jeremy laing fw10

The thing that I like best about this collection is that it comes off as true and real; like a normal girl walking down the street wearing a few different labels at once (this is perhaps not best illustrated by the looks that I've chosen though). Now that probably isn't the best critique regarding coherence, but I like pretty much all the looks. Overall it has a very New York feel to it; very cool and laid back (especially the fantastically casual draping of the dresses), but with some obvious thought put into it.

marc jacobs fw10

It's collections like this one that keep my mind interested in fashion, in that they make me want to know more and more about the industry and design concepts. I think that some designers require more work on the audience's part than others in order to really "get" what they put out there - not just making kneejerk aesthetic judgements. When it comes to Marc Jacobs, I'm getting there; I think I'm about halfway. Anyhow, on to the actual collection. There's an interesting mix here; texturally with everything from knits to fur to thick embellishments, and also more broadly in terms of the clothes' accessibility. Jacobs has put out an array of things that I can see being worn by women of practically any age and style - most of these pieces seem up for anything, and the kinds of things that wearers can easily make their own. The laid-back styling really works for this reason, and acts almost as a blank canvas for buyers. On a negative note, it's a shame that the second half was a bit gaudy; there were definitely some mistakes there.

monday links (early!)

- A fantastic article on the history of technology and its social effects, here.

- Who ever thought you'd be able to deconstruct a toaster? Wow.

- Fashion Notebook; a set of beautiful scrapbook pages on Flickr using pages torn out of fashion magazines. Some of these pages have such amazing colour schemes. Things like this make me wish I had more time for my scrapbook Moleskine.

- Gender bending some of the great thinkers, artists and leaders here. Why not?

- Beautiful iPhone and iPod cases here.

- And what I think is the most important link, Collective Shout. Everyone should take a good look at this site, I think it's a really great initiative battling a increasing problem facing all females. If you're in Australia, you may have already heard about it (Melinda Tankard Reist has been doing a lot of press lately), and I recommend signing up to the site for access to a selection of blogs, videos and outside links on all kinds of relevant material. Also check out Melinda's website here, and another of my favourite female activists/writers, Virginia Haussegger's blog here.

[image from Bjork's Hyperballad videoclip]

i go through all this

Drowning in fifty kinds of stress at the moment.
Fashion week posts coming super soon!

what my winter is going to look like

All of these are from the Viktor&Rolf pre-fall collection.
New York Fashion Week is on at the moment and I'm trying to find coherent and non-boring collections to post about. It's proving to be difficult so stay tuned, if only to see the really horrible/funny looks I intend on posting.

monday links (on a tuesday night)

- One of the funniest sites in the vein of FMyLife, Sorry I Missed Your Party etc, Unhappy Hipsters.

- A look at what Monopoly is doing for its 75th birthday, here.

- The Print Society, a place to find a great range of artists' work on display (and for sale too!). Plus the layout is killer.

- A very interesting (though not exactly recent) interview with photographer Juergen Teller on his craft, and the philosophy he holds, here.

- E-waste, a photographic series showing a side of technology that I've frankly never thought about. This series is appealing both intellectually and visually.

[image of Lady GaGa's performance at the Grammy's]

dare to be one of us girl

Let me start by saying that I hold only glimmers of patriotism for Australian culture (a Hungarian mother and years of French education will do that to you; it's all about Europe for me). However Australian magazines have been putting up a good fight lately - Russh and Vogue in particular. Covers are getting stronger, the editorials are getting more widespread attention, Australian models are getting bigger and bigger (Abbey Lee in particular is huge at the moment, other mentions go to Samantha Harris and Rachel Rutt), and thinking about it all recently gave me a tingle of pride in having such great work come out of this country. I hope to be a part of it one day soon.

On a side note - the brights trend is everywhere at the moment, and the way it's being presented in these magazines is turning even my head. Despite being in 'hurry up winter!' mode, I find myself being attracted by this aesthetic. Bold, bright, sports/swimwear ... all of it is coherent and appealing in a visual way that I don't completely understand.

I've also become fascinated (read: jealous of) by visual thinkers lately, and I've been doing a lot of reading on design and related theory. Unfortunately I'm unable to take a class in that area this coming semester, but I do have a class that is going to touch on sub-editing and design at some point so I'm really looking forward to it.

Happy weekend! I'm going to make vegetable soup tonight, lounge around in extra cosy pyjamas after this incredibly long week, hopefully finish a couple of books, and see Precious at the movies tomorrow.

i heart stationery

Nothing like brand new stationery to boost your mood, drain your bank account and prepare for the semester ahead, all in one sweeping spree. I'm loving Kikki K and Typo in the Canberra Centre at the moment. It's fantastic to see places like these build a solid reputation with their own merchandise and then add more and more far-reaching (yet relevant and coherent) products to their stores; ie: Moleskines and helpbooks at Kikki K, quirky homewares at Typo. They're both great examples of lifestyle brands with very considered aesthetics, something I think we need more of in Canberra. If only I didn't want to re-do my office, bedroom, kitchen (and pencilcase!) every time I go into one of these stores ...