Patchwork Trousseau

Eight years ago, my man and I got legally married, me in a white linen skirt and black hoodie, him in blue Dickies and a raglan sweater. The following day, we had some sort of family function (on my side), where, if my memory serves me correctly, we proceeded to tell no one who had not been there about the events of the day before. On that day, I wore the same black hoodie, and a patchwork skirt I bought at a farmer's market in Seattle, the skirt being of the exact same palette as Laura Siegel's Fall 2013 collection. I shall wear the skirt tomorrow, and tell no one of what happens today...

(Photos by George Pimentel, via Flare.com)


P.S. If you're not into the colours Laura uses, OAK has an exclusive line of her pieces in black. Really. Personally, I like Laura's earthy palettes, especially when they trigger memories. But black always works, and I'm not really sure where else you can get Laura's beautiful work anyway.

Parabola

As I've said before, I hate the recent/ridiculously persistent trend of hi/low skirts and dresses. But, as you probably have guessed, I'm not against an asymmetrical hem that has a longer length in the back, per se. It just has to be done right. Like the mydearthing F/W 10 wool panel skirt, and this, the hier apparel Parabola bamboo jersey skirt. This is one of the coolest skirts I've seen actually, and I think I shall get it once I'm settled at our new mailing address. We'll say it's in celebration of my first (successful!) in-person conference presentation. 

Rites of Spring*

So, seeing as it's the second day of spring, the sky here decided to dump about 2 feet of snow (and rising) on us. Makes sense. I don't care too much since I have a lot of work to do to prep for my first in-person conference presentation on Saturday (assuming I'm not literally snowed in). What is more distracting than the weather is an innocent little email that told me there are new arrivals in the Barbara Í Gongini shop. Having just discovered that there are two 'rooms' in the online shop (one for the main line, and one for the 'Black Line') and having already used up a lot of time exploring both for anything I hadn't yet seen, I was already hesitant to click on the link. I should've trusted my instincts. These pieces are perfect. The first one is made of a cotton/silk blend, and it's now going in My Top 3 Want List. Sigh. The second piece is just a bib (made of that same cotton/silk blend), an accessory which I'm quite partial to after discovering Sadotna. And before you call the last piece 'culottes', they're called trousers.

*This is the name of a band you should check out if you like Fugazi. Though, if you like Fugazi, you probably already know about them. Vinyl/CD/mp3s available through Dischord Records. Thanks to Mr. Rollins for turning me on to them, as you say.

Kristofer Kongshaug, A/W 13/14

Kristofer Kongshaug hasn't had a new collection for a while, so I was very much anticipating the posting of the A/W 13/14. Unfortunately, Kristofer didn't get the memo that I wanted to see a sans-leather collection (like his S/S 12), so I can only post a few of the looks here (like with his A/W 11/12). Luckily, that top at the top is worth a post alone. One day, long ago, I almost got a wool Junya Watanbe piece off of eBay that was a bodysuit with a snap crotch, my intention being to wear it as a normal top with the snaps undone. This top by Kristofer echoes that thought, whilst having some lovely detailing in the back. I want it. And though I've yet to wear a camel-coloured coat, that second look is pretty much perfect. In fact, it's getting the My New Favorite Outfit award.

Kristofer has this way with tailoring and tiny details that instantly make a standard wardrobe piece spectacular. And every collection tends to feature a piece or two where the detail used is suspension in one form or another (e.g. the leg-brace dress of S/S 12, or the precarious crotchster pants of A/W 11/12). This collection, the piece chosen to play around with was the mini skirt. First you think it's like any other tight mini skirt you'd never be able to wear, and then you see it styled without the jacket. A necklace/harness/one-strapped jumper? Yes, please!

Truth is, there are some more suspension techniques used by way of a belt that is incorporated all genius-like into the back and neck of the piece. If you have both a computer that doesn't tend to crash and about 15 minutes (i.e. these photos take a looooong time to load), do go to Kristofer's website to view the whole collection. Just swap out the leather in your mind with a nice waxed canvas, or that textured technical fabric he uses for a couple pieces (as in the mini skirt and jacket above). 

Relevant Revenant

The marking of 226 1-year papers, the absence of real coffee in the house (friends don't let friends drink instant!), and a sudden obsession with Pearl Jam (circa 1992) has kept me away from scouring the Internets for post-worthy things this week. But a lovely email yesterday from Lucinda Sinclair, the designer and producer of UK label Sanctus, brought something quite post-worthy directly to me. Oddly enough, I had just been exposed to Sanctus via a photo posted on the Black Milk side of the Internets (really, it's taking up a whole side already!), where a Sanctus tank was styled with some BM leggings. It's a good thing Lucinda emailed me directly though - I simply can't keep up with the BM crowd and finish my degree! Anyway, Lucinda was quite right in stating that the Sanctus aesthetic fit right in with the kOs aesthetic. More specifically though, this pull-over hoodie from the S/S 13 collection fits right in with my wardrobe. I've been kicking myself for not ordering the mydearthing hoodie when I had a chance, and the only reason I didn't was that I don't wear pull-over hoodies. But lately, of course, I've been wanting a pull-over hoodie. And this Sanctus one, a.k.a. the Revenant Hoody, features a drapey panel that transforms an already sweet hoodie into a stylish one. And, there are thumbholes. Sigh. 

Anyway, there's more than just this hoodie, so check out the Sanctus e-shop. Not only is it a nicely designed website, but it's the only place you can get Sanctus. I have my eye on the Lacunar Bralette, and perhaps the Levamentum Trousers. Also, Lucinda designs and makes everything herself, and there are only 50 made of each piece. That's what I'm talking about.

By the way, if you're more of an open hoodie person (i.e. a zip-up without a zip), news is that the new Ovate collection is going to drop this evening, featuring the Valhalla in light grey...

The Milky Way tastes like raspberries*

Though today is a regular ol' yep-it's-still-winter day, spring has been trying to rear its lovely green head around here for the last couple of weeks. Which has led me to sporadic digging sessions through my pile o' coats, hoping that somehow in the last year, a good spring coat has suddenly appeared. Why don't I have a good everyday transition coat? It really makes no sense...

At any rate, I think this Barbara Í Gongini piece (from the F/W 13 Black line) would be perfect. It looks like I could even fit my laptop in that pocket, meaning I could make a quick getaway to go watch the snow melt in the woods whilst getting some work done. A very important feature in a spring coat, don't you think? The only thing is: would it be as inspiring as the Decon jacket? I'm not sure I'd be able to theorize about that which both is and isn't if I'm wrapped in the fabric equivalent of a hug and surrounded by happy birds and other river valley creatures. Hmm...

*This is a fact! Courtesy of Professor Larry Fleinhardt.

RAD

I haven't posted any Rad Hourani for quite some time (for reasons that are still pretty much the same as I stated a couple of years ago, with a bit more laziness thrown in the mix), but this just hit my inbox and I had to share. Not to be confused with the #7 Rad Hourani collection posted about in 2011, this here is the #07 Rad by Rad Hourani collection, pumping up the square unisex look with more panels, more grey, and more layers. Love love love it. And even though he's relocated to Paris (according to his contact info), the clothes are still made in Canada and shipped from Montreal. Too bad I can't afford anything from the e-shop, except maybe a tank top worth a two night's stay in Paris. All together now: sigh.

Sounding a Mosaic

I'm sure this goes without saying, but I'm not a Dolce & Gabbana kind of girl. I wouldn't even be able to point out a D & G piece if I was surrounded by them. But after seeing a photo from the A/W 13 runway show, I decided to make it a first and actually willingly flip through all the photos. And I downloaded a lot of them. Since taking an Italian Renaissance art history course a lifetime ago, I've had an unexplainable interest in religious iconography. And, when that interest gets mixed with my love of mosaics (the collection uses Byzantine and Venetian mosaics from the Cathedral of Monreale in Sicily), I call that pure gold. So the point here isn't to add a new label to the list of those normally featured here, or to moon over a piece I could never afford, or even to want to bother figuring how much it costs or who could pull off such a piece. This stuff is art to me, and I'm more than happy to just look at it. Just look at the details of my favorite piece:

Lovely, no? And, not that I want to encourage knock-offs, but I'd like to see more designers who are into the whole digital print thing use mosaics and other pieces of art from churches in their designs. I know I'm definitely kicking myself for only buying one scarf with a print of the 3rd century AD Roman mosaic from Lod, Israel when it was at the Met two years ago. If I had one more, I could've made a fantastic top.

(Photos via Style.com)

March 5th

Today's date has held significance for me for the past 16 years. Because 16 years ago, when I was in Grade 9, a classmate of mine took his own life, presumably because he couldn't cope with the death of his mother. I had just transferred into the school that year, and we were actually only in one class together. But, even though we hadn't exchanged more than a couple of words, his death hit me really hard. I had lived a pretty isolated life up until then, so I had no idea whatsoever how to cope with the whole thing. It didn't help that my teacher pretty much made our class feel like we were to blame, and that the little sister of a now famous Canadian skipped down the hall that day in a way much too similar (in retrospect) to Bellatrix Lestrange after she killed Sirius Black. Anyway, after the five-ish years it took to realize it wasn't my fault and more than a decade on top of that, the day still makes me stop and take a breath. And, on this day, I always picture myself in the church, at the funeral, though what date that was, I can no longer remember. This March 5th though has an additional connotation, as it is the day we are getting the keys to our new place, which will, I expect, vastly improve our lives and likely be our home for as long as we live in this city. It seems almost fitting, then, that Sarah Burton's newest McQueen collection came out on this day, for it is steeped in history and echoes of the church, as well as (like all of Sarah Burton's McQueen collections) serving as a reminder that life moves on. And so it does.

(Photos via Style.com)

Léa Peckre

Thanks to the Arts of Fashion Foundation's Facebook, I just heard about this fantastic Paris-born and -based designer, Léa Peckre, who won various awards while studying at La Cambre in Brussels. The photos above are from her Fall 2013 collection, being shown as we speak in Paris. I always seem to be drawn to collections that are inspired by nature, and find that ones based on topographical features, such as Léa's, are the most fascinating. I mean, would you be able to create a dress based on the following picture? 

What gets me though is that Léa is able to transfer other complex ideas to fabric as well, and in a ridiculously successful fashion. Meaning, this one is not a one-hit wonder. For example, Léa's (first post-graduate collection) Spring 2013 collection , entitled 'Light in the Dark', was inspired by a car driving through the woods in the dark, and the look of the surrounding scenery in the lights/shadows. Do you see it? I know I do. [Update, Feb. 2015: Sorry, photos removed due to request from photographer.] Léa, I'm keeping an eye on you.

Edit: Léa keeps posting new photos of the Fall collection, so I'm adding more below. You're welcome.

(Fall 13 photos by Pascal Montary via Facebook)