Venessa Arizaga

Usually for a post title I use a song quote or try to think of a semi-creative--not really, actually just usually an alliteration--but right now I can't think of anything better than Venessa Arizaga.

Before being quickly shooed away by my "stay on message"-saying father, I glimpsed her jewelry at Opening Ceremony the other day, but just that glimpse was enough to get me...well, enamored! I am trying extremely hard right now to not to revert back into my 1o year-old self and just write 'her stuff is soooooooo pretty!!!!!' But really, it just is that beautiful; a unique combination of found object-like charms, friendships bracelets, and tribal/folk/voodish art inspired elements.

all images via Opening Ceremony website

Alphabet Soup

I am a magazine enthusiast, I mean I really love magazines...and one of my favourite parts about them is that you stumble upon the most fantastic things. I was flipping through W Magazine when I saw this two page spread of all these up-and-coming designers and I was struck; they were all so unique and cool! Hopefully there will be more to come, but the first designer from the article I wanted to share is Tadaaki Wakamatsu, the man behind the AMAZING Japanese jewelery line Q-Pot. You can see the blurb about him from the article above (sorry for the fingers, my scanner is "on the fritz").

The uniqueness of Q-Pot is definitely shown in their most popular piece, a "build a burger" necklace (shown above) that you buy different charms for in order to create your own little burger man. In addition, though, they also have ice cream charms, cookie necklaces, cupcake rings, and, my personal favourite, the balloon dog necklace, which I was lucky enough to get in Paris at Colette (the home of everything cool)

Mutual Love

I heard about the collocation between old line shoe company Bass and the up-and-coming dress designer Rachel Antonoff many months ago and I was...I was struck! Every pair is just soooo beautiful! Making everything even more fabulous (a near impossible task) the lookbook (shown above) tells the story of an adorable white kitten named Marshmellow who lives in the shoes and his best friend, the ever-cool Tennessee Thomas, who have a lemonade stand that nobody comes to so they have milkshakes and end up getting jobs at the soda shop...it's just so wonderful, ahahah!!!! (sorry those are my happy noises)

I waited for all of those months until I could finally have a pair of my own, until one day while stalking Rachel Antonoff's clothing via polyvore I found out that they were being sold at Free People. I had never actually been to Free People, but many of the girls in my grade shop there, so I had no trouble finding one that was very near my school. I begged my brother to take me after school on Friday (I was just soooo excited), but then they didn't have them at the store!!!! I was crushed, but with the help of "Eye of the Tiger" I was "pumped" again and my dad and I ordered them online. Oh I wish that was where the story ended, but no! The shoes didn't show up! My dad kept calling them (probably because I asked him about them everyday) and every time he called the shipping date got later and later. I was defeated, I was in a glass case of emotion, but then one day as I looked up from my homework I saw the the ever-trusty UPS man throwing down a box and there they were! Oh and they are perfect! (see them above)

lookbook images source

You Just Knock my Socks Off!

I have mentioned my adoration of socks and particularly Swedish Happy Socks...and now I am going to briefly mention my love of Giles Deacon (particularly his dinosaur bag) in addition to my love of helping to cure AIDS. Because I love all of these things, the (Jesus-like) birth of these Giles Deacon designed happy socks it's like my personal heaven on earth!

They come in a gorgeous box and there is one for everyday of the week, each more fabulous then then the next...and I was lucky enough to get them for Chanukah (which I find very funny because when I give my dad my wish list (which, because I am a greedy grinch, tends to be long and pricey) he always reminds me that when he was growing up he'd get socks for Chanukah!)

That's me wearing my personal favourite pair (the pale green ones with the eyes) in front of the Ron English mural (which I mentioned in my post about Wynwood Walls)

X

Could there be anything more perfect then these Style.com 10th anniversary t-shirts?! The answer is no, this is a dream come true...Some of my favourite designers (Christopher Kane, Prada, Alexander Wang, Lanvin, etc.) selling clothes that are of course fabulous, but also more-then affordable!!!

My personal favourite is actually the Rodarte designed one, which I am wearing in this picture:

Ahh yes...say hi to Iggy in the background

spring by summer fall

Because my massive amounts of school work have lead to very little free time, I am quite late in blogging my fall fashion week favourites, but nonetheless, here is a list of my most-liked pieces and collections (in ascending order)

Miu Miu: I would be lying if I told you this collection was my favourite...that being said I am quite in love with the dress shown at middle and the dress at right which at first seems like a simple evening dress, but has those wonderful top details! Also, look at those shoes!!!

Rodarte: While I think they could do with less browns, the much-talked-about shoes are really quite spectacular, the lacey blouses are so wonderful, the blues are lovely, and the gladiator style is, well...interesting?

House of Holland: I hadn't originally planned to post, or even speculated, about this collection, but it caught my eye and I was quite struck by the uniqueness and overall beauty! I particularly love the dress shown at right; that papery material, cut, and what a colour!

Proenza Schouler: My probably overly high expectations lead to initial disappointment with this collection...but I have grown to love several of the pieces (particularly those above) and I am glad they brought back the abstract prints from last season.

Band of Outsiders: This collection actually far exceeded my expectations...I particularly like the sunglasses and the sweaters (incidentally my two favourite things!) and, as always, I am impressed by the "wear-ability"

Christopher Kane (resort): My favourite collection of the season! I am totally in love with the half nebula, half nuclear holocaust print! And who could resist those furry shoes?

"Your prettiness is seeping through Out from the dress I took from you" (MORE ABOUT DRESSESS!!!)

I've been thinking about dresses a lot...the crazy cool kind in particular! So here is a list of my personal favourite "statement" dresses from the 21st century...they're "far out" and I'm with them!!!
This dress from Viktor & Rolf's Spring/Summer 2010 is memorable and holy (in two ways)

Katey Perry's super colourful and playful carousel dress is my "teenage dream"!

Pretty much every dress Issey Miyake has ever made...but I particularly love this one that looks like rainbow origami.
It was very hard to choose which was my favourite Lady Gaga look, but I finally settled on this stuffed animal dress...

As worn by Rachel on Glee during the Gaga episode



















I always love Carey Mulligan's style and this Prada dress she wore to the 2010 Oscars was no exception!

SPLAT!!!!

Suddenly splatter paint seems to be every where...from Proenza Schouler collaboration with J Brand "Graffiti Jeans" (shown right corner) to jeans from Current/Elliott and Tory Burch (shown at right)...and I am loving it!!! I am very much embracing the trend with: a Vince shirt from Bloomingdales (bottom right corner) and handmade earrings that my mom got in the 70s (bottom center), which incidentally go perfect with a necklace that used to be my aunt (splatter paint detail shown second right, bottom)

And I really do think it all stems from the amazing artists Jackson Pollock (top left) and Sam Francis (bottom left)

Commercial Couture

While flipping through Bazaar my eye was caught by the extremely exuberant and colorful new Juicy Couture ad ("Juicy Fields Forever", shown bottom left) and I was reminded of, regardless of my feelings for their actual products (the only thing I really like is the perfume) how much I have always loved their ads!

The one with the older ladies with coloured hair is perfect for this Weetzie Bat quote: "[she had] perfect white hair that sometimes had lovely blue or pink tints."

I particularly liked last year's "Do the Don'ts" (shown right) which are very whimsical and remind me of Tim Burton's version of Alice and Wonderland:

And they also remind me of the music video for Lily Allen's "The Fear":

Lily Allen - The Fear @ Yahoo! Video

I think the Juicy ads are a tie for my favourite with Prada's spring/summer 2010 lookbook:

Haring's Heels

These Nicholas Kirkwood shoes with Keith Haring designs really caught my eye! Haring's doodle-like art is applicable to any surface or object and as always, I really love the combination of art and fashion!

Sorry for the crappy pictures; they are clipped from Bazaar, and because there were no pictures online and my scanner is a pain, I had to take a picture of it!

Another Add on to any Wish List!

Yesterday at Opening Ceremony (perhaps the most wonderful store ever) I chanced on these fabulous Alexander Wang for Linda Farrow sunglasses...they are just in, but be forewarned they might go fast!

FIfi Lapin x Forever 21

My favourite fashionista bunny Fifi Lapin has teamed up with Forever 21 to create these fabulous tank tops!

The FINAL Collection

Wow, the FINAL collection from Alexander McQueen does not disappoint...while it is terribly sad knowing that the world will never see another one of his designs, this fantastic body of clothing---or art, rather---affirms the man's true genius.

The collection was shown in Paris, enjoy the photos here

Tea Party Gown

Well, I am certainly not a fan of Bristol Palin...but when I saw this photograph in the Harper's article about her, I totally forgot about my feelings for her and feel in love with this Lanvin gown and I really like the tea party set-up, both as a pun and beautiful background for the beautiful dress!

Fashion and Warhol, what could be better?!

Flipping through yesterday's New York Times "Thursday Styles" I chanced upon an article about these amazing Lisa Perry dresses featuring photographs of art legend Andy Warhol. Wow they are fabulous! The collection will be available at the end of June and less expensive shirts will go on sale later in the summer.

Speaking of Lisa Perry I am also loving some of her other dresses:



















They are super classy with a vintage late 50s early 60s look and I imagine they would look great as a summer dress

She is NOT a Fashion Model...She's a Goddess!!!

With her long neck, boyish style, and of course signature bowl haircut, Japanese model Tao Okamoto is everything I aspire to be!

"Your Slippers Look Like They are Made of Candy"

I think I have made it pretty clear that I love flats (I have posted about them four times :) but I also bedroom slippers, which makes the French slipper company I Hate my Slippers pretty much my dream. These artist designed slippers will never fail to catch an eye (I know because I proudly own the blue face ones) and are extremely comfortable.

My Favourite things combined (Art + Fashion)

Miss Van, an amazing French artist, has teamed up with Anaoana, a fabulous Spanish fashion designer...as you can imagine, the result was pretty spectacular; sweatshirts, scarves, shirts, tights, and everything else featuring Miss Van's signature drawings.

What a Sassy bag!

London street artist Ben Eine, famous for his "alphabet shutters" has brought his signature letters form the street to Anya Hindmarch bags.

If I were Making a List of Beautiful Things, This Might be First

These wonderful Repetto shoes combine everything wonderful; France, old-fashion, whimsy, classic (yet unique) and overall beauty!

But be forewarned they are a bit pricey