Mario Sorrenti in Front Of The Camera Looks Damn Good

Today I bought the latest issue of Vogue Homme International with American actor James Franco on the cover.
Flipping through the magazine, which is covered with interesting interviews, amazing images and lots of hot men, i stumbled upon an article on photographer Mario Sorrenti.

Editor-in-Chief Olivier Lalanner interviews the Italian-born photographer and the pictures that accompanies the interview couldn't be more surprising .... as they show Mario in front of the camera, not behind as usual, and ...
A.- They show how damn good looking Sorrenti was.
B.- They show Kate Moss as quite a good photographer ... because she was the one who took these amazing images...


Q: Which woman most impressed you?
A: Probably Kate Moss. We met when I was nineteen and she was seventeen. It was an aesthetic shock. She was the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. I took endless shots of her when we were together and even now I never get tired of photographing her. [...]

Ligia Dias

I want my jewelry big, chunky and experimental, that's why I can't stand for myself pieces from Chopard, Tiffany's and the like.
That's why I love Paris-based jewelry designer Ligia Dias, who collaborated with Rei Kawakubo for her AW06-07 Comme des Garçons collection, and has just launched her newest collection of pieces inspired by the Bauhaus artist Annie Albers.

Gómez; Cool Designs Straight from Spain

When people think of countries with fashion talents, very few think of Spain.

But France's southern neighbor has given to the fashion world geniouses like Balenciaga, Manolo Blahnik or Miguel Adrover... so I guess there's something to look after in it.

El Ego de Pasarela Cibeles, a fashion catwalk who was born to be a platform for upcoming designers, brings twice a year the work of the latest and younger talents in the country, and this past edition, one of my faves, Gómez, showed his collection for SS:08 The Indian Summer.

* stills by Eric

I'm Missin' You Already

Friends and Best Dressed peeps in town Sonia and Coke are leaving this Big Apple that is going to be even bigger and lonelier without them ...
She is going to Tokyo and he's back to Spain.
I'm gonna miss you buddies :'-(

It Looks Like Vintage but It's Brand New

Taking a walk for the East Village one random day in May, I stumbled upon a vintage clothing store I hadn't seen before, D/L Cerney. (13 E 7th Ave)
Out of curiosity I rang the bell and a very nice lady led me in.
I started to check around all the 40's-like dresses, the amazing men ties and the shoes, all impeccably preserved to be vintage.
Everything seemed so new to me I couldn't help myself but asking the woman on the counter if those things were vintage or otherwise .. quite a stupid question if you think about it.

Linda St. John, such was the name of the woman, she later introduced herself to me, explained how those dresses I was enjoining were not vintage but brand new and designed for her.

Being a big fan of the 40's as I am I started to talk to her right away and soon we found we had so many things in common.

I spent in her store the whole evening, not less than 2 hours, listening to her stories from the East Village in the 80's, when she opened the store together with her husband.
We talked about politics, Art, fashion... she told me she couldn't understand the reason why current designers design unflattering clothing, hiding the women's body in layers of fabric that don't make any sense ... I tried hard to explain the reason why but of course, she knew how to backed up her position... there was nothing I could do.

Later she introduced me her 1,000 Skinny Girls, a collection of 1,000 rag dolls made out of rags and wire, dolls that have been traveling for different shows around the country. They are sooooo lovely I wanted to take them all, even though they're not in sale. And she gave me and signed her book Even Dogs Go Home To Die ...

If you happen to be in the city, check this store out, it's such a gem. And if you are a wardrobe designer, do not hesitate to come here for 40's stuff.
It was one of those days you leave home rather bored and arrived pretty excited.

Bobble-Bee Featured in Vogue Girl Korea

... and the most amazing thing is that no one from the mag contacted me to tell me so!
The editor of Feet Man Seoul, a Korean street fashion magazine, e-mailed me one day mentioning that he saw my site featured in the Vogue Girl Korea of August 2007 and wanted to drop a line introducing his own project ... I said Vogue what?? ... it just blew my mind !! ...

It is quite flattering and nice that a publication such as Vogue thinks of my blog as to be featured in a Fashion Bloggers' special, so it is quite a mystery the reason why they didn't contact me to let it me know... I would have been so glad if they'd do ! ... in any case, if they are reading me right now; THANKS for choosing my blog, and big thanks to feet man Seoul for the heads up and the translation of the article, that follows ...

PATRICIA YAGUE

ABOUT HER
Patricia is both the editor of a fashion magazine called Milkshake Chocolate, and is also a stylist. But netizens know her better as "Bobble Bee." If you're a person who likes exploring fashion blogs, her site is worth visiting.

TYPE OF BLOG:
This is a blog that would be beneficial to a person interested in all kinds of fashion topics. Patricia doesn't just work on her own projects, but the site is also full of information on fashion places all over the world, from exhibits to street fashion, hot places, the streets, and the works of new artists. The good thing about her site is that it's updated nearly every day with all kinds of news and other topics.

PS: My blog was featured together with A Cup Of Jo, Happy Cavalier, Henners and Bruna

God Saves the Queen

There was a time when celebrities didn't exist the way we know them now. I mean, celebs were the Queens! The Kings, the Counts... the mistresses, (Madame de Pompadour, anyone?).
The museums show us the magnificent dresses and garments that those people wore. And movies put them in motion, which is always more exciting. I discovered fashion history through movies, they 'told' me that people back in the days didn't dress the way I do now. And that was such a discover. Since then, as I mentioned it before, my love for movies that happen in old times is a devotion.

One of my all times fave is Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth, with Cate Blanchet as Queen Elizabeth I and Joseph Fiennes as the Queen's favourite.
I saw that movie when it came out in theaters like 10 years ago... and I decided to rent it now that Cate is thinking to act in the sequel. Needed to refresh the memory.

Alexandra Byrne designed the costumes for this movie, and she did such a job.

Elizabeth I, The Virgin Queen, was daughter of King Henry VIII of England, and as he, a big passionate of Fashion and Arts in general, giving name to what some people consider the Golden Age in English History, the Elizabethan Era, with geniuses around like Shakespeare, Francis Drake or Robert Greene.

The XVI century was a rather extravagant period in Fashion, and people like Elizabeth helped to it. Her love for chunky and outlandish jewelry was very well fed, and sometimes in some of her portraits, you can barely see the gown for all of the jewels, embroidery and decoration applied. There is a great and very expensive book with the inventory of the Queen's wardrobe, Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd by Janet Arnold, illustrated with photographs of portraits, minatures, tomb sculptures, engravings, woven textiles and embroiders.

Another important figure in the movie is Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, the Queen's favourite, played by Joseph Fiennes, who, physically speaking, I never liked, but with this film I will do an exception ... Yummy. Hot Hot Hot!

His wardrobe is not as flattering though, as men at the time decided to wear some kind of ridiculous short pants that made their legs short and too feminine, the infamous paned slops ... but still.
Rent the movie and Enjoy!

Sexy and Cute can Live Together

I don't know why but as soon as my dear one leaves town I get obsessed with lingerie that I wouldn't otherwise. I guess I somewhat feel this is the best moment to prepare a nice surprise for his come back ...
Jen from Sleep Deprivation and Stories of my Bullshit Youth keeps me updated with sexy and kick-ass lingerie, but when she's not giving me tips, I myself come to the rescue. Made by Noemi is a Stockholm-based men & women underwear & accessories fashion label founded by designer Noemi Ivanova.
Her latest collection of underwear for ladies is superb; foxy and cute, two opposite worlds that the designer has put together like anyone else.
Now that he's away I'm ordering the Pink Champagne Body and hopefully it gets home in time to welcome my beau ...

Irreconcilable Lines

Osaka-based fashion label Farahbella will show their SS:08 collection during Paris Rendez-Vous Femme (4-7 October, 2007).
The collection, Irreconcilable Lines, has some very nice pieces like the green long dress and the mom-shaped black pants... I'm very into mom-like shapes these days for some reason. It's been so long since we don't wear shapes like that that i'm craving for new stuff, even if the new stuff reminds me my mom when i was young. I love it.

Body Fuzion; Aerobic and other 80's Stuff

The 80's were the decade of aerobic, (yoga? no thanks), leotards and Reebok Freestyle ... Drew Barrymore never looked so fun.

Dekaibrands, Kylza Ribas and Fashion from the Outside

It gives me great pleasure to find hidden fashion treasures when I travel; stores with merchandise I haven't seen before, designers or designs that any fashion catwalk has offered me yet, fashion facts that any book has explained to me ... it makes me realize that fashion is a part of human culture and not a part of Paris or London's market.

Massah Kaikai had a very similar thought...

Massah sent me an email during fashion week about her soon-to-be-launched fashion business Dekaibrands, a personal project that was born after two trips, one in Morocco and the other in Brazil, when she decided to support young designers from burgeoning fashion capitals around the world.
She was showing for the first time the work of Brazilian designer Kylza Ribas and invited me to attend the event.

The date changed a couple of times but finally, last Wednesday Sept 19, in the impressive pent house of The Time Hotel in Manhattan, the event took place.
The work of Kylza is very elaborate and I was amazed by the explanation of how some of those dresses were made and how much time it took to finish them.
Her collections, (she brought samples from all of them), are very different from each other, so that sometimes they seem designed from completely different designers.
She explained to me, half in Portuguese half in Spanish and half in English, with the help of her mother, that for each collection she takes a subject to develop, which is what everyone does, but in her case, I can tell, she really means it: everything is so that subject, that any past inspiration is just forgotten.

Her fall-winter 07-08 collection Pieces of Time was my favourite, but I wonder if that was because it's the most "European"-like, which gives me very little credit if I'm trying to sell my open-minded view of fashion... o well...

Here samples of Pieces of Time and The House.

more NYFW SS:08 = Poltock & Walsh + Thuy

There were two fashion shows that I couldn't attend during NYFW that I regret; the first one was the all favourite London-based designers Poltock & Walsh and the second the Vietnamese designer Thuy.
P+W was full already when I did my request and Thuy's invitation arrived way too late to my inbox.
Thanks goodness that internet exists and so I can still enjoy what these two labels offered to an absentee to their shows like me.

Poltock & Walsh
The ruffles in these designers' creations make my heart beat. Love, Love, and Love. I am interviewing them for MilkshakeChocolate because I'm a big fan of their work and can't find much info about it. There is only one thing to complaint about their clothing and it's that i don't know where to find it ! ..
































Thuy
NY-based designer Thuy has stolen my heart with her palette of whites for next summer. I love the total look and can't wait for summer to come back.

Click Clak

This video has nothing to do with fashion, but it's lovely, sad and cute and I wanted to share it with you.



More videos of Aurélie Frechinos here.

The Funniest Game

Being the only girl among my brothers made me used to see toy guns, fights, cars and all kind of boys' things in my house. All my three brothers are also avid consumers of video games, and there was always the sound of Street Fighter, Tomb Rider and the like at home.
One day though, the little one was playing some strange game where i couldn't see any gun around. Instead I did recognize a very bad drawing of a high heel and a hammer ... how strange...

Kakato Otoshi (kakato means heel, i don't know about otoshi) is a very funny and silly game where you have to chop with your hammer the shoe heels of these young ladies that are dieing with pain... which it's understandable because not even Westwood would put her models in such a height.
I have played this game, and I warn you, it's silly and addictive as heel, sorry, as Hell.

update = To play KAKATO OTOSHI go here.

Film & Fashion: Past in Common

In her book Made for Each Other, Bronwyn Cosgrave demonstrates that from the beginning fashion was as integral part to Oscar night as the films it celebrated, which took me to investigate a little more about this fact.
Another book, Goldwyn: A Biography, by American writer A. Scott Berg, showed me that that link goes even further than just red carpet Queens and their cohorts i.e. Audrey Hepburn /Gyvenchy.
Almost every single big name in film production at the beginning of the movie industry was, in some way, related to the fashion business. Some of those kids started their professional careers as furriers, others gloves' makers, clothiers... Their unfortunate lack of success in the fashion market led these kids to try a newborn industry: Movie Making.
...

William Fox
Founder of Fox Film Corporation, later 20th Century Fox, started his days cutting linings for men's suits.












Samuel Goldwyn
Co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, started his days as a gloves cutter.












Carl Laemmle
Founder of Universal Studios, started his days as a clothier.












Lewis Selznick
One of the pioneers of studio film production and the father of Oscar-winning "Gone with the Wind" producer David O. Selznick, started his days as jeweler.












The father of the Warner brothers, founders of Warner Bros. Studios, was a cobbler.












Adolph Zukor
Founder of the Famous Players Film Company, later Paramount Pictures, started his days as a furrier.












I guess this is why movies took such a care in the look and style of their heroes and heroines back in the days !

Chloë Sevigny for Opening Ceremony

The add at the beginning of the video is quite annoying, but the content worths the wait.
Chloë Sevigny is probably the most interesting and smart girl in the buzz business.
Finally an intelligent collaboration in the market. Enjoy!

Those Were the Days ... Diana Vreeland on XVIII Centuy

The first costume I designed was a XVIII Century gray dress that my mom made patiently following my not very helpful indications.
I was 7 or 8 years old and obsessed with Romy Schneider and her role of Empress Sissi of Baviera ... who lived during the XIX Century. My knowledge of fashion wasn't very wide really, but one thing I knew; I loved big dresses and tiny waists and I didn't care if that was XVIII or XIX, all was quite the same to me.
Since then my fashion history knowledge has increased a little bit and now I can, I hope, distinguish a dress from one Century to the other.
My love for XVIII dresses is still fully alive and I enjoy more than anyone movies like Dangerous Liaisons, Valmont or Perfume; The Story of a Murderer, and I couldn't be happier to see Milena Canonero wining this year's Achievement in Costume Design award during the Annual Academy Awards for Marie Antoniette, a film about a XVIII century Queen.

Looking for info about this period I stumbled upon this video of the great Diana Vreeland, showing me that I am not alone in this love for big skirts and tiny waists...

** more info about XVIII fashion here

The Classic Look of Lara Stone

As you might know I have a crush on Lara Stone (IMG); she models for the best magazines and does the riskier editorials (Vogue, V, W ...) , works with the best photographers (Terry Richardson, Inez van Lamsweerde et Vinoodh Matadin, Mario Sorrenti) and Carine Roitfeld has hired her for Paris Vogue since I don't remember when. I like her also because she is not afraid of showing her body and has the sexier front teeth gap since Madonna's days.
I like her style which is far from being exotic or crazy: she's a classy girl in a very rebel spirit.

Free Press in Fashion Shows is Good For All

We live in a moment in which fashion press is being into the fray quite a lot. Starting with us fashion bloggers and our right or not right to attend shows, our ability to talk about them or even to criticize what we like or don't in the fashion industry.
The war with the press and the dress shows seems like a new subject, but as everything in this world, nothing is new under the sun.
A couple of days ago I finished the amazing autobiography of one of the greatest designers of the XX century, Elsa Schiaparelly, tittled Shocking Life. After World War II the Syndicat de la Couture in Paris drawn up a series of regulations for the fashion industry in order to gain more money for the designers and more security for their creations. Unfortunately some of those changes involved the lack of freedom in fashion press .. As Elsa herself pointed it out:

" [...] The Press -the ever-democratic press, which is the one that really counts - is no longer allowed to take photographs during a show. When at last photographs can be taken they cannot be published for nearly a month. Imagine how stale the news has become by then. Movies and television cameras are also banned at dress shows, thus not merely robbing us of the spontaneous publicity we used to enjoy, but leaving the stage clear for any financial or preconceived scheme that some unscrupulous set of people might devise "

Shocking Life, The Autobiography of Elsa Schiaparelli
V&A edition. pages 167-169

This book was published in 1954 and the battle of wether or not free press in dress shows was already alive.

It has been very interesting for me to know the opinion of one of the most intelligent person in the fashion world of all times, and knowing that she was all down for free press in fashion shows.