Birth of perversion/subversion and ultimate diversion of fashion photography! wait..what!?

I have yet to meet anyone who wouldn't fancy/influenced by an ad full of cliches.."rustic/out of my uncles basement" couch with some product wedged between beautiful yet strangely unhappy (crack much?) women and an android/ambiguous/endogenous guy.. so it does make me question what i want or who i want and the answer is always the same..spicy salmon roll! oh wait ..wrong post..anyhoo..what do we want!!? women ? money? power? long legs with deliberately exaggerated tones of clashing/high cheekbones and eyeliners!!? NO.. i want those bags i assume that they are holding/thrown under ..(assuming i was a woman of course)  MULBERRY .. understated as long as its not fashionably  thrown over  top of women .

So why Mr./Mrs. photographer did you make me think and ponder/ question life and  existence when all you wanted me was to rush to the nearest shop and pick up pieces of cows stitched together with thread ?

 Must be the hard times we're in..where are the days when ad's meant something and had substance and a clear message?  

    

                                                          

All that's missing is the bike...

Ladies and Gents, I give you D&G's Black Leather Biker Jacket;

Thank you very much.

Polka Dot Me Happy!

Just when i thought if I never saw another Polka Dot again it would be too soon, Miu Miu does the most awesomest update (read: polka dots on whipsnake!!!) on an old classic.

I adore this bag, it's sooo Lovely. And don't you think that these Alexander McQueen shoes would go perfectly with it!?



Yup. Me too. *sigh*

Ello Mates..

As miss content said ..her and i go way back..back to the days when W. Bush did a wicked skit for mad t.v where he landed on a ship, i think it was called "mission accomplished" ..oh wait. i must have got my facts about that "skit" from the same source he was getting his intelligence from!?Anyways..since this is a fashion blog i must stick to the rules unless its still "fashionable" to make fun of our political twits?

 So chin up old chums..i shall return with a review of something soo overpriced and useless yet desirable and exclusive  that i can only hint in hushed tones...( its available only on earth. for as long as someone is willing to pay for it..)

And then there were two...

I'm so very excited to welcome a very good friend of mine to my blog! Sir Gavin and I go waaay back and he is the only Straight Male I know who can rival my lovely friend Jill in the 'Fashion Knowledge' department. As if that's not impressive enough, Sir G loves to shop more than I do, is quite lovely on the eyes, and has the sexiest English accent to boot. So Be sure to read his postings with the accent in mind - it adds to the deliciousness.

Welcome Friend!

Pedicure Incentive

I know the shoe/thong/sort of gladiator butohsomuchbetter/sandal are all over L.A. already but they are only slowly creeping into the Canadian market - and even then not at an affordable rate. Not that cost has ever stopped me from falling in love before. I searched for them last summer to no avail, but it looks like this year they may be everywhere.
Another possible alternative to this is leather spats over my current sandals - which is an idea that only occured to me today when i saw a tres cute pair of leather spats at Eugene Choo.

Oh what the heck... one more..

Considering my love for tea cups and cake plates it should come as no surprise that this necklace sings to me.

You can bet this is being added to my DIY list... I think I'm going to have to set up some regular craft nights with the girls...

Headband Love

In the spirit of DIY I'm super inspired by these lovelies...

Now I don't usually wear headbands but I feel like that has a lot to do with the major absence of lovely specimens and the fact that anything that does exist and falls into the 'lovely specimen' category tends to cost and arm and a leg (which I'm all out of). ANYWAYS these bad boys inspire me to get a bit crafty... stay tuned.

Loving the gold leather - I've been seeing hits of it here and there over the last year. And the Pink satin one has this girly/flapper feel to it that i am enjoying. And how great is this gathered concept!?

DIY love!

I've never really been much of a DIYer with the exception of some home decor & gifts a few years ago, however this past year I fell in love with a lamp at Pottery Barn and thanks to my budget and the suggestion of a friend I embarked on my first DIY adventure and loved my $35 version (vs. the beloved PB original @ $170). (i'll post pictures of inspiration vs. my version soon!)

Well now I'm inspired again, this is particularly exciting because it combines a whole bunch of things that I love into two fabulous projects. As my friends and family know I have a tea cup (particularly antique china) and cake plate love affair (read: minor obsession). I have an old tea set from my mom that is white with cobalt blue and it's piecey and has suffered some chips that's pretty much just sitting around in my buffet cabinet. I also have a really cute pink plate that i loved too much to not buy last year at Anthropologie and since then I've been restricting myself on more of the same type of purchases as really i don't need them... until now!

I was surfing through a favorite website of mine for inspiration for something completely different but I am so excited about what i found and as it turns out now I'm super inspired to put all these loves of mine to good use.

I've been wanting a chandelier for my bathroom but not wanting to shell out $300+ for a decent one. So what better than to make one myself? And use some of my teacups while i'm at it!?


And I've also decided recently to start collecting cake plates - not for the sake of collecting them but more because i love them so much and so why not buy the ones that sing to me? I want one for my bathroom to just hold a variety of lovely soaps - preferably in pretty packages and delicious scents. And I've got one in my living room that matches one of my favorite tea cups and has chocolates and cookies on it at all times. So how brilliant are these cake plates made of lovely plates and tea cups and glasses!? Too many of these would be a bit gauche but i think one made of strategically chosen plates and glasses would be a welcome addition in my home.

Ok so stay tuned as I've got the DIY bug and I've got more ideas to post about, and I'll be sure to post my own versions as soon as I've got them done!

True Love

The highlight of The Spring '09 Couture shows for me was unquestionably Christian Dior . Of course how could it not be when John Galliano made the most beautiful dress in the world just for me.
Jill summed up the Christian Dior collection perfectly, it was a series of 'Tea Cup Dresses', and this one even had some Delft Blue in it! It's no secret I have a smattering of my Dutch heritage displayed around my house, or that I collect antique tea cups, nor is it a secret that i have an obsession with ball gowns - so thank you Galliano for making this dress just for me. To sum it up; I would get 'Married and Buried' in this piece of art.

Ta-Da! Shooting Sundays... a sampler

As i previously posted I'm collaborating with some friends on Sundays to get the creative juices flowing, and to get/stay/be inspired. We started off today without a plan or direction and the results were fantastic! I've only got a sampling of two pics to share for now as the rest are being processed. Derrick was kind enough to process one of me ( i was not the model, I do behind the scenes stuff - styling/makeup/direction/etc - and supposed to be learning photography) right off the bat, I was standing in to get the lighting figured out.



This was the last set of the day. Amazing how one's apartment transforms when you cover the floor with records. They added a lot of color and interest and kept the background really busy. We had Jill in a simple white tank top and denim, then added some props. I can't wait to show you the end results with the real model standing in. As it is, i think I'll frame this one for my parents - they like that kinda thing.





And here's the real star of the show - Jill really worked the camera, and considering she'd rather be behind the scenes than the star of the show she absolutely rocked it. She has incredible bone structure and the contrast of the dark hair and her light skin were so fun to work with. This set we had the most fun with - this is the kind of makeup i really REALLY love doing. Working with a minimal background (which i realize is not visible in this shot - just wait!) and simple clothes that offered a great silhouette really allowed us to have some fun with the makeup and hair. The chunky bracelet also really added a lot of texture to the whole thing.




Let me know your thoughts, stay tuned over the next couple of days for a few more pics.

Brunch-tastic

Those who know me, know that brunch is my favorite meal (to eat, to make, to host...) and pancakes/crepes/waffles/etc are my favorite food group (to eat, to make, to serve...).

My lovely little waffle iron has served me well for a good 5 years and is now slowly dying a sad sad death with his non-stick coating flaking off at a rapid rate. Which means that it was time for a visit to Williams Sonoma for me! Sadly they were out of stock of their All Clad 4 Waffle Maker but they have ordered it for me and within the next two weeks I will happily adopt it and give it a new and loving home. So friends, stay tuned as you know how much I love to host Brunch!

Shoot Me!

Ok, i've had a thing for leather pants since I was a young teen. Me being the particular type that I am though I only see a tear or pic of ones that I really like every few years. The last pair that I fell in love with were back in the day when I watched General Hospital - I pretty much wanted to be Sam - I wanted her dark flowey/messy/sex bomb hair, her rough and tough attitude, I wanted Jason Morgan to fall in love with me like he fell in love with her and I really REALLY wanted her wardrobe - which was comprised of black everything and with her micro-petite figure they had her in corsets and leather pants and jeans and motorcycle jackets and all the most awesome of everything. I guess you had to be there...
ANYWAYS, she had these awesome black leather pants that were clearly made for her and I've been wanting them for years.... until now. Now i want these most incredible ones snapped on the streets of Paris (of course!)
I spend half my time wanting to be the Sartorialist travelling the world, capturing the world's most beautiful people wearing the most incredible clothing in the most beautiful and culture rich countries. And the other half of the time I spend wanting to be one of his subjects.

*Sigh*

The odds are against me becoming a supermodel, I do plan to travel the world though, and I do plan to take my own pictures. I've been toying with photography for a while and am finding myself more and more drawn and inspired by it. SO I've collaborated with a couple of great friends who are also looking for inspiration and expansion on their creative outlets and we're going to start regular Sunday Shoot days.
So stay tuned to see what I post apres Sunday - we're looking for guest collaborators so if you're in the 'hood and you are looking for a creative outlet we're planning on using all of our favorite swag & accessories, and makeup, grab the cameras and lighting and set up shop wherever we're feeling and just have some fun. I think it'll be fun to see the progress as we go, and I'd love to have your feedback!

Happy weekending!