no fether-brains at fanatique, that's for sure

When Asta Hiippala, of the now defunct but nevertheless one of my all-time favorite blogs La Primavera*, asked me if I'd like to submit a piece for her new project, I didn't hesitate to say yes. Anything that Asta could think up I surely wanted to contribute to, as she's proven herself a formidable questioner of life and is committed to growing as a person. Coming down on everything from female subjugation and objectification in fashion, to all manners of hypocrisy and bigotry, Asta is not afraid to voice and intelligently substantiate her distinct opinions. I find in her a kindred spirit; she has strong morals and beliefs that she applies to all aspects of her life, including fashion, yet she also loves fashion in all its levity.

Towards the end of 2007, Asta teamed up with Madelene Lindqvist, previously of Le Portillon. The duo wanted to establish "a place for in-depth, unpretentious, fashion writing and general creativity," so they founded Fanatique, a fashion magazine/blog. The website launched on New Year's Day and, with several contributors on board, has been going strong since. Although I only submitted "fether-brained" -- my call-to-action for intelligent, strong, multi-faceted women -- as sample work, Asta and Madelene were keen on it enough to publish it on as one of the premier pieces.

Click here for "fether-brained" on dreamecho.
Click here for "Fether-Brained" on Fanatique.

It might be easier to read it on my blog, if only because embedding YouTube has wreaked a little havoc on Fanatique's layout. But do be sure to check out Fanatique. They're doing great work over there!

A screenshot of the intro to my piece:



* I'd link to La Primavera, but sadly, it no longer exists.

naughty-cal by nature

When in my very early teens, I enjoyed going to school dances and gyrating to Naughty by Nature's "Feel Me Flow." Though not the worst of the hip-hop crop, the music video still had those gratuitous yet ubiquitous shots of mostly nude black girls undulating. Plus, there was that clip with a girl holding a gushing garden hose up to her mouth -- if that's not a phallic symbol, I don't know what is. Nevertheless, it was a good beat to find my rhythm to, and even now as I replay it on YouTube, I'm bobbing my head and jutting my chin out in mock impudence.

I debated whether to name this post "nautical by nature" or "naughty-cal by nature," but given my propensity for playing spy and challenging everything, the latter seemed more appropriate. Moreover, I've only recently in my style come to terms with the maritime theme. With no bashfulness, I submit to you my "lost at sea" dress-up post as evidence. (It was the first dress-up post that I was actually pleased with!) If you read the intro to that post, you'll realize that to say I was nautical by nature would be simply inaccurate. Nautical by experimentation, maybe, but definitely not by nature.



I wore this look a couple of weeks ago, back when the fashion tides were in my favor. (Currently, I'm left stranded on a deserted island with nary a presentable outfit.)

H&M white/blue striped sweater, H&M grey tweed skirt, H&M grey tights, vintage brown oxfords, Peeps feather fascinator from Bona Drag, Gap grey scarf, H&M brownish-grey belt from another pair of pants.

Background image: Random boat sails from Parade of Sails, Beaufort, North Carolina.

garconne i love

Now that life's thrown me into a vat of steaming, work-saturated stew, I find myself gravitating back towards simplicity. To be sure, simple has been and always will be a part of my style, but right now my cluttered mind yearns desperately for a cool drink of streamlined respite. The forecast, therefore, for this and near-future posts predicts smooth, pared-back breezes.

At left is one of my all-time favorite looks from Face Hunter, taken during New York Fashion Week Spring 2008 festivities. The outfit is rather unassuming, even bordering on stereotypical of hip femmes worldwide. However, her perfectly picked out choices (love those grey suede wedges!), subtly shimmery eye makeup and mature edgy-pretty aura converge to transcend the commonplace. She's like the party girl, all grown up into an elegant and gorgeous but still fierce woman. Not unlike my own breed of simple, hers is rooted in confidence and a superb blend of basics.

When I first saw her photo last fall, I assumed she was just another person at the party. It didn't even occur to me to dig out my sleuthing cap and try to discover her identity (as I did with Rei Shito of FRUiTS and Michela Gattermayer of Velvet, and which Stephie from Fashion Nation has been attempting to do with "Louise"). So when I plunged into La Garconne's newest "Garconne We Love" interview (previous LG girl crushes include the esteemed Charlotte Gainsbourg), I was not prepared...well, I was not prepared for anything except for the lovely photos that always accompany these interviews! Surprised, then, was I to find that the featured individual was the anonymous she of Face Hunter.



Louise du Toit is her name, and Acne Jean's North American Brand Manager is her game. Though A Clockwork Orange serves as inspiration for many, I love how du Toit girlishly (and a little vampishly, no?) channels it with a buttoned-up white mens' shirt, tight black high waisted mini skirt, and droopy black cardigan. Then she creates a mid-calf boot shape with scrunched down dark socks in black high heel sandals and sprinkles on a bow tie and skinny black belt. Scrolling farther down, up pops du Toit looking otherworldly in the line's Mila Dress and its hella expensive Safari Sandals that I've already been salivating over on Revolve Clothing. Sheesh. As if Acne Jeans clothes weren't already covetable enough, they have to go and have impeccably stylish employees like du Toit....thereby making the line even more lust-worthy to simple-hearted folk like me.

too bogged down for blogging

First, I take a few days breather from the Internet, but just when I decide to get back to blogging, work butts in and bogs me down. The project I've been handling has taken priority for the next couple of weeks, so I will (continue to) be sporadic in posting and trawling through other blogs. Although my list of 30+ post ideas grows geometrically, my updates (if any) over the next couple of weeks will probably more image-oriented. All electrical firings in the old noggin are powering my work, so I have nearly zilch time and energy for writing. Fortunately, a poop-load of outfit photos sits on my hard drive and in our camera, so at least I have some material to work with!

I've responded to most of my comments, questions and link requests, but if I've missed you, please pipe up! Thanks to everyone who a) informed me that the "swirly feminine" image on my Jovovich-Hawk for Target shirt was in the Art Noveau vein (doh!) and b) called me "p-ruff." You know who you are....

chalkboard scribbles

A couple of years ago, I bought this green polyester top from The Garment District in Cambridge. As much as I was partial to its white scribbles (a print that conjured up memories of feverishly scratching out equations on a chalkboard), the top didn't quite match my outward style at the time. I basically had no clue as to how to wear it, so languish it did sullenly in the dark corners of my dresser drawers.

Now that my dressing abilities have caught up to my internal fancy, I've excitedly rediscovered this blouse. Has that ever happened to you? Where you've purchased something you adore but don't know how to wear...only to come across it in your wardrobe much later, when you're better equipped (e.g., more stylish, physically endowed) to don it?



Vintage green/white polyester bow top, H&M gold wool vest, Cheap Monday skinny blue jeans, Ash black leather lace up booties, Peeps feather fascinator from Bona Drag.

Background image: Theoretical physics chalkboard.

take me on a cheap date and perplex me

Browsing through Refinery29, I came across a writeup on a new book called The Cheap Date Guide to Style.

Say what?

The Cheap Date Guide to Style was initially released in the UK a year ago. This I know, because the original fuchsia-covered tome is not only available on Amazon -- it also happens to be lounging on my bookshelf at home. Yet, Refinery29 is chatting it up like the book has never seen the light of publication day:

"A new anti-style book restores the magic in your closet.... [T]wo of our favorite British style senseis—Bay Garnett and Kira Jolliffe—have just penned a book inspired by their shared journey to dress-up nirvana as well as their legendary UK fashion magazine, Cheap Date. Out in April, The Cheap Date Guide to Style is a magical mish-mash of straight-from-the-soul style advice."

They did not "just" pen that book! Obviously what's happening is that the US is getting its own release, with a new cover and all that jazz, but I find it incredibly disconcerting that the guide is being presented as completely new. Get it straight, people!

Anyhoo, I do recommend this book. I hesitate to launch into a review when two wonderful bloggers have already done a bang up job (with pictures of the inside, no less), so read their appraisals and consider their sentiments my own.

jovovich-hawk for target

For the first time since Target launched Go International, I managed/bothered to pop in on a collection's opening day. As you doubtlessly know, Jovovich-Hawk's line officially debuted in stores this past Sunday. (Though, just as sure as I find myself sprinting for the bus in the morning, you can count on some stores putting out their merchandise earlier than the release date.) My local store was ransacked. Apparently a tornado of boho dress lovers had passed its way through that morning, leaving a trail of hangers in its wake. That's just as well; the frocks didn't appeal to me much. Instead, I honed in on the vests, linen denim pieces and non-flora prints.

While I wait for restocking and returns to trickle back in, I'll spend my time bouncing about in my new star-print vest. (The photo at top right is a closeup.) I have other plans *sinister smirk* for the polka-dot, sheer, cover up wrap, though I'm wearing it as intended here. The final item for now, a grey graphic print top, was a completely out-of-left-field purchase. I never buy graphic print shirts these days (the exception being dorky science shirts, but those are an entirely different animal). However, I was lured in by the swirly, feminine image (sorry, I don't know what kind of art genre it belongs to! Can somebody please tell me?) and the soft, heavyweight grey material.

just call me p-ruff (short for pink ruffle)

Perhaps one day not so far into the future I'll be able to post my outfits on the actual day I wear them, but for now that's just not happening. A four day delay ain't bad on dreamecho, though. (Consider the five month delay on writing up my experience as a fashion show dresser and my yet to be shared Seamless fashion show experience, and three days is not bad at all.) This here is last Friday's outfit, proof positive that I do not go around on a daily basis in head-to-toe stripes. Contrary to all other shenanigans you've seen lately, it is very much my style to frolic in simplicity.

H&M organic pink tank top, F21 pink ruffle top, Cheap Monday jeans, vintage brown leather oxfords, INHABITstructures necklace from Bona Drag, Gap brown leather belt.

special theory of relativity

More than any other type of jewelry (should you even dare to call it that!!), the watch is nearest and dearest to me. This probably says something about my personality (e.g., that I favor function over frivolity?) but on another level, I really just like machines. Their cold, calculating precision appeals to the hardened scientist in me. At the same time, I'm riveted by the abstraction of time and the fact that it's all relative. Fops and Dandies has previously focused on alternative timepieces commenting on the notion of 'Now'; these days, I find myself ooohing and ahhhing over such deconstructed permutations. In the first bouts of my Bona Drag obsession (which continues to this day, mind you), I came across these "Past", ''Present" and 'Future' Shake necklaces by Nicole Rimedio of INHABITstructures. Composed of old watch parts, sparkly bits and other trinkets held between what appears to be two lenses, these necklaces move from disparate crumbles ("Past") to some sort of coherent formation ("Future"). Is this series a hopeful outlook for a future that comes together to work in unity? Or, is it a more pessimistic take on the rise of technology with nostalgia for the nebulous days of yore?

Not long after, I had to stop in my web tracks when on Behind Big Glasses I found these pocketwatch-style necklaces by Jewels of Luxury. (Muchos gracias to BGG for the collage at left.) These pieces are nothing less than the disintegration of our fourth-dimension measuring system. They exhibit a literal peeling back of the layers to reveal the mechanisms and that time is only a construct. Locked under the hub-bub and looming quotidian deadlines, we oft forget that these ticking commanders are merely instruments of our own creation. But just as we assemble such devices and perceptions, so can we dismantle these apparati and the control they wield in our minds.

Surely you know by now that if I'm talking and analyzing something up this much, then I'm probably enthralled enough to have made a purchase (or at least be seriously contemplating such an act). I did in fact buy one of the INHABITstructures necklaces from Bona Drag - the "Present" version to be specific. Oscillate like a pendulum I did between the three choices, but the choice became obvious when I reflected on my own life philosophy. I certainly don't want to be weighed down and wistful for what had been, while I would hate to be so driven towards a future that I might fail to enjoy the journey I traveled to get there. So, click went the "Add to Cart" button for a conscious selection of the here and now.

n.e.e.t.-o burrito!

Oh, how I do love burritos, and how I do adore that interactive, online darling, N.E.E.T. Magazine! Editor Stephanie J. has been covering grassroots fashion and design goodies for over two years now, and to go along with their photo editorial, I've penned (ahem, typed up) a piece on the ever-so-charming Os Os Clothing. Click on the writeup for a bigger (read: legible) image. Enjoy!