20 minutes of epic Glass-ness

Beck and Philip Glass. Now that is a perfect match. Enjoy.

(Via Pitchfork)

yohj jun VIV: S/S 13

To conclude this season's edition of YOHJ JUN VIV, Madame Westwood once again presented a veritable treasure trove of all things recognizably Westwood. Oddly enough, however, it were the two unexpected pieces below that caught my attention. I think Westwood will be the next label to be seen on Lady Gaga (or a Spice Girl), and I hope that there will be more Westwood lingerie in the works. I've been ridiculously obsessed with finding the perfect wireless lounging bra lately (Under the Root and Norwegian Wood get two thumbs up so far!), and would love a fairytale looking one like this to add to my collection. I would even consider doing my hair like a troll. (Just kidding.)

(Photos via SHOWstudio)

yohj JUN viv: S/S 13

Perhaps only hinted at by the neon wigs of last season, Junya Watanabe's S/S 13 collection completely took me by surprise. I've never seen this side of Mr. Watanabe before (or at least I can't remember ever have seeing it). And, quite honestly, if it weren't from Junya, I wouldn't have bothered looking through all 57 looks. I do not like this much colour, I only wear running shoes when exercising, and I dropped the sporty look after grade 9 (i.e. I'm not Susie Bubble - she's going to eat this collection up!). Having said that, I'm quite curious as to why Junya went in such a different direction than...all his other collections. It's true that I'm not always a fan of his non-outerwear, so it's not a huge deal that those looks don't float my boat, but I feel that these would be more expected in a Comme des Garçons collection than in his own. And, speaking of outerwear, there are only a couple coats resembling his signature style that keeps me coming back each season (see below), rather than an entire section of the show. At the risk of sounding hypocritical, Mr. Watanabe, how do we decipher this collection? Regardless of the answer, I believe that Stella McCartney for Adidas now has competition. Oh, and if you're wondering what I'm talking about, I obviously didn't post the colourful/sporty stuff (i.e. 99% of the collection) here. Click here to do that, if you're interested.

(Photos via Style.com)

YOHJ jun viv: S/S 13

Yohji Yamamoto's S/S 13 collection symbolizes the modern woman's struggle to be successful in a capitalist society while still maintaining a connection to her inner goddess. Just kidding. Mr. Yamamoto's collection is the first one I've truly liked this season, particularly as he has, yet again, managed to maintain his established aesthetic while bringing in some new elements (raw edges, anyone?). I'd wear it all, in one form or another. 

(Photos via Style.com)

Carly Hunter: Ocean Noir

Goodness gracious, the collective fashion weeks have been such a snooze fest this round that I'm almost thankful I haven't had the time to pay attention to anyone's runway coverage (though I'm still counting on you, YOHJ JUN VIV...). When it comes down to it, unless you're a fashion god who has their own mythology (and is still adding to it) and has the both the ability and balls to create or re-imagine images/symbols/techniques/etc. that will change the fashion industry as a whole (Lee, here's looking at you, kid), seeing models clad in 'big name' labels going down the runway every six months just seems like a useless exercise that will inevitably produce the same mindless drivel, i.e. unwarranted lengthy narratives that amount to nothing but self-serving hogwash. Then again, I've always hated the big labels that are big just because we're told they are, and reading runway reviews is like reading 'top critic' film reviews - I can form my own opinion, and don't need to know what Mr. Big says about a film I'd never both watching anyway, so it's all just a waste of my time. Time that can be better spent translating Catullus, learning Italian, or reading about literary theory.

Anyway, I do always have time for designers such as Carly Hunter who keep it fresh and don't require us to mine our thesauri and symbol dictionaries to pinpoint just what she's trying to do. I like what I see, and I'd wear it if I could. And, the label is made both locally and ethically. The end.

(Photos via NJAL)

Tea time

Three weeks into my Masters, I've finally realized that it's going to be a lot of work to survive my graduate Latin course (especially if I want to do a PhD). I've learned to cope by constantly drinking some form of caffeine, particularly coffee tea (really, there's a tea with coffee in it - why have one when you can have both?!). Anyway, my man just posted this on my Facebook, and suddenly I don't care about my inability to scan Latin poetry (for 7:08 minutes, at least). Enjoy.

 

No Poetic Device (...again*)

New favorite alert! I actually discovered this talented New Zealander yesterday, but I seem to have become allergic to my own apartment (and/or the construction site next door) and felt like I, like in the video for this collection, was in a fever hospital. I.e. the bajillion Latin poems I was to translate this weekend did not get translated, and the 800-1000 word report that was due by 7PM tonight was submitted at 6:48PM today. Sigh. 

In any event, you must know about Brooke Barrett and her A/W 12 collection, entitled 'Lucid Existence'. Personally, I'm particularly drawn to Brooke's Pleated Singlet Dress (seen in the top two photos of this post). I'm sure you're tired of me harping on the hi-lo/mullet trend, but this is the only way it should be done. In a Marc le Bihan-meets-Patricia Ayres sort of way. That is, the Brooke Barrett way. The tricky thing is that all the pieces in this collection not only look very wearable, but also look like they were meant to be worn together (as seen on the runway, below). Tricky because, I can't buy them all. Well, I 'can' in the sense that most of the pieces are available on Etsy (where I found Brooke, via a Treasury that 1/2 Ration added to their favorites). But, let me tell you, good air purifiers are gorram expensive.

(Runway photos via Brooke's Facebook)

*This AFI song title totally fits this post, but apparently I had used it on a post two years back. Silly me.

Becca, you've got it going on

Dude. Becca has, once again, hit it out of the park with the S/S 13 Chromat collection. The past few weeks, I've been obsessed with finding bras I can actually wear for hours of non-stop Latin translating fun (i.e. wires and ill-fitting lingerie are not a Classicist's friend), and I think I'll have to include a(nother) Chromat swim top in my curation. As Catullus says, nec miser vive! I'm sure he'd also say 'get this bathingsuit' to Lesbia, however you would say that in Latin (my English-to-Latin is a bit rusty).