Estoy en Tejas.

Estoy visitando Tejas para la boda de mi hermano. ¡Hasta la semana próxima!(pic from people.com)

Loveable Dress

I don't know if Lily's dress is from her Lily Loves line, but she seems to be loving it, as does Debbie Harry, as do I.

The Ryde

If you're going to wear a t-shirt, it might as well be attractive and comfortable. Go to The Ryde for pretty textiles and the comfiest t-shirts.

I dare you to find softer shirts!

Chanel Resort '08

I was excited to see this photo because it summarizes what I've been wearing in the last week: red lips (!), headgear (scarves, headbands), high-waisted "mom" jeans and platform heels. Except, you know, not Chanel.

I can't wait for these colorful, more carefree looks to start spreading. I'm ready for a break from the bleak/black emo abominations that are everywhere.

I recently found a picture of my mother, taken in the late 1970s, dressed similarly to Raquel Zimmermann, although Mom looked more earthy and less jet-setting. It made me all nostalgic for an era in which I never lived. So I'm going to recreate the era in my wardrobe this summer. And at Karl Lagerfeld's bidding, I'm hoping many other people will, too.
(pic from style.com)

Une Vidéo

Here's a fashionable film by our friends at Une Fille Comme Moi.

Les pieds dans la mode - Hyères 2007
Uploaded by lespiedsdanslamode

ma soeur

Like Dita von Teese, my sister, Briallen, advocates glamour. Every minute. Every day. Briallen has an enormous (and ever-growing) collection of vintage jewelry, fur (tsk, tsk), party dresses and hats. I post these pictures as examples of quotidian glamour.

Distasteful

I like many of the pictures in the new Vogue featuring Keira Knightley as water nymph, Keira on Safari, Keira as turn-of-the-century imperial colonizer... but I think it's a little distasteful to go all the way to Africa and cloak an elephant in a Louis Vuitton blanket. I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing the blanket is thousands of dollars, and it just seems rather vile given the state of Africa. The last thing Africa needs is coutured elephants or elephants as billboards for western capitalism.

Can You Think of A Better Candidate?

Audrey Tautou is slated to play Coco Chanel in an upcoming biopic of the iconic designer. Can you think of anyone better to play Coco? I can't.
(source Buzz Sugar)

Brick Lane

The vibrancy of this girl's outfit provides a nice balance for the gloomy weather of Brick Lane, one of my favorite areas of London.

Brick Lane has a rough-around-the-edges feel and attracts all kinds of dyed, pierced, tattooed, perpetually smoking, friendly and fashionable people. It's a nice break from the more posh and touristy areas of the city.

Brick Lane is also home to amazing Indian food and bagels.

(pic courtesy of Facehunter)

Pleating

Alberta Ferretti's Resort line is a study in pleats. From sundresses to cocktail dresses to red carpet attire, Ferretti's pleats are crisp and impeccable. With dresses this expertly tailored, it's no wonder the girls were able to walk the runway with sprouty chignons.

(pics from style.com)

Wooden Gladiator Shoes

I wouldn't describe myself as a "shoe girl" - at least not in the Carrie Bradshaw sense. However, I have a particular penchant for wooden heels. It started a few years ago when I lived in L.A. and I bought a pair of Frye mules. I wore them everywhere and with anything. I wore them as house slippers. Eventually I wore the heel completely off of them. I've forever been trying to replace them.

I bought a pair of Michael Kors wooden heels last year, but they're not quite the same. And though I love them dearly, they just can't function as house slippers.

BUT... yesterday, when I was out shopping for a dress to wear to my brother's wedding, I happened upon my new favorite shoes, proving my belief that the best finds are always random, never planned.

Flashback

This is a look a lot of starlets attempt, but it's so much classier on Lily Daché.

Stuck In A Rut

Today is a beautiful spring day and it will probably be in the 70s this afternoon. But I've come down with a bug and a fever, so I'm indoors consuming zinc lozenges and Airborne tablets.

Because I've been so busy with school, or maybe just because I'm lazy, I'm completely stuck in a fashion rut. I'm too tired to even bother with pulling my spring/summer clothes out of storage. I've been wearing some variation on flannel and cardigan every day. It's awful. The last two times I've gone out (once to an art show, once to a concert) I've been the most underdressed person there. Which, I suppose, suits me more than being the most overdressed. But still... I'm beginning to bore myself. Look at these pictures taken in the last month:

Are you noticing the theme? I need to get in gear, get out my sundresses, and quit dressing like a farmer.

Rouge

Contrary to what's being dictated to me in magazines right now, red is the color I'm reveling in. Although it's not a traditionally spring-y color (Easter egg blues and yellows are), I'm finding it very fun (see previous posts on the Met Ball and My New Dress). I've especially been enjoying red lip colors (Aveda's Claret, Geranium and Rambutan colors), fiery red nail polish by Spa Ritual, and a red beret. Maybe it's overkill, but it's punchy. Whenever I wear red lipstick people come up to me and say, "I wish I could wear red!" I say, "Do it! Wear red!"

For some reason, many people think they don't have the right pigmentation for red. But I'm here to say, I've been a makeup artist long enough to assure you that there are actually very few people who can't wear red. There are so many variations of red... so experiment. Find your red. And if you can't do red lips, do red nails.

The Sartorialist snapped a picture of this girl in Stockholm, making the most of shades of red.

(pic courtesy of style.com)

My New $6 Dress

I had some time between classes today and I popped into a consignment store to look for a dress. I found an amazing vintage Saks Fifth Avenue dress circa 1970 for $10, but it was significantly damaged. Then I found this handmade dress and tried it on. It's nearly a perfect fit, except it puckers a bit in the back. But for $6, who can complain?

Very Berry Gala

So many beautiful berry-colored gowns at the Costume Gala. Who wears berry best - Sandra Bullock, Cameron Diaz, Rosario Dawson, Ellen Barkin, Ginnifer Goodwin or Sarah Wynter?


(pics from style.com)

Cameron Diaz

I'm not normally a fan of Cameron Diaz's street style, but I do tend to like her red (or green) carpet fashion (minus her Oscar getup). She avoids banal ensembles by always adding something that's a little incongruous, like vibrant heels or asymmetrical patterns. She's so striking looking that it would be a shame for her to try to conform to cookie cutter looks with barrel-curled platinum locks and mahogany faux tans, and it's refreshing that she doesn't.

Even though her outfit at the Shrek 3 premiere (below) isn't particularly avant-garde or out-on-a-limb, she still manages to look unique. After flipping through red carpet pictures, everyone starts to look the same after a while, like they're all using the same stylist. Cameron Diaz always looks like herself.

A Mireille Moment

This is for the benefit of Anje, because I'm trying to convince her to do her hair like this. Here is an old LP by Mireille Mathieu, obviously, and her haircut looks very much like the work of Vidal Sassoon.

Danke Marlene

I spent three hours in the library this afternoon researching Marlene Dietrich for a paper I'm writing on her for my German Cultural History class. In the mid-1930s she traveled to Paris on a hiatus from her studio contract. (She was unwelcome in Berlin due to her anti-Nazi stance.) She arrived in a suit (she'd packed over twenty-five), tie and beret. A Parisian magistrate, offended by her garb, threatened to have her arrested for impersonating a man; but Marlene's former lover, Maurice Chevalier, came to her defense and said that every freedom-loving Frenchman should love Marlene Dietrich. (Below: Marlene in Chanel)

It's thanks in part to Marlene that women can walk down red carpets in beautifully tailored suits, looking smart and smashing, without being arrested. Kirsten Dunst look impeccable.