Tuesday, February 26, 2013

OOTD - February 26, 2013

I recently reviewed a powerpoint about color theory for my Creative Fashion Presentations course, and just about died when I saw this bit about the color purple (AKA: my favorite color).

purple

I'm all over true knowledge and perfection. I mean... this color is me, to a T. (I won't make any bad jokes about being akin to royalty or religious figures... feel free to take that one and run with it if you like.) In honor of my favorite color and the history/lore behind it, I decided to wear purple to work today. Maybe I will be successful in perfecting my life today (ie: I would find a fabulous new job in fashion, and I would have an epiphany regarding what to say in my Big Brother 15 audition video).
PhotoGrid_1361886539810

Monday, February 25, 2013

FB #4 - The Language of Fashion

One of the things I love about blogging is the opportunity to write creatively, while still respecting grammar, syntax and punctuation (of course!). One of the things I love about reading other blogs is the opportunity to see how other people write. Quite frankly, every writer has a different written “voice,” a different flow, and a different descriptive tone. I picked two different blogs about the same topic – Tom Ford’s F/W 2013 runway show at London Fashion Week – one from the NY Times blog, and the other from Vogue. While they cover the same basics, the Vogue article went into much more detail, creating a much stronger visual to mind.
To be honest, I zeroed in on the NY Times blog simply because of the words “High-Definition” in the title. I love that such a techy phrase, technology being so structured and finite, can be applied to something as free and artistic as fashion. In reading Horn’s description of the show, I was delighted to see the words “Ka-Pow” and “bedazzled” because these descriptive words are as exciting as the apparel they describe. Without even seeing photos from the runway, I felt that I was able to gain a good sense of what the show looked like as it strutted by in my mind’s eye – plenty of silk, skirts, and beaded outfits, in comic-book-style prints and patterns which are a mash-up of cultural and ethnic... and plenty of ka-pow. In my mind, I can legitimately see the angles and edges of the explosion the word "ka-pow!" brings to mind - graphic, colorful, bright, primary colors, bold, in-your-face.



Overall, the NY Times blog by Cathy Horyn adequately describes the collection, but I found that the Vogue blog by Sarah Mower gave more details regarding the silhouette and design, details, and much more on color and fabric. I got a more complete vision of the collection from Vogue.
Below is a side-by-side comparison (with links to both articles) featuring key words from each article for the categories Silhouette & Design, Details, Color, Fabric and Creative “Jargon.” When reading through these, I encourage you to visualize what this collection could possibly look like as it walks down the runway. Some photos of the show are below this table. I’ll be interested to hear if you were able to visualize the Tom Ford show as well as I was!
by Cathy Horyn
by Sarah Mower

1.       Silhouette & Design
a.       Silk gowns
b.      Beaded outfits
c.       Suits with skirts notched at the hem
2.       Details
a.       Brightly beaded
b.      Comic book-style explosions of embroidery
c.       Spangled
d.      Bedazzled
3.       Color
a.       Pink
4.       Fabric
a.       silk
5.       Creative “Jargon”
a.       Mash-up of cultural styles
b.      High-low mix
c.       Cross-cultural mix
d.      High-definition style
e.      Head-to-toe
f.        Silhouette
g.       Skirts/…/notched at the hem
h.      Potent
i.         Visual
j.        KAPOW
k.       Comic book style

1.       Silhouette & Design
a.       Hoodies
b.      Bomber jackets
c.       Parkas
d.      Boots
e.      Coats
f.        Pencil skirted suits
g.       Column dresses
h.      Ponchos
2.       Details
a.       Sequined
b.      Leopard-spotted
c.       Swishing Western fringe
d.      Flower-embroidered
e.      Pop art Shazam/Ka-Pow motifs
f.        Patchwork
g.       Beaded
3.       Color
a.       Multicolored
b.      Blue
c.       Red
d.      Fuchsia
e.      Black
4.       Fabric
a.       Silk
b.      Fur
c.       Pony skin
d.      See-through lace
5.       Creative “Jargon”
a.       Maximalists
b.      Cross Cultural Multi Ethnic
c.       Upgraded
d.      Vivid
e.      Glamorously sexy
f.        Shimmying





For more photos, be sure to visit the review blog posted by Vogue - the various looks are pretty wild!

Monday, February 18, 2013

FB #3 - Trickle Up Trend

I often forget that beauty products are a huge part of the fashion industry, so I'm pretty excited to write about a trend I see on the street which is related to beauty products, and a trend that I actually participate in. The trickle-up trend I've identified is nail art. Nail art can be simple solids, all the way up to 3D nail art - it depends on the person, the time and the place. I really love how anything goes!

I paint my nails on occasion, and my go-to is painting one of my nails in a "pop color." For example, for Valetine's Day, I painted my nails red, but my ring fingers were a melon/orange color. It's pretty simple as far as nail art goes - I have neither the time nor the steady hands to do something more intricate. However, this is a popular nail art trend which I see fairly regularly. Here is a picture of my nails from my OOTD post from February 11th.

OOTD - February 11, 2013 by Emily's Going Nuts

I recently discovered a blog called Chelsea King's Get Nailed, and it's all about fun nail art inspired by fashion, seasons, and holidays. In fact, the first I had noticed Get Nailed was on Instagram, which Target re-grammed Chelsea's nail art inspired by the Prabal Gurung for Target exclusive line. I think she did a great job of intepretting the prints and patterns from the line. However, she's so good at this nail art stuff, I could easily see her patterns be interpreted into apparel and accessory design - a true sense of the trickle up theory.


I find nail art tutorials and "pinspiration" on Pinterest all of the time. Here are some of my favorites which I might eventually get around to trying:

Pinned Image Pinned Image Pinned Image

MTV Style did a piece on celebrity nail art in December 2012 as a sort of recap of the fun and crazy nail art. Some celebs managed manis which look like they were done at home, but some are pretty technical (and quite frankly, insane). Here are some of  my favorites from the MTV article:

Demi Lovato
Demi Lovatp Nail Art

Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Deschanel Nail Art

Ke$ha
Ke$ha Nail Art

And perhaps my least favorite, simply because it looks uncomfortable and would make it hard to zip your own pants, or do anything on your own for that matter...

Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga Nail Art

Nail art has become so popular with the masses, it has trickled up to inspire the production of easier manicure applications, and even licensing partnerships. For example, Sally Hansen now has stick-on glitter french manicures. I managed to give myself this glitter french mani at work a couple days before Thanksgiving (work was that slow, and applying the mani was that easy).

The Kardashians have their own line of OPI nail polish called Kardashian Kolors. I'm not sure how popular it is, but OPI tends to be a very popular brand of nail polish.

What are some of your favorite nail art trends?

Sunday, February 10, 2013

New additions to my closet...

Since I posted about how I'm going on a shopping diet, I thought I might give a quick glimpse into some of the things I've purchased recently. I'm pretty confident that I can find 3-5 ways to wear each of these items, and I will put this confidence to the test from now until May 31st!


recentlybought

  1. J.Crew Hacking blazer in mint - ordered online on final sale for $99.99 (similar)
  2. Prabal Gurung for Target dress - $49.99
  3. White House | Black Market Original Contour jean - on sale for $49.99
  4. Anthropologie dress with convertible strap - on sale for $39.95 (no longer available online)
  5. Michael Kors flats - $99.00
  6. Prabal Gurung for Target stilettos - $39.99
  7. Rock & Republic for Kohl's - on sale for $28.97
  8. Kohl's juniors chambray top - $36.00