Holey Tac(ky)-tics

So I'm left with the question when do we call it trashy and when is it trendy? Because with the state of fashion being the way it is, nothing surprises me. I respect goth-glam, and even some aspects of grunge, but when you begin to look like an overworked and underpaid prostitute then that's where the line should be drawn. I posted a bulletin on lookbook.nu for photos of this new trend, and this is what I received. There's definitely a fine line between glam and trash, and I've seen some people overtly crossing that line. Grunge doesn't necessarily mean straight out the garbage, as a fashion trend it definitely requires some polishing. Not because you're a fan of the "trend" or lifestyle of Courtney Love & Kurt Cobain, doesn't mean that you have to look drugged up.

Louis Vuitton: Spring 2009 Ad Campaign

So I realized that I took alot of credibility from Marc Jacobs in the previous blog. However, using Madonna as the new Louis Vuitton Spokesperson for Spring 2009, well that was just genius. Vuitton dished out $10 million to Madonna for this campaign, and we get to see her crotch, so I think she was underpaid.
Here's a little sneak of what to expect in Spring. Photographed by my favorite fashion photographer: Steven Meisel.

Louis "WTF" Vuitton

Has anyone took the time to see what the fuck is going on at the house of Vuitton these days? I feel like this is the new home for the 80's babies. Seems like classicism is a thing of the past, because this is utter madness. Let's start off with the doors at Vuitton in Soho, I swear it looks like somebody vandalized it. I love Marc for his controversy but this is just plain crazy. It's either he's an attention whore or he's lost his mind and he's no Einstein.
Stephen Sprouse is an artist in his own realm, but I feel like for Marc to do collaborative work with him, it should've been on a label with more edge, Vuitton has it's signature print, and I love what Marc did on the signatured totes. However this wasn't necessary, the company was up 80% last year. I think Marc should've taken this madness to his own line, where the edge and unexpected is expected.
I hope Vuitton doesn't play a Perry Ellis circa 1992.

McQueen

McQueen is known for his risque looks labeled with his own name. What can I say, Alexander McQueen never fails to hold your attention season after season. His knack for the theatrical sets him apart from the dimes per dozen in the industry. McQueen has come a long way from being fired from Givenchy, he reminds me of a certain other genius in the industry: Marc Jacobs, does it ring a bell? Fired from Perry Ellis for his grundge '93 line. What can I say, it's human nature to be attracted to a rebel; and McQueen is a magnetic field.
Below is a few looks from his Spring 2009 Collection.

Urban Outfitters' Catalog

Perhaps one of the best catalogs I've ever seen produced by UO. With this holiday catalog I've noticed a shift in trends. This season has thrown in fall and summer looks into winter wear; as well as an allusion to the movie "Cabaret" with Liza Minnelli. Laces have become a key fabric for this season. I guess it's time for me to pull out my black lace dress that's been hidden in my closet for about a year now. The black widow is no longer mourning; instead she struts.
Here's some pics from the pages of December/January's issue:

Lenny Kravitz

Personally I think he should be the male prototype. I've been obsessed with this man since I was seven years old, and it has only enhanced with age. He's like fine wine; he only gets better with age.

Winter 2008-'09 Men's Fashion

I've noticed there's been two interlocking consistent themes in men's fashion for the winter season. It seems as if draping isn't limited to women clothing any more. With designers such as Jeremy Scott, Marc Jacobs, Stefano Pilati, Bernhard Willhelm, Gareth Pugh, Raf Simons and Henrik Vibskov producing garments with mass oversize draping, you can see where Kurt Cobain's grunge era meets Givenchy's edgy classicism.
The look for men this season can be called "grunge chic" the oxymoron of this category is as attention grabbing as the class suggests. Look out fashion students it seems as if women's wear training can now be applied to menswear.
Below I've featured some looks from what has been gracing the backs of New York fashion forward men.

Dead Animals as pets?

More like carpets on their backs. Seems like the status of a fur has trickled its way down to the glamored up wanna-Be's. I wished I had a bucket of pigs blood to stain their fake furs with. Fur once stood for wealth, now with faux-fur, and fur being made out of the same materials used for some carpets; it's no wonder the essence of owning a fur has become derogatory. The manner by which I've seen fur being handled and referred to as, is hilarious to me. For this season faux-fur has blessed many runways, and has found it's way into Urban Outfitters and H&M. Not only is faux being sold in companies suh as UO and H&M, but they're in the Givenchy boutiques, Christian Dior's fall 2008's couture line as well as many others.
Are we being environmental friendly, or have we just become more cynical by knowing the price of everything and the value of none? Has society's influence been re-placed on a pedestal for the lost ones to look up to and try to mimic?

My Playlist

So by whatever means you use to get your music, you should definitely retrieve Kings of Leon's new album. This record is amazing from cover to cover.

Let's Talk

So le ghetto has found its way to Perry and Bleeker street. If you're familiar with the neighborhood, you'll know that Marc by Marc Jacobs mens, womens and accessories are located in the area. So I guess the method of selling your brand is mentioning it in a hip-hop song.
That's a key note for my future endeavours.

Rebellion?

Fashion use to be my air, but it seems like I've withdrawn from the idea of it because of a category I've been labeled under.
So have I become a conformist under this rebellious image?
Have I went against my idea of self-expression to better feed my disgust of labels? I recently went through a batch of photographs of myself and I've come to realize that I was creating my own garments; and now everything I wear is factory made, so in a sense have I not become like them? Regular?

New York

With so many different cultures residing in New York, each person has their own perspective on New York, I'm using a series of photography to share my point of view.

A.D.D

I just realized that the reason for our generation's short attention span is primarily media-based. With shows like Family Guy, it seems almost impossible for this generation to pay attention to anything for more than 3mins.
Have you ever sat down to watch an episode of Family Guy? It has so much shit in just one episode, it boggles my mind to see how defective people's attention has become.

self service

It seems as if humans have gravitated towards a dependent sort of attitude in relation to each other. There's a complex ideology of this concept. How is it that we depend on each other for things like our style, interests and dislikes; but on the flip side of things most marriages end in divorce because of a lack of dependence/trust in their spouse.
It seems as if the mistress way of life of life is more productive. Mistresses are not required to split responsibilities or subjected to their lovers. In this day and time marriages are the relationships that don't last.
The direction I'm taking is not as direct as I mentioned, what I'm truly speaking of is Style vs. Fashion. A trend is a mistress way of life, very flighty and sometimes doesn't last very long, she's appealing to the eyes and she is taken on by the involved fashionable group. The marrying kind is style, she's well grounded, very consistent and if her marriage lasts, that's because she acts like the mistress, has some twists and turns, spices things up, and isn't afraid to be the town's gossip. When style is the individual's own, it's always progressing and she my dear lives by her vows, to love and to hold and not even death can tear them apart.

VOLTAIRE

Witty sarcasm over dry humor by old men: they remind me of a time period when people held a level of intelligence without university. I'm aware that this was ahead of my time, but I grew up with a grandmother that became my time machine, she constantly transported me to the "good ol' days." A time where books were read as opposed to the video games of this generation that's a limitation of a once concentrated attention span. My question now lies; is intelligence truly based on the level of education one has reached? Or is it the development of one's mind in terms of mere common sense?
It seems as if all the reading is done by only the artistic minded. And if this is the case, has the technbological advancement of our time dumbed us down?I cannot stress this enough but if we don't better ourselves, this generation might just be the last. Religion preaches of the end time; scientists speak of the deterioration of the ozone layer. If two kinds who constantly challenge eachother's theories/beliefs can come to a common agreement of an analogy then how can it be a lie?

2008

I don't know if it's the fact that it's a leap year why people seem to have lept out of their sanity. I wished it was a genius sort of madness as that of Newton or Jacobs. However it's just plain crazy; cloned with the same sort of abstractness of the originator. And then my mind boggles at the usage of "originator", who determines that? I feel like us calling someone an "originator" is like saying Christopher Columbus "discovered" America; as if there wasn't people living here when he embarked.

Christian Louboutin

Have you strolled down the main floor of Barneys recently? Christian Louboutin consumes the majority of the shoes floor. Louboutin's red sole can be seen on the feet of socialites, supermodels, to the glamour girls strolling down fifth avenue.
The Fashion Institute of Technology dedicated it's museum halls to the man with the "red sole" for an exhibit earlier this year. Oprah Winfrey dedicated a segment of her show to introduce Louboutin's line to her eighth million viewers.
What I love most about Christian is the fact that he's such a simple man, even in the complexity by which his mind works. The man doesn't own a television and he rarely reads magazines. You can find him on his vespa strolling the streets of Jean-Jacques Rousseau where his boutique is located.
Louboutin's direction is always a concept gravitated upon by shoemakers everywhere, you can find knockoff versions of his work in places such as aldo, ninewest and even last year Burberry borrowed his idea for their gladiator heel.
The red sole price ranges from $495 flats to his $7500 mondrian inspired heel for YSL.
If I must say so myself Louboutin has revolutionized the stiletto.

An Ideal

A work conversation led me to think of our idealization of undeserving idols. I started thinking that we should never get too close to our idols, because the closer we get the more we realize how flawed and humane they are; and that realization eventually leads to disappointment and the dimness of what once gave them spotlight in our eyes.
I think a pedestal is created not to place them above, but instead to put them in a place where we can't inspect them keenly; in order to come to terms with the reality that they are quite ordinary except for that one aspect that we highlighted so greatly that we neglected everything else that came in the package.

A new State

Could it be that the age of new has come to an abrupt halt?
So I was sitting here thinking that perhaps the reason people are constantly referring to the past, as it pertains to music, fashion and art is because of a halt in creativity. I recently brought this theory to a fellow philosopher, and he responded "great minds think alike." I had to step back to think of the recycled quote, and I came to a realization that that was a lazy excuse. Could it be that technology has made us dumb? Or has it just made us lazy?

A Lost Summer Love: EDITORIAL

Lost summer loves who feel ever-present. Emmanuel is unsure of whether her image is just a figment of his imagination or is she real?







The men's look we're hoping for this fall, is a very resort look, but this will be a city streets trend as opposed to the last sail before winter.