Thursday, October 29, 2009

Destitute


Just looking through the archives of my old blog, wondering if I should just continue on that site rather than start a new blog. Don't know. A lot of it embarrasses me now. I was so immersed in consumption, like it's easy to do in fashion. But some things I like a lot. Like these posts I wrote during my busiest blogging year. Some of them I like just because they jostle memories that I had forgotten.

Shoe History
Overheard at Loehmann's
Aspiration
Floppy Revisited
Random Shopping Thoughts
Back to School
Rhetorical Effects

There's maybe just one good post from the first year of blogging.

His thermal.

What I find is that I like most the posts that are just little nubbins of thought.  No pictures, just an idea.  I'm pretty bored by the acquisition posts.  I'm chagrined to see how much thought went into getting things, and how fleeting the pleasure was that they gave.

Here's more from 2007.

Likes and dislikes
Style folder
Evolution
What I like
Summer girls
Better start saving up my pennies

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

October rain

Winter has arrived in Seattle. It's not a time of the year, but a feeling.

The darkness is getting longer, the days damper, the skies lower, and the mood greyer. Walking home today, I saw a lot of students unprepared for the rain. Few of us had thought to wear the rain jackets that eventually become de rigueur this time of year. Some students, mostly the ones newly arrived from other countries, struggled with umbrellas in the wind. Most of us just huddled down into ourselves like ducklings.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Mina Perhonen



I've been thinking about vintage prints lately, maybe because my boyfriend's mother--who deals in secondhand goods--sent me a package a few weeks ago containing a collection of vintage items she had set aside for me. Inside the box were a few lovely blouses and a dress, all made out of faded cotton prints.

They made me think of Mina Perhonen, a fashion line created by a Japanese designer named Akira Minagawa. It might be as well known for its hand-drawn textiles as for its finished products. The brand cites as inspiration the designer's travels in Northern European countries, especially Finland. In fact, in Finnish mina means "I" and perhonen means "butterfly."

My favorite ones have a untutored, naive quality. They seem like they were drawn by a young child, with a child's sense of wonder and love of repetition.

There's more on the website, which has a textile index sorted by name.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Anthropologie styling



I may as well make a confession now, and that's that I adore Anthropologie. Even though it's overpriced and oftentimes over-frilly, I am nevertheless drawn to the feminine, vintage-inspired clothes and the quirky decor that's a mix of French countryside and old-fashioned apothecary. The clothes are comfortable even though they're always a little bit dressy.

So there is a collection of cold-weather looks currently on the website that's given me some ideas about styling my accessories this winter. On the first image, the cloche is pushed forward to cover the forehead and eyes. It's a cute silhouette reminiscent of the Morton salt girl.

In the second look, the stylists threaded the scarf around the collar of the coat instead of tying it around the neck. That seems like an easy way to add a bit of dash to the usual coat and scarf combo.

More ideas at the website.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Akihiro Furuta




When I stumbled across this photographer's family portraits, I was immediately taken with the whimsy and good humor evident in the photos. I couldn't help but laugh when I scrolled down and saw these photos of a man and his wife, child, and dog in these highly orchestrated, somewhat absurd scenes that are, it seems, without a shred of irony. The family rotates through interchangeable props like toggle coats and birthday-candle eyeglasses, and even the dog participates in the dress-up.



I especially like the wife's style in the portrait series. She has this winning blend of quirky, demure, and vintage. Her style is cute without being cutesy.



Some accessories make their appearance again and again, like a straw hat that's a cross between a scarecrow and the Great Depression.








There's more on his website, Life is Beautiful, which is written in Japanese. But that's okay, because it's mostly photos anyway.

[photos: Life is Beautiful]