Oct 1, 2009 | Fashion
Being not really one of gingham’s biggest fans, I can safely safe I’m not falling all over myself about this collection. Now, don’t get me wrong – I love Christopher Kane, and his scallop-edged dresses and gorilla-print dress (that I’m currently working on a DIY for!) from previous seasons were gorgeous and to die for. (DIY for?)
But gingham’s a difficult print to work with, especially with such a large-scale check print, and the leg slits don’t lend any sophistication to the pieces. I applaud his use of an unconventional fabric and his inclusion of his signature mesh paneling in the dresses – it’s nice to see consistency from collection to collection. But gingham is an unconventional fabric simply because of how it conjures up images from “down home on the farm” and it’s difficult to make it look sophisticated and chic, though CK definitely tried his best with these dresses. They just look overworked – too much detail, too much piping, flowers that were probably beautiful close-up but in the photos look like a collection of worms, slits too high and too revealing- all of which doesn’t downplay the cheesiness of the tablecloth-like print.
See more after the jump…
What do all of you think?
Photos: Marcio Madeira, Style.com
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Oct 1, 2009 | Media
Larissa from For the Love of Craft has nominated *me* – li’l ol’ ME! – to receive this Kreativ Blogger award!! It’s my very first blogging award – and in fact my first award in a very, very long time! – and I am so flattered and thrilled to receive it. (And if you haven’t heard of her blog – definitely go and check it and be inspired by all of her lovely projects and creations!)
The “RULES” of this award are that I am to:
1) Tell you seven things that you don’t already know about me.
2) Name seven other blogs to receive this award.
3) Leave a comment on each of the blogs I have nominated letting them know that I have given them an award.
4) And lastly, to thank the blog that you gave me the award.
7 things you don’t know about me:
1. I never went to fashion design school. I am a self-taught designer and sewer…and if I don’t know how to do something, I pretty much bang my head against it until I can do it.
2. I can’t solder and I can’t weld. Not yet, anyway.
3. We only speak Japanese at home. My son is 4 and barely speaks English.:_(
4. Whenever I am sick (which has been quite often this year) I watch all-day marathons of America’s Next Top Model. Only when I’m sick, mind you.
5. I am addicted to peanut butter – the crunchy type. I will eat it straight out of the jar with a spoon, pressing chocolate chips into my spoonful as I go.
6. I love to sleep! It’s my favorite activity – and I will sleep about 11.5 hours a day, if left to my own devices.
7. I really want to make my own shoes but can’t source the pigskin leather for the soles or inners locally. I need a leather knife too, come to think of it. The lasts I bought are just begging to be used!:-)
7 blogs to receive this award:
1. Agatiszka at agatiszka.blogspot.com
2. Chantal at cocorosa
3. Sushi at le blog de sushi
4. Outi at Outsapop Trashion
5. Stacie at Stars for Streetlights
6. Shin at Fashion Cappucino
7. Keeley at Bum Chic
Thank you again to the lovely Larissa – I promise I will keep trying to be as “Kreativ” as I can be!
xoxox
Carly
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Sep 30, 2009 | Fashion
JewelryFlash.com has just been launched – and it’s a mega shopping site dedicated to everyone’s favorite weakness: jewelry!
Brought to you by the team from DesignerApparel.com, they aggregate jewelry and watch item from all the top shopping websites: Neiman Marcus, Max and Chloe, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s, ShopBop, Nordstrom, Revolve Clothing, Singer 11, Bluefly, and Zappos (and there’s plenty more!). It’s like visiting all your favorite store under one roof so you don’t have to hunt around. You’ll find casual jewelry from Chan Luu and Dogeared, hot trend items from Erickson Beamon and CC Skye, classic standbys from David Yurman and Judith Ripka, and plenty of watches from designers like Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, and Movado.
At JewelryFlash.com you can also sign up for MySale, a daily email newsletter sent to your inbox with updates on new items and sales on brands hand-selected by you. And they’re giving away a designer bag, so when you sign up for MySale you’ll be automatically entered to win!
-Carly J. Cais
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Sep 29, 2009 | Fashion
Twelve by Twelve by Forever21: some people hate it, some people say it represents the worst in mass-produced, cheaply-made schlock for the consumerist industry, for some people it’s the go-to for on-trend, affordable pieces. And to me, the design has been looking better and better with each new wave of merchandise that hits the stores. Okay, maybe it’s not going to be in Vogue (and it looks a teensy bit like they ripped off the latest Dolce & Gabbana photoshoot appearing in said mag), but me still love. (And how cute was this photoshoot? Barely-legal models wearing clothes and hairstyles that age them 20+ years! Big YES!)
Love the idea of pairing a top with an embellished neckline *under* a belted corset – for some reason all that embellishment works.
I’m bummed (heh heh) I can’t find the blouse since I would totally rock that out.
Darnit; this dress is no longer available either.
Love the hat tied with a super-long swath of fabric.
Some more lovely finds…
The detailing is, I think, what sets this apart from just your run-of-the-mill mass-produced clothing line, and probably why Forever21 and twelvebytwelve is still doing ridiculously well in this economy.
What do all of you think? The Exposed Zip Jacket is calling my name.:-)
xoxo
Carly
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Sep 27, 2009 | Life
I’m currently selling the following on Ebay:
Honey Drop Sexy Rabbit Fur Halter Top Misses’ S ($12.99)
The fur top has been worn only once; and the sweater has been worn a few times but is still clean and in very good condition. Right now there are 2 days left in the auctions but no bids, so they’re still up for grabs!
Over the next few weeks I’m going to be listing more pieces from my closet for sale as I need to make some much-needed space.
xoxox
Carly
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Sep 26, 2009 | Media
Ah, how I love Vivi. It shares a soft place in my heart – just about tying with Lucky Magazine for #1. I’ve been buying Vivi since 1998, at least (before that, it was CanCam – utter child’s play compared to what this mag has to offer).
Vivi showcases glamazon models (usually half-Japanese or with “exotic,” somewhat foreign features) – and is crammed – literally *brimming* with fashionable finds. It’s sexy, edgy, and skirting the current trends in Japan – when an item appears in this magazine, it literally sells out in a day at the stores. Compared to American magazines, Japanese mags aimed at the misses’ market definitely cram more items per page – it’s less about the art of a single fashion spread – and more about rampant consumerism – buy, buy, buy!! Where to get it, how much it is, etc. The size of Japanese mag is larger than the standard American, both in page measurements (think W Magazine-size), and in sheer number of pages (a 500-600-page mag is usual, every month!). And the number of products featured! Clothing, accessories, make-up! I could go on and on. Far fewer single-page advertisements, no perfume inserts…and the ads are incorporated in the photo shoots – like for the latest diet shake, for example. Sheer, uninterrupted, consumerist bliss. Since I’m being lazy today laid up with a 101-degree fever and the creaky, achy joints of Frankenstein (courtesy of my son and the cold he brought home from school), here’s a couple screengrabs off the Vivi website:
On first glance, everything looks like a jumbled mess but it’s such a feast for the eyes.
Japanese women are obsessed with trying to make their faces look smaller. They are convinced that proportionally Asians have too-large heads for their bodies compared with Westerners (it’s actually kinda true, if you learned that whole 8-heads fashion-sketching thing back in school and compare Japanese bodies with Westerners). So in magazines there are tons of articles on how to do your makeup, what hairstyles are appropriate, poses to use for photographs, and new plastic surgery techniques for making the face appear smaller (heard of Botox injections in both sides of the jaw? *Extremely* popular in the Far East)…all in pursuit of having a smaller face. Though in my mind, even if your face is small, if your head is still large you’re kinda screwed either way. There’s no plastic surgery for an overly-large head…not yet, anyway, or I would have tried to have it! LOL
Sweet and cutesy; the Japanese are so good at that…even well into adulthood.
It also tries to show the models as “real people” who make their own box lunches, decorate their own rooms, walk their own dogs….Hey, it’s Japan; it’s probably far more likely than super-successful models in the U.S.
Can you believe the November issue comes out in the third week of September??? Talk about lead-time! Of course, it won’t be available at my local Kinokuniya until Oct. 15 or some rubbish.
If you have the chance, definitely check it out at your local Japanese bookstore – it’s total escapism…and always showcases some great clothing or accessories that are utterly DIY-able.
xoxox
Carly
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Sep 25, 2009 | Fashion
Here is the English description from the AS KNOW AS website:
“Always in high spirits …tea always delicious.
Founded in 1989, AS KNOW AS CO., LTD. produces a number of fashion lines for
women in their teens, twenties, and thirties.
AS KNOW AS opened its first store in 1994 in the trendy Harajuku shopping district.
It now directly manages over a hundred stores throughout Japan. AS KNOW AS began as a wholesale vendor and remains faithful to the original plan.
In 2007 it built new headquarters to integrate all sections of the company–design, patternmaking, production, sales, logistics–and to accommodate the many wholesale clients
who come from afar six times a year to place their orders.
International success can be traced largely to i.t, a listed Hong Kong retail company with exclusive vending rights in China.
AS KNOW AS is a hit in Hong Kong and also has a small but successful presence in Taiwan, Shanghai, Beijing, and Kuwait.”
It’s a particularly unique brand as the clothing is not only designed but also produced in Japan, something very unusual in the current market where many, if not most, Japanese brands have their production done overseas in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Read more about each brand within the larger AS KNOW AS company after the jump…
AS KNOW AS de base
Apparently they’ve licensed out some Peanuts stuff to use in their designs.
See?!! Bear! On Bag!! (Just like mine!) I’m not nuts – the Japanese really do love this stuff!
AS KNOW AS de base strives to produce clothing that is cute but sophisticated, imbued with details. The consumer can mix and match textures and fabrics to create an entirely coordinated outfit that expresses her personality. [My extremely loosey-goosey translation from their wesbite.]
You can buy AS KNOW AS de base items online here.
AS KNOW AS olaca
For those ladies who want to wear adorable clothes – AS KNOW AS olaca is a line only available in “olaca” sizing [oh- raka means “loosely” or “kind of” in Japanese]; i.e., SIZE L. Producing everything from jackets to accessories, dresses to blouses, the brand creates a completely coordinated outfit in cuts that envelope the body. [And that’s my oh-raka translation LOL]
You can shop AS KNOW AS olaca online here.
AS KNOW AS Pinky
AS KNOW AS pinky creates fun, detailed clothing specifically for the younger woman. Using plentiful colors and high-quality fabrics, the brand brings new life to basics. They intend to infuse their pieces with that extra something that makes the wearer reach for them again and again in her daily life.
You can shop AS KNOW AS pinky online here.
Nanashi
Nanashi is for the woman who en
joys using her clothes to express herself. For the woman who has fun with fashion and outfits – who sees her style as flexible. The brand creates silhouettes that are feminine, with an emphasis on those details that make an item of clothing special.
You can shop Nanashi online here.
AS KNOW AS de wan
AS KNOW AS dog products: “Matching Clothes with Mama,” collars, leashes, toys, snax, beds, and other accessories.
Shop AS KNOW AS de wan online here.
To me, the clothing from the AS KNOW AS brands look pretty interchangeable with one another – i.e., I can’t really tell the difference between an olaca and a Nanashi for example. But they are still pretty, wearable pieces, and the brand is doing quite well in Japan and abroad. Though I didn’t find anything to feed my fashion fetish at the AS KNOW AS Harajuku stores when I visited in August of this year, my AS KNOW AS de base apron-dress that I bought last year is still one of my favorite dresses in the whole wide world.
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Sep 24, 2009 | Fashion, Media
Now on www.swide.com and on Dolce & Gabbana’s Youtube channel is Dolce & Gabbana’s
first exclusive “Pre-Show Diary.”
The first clip is approximately one minute in length and acts as a teaser to the project. Watch it below!
The Pre-Show Diaries showcase the designers at work prior to the forthcoming Dolce & Gabbana Womenswear Spring/Summer 2010 show (to be held at their Milan design studio). Offering glimpses of the collection before it makes its catwalk debut, insights into its inspirations, moods, concepts, fabrics, accessories, shapes, and detailing – this is a must-watch teaser for anyone interested in the work put into creating a RTW collection. (I love the random nature the designer uses to chop, chop, chop that mesh – and then his studied hands pinning it to the mannequin.)
From Friday Sept 23rd an additional two videos per day will be added until the show itself on Sunday Sept 28th, available on the swide.com Youtube channel.
-Carly J. Cais
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Sep 23, 2009 | Score!
It’s that time again!
We had such a blast last time partnering with Chickdowntown to do a giveaway, well….we’re doing one again!
This time around, what’s up for grabs is a coveted Tolani Scarf. Super-soft and lightweight, these scarves are surprisingly warm and transition your summer wardrobe to Fall with ease. Originally retailing for $85.
We are giving away ONE SCARF and the winner gets to use which color/pattern they want from the two choices above.
(
from left: Wave, Turquoise Pebbles)
Chickdowntown.com has everything from vintage clothing to fabulous shoes – and a huge selection of designer brands (both from up-and-comers like BB Dakota and Wildfox Couture to established names like Balmain, Rag & Bone, L.A.M.B., and Charlotte Ronson. Even if the high-end stuff isn’t for you, they carry many chic steals: cool and contemporary pieces that are less than $70…so you don’t have to break the bank to look fabulous. I’m currently gaga over the Jules Smith Vampire Teeth Necklace, inspired by the Twilight series, and the Alice + Olivia White Jewel Face Tee (pictured at left).
So how to enter this giveaway?*
Leave a comment on this post as to what item or items from Chickdowntown.com you would pair your Tolani scarf with! Mix it! Match it!
(One entry per unique user, please.)
How to get an extra Entry?
Become a follower of Chickdowntown’s Twitter feed, where Amy gives away a fabulous item or a gift card from Chickdowntown every. single. day! (How does she do it??) Comment on this post saying you are a follower AFTER your “how to style it” entry comment.
How to get yet another Entry?
Receive a 3rd entry by mentioning this giveaway on your blog with a link back. Comment another time with the link to your post.
YOUR COMMENT SAYING YOU ARE A TWITTER FOLLOWER OR POSTING IT ON YOUR BLOG MUST BE SEPARATE FROM YOUR FIRST ENTRY COMMENT.
Otherwise it messes up Random.org’s count. You want all your entries to count, no? 🙂
Maximum number of entries per user: 3 entries
*Contest is open to international (non-U.S.) entrants…however, any customs fees incurred on the shipment of the prize to your country are the winner’s responsibility.
Giveaway period is for TWO WEEKS from today, until Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009 12 PM P.S.T. Winner will be chosen by Random.org from all valid entries. Comment, send your friends, and follow Amy on Twitter! These Tolani scarves have been seen on just about every A-list celeb and are THE must-have accessory for 2009 – don’t miss out!
Have fun and be creative with your Chickdowntown.com outfits!
*To those of you who entered this giveaway prior to Sept. 29 – I am so sorry, but I have been informed by Chickdowntown that the Gray Weeds and Wine Pebbles patterned scarves that were originally available now are no longer…the winner of the giveaway gets to choose between the “Wave” pattern or the “Turquoise Pebbles” pattern posted above. Many apologies to all those who entered and wanted to choose one of those scarves!
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Sep 21, 2009 | Fashion
Oh, how I’ve waited! How I’ve longed! How I’ve pined! No more, no more! Finally, finally, the coveted harness Zoe boot is available, not at some random little e-store, but at the grand-daddy of online shopping, Amazon.com. Click! I just picked myself up a pair in size 8 – an early Xmas present for moi. (Well, I had a couple unused gift certificates that were just begging to be used for this higher purpose…;-)
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