Love Take Me Down (to the Streets)

Here are my other favorites from Liza Rietz's newest collection: the Colorblock Winged Dress, a lovely art deco inspired piece with an attached bolero; and the Fan Dress, which merges the collection's recurrent 'winged' dress style with the tuxedo pleat detailing seen in the jacket below and one of the earlier posted pieces of the collection. Of course, these two are two of the more expensive pieces of the collection. Sigh. If you're counting your pennies like me, I would highly suggest the incredibly lovely Butterfly Tunic or, for an 80s flashback, the Sandwashed Tunic. The latter is particularly well-suited for a backpacking trip to Amsterdam. True story.

One, please.

I've been expecting the new Liza Rietz collection to be posted soon, but I was not expecting this jacket. It's perfect. A hybrid between a cocoon/kimono shape and a tuxedo. In a medium-weight cotton/linen blend. My birthday is September 1st.

White Light Generator

I have two updates from kOs favorites that both hit my inbox today and are both brought to you by the colour white, which is fitting since it just starting snowing for no good reason. The first is from Antonella Petraccaro, whose brilliant BA collection was featured here almost two years ago. Antonella has now completed an MA in costume design (at the University of Arts London), a rather logical step after her design/performance hybrid BA collection. The photos here are from her final MA performance. I've never really followed a costume design student's work, so I'm quite fascinated by the whole thing. I love the regular ol' MA fashion shows, but after watching the video of Antonella's performance (from 12:30-18:30 here), I think this would be a much more entertaining way to spend an hour. Sure, you only see one or two designs from each student, but when you focus on just one piece for a few minutes, you're better able to recognize the talent and potential of each student. And Antonella definitely has both.

The second update comes from Liza Rietz. After a long absence while touring with her band and moving shop, Liza will (finally!) have a new collection coming out soon, available in both her Etsy and brick-and-mortar shop in Portland. Here is just one of the new pieces, the Peplum Dress. I'm definitely a fan. Liza will be offering it in other colours too, meaning I have a new reason to take on marking gigs for some extra cash...

Liza Rietz, F/W 10/11

Liza Rietz's newest collection has taken me by surprise, as it's quite a departure from her architectural and voluminous pieces from previous collections, not to mention her predominantly black and white colour palette. Though really I shouldn't be too shocked, as those lovely sueded silks and pieces like the wonderful Triangle Blouse from the last collection were pointing in this direction...

I think these five new dresses from Liza are captured quite beautifully in these calming photos by Annie Beedy. Somehow I feel I would be sorely missing the bay window reading nook I've always longed for if I were wearing one of these dresses. And methinks I would be revisiting the idea of getting mandolin lessons... 

Check back at Liza's Etsy shop soon, where these softly draping numbers will be available later this month.

Top 17 Finds of the Spring

So, I've been at this hitching post for over a year and have typed out over 600 posts already. Weird. I should probably start dating these summary posts, but for now, here's my first Top Finds of the spring season, meaning the kOs posts of the last three months that you should read if you feel like you've missed out on...something. Happy first day of the summer!

1) Designer: Amanda deLeon, Heather Martin of mono
2) Fashion grad student: Sky Lucy Young, Alexxsia Elizabeth
3) Male designer: David Chou
4) Label: Thomas
5) New collection: Mandula, 'Gallery 9', mydearthing S/S 10
6) Runway show: Central Saint Martins BA grad show
7) Basic piece: 4-way dress by Study NY
8) Future purchase: Dusturbance creation
9) Custom made piece: Attila Design Tea Part coat/dress
10) Post: Interview with Konrad Parol
11) Unexplainably popular post: This, featuring ArtLab tanks and scarves.
12) Most wordy posts, in two parts: Part 1, and Part 2
13) Most worn pieces: Attila Design Sybil dress, mydearthing Carly dress, Liza Rietz Points dress, mono jodhpurs, ArtLab Oversized Revolutionary Jacket
14) Best DVD set: Friday Night Lights Season 1
15) Three of the best nights of my life: Beauty and the Beast, Eddie Izzard, Eluveitie
16) Coolest dress ever: mono Scarf Dress
17) Most intriguing piece: Dress by Layo Gbadamosi

Super Best Friends

I absolutely love having non-weekend days off, where my only excuse for dressing up is to sit at Starbucks and read 50 or so pages of my book, and perhaps pick up a lovely parcel at the post office. And today's outfit is a keeper, deemed 'cute' by my man. It consisted of the following:

1 ArtLab Oversized Revolutionary Jacket (this piece can do no wrong)
1 Liza Rietz Points Dress (yes, the one in Liza's ad in the sidebar - it's amazing - it has incredible volume because of the origami-like layers, and yet the almost wrinkle proof fabric is so light that it can be smooshed down to show that you don't need all that room)
1 Pixies tour t-shirt (from their stop in Vancouver on the 2nd lap of their 2004 reunion tour)
1 complexgeometries long leggings (which kept falling down! what the cuss?! will stick in dryer for a few minutes next laundry day; photo from Reborn)
1 set of pigtails

In other news, the snow has almost finally melted (did I mention our freak snow storm the other day?), and the one Scarf Dress at Nokomis has been sold to a stylish soul. Moral crisis averted! Also, I finally found something awesome for my man's 30th anniversary of being born. Phewf! Ever since I flew to Kentucky to surprise him, his birthday has been a stressful event for me. Can never top that one.

Top 18 Finds of the Fall

In case you weren't convinced by the snow, cold weather, and holiday festivities already, today is the official start of Winter 09/10. Well, at least in the northern hemisphere. And so, with autumn now long gone, I bring to you the top 18ish finds/posts during the past season of my blog. Click, read, and stay warm.

1) Designer: Camilla Wellton

2) Fashion grad student: Wolfgang Jarnach

3) Label: Tara St. James’ Study NY

4) New collection: Liza Rietz F/W 09/10, Alexandra Groover S/S 10 and mydearthing Hindset Collection

5) Basic piece: mydearthing Fingerful Warmers

6) Future purchase: Patricia Ayres Artisanal coat

7) Custom made piece: Attila Design dress

8) Package in the mail: 4 pieces of ArtLab perfection

9) Want: ‘Carrot’ style pants

10) Musician: Kelli Scarr

11) Artwork: The Berlin Project

12) Website: Denim Therapy

13) Blog: The door in my wardrobe

14) Post: Interview with Susi Quillinan

15) Personal information: In case you want to know.

16) Future project: Making my own John Galliano, Yohji Yamamoto, or Maison Martin Margiela piece.

17) Most worn pieces: ArtLab Space Odyssey dress, mydearthing Fingerful warmers, and this outfit.

18) Most beautiful coat ever: Any by Kristofer Kongshaug

As promised, Holiday Dress Up Time.

This, my dears, is a scheduled post. I'm away at a concert that could possibly ruin the rest of 2009 for me. But who knows, I could be surprised and have my once unshakeable faith in four particular musicians completely restored. Although, with the rest of 2009 being fairly blah for me, for lack of a better word, might as well end it in a similar fashion. Alas, while I am away (either crying or rejoicing), here is the result of my very hastily put together holiday-themed photo shoot. As these are outfits meant for parties held in warm houses, I don't have the usual layers, scarves, and shoes. I'd probably accessorize a couple of these slightly with my kjoo black choker or my Quillinan cuff and/or neckpiece.

It was not until the last photo that I realized my two-bit camera could capture the Christmasy feeling of my living room, so sorry for the rather sombre looking photos until that point. Also, my 2-week bout of sickness has meant that I may not be getting to wear any of these outfits pre-Christmas, but we shall see what I can manage for New Years.

First up: Those glorious harem-style Vivienne Westwood Anglomania pants that I got for an absolutely steal on eBay. Take note that I had to put one leg on the pole of the dress form, so it looks a tad funny. At first I thought that I would only wear tops over top of the pants, such as in the first photo on the left, with my Liza Rietz top (the silver/white flash in the middle is the dress form underneath - the silk is a bit sheer in front with a camera flash). However, when I changed the form into a white American Apparel tank top and tucked it in to show off the inner layer of the pants and the asymmetrical closure, I decided that I liked the look of that better. At least on the dress form.

From left to right: Liza Rietz Triangle Blouse; Bonzie Le Coquette Ruffle Scarf; Bonzie neck adornment; Bonzie wrap; Supayana drapey jersey cardigan (Surprised by the colour? Well, you can see a bit of the tag still attached - I just don't get around to wearing reds very often! It's a shame I gave away the dark purple version of this...)

Next up: My first high-waisted skirt, the lovely Steampunk High-Waisted skirt in black taffeta by PINaR ERIS. This piece has two sets of D-rings in the front and back, so it can be tacked up in a few different ways or left to be a floor length skirt. The first picture shows it from the side with front and back tacked all the way up, and the rest have the back partially down (can be let down longer).

From left to right: AA tank alone; Bonzie Le Coquette Ruffle Scarf; Bonzie wrap; Bonzie Velvet Ochre Bolero.

And lastly, the newest and brightest jewel in my closet, a custom creation from Attila Design. This was originally intended to be that fabulous convertible dress with tons of snaps. However, mid-way through the order, both Tiina and I decided to alter the order in the interest of Tiina's time and fingers, and my digital dollars. In the end, this is what Tiina sent me. I hadn't seen any pictures of the finished dress before it came. And when it did, opening up the package brought tears to my eyes. These pictures don't really capture the beauty of the fabric or this piece as a whole. And I could experiment for hours as to all the ways I could wear this with the straps, removable sleeves, and hook and d-rings at the side and bottom hem. It's perfection. (The first photo is with it worn long, the second is of the back.) I'd likely wear this totally by itself, but if I wore it cinched up short, I might also wear it with leggings or my black straight leg jeans.

Half circle tunic = evolutionary success

Sorry for the absence folks, but I was off at my alma mater listening to Jay Ingram talk about "Darwin's Sexy Science". As I have a Bachelor of Science from another life, which included an evolutionary psychology class, I didn't learn anything fundamentally new at this talk. But Jay Ingram is pretty cool because he's on the Discovery Channel. And he had a blues band called The Mutations back him up to explain the tenets behind Darwin's Descent of Man. AND, I felt I was quite properly dressed. Apparently a woman's waist-to-hip ratio is quite important in being selected as a mate, and I was illustrating this (possibly in an exaggerated way) with my Liza Rietz half circle tunic and wedding ring. There was no mention of what the evolutionary success rate of wearing ruffles is though. Sigh.

As promised, Dress Up Time.

My man is at work and I have the day off, so I thought I'd finally post some photos starring my wonderful new ArtLab pieces, plus some old(er) favorites. Changing my outfit more than once causes me to work up a frightful sweat, so you'll have to be content with my dress form standing in as the model. You can see my shadow in a few of the pictures though, so don't complain (please). You'll probably get the gist of it from the picture descriptions, but all but 2 of the pieces are handmade pieces bought directly from the designer, with all but 2 of the handmade pieces purchased on Etsy.

First up: the lovely ArtLab Space Odyssey dress, styled with various harnesses/accessories. From left to right: ArtLab Space Odyssey harness; ArtLab Couture Bib Noir; ArtLab Clinical White Harness No. 1; Norwegian Wood Elastic Harness; ArtLab Charlie Chaplin Couture Bib.

All the rest will feature the versatile ArtLab Military Skirt No. 1, as well as a basic white American Apparel ribbed tank. As pictured on the dress form, the outfits look mostly spring/summery. However, I would be wearing these over leggings, pants, jeans, or other skirts, and with armwarmers, mittens, and more/non-white underlayers (ie. tank tops, t-shirts, and long-sleeve shirts, especially my trusty treehouse 28 basics). My dress form only has one leg and no arms, so you'll have to use your imagination to fill these details in.

Basic outfit with one accessory. From left to right: Quillinan The Forgotten with Zip Neckpiece; Bonzie Le Coquette Ruffled Scarf; hier apparel Boldt Canvas Carapace; drapey vest by Covet. You can also kinda see my extra-high black monochrome Chucks in the 2nd photo.

Adding one more layer (except for the 1st photo - tank top missing). From left to right: ArtLab Charlie Chaplin Couture Bib; hier apparel Golden Mean Peasant Shift; hier apparel Vock Canvas Armour; Liza Rietz half circle tunic in black.

Adding an accessory. The first two photos feature the Liza Rietz waffle tucked tunic in herringbone, with the ArtLab Couture Bib Noir on the left, and the Attila Design Cown Neck Scarf on the right. The last photo features the ArtLab Andromache's Deconstruction Blanc dress with the ArtLab Couture Bib Noir.

This group features the ArtLab Bustle of Lysistrata, plus an accessory. From left to right: Las Lopez Wood Nymph Point Lace Shawl/Scarf; Attila Design Cowl Neck Scarf; hier apparel Boldt Canvas Carapace.

These are full outfits (minus the leggings/pants/mittens) that I would wear. The black top underneath is the complexgeometries two face dress, and the hoody is The Hoody (a.k.a. the Alexandra Groover 5-hooded hoody). The first two photos feature the ArtLab Clinical White Harness No. 1 over top the cg dress, with the Las Lopez Wood Nymph Point Lace Shawl/Scarf in the second photo. The last photo has the ArtLab Bustle of Lysistata instead of the Clinical White Harness No. 1.

And here are the two looks you would see me most often in, as I tend to be a creature of habit when it comes to throwing on an outfit quick. The first look (and probably the worst picture I snapped all morning) is the ArtLab Andromache's Deconstruction Noir, with The Hoody. The second look (and probably the best picture I snapped all morning) is the complexgeometries two face dress, ArtLab Clinical White Harness No. 1, Las Lopez Cobwebs Shawl/scarf, and my Yokoo East Hampton tote in pumpkin spice and charcoal grey.

Now I have to put all those clothes back in my closet/on their pile. Sigh.