A note to Alexander Wang

I will preface the note below by mentioning that every day I see  beautiful vintage pieces of clothing, jewelry and accessories as a part of my job. I get paid to work in a very, very, very big closet. And I love it.

And, I often see things that I think certain designers should immediately buy and use for their own work. Sometimes a textile, a belt, a necklace, etc., calls to me and I answer.

Today I am writing to Alexander Wang to I release some of my inner inspiration (angst?).

Dear Mr. Wang,

I have never met you, though it is not  too crazy to think that perhaps our paths will one day cross. 

I have just unwrapped several Whiting & Davis mesh handbags that are probably more than 100 years old. The metal is worn, but not rusty, and the delicately broken down fibers are cool to the touch. In short, they are beautiful and amazing and just holding them in all their splendor sends a shiver down my spine. (Who once used this little purse to attend Victorian-era society parties? I ask myself.)


But I digress.

Since you're so set in your minimalistic ways, I'd like to propose the introduction of vintage W&D mesh into your next collection. Think: tanks, lined shorts, harem pants? Sasha Pivavarova and Aggy Deyn would rock that shit.

Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. 

xoxo

Jen

Summer Solstice, hath returneth to the blog

I am going to pretend that I stopped blogging for so long because I was so dejected about Alexander McQueen's suicide, which caused my hope for the future of fashion innovation to completely cease (not too far from the truth). 

With Sarah Burton now as McQueen's creative director and Pina Ferlisi as the CD at McQ, my faith is slowly but surely being restored. 

And, well, I just missed writing about this shit so I'm going to make time again.

For your viewing pleasure, a diagram of Pina Ferlisi's career to the present. Courtesy of me.

Mourning McQueen: A Senseless Suicide

At the risk of sounding like another whiny platform-clad fashion student at the NYFW tents...I must admit I'm devastated by the news of Alexander McQueen's suicide.

His designs set the tone for fashion since the early nineties...it's sad to think the young designer's inspirational force will never again affect the global aesthetic.

But, instead of writing another obit commemorating the iconoclastic Brit (I did this already for Slant yesterday...), I'm just going to rip some photos that instill pleasant memories of McQueen's visionionary and pervasive influence...

McQueen & Isabella Blow, Vanity Fair March 1997

McQueen's “Oyster Dress,” from Spring/Summer 2003. Ivory silk chiffon and silk organza.

From his Spring/Summer 2008 collection, in honor of Issy Blow after her suicide in May 2007.

The infamouse Armadillo shoes from Spring 2010.

Theatrical gothic at the Fall 2009 runway show.

A brighter vision in Spring 2008.

Out of this world...Spring 2010's Avatar-inspired collection.

Alexander McQueen...1969-2010. You will be missed.

GALLANT STRIDES: Galliano Through the Lens

Hello, 2010!

There's no better way to start the new year than by celebrating a living legend -- and one with whom I was lucky enough to spend some time this past year, Mr. John Galliano.

He's got a lot going on in 2010; launching Galliano, his menswear collection, his role at the helm of Christian Dior (going on his 15th year as lead designer), and the continuation of his visionary namesake label.

Tracking the ongoing success of a the designer, photographer Mark Leibowitz took a backstage look at the John Galliano ready-to-wear shows for fall 2008 and spring 2009. The images are stunning, and so thoroughly depict the mayhem that's typically hidden from the lens.

If nothing else, they're absolutely an inspirational way to start the new year...

And now you can take Galliano home with you, too. Photographer Roxanne Lowit just published Backstage Dior, a compilation of shots she's amassed from backstage access to the runways at Christian Dior throughout the last 10 years. There's nothing quite like a book of flashbulbs and haute couture to bring in a new decade. Bonne Année!

Photo credit: Backstage at the John Galliano exhibition; photographs by Mark Leibowitz.

WINTER WONDERLAND: Bye, Bye 2009!

Brooklyn is beautiful this morning. Walking to work is rarely an enjoyable experience, especially in the winter time. But today, the last day of 2009, dime-sized snowflakes are falling, turning the loading docks into mini-wonderlands...and it's making me incredibly nostalgic.

Here are some gorgeous photos taken for Numéro Magazine last year.

The ethereal beauty of this silk is the perfect compliment to the soft snow falling outside my window...

Photo credit: Numéro 91, March 2008.

ELSA SCHIAPARELLI: No Bones About It

Lindsay Lohan is expanding her formerly leggings-only label 6126 into a full force line of contemporary apparel come Fall 2010.

Happy as I may be for 'ol LiLo, this got me thinking about the downfall of artistic development in the fashion industry. With celebrities launching clothing and accessories lines left and right, the concept of fashion design seems to be withering away. 

Still in reflection mode ahead of New Year's Eve, my mind is focused today on the positive: one of the most artistically inclined designers in history, Signora Elsa Schiaparelli.

Schiaparelli was a fabric architect; a true creator of style. And, more so than most designers can claim today, she was in touch with a world of talented artists, and brought their work to the forefront as a result of her own success.

Taking cues from Pablo Picasso and George Braque, as well as collaborating with the likes of Salvador Dali, Jean Cocteau, Leonor Fini and Alberto Giacometti, she pushed boundaries, forced a reconsideration of lines and proportions and pioneered the concept of wearable art.

Here's a look at my favorite piece from Schiap, the Skeleton Dress she created with Dali as part of the Circus Collection in 1938, once again blurring the definition of 'beauty'.

Photo credit: Victoria & Albert Museum, Textiles & Fashion Collection, from the exhibition: "Fashion: An Anthology by Cecil Beaton."

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