(IMO) a Raining Birthday

Yes, it did rain on my birthday, but please don't take this so literally.

One year ago (almost exactly - the 21st of April, 2008) I went to see Sara Bareilles in concert in Toronto. It was an early birthday present from several amazing friends. I adore Sara Bareilles, but to me, she ended up being an entirely secondary performance to the band that introduced her... Raining Jane.

Does it sound cheesy if I say that their music affected the way I think about life? Probably, but c'est la vie. I walked into the venue as Raining Jane was playing their first song... 'Clementine'. My heart beat slowed, my jaw visibly dropped, and I felt that I finally had a counterpart in life's experience. Despite an undying love for music, a song had never touched my heart so completely. They continued with an incredible set, but I have carried that single song with me for a year.

Clementine.wma - Raining Jane

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To put it all into context, I heard Raining Jane for the first time during one of life's all time greatest lows... a time when certain suspects deserved the full wrath of hell...please pardon the violence of my words. I've since let go...all smiles.

I guess I'll never know if it was timing or pure talent that has tied me to Raining Jane...I tend towards the latter. The fact is that there is no where else I would rather celebrate the start of my new year. As such, it was with an irrational degree of excitement that I discovered they would be playing in NYC on my birthday this year.


My wicked cool music aficionado friend, David Chaitt, secured front row seats at the Living Room, a très intimate venue on the LES. We settled in early, ordered Brooklyn Lager, and prepared for the best...we were given even better. It was an incredible performance - despite the noticeable lack of 'Clementine'. If you have a chance to see Raining Jane in their cross-country Spring Tour, see them, see them, see them...please just see them.

I know that music is subjective...they may not change your life...you may not love them like I do. But I promise Raining Jane is worth a very thorough listen...even the ever critical Mr. Chaitt thoroughly agreed!

I turned 24 as the exact person that I want to be... a budding career, sensational friends, a family that never quits, a gorgeous Marchesa dress, and the best music NY had to offer! Merci to all those who wished me luck on year 24.

(IMO) Birthday Girl

24 years ago I had the good fortune of greeting the world with a smile that has only sometimes faded... I may have been crying my eyes out, but I know I was smiling on the inside.

The Roots are helping me ring in my birthday this year... in the sense that they are providing the theme song... I know I'm not turning 18...or 21...but I am the Birthday Girl!

16 Birthday Girl (Bonus Track).wma - the roots

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Purple Dragon Adventure

For the past three months I have had the privilege of using Glasgow, Scotland as my hub to get out into the vast and beautiful wonders of Western Europe. Among my great adventures has been Barcelona, Spain...a place whose culture cannot be completely understood in the four days I had to take it all in. Sure, Gaudi pervades the city, capturing the Gothic quarter and stretching to the infamous 'La Sagrada Familia'. And yes, the Picasso museum is a "must see" for any tourist. But, Barcelona has a much more vast and complicated artistic culture, and as I navigated my rented purple cruiser bike past the traditional tourist hot-spots, I found it wrapped up in the form of graffiti and grub.

To explore the narrow cobble-stoned backstreets of Barcelona is to literally walk in the canvas of thousands of artists, each one rivaling the next in talent and style. The graffiti culture of Barcelona stains hundreds of stoned alley-ways and smothers every shop-keeper's door, but it serves only to add beauty to the city through explosive colour and deep expressiveness...something I felt completely immersed in while riding my old-school cruiser (or the 'purple dragon' as I fondly referred to it) through the graffiti headquarters of 'old-town'.

As I took the dragon in search of what other hidden gems Barcelona had to offer, I was surprised and delighted to find the colours of the graffiti artists mimicked so beautifully in a food market entitled 'La Boqueria'. Looking for an imperfect piece of fruit in this place would be to condemn yourself to a 'needle in a haystack' mission. The colours I found here were so perfect, they might as well have come from the spray cans of the graffiti masters...or perhaps the colours of their spray cans were simply splotches of the pure strawberry-reds and mango-oranges within the market. Standing among the rich colours, the intoxicating smells, and the comforting sounds, it was hard to discern one from the other.


the market felt like an enveloping labyrinth of beauty and wonder, truly rivaling what most tourists find in the typical guidebook top 10's. But isn't that what an adventure is about...searching for the wonders that are capable of producing an inspiring and beautiful memory for those who experience them? And now, with the purple dragon returned and my bags packed for Glasgow, it is only the memory I have to fuel the inspiration that Barcelona created.

(IMO) graffiti sound bites

When it comes to personal expression I am an immense advocate two elements:

(a) saying what's on your mind...an admittedly difficult task considering the scrutiny placed on off-handed comments these days.
(b) soundbites...give me a catchy saying and I will run with it to the end...into the ground...to my death... (just kidding - xoxo Ian Borak)

A selection of my personal favorites include, but are by no means limited to:

"We're lucky I don't have a real life." - the audacious Johanna Vos on why she has an abundance of time on her hands to do cool random s***.

"If you love someone you let them know, and all the rest is details." - Andrew Francis, founder of LOLA and the man who is going to change all our lives.

"My parents are having a party right now and they're downstairs drinking scotch like it's their job." - Christy Gonis, my best-best friend on the realization that our parents live far cooler lives than we do.

"This dress is worth more than your life." - NY PR girl (who shall go unnamed) to a bartender at a dive bar on the LES... moments later her dress was doused in tomato juice from the bar spout.

"red yellow blue red red blue blue red yellow blue" - Sydney Dundas reminiscing on the better days when our hours were filled with the joy of Rock Band... "Jordan MacKenzie I miss your voice."

"Fact: I just faked an orgasm to make it to my tanning appointment on time. " - OK, despite my deepest desires, this one should probably go unnamed as well.

"If you are unkind, you do not have enough money to be here." - The Marquee Room (Calgay, AB) 'Standard Policy'.

Given my propensity for collecting the above quotes in my little black book of memories, it should come as no surprise that I was also drawn to such sentiments displayed in graffiti around Brooklyn town. While I love the 'in your face' honesty, and genuine sentiment expressed in the below...mostly they are just really amusing.

all images courtesy of me & my canon

(IMO) the Survival of Personal Style

A couple of my recent posts have touched on the notion of personal style. And you have to wonder, what does it mean to have a unique style identity in the vapid sea of commercial 'fashion' that overwhelms the sales floors today? Some people question if establishing a personal identity is even possible anymore.

There are a lot of very cool people out there who claim an independent fashion identity, but who inevitably fall into some readily defined classification. Is it fair? Probably not all the time, but the sad truth is that more often then not we all end up looking alike.

Well there is hope - and the little lady of Sea of Shoes is here to prove it.

Jane Aldridge proves the a true style identity gets crazy shout-outs from all sorts of characters that appreciate both her aesthetic look, and her dedication to rocking it in her own way.

And is there a single pair of shoes on her wall(s) that we're not lusting after??? No. No, definitely not.

(IMO) Note to Self: No bleach on silk

Damn.

Potentially ground shaking, spirit lifting, life altering interview tomorrow... well, today. It's 4:15am.

In preparation for what is definitely going to be a tough morning, I tried to lay out the perfect interview outfit prior to introducing head to pillow.

PERFECT item: Vintage sheer silk cream blouse, never been worn - by me at least. But obviously I've been procrastinating, and neglected to remove the small mascara stain that I got on it the last time I tried to pull it on while simultaneously doing my make-up in preparation for a show at the tents... during NY Fashion Week...in February...over two months ago...damn.

NOT so perfect solution: I figured a small, diluted pass with bleach (the only thing under my sink) would remove the stain with out damaging the garment. I knew it was wrong before I did it, I knew it was wrong while I was doing it, and I definitely knew it was wrong after I did it. Damn.


To tired to decide what's worse: a small black mascara stain, or a larger, more opaque bleach stain...and can I still wear it?

UPDATE: Wore the shirt, looked terrific, blew the interview anyways... *long sigh*

(IMO) Bloody Talented People

No lies - Takeuchi Taijin is one talented artist. The subject matter may not match my immediate interests; (although who doesn't love to chase a pig around town?) but, it is clear that this takes real talent... Je suis une fan!

I'm thinking I'd like Takeuchi to produce a video presentation for my first fashion collection a la Gareth Pugh and Halston... only better...stop motion better!

(IMO) Great Designs...pt. 1

There are too many options out there today - in every category - to ignore the overwhelming importance of design. Period. Stop.

What? You need more??? Well I suppose I can elaborate...

Back in the day, when Henry Ford built the first car in the US, he could get away with his famous assertion: "Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black." If you think Ford to could get away with this maxim today, you probably also believe that fairies deliver your daily mail. Hell, Ford offers a whole multitude of colors today and they are still sinking under the weight of foreign competition... although it deserves to be pointed out that they are faring far better than their domestic counterparts: GM and Chrysler. It must be all the colors.

Clearly great design is more complex than an array of color choices, but I hope my example elucidates my point... or at the very least provides a spot of humor.

My first exploration into the arena of "great design" was inspired by one of my favorite activities: shopping (shocker). I know that it is typically 'what's in the bag that counts' but I am almost as obsessed with shopping bags themselves as I am with the precious cargo that they carry. My ex-roommate can attest to my fascination because I used to hang my favorite shopping attachés on our living room walls in a montage that I commonly referred to as modern art. (As a novice artist, I'm not sure she ever really embraced this definition of art.)

My very favorite shopping tote was from Des Filles a la Vanille in Paris... it was embossed with silver angels and had thick silky rope handles...truly a work of art in my mind. I have a whole host of other specimens, but my favorite ones typically seam to come from my shopping trips abroad... North Americans have simply not yet embraced shopping bag art! This hypothesis was confirmed when I came across a recent posting on Toxel that covered "Clever and Creative Shopping Bag Designs". Clearly this was written just for me!

My absolute favorites are pictured below, but be sure to check out Toxel for the full array of spectacular examples...

from left to right...

YKM (Turkey), Panadol (China), Karl Lagerfeld (Paris)

Leo Burnette Agency (Lisbon)

all images courtesy of toxel.com

(IMO) Topshop Style Advisors

The New York Times would like us to meet ten of Topshop's beloved style advisors - all while Eric Wilson tries to clear up any quandaries you might have had about why Topshop seems to be taking over the minds & wardrobes of a very certain demographic of NY Fashionites...

"So much about the Topshop phenomenon — the mania is new to Manhattan but well established in England — is predicated on the company’s ability to cast itself as less a store than a service station for style, with its own spokesmodel, the Kate Moss Factory for Fast Fashion."

photos courtesy of the NYT

Selling clothes by propagating a distinct style is nothing new to the industry. Predecessors range from American Apparel to Alexander Wang to Rick Owens. Most successful designers or retailers have garnered their reputation through an identifiable aesthetic.

While great style is evident across the Topshop team, I think Blackbook nailed it with their comments on the question of 'personal style'.

"While each advisor is attractive, thin, and showcases a certain amount of individual style, there is an evident method to their aesthetic madness: lots of layers topped off with a belt to emphasize their slim figures. In other words, all of the above serves to suggest that Topshop’s style can most definitely be boiled down to a science."

But then again that's why we love it! Its a style and a look that we've been craving in New York since word of Topshop first landed on our shores... after all, there is a reason for the lines and all the hype. Regardless, they are the nicest fast fashion sales team I've experienced this side of the pond - so I say, "advise away!"

(IMO) the Rat Pack

I had delicious cocktail after delicious cocktail with m'ami the lovely Figi this weekend at the Flatiron Lounge. I had never been before, but now that I have, I would definitely go again.

They don't discriminate between gin drinkers, vodka fanatics, wine lovers or those with a penchant for beer... celebrated cocktail stylist Julie Reiner put a little something for everyone on the menu. My personal recommendation is the Marquis Especial - a bubbly treat with a strawberry flare, and finished with a twist of lemon to add a little edge. Yum!

The atmosphere constitutes a post prohibition throwback that references the later days of the Rat Pack & the golden era of jazz. It's reflected in the art deco interior, the softly flowing tunes that make you look over your shoulder for the band, and the splendidly authentic bar man uniforms. One more cocktail and I'd be ready to throw on my flapper dress and walk straight into the waiting arms of Dean Martin.

Dress is fashion casual - you'll feel as comfortable in skinny jeans and an oversized sweater (à la Figi) as you do in your new Topshop sequin dress and fringed vest... chances are your office dress code will get you in just fine post a long day at the office. We felt totally content nabbing up a great table around six with the rest of the anti-Easter crowd, but the Flatiron Lounge really lit up after 7:30 - 8 (yes, we were there for several hours).

Slip into one of the plush velvet chairs at 37 West 19th Street and order me a champagne cocktail. Dean and I will meet you there!

(IMO) NY Social Experiments

An acquaintance of mine is moving to New York this summer. She has never lived in the city before - in fact she has never lived in any city as big as New York before. She is, understandably, more than a little nervous at the prospect. In one of her emails she wrote:

"Got any tips for before I move down? I hear women are bitchy."

In response, I was more than a little offended. I love this city, and more than that, I love New Yorkers. I felt an innate reaction to protect our reputation and set this lady straight!

"Who told you that?" I demanded. "They've clearly never lived here before. That's just f***ing stupid," I declared... perhaps a bit forceful, but someone was talking smack about my town! I don't really understand why people carry this negative perception of New Yorkers. I think every city, town, and village commune has it's share of less than pleasant characters, but the people - and women in particular - of NYC are some of the nicest, most fashionably clad city dwellers out there.

I am lucky enough to know this from personal experience, but for anyone who has concerns about visiting or living in NYC, I share Kacie Kinzer's story of the Tweenbots with you.

Kacie Kinzer is a New Yorker who pondered the willingness of other New Yorkers to help a vulnerable, primitive, nondescript robot reach its predetermined destination. To answer her own question, she came up with the Tweenbot. Tweenbots are human-dependent robots that navigate the city with the help of pedestrians they encounter. Rolling at a constant speed, in a straight line, Tweenbots have a destination displayed on a flag, and rely on people they meet to read this flag and to aim them in the right direction to reach their goal.

image courtesy of tweenbots.com

Given their extreme vulnerability, the vastness of city space, the dangers posed by traffic, suspicion of terrorism, and the possibility that no one would be interested in helping a lost little robot, Kacie initially conceived the Tweenbots as disposable creatures which were more likely to struggle and die in the city than to reach their destination. The results however, surprised Kacie, and I confess, even myself. Over the course of the following months, throughout numerous missions, the Tweenbots were successful in rolling from their start point to their far-away destination assisted only by strangers. Every time the robot got caught under a park bench, ground futilely against a curb, or became trapped in a pothole, some passerby would always rescue it and send it toward its goal. Never once was a Tweenbot lost or damaged!

Kacie is conducting the Tweenbots experiment for her thesis at ITP. She and the Tweenbots rely solely on the involvement and kindness of New Yorkers to make their excursions a success. You can get involved by sending an email to this address to receive updates on future Tweenbot missions!

If we are willing to help out little lost robots, just imagine what New Yorkers will do for you!

(IMO) Valentino...again!

NY cannot get enough of Valentino. We did not want to see him go when he retired from his namesake fashion house, and now we refuse to let him to leave the silver screen!

Matt Tyrnauer's sensational film, Valentino: the last Emperor, is held over...again...in a record-setting engagement at Film Forum in NYC. New Yorkers can now also catch the movie at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and CC Cinemas 123. I will absolutely be going again, and if you have not seen it yet, you now have no reason not to.

Shown in film festivals around the world to wide acclaim, Valentino: the last emperor has captivated both the hearts and minds of audiences everywhere. It is an intelligent film that pulls at the heart strings of anyone who has worked in fashion or dedicated themselves to their own business. The film takes the viewer inside the singular world of the legendary designer Valentino, the maestro of high fashion. We follow the Italian master through the final two years of his celebrated career, capturing the end of an era in global fashion. At the heart of the film we are treated to one of life's great love stories: the unique relationship between Valentino and his business partner of 50 years, Giancarlo Giammetti.

If you do not yet have enough reasons to go here are four more:

@ Film Forum

Q&A w/ Vogue editor-at-large André Leon Talley 4/13 @8:10pm
Q&A w/ Vanity Fair's Bob Colacello 4/14 @8:10pm
Q&A w/ Very Special Guest (TBD) 4/15 @8:10pm
Q&A w/ Fashion Designer Ralph Rucci 4/16 @8:10pm

Rarely do you get the opportunity to see these legendary fashion figures speak, and now you have the chance to see them discuss one of fashion's greatest documentaries at Film Forum's intimate theater setting. If you have any sense at all you will get a ticket immediately because they will not last.

A HUGE thank you to Lauren K. for sending this information through!

(IMO) The Perfect Gift

I am a gift giving junkie. I buy Christmas presents six to eight months in advance. I plan next year's birthday gift before the candles have even been blown out. And I have already brainstormed engagement and wedding gifts for half my friends - none of them are either engaged or married.

I love gift giving to the point of being a tad competitive. At Christmas last year I tortured my sister for over a month leading up to the big day over how much better my present would be. As it turned out, her gift (she refurbished a vintage clutch for me) rocked my world, and I had to concede the point.

Given my almost obsessive affinity for scouring stores for the perfect gift, it was with much intrigue that I came across BOKKS London, specialty curators of luxury gift giving. Their business is the art of gift giving... and another great business idea slips through my fingers!

The company does not plan to start their operations until late 2009, but adding to my captivation, you can request a personal password that will allow you into the exclusive BOKKS portal to look around in the shiny world of luxury goods that we usually only get to see from the outside... it's like being able to sneak behind the velvet ropes...sigh.

They do not yet get into a whole lot of detail on the specifics of their gifts, but one can assume from the pictures that you will not be receiving drug store chocolates or a Hallmark card from BOKKS (not that there is anything [much] wrong with those). Items seem to range from fine cigars and engraved silver pens to diamond encrusted mobile phones to bespoke gift experiences to which the only limit is your imagination - and the size of your piggy bank.

BOKKS London may not be within your annual gift giving budget this year, but it is always fascinating to know what the possibilities are!

all photos courtesy of BOKKOS

(IMO) a full piggy bank

The recession has come and it has stayed. Rather than just grin and bear it there are a few companies that are breaking out into full blown ironic laughter.

The starved recession piggy bank.

photo courtesy of buzzfeed

As the market crashes you can cry in to this.
photo courtesy of Design Glut

The 100% linen hanky is also available as a custom order for $95 - embossed with the graph of your personal portfolio. Could this be the new corporate client gift? Oh please let it be so.

I'm so glad that someone is laughing with me.

(IMO) Color Blocks

When I was a little girl I was obsessed with two things: building blocks and dolls. The later faded as I replaced my obsession with dressing my dolls with [a far more expensive] focus on evolving my own wardrobe... I know my father has sometimes wished I'd stuck to dolls!

The former, however, never really went away. I have always been attracted to the geometry and clean lines of buildings. In my early years I would spend my weekends building crazy contraptions with my father on the kitchen floor. We achieved novel designs in castle construction and even came up with the genius chair-on-wheels concept. Largely we dealt in Lego, but really I was not picky so long as our medium was brightly colored.

My novice interest in architecture has (thankfully) matured. I've been lucky enough to do some sensational traveling, and I have always been more drawn to city buildings rather than stepping foot in a museum. I spent days wandering around Gaudi's constructions in Barcelona, and was blown away by the diversity of architecture I saw in Prague. Yes I loved Musée D'Orsay in Paris, but it was the beautiful windows that look out over Montmartre that intrigued me more. I now dream of seeing the modern achievements in Dubai and Tokyo.

All that said, I live in NY - a city with plenty of beautiful architecture to offer. (I recommend City Hall and the view of the Ritz-Carlton from central park as a couple of my classic favorites.) However, to bring it all full circle, I have recently become fascinated by the row-after-row of townhouses found in Chelsea and the West Village. We don't do space in New York, so these house apartments are built one on top of the other - squeezed together in what comes to resemble buildings blocks.

In my photographs I began to zoom in close on the points at which two townhouses meet. The intersection of colors and textures takes me back to my Lego building days - and a time when a whole lot was achieved with a modest variety of shapes and colors.

Below are several samples of my recent townhouse photographs all taken in Chelsea & the West Village

(IMO) The Union Jack of Fashion

I know that many of you have probably heard all about it, but you are going to hear it again, because TopShop really is that good! The UK's most fashionable export finally opened at 478 Broadway in NYC last Thursday, and I took my first American steps into Brit fashion-land this morning.

I may have missed Sir Philip Green (Topshop's billionaire British owner) and the venerable Kate Moss, but that does not mean I missed out on the excitement that is Topshop!

It was not quite like stepping into another universe... the similarities to H&M, Uniqlo & Zara are all there. Nonetheless, Topshop has an identity all its own, and it truly is everything you thought it would be - brightly colored, rammy-jammed with the season's trendiest trends, and offering a good old dose of British pop-culture.

The retailer has all of Spring's necessities, and although I was strictly there for research, I could not resist nabbing a few goodies for myself... including three pairs of harem pants - and yes, before you have a heart attack, two pairs will be returned unworn. I simply could not decide among the proliferation of choices sprawling across the four floors of prime NY retail real estate.

In addition to the many styles of harem pants, you'll find floor length maxi dresses & skirts in body hugging materials, loads of little cocktail dresses with intricate cutout patterns, more leather than most bondage stores, a whole lot of fringe (the season's foremost trend), sparkles on everything imaginable, a wide variety of flower print dresses, and of course the now ubiquitous onesie - or jumpsuit. I collected pictures of some of my favorites items to lust over once the weather heats up!

all images courtesy of topshop

It was once I got to the fourth floor of the fashion emporium that I just about fainted. Topshop has outdone themselves with their shoe boutique. Don't go unless your prepared to step out in ankle-breaking heels...5 inches with a hefty platform. But god are they outstanding. A little avant garde with exposed zippers, chain links, and neon colors. These are shoes made for girls who make you look twice... or three times.

Topshop is an absolute fashion euphoria for a girl on a [slightly expanded] budget. The store cannot really be defined as 'cheap'; not in the H&M sense. But the quality is substantially better, and I thought the fit was leaps and bounds ahead of other fast fashion retailers. Throughout the store the same maxim holds - you'll pay a little more, and you'll get a little more.

One of these extras is absolutely stellar service. From beginning to end I was bowled over by the friendly, efficient, and helpful staff. I didn't matter that the store was crowded and hundreds of customers had been ripping clothes off the racks for almost a week straight. Topshop was pristine, the racks were astoundingly organized, and the change rooms were in perfect condition. I guess we'll have to see how long this lasts, but as far as I'm concerned it was a Grade-A shopping experience - and I've never said that about a fast fashion retailer!

Oh! One last tip: try the fitting room on the first floor...it's hidden up a set of steps at the back of the store on it's own little demi-floor...I walked right in while there was huge lines of people upstairs sighing with frustration!

(IMO) a Blank Canvas

The only thing that marketing and advertising world loves more than a sexually charged or mildly offensive message is a blank canvas. And in the jammed-up, crowded, blink-and-you-miss-it world that we live in today, a blank canvas is a rare thing! After all a brand is not much more than its visual identity... we'll spend billions on figurative crap that looks cool and has the "right" image, but great brands will languish because they never figure out a palatable way to portray themselves in the market.

...but i digress. The point is this fantastic photo ... a marketer's dream... How would you brand your baby? I bet it would pay for college before the kid lost his/her(its) baby teeth.

photo courtesy of the cool hunter design

Don't be offended, just smile.

(IMO) The Last Emperor of Fashion

"Compared to us, the rest are making rags." Karl Lagerfeld's comment comes towards the end of the movie, but it effectively sums up the way generations of women feel about Valentino's place in the fashion industry.

This evening I finally made it to see Matt Tyrnauer's much praised film 'Valentino: the last emperor'. When everyone (without exaggeration) tells you that a movie is, "brilliant, deeply moving, unmissable," you tend to believe that it is probably something you should look in to. Well I am now one more person encouraging you to see this movie - at any cost.

I am not typically an advocate of films. Those who know me well are aware that I loathe the thought of being confined to a theater seat that has accommodated thousands of derrieres before mine for two hours. I have seen many of the contemporary fashion documentaries - Isaac Mizrahi's Unzipped, Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton, Yohji Yamamoto's Notebooks on Cities and Clothes, Karl Lagerfeld's Lagerfeld Confidential. In my mind, none are as entertaining, riveting, or infuriating as Valentino: the last emperor. This movie makes you feel - about fashion, about art, about ownership, about business. You will better understand the unique lives and thoughts of the fashion crowd - and of one great man in particular - after seeing this movie.

The film is a sensational inquisition into the profound depths of fashion as both an art and a business. Those with a love of fashion will cry, laugh, burn with anger, and then laugh & cry again. The business set will relate to Premira's vicious, underhanded corporate takeover that resembles the messy debacles so often splayed across the front page of the business section... but I do not want to give too much away. For those of you who do not have a background in the industry, this film is both an entertaining and informative way to become better acquainted.

Valentino is playing at Film Forum in NYC, and in a handful of selected cities across the US. Whether you see it in theaters now, or on DVD later, it is unquestionably "a must-see for fashion lovers and pop-culture addicts," as the New York Times so perfectly articulated. The below trailer gives you a fractional peek into a magnificent documentary.

video courtesy of fancast

I have tried to come up with the perfect description for this movie for several hours... but after reading André Leon Talley's comments, I cannot get his words out of my head.

“The luxe, rara avis world of the Italian couturier and fashion designer… fused with wit and self-deprecating humor. With great style and editing, the film captures the deep-seated relationship of two men, one a business genius and one a dressmaker who swept through the sixties on the hems of his delicate, feminine suits and fine evening dresses, favorites of Jackie O and Elizabeth Taylor. (Tyrnauer) took a difficult subject – a fashion brand and its founders – and told the story of how fashion as art has to bend to the winds of commerce and modernity.”

– André Leon Talley, Vogue

This film is a beautiful synopsis of one man's beautiful life passion. Even in his own words Valentino admitted, "I love beauty - it's not my fault."

(IMO) The American Museum of Natural History

I spent yesterday afternoon at the American Museum of Natural History doing research for a fashion color palette inspired by the 1.2% of the earth known as the coral reefs. After spending several hours exploring the Oceanic Hall it became clear that color inspiration derived from the coral reefs essentially means you are able to employ every color under the sun.

taken (by me) at the American Museum of Natural History

That said, I am now inspired to design using a pastel base with neon accents (or maybe the other way around)... It will be like combining FW09 Balenciaga with Marc Jacobs in some sort of sensational twist of fashion. So I guess the assignment has achieved its goal.

Balenciaga RTW FW09, Marc Jacobs RTW FW09
courtesy of Style.com

In addition to my exploration on color, I did learn some very cool things while at the Museum...

1. Mangrove trees take the salt out of salt water to create their own fresh water supply. As a result they could become essential should you ever be stranded on a deserted island à la Lost
2. It is truly amazing how many ocean creatures glow... thousands upon thousands. The world would be so much more interesting if humans emitted a neon glow!
3. A coral reef holds more varieties of color per square foot than almost any other environment on earth...it's also a living creature!
4. I then jaunted over to the African Mammals exhibit - because they are just too cool to resist. It was there I discovered, much to my horror, that I have in fact been closer to a buffalo in real life than I can get at the Natural History Museum... Brush with death; shudder...

UPDATE: The images below are the fruits of my labour! My own illustration is very much influenced by the talented Charlotte Ronson - I admit, I do not posses great talents as an illustrator - merci beaucoup for the inspiration.