What I Wore

I am obsessed with the mixture of modernity and history. Juxtaposition is perhaps an overused word in the fashion industry, however that is exactly how I feel about my outfit selection today. My sinister style is exemplified with crystal snake earrings and blood red lipstick. I love looking at fashion history as inspiration, as you can see when I pair a vintage-inspired pillbox hat with chunky Dr Martens boots and a leather jacket in this outfit. The hat in particular is made by Scala Classico, a company who's been hand-designing hats since 1921. While I was looking for a nice space to take pictures of this outfit today, a dear friend of mine showed me this "graffiti room" space in her dorm building. This is a space where any resident or guest can go in and paint, write, and sketch whatever they want to on the walls, floor, tables, and fixtures. It is an extremely open and calming room, showcasing the creative processes for many students and allows these students to do what they want without restrictions. Messages of hope, sex, and distain were scrawled in along with massive splashes of paint and intricate murals. Among these beautiful viewpoints and works I sat, smiled, and even added a few Sharpied comments myself while discussing and meeting with others working in the welcoming space.

"Goth Grandma" Article

     Last Friday I trekked myself out of bed and wrapped myself up in a massive, knitted black poncho to head out to an interview for Susannah Meza, an up-and-coming Fashion Journalist. She's one of my peers at Columbia College Chicago and an inspiration. Take a look as she asked me about why I choose to wear what I wear and what makes me confident. 

"Goth Grandma"

What I Wore

 The 1920s was an unquestionably freeing time for women. Exoticism mixed with a variety of un-restricting garments and accessories created a visually creative and appealing time in fashion that is often referenced to even today. On this revolutionary voting day in the United States, I am inspired to look forward to the future and have true hope. I believe that this is the same way the Suffragettes carrying signs and wearing political stark whites felt once the Nineteenth Amendment was passed on August 18, 1920. This landmark decision came just in time for the Roaring Twenties, or as legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland called it, "the true birth of the 20th century". Thus, the free spirited women of the 1920s and their extraordinary jewelry slinking and bouncing around them while they lived their new fast-paced lives inspired me to clink around in my own ridiculous faux pearls. I hope that the decision made today is in the favor of modest pearl wearer Hillary Clinton. She is someone who I believe has more of the same rights and interests in mind as I do, unlike her competitors.  

Boots: Dr Martens "Daria" Boot

What I Wore

Fur Stole: Etsy Find

Turtleneck: Vintage

Vest: Vintage

Floral Embroidered Coat: Vintage

Jeans: Forever 21

Shoes: Forever 21

Earrings: Vintage

Mask: Etsy Find

What I Wore

 Vest: Vintage

Ruff Flannel Shirt: Zara

Coat: Vintage

Pants: Topman

Boots: Zara

Earrings: H&M

Sunglasses: Vintage

What I Wore

Jacket: Forever 21

Leather Top: Forever 21

Lipstick Silk Shirt: Forever 21

Jeans: Forever 21

Boots: Zara

What I Wore

 Fringe Kaftan: H&M

Black Wedge Boots: Forever 21

Choker: Forever 21

Drop Crystal Duster Earrings: Forever 21

Lipstick: Kat Von D "Nosferatu"

Comme Des Garçons Spring/Summer 2017 Ready-to-Wear Review

     The elusive designer Rei Kawakubo is bored with showing clothes on the runway. Instead, she is creating magnificent sculptures onto the human body. They speak as art would about the current world we are living in. Absolutely rich in craftsmanship, these billowing works of art are sewn, embroidered, and draped into romantic silhouettes. In fact, this was the most beautiful collection ever done at Comme Des Garçons. This collection references everything that has come before it within the house and really summarizes the brand as a whole. It is incredibly remarkable that a brand like Comme Des Garçons has managed to transcend decades and not follow the frivolous trends that exist in the fashion world. Comme Des Garçons is its own bubble that transcends fads and creates works at every price point that are beautiful and people still have an immense desire to purchase. This collection in particular was gothic, counter-cultural, and breathtaking. Flat and structured black wool and velvet with white ruffles and bows emulated a girly yet twisted style. Lederhosen with pleats flying off the body in black acid wash fabric was just one example of creating surrealism with clothes. There were countless other examples of surrealism with extremely deep references woven in. Sinister beauty oozed from the surface with the extremely dark color palette and use of latex. Plastic also covered the models faces in a perverse way. Perhaps they're suffocating under the weight of consumerist culture. Perhaps they're committing suicide. Perhaps Kawakubo is explaining her distaste for a world that only cares about the 2-D synthetic image that only appears real. Maybe she's speaking about this Instagram culture, where everyone is taking pictures of the events that they go to, rather than enjoying the experience and creating a screen of separation between the individual and the outside world. Whatever the intention may be, every aspect of this collection has more to do with the real world and all of it's problems, rather than the superficial trends of the fashion industry. 

Maison Margiela Spring/Summer 2017 Ready-to-Wear Review

     Space-age strangeness and soft materials graced this Maison Marigela by John Galliano collection. This time around individual pieces and sets stood out, giving it a wearability and digestibility that didn't happen when the clothes were piled on and on like previous collections under Galliano. Rather, Galliano was much more about the street, pushing forward clothes that people can actually throw on and instantly look incredible in, with insanely amazing makeup and accessories, of course. These looks are ever more enticing, without being too boring. It's much more inviting to put these specific pieces together, rather than totally destroying them and wrapping them around your body in a fabulous way. There is of course the regular intense mixing of garments that shouldn't belong together, yet they do. New inventions in color combinations made everything cutting-edge and fresh, making it unlike any other show in Paris. A delicate black lace dress with detailed embroidery paired with glove-like space boots was one example of the post-modern mix that created something new. Also, an ensemble of a near-black plaid trench coat dress belted with a patent leather waist belt, black leather platform pilgrim boots, plastic bracelets over the jacket, and a brown leather messenger bag was a personal favorite look. Perhaps the story behind the look is that she's a futuristic business woman with a bit of a kooky side but is still professional and intimidating when she needs to be. Whatever the case may be, it was exceptional. The incredible technique of Galliano for Marigela has been posted on this website more than once, but there is little to complain about. Galliano is a mastermind of fashion and always has been. This was certainly justifying that point. So sorry, haters of Galliano for Maison Margiela (if there is still any of you left) but this is Fashion with a capital F!

Marc Jacobs Spring/Summer 2017 Ready-to-Wear Review

     In uncertain times within the fashion world, Marc Jacobs has concocted a business strategy that combines his old diffusion line, Marc by Marc Jacobs, into his main brand to make the vision available to more customers. The brand has been going through with this plan for two years now, and can be seen on the runway with the mix of $200 denim jackets paired over $2,000 embroidered dresses and nearly everything in between. For example, in the Fall 2016 collection, there was layering of cheaper denim jackets over sequined bell-shaped skirts that were more than triple the price of the jacket. This time around for Spring, Marc Jacobs built up a massive rave filled with thousands of soft lights. When it comes to raves, an individual goes to forget something, escape reality, and enjoy the surreal, by usual use of hallucinogenic drugs. It makes sense then, to have vibrant colors smeared into Marie Antoinette-esque fabricated gowns that were slashed short to reveal sky-high platform boots. There was also 1990s inspired shimmery prints on tailored pants and jackets in powder blue, lilac, and soft pinks. A celebration of youth sub-cultures of today as well as yesterday. Blitz Kids, Lolita, grunge, and glam rock all danced around as inspirations for the anti-subtle looks that stopped through the wide and ethereal set. Once dissected into individual garments, the clothes themselves carry on the theme of showy Americana that Marc Jacobs has been playing with in these past few years. In fact, some of the pieces are actual repeats of pieces that came a season or even a year before it, just in different fabric or color to match with the current collection. This is something new in fashion. Rather than chucking out everything that was done before in a previous collection and completely restarting, some staple pieces are constantly available but made new again with the new runway collection, making them appear fresh and have a longer shelf life at the same time. Psychedelic and fun twists and turns finished off a New York Fashion Week that is otherwise tragically boring and commercial without Marc Jacobs.

What I Wore

Lace Top: Forever 21 Contemporary

Undershirt: Forever 21

Jeans: Forever 21

Shoes: TUK A8503 Creeper Boots

Earrings: Forever 21

Scarf Choker: Forever 21

Sunglasses: Forever 21

Balenciaga Spring/Summer 2017 Menswear Review

     Demna Gvasalia was digging through the Balenciaga archives when he found the thing that first inspired this first menswear runway presentation for the brand. It was an unfinished jacket made by Cristbál Balenciaga himself, missing a sleeve. The finished jacket was seen on the first look, a new chapter for the house of Balenciaga. It dwarfed the model, and was such a massive square proportion you instantly knew that it was both dated, but also something very forward for fashion overall. Massive boxy jackets matched with fitted shorts and knee high leather heeled boots. This was the general silhouette until the suits suddenly shrunk and caved in to the torso and the shorts became shrunken trousers. The contrasting oversized jackets and shrunken suits translated into much more casual military jackets, with "BALENCIAGA" baseball caps and giant yellow and blue leather bags, like those used at IKEA. How people actually wear clothes in the streets. Ecclesiastical lace then began to peak out from under coats like aprons, and began a theme of priesthood in all black and swirling embroidery on scarfs like priest stoles and buttoned up black jackets like uniforms. Ministerial purple embroidery on a vest so shrunken it appeared like a corset on one model and a red variant hit the ecclesiastical theme home. Demna Gvasalia has truly changed Balenciaga already with this first menswear runway in the brand's history, and challenged menswear and what men actually wear in a luxury way.

Comme Des Garçons Homme Plus Spring/Summer 2017 Menswear Review

     "The King Is Naked" was sketched onto the back of a latex like clear cape in the closing look of the Comme Des Garçons Homme Plus collection by Rei Kawakubo, legendary designer known for her anonymity and avant garde creations for the Comme Des Garcons brand. The motif, for this collection, was mysteriously too easy to dissect. Usually Comme collections are an enigma, nearly impossible to understand and always make the viewer question what they are seeing. This collection, however, was all about Han's Christian Anderson's "The Emperor's New Clothes", a nearly 200 year old fairytale describing human nature in regards to power, influence, vanity, and the power of the swindler. The fable is short, nearly 1500 words when translated into English, telling of a vain king who lived for clothes, and poured his power, influence, and money into his garments. A few swindlers who falsely portrayed themselves as incredible weavers, who's clothes were so fine and fantastic that they were light as air, and only the noble and truthful people could see the full beauty. These swindlers managed to gain the king's ransom to produce attire for him to walk in for a parade, and they pretended to weave and sew garments that weren't actually there at all, all the while the noblemen were too afraid to say anything, because they themselves thought that perhaps they weren't noble enough to see the clothes. The king couldn't see the clothes either, but refused to expose his inner thoughts for a fear that his subjects would see him as unfit for the position as king. He dresses in nothing, and shows off in a parade where every single member of his ruling couldn't see the clothes, but pretended to see it, in fear. It takes one innocent child to say the truth: "But he isn't wearing anything!" Instantly he is dismissed, but the townspeople begin to realize the truth, and the king does as well, but carries on with the parade in spite. All of this may seem like a silly story, but there is a much deeper meaning about ignorance, fear, and fashion. Rei Kawakubo with her men's collection must be making a statement about the current state of the fashion industry. Currently luxury houses have found it interesting to make clothes that cost thousands of dollars look disheveled, with rips and tears for the sake of fashion. It is shallow, and fashion should be taken to deeper and more thought provoking extremes, in my opinion. The PVC clothes were all nearly invisible, with floating buttons and stitches. This motif paired with the brand's signature black created an edginess I live for in fashion. There was also a lot of collaboration in this collection, with Nike shoes and art company Forasetti's signature prints worked into suits, like the gazing eyes of the townspeople looking at the king in the fairytale. This aspect of the fairytale brings up a very interesting point: powerful people are vulnerable because they are exposed to the public eye. There was venerability in the story, with the king, the perfect example of poshness and control to the townspeople being taken a fool and exposing himself, just as the models in the fashion show had their boxer briefs exposed underneath the transparent clothes. Another aspect of the physical clothes, were the slogans, "The King is Naked", " Beauty is in the eye" "It's my fashion", just to name some. Never have I ever seen a Comme Des Garcons Homme Plus shown with these explicit slogans. These slogans almost make it too east to interpret this fashion show, which raises suspicion. Is there more to this collection behind the easy interpretation?

Wales Bonner Spring/Summer 2017 Menswear Review

     Rising star Grace Wales Bonner has crafted yet another collection that brings to mind African men's culture and history, as well as masculine sexuality and identity. Cut from mostly pure whites and uniform blacks with little added color for effect, these clothes shape around the male body in a different way that I think has ever been seen in tailoring. The shapes of the clothes themselves spark interest because they are rather gender defying. The pants are not straight legged pants, but could be interpreted as a skirts, if one doesn't look too closely. Twists in shirting across the chest like sashes intrigues, with a sense of regalness to simple men's shirting, particularly Western men's shirting. Embroideries like African crochet techniques bring a personal touch and meaning to Bonner's styling.  It is interesting to see African culture inspiring a grand fashion collection that is honest and from the heart, rather than something superficial and exploitative. This is because Grace Wales Bonner herself was born of a Jamaican father and English mother. Her paternal grandfather  was a tailor, someone who would be making the traditional African celebratory garments that were always custom to what the customer wanted. There was no fast fashion in those days and certainly not in that culture, as we see increasingly today. Therefore, everything was made to last, and to fit perfectly to the specifications of the buyer. This must've had an influence on Grace, who's unique yet highly dignified menswear offerings stand out from the highly manufactured and ill-fitted clothes the world is currently becoming covered in. Grace is a fantastic new designer who's emerging talents should be heard around the world, and is potentially a game changing designer for offering clothes that are so incredibly authentic. 

Balenciaga Pre-Fall 2016 Review

      Lurking in coat check rooms, this recently released Balenciaga collection was something edgy, fantastic, and new with original color palates and classic silhouettes on new technical materials. At first within this look book, you see a neon yellow dress and knit hat mixed with black leather stiletto boots and a black and white lettered stole in the likeliness of the "Balenciaga" label sewn into the clothes. It is status draped right around the shoulders. Fantastic hybrids of space aged fashion of the 1960s mixed with modern eclecticism and rounded "cocoon" silhouettes Cristobal Balenciaga was made famous for made up this collection. Designed in between the departure of old creative director Alexander Wang and the arrival of new creative director Demna Gvasalia from Vetements, according to the press release. For a house full of history, Balenciaga manages to create interesting and modern imagery for a culture submerged in instant stimulation and increased public interest in fashion thanks to the internet. I believe that Demna Gvasalia did have something to do with this collection, in fact, rather than it just being the overall House of Balenciaga creating something in between creative directors. Hints at Gvasalia's handiwork can be seen the styling and shapes of the hoodies, suiting, and floral dresses that were similar in production of what was shown in the Fall 2016 show, the first in which Gvasalia has been in direct control of. The actual photography of this look book was artful and raw. Slightly blurry and some images having cut off images underneath them, as if it was all a film reel that's being cut and chosen haphazardly. The looks themselves, are not at all haphazard. They are perfectly stylized, and even though Demna Gvasalia's participation is subject to speculation and question, a good look towards the future of Balenciaga.

Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 2017 Menswear Review

     Alexander McQueen opted out of a runway show for the house's men’s Spring/Summer 2017 collection. Instead of the problem of having too strong of a theme and simple references like the last Spring/Summer collection the year before, this collection showed multiple different motifs. There was an element of India exoticism in embroidery and structure of some of the fantastic overcoats. Images and prints of the safari like zebra and leopard pelts and cave drawings on entire suits and soft jackets display a theme of humid climates and the ecosystem of Africa throughout. An interesting interpretation of leopard print which covered suits layered onto models who were standing on top of a leopard pelt in the set gave a twisted sense of animal hunters of the past, those rich aristocrats who boasted about their killings in the safari. The more exotic, the better, as they saw. Separate, but still relevant in theme, Darwinism was a key word used to describe last fall’s menswear collection, and I think of it this time around too, interestingly enough. Perhaps it’s the leopard, or the note-like diagrams of tigers with handwriting and postage stamps. It sort of ties everything together, this sort of talismans collected by Englishmen of the past from the East and Africa. The word "talisman" was used in describing the jewelry of the fall men's collection as well. The large crystal earrings and mouth piercings adorned by almost every model are menacing and mesmerizing, to say the least. It is fantastic that the jewelry is beautiful and delicate, but also hard with sinister undertones. But then again that’s always been the spirit of McQueen. Delicacy and darkness, but strong. McQueen menswear itself offers modernity, not just stuff old suits that look tired and too historic. The footwear, interestingly, contrasts with the embroidered frock coats and celebration suiting because they are classically shaped sneakers. These sneakers add an pleasing sense of ease to the collection, something that wakes up a collection that some may consider too formal. I liked that this collection was a softer and lighter version of the last menswear collection, because that particular collection was a turning point for McQueen menswear. In this collection, there is the similar contradicting historical yet modern tailoring, but in breathable materials with leg room and some of the arms cut off. McQueen menswear is stating its codes during a time in fashion where everything seems to be changing and the idea of luxury fashion seems to be uncertain to many of its critics and commentators. In fact, McQueen menswear seems stronger than the  overtly commercial and almost superficial womenswear. Hopefully, we see as much care and creativity in womenswear in the future of McQueen as in menswear, but we shall see. McQueen menswear this season inspires and creates a moody world partially separate from the boring reality of today.

What I Wore

Grey Shirt: Express
Vest: Vintage
Fur Vest: rue21
Thin Scarf: Forever 21
Sunglasses: rue21
Collar Chain: Topman
Jeans: Forever 21
Boots: Dr Martens 1914

Prom 2016

Black Velvet Suit: Topman

Grey Shirt: Express 1MX

Bowtie: ludy1 from Etsy

Mask: koloritsky from Etsy

Earrings: Forever 21

Gold Insect Brooch: Banana Republic

Black Rings: Topman

Suede Wedge Shoes: Forever 21

Maison Margiela Fall/Winter 2016 Ready-To-Wear Review

     John Galliano is absolutely striding with his creative direction of Maison Margiela. This collection was fantastic in the sense that it combined new color palettes, like safari khaki mixed with royal violet and Prussian blue. There was something incredible with this collection, where you could assume that most of the pieces shouldn't go together, but Galliano did put them together, and did it beautifully. In a world where everyone claims that fashion today is not at all original, and that "everything's been done before", there exists the spectacular shows of Maison Margiela by John Galliano. Pure elegance filled the air with mixed militaristic styles and baroque dresses and perspex jewelry that styled every look. It is interesting to see the dynamic of everything that could be seen as "thrown together" like the powder blue collar on top of a distressed white jacket, white lace, green accents, pearls, and an olive green skirt with a black bag. Once dissected, you see that the collection is soaked in sophistication. So much, in fact, that every single piece, on their own, could be worn by every type of women interested in fashion. You may not think this looking at how the clothes are styled, but you must be able to see the pieces on their own. It is not random decoration, like countless other designers that are frustrating and sabotaging their own fashion industry, but a focus on new silhouette. Which is what fashion is supposed to be anyway!

What I Wore

Olive Tunic: Forever 21

Cross Necklace: Forever 21

Thin Black Scarf: Forever 21

Spider Brooch: Etsy Find

Jeans: Zara Man

Boots: Forever 21

Hat: Forever 21

What I Wore

Turtleneck Longline Sweater: Forever 21

Flannel Shirt: Forever 21

Double Feather Necklace: Forever 21

Jeans: Forever 21

Boots: Dr Martens 1460

Earrings: Forever 21
Sunglasses: Forever 21

Clutch Bag: Forever 21