Independent Holiday Gift Guide: Etsy Version

For The Francophile :: Mon Tresor necklace and charms by Tiny Token Designs :: French-inspired soaps from Sweet Petula.

For the Quirky Collector ::Rocco Racoon Skull by Melissa Dixon ::Specimen 10. Common Hare/Narcomedusae on Geology and Birds of Indiana book from Wonder Cabinet.

For the Sweet Tooth :: Red Velvet Cookies by Indulging Sweets :: Homemade Maple Syrup Marshmallows by Whimsy and Spice.

For the Avant Gardist :: Plum Organza Sequin Collar by Mary Not Martha ::Fabric Totem Neck Piece by Squillinan.

For the Manly Man ::Custom leather beer holster by Etrelles :: Whiskey Eau de Toilette from Portland General Store.

For the Eccentric Historian ::Roman Bust silk-screened pillow by Utilitarian Franchise ::Belgian WWII Gas Mask from Vintage Army-Navy.

Calendar Giveaway!

Just a quick reminder: don't forget to enter my holiday giveaway for a chance to get your hands on a fabulous, limited edition, hand printed calendar by artist Jen Hewitt. The deadline is tonight at midnight: click here for entry rules. Best of luck!!

Juniper Rose for Donna Karan Jewelry

Every fashionista should be eying for Juniper Rose's creations for Donna Karan jewelry. Juniper Rose created some of the most must-have accessories for this season. Her designs will make you look tough and chic at the same time. I can associate Kristen Stewart's current fashion style with these leathers and crystals.

The Necklace costs $895 and Cuff is $595 at Donna Karan New York. Know more about these accessories from Net-a-porter's interview with Juniper Rose.

Agent Provocateur New Comic Book Features Venus Fly Trap and More!

The second comic book of Agent Provocateur are out in the market. If you have seen some of the super heroines in the first comic book, you'll meet other super heroines in the second one. Venus Flytrap, Miss Pony Tail and The Red Baroness wear their Agent Provocateur's lingerie outfits in reality.






Source: Fashionising.com

New Moon Stars at Entertainment Weekly December 2009 Issue

Your favorite New Moon characters will be on the cover of Entertainment Weekly's December 2009 issue. Edward Cullen, Bella Swan and Jacob Black will recruit you as their allies. Which team are you in? Team Edward, Team Bella or Team Jacob?



Check the rest of the entry for bigger images!




Source: Just Jared

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, I just want to take the opportunity to say "thank you" to all of my wonderful, kind, intelligent readers who keep this blog fun and always inspire and challenge me! If you are celebrating Thanksgiving today, I hope you have a wonderful day with family and friends, plenty of yummy food, and lots of laughs. What are you thankful for today??

{To see more of Benny Horne's Pilgrim-inspired photo shoot, visit Foto Decadent}

The Joy of Gossip

Barbara Walters once said, "Show me someone who doesn't gossip, and I'll show you someone who isn't interested in people." Gossip's got a bad name, and I think it might be high-time to rescue it from the realms of tawdry tabloid nonsense and mean-spirited fibbing. Is it crazy to think that gossip might actually be healthy when practiced in moderation? In her book, The Art of Conversation, Catherine Blyth suggests that good, old-fashioned gossip is a balm to society's increasingly alienated sense of community and intimacy. She says:

"To me, gossip is a growth industry, ever more essential in atomized urban society, as family ties weaken and networks grow wider, looser, and diffuser...While monitoring a virtual crowd of internet pals can accentuate loneliness if you're not truly in touch, gossip remains frienship's primary medium...{103}"

I think of gossip as a form of social analysis -- like talk therapy, minus the person who probably needs the therapy. People are fascinating. I want to know what makes them tick, why they say and do the things they do {I'm also a bit obsessed with self-analysis, but that's a subject for another time...}. You will rarely find me gossiping about people I don't like, or who, at the very least, I don't find interesting. You will also never find me making something up about someone out of boredom or animosity. People are far too interesting for this to be necessary!

Here are some more reasons why we could all use a dose of healthy gossip:

• It makes us feel better -- it allows us to see that things could be worse; at least we don't have that habit, problem, or compulsion!
• It gets us excited. Have you ever noticed how animated people get, how their eyes light up, when you tell them you have a juicy tid-bit?
• It's an amazing conversation catalyst. Is the discussion creeping to a halt? Mentioning a mutual friend's latest faux-pas usually gets things animated again.
• It creates a bond. Any time friends can get together and analyze, relish, question, ponder, or simply laugh at something {or someone} together, intimacy and understanding grows.

I certainly hope I've given others occasion to gossip about me from time-to-time. How awful to think I've never done anything shocking enough to merit being gossiped about!

::What's your stance on gossip? Is all gossip bad gossip?

{P.S. I hope you didn't mind the crass, but hilarious, MikWright image above!}

Fashion & Museums

“Sous l’empire des crinolines ou la mode du Second Empire”, Musée Galliera, Spring 2009

Museums establish a santifying context, legitimizing whatever is within them. The museum thus transforms fashion into art, something not worn but adored. Critics complain that fashion exhibitions function as entertainment rather than education. Originally with the World's Fair and early art museums, the intention was to educate the masses. Museums also function to archive and stockpile cultural artefacts. Fashion collecting museums did not emerge until the 20th century.

•The Museum of Costume Art, New York was founded by costume designer Aline Bernstein and Irene Lewisohn. In 1937 they merged with the Met and became its Costume Institute. Today, its collection contains more than 80,000 costumes and accessories with two separate shows each year, one with a spring gala.

•The Victoria & Albert Museum is the world's largest collection of decorative objects with a smaller collection of 30,000 dreasses and nearly 40,000 textiles.

Musée Galliera, the Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris

•Musée des Arts Décoratifs is a division of the Louvre founded in 1905 that has a department for fashion and textiles. Also in Paris is Le Musée Gallieria was created in 1977. The large collection of over 70,000 items dates back to the eighteenth century including historic dresses worn by Marie-Antoinette and Napoleon’s wife Josephine and modern day masterpieces by such noted designers as Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, and Jean-Paul Gautier. The museum also has collections dedicated to undergarments, lace, accessories, and dolls.

•The Mode Museum began in 2000, archiving both finished work and the design process such as patterns. The pioneers who put Flanders on the map in the eighties are the primary archive focus: Dries Van Noten, Martin Margiela, Walter Van Beirendonck, Ann Demeulemeester, Dirk Bikkembergs and Dirk Van Saene. The collection also includes the younger generation of designers such as Lieve Van Gorp, Raf Simons, Véronique Branquinho, Jurgi Persoons, Patrick Van Ommeslaeghe, A.F. Vandevorst, Stephan Schneider, Bernhard Willhelm, Wim Neels and Angelo Figus.

Mode Museum, Permanent Collection of patterns, Antwerp, Belgium

Each year, the Fashion Museum of Antwerp, or MoMu, presents the MoMu Award to an MA student at the fashion department of the Royal Academy in Antwerp. AlexandraVerscheuren's MEDIUM was the 2009 winner.

Alexandra Verscheuren, 2009 recipient of the MoMu Award

In "Museums as Fashion Medium," Fiona Anderson explains that the 1990’s saw a general increase in fashion studies, for schools and museums. Fashion was used to attract visitors to museums. By 1997, The Face called fashion an “entertainment medium." Fashion also gained a higher profile by being presented in the museum and provides object based, primary research materials. The Victoria & Albert Museum established itself in fashion with the 1971 Cecil Beaton show “Fashion: An Anthology.”

Schiaparelli, "Fashion: An Anthology"

Balenciaga and Bill Gibb, "Fashion: An Anthology"

V&A began including the runway in the museum with “Fashion in Motion,” in 1999, breaking the notion of museum clothing not being worn and instead allowing clothing to be observed as it moves with the body.

“Fashion in Motion,” Central Saint Martins Grads, 2008

Judith Clark is a UK gallery dedicated to fashion. Clark expressed "If fashion is a living phenomenon…then a museum of fashion is a cemetery of dead clothes.”

Simonetta Colonna di Cesaro at Judith Clark, Jan-Feb 2008

Simonetta Colonna di Cesaro at Judith Clark, Jan-Feb 2008

Hussein Chalayan presented a gallery film short by Marcus Tomlinson of his F 1999 collection timed with the night of the runway show, self promotion or art?

A larger controversy posed by critics is that not only are fashion exhibitions like entertainment but they advertise fashion companies. But contemporary art exhibitions do the same, advancing the value of the work of living artists. So the criticism is only valid if aimed at art as well and the museum as billboard. At the Met, the press also critiques the star studded galas and soft-surface level curating that is set to please, as in the Chanel and Model as Muse exhibitions.

Critiqued as a commercial, Chanel Exhibition, The Met, 2005

Model as Muse, The Met, 2009

Another type of fashion exhibition was held st the Smithsonian in 1998. Ellen Todd, explains in “Visual Design and Exhibition Politics in the Smithsonian’s ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place.’” The exhibition was curated by Peter Leibhold and Harry Rubenstein. It gave historical framing to the contemporary issue of sweatshops, intensified by the 1997 El Monte scandal. Because only two years before in 1995 the Smithsonian showed the nose of plane used in bombing Hiroshima, with the sweatshop exhibition the Smithsonian was attacked again for showcasing scandal. The sweatshop exhibition was also criticized for trying to gain an audience and create sympathy yet it involved financial support from the fashion industry.

The Smithsonian exhibition presented a sweatshop that resembled the one busted in El Monte.

Since the Smithsonian, it is American Apparel that has lobbied to legalize immigrants in sweatshops with a strong opposition that immigrants should be returned to their native country.

In Rome, a former altar of peace the "Ara Pacis" was converted into a museum in 2007. For the first exhibition, the curators Patrick Kinmonth and Antonio Monfroda chose to present a survey of the designs of Valentino, timed to the end of his own production. The exhibition, held at an ancient altar, raised the question of beauty worship in many of the reviews. This style of presentation was designed to beg the question of museums as altars to man.

In 2009-10, the exhibition The Art of Fashion: Installing Allusions, explores the boundaries between fashion and art. "Today’s fashion designers are entering the area of fine art and in their turn influence the art world. New and existing works by twenty-five international designers and artists provide a confrontational visual experience. ... Fashion designers present their work with installations, performances and sculptural designs. Like art, today’s fashion is collected by museums and private individuals. Conversely in recent years artists have been exploring the visual world of fashion. The fixed boundaries between fashion and art have become blurred. For the first time The Art of Fashion combines the two disciplines in a confrontational visual spectacle.


"Starting from the principles of fashion, visitors will automatically find themselves in different areas. Patterns and shapes and clothes become sculptures, a fashion show is transformed into a performance and the imaginary world that fashion evokes is the same as we see in art. The fantasy world of Walter Van Beirendonck lies close to the Sound Suits by Nick Cave; the sculptural jewellery by Naomi Filmer and the objects by Christophe Coppens have the same tactile unsettling shapes as the sculptures by Louise Bourgeois, which in turn have strong thematic similarities to Martin Margiela’s work."

Stylists

Grace Coddington for US Vogue, December 2003

The role of stylist is bringing a vision to life with relevant clothing. In most instances the clothing is taken from various collections and combined. In other cases, stylists integrate vintage elements or for ad campaigns they use just one designer. In the photos below it is interesting to observe the stylist's and photographer's influence. For example stylist Tabitha Simmons' work for Dolce & Gabanna with photographer Steven Klein has a similar color palette to stylist Tonne Goodman's editorial with Steven Klein. Then Goodman's work with Mario Testino is similar to stylist Camilla Nickerson work with Testino. Nickerson's work is then dramatically different with photographer Juergen Teller. The fashion photo is a collaborative art, like studio painting of prior centuries.

Grace Coddington, Us Vogue

“Alice in Wonderland,” December 2003, Annie Leibovitz

Dress Helmut Lang

Dior Haute Couture coat on him and hand painted polka dot dress on her

Balenciaga silk dress and ankle boots

Grace Coddington, Us Vogue

“White Heat,” March 2006, Arthur Elgort

Tabitha Simmons

V Magazine, “Cinema Scope,” V 27, Glen Luchford

Tom Ford for YSL

Tabitha Simmons

Dolce & Gabbana, F 2009, Steven Klein

Tonne Goodman, US Vogue

“Touch and Go,” August 2008, Steven Klein

Peer Review
Softness and a shirred collar give this jacket a blouselike appeal. Valentino violet cashmere round-neck jacket.

Post Production
Even in neutral shades, a shapely silhouette can't help drawing attention. Calvin Klein Collection beige wool jacket and fawn slim skirt. Hermès scarf. Banana Republic leather gloves. Marni leather handbag.

Primp My Ride
Subtract 1980s-power-suit shoulder pads and add a subtle organza overlay for ladylike results. Carolina Herrera multicolor tweed wool double-breasted jacket and pencil skirt. Michael Kors leather bag and pumps.

Tactile Maneuver
For a youthful edge, trade the predictable white shirt for one with playful detail and temper with an urbane cable-knit-like jacket. Bottega Veneta silk-wool blazer, silk-georgette blouse with leather petal appliqués; Shetland wool pencil skirt. Daniel Storto gloves. Devi Kroell stingray bag.

Tonne Goodman, US Vogue

“Coastal Blend,” December2008, Mario Testino

Left, Prey Love: With its leopard motif, jeweled neckline and jet-bead Empire waist, there’s little need to go wild on embellishment. Prada silk faille dress; Neiman Marcus. Banana Republic gloves. On Hamm: Brooks Brothers dinner jacket and tuxedo short. Giorgio Armani trousers. Ralph Lauren bow tie.

Right, Ensemble Piece: When everything –baubles, belt, big pockets – shines equally. Ports 1961 by Tia Cibani silk faile cocktail dress; Ports 1961, Los Angeles. Verdura necklace. Tiffany & Co. brooch. YSL belt.

Camilla Nickerson, W

“Before Night Falls,” September 2003, Mario Testino

Alexander McQueen snow white Mongolian lamb jacket. Vera Wang stone chiffon with black ribbon cinched waistband

Camilla Nickerson, W

“Dominica,” March 2009, Juergen Teller

Ralph Lauren Collection’s silk jacket and silk crepe pants, at select Ralph Lauren stores, Kenneth Jay Lane earrings; Louis Vuitton bangles.

Camilla Nickerson, W

“Washington DC,” February 2008, Juergen Teller

Marc Jacobs’s silk dress, at Marc Jacobs, Las Vegas. Louis Vuitton pumps.

TSE’s cashmere and nylon cardigan and cashmere, nylon and steel wool dress, TO order, at Tse, 800.487.3692; Miu Miu’s satin briefs, at select Miu Miu boutiques. Yves Saint Laurent necklace; Louis Vuitton pumps.

Karl Templer, Vogue Italia

“Super Models Enter Rehab,” July 2007, Steven Meisel

Katie Grand, founder of Pop and Love

Solve Sundsbo photographed Christina Kruse for POP Magazine on September 17, 2008 in London.

Visit Stylecaster for 5 emerging stylists