From Malevich to Marc Jacobs

I've been obsesed with this Marc by Marc Jacobs frock for months. I love the tiny squares, varying in shade of grey and solid and striped patterns. It looks like mini glass panes but all that it reflects is your excellent taste. I also love the dainty collar and how it upturns gently on each side.

It reminds me of the geometric art of Kazimir Malevich. Both Marc and Malevich use small geometric pieces to create something larger: a sparkling dress or pioneering art.

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Guernica: from Picasso to Rushdie and Rifat Ozbek

Salman Rushdie's tale "At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers" places the fantastical red slippers at the center of a raucous auction. The characters, from witches to political refugees, are all desperate to return to some time, some body or some place. They drip with desire for this tool and are armed with Uzi's and couture jackets.

One woman wears Picasso's Guernica on her back. The bombing of the Spanish town displayed on her body.


I came across this dress by Rifat Ozbek and was instantly reminded of the scene in Rushdie's novel. The Guernica'esque figures are etched onto her cool grey metallic shift.

I can see her slowly stepping around an auction house, only deigning to crinkle her dress to peer into the glass box with the ruby slippers.
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Dior: Reinterpreting Art for Fashion

My lovely roommates CW and SM have one of Hokusai's prints of Mount Fuji on our living room wall. The Great Wave at Kanagawa is terrifyingly stunning. Sharp white tendrils creep off the end of wave with calculated precision and Mount Fuji sits calmly in the distance.

I came upon this piece perusing through the Dior Couture Spring '07 collection and I love how Galliano reinterpreted Hokusai's work. The proportions are sinusoidal. They vary from the wide, bell sleeves and full hoop skirt, to the narrow, banded waist and slim legs poking out of the gown. The crinkled bow around the model's neck looks like an elegant wave but the graphic print creeps up the gown adding turbulence to the white stillness.
I love it when the lines between Art and Fashion blur. It's beautiful to think that you could wrap your most immediate form of expression, your body, in something inspiring to the many who meander through The Met.

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Balenciaga: The Scarf to Covet

Keira Knightley's article in Vogue romanticizes Africa from a colonizers point of view. There are photos of her in couture soaring above African "tribes people" and herding a group of cows in Marc Jacobs with "natives." I'm just going ignore the article (she kept an LV journal filled with musings reminiscent of a dimwit European settler) and focus on her look because frankly, I have minimal patience for such trite reading.

She is wearing head to toe Balenciaga. The side striped pants were all over the fall07 runway and are perfectly slouchy and fitted around her waist. She wears them with a bright blue button down and I love the thick white cuffs. The best piece is the fringed scarf. I'm obsessed with this accessory. It's the perfect topping with its light patterns and dangling coin detail.


On the runway, variations on this scarf were thrown together with intense gladiator heels and patterned dresses.
This variation was preppy (the fitted blue blazor screams Eton schoolboy) but tough. The scarf was pulled up close to the model's face as if she were a bandit, about to pull it over her face and perform the most daring (and glamorous) heist of the decade.
This scarf reminds me of the Palestinian Keffiyah. This symbol of liberation for Palestine has also become a controversial fashion statement. Freja Beha rocked one backstage at a Rag & Bone show.
So if a Balenciaga scarf isn't within your reach, check out Desert Store for $10 keffiyahs and wear it like Kiera or Freja, carelessly thrown around your neck.
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Dissecting White Leggings

You either love 'em or hate 'em. Live in them or cross yourself when you pass by their rack in Urban Outfitters.
I'm personally pro-legging, they're far more comfortable than pants and since I'm trying to cultivate a look of culture and class wearing something rather than nothing with short dresses helps the image.
So it started with the black legging. Simple enough, you threw them on under frocks that were more shirt than dress, hoping you could get away with it. Then you layered them with your Burberry (posers) rainboots and Frye boots.
But the rush of never having to wear pants made you crazy, so you bought leggings for fun, not just warmth and practicality. Lace on the bottoms of your leggings then patterns and now...color.

I have a serious problem with all of the white leggings I see on my daily walks to class. I may be wearing sunglasses so dark nobody knows if I am acknowledging their existence but trust me...I notice you.

My stunning friend HK is an example of how TO wear white leggings. She wears a brilliant turquoise tunic complemented by her rich coffee tone.
Since she:
a. has beautiful coloring
b. is wearing color
c. has a slender frame
d. is wearing shoes with a slight heel (result: toner calves) and
e. is wearing a long dress, not just a "long shirt," HK does not err.

I think the college girl is now searching for the "spring legging" and I want to let you know that unless you fulfill all of the criteria above, the only spring legging you should rock is the same pair you wore all winter: black. White leggings accentuate wobbly bits so why do that to yourself?
Just let your legs enjoy the sun and walk away from the white leggings. Please.

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Lohan in Léger

Even though my favorite movie of her was when she wasn't overly tanned and over exposed, oh the days of The Parent Trap, I still adore Lindsay Lohan. She's always willing to throw on something zesty and provide us with something to read on perezhilton.com during sleep inducing lectures (you know you do it too).
It doesn't matter if she's groping delicious British men on a beach or denying rumors of a coke addiction, Lohan was voted #1 on Maxim's hot 100.

I'm not sure if she's deserving of this number one spot, but the amount of publicity she garners for a trip to Jamba Juice proves there are enough Lohanophiles that agree with her placement.

I love her Hervé Léger bandage dress. The dress fits like it was sewn onto her body and the different colored strips are fun. It's a bit shocking with violent swaths of yellow on her hips but when you're young you should be able to wear something daring, skipping the lbd.


Lohan's worn vintage Léger before. This is the counterpart to the voluminous frocks drowning the PYT's. This look is more classic but as Maxim's #1 hottie, her previous flirty pick was definitely more appropriate.

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What Not to Wear on a Magazine Cover: Beyonce

I was perusing CVS when this magazine cover shocked me out of my routine browse. Even Maxim's cover seemed tasteful in comparison to this Vibe. (A Nicole Scherzinger doppleganger, you should check it out)
Beyonce is undeniably a stunner but when she takes her mother's House of Dereon taste to heart, drama ensues.
Shes wearing the Chanel sequin panty-shorts that Sienna Miller debuted at her Factory Girl party. It didn't look good on a twig so I am confused why Beyonce would think teeny shorts would flatter her curvy figure.


The shorts awkwardly bunch which tends to happen when you wear sequined panties. (Don't ask me how I know.)
She's trying to work the whole "sexy when wet" look but it looks like she's rockin a jeri-curl 'do and consumptive eye makeup. Her shirt also looks uncomfortably tight, strapping in her breasts.
As a stylish male friend of mine, EM, said, "She looks like she got beat up." And when you're on the cover of Vibe, why would you rock a look that thugs put together instead of a fabulous designer.


It's not like Beyonce doesn't know how to work the sexy when wet act, she did it for Sports Illustrated. I think its all in the eyes. She bores into the reader with her steady sultry gaze. Her hair also looks naturally wet, as if she just rolled in the sand after a romp in the water. Unprocessed and natural suits Beyonce better.

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