Borderline Beatle

Beatle boots: beautiful works of androgyny.  Back in the '60s, what kind of man would ever wear (Cuban) heels?  A Beatle, of course.  When JPG&R popularized these modified Chelsea boots, both guys and girls hit the stores to get some pairs of their own and ultimately, to feel a bit like a Beatle. My search for the perfect Chelsea boot never ceased, but here comes Alexander Wang who complicates my idea of perfection with this strange configuration pictured above (and the bottom right).



How lucky of Anouk Lepere to have her first name precede "Beatle" in the name of these shoes -- Anouk Beatle boots.  The leather appears really worn...a contrast to The Beatles' polished duds.  The Wang girl isn't exactly, polished, though...so the material is very appropriate for the rough and tumble party hopping gal.  But it's the cutout heel that confuses AND has a hold of me at the same.  It's so cool and unusual...I WANT IT but it isn't really characteristic of an "authentic" Beatle boot, is it?  Yes, a small part of me will always want to look like a (pre-1967) Beatle...at least for special occasions.



Images: Farfetch, Tumblr, Lynn Goldsmith

Margiela. ela. ela.

I've never been keen on Rihanna's music.  So. freaking. annoying.  Her style is borderline pretentious but I actually experienced a moment of jealousy when I found a picture of Rihanna on a KIIS FM rave card.  Further research revealed that the picture was taken behind-the-scenes at the Rude Boy music video filming.  The video is here in case you're interested...the only thing "interesting" is its (BLATANTLY) sexual nature which makes the feminist in me burn up like maaaaad.  Seriously, was that just two seconds of nothing but boobs??  Way to be an object, gurl.  Anyway, it's times like these when I need to remind myself that I created this blog to write about fashion.  Rihanna appeared in Maison Martin Margiela for maybe less than ten seconds in the video.  BUT SHE WASN'T WEARING JUST ANY MMM.  It was the vinyl record dress from the designer's Fall 2008 Artisinal collection, which I recognized from yoox.com, the e-luxury store that sold select Artisinal pieces to benefit the Rosa Spier House in Holland.  But the dress isn't available to purchase anymore (in fact, everything from the exclusive sale is gone).

Just not being able to see detailed pictures of these clothes pains me...I'll never be able to identify which records were in that piece.  Above is a picture from MMM's website and below is a short description about the dress:

" RECORD DRESS "
A crepe de chine dress is decorated with 33 and 45 rpm records.the records have been cut, then shaped while warm to mould to the shape of the body.

Image sources: RihannaDaily.com, Maison Martin Margiela website

American Apparel Brings More More More

This is kind of last minute but I just wanted to inform you all of a few American Apparel rummage sales happening in the West Coast (yay) during the upcoming weekends.  It's weird how the brand I once knew for its basic tees that only seemed to come in the form of concert and Threadless merchandise is now the brand I can't stop oo-ing and aw-ing at.  Though I don't think I'll ever catch onto the whole leotard thing, I love how varied AA products are.  I also want to say THANK YOU to American Apparel for linking my rummage sale tips on their Facebook events pages! Yay, mutual relationship!

Customers who have been previously frustrated by AA sales will be happy to know that they are now taking product requests on Facebook...as in, you can ask for something you'd like to buy at the sale (i.e. those infamous hoodies) by posting the product name on the Facebook event wall and they will try their best to provide it for you.  NEAT, RIGHT??  I won't be able to attend any of these sales BUT if I could, I would request the items you see up there.  Clockwise from top left: Super Sheer Spiral Tight, Micro-Mesh Long Sleeve Button-Up, Library Tee with Juveniles LAPD, Legalize LA Tee, Jacquard Lace Tee

If you're in San Diego, Portland or Santa Barbara, leave at least one of the two sale dates in your area available, because you know how those lines are.  Trust me, it's worth the wait (really, do the math and calculate how much you save for sparing an hour or two in line).  To add to the awesomeness of super discounted clothes, American Apparel periodically restocks products!

San Diego
American Apparel Gaslamp (beneath the store)
840 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92101
Saturday, May 8 (10AM - 10PM), Sunday, May 9 (10AM - 8PM)

Portland
Oregon Convention Center (Exhibit Hall E)
777 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd.
Portland, OR 97232
Friday, May 14 (10AM - 8PM), Saturday, May 15 (10AM - 8PM)

Santa Barbara
Old Von's Parking Lot
Corner of Chapala & Victoria
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Saturday, May 22 (10AM - 8PM), Sunday, May 23 (10AM-8PM)

Free admission.  Cash, credit and debit are accepted (but like I've mentioned before, you should definitely bring cash)

Images: americanapparel.net

Get By With A Little Help From You!

Hey, friends...I have a midterm on visual culture coming up and to prepare for it, I have to select two photographs I want to write about.  One of the photos I chose was this image of Karl Lagerfeld and Company taken by William Klein for a 2007 issue of Harper's Bazaar.  Though I recognize numerous faces in there, I only know the names of Karl (designer), Irina (model/muse), and Odile Gilbert (hair stylist).  If you happen to know who the others are and what they do for Karl, please leave a comment and let me know!  I'll be eternally grateful!


Oh and in case you were wondering, the other image I chose was also something from Harper's, but taken forty years prior...a picture of Twiggy and friends taken by Melvin Sokolsky. Yep, both images were part of an exhibition titled "Fashion in the Mirror: Self-reflection in Fashion Photography" at the Photographer's Gallery. If you happen to know the situations surrounding these images, do tell!

Images:  photonet.org.uk