leaves and feathers

 

feather print dress, kenneth cole reaction (thrifted by my mom); jacket, danier; cardigan, bcbgmaxazria via winners.

i moved into a new neighbourhood and it is very pretty in the fall!

blue brows

 

 

skirt pjk via winners (gift); silk tee via winners; sandals last year's zara; bag, danier; blue mascara, sephora

as far as beauty statements go, coloured brows are still considered pretty out there in the real world (i am in denial about this), but i find the look more striking and lower maintenance than many 'statement' makeup looks i just don't have the time or patience to attempt. this was the second day in a row wearing my electric blue sephora mascara on my brows and it had already faded a bit, but i still wanted to bring it out by pairing it with an equally violent shade of blue in my outfit. thus the unveiling of my favourite new tshirt, an example of a staple i am trying to collect more of - the silk crepe tee. i love that the colourblocking, hem and fabric make this more than just an ordinary tshirt, but the cut is so easy i don't need to worry about looking or feeling too fussy. same goes for this skirt, which is so much easier to wear than the average white skirt due to the butterfly print which hides all manner of stains and evils.

note on the hair ribbons: they're becoming a bit of a signature for me now because, taken by nostalgia, my mom suddenly remembered i used to wear ribbons in my hair during my childhood and started sending me tons of them. now i can coordinate them with all my outfits and make my ponytails look a little less sloppy.

on why i hate miuccia prada and why hypocrisy is hailed as "creative genius"

my hatred for miuccia prada (or, maybe more accurately, the fashion community's reverence for her) has been simmering for a long time. that anger got a little hotter when another one of my least favourite fashion icons, scott schuman, linked to an interview with her in the new york times so disgustingly worshipful that it made me cringe, and i wanted to write about it at the time, but got sidetracked. i was recently reminded of it again following the critical response to her recent s/s14 womenswear collection, as well as the shitstorm that surrounded rick owens' collection, shown just days later.

it's hard to know where to begin on this topic, and not only because prada's opinions and artistic voice are so inconsistent that it is hard to keep track of all the things she has done and said wrong. a meltdown about having to create costumes for plus sized opera singers comes to mind. but hey, at least it's not galliano level, right?

well, no. in many ways everything about miuccia prada is predictable, trite, and boring. but that's what makes it so upsetting that everyone from novelists to fashion-obsessed teenagers treats her as the goddess of fashion. what is her contribution, really? according to the nyt interview, "Miuccia Prada is a fashion designer by profession, but she’s also an art curator, film producer, fledgling architect, conflicted feminist, avid consumer and unreconstructed socialist." I find this introduction interesting in light of everything she says in the interview that follows, which seems to strike down most of these claims.

i am having difficulty identifying what exactly is socialist about her. apparently she was a member of the communist party decades ago, and she rambles on at length about how fashion is the most democratic art and the poor can emancipate themselves with clothing, but mentions that she's "not really interested in clothes or style." she is, apparently, interested in the analysis and deconstruction of all the various images of femininity, but insists she's a businessperson and not an artist. the relevance of her clothing, she insists, can be measured by just how willing people are to take money out of their pockets and pay for it. oh, and not by how much it's emulated by your average working class woman on the street? i'm sorry, i guess i misunderstood something.

i would argue that the people paying for her clothing are generally those least poised to understand all the different concepts and images of women, since anyone who can buy her clothing is limited to a very narrow range of class and wealth and, therefore, social experience. furthermore, i doubt that the people who buy her fashion do so because they want to be counterculture or revolutionary. they are the people who benefit least from revolutions. prada's clothing is weird, and therefore identifiable. no one in the know can mistake someone wearing prada, nor can they be under any illusion about how much it cost, or what that personal branding means. poor people, unlike miuccia prada, may find emancipation in clothing, but rather than doing so by emptying their pockets they generally do so with style. miuccia is, of course, too good for style, and too good for democratic fashion. she cares about the zeitgeist not at all, and her clothes are deliberately impossible to knock off convincingly, or remove from the image of her brand.

and as a feminist she certainly seems conflicted - stating first that  she thinks "this question of aging will define the society of the future" but, when questioned about why she doesn't hire older models, she follows up this statement by saying "mine is not an artistic world, it is a commercial world. I cannot change the rules." on the topic of her daring aesthetic, she goes on to say: "I tried to listen to others and it was all wrong. I have to do what I think is right." well, interesting. enough courage to put spoons on her clothing and call it social commentary, but not enough to hire anyone over 25 to walk the runway.

perhaps her most admired piece of social commentary was her last collection at mfw, where she put fur coats down the runway for spring, most of them covered with graphic art of women's faces and featuring bedazzled external bra appliques, presumably both meant to make an important feminist statement of some kind. at least everyone reporting on the collection seemed to think it was, indeed, a deeply feminist collection inspired by riot grrl culture, despite the fact that almost all of the models were rail thin, white, and in their teens, and despite the fact that most riot grrls probably wouldn't torture themselves by wearing legwarmers and fur coats in summer.

 prada ss14 (image source: www.fashion156.com)

here's what tim blanks had to say about the collection: "The last time feminism enjoyed any popular currency might have been with the Riot Grrrls in the early nineties." he also stated in his review for style.com that miuccia made "feminist statement that, in the light of the contemporary denigration of the very notion, came across as radical." i don't know where he got the idea that feminism enjoys no popular currency, but what is so deeply disturbing to me about this review is that millions of people likely read it and maybe even took it on faith that miuccia is a revolutionary who brought feminism back to the masses with high end fashion that will line her pockets and do nothing for the oft-exploited children who model the clothes.

 rick owens ss14 (image source: totokaelo.com)

in contrast, when rick owens sent his clothes down the runway on mostly black, "plus sized" step dancers who performed directly on the runway, all people could talk about was that they made ugly faces while dancing, that there weren't enough white models, and that they were fat. it didn't matter that the clothes looked amazing on these talented athlete-artists, that they were practical and held together beautifully in motion, because the very idea of putting clothes on larger women of colour took all attention away from the design. the casting of rick owens' show was seen as a gimmick and feminism was barely mentioned. in what was one of the truest democratizations of fashion i've seen in a long while, the fashion was ignored. the fashion was there, and it was masterful, but it didn't make an impact and neither did the crushing irony of the popular and critical responses to the show. rick owens certainly has less clout in the industry than miuccia does, but apparently he has the courage not to use 15 year old blonde waifs in every single show. it's too bad that whenever a designer actually shows some interest in the kind of women who might actually wear their clothes, rather than analyzing theoretical women, it is only the women's bodies, and not the fashion, that get mentioned.

that's what fucking sucks about the fashion community. for the most part, it's just one big dishonest circlejerk that lines rich people's pockets while hailing them as the leaders of popular discourse on femininity. and as long as this is the case, there will be no real political discourse on femininity or on anything else in fashion, just commerce masquerading as art.

black white and sporty

jacket and skirt, joe fresh; top, buffalo via winners; necklace, zara; shoes, jeffrey campbell.

the summer capsule wardrobe

recently I realized I have too many clothes, and it's ruining my style. I can't find anything in my wardrobe because it's so packed, and everything is double-hung. unseasonal clothes are crammed into suitcases under the bed and garments are piled on chairs and thrown on the floor. at some point, navigating my wardrobe became so difficult that i dressed almost exclusively off the floor - whatever i had pulled down and maybe worn for a few hours would become my go-to garment for the next week, or two, or three. the rest of what i had was rotting away and i would find things i didn't realize i owned on a weekly basis. i needed a change.

the 'capsule wardrobe' is something that has appealed to me for a long time, but it has also terrified me. maybe because i didn't have a lot to wear when i suddenly started to like fashion, i developed a hoarding mindset about clothes where i would take what i could get, which at the time meant more outfit possibilities. later, i had a hard time defining my style to myself and dressed completely differently every day based on my mood, so the endless possibilities served my purposes well. the idea of paring down my closet to a few key pieces seemed unrealistic after a decade of hoarding (and taking very good care of) clothing, and, more importantly, my apartment is so tiny i don't really have anywhere to store the rest of my clothes except my closet. and i like them all.

last year this was already becoming a problem so i purged everything i didn't love/wasn't wearing and tried to sell it, but i was still left with too much clothing that i do like and do eventually intend to wear. so what did i do?

nothing, until now. as i've mentioned before i've been going through some pretty intense changes in body shape in the last few months and since the winter i have been unable to squeeze myself into most of my clothes. this made the whole jumble of clothes in my closet seem, increasingly, like my enemy. i would spend an hour in there and not find anything that fit.

so finally, when i realized i had an old ikea clothing rack left over from last year's clothing sale, i did it. that is, i did the next best thing... a temporary capsule wardrobe separated from the rest of my clothes. the rack is moveable so, although it takes up space, i can move it around when it gets in the way. it couldn't be that bad, right? i really only resolved to give it a 'test run' for a month and revisit the idea later.


it's been a month and i thought this would be a good thing to write about. to start off with, some of the things i have in the capsule wardrobe:

zara; handmade in greece; handmade in greece

 these three pairs of flat sandals became my go-to shoes this summer because they're all comfortable, in neutral tones, and with classic shapes that are a little different than the typical sandal. the foam sole and thick straps of the white zara sandals gives outfits a modern and athletic vibe, while the lace-up sandals strike me as kind of mythological looking. i also wore my white and pink oxfords frequently since they are both made of soft, supple leather and of course, they're flat. i can't bring myself to wear heels in the summer.

thrifted silk dress (unlabeled)

 this printed silk slipdress is one of a few i have in my closet which fit me this summer, but i think the others were featured in earlier outfit posts. i am really drawn to breezy, feminine silk dresses in classic silhouettes for the summer since they are really the easiest outfit to put on and the easiest to transform with accessories. this one is also blue and white, my favourite colour combination ever (this is one thing that has not changed over the years). it reminds me of pottery.

 

winners; winners; buffalo via winners

 i think i have mentioned before that i love the flattering shape of a wide, short top, especially with high-waisted bottoms. but i also like to show a hint of my figure, so my favourite oversized tops are made of sheer lace and chiffon which gives a light, shrouded effect that i like in every season.

winners; mexx outlet

 and of course as far as tops go, indestructible silks and cottons (especially in white) are my favourite option for when i want an outfit to be effortless but perfect. i don't think i ever feel ugly or awkward in a good silk blouse and they go with everything i try them with.

club monaco; zara

 speaking of things that go with everything, i've been on a quest for a perfect white cotton tank or tee for... probably years, and i am really hard to please because i have all sorts of neuroses about the cut of the neckline and the thickness of the fabric and how soft it is and how it fits but somehow i finally managed to find a white tank i love, on sale at zara. the asymmetric tank above matches my skin exactly (to the point that it's creepy) and fits perfectly as well, but what i really love about it is that it's made of cupro, which is a fabric i've just recently seen in stores. it feels like space-age silk and wears really well, and i can drop my anti-synthetic bias for it gladly.

club monaco lingerie

 loose silk shorts (and pants) have been my go-to bottoms this season, as i'm sure you can tell if you have seen any of my outfit posts recently. they're more flattering than skirts are with my current body type and are easier to pair with strangely silhouetted tops, but they're so comfortable they feel like sleepwear (or in this case, they literally are sleepwear). and i've been wearing them printed to add some visual interest, whether i'm wearing a white top or several other prints at once.

zara via ebay

 this silk kimono has been my single favourite item of clothing this season because 1. it looks and feels like pyjamas, 2. it goes with everything, and 3. it makes me forget all my insecurities on days when i just don't want anyone to see my legs, or waist, or anything.  this is an alternative to the usual 'blazer' that goes into a capsule wardrobe, because i don't really like blazers and because i don't work in an office (well, i do, but not that kind of office).

calvin klein via winners; wacoal via winners

and the most important thing, for me at least, is good underwear. i find it hard to find bras in my size (32DD), especially ones which aren't padded and cleavage-creating, and it's really important for me because of how many sheer tops i wear. my underwear needs to be at least as beautiful as the shirt i'm wearing. a basic black bra goes with every outfit, and the brighly printed calvin klein bra above gives monochrome outfits some visual interest. the straps are also so pretty i can actually wear it with dresses made for small-breasted girls who don't need bras, and it doesn't ruin the effect entirely.

with these things in my mini wardrobe, i barely needed anything else. i grabbed blouses or dresses from my 'real' wardrobe every few days to pair with things on this rack, but then i usually knew exactly what i wanted and didn't bother going through things that didn't fit my body or the weather. and i stopped wearing outfits i didn't like. i began to wear things i loved every single day.

the best part about having about 20-30 items on a rack (and a little shelf) within easy reach was that it took me no time at all to get dressed in the morning, even when i woke up 10 minutes before work started or was late to meet someone to go out. i was confident that everything there fit, and it all goes together. and since the rack is not packed full, it was easy to hang clothes up again rather than throwing them on the floor and wrinkling them.

the main caveat is that all this was only possible because i have found my style developing more consistency lately. i don't feel much like playing with drastically different styles and moods anymore, as having a style identity seems to give me more confidence than being a chameleon once did. if i wanted to switch styles frequently and wear a lot of trends, i don't think it would have been easy.

but as it is, i think i will continue this experiment past the end of the month and i'm actually excited to put together a capsule for fall, which will look very different. look forward to a post on that too, and hopefully it won't be as long and rambling!

what about you? do you like the concept of a capsule wardrobe? how do you choose what to wear every day? i'd love to hear from my readers. cheers, and see you in 2 weeks after my vacation!

two ways to wear a lace skirt II - for work

skirt, zara; blouse and shoes, gap; jacket, ellen tracy via winners; bag, bcbg via winners; necklace, joe fresh.

for the second instalment in my little series of posts about styling this skirt, here are some photos of how i wore it to work and out for coffee afterwards - with a floral applique blouse, suede oxfords and a messy looking tweed jacket. as you may have noticed, i feature this $5 necklace a lot in my outfits because it's big enough and neutral enough to stand out against kind of awkward necklines and dull colours very well, and i'm not worried about losing or breaking it since it was so cheap. the shoes were a purchase i made with greece in mind but i ended up not wearing them much there because it was so dusty; they're perfect for urban montreal and it feels like i'm wearing socks on my feet, not shoes.

again i went with the white floral embroidery on the bottom and on the top and pastels all over which is normally not my thing, but this time i think the clashing textures and chunkier jewelry give the whole outfit a more grown up and deliberate vibe despite the fact that it kind of looks like something a 5 year old would put together. oh well, sometimes the day just calls for styling that's as saccharine as possible.

this will be one of my last outfit posts in the next two weeks since i'm heading out camping until the end of august, but i'll try to squeeze in a couple posts before i'm back. cheers!

what's silk and printed all over?

silk bow-back blouse, gap; silk shorts, zara; tweed jacket, ellen tracy via winners; sandals from an artisan in greece. 

when i'm not wearing white in the summer i'm wearing mixed prints and here is a perfect example of my go big or go home mindset. not only are both these silk pieces printed, they're also both textured. the shorts have a shell pattern kind of embossed onto them and the blouse has swiss dots. look carefully. i don't know what that's all about but apparently the new cool thing to do is to put completely unrelated prints and textures both on the same fabric. whatever, i love texture. the more the better, hence the tweed.

and for my feet, these sandals, which were about 15 euros and a last pair and they actually repaired them for me in the store. i think they're one of the most unique pairs of sandals i've seen while simultaneously looking really classic. sorry about the chipped toenail polish - if you knew me you would know that i am the worst ever at personal grooming (see earlier posts about this).

and look at the back on that blouse! isn't it cute?

birthday (space)suit

sweatshirt, necklace and sandals, zara; shorts, club monaco.

 i got a few things at the various season-end sales around my birthday and so i decided to make my entire birthday outfit out of these gifts (either from others or to myself hehe) with pretty weird results. i've been really drawn to light colours recently so here i put the silhouette and detailing first, with a combination of hard+soft, armoured pieces and sleepwear. one part of comfort is the physical feeling and fit of clothing but another part of comfort for me is in choosing outfits that desexualize people's perception of my body especially when a lot of it is on display. the easiest way to do this is to choose silhouettes and fabrics that look 'unnatural.' i thought it was cute that my roommate had a lot of similar elements in his outfit.

lines

dress, hurley via winners; top via winners; shoes custom fitted in greece; necklace, topman. on my roommate: tee and hat, zara man.

it's been sweltering hot in montreal lately so i wore this breezy silk dress under a chiffon top to protect my skin from the sun. the shoes were custom fitted by a sandalmaker in athens whose shop was hidden in one of the sketchiest neighbourhoods ever, but his shop was so crowded that it was impossible to get in and try things on. he's a real artist. i posted about it on my tumblr last summer, and i finally get a chance to wear them!

cheers!