Style Bubble

All Hail Marit

Prepare to have your pretty little minds blown away (ok my brain is small and petite, yours are humongous and filled with intelligence)... I was just about to shut up shop on the blogging front and couch out in front of Today at Wimbledon with an anchovy pizza and a beer...then I got this email from Marit Fujiwara and so the post must go on...

It couldn't wait a day, an hour or in fact, a mere minute.  I hassled her to unlock her Flickr and allow me to share her graduate collection 'Wound' with you ENLARGED in all its detailed glory.  Marit Fujiwara is a BA Textile Design grad from Chelsea College of Art and Design.  That's about all the info I have but this is a case where pictures can do an IMMENSE amount of talking...

Look, look closer, rub your eyes a bit if you have sleep/sweat and look again.  I took literally blinked at those detailed shots and then started bemoaning and wailing into the sky shouting "Why god?  Why am I such a talentless melting potato?"  This is mind bogglingly detailed work to a crazy level that is probably above and beyond the call of a graduate trying to get their work noticed.  This is a collection that I imagine being done by a minute perfectionist where one strand can't be out of place and the colours of the threads have to go in a specific order so as to not upset the balance.  This is where shapes of garments can be chucked out of the window because the kind of textile work going on is so intricate, with a supreme level of depth and innovation (not that Marit's shapes are poor anyway...).  She labels some of her images as 'cake' and the reference is not lost when you think of the devastating anal precision that goes into a patissier's work... these are in fact probably the clothing equivalent of Antonin Carême's creations (just re-read his bio...too good). 

I've already rambled far too long...  couldn't help myself with the superlatives... 

Further samples of her textile work...

Hot and Bound

>> In all honesty, all I've been thinking of for the past hour or so (I start to wilt and melt after 3pm in a pool of my own sweat and languid thoughts...) is I need to be submerged into an ice bath right now.  I'll do it naked if I have to but perhaps wearing one of Luiza Bondadiman's cut-out and tightly bound swimsuits from her latest S/S 10 collection might be a better option, lest I leap out of said ice bath yelping and screaming, lady lumps all over the joint and frankly resulting in a not so pretty sight. 

Fashion Rio was a few weeks ago and I must confess, JC Report's succint round-ups help me out a lot rather than trawling through sites that for some reason keeps coming up with a message that I've been hacked by someone Turkish... 

It was this multi-coloured, brightly pastel toned tied and bound swimsuit that caught my eye immediately and thus formed the basis for my dunking in ice bath get-up.  Or just on its own over a white sheer mesh top and some big clunky shoes.  I can just guess the comparisons to a certain leotard-loving, thigh-baring chica that will ensue...

Open Air, Open Forum

As I've been trawling through a gazillion menswear S/S 10 show images for work, I noticed that there was a mini tendancy to hold shows in outdoor spaces, fully visible to the passing public as opposed to being locked away behind a beefy security guard, an anxious PR and an invitation that bears your name, and your seating/standing fate that makes you feel big or small depending on where you're sitting or... *gasp* standing.

This of course could be a practical thing, given that it was 30 degrees and hotter.  It could be an ambient statement on Dries Van Noten and Kris van Assche (for Dior Homme)'s part.

It most probably ISN'T an act of democratising fashion, in the way that Henrik Vibskov does with his shows which is to ask the public to cough up either money or packets of cigarettes to attend his shows in Copenhagen. 

Still, I am fascinated by reactions of people peering into and stumbling upon fashion shows, unlikely to know what exactly is going on but being interested nonetheless.  I'm not about to start ripping up the rulebook and declaring 'Vive le Fashion Revolution!', 'Power to the People' and all that but seeing as I'm supposedly part of a blogging community that is making fashion a 'democratic' thing (an unsteady point that actually hasn't been verified but journalists love to throw around nontheless...) I'd like to throw the idea of open-to-all fashion shows out there.  For once, I'm putting forth the question 'Yay or nay?' instead of forming my own opinion (I have no concrete conclusion...)...

I'm specifically talking about the BIG FOUR of course given that public access fashion shows already take place elsewhere.  The fashion hierarchy that we are painfully obsessed with via Jak and Jil (is it envy, anger or adulation?) would be chipped a little save for the top tiers of the triangle that of course still get to sit front row.  Only there would be a somewhat larger crowd sitting behind them.  Or perhaps there could be a tombola system... see what seat number/row you pull out of tombola and you can sit your arse there.  Hey, I'm of course just pondering the mere possibility...

Not that any of this will actually happen in an organised public access system... the fashion industry has just about got over the fact that mere mortals can get hold of show images hours after the show... letting people into the hallowed sweaty halls (more often than not, shows are sweaty affairs...) would be another matter altogether...        

Get ye down there!

>> I have to apologise very quickly here as I have precisely two minutes to type this.  So the Luella mega sample sale actually started yesterday at 4pm and a lot of people queuing had some sort of print out.  Sorry if I didn't communicate this on the post yesterday but the general flyer for some reason only had today's date on it.  I dropped by out of curiosity when I was out doing an interview and couldn't resist even though I really had meant to go today.  Hot, sweltering queues had formed as they were operating a one-in-one out system.  The crux of it is.... GET YE DOWN THERE... I'll keep it brief - bags range from £30-£250 and a decent sized leather bag will cost you £75.  The S/S 09 collection in all its purple, pink and orange glory is priced at £100 for a dress.  It's incredible that they're selling current stock for that such a small amount of money.  Small trinkets, tees etc are about £15 (no headbands I'm afraid, Selina...) and there's plenty of clothes from past seasons to trawl through... catwalk and factory samples too so there are some pretty unique pieces there.

It has started as we speak... GET YE DOWN THERE...bring a bottle of water for the queue and good luck.

I didn't buy a huge amount as I was being quite picky... but one of the coups are these S/S 08 Dr. Marten-type chunky heels used in the show...

Not Just a Label Round 2

I was semi-excited about Not Just a Label's shop launch but even more so now that Diane Pernet has made her selection for the July edition of the e-shop.  Her tastemaking skills are of course evident on her blog but made even more apparent with her selection and actually in some cases, she's surprised me with some of her picks.  The pieces that she has selected for the store is quite well-rounded and varied in aesthetic style... 

Oh and finally, I'm more excited this time round because the pieces truly come alive on models as opposed to still hanging shots...

I was going to select a few more menswear pieces but why bother when this Ethosens shirt (£145) that comes from a collection based around the idea of the 'Gentleman' is clearly the star piece...

I'm also grateful that Diane has selected Aoi Kotsuhiroi's jewellery, whose images and skills have been amazing me but for some reason I never got round to posting about it properly....

Oh, oh... and Style Bubble readers get a 10% when buying something.  Just enter STYLEBUBBLE at checkout... ho ho ho....FIRST time in all three years of this blog that I've broken out with a discount code... I'm such a selfish bastard...

Sample, Sample, Sample

I know I used to update my right sidebar with sample sale notices but because the good ones tend to be invite-only and then the generic ones you can find via Daily Candy and what not, I thought I'd get rid of it.... these are for Londoners to escape from the heat.. enjoy and possibly see you there!

The Jackson Tidbit

>> I know the Jackson tribute posts have been going completely rampant... out of the 400 blogs that I have on my Bloglines, over 250 had posted SOMETHING about Michael Jackson.  I suddenly felt like I had been left out in the cold cold world of a minority, shunted into the realms of blogging without taking any notice of what's going on in the real world.  Ok, it's not that drastic and no, I'm not feeling cold at all... but what the heck, I found the perfect opportunity to join the bandwagon... seems Jackson-mania extends towards footwear as well as album sales as these Repetto Jackson jazz shoes have been selling out at stores and have now garnered a waiting list at their Paris store.  Months ago, I did actually really want them in white patent and the patent loafer thang has been brewing since Peter Jensen's A/W 09 shoe range...now though, me thinks I've lost my chance.  Good luck to those seeking these out for the next few months...

Denim Challenged

It's got to be said that I'm one of those people that don't really rely or need denim to necessitate outfits.  I don't have attachments to jeans or actually, after a recent purge, do I actually have a pair of jeans existing in my wardrobe.  This isn't to throw out an airy statement that is supposed to be nonchalent or something because I am in fact basically denim-challenged.  It's hard for me to find the stuff be it a natty denim jacket (remember when everyone was on the search for one of those specimens of denim jackets after Kirsten Dunst traipsed around wearing one for the whole summer...) or a bum-lifting, leg-legthening pair of jeans.  Then of course I get distracted by all the other good things that don't require as much thinking and it's bye bye denim, hello sequin shorts/crepe de chine dresses/mesh t-shirts... etc etc...

London-based French photographer Babette Pauthier's latest set of photos for Portuguese online mag Pure makes me realise that of course, given the right denim piece, it suddenly becomes a lot more interesting and my attention can be fixed on say... a cut out denim jacket, denim prints onf soft fabrics, bleached out spots... denim-challenged me needs more of these 'difficult' solutions to not eliminate denim entirely from my wardrobe (that said, thank god for The Urban Collection keeping me in frayed denim oversized jackets and vintage Jordache...)

Where's my Birthday Suit?

>> Kat turned me onto Pagesonline, an Aussie e-zine which I actually already had on my links but doofusly hadn't checked out.... Pagesonline then turned me onto Aussie costume designer/outfiteer Birthday Suit which has one of those annoying websites that gives zero information but lots of flashing images that you have to painfully screencap.  I've decided 31 degrees celcius heat is too hot to do multiple screencapping so it's just this one image from Pagesonline that I'm putting up.  This ensemble is in fact the Birthday Suit of my dreams.... to either be born and pop out of my mother wearing a miniature tropical flora and fauna blazer and matching bustier....or to give birth to a child wearing it.  Scientists surely need to make this happen.

Florence's Lungs

>> Apologies that I can't find better images of the lovely Florence Welch (Florence and the Machine) performing at Glasto (no I wasn't there...were you?) but Getty is the best I can do.  Last week, I was having a love affair of Roksanda Ilincic's lacquered flowers for Whistles and the flame-haired songstress has taken the flowers to another level adorning her band's drumkit and mic with slightly dishevelled blooms.  More to the point, the gold and black roses adorn her stage outfits which oddly are designed by Topshop, exclusively for Florence.  I say odd, only because high street stores don't tend to do custom designs for people, especially ones that aren't going to be sold in-store.  Still, Topshop have gotten onto that stage train with gusto and given Florence fringed capes, shoulder pieces, giant rose embellishments and custom-fitted tulle sleeves for her to flutter around...

**EDIT** Found better images courtesy of Roger Sargent...

 

It does pain me a little that these shoes that Topshop also made for her won't be sold but does tempt me into a simple DIY task with some fake flowers and grosgrain...

 

I was going to post the original video for Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up) but I've decided the Jamie T/Lionheart dance remix is actually pretty good, equalling the original if not surpassing...