Malick Sidibé's Printed Revolution

I was clicking through a black and white slideshow, in last week's NYTime's Sunday Magazine, called "Prints and the Revolution" and was impressed by the photographer's ability to recreate Malick Sidibé's studio portraits of Malian men and women.

The Tate Modern in London had an exhibit this past summer called Street & Studio: An Urban History of Photography that I dragged my cousins to (thanks guys!) and I remember seeing Sidibé's work in person for the first time and naturally drifting towards the portraits of men and women formally dressed and standing on a patterned floor, with a slight smile, seemingly sharing an elaborate joke with Sidibé.

Others showed a more complicated view of Malian life. Young men sheepishly grinning and posing with prestige items in their flip flops in front of a cityscape facade.

My favorite phographs by Sidibe are his energetic and exuberant snapshots of Malian nightlife.

After clicking through the slideshow, I looked at the credits and realized that Sidibé had recreated his own work!
And even more exciting was the use of Western designer clothing obviously inspired by traditional African prints. The styling is so clever, I had to do a double take when I read the labels and then found the pieces that when put together seamlessly create an authentic Malian "look" (obviously for a non-Malian observer, me).

Marni polka-dot top. Christian Lacroix striped top. Marc Jacobs dress. Christian Louboutin shoes. Dries Van Noten bracelet.

How wonderfully confusing. Western designers mish-mashed together to create an African look recreating studio photographs by the photographer who created the inspiration.

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Chalayan for your Wall

I'm always looking for small things to enliven my little studio from its Scandinavian sameness and found this eerily beautiful limited edition poster from the Design Museum's Shop for about 20 bucks.

Hussein Chalayan has an exhibit showcasing his techno-sexy creations at London's Design Museum and if you're short of the necessary funds to jet over to see his wondrous designs in person, this poster could stem some of your intense Chalayan longing.

She looks like she's about to meld with the wall, stationary but seemingly in motion, propelled by the same force whipping her dress into sleekly streamlined points.


Here's a close-up on a similar Chalayan creation so you can better admire the molded tail.

(style.com)

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SB

Beat of my Heart

The past week was uber busy, sorry for the lax posting! I lost my voice, had lots of classwork, AND I had to dance on a couple of tables(shout out to AA).

Yes I know, its tough being SB.

Anyways, I have 2 great looks left over from ny/london fashion week before I start going on and on about the beauty and splendor of the true fashion week: MILANO baby.

Vena Cava has one of the best names in fashion! I am a science nerd (don't judge, even Balenciaga is all about space/future and Marc has always been about geekchic) and Vena Cava (technically a vein to the heart) makes me chuckle.

I'm not particularly impressed by the black shift, eh I could pick something like that from Nordstrom BP.

What I love is the lush zigzag patterned scarf engulfing the model. It verges on decadence with the excess material spilling over her torso but it is still manageable. This look is more stylish than the pashmina we all rock by default.

This look is definitely wearable unlike the look from Giles Deacon's show below.
This looks like some borderline senile woman was over enthusiastic with her knitting and color choice. Unless you live in Siberia, this look is NOT acceptable. I am not even in the mood to get started on the feathered shoes accompanying this get-up.



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