuratively causes me to take a second look and question whether I'm even entitled to picture his brilliant deconstructed pieces on myself (see below). As Florent says regarding his aesthetic: 

The shown parts of the body (arms, legs) are not particularly erotic, but linked with the easily identifiable universe of men suit gives it a different reading. It exacerbes its animal side, showing a hairy leg next to a pant with a fold leg.

Though my answer to my question (of whether I'm allowed to want these pieces) is obviously yes, I feel that Florent would say otherwise. And to that, Florent, I ask: how would you reconcile or amend the idea behind your collection if the man who wants to wear your work is a cyclist, and thus does not have hairy legs? And then, if the Florent Tosi man can be a cyclist, can the Florent Tosi man be a woman? If so, or at least if your answer is 'maybe', we should talk. Sulpicia needs a couple more outfits. If not, however, you still have a fan.

(Photos via Florent's Tumblr)

Ilaria Nistri F/W 12/13

Although I should be working, as it's my 2nd last day at the last regular paying job I'll hold in my 20s, the power of Ilaria Nistri's F/W 12/13 collection compels me...to post. Particularly, the styling options are quite intriguing, and make me question whether I've been as creative as I can be with my current wardrobe.

EXHIBIT A: High-low wrap-around skirt

 

We know that I'm against the current high-low trend of skirts (or 'mullet skirts', as my sister calls them. But is it okay if it's super-duper long in the back AND a wrap-around? Especially when worn with high boots, the extra fabric in the back flows towards the front and disguises the high-low effect somewhat. And the wrap style adds more detail that distracts away from the fact that it is technically a high-low skirt. Yes, I know I'm trying to make excuses for it, but, forgive me, I love this skirt. Also, I love the western-style bib shirt. Yes indeed.

EXHIBIT B: Wrap-around sweater

I'm calling this a wrap-around sweater even though it's probably just sewn this way and does not wrap per se. However, this gives me an idea of what I can do with longer sweater dresses that I don't want to wear long, i.e. pull up and down to have the bottom double-layered (think fold-over pants), then pull up a side for draping. This could be held up with a skinny belt hidden underneath the fold. I think I know just the sweater dress I will try this on.

EXHIBIT C: Coat as one-sleeved dress

The styling is self-explanatory, but brilliant just the same. Especially as I wish I could wear my wool coat from Patricia Ayres much more, but don't always want to be toasty. Probably recommended for less structured coats, but whatever.

EXHIBIT D: Floor-length head scarf

To add a pop of colour to an otherwise all black outfit (which of course I would NEVER do - ha), a scarf peaking out the top and bottom is a great way to go. Except I don't have any scarves that long.

(Photos via Ilaria's Facebook - for the life of me, I can't remember when I had 'Liked' Ilaria's page, so I have no recollection of how I found her. Any ideas?)

VOID

I was hoping that when I started typing in this young designer's name as a label, Blogger would auto-suggest it, meaning I had an earlier post on her. It just seems like Yvonne Laufer belongs on kOs, and should've been here since the beginning. This is already her MA graduate collection, for goodness' sakes. And with such perfection, you know that her BA one must've knocked more than a few socks off. But all is well, my friends, because Yvonne and kOs have now been united (thanks to NJAL). This collection is inspired by negative space, and looks like the perfect marriage (well, technically a three-way) between Julian Roberts' subtraction cutting method, Lilly Heine's lasered layers, and science.

Yvonne, do you have any interest in creating one additional piece for this collection, specifically inspired by Sulpicia (or who you think Sulpicia was)? I suddenly think it would be a vital part of my research, particularly as it all boils down to negative space, really. Let me know. Alternatively, if I were to become involved in a play/modern dance routine based on my interpretation of Sulpicia, as Canadian classicists are wont to do, I may need to borrow either/both of the below looks for Sulpicia's wardrobe.

(Photos via NJAL)

La Grande Noirceur

Goodness gracious, Ovate's new collection is pure gold in black dulcet tones/layers. I want every single piece that doesn't have leather in it. After creating the most perfect hoodie ever AND the most perfect tank top ever (which sadly sold out just when I decided I needed a back-up one!), it looks like Audrey is on a roll with what might possibly be the most perfect one-shoulder dress ever (I never thought I'd say those words) AND the most perfect hooded vest ever (methinks this is a pumped up version of the sleeveless Valhalla?). Not to mention those floor-length dresses. And to think that just yesterday I was complaining to my man that no one ever designs things I'm interested in anymore. Audrey, please post these beauties in the shop soon so I can rework my school-year budget. Sigh.

(Photography by April Lea; modelling by Mathilde Jobin and Brett Wagg)

Edit: Doh! That is not a hooded vest, but a wool jacket with leather sleeves. Commence the Charlie Brown song here. At least I was right about it having the same cut as the Valhalla. Sigh.

Frysta

 

Just when I thought I was done with NY, a call for papers for a conference at CUNY arrives in my inbox, and thoughts of being in NY in November are swirling through my head. Yes, I could rather quickly write up an abstract for a paper to present, and, yes, the things I will be addressing in my thesis fit the theme of this conference quite well, and, yes, I'd prefer to start practicing public speaking in front of an interdisciplinary group of graduate students I'll likely never see again instead of a Classics-only group of established scholars. But, more importantly, it's in NY! And when there will not be a heat wave. Oh boy. Alice, would you be available for an early morning piano performance or two?

In other news, here's a spectacular wool jacket from the adorable Brooklyn-based designer Azede Jean-Pierre (found via NJAL), which, I think you'll agree, deserves to be posted in as large a size as possible. It's also available in white, if you're into that sort of thing.

Collection 17

I always get an invite to the Barbara Í Gongini shows, and I always regretfully cannot attend. Thanks to MUUSE though, I discovered that I can at least pretend I was there by watching a (shortened) video of the S/S 13 show at Copenhagen Fashion Week last Friday. I also discovered that Barbara is a red head! Who knew? Anyway, the lemon-yellow, grey, and black pallette remind me of the Marie Saint Pierre boutique, so I'm happier than a clam right now (particularly with the outfits at 2:35 and 2:51).

BÍG is definitely my favorite high-end basics label, and I've been agonizing over what piece I should put on my credit card to celebrate my scholarship (particularly as I missed that sale and have a budget). Any suggestions?

Interpretation of alter ego in unconsciousness

I had fully intended on posting these designs by Korean-born and London-based designer Byungmun Seo when I saw them a week or two ago, but I had forgotten to bookmark his NJAL page and couldn't for the life of me find it again. But NJAL came to the rescue, as one of his pieces was featured in their newsletter that hit by inbox this morning. Hurray! To tell the truth, I'm not in the normal sombre mood needed to post wintry wares in the heat of the summer, as I received the best of news yesterday concerning a little scholarship I applied for, known affectionately as the SSHRC (pronounced like, but not associated with, "shirk"). Nonetheless, it is widely known that I like weird trousers, deconstruction/reconstruction, men in skirts, and the colour black. And so, without further ado, my picks from Byungmun's F/W 2012 collection...

(Photos via NJAL)

Matchpoint

 

As I've already seen this in a couple different places (and in a couple different languages), chances are that some of you have already seen MATCHBOOK, a brilliant blog whose raison d'être is to show us which swimwear matches which book covers. A few of my favorite books have already been matched up (Infinite Jest and Eating Animals, as seen below), but, most importantly, my favorite swimsuit (by Chromat, of course) has been matched with a book that I should have already read. I'm fairly certain that a swimsuit has never before inspired me to read any particular book, and so, hat's off to you, MATCHBOOK!

  

Anyway, inspired by MATCHBOOK, and in memoriam to one of my favorite authors, Maeve Binchy, here's kOs' contribution to the matching game. I've picked four (more or less) matching Alexander McQueen looks, representing the number of times my copy of Evening Class has been read. Maeve, you will be missed.

(Runway photos via Style.com; from right to left: Alexander McQueen Spring 2009, Fall 2007, Spring 2008, and Spring 2010)