Dispatches from a second story bedroom

messed around with gender roles

"Hey I like your shirt, does it come in Mens?"

filet of sole, baby

Marni F/W 2011

The whole collection was magnificent but these were what stuck out in my mind as important watershed 2011 concepts:

• FUR-llaboration
• Print on print violence
• Coral + dark emerald green = lust
• More oxblood
• Suzie Bird is the meat in your sandwich

Alright kiddies. I'm not sure what prompted a 3:40 wake up call from my brain but suffice it to say I've now got time, if not inclination, to bring the Marni collection to you--albeit 2 months after the fact.Why is no one talking about this? Is my love for Marni going to feel like my love for Radiohead circa 1995 circa 2011? Is this going to be an embarrassing middle-age phase I was going through? Is she really going out with him? Apparently yes.

I'll cover the bullet points and then open the field up to questions.

In my idealized world, there is a fabric store that sells great printed fabrics in multiple colors so I can do things like my beloved Consuelo. I love the smooth/matte difference of the same print on cotton and satin in an outfit but it is nigh impossible to do IRL for yourself because let's say the same print exists on two different kinds of cloth, that cloth is guaranteed to be polyester and in the hot pink to electric purple range. Super depresso.

Beyond that, it's really hard to find these deeply qualified, nuanced color schemes in any fabric store, print or no print. If you want to go at all tertiary and put some ochres and sky blues with a periwinkle undertone together a 'la Spring Prada '96 you are on your own and only possibly able to find them in with the quilting cottons. I digress... first world old lady problems, amiright?

But then, THEN, CC brings it back into the realm of the possible by making a tunic/skirt/purse set out of upholstery fabric from a Regal Cinema circa 2006 and I begin to think all is not lost. I could do that. 

The furs are OTW I'm not even sure what is being mixed with that black leather? I want to say shaved beaver but I know somewhere someone is laughing. Stop laughing.

she felt her eyes were too close together

Mink Womb Swathes and David Byrne shoulders? Sign me up. 

the Kobayashi

Kate Moss must be some kind of fashion savant because her mouth does not work right. No wonder she pulled a Garbo for so long. Ace move sweetheart. Way to play to your strengths.

I have been mentally obsessing over this 2003 spread. Am I jonesing hard for the early 2000s now that we're leaving this decade in the dust? Bay Garnett is my azimuth compass. And that compass is telling me it's ok to wear sweats with gigantic Wilma-sized pearls.

When I stay in bed all day eating bon bons and watching In Treatment, sweat pants begin to become a concept I toy with. Why not sweatpants?  Tell me. And I mean real shitty high waisted 50/50 cotton poly blend $9.99 at K-mart sweatpants, not luxury cashmere blend Rick Owens that need to be dry cleaned or handwashed. I am talkin' super-laze for the girl who does her own laundry. Ones that if you put in the time with become as soft as old flannel. You gotta do the work. It is a process!

I have been dealing with themes of Madonna levels of fame and how you stop giving a shit about looking hot all the time and start being real and wearing silk boxing shorts with freshly showered wet hair because they feel amazing. Take Julian Schnabel por ejemplo, oh the Toronto premiere of my new film? Sure I mean I'll wear a blazer over my silk pyjamas. Of course. 2011 is all about going wherever however you want.

Check it.

the proud and profane

This image was a game changer for me in 2001, it still is. 

Jil Sander Spring 2001

sweet and lowdown

 

Vogue UK November 2010 ph: Alasdair McLellan

  

Vogue Paris October 2010 ph: Steven Klein

I am generally against the wearing of white shoes. I've been working on a little immersion therapy to help me deal.

your generation sucks

I had a really great conversation last night about the 90s and Prada and schizophrenic boutique buyers versus medicated megastore buyers and it all interrelated and was great and I came to a few conclusions.

1. There are a lot of girls out there in skinny jeans, bitch shoes, and sloppy tops and they are running boutiques. There's enough out there for that many-headed cliche to bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan, so I shouldn't worry about my various aspirations and why they will not work. America is a horn o' plenty and I need to take a bite. 
2. I totally get Prada S/S 2011 now, thanks Missy. This needs to happen again, its time is due. Why isn't Da Brat's blackberry lip making a comeback as well as Missy's aubergine lipliner. So essential. I like that small sliver of the 90s when lady rappers were transitioning from MC Lyteism into whatever real doll rapper is popular now. Nicki Minajism? They all look like sex toys, so whatever. I know chickenheaded hoes existed back then, but they weren't so yielding to a generic male fantasy. Foxy Brown was sassy and had a slight muffin top. Awesome. And also, the dance moves. I can't stop watching those super louche robot leans. "REMEMBER THE TIME" - MJ                                                                                                      
     
3. My aspirational 90s and the current aspirational 90s look are two completely different things. I stopped reading teen magazines in 1992 and subscribed to Bazaar just as Liz Tilberis came on as E-i-C. What was available to me for purchase back then wasn't dreamy, it was a lot of affordable thrift and pilfered from my parents college wardrobes. I didn't even dream of owning real Miu Miu, but a resonable vintage facsimile of the new facsimile of the original vintage. I developed the sense to recognize that fashion is the biggest Ouroboros through the reading and studying of fashion magazines, and tapped the trend at the source without the internet telling me how to do it in three easy steps.  And while that democratization is great, it sidesteps the old gatekeepers, so you have to deal with a lot of shitty micro-trends like pantlessness and shredded t-shirts. And then the olds get worried about not remaining on top of fashion and Carine and AdR are running around, panties on parade, even though they're 50ish and dancing as fast as they can. It's heartbreaking to witness. I'm sure Gavin would tell me to shut up and stop being old about it, but it's there and transitory and gets a platform before it even knows what to do with itself. Everyone is a cultural ambassador for a brand nowadays and it makes everything less special. Also young rich girls dressing up in expensive clothes is such an epic snooze to me. I am staking my claim in old Vreelandia, thank you. Vive la jolie laide.

10 carat fool

Sorry to keep going on about it, but I have seriously been experiencing the brain drains lately. The only thing I can focus on is a new collaboration that will be completed in several weeks if all goes according to plan. It is the only thing I can hunker down and sit for long periods thinking about. I hate being coy about it but I'm keepin' it like a secret until it's all done. 

I tried watching Mesrine tonight but my brain kept saying this. I don't have any patience for subtítulos anymore. What is wrong with me? I'm not down for a French gangster flick? It's like I don't even recognize myself anymore.

M. Mesrine obviously can't compete.

I am however totally engrossed with a Bette Davis biography I picked up at the dollar store. FOR. A. DOLLAR. Did you know she went on a date with Henry Fonda before they both were famous? She kept his calling card because she was a New Yankee Hoarder. People used to have cards with just their name on them to give to people, like they were living in a civilization. Can you believe? Incredible.

This is a 8x10 of Joanie doctored by Bette among her personal papers that were donated to Boston University. Incredible. 

drag

 

French Revue de Modes F/W 2010 ph: Thierry le Goues

tone

 
 Martin Gant S/S 2011

I thought about this lipstick for an entire day. A lipstick colored dress. Lipstick matching the accessories. My mind is still blown. I'm pretty simpleminded, sometimes that's all it takes.