Bad Taste? Yum!

"There's value in bad taste, too. This is Comme des Garçons bad taste."*

If this is bad taste, it's the kind we all want to indulge in every so often, the kind that puts a silly grin on my face (Stephie at Fashion Nation suggested cosplay references, and I think she's spot-on)- there's a certain really happy, shambolic quality to the whole collection, and the styling reminds me a lot of little kids playing dress-up- random plaits, velvet/fur hats with fishnet (??) veils, and frilly garters and seams do make for kookiness, but despite the abundance of lip and heart motifs and tulle prettiness, nothing about it is overly coy or twee. In fact, if anything, those things are more like clothes to roleplay being sweet and girlish in, than clothes to actually be sweet and girlish in (sorry, I make no sense, though IMO they're two different things)- but really, there's nothing awful about Comme des Garçons bad taste at all..
Now all this cosplay talk is making me think of Fruits Basket's Ayame, daft steamroller of wackiness and cosplay shop owner. I think I'll go re-watch episode 20, I want a laugh (methinks Aya's funnier when you hear him talk..though manga Ayame is brilliant too, and you get to see more of him there).
*Rei Kawakubo, as told to Sarah Mower of Style.com

Images from Style.com and fruitsbasket.com

Socking It.

Maybe it's just a little too much black-against-brightness for my taste this time around at Dries (also a little too ethnicky-looking in parts for me to be able to like all of it even if it's what he does best- I still love the prints, though), but the shapes are, for the most part, not to be sneezed at- and I can't really find anything to complain about as far as the socks-and-heels combination is concerned - it's not exactly a new idea, but the honest truth is that shin-high socks tend to be easier for me to wear than knee socks (weather-wise and aesthetically). I'm rather hoping it doesn't go back to being outlawed by the fashion police (no, screw what those say. In any case, socks with heels would never not be outlawed by people like that).
Image source: Elle.com

Who Says Black Is Boring?

It's a funny thing, black. I've always found it strange, its simultaneous 'safeness' (discussed within the context of Oscarwear* and everyday clothing) and the connotations of unconventionality that attach themselves to people who choose to wear it in ways that are even slightly out of the ordinary**. Neither of those really bothers me, but a good dose of black is a welcome thing, not least because I really like the colour.

Which might be why Yohji Yamamoto is balm to my soul. He's one of the few designers I'm a fangirl of, but I honestly do think, even shoving that aside, that his latest collection is lovely. No, wrong word- 'lovely' is far too insipid here - but it's one of my favourites from the Fashion Week merry-go-round, and the passage of time probably won't change my opinion. There's something about it that, without being 'sexy' in the way we normally understand the term, is incredibly so, with a dash of insouciance thrown into the mix too (those rolled-up sleeves and trouser legs? Perfect). The long skirts and leather jackets are things right after my own heart- I rather like the combination of toughness and swish to it all. And I really, really love the fact that his model of femininity for this collection seems to be someone other than the archetypal sex kitten or the prissy tartan-wearer ladies of Milan Fashion Week...
In case it's hard to tell, I'm thrilled that Paris Fashion Week is here. London was great this time round, but I still can't wait to see what Comme des Garçons etc have come up with. And Balenciaga looks good- it'll actually be pretty interesting to compare the Pre-Fall looks with the actual AW08 ones..
*All the mention I really want to make of that event here is that Marion Cotillard looked lovely. Like a pearly-tailed dark-haired version of The Little Mermaid. And her acceptance speech was adorable. But I still think her BAFTA dress was much cooler. And speaking of The Little Mermaid, if Marion got the fish scales, Tilda Swinton got the hair. And a dress which anyone else would look ridiculous in..and she's still bloody stunning. And how come everyone gets their dresses from the same five places? No wonder they all look like they're wearing the same thing..
** I usually envision Goths and the odd punk when thinking about this, but their own attire has become a standard of sorts through frequent use.

Images: Style.com

Eh?

That was about the only real reaction I had to this article. Not that I'm against modesty on principle, but I could have sworn this was exactly the spiel being turned out circa 2004, only that time it was a 'return to old-world femininity' and 'ladylike' clothing being touted in the pages of Vogue UK, with lots of pictures of tweed and knee-length skirt suits to accompany it (among other things), and cracks about muffin-tops. And 2004, if one were to be frank, wasn't really all that long ago, even if one year, forget four, is an aeon in the fashion timespan. I've never been a huge fan of showing lots of skin- most people just don't do it well. And covering up, in a manner that suits me, is something I'd wholeheartedly embrace. However, using a term as loaded as 'modesty' to characterise a new trend, is more than a little troubling IMO, for reasons that I shouldn't really get into on here because it'll just be a lead-in to a rant. It's strange, I don't really mind 'demure' (practically a synonym), but I remember disliking the idea of wishy-washy pastel/floral Spring fashions last year. And I can't help feeling that I hate the idea of this so-called 'modest' clothing even more. Even if I don't dislike the clothes themselves, the clothes I wear do tend to influence the way I see myself at a particular point in time, to slip me into a role, as it were- though it's rather chicken-and-egg, I pick clothes according to my mood mostly. And being pushed into the box of being a sweet, unassertive, shrinking wallflower - though that is what I often am- is not something I want to see held up as an ideal, by anyone. Of course, there are different ways of looking at it, and openly non-sexy clothing (very different from 'modest' IMO) is something I love- but this 'modesty' business is still making me a little twitchy...

Oh, Go To Blazers!

I rather like winter. No, scratch that- I love winter, not least because the opportunity to spiff up a bit via a neat blazer or two is something that is seriously welcome. And mine are handy things indeed- my old school blazer looks more Gogo Yubari than Balenciaga AW07 (even if I had the crest on the breast pocket removed, I go near pleated skirts with great reluctance, and I'm not seventeen years old or sadistic), but I've yet to find anything that's as good at topping off whatever I'm wearing and looking a bit put-together at the same time*. And it kind of sucks that in less than a week it'll be warm enough for me to have to put all my warm(ish) clothes into storage...
But I mustn't grumble. The very stylish people photographed on Tokyo Bopper** are giving me an excellent daily fix of sharp-shouldered neatness, and I love it for feeding my hiking-boot obsession of several years, right along with the blazer love***. It's not often that I fall completely in love with what appears to be the blog of a shop (and what wouldn't I give to visit the store in question, just to go goldfish-eyed at the staff and customers), but it's a giant shot of cheer in my otherwise bleak sartorial future. And hey, being vicariously stylish (if such a thing is possible) can't be too bad..

*not least when I'm interning.
** images from www.tokyobopper.com. I can't believe it took me over six months to say this, but I LOVE that site.
*** and this is where I curse myself for leaving my own fuck-off shoes, which I've had from the age of sixteen, in my cupboard at college. What was I thinking?

Artsy Fartsy? I Hope Not.

So NY and London Fashion Weeks have been and gone, and now Milan's started (I rather liked Burberry. Whatever else one might say about the poshification of the brand, Christopher Bailey does have a knack for making his clothes look like you'd be very well wrapped up and safe from the cold in them). But I'm a bit of a slow processor of information, so any observations on what's going on with the AW08 runways will probably be postponed for a while yet.

In the meantime, I've been geeking out a bit on the work of Ayami Kojima and Yoshitaka Amano- especially the latter, Sandman/Vampire Hunter D/Final Fantasy fans are probably already familiar with his name, but dimwit that I am, it didn't occur to me that they could all have been the work of the same person (at least the first two, since I have no experience with Final Fantasy) till sometime last year. And I won't go into why I love it (The Dream Hunters and the sheer lushness of it is reason enough, and the pictures say it much clearer than me), so I'll settle for just sharing. But the video games do have beautiful artwork...

Cover of Fairies, by Yoshitaka Amano.

The Behemoth Dai Makai: The World of Spirits

Cover of Vampire Hunter D

Image sources: yoshitakaamano.tribe.net , hillcity-comics.net, elevanland.com, and amanosworld.com.

Of Recent Acquisitions..

As the saying goes, it's an ill wind that blows no good. And I don't really mind not fitting into any of the jeans at my local Levi's store (not least because high-waisted jeans are hell to squeeze into and low-waisted ones are practically indecent), given that I managed to get the above pair of sneakers out of the shop instead.
In all truth, colour-fades are things I like. However, I don't trust myself well enough with dye to attempt anything at home just yet (can't be sure it'll turn out as well as it did on Susie, Jennine and Selina), so the shoes are a chicken's way of working a trend I really like into the things I actually wear. Levi's makes fug clothes (giant slogans/logos all over the girls' t-shirts, and heaven help us, diamante on the jeans), but this particular pair of sneakers is actually rather cute- they're a brighter blue than they look in the pictures, and as an added bonus, they make my BigFeet look smaller than usual. And if I were absolutely honest, half the kick of owning these comes from finding that I can fit into (UK) size 6 shoes- which is a big kick indeed if you have spent any part of your teens cursing being a 6 and a 1/2 and wishing that your feet would stop growing.
But, yes. Back to the shoes. My thoughts right now don't go too far beyond "Two-tone sneakers! Me likey!" and gloating that I got the only pair in the shop. And if Levi's or anyone ever make those sneakers in a different colour combination, I'll certainly be interested. The last two-tone item I owned was the Parker fountain pen I wrote my final exams with in school- lovely thing too, crimson in the middle fading to black at the cap and end- so a few more would be welcome.
Normal posting, with better grammar, will resume tomorrow.