à la mode: into the Wild

Here are some good points about where we are going this fall from Marie Claire magazine. As shown in this spread, the variety in furs shown at the FW2012 collections were definitely a staple in most collections. I'm particularly giddy about this show of furs because these pieces are a easy wear for fall, not because of the obvious warmth one would feel against one's skin (my personal favorite right now is fox fur), but if you will take notice in this spread, there's not much difficulty in wearing a fur piece to add a bit of bold drama. Fur is great for comfort, and great for those of us who want to be a bit more feral in their look. This spread shows how fur is a great way to bring out one's accessories. Furs can quite often make us shapeless and considerably larger than we'd like to appear. Strategically worn accessories can create a interesting illusion, for while there may be a lot going on, onlookers eyes will have lots of time to dance around your look as they observe your ominous presence.

Fur is animalistic and primal, and the fourth page of the spread (second row,right) is an awesome example of how to tame that wild fur jacket this fall with jewelry and accessories that bring out the dainty, more elegant aspect of your natural beauty. 

The rings and bracelets, while earthy and primitively-inspired, they have crisp lines and bold shapes (not to mention the shimmer) which do the trick in highlighting the natural beauty of the girl that is engulfed underneath the fur, a happy marriage between hard and soft. 

In the first look, the model, Emily Senko, wears a space age, Kanye West book bag and accessories with her fur Fendi Jacket, another take on mixing the primitive with the technological. The same can be said of those awesome knee-high Kanye West boots on the third page of the spread (second down, left). They remind me of boots a modern "Jane of Tarzan" would have to have in her closet. Its all about mixing the "hard/edgy" design of today with the soft comfort of "yesterday's" caveman women as she's stripped straight from her tavern or jungle, and dropped off into the modernity of civilization.

à la mode: How to Rock the Retro Look

I had to pull out a spread I remember from the March 2012 issue of Glamour.  I have to say, what's more academic then the 50's retro look, honestly? You know those first few weeks of school when the weather is still relatively warm and you can still get away with wearing cute summer outfits? These dress ideas are great ways to standout in a seductively under toned 'come hither' manner yet appear appropriately and beautifully academic, (especially for curvy types). After all, you aren't just going to school to judge how your well you think your teacher is going to do this year, you're teachers are looking at you at as well. Your whole grade could depend on that first impression between the two of you; but aside from going down that slippery slope, Glamour does bring up a valid point about 50s dressing—that being, looking too 50's. I say keep it simple with a mix of a print, and a solid; or all print; or all solid with splashes of print. This is a tricky look only because one can start to look deftly like they are going 'back to the future', and that's what we want to avoid from onlookers. We are not in an episode of 'I Love Lucy', (as fabulous she was). Simplicity is often harder to create than extravagance. In my fashion, with this style, one wears it for a purpose, saying: "I am women! I know I am cute, and I do mean business!" You don't want to try to send that message with your clothes, and in all actuality you are looking like a ‘real-live’ cartoon to those you want to send the right message to, peers and teachers alike. If you can pull this look off right with the perfect balance of popping fabrics those first few weeks of school will set the tone for the rest of your semester, perfect for you to relax and start to choose more comforting, heavier looks for that pending chill of fall. That's when you can have fun choosing more layered and dramatic looks that are comfortable and show off your creative side parlaying into the New Normal trend that was so apparent during the Fall 2012 collections. OR, you could keep up with your 50’s vibe by simply adding statement stockings with your statement dresses that will bring that summer spirit right along with you through the cold season, warming up everyone around you during the dead of winter. The 'cherry-on-top' tip to really pulling off this look though, of course, is to actually get good grades! Even if you come into class looking like a cartoon, your actions will have to speak louder than your look soon enough! After all, we are at school aren’t we? Send the right message, and strive for excellence.  

Good Retro vs. Bad Retro:

Good Retro

• High-waist anything with a wide belt is the perfect vehicle for an hourglass shape.
• A tutu (really!) under a swingy skirt. Instant party!
• Cap sleeves. Somehow they turn even a T-shirt into a blouse.
• A high pony tail. Show off your face, just like your mama always told you to.
• One retro piece at a time: You don't want a sweet cardigan and capris and that pony.

Bad Retro

• Girdles! Oppressive. Let 'em stay buried with the Cold War.
• Poodle skirts. For October 31 only, please.
• Vintage clip-on earrings. They look so good but hurt so bad. You'll need Advil.
• Trying to live today's life with yesturday's handbag. Nothing's wrong with a prim little box clutch; just bring a tote too! 

 

*Simple rule: If the shape is retro, choose a modern fabric, and vice versa. Works every time.*

EDITOR'S LETTER: August 2012

After doing a lot of thinking about Acceptance last month, it was funny that towards the end of the month I received this email from Will and Guy’s Joke of the Day . It was a series of quotes from the popular 19^th century author, wit, and quite the dandy, Oscar Wilde. Please take these in, for in my fashion they speak a lot for the ironic truths of our world.


Statue of Oscar Wilde by Danny Osborne in Dublin's Merrion Square

After reading these funny observations about life, parlaying from the subject of Acceptance, I knew that this month would just have to be about how being “Smart is Beautiful”! As I said in my last Style Maven post, ignorance is debilitating, and keeps us from learning the truths of life we need to know in order to be the people we need to be so we can help others.There is a promotional page that runs in Vogue that always proclaims the phrase “Smart is beautiful” and I have to agree, full-heartedly. Why do you think Vogue is such a revered magazine for the fashion onlooker? Because since 1892, they have documented the smart people who have been able to leave a significant mark in the history of their culture, and how they were able to rise above the masses and manifest an individual persona that left a certain impression on the people of their time. As I have found, no one knows everything there is to know about life, so it would make most sense to say that smart people are those that tend to put in the thought power and energy into making the most sense of a particular subject (i.e. fashion/style, sports, geography, cooking, and biology). In my fashion, strength in our modern society is using your wits and intelligence to do as much work for us as is needed to complete a certain task or goal. It’s interesting because while watching the Olympics I realized that there is a lot of hand-eye coordination that athletes must be in tune with in order to be successful. One has to be astutely aware of their own motions, and the motions of others, in the interest of beating one’s opponent, an opponent who has worked just as hard as you and wants that medal just as much as you. As late psychologist, Howard Gardner postulated, that of the nine types of intelligence we humans are to possess, this high type of intelligence would fall under bodily-kinesthetic intelligence [source]. People can be intelligent at many things including: fashion, sports, television, electronics, nature, animals, poetry, rocks, etc. There are so many things to think about! We weren't given this mental capacity of all the species on the planet to sit around not using our brains to explore all that is here in life to explore, physically through our environment, as well as interpersonally, for the mind is the single most unexplored continent on this planet! We are all capable of understanding life; it just depends on how much you make your brain work to pay attention to all the details of life. By learning from our experiences, which according to Wilde’s philosphy, is simply “the name we give our mistakes”, we are able to find our strengths and talents to use them to fuel our thinking, so we can know how to conquer forces of life that oppose us.



Mine and Dwight’s sartorial choices come from the energy of imagination, deliberation, and invention, which fall into a natural rhythm all our own, maintained by innate discipline and a keen sense of pleasure.

Considering the back-to-school season is right around the corner, I figured this would be an appropriate time to emphasize making the right choices (sartorially, and in our every day decision making), being more conscious of the things that happen in one’s environment, continually searching out knowledge, and being able to know how to use your gut when choosing your next steps in life. Just the same as when you have that overwhelming feeling of, “This was made for me,” when selecting that perfect garment in the store, is the same feeling one should have when shopping for the right decisions to make one’s life fulfilling, in all instances of one’s life. As is said in this past July’s Vogue cover profile of Emma Stone who has become an arbiter of a bit of wisdom she took from co-star, Ryan Gosling, who says, "Picking roles is like listening to songs on the radio: "There can be a lot of really great songs in a row, but then one comes on that just makes you want to dance." If you are not doing something in your life that's not making you want to dance, then maybe it’s time for you to reconsider your steps.