Geek of the Day: Manuel Cosentino

Little house and simple plain hill (I don’t even know, if it’s a grass hill or rocky hill!), what can you get from those two really plain combination? According to Manuel Cosentino, you can get amazing weather photos and touching simple life of a house (yes, a house DOES has a life. Just accept it).

Seriously, when I flipped through Cosentino’s last work, entitled Behind a Little House, I feel like seeing a little silent house, trying to silently tell us things it has been through and what a simple yet amazing artform we can get! You can see the little house stands still during storms, starry skies, sunny days, and foggy morning (uh, I don’t know if it’s morning or whatever, but let’s imagine it’s morning)(it’s more romantic!).

Let me praise Mr. Cosentino who managed to shoot such beautiful, high quality pictures (I know photography and I know how hard it is to take decent, simple, beautiful shoots that are able to communicate freely with people who see it). You can see his work at Klompching Gallery in Brooklyn, New York. And…guess what?!

You can buy his Little House book and you can actually draw your version of the background! It’s like a combination of both drawing skills and photography. Hmm, I accept the challenge Cosentino!

Behind a Little House is part of Klompching’s FRESH 2013, an annual summer show that will run through August 10, 2013.

Taken from My Modern Met

A Simple Fashion Drama

Oh, I’ve told you before how much I love a normal-drama, right? What I mean by normal drama is, well, drama with right amount of cries, overreacting players, complicated plots, and some humors to cheer us up. Not some lousy endless stories about love, and melancholy stories of a family in the middle of nowhere. Gah.

But it’s a little bit different, when it comes to clothes. Dramatic clothes can be amazingly stupid or beautiful, according to the designers and stylist…and yourself. Now, let me describe what I mean by dramatic clothes.

I think dramatic clothes are something exaggerated, contain a lot of ‘extras’, and seem a little bit out of place. Not something most people want to walk on the street with. But it is also something you want to have inside your cupboard, an outfit you guys have at least one piece and keep it neatly and tuck it under your tons of pants and summer dresses. You don’t like to wear it a lot, but when something special happens -or you are in a good mood, you run to your drawer and take this outfit out for a walk to fancy park. Okay, are you confused now? Those are the best description I can come up with.

I can’t really give a shopping tip for dramatic clothes because it really depends on your taste. My taste is something plain with volumed. It can be a gown (ok, wait, I talk as a stylist and fashion blogger now. Not a man, I would never ever wear a gown. Men doesn’t really have any dramatic bones in their bodies)(or bold-fashion bones to wear something good), or maybe a voluminous skirt. Maybe slit maxi skirt with romantic ruffles (just like the one from Balenciaga)? I don’t really know either!

One thing for sure is it looks almost like a party outfit, but with less glamour and more chic. Without being too much. Colors seem to be a bad choice, if you want to make it a classic item. Go with black, white or grey, they’re simply timeless and no one can debate a nice black dress. It’s just a forbidden fashion rule.

Well, put on those dramatic clothes and go hit your show stage!

Taken from Le 21ème

STYLE Loves: Vitaminwater Just For Bloggers!

Just kidding. It would be weird to come to some stores and buy vitamin water then suddenly out of nowhere, the shopkeeper asked if you are a blogger or not and take the vitamin water (while giving you that annoying-underestimating snort), if you are not. Hmm, life would be really difficult. Well, you might not get special treatment from Vitaminwater’s staffs (I am talking to you bloggers all over the world), but you will definitely see some crazy advertising pictures from Vitaminwater soon enough (maybe you already see it somewhere, somehow, and I am just being such an old news again. Damn).

I don’t know where the hell they get this kind of idea, but this is super crazy, creative, fun, and fashionable! Well, I am not saying that dressing up as sunflower is fashionable. Maybe you can forget the petal-headwear and just go with the dress (or you can choose to go as another flower)(I totally recommend roses or orchids. Beautiful!). And I know most of you only have two hands, so….life is pretty much too plain.

Oh, and before I close this instant post, let’s play pick-your-favorite-and-tell-the-rest-of-them-just-bad game. My favorite is Susie Bubble (sunflower lady) and that alien girl (sorry, forget forget forget her name! Bad blogger alert here!), they can represent their quirkiness and outer worldly fashion yet still somehow make some senses for me. The rest of them? Pfft, guess we don’t have to talk about it (just kidding!!).

Anyway, who’s your favorite?

Taken from Style Bubble

STYLE Loves: Martina Spetlova And Her Weave

Weave pattern has become a great part of Indonesian fashion industry. Both traditional and modern. If you visit Java and surrounding islands (well, all over Indonesia to tell you the truth), you can easily spot old woman in her old home trying to weave something from coconut or bamboo roots. And when you go back to Jakarta, young designers are still doing the same thing in their design classes at some pricey colleges. The difference is just in materials and facilities. I guess, weave is pretty popular here. But it never came to my mind before that weave is also a cool fashion out there in Western worlds. It seems quite… strange. Unfamiliar.

I thought all westerners like jeans and t-shirts and some fancy dresses at rare occasions and that’s it. Well, I was wrong. And I know I was wrong because Martina Spetlova shows me how cool weaving is in western fashion. Martina able to create a colorful, edgy, leathery, sexy looks with weaving, which I rarely see in Indonesian weaving technique. After thinking a little bit, I just realized that the only thing I recognize from Indonesia weaving is the old, dusty color of different shades of brown (to Indonesia defend, we do create extraordinary handcraft and other things tourists want to buy). Huh.

Not only colorful, sexy and leathery, Martina also able to give modern-touches to her weaving (aka clothes). Pants, dresses, jackets, everything looks normal for us (youngsters with good fashion sense) to wear, even though I am not sure you still want to wear it after..let’s just say, 4 seasons from now (yeah, yeah, 2 years from now). I know…fashion is just confusing, one day you are in and the next day you’re out kind-of-thing. Some of the items contain the ‘out of date’ possibilities (especially the black-with-orange-flare pants!). I guess that’s what keep the designers (and bloggers) occupied all these years.

Anyway, don’t let the out-of-date-ness get the best of you this time, and go try this kind of weaving!

Taken from Style Bubble

A Night At Negev

‘How’s your dinner?’

A man who is obviously the head chef of Negev Jakarta asked us in his happy Indonesian-English accent. Luckily for him (and unfortunately for me), I was disappointingly chewing down my pizza and could only gave him a too enthusiast nod (you can see why after reading this whole post). It was Saturday night and logically Negev should be filled with Jakarta’s socialite and cool youngsters. But that night was an exception, we freely glided around and chose our table without having to ask politely (tricky business) to the servant where can we sit or can he score us a seat at non-smoking area.

Negev is a perfect high-class restaurant when it comes to atmosphere. It is filled with artistic statues and cool lightning. You know, those kinds of lamps that don’t produce yellowish shadow across the room and ruin your photos (and make your food-photos become something similar with poo). In the middle of the room you can find giant tree-bubble-like sculpture which gives the restaurant a modern yet strange artistic vibe. I like it though, Negev is a perfect restaurant to sit around and enjoy a quality night with yourself or your friends. I know in one glance that Negev is definitely not a place to bring your kids and wife. Time for youngsters to say goodbye to family dinner I guess.

I had this strange feeling when flipping the menu though. Maybe it was because I usually don’t have dinner so late at night or the menu’s design, but I feel nothing except boredom. The name of each dish is just plain without something exciting or, at least, advertising. I usually hate dishes with strange (or too long) name, but Negev definitely changed my perception. We settled for Carne De Lux thin-crust pizza, Ice Cappucino (I felt really sleepy and alcohol was out of my league that night), Springs Baby Chicken, Strawberry Sunrise and US White Sea Bass.

While waiting for our dishes to come, the servant happily (they always look happy and calm. I don’t know why) came and gave us a complimentary (big, fat, crusty) bread and sleek plain butter. The bread was good enough for me, but the butter was really plain. I mean, plain butter is great, but I thought it could be much more delicious, if they chose salty butter.

Ice Cappuccino and Strawberry Sunrise

Silly me for not asking what kind of ingredients the Strawberry Sunrise has because it tastes awesomely fresh. Well, it was much fresher when my sister asked for extra ices. The juice is thick and strangely warm, a sign that it is fresh from the blender (not a really good drink for a hot summer night though). My Cappuccino on the other side, is really strong. It is topped with plain (again!) whipped cream and chocolate powder but even after mixing the entire whipped cream into the Cappuccino, it is still bitter and more like coffee than synthetic sweetener I used to drink. Yes, I asked for more sugar. And yes I felt bad. But at least the Cappuccino tastes much better with extra-extra-sugar. Shame on me.

Carne De Lux Thin Crust Pizza

Pizza is never a great advantage of a high-class restaurant. I know it, but I couldn’t resist the urge of ordering one after the chef put a tree sign (aka recommendation sign) right beside Carne De Lux. The menu said that it is a thin crust pizza with warm tomatoes and slices of whatever beef. Sounds good. Tastes….weak. Some restaurants want to make an elegant presentation by giving their customers an elegant tasted menus. I understand the theory and praised the act. But Carne De Lux is just weak for me. The dough is thin and quite crispy, the beef slices are unsurprisingly really thin and the tomatoes are deliciously warm and sour. But the overall taste is just not there. It was a boring eating experience and the big size is not even an advantage, more like a torture stomach-filling device.

But I found something that tastes right in this disappointing dish (and I really thanked God). The tomatoes. The chef sliced it into two complete half-round pieces and scattered them across the pizza, when I bit those tiny warm tomatoes, I was surprised with their sour juices exploding inside my mouth like a tiny nuclear bomb, and their warm skins wrapping up my tongue softly. Definitely the best tomatoes topping that I have ever had, but not that good until I classified this dish as ‘good’ more like ‘almost good’. I could have a much more decent pizza with half of the price. In short, Negev really failed me with their ‘de lux’ pizza. My opinion? Just put down the recommendation sign ASAP.

Springs Baby Chicken

After the disappointing pizza experience, the grilled chicken came and I have to admit the size is not a ‘diet people portion’. Negev surely know how to ruin your diet. The chicken looks oily and completed with fresh vegetables (you can change the veggies into mashed potatoes or creamy spinach though) and I was drooling for the chicken. When my sister finally gave me a chance to taste it I was literally jumping with excitement. One small bite and the chicken really kicked my big fat pizza’s ass. It tastes awesome! The fat is dripping from the crispy skin and slowly making it’s way to fresh warm meat. The veggies are fresh and quite moist. I didn’t taste anything unpleasant from this dish. Maybe this is what they call a ‘plate of heaven’. At this point my pizza looked nothing more than an empty beacon of hope. An expired beacon of hope.

US White Sea Bass

Remember when I told you US has everything that is good? That’s proven to be true because even their seabass is amazingly delicious. The fish is really moist and feels right from the pan which gives the hot-warm sensation in my mouth and the spice is just right. Sadly, this is all I can tell because I only tasted one small slice of it. But the side dish looks quite good, the chef sure knows how to create a beautiful, delicious and expensive dish.

I had these perceptions in my mind whenever I come in a restaurant. For example: if the atmosphere is good, the food must be bad or if the service is bad, the foods must be good and things like that. Negev puts me in this situation where my perceptions are all wrong for the first minute (good place also comes with good grilled chicken!) then out of the blue, my perception is right again (high-class restaurant never really high when it comes to pizza!). I don’t want to say that this is a perfect restaurant, some of the menus look boring and not really get on my nerve (in a good way), but I can’t deny that they have one of the best grilled dishes in town. Maybe I didn’t have a perfect night, but after seeing the bills (plus taxes!), I surely just had an overpriced night.

More Fabric, Less Skin…Or…..

Hiya folks! Wow, it’s nice to have a new way to greet you. Tonight (or today)(I forget that I am totally in different timezone, heh) let’s talk about something you’ve been waiting for. What do you have to wear on the beach? Wait, don’t frown! I know that most of you will go rampaging the beach with tiniest bikinis you can get on the stores, but some of us aren’t that lucky to have a beautiful body. Inner beauty totally doesn’t work on the beach. This is a matter of real skins or no skin at all. Talking about skins, which one do you prefer more skin or less skin?

Let me make this sentence clearer: I realize that during summer, during my holiday in Bali to be precise, I never wore just shorts to the beach. I still wore my t-shirts, shorts, sandals and bunch of things to the beach because it would be unpleasant for me to go shirtless and all. And it would be unpleasant for other people. Showing less skin makes me feel comfortable and safer, knowing that my tummy will be just fine. Hidden and fine.

But some people told me that it is better to show MORE skin than hiding it. They (those wisdom fashion elders) say that hiding your tummy will just make it bigger than reality and it’s shocking. Wow, I thought my picture is just fine. Anyway, because I am a good fashion-victim and such an amateur, I considered following that mantra and go all-short-and-skins on the beach, but I couldn’t! At the last moment, I grabbed my bathrobe and went back to my room with what’s left from my dignity. I praised those grandpas who rock their speedos and white-bread on the swimming pool. I am serious, they had more guts than me.

Pff, Operation Self-Esteem? Failed. It’s harder than Mission Impossible -much harder (I told you Tom Cruise, I told you!).

I can’t deny that I adore those models in their bikinis though, they look gracious and goddess-like. But then, I turned back my head and there it is…new bathrobe models. No skin and still look beautiful and fresh and look so innocent. Hmm, I guess I just go with old ultimate fashion wisdom: JUST GO WITH IT MY CHILD, JUST GO WITH IT.

Taken from Style Bubble

P.S: For you who have the same problem with me, hide your tummy in Susie’s swimsuit/knitwear. It’s cool and edgy!

Pixie

Hot weather means more bad hair days (ugh, the humidity is ruining my hair!! Noooooo!!!) and even though I am one of those men who don’t understand the difficulty of having long hair and such things (by things I mean bangs and extensions and whatever products women use on their hairs)(seriously, your hair doesn’t look that bad!), I do understand the unimaginable heat you get in your body, face, hair, and mind. Pfft, it’s sucks, isn’t it? Okay girls maybe I don’t know the difficulties of having a long hair, but I do know a thing or two about short hair.

As a teen growing up in strict environment that requires high ethic code in term of clothing and hairstyle, the easiest hair cut I can get is short hair. The one those military guys get during their training camp, but longer. And funner. Anyway, at first it looks annoying and I feel really…bald. But as the time goes on, this bald-thing becomes quite a comfort to me.

First, I don’t have to spend more money for gel and things, but you probably aren’t going to count this advantage because girls always need beauty products (it’s like an undeniable physics law). Second, I have slight advantage when the sun is too blazing in the sky (umbrella is not involved in this case). Okay, maybe it is not a big advantage because I am still sweating like crazy. At least, I can still hope for short-hair-sun-proof-miracle. Third, you can say goodbye to those bad hair days. Well, at least you can almost say goodbye (even short hair people don’t look good after sleeping for hours during long-flight).

Anyway, pixie haircut (yes, that’s the name) is not always a bad thing. Yes, probably your friends will suspect you grew some liches during summer, but lately people are dying to get this type of haircut (plus, you can get more quality time with your friends while convincing them that you DO NOT grow some liches). Hmm, let’s see…Ellen DeGeneres, Mia Wasikowska (she is still pixie, isn’t she?), Michelle Williams, Michelle Obama (eh, not pixie…but she has short hair and I am running out of candidates, so….) and, of course the one and only…the new princess of punk, Miley Cyrus (love ya, Miley. You can’t stop girl!).

My friends also say, somehow, people with short hair are much sexier than long hair.

These words are both for boys and girls. So, what do you think? Want to get some hair cuts this season (when August is not here yet and summer still show some mercy)?

Taken from The Sartorialist

Blotches

Polkadot is nice, but there are times when I am sick of it and want to throw it out of the window. Hello?! Polkadot again? But I also realize that no matter how many times people throw that pattern out of the window, it will come back around. Remember last season when the polkadot attack just happen out of the blue and people start buying the exact same thing their mothers bought back then in 1960s (or something between this year and long long long time ago)?

That time when we (kids!) swore that we would never wear anything with dots because it reminds us about our mothers, her friends and old talks about that-neighbor-who-happens-to-buy-a-new-plants and do-you-have-fun-at-school?. And never ever mention old parent-children games. Hate to say this, but fashion is bitching with us (and our moms) again. Thank you very much karma, you are still bitching us however you want.

That doesn’t me just have to hate fashion and forget about trends though, let’s look for something not-really-polka-dot, but still has some moves in there. My current answer is this Tee by Cosmic. I am sorry, but I forget which series is the one in the picture. Wait, I don’t feel really sorry though because Google provides silly information like this (seriously, Google is really annoying sometimes. Don’t know something? Don’t ask your friends! They are bunch of idiots and slow thinkers! Just go to Google and there you go!)(we are not here to talk about Google and friends though).

Well, I kinda admire the way Cosmic printed the blotches with big big size and didn’t make it like old polka dot style. I don’t know about you, but it looks way chicer than regular dots. Plus, it looks really soft and thin which is just perfect for…you know, summer (duh!).

Taken from Amateur Couture

No Air Conditioning Needed!

Hello summer, I really hate you and I wish I can have winter all year and sun is just a strange concept that we all unfamiliar with. But you are right here, blazing with intense heat and beauty that I won’t talk about. My defense from you is sitting in an air conditioning room and forget the world out there. Well, life’s in my ice box.

Though some people are lucky enough to have a great home that requires no air conditioner. Wow, the concept of living through the summer without having a single air conditioner inside the house is really strange for me. Even stranger than no-summer-in-a-year concept. I guess these people have the right environment and natural resources to do this thing.

There is this house made with the cave concept, which enables natural humidity to cool down the temperature inside the house (Chair House by Igor Sirotov Architect), and there is this one house made with such precision you can literally put trees inside the house (Hayes Residence by Travis Price). And don’t make me talk about BCHO Earth House by BCHO Architects, which is built inside the earth. Yeah, how cool is that?

Sadly, these kind of houses aren’t available in Jakarta, the city where summer rules 365 days in year and electricity bill is sky-rocketing every month. Hmm, forget about building an underground bunker or tree-inside-a-house thing. The only things I need are new (more powerful!) air conditioners, lightning and ice creams. Lots of ice creams.

Taken from Architizer

55 Blair Road by Silver+Ong

Hayes Residence by Travis Price Architects

OutsideIN Hose by Fernanda Vuilleumier Arquitectura

Sagburg by contexture studio

BCHO Earth House by BCHO Architects Associates

Passivhaus Vogel by Diethelm & Spillmann Architects

Tower House by Andersson Wise Architects

House in Yoro by Airhouse Design Office

Axis Administration by Krishna Chaitanya Dommu

STYLE Loves: Roger Vivier

Unbelieveable how giant fashion houses blind me from seeing at different angles! Okay, maybe not the giant fashion houses, but my own limited sources (feel bad about it. Really). I just found this shoe designer called Roger Vivier and he is a real damn good designer. I love how he mixed colors and studs and other ‘plus materials’ and created something artsy yet very very chic.

Oh, and he has this vibe that makes me excited and jump around whenever I see his collection. I know! This is just a good good sign, never feel this much excitement since Dion Lee! But I can’t help thinking about two great shoe designers in the history of fashion world. Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo. Both of them closed the competition long long time ago (also special thanks to Carrie Bradshaw I guess), but Roger definitely has something that both of them lack of. Art.

I mean, Manolo and Jimmy (feels good calling those great men by first name!) have the knowledge of fashion and art and sometimes art is not that important. But they make their shoes with a lot of sexiness, edginess and sometimes we just don’t need to feel sexy or edgy or fierce. Or so depressed that we don’t want to feel sexy. The energy is just too intense for me. Where is that art-excitement and easy unique feeling that I always love from a collection? Roger on the other hand, jumped in and created these fabulous shoes that, well, maybe not as sexy as Jimmy or Manolo, but sure will kick some art-fashion-lovers on the butt. Just like me.

Check out his new Spring Summer 2014 collection:

Taken from Style Bubble