Dog's Got a Bone

This table (by Hannes Grebin, via ARCADEMI)...

...reminds me of this F/W 12/13 dress by Gary Graham (via Style.com). Or, is it the other way around? Hmm...And yes, Gary Graham's collection is already up. Seems he's going the route of other designers not doing a proper presentation this season. Which is just as well. Getting invites to shows I am in the wrong country for does not a happy me make. Sigh. Just a warning to all of you out there: if you ever go to New York in February, chances are a February at home will never be the same. Or any other month, for that matter...

Burkhardt/Möllmann

While I can't say that the overall aesthetic of Berlin-based label Burkhardt/Möllmann (found via Arcademi) makes me feel the need to add a piece to my wardrobe, there's something about these pieces that I quite like. Or maybe I do like the overall aesthetic, and not the 'something'. Hmm. For example, I can't pick out a specific piece from the S/S 12 collection (above) that I'd like to wear, but I appreciate the Life Aquatic meets Top Gun feel. 

And for the A/W 11/12 collection (above), I like the architectural element provided by the use of that stiff and plushy car upholstery-type fabric (eg. skirt on left). I'm also a fan for some reason of that added layer of hanging things, which seems like a salute to a Roman centurion's cinculum militaire but with less leather, more length, and more of a WWII setting. B/M actually had that hanging detail in the two collections previous to A/W 11/12, but it is best realized here. 

My favorite piece, I'd have to say, comes from my least favorite collection, the mostly-white S/S 09. I can't keep a white shirt white for longer than five minutes, but the pretty gathering detail in these harem/drop-crotch pants/shorts would draw all the attention away from any conspicuous stains on my shirt down to my knees. And yes, I do think that generally this shape of pant has gotten quite old and overdone, methinks, but simply adding a speck of imagination makes them seem rather 'fresh', as they say.

Oh, is it lunch yet?!! I just finished my breakfast, but I can't wait to have leftovers from last night's dinner. I made raw tacos (though I made it non-vegan with real sour cream, applewood smoked cheddar slices, and honey in the fresh salsa) and this wonderfully light (and nearly vegan) macaroni salad, but had a house full of hungry people and no time to take pictures. Both things are absolutely perfect for a hot summer day when you don't want to cook (though I recommend having an extra knife and cutting board to recruit some help if you make both things together, as there's a lot of chopping required.) Next up I'll be looking to make something with the paneer I finally found, possibly these pea puffs. Yum.

ARCADEMI.com

But so, how I came upon Prose and a very wonderful place on (in?) the Internets: When I was looking around the MINNAPALMQVIST site, I noticed that one of the places where Minna has her pieces for sale apart from The Shop is a site called ARCADEMI (yes, just, ahem, ignore the fact that they use lambda's instead of 'A's). When I got to the ARCADEMI site, I basically proceeded to develop carpal tunnel. Because this site is not just a shop, as I was expecting from its listing as a place to buy Minna's stuff. Rather, it is an 'Aesthetics Habitat', where you can encounter an online shop, a blog, and countless (well, 884) portfolios and profiles to peruse through. Furthermore, one has to either be invited or be accepted via application to sell their wares in the ARCADEMI shop.

So, you might be saying: 'Isn't that what Not Just a Label is?' Kind of. But, BUT, on ARCADEMI, anyone can be a member, meaning that regular Joes like you and I can not only have accounts, but can also use these accounts to bookmark all the portfolios we find interesting AND all the individual items for sale that we'd like to buy with our imaginary money. I have said from the beginning that I wished NJAL would have such a feature (really, I've even emailed NJAL's head honcho about it). I just do not have the time (i.e. patience) to organize all the NJAL pages I've bookmarked over the last couple of years, nor do I have the time to go through all those old bookmarks to see if those designers have posted new collections or actual web addresses. Also, NJAL is strictly(-ish) about fashion. And really, the vast majority of blogs and websites I have bookmarked are fashion-related, simply because I'm always wanting/needing more sources to find interesting stuff to post. However, scouring NJAL and my bookmarks for the prettiest dress of the day simply gets old, not to mention feeling a bit flat when there's a life outside of fashion and my closet. Enter ARCADEMI, which is a place for young and indie designers and artists of nearly all media. Meaning fashion, jewelry, interior design, graphic design, painting, sculpture, photography, drawings, etc. can all be found in one location, entertaining my ever-shortening attention span and ever-increasing list of interests with all sorts of pretty things that I wouldn't normally encounter at my usual fashion haunts. Thus also meaning that things might get a bit more interesting around here. Yep.

Oh right, to conclude my description of finding Prose: Prose's was one of the portfolios I happened to click on after perusing every last comma of the MINNAPALMQVIST profile. That was sort of anticlimactic, wasn't it?

(Photo entitled 'Sofa', by Edinburgh-based artist Thomas Adam)