Anne Leibovitz and Marc Newson TASCHEN Project

Before we dive into London Fashion Week beautiful mess, I think it is more than necessary to see what’s going on in the other side of fashion world. Well, the only one that I can think of right now is Anne Leibovitz’s new Taschen book. A book filled with her (again) extraordinary works selected and curated carefully, including some of her iconic works (John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Scarlet Johansson, Richard Nixon etc.)

A must buy for fashion photographer wannabe or/and fashion students.

Not only we can study Leibovitz changing style from the days she reported for Rolling Stones into one of the most dramatic fashion photographers for Vogue, we also get a chance to admire Marc Newson’s special tripod for the book. Even though I have to admit, some people may find the tripod not as luxurious as the book.

Anyway, you can buy Anne Leibovitz Taschen book around US$ 2500 or US$ 5000 dollars for Art Edition. Hmm, a gigantic investment for the brain or another rich people luxuries? I think you already know the answer.

Images taken from Selectism

Wanna Be That G.U.Y

Gaga is in it again.

After releasing her CD (and promoting it) like a crazy maniac her record company really is, she suddenly disappeared from the spotlight (why were you so shy, Gaga?) She came out once for her epic duet with Xtina Aguilera (too lazy to type her first name) for a single she hasn’t release yet… until now. Oh, and she DID get puked by stranger on stage (who’s that girl’s name again?) But Gaga is never good with silence (her fashion sense makes that clear). Yesterday she took over Instagram to announce her new music video out of the blue, G.U.Y.

Okayyyyy….

To be fair, I like G.U.Y. The track is pop-y with a lot of electronic, modern DJ thing and energetic vibes that is enough to keep me dancing all night long in a party we should all forget. So, afraid of being the last one to know what’s going on in our beloved artsy-popsy Queen’s head, I open Youtube…. and there it is… Artpop-G.U.Y-video!

I’ve watched it and…. yeah, not bad.

(Spoiler: there is no puke involved! Miracle!)

Note: The video starts with Artpop, then Venus, then finally G.U.Y.

The video starts with Gaga as a bird (yes, again). It looks like some men shoots her with cupid-like arrow and left her covered with muds and money (materialistic people who once kicked her artsy heart back when she was just a stripper in New York? Who knows?) Dying and has nowhere to go, Gaga slowly walks alone to… an Italian-tropical-classic hotel paradise with mysterious guards wearing black plastic wrappers, and people having pool party. I thought Gaga was going to be revived by some weird magician (Gandalf? Are you there?) But, no. The pop star is dead and people (the ones having pool party) decide to drown her into magical underwater, dynamic, colorful world.

Well, the rest of it is just a lot of symbolism (Gandhi, Jesus, Michael Jackson revived from dead and Gaga taking their blood/wisdom whatsoever), Gaga with Versace gowns, Gaga in sexy white swimsuit, Gaga wearing another Mickey Mouse/Teddy Bear/Miley Cyrus VMA outfit look alike costume, hunks in suits, hunks in thongs, hunks in pool, hunks dancing with Gaga, hunks dancing with other hunks, hunks carrying her until the end of the video. And… credit so long, it takes almost half of the 11-minutes video.

Am I saying the video is bad?

Oh, by all means, NO!

Confusing? Yes. Unoriginal? Probably (the dying bird part is new!)  But really bad like Justin Bieber Nicky Minaj’s shaky video camera (reference to Paranormal Activity) with party girls, pool party, SWAGs, and really bad rap (yet we kept on singing Beauty and a Beattttt… for one whole month last year)?

Hell, no! 

As I’ve said before, I really like the song and Gaga’s dancing never really fails me. I just feel that the video took too long to release and it’s not really.. surprising or ground breaking or enough to make people jump head over heels. If Gaga disappeared just to make this video, then… she should kick her marketing team straight on their butts and shoot them like the men did to her in the video. 

A little message to the hackers, Youtube-modifiers  out there: please cut the too-long credit and upload the no-credit-version to your online holy sanctuary called Youtube. I will definitely download it!

What can I say? It’s GAGA!!

The Reason Why I Would Never Go Shopping At Chanel Shopping Center

I pray for people who lost their dignities (and broke their pants) at Chanel Shopping Center aka Chanel show last week. At first, the shopping center showed us how amazing Karl Lagerfeld really is. He put fashion in a place where fashion itself never really belongs. And not just that, he makes a joke out of it (written on the products inside the Chanel Shopping Center), it’s not a critic. It’s a fun reminder that fashion lives everywhere you go. 

Then the show started and we were mesmerized by how fluent and vivid models can be when they just stop walking and do something other than staring… like shopping. It’s (again) not just a drama. It’s too normal to be a drama yet… it’s not real either. It’s like watching movies being directed by a very professional director and a bunch of Oscar winning actresses. 

The show over… Karl walked happily with Cara Delevigne. Suddenly, everyone decided to unleash their full consumerism. This is what I really want to talk about. 

Chanel show was NOT a fashion show. The guests made that pretty clear. It was a totally embarrassing reminder on how consumptive fashion people really are and how destructive we can be. Counters fell and no one noticed, editors (who usually walk out with grace like they know they can wait to lay their hands on the clothes later, at the end of the fashion month) fell from the shelves while trying desperately to get a grasp on one of the Chanel doormat. 

What a shame…. 

To be fair, I wasn’t there. I was sitting a thousand miles away, watching Two Broke Girls with my laptop and heard about it from Instagram. No one can tell me how hectic or awesome the show was. You can call me a little naive. But one thing I would definitely remember, if I were there: keep your head up and don’t take anything from a Shopping Center for free, Chanel or not. 

P.S: And you guys at the show KNOW you will get freebies right? Like real FREEBIES, without having to fight or steal for them. Gosh. 

P.P.S: In short, Chanel really win the best show for this season AND the guests really win for the worst fashion show guest ever. 

Images taken from Garance Dore

Feel The Howl: Wolf of Wall Street

Guys, do you know how biscuit and tea work together?

Of course you do. We all have done it a few times when we are having tea. First, we take the cookies, then we dip it inside our tea for a few seconds and (this is the best part) bite it quickly to get the perfect mix of tea and biscuits. But this pleasure can be a little bit tricky to get. If you accidentally dip the cookie for too long, it will slowly crumble, leaving you with mushy wet grain. Disgusting. The only thing you want to do with those mushy mixtures is throw it right away to nearest sink. 

That’s what happens in The Wolf of Wall Street. 

Martin Scorsese directed an elegant adaptation of one of the biggest douchebags in USA, Jordan Belfort aka The Wolf of Wall Street. With Leonardo DiCaprio as the main star, supported by Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie, Wolf of Wall Street is one of the biggest movies in 2014, going all the way to Golden Globes and Academy Awards. The first question that has been lingering in everyone’s mind is: is it really that good? 

The storyline revolves around the life of Jordan Belfort. Starting as a poor newly married man, Jordan has to work like shit in Wall Street as a young stockbroker (connector, stockbroker, everything feels the same in my lip). His life changes when his boss teaches him a thing or two about how money goes in and out… and how to slip some to your pocket when nobody’s seeing (man, love this kind of boss!) Jordan rises quickly and in no time, he is the Wolf of Wall Street. Tricky, persuasive, charming, world-class playboy, and drug addict, Jordan Belfort has to wake up before he falls straight into his own hell hole made of money (well, technically made of stock papers, but whatever).

First thing that comes up in my mind: Leo DiCaprio knows how to act like a frequent drug user. Second thing: this movie is great, but very very VERY long. Well, don’t push your luck this time movie-sleepers. The story goes up and down with no sign of endings or climax or anti-climax, which is great because drama can be very boring without this kind of… wave. I personally like the way Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio draws Jordan Belfort. He was a good man before money corrupts him, and that corrupted mind will go all the way until the end of his life (the money stays. That’s the best thing about karma). A bit cruel, but really delivers the moral of the story. Praise for Jonah Hill, who is very successful in delivering stupid-yet-sincere best friend, cheering up both Jordan and us all the way until the credit ends.

Of course, the language is not appropriate. Man, never heard people saying that many harsh words in one sentence. Damn, fuck, asshole, bitch, slut… brace yourself parents because even my ears get red during the movie. And yeah… it’s not really a good thing to show strippers (or drugs)(or people shouting to each other)(or cops arresting men with all those scary expressions) to children, even when the scene is actually in the office. 

Children purity aside, this movie is really worth the hours. Leonardo DiCaprio delivers a stronger performance than Gatsby (which is, let’s admit it, a flunk). The story is solid, even though a bit long. The moral is great (too much money = mushy wet cookies). And the whole cast really uplifts the story to an easier yet also higher level. Truly elegant, dirty, and… surprisingly smart. 

Watch the trailers (and my favorite scene) here: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iszwuX1AK6A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pabEtIERlic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6axK2aNxFg

Recap & New Beginning

The trumpets are competing to be the loudest, people suddenly show up on the streets, candies are being eaten, televisions are on for special shows, pizza lines are busy, and everyone in Australia is updating their Twitter status to: 2014! Hooray! 

Yes, this is New Year! Pizza for everyone (the line is still busy though)! 

2013 went by in a flash until I hardly believe it’s already New Year’s Eve. Well, okay maybe there were days when I thought 2013 would never end. But we have all been there, right? Actually I have nothing special to talk about right now. Holiday mood is so frustrating and lazily good at the same time. I guess we are going to do this the easy way: remembering what happened in 2013. 

I am really sorry, my mind is in pasta haze right now, so don’t mind me, if I miss something. 

Right here we go…: 

• Marc Jacobs last show for Louis Vuitton and Nicolas’s new job. 
• Katy vs Gaga, who did you pick? 
• Cory Monteith’s tragic death. 
• Anne Hathaway and J.Law rocked the Academy Awards! 
• Catching Fire, Frozen, Pacific Rim and other amazing movies that I rarely watched! 
• … including Sandra Bullock’s amazing performance in Gravity. 
• Katy Perry new album ‘PRISM’ hit number 1 on Billboard 100. So gooooddd… 
• Lady Gaga’s ARTPOP was blazing on the radio all the time. So amazinnngggg…. 
• Nelson Mandela’s death… put a big sad emo here 😦 
• Politics? Always in bad condition. 
• Snow in Egypt (????) WHAATTTT???! 
• Miley Cyrus’s videos went viral, fatal, controversial, sexy, wild, and terribly good. 
• ….. except ADORE YOU, which is slightly boring. Love the lyrics though. 
• Ann Demeulemeester sudden retirement. 
• Jil Sander’s departure from her brand. 
• Carey Mulligan and Leo DiCaprio’s most stylish movie: The Great Gatsby. 
• Paul Walker’s death. Damn. Bye bye Fast and Furious 7!
• MET Gala celebrated Punk, which brought thousands of inspirations for creative industries all over the world. 
• Selfie is the word of the year and I am sick of #selfie! 

Okay, those are random news that I can come up with. Of course 2013 also remarks my SECOND YEAR BLOGGING IN WORDPRESS! 2 years listening to my mumbles and grumbles and over-energetic writings! What is happening in your minds right now?! 

Now facing the beginning of a new year, all I can say is…

2014? Let’s rock this bitch!

Lending Policies

Celebrities and designers. Two powers that keep the world of entertainment going.

Celebrities depend on designers to dress them up, make them look perfect, and admirable. No one understands the power behind a dress better than celebrities. Good outfits can put them in prestigious places, but bad ones can also put them in prestigious places to… for looser. 

Designers depend on celebrities in promoting their clothes. It’s really hard to be a famous designer, a real designer! Vogue don’t open it’s door to every designer in the market. Young designers have to be ready for failures, critics, ignorances, and… celebrities. For example: no one knew about Herve Ledger (now Leroux) bandage dress until J.Lo wore it. No one really understand the beauty of Zuhair Murad couture gown until Taylor Swift glided around beautifully in it for Grammy last year. And no one gave a shit about Mugler until Lady Gaga told the whole world that she was going to perform at Mugler’s fashion show (not a big success, but still… Lady Gaga on your show!)

Designers and celebrities have been walking hand in hand for decades. The relationship seems to grow bigger as celebrities numbers increase easily with the help of the internet. Justin Bieber? Ariana Grande? Austin Mahone? Those names didn’t come from the street, but from YouTube. Along with their improved status, designers also come with their fabulous samples on their hands. The problem is… not all of those celebrities understand the term of ‘borrowing’.

Designers begin to worry about this ‘lending’ session because not only promoting the clothes, celebrities also ruining it. It’s not unusual to see dresses that once so clean and comfortable, turned into piece of rag with dirty stains all over the corsets. Disgusting in a whole new level. And disappointing. 

Lady Gaga once borrowed a Mugler dress for her music video. The dress came back in filthy conditions, even stained with… brace your digestive system… semen! Big yuck! I understand how free Americans are when it comes to sex, but semen on a thousand dollars dress?!!! How did it happen? The PR girl, who took the dress back, was really uncomfortable, yet the fashion house decided to pay for the dry-cleaning bills without making big fuss about it (yeaaahhh… a mere 500 bucks), respecting mutual friendship between Gaga and Mugler designer himself, Formichetti.

Still… semen? On a BORROWED dress?

Rihanna reported to give back her borrowed Herve Leroux mini dress in dirty condition. By dirty, I mean the dress has changed color from sexy nude to… floor-y brown. The ‘Diamonds’ singer had a really dirty-dancing birthday party with her friends and somehow decided to roll around with her (again) BORROWED dress.

Nude to brown? Impressive.

Katy Perry’s personal stylist, Johnny Wujek, lost thousands dollars Zuhair Murad couture dress. Katy wore the mini dress embellished with diamonds-look-alike glitters, complete with enough sheer to show up the diva’s smooth flesh, for MTV VMA and the next day it was going going… gone! The dress was nowhere to be found. Murad’s team was on panic. The dress was couture. The dress should be shipped off to another celebrity/magazine/exhibition right away. How can you lost a (couture) dress anyway?

Those three are ridiculously selfish when it comes to borrowing (or returning) designers’ clothes (Perry’s case is arguably her team’s mistake actually, if you want to think about it with logic). But no one beats Mariah Carey and Lindsay Lohan.

Lohan decided to cut Theia gown into two pieces, turning the US$ 1750 gown into a mini dress. With no high-fashion taste at all. Mariah also used to cut her gowns. I respect the diva, but her ‘mini Mariah’ style is indeed less than beautiful. It wan’t sexy. It wasn’t ground-breaking.

It was degrading to designers and their teams.

We all know that A-listers can buy any of those dresses with their uncountable bank accounts (Gaga once scored 90 million dollars per year according to Forbes). But  they need to understand how precious clothes are to designers. Making a good outfit is not an easy thing. Haute Couture gowns need thousand of work hours, people, and years of skills.

Luckily, some designers, who are afraid their dresses are going to be a target of every filthy Hollywood stuffs, decided to stop lending celebs clothes until undecided period of time. Christopher Kane once refused to lend Victoria Beckham a dress, even though he definitely needed the attention that would have come, if he had lent her the dress.

And luckily there are still some celebrities who respect designers’ clothes. Taylor Swift was once reported to be ‘very easy to work with’ by several designers. The princess of pop jumps off whenever she gets a chance to try a Haute Couture piece, making her a real red carpet darling.

Emma Watson got a chance to wear a custom-made Chanel dress back when she was in Harry Potter (and when she was the face of Burberry), she praised Karl in interviews and grateful for the opportunity, realizing how precious the dress was.

Celebrity-editor like Anna Dello Russo also a strict when it comes to borrowing an outfit from fashion shows. She once told Mary Katrantzou (a few seasons ago, back when Mary was a new upcoming designer) that she would guard the borrowed dress with her life and well… she kinda did it by guarding the dress with all her mights. The dress wasn’t even scathed.

See? It’s easy to borrow a dress and give it back unharmed. Just pay a bit more respect fellas. Designers do have their own emotional limits. We just haven’t seen it… yet. 

For young designers, when the time finally come and you are standing in the spotlights with so many stylists begging you to lend your clothes… here’s some quick little advises;

Keep your cool, discuss with your teams, learn who wants to borrow your dress, think if it’s worth the risk or not and always have a plan B. Lohan suddenly ripped your dress? It’s okay…. you could change the look and tell everyone it’s actually a punk-inspired dress and you DO need to rip the dress (theatrical fashion like McQueen!) Gaga put something greasy on your bizarre yet stylish hat? No need to worry, just sell it on an auction or on ebay, people sell everything on ebay (Gaga’s bodily fluid! For sale! Maybe you can make a fragrance out of it or something).

After all, celebrities are indeed kings and queens of promotions.  

Very Merry Christmas!

“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!”
― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

“One can never have enough socks,” said Dumbledore. “Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn’t get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

“Mistletoe,” said Luna dreamily, pointing at a large clump of white berries placed almost over Harry’s head. He jumped out from under it.
“Good thinking,” said Luna seriously. “It’s often infested with nargles.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”
― Charles Dickens
“I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don’t clean it up too quickly.”
~ (1919-), American writer, producer, humorist. ”
― Andy Rooney

 

It Is Not Art. Yet.

According to a clever article in i-D magazine, it seems that we are beginning to collide art and fashion in bad ways. And lately, I agree with the thought. Art and fashion should not be in the same track, not now. Just like what Miuccia Prada once said in MET Gala: Impossible Conversation a year ago, fashion has never been a part of art for her. It’s too technical, it’s too distracting and above all; it reduces the real value of art to nothing but commercial advantages to big fashion houses that need to sell their clothes.

Just face it designers, sometimes what you design is just too bizarre for normal people to wear. Take a look at Maison’s staple face mask or crazy pointy structural… studs Mugler used to really proud of. They’re beautiful indeed, but are they worth the real bucks? Probably no. And the answer to escape all the troubles in finding the real way between versatility and vision is to promote the clothes as ‘arts’. People love arts even when it comes in such peculiar ways, people love to have one, and, even though we are ending up in the same way, people love to have a different, unique thing.

That’s art in fashion industry for you.

There is also no need to deny that ‘art’ word gives a significant boost of money to the company. After all, no one really knows what is the real value of art in currencies.

I am not saying that fashion should be all bare and dry like a desert. It’s also impossible to really separate art from fashion and vice versa. Designers are slowly recognizing their selves not as dress makers, but as visionaries. They are indeed probably telling the fact. Without their visions, there wouldn’t be the world of high fashion or, even worse, there wouldn’t be any fashion at all, we will all end up wearing same t-shirts-jeans combination. Or potato sack could be the new classic item.

And I admit some of the ‘visionaries’ designers are doing their artsy-fashion jobs well. Remember Karl Lagerfeld’s massive art-inspired collection, complete with mini gallery like venue? And I always consider Schiaparelli’s Haute Couture revival collection as a work of art in the hand of Christian Lacroix, a French couturier who has nothing to do with arts educationally. Those are arts and those are fashions. A perfect balance between the two over-demanding worlds in the hand of pure fashion designers.

What we have to do is figuring out what is the absolute silver lining to connect the two worlds. Maybe it’s how we want to dress in general, maybe it’s the price, maybe it’s the visions. It is so hard actually to take side in this matter, but in my opinion: we are not ready to taste art-fashion yet.

Fashion houses are still obsessed with money (oh, well, who doesn’t?!?) and instantly worried about designers’ over-wild visions, which is not entirely their fault because we have to remember that we are standing in the brick of new Great Depression era (hah, economics…), money is easily out of everyone’s question right now. Putting fashion and art together at the time like this is like making a big bait to commercial lovers. Or probably more like a big burden.

Nah, we don’t want art-fashion to be that cheap, believe me!

P.S: Don’t mind Lady Gaga, she is taking the ‘art’ side a bit too far.

Image taken from Style Bubble. Edited by Gimme Good Style.

Four Eyes

Back when I was in Junior High, I was not really popular. Sure, I did have some friends, but people would have told you to repeat several times and trance for a long long time, if you ask them my name. Then I received my first glasses. Oh man, what a cruel world it was. My first glasses wasn’t really cool. It is made of plastics (euh!), in perfect square shape (Harry Potter used to have a better glasses than me), and have this disgusting giant cheap symbols on both sides of the frame. I went from nobody to ‘the boy with ugly glasses’ faster than Emma Stone turns to (fake) school slut in Easy A. And I am not even proud of it.

Fast forward to a few days ago, when Warby Parker asked me for my online help in launching their newest Leith Clark collection (designed/in collaboration with Lula Magazine founder, Leith Clark!) Honestly, I wanted to run back and hid in the corner of my brain’s personal trauma center while convincing myself that not all glasses are bad. See? This is the fashion bullying effect, people! But I called my braveness and suddenly said ‘sure, I would love to take a look….’

I waited in silent…

And those digital packages finally came. I opened them silently (fingers were crossed at that time)(a bit dramatic, I have to admit) then voila! Beautiful girl, sweet colors, beautiful near-transparent frames. Everything looks quite delightful, like seeing a cone filled with green tea, avocado, neon-colored ice creams (strange description, but I have been thinking about ice cream since two days ago, the same time I received the email). In short, they are far from ‘four eyes’ or ‘geeks’, more like ‘that sweet country girl who like to wear those cute glasses everywhere she goes. And people like her soo much!’ 

Plus, I had this instant urge to watch New Girl aka Zoey Deschanel right after seeing the collection. Did you get the urge too? Not really important, just questioning my own insanity…

Truth to be told, some of the glasses are indeed ‘too dark or old or not right’ for my taste (and cat eye glasses sometimes just don’t work), but the ones above? They’re sweet.

Sweetttttt…. I just can’t stop using that word. At least, it’s better than ‘ugly’ and I have stopped those eerie voices inside my head telling me ‘glasses are bad guys.’ Maybe it’s time to go back to my glasses. You know, for old time’s sake….

Anyway, I have put some of the previews in this post and you can find more in here. Or here for sunglasses section. Or you can also go to their official website for more shopping!

P.S: If you want or interested to send something for me to publish in this blog, please email me. I am more than willing to see your arts, photos, designs, writings, thoughts, etc etc (but I am not asking for advertisements!) As long as you mean no harm to other people or like to use… rough words. Come come!

Walter Mitty

Meh, Movies. I am not interested anymore in box office movies, even if it’s Catching Fire. The last blockbuster movie that I saw was… Gravity. And, okay, I kinda liked it, but the after-effect is not really worth to mention. Yeah, sorry Sandra!

It doesn’t mean that I hate watching movies. Please, who hates watching movies?!? I am just waiting for a really good movie. You know, the one with solid plot, talented actors/actresses, amazing settings, and enough special effects. But, seriously, these past few months every single movie seems talking about either a match to death… or vampires. Or both.

Fortunately for me (and everyone who is sick of vampires), there is this one movie that really attracts my attention. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Yes, this one is a remake (I never watch the original though) and I know there are a lot of possibilities that this movie is going to flunk right after the big release. I just can’t help but hanging to this little movie-freak-hope.

I like the simple plot (a really boring man with boring job (photo editor for LIFE magazine) suddenly jumps into a whole new adventure he has been waiting for his whole life, because one missing negative film yada yada yada).

I like Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig chemistry in the last 3 trailers (well, there is nothing really new from those three trailers, but I can feel it. Kristen and Ben are both great by the way). And the settings! Ah, the views! The places! The nature! Everything is just too good to see (MY EYEEEESSS!!!!)

The last good thing? It is scheduled to release on Christmas, which is my favorite year of the year and the only time when I praise everyone and everything I see/touch/hear.

Ah, take me in the same boat with you Mr. Mitty (the name’s a bit funny, don’t you think?)