Gallery Girls

 

Watching a whole TV show in two days is a very good and valid sign that you are probably addicted. I never had issue with pretentious self-absorbed people, weirdly I even some times tend to not necessarily relate to them, but certainly understand where they are coming from.

The insanity and vanity that derives from such show as Gallery Girls is indeed of a greater scale. No art major should be allowed to make such as statement as Banksy being their favourite artist. It’s like saying that you love music and your favourite song is the Titanic’s theme. Shame!

I don’t really know if this post is to actually push people into watching the show, but at I owed it to myself to at least publicly admit that I do.But the wit and irony behind the editing that went on with the show is amazing. Kudos to the person who thought that the lives of these people are actually worth documenting, as it is indeed a very different perspective on art and the people who promote and eventually buy it.

To be honest I didn’t manage to pick up a great deal of un-heard artists like I wished I would, but at least I had the opportunity to indulge in some excellent styling – some of these girls do really know how to dress! So I would indeed recommend it for people who want to look at some very attention-seeking dress-ups (giant hat and nipple tape alert!!)

One of the protagonists actually writes/photographs for Refinery 29, so it can’t be all bad, non?

Tales of Lust & Romance

or The 50 Shades Collection.

 

Falling into the “making” path once more I created a lovely, yet intricate (mainly because of the fabric and not my impeccable sewing skills) tank top. I got the fabric last year from New York and had it laying around forever until I decided to use it. The photographs are again part of the summer project I had at uni. The dress Marianna (my new model) is wearing is from Ragged Priest’s winter collection inspired by my guilty pleasure of the summer – instant mega-hit 50 Shades of Grey.

I thought, of course, that 50 Shades is not the appropriate inspiration behind a collection, so to refine the lookbook a bit I went with using quotes from Tess of the D’Urbervilles, a book by Thomas Hardy, about a strong, young girl that is a bit too innocent and unprepared for the world, which I also sort of used as a theme for the photoshoot, with the clashing chiffon and leather combinations.

The Candy Collection

I did my presentation at uni today…

 

 

 

Working on my summer project for the university I had the chance to experiment with one of my favourite mediums – photography and visuals! Surprise, surprise! The thought behind my most recent creation is creating a mock-up campaign for one of my favourite upcoming brands. I suppose you read about my fascination with Ragged Priest, so I’m not gonna go more into that (again!) I just restyled some of their products, mixing them up with some of my own stuff and Marianna’s (my model’s) lovely shoes.

The lovely lines and poem that you can see in my mini lookbook are from one of my favourite romantic poets, William Wordsworth. He talks about the eternal beauty of Nature and the therapeutical effects it can have on children. The first poem also ties in the theme of death and loss, which is really intricate and interesting and I think goes well with the edge that the clothes of Ragged Priest give off.

Teaser

Cracking up with my summer project, I decided to work on a couple of photo shoots to work on my styling and photography skills. Since I’m still working on some of the images on photoshop I wanted to keep it a secret, but here’s a small Instagram teaser to keep your on your feet. x

You need a fashion shower

Engraved into my head as it is, here is Anna Dello Russo’s music video to promote her series of accessories for H&M that debuts in a few weeks. She models the products throughout the clip, while rapping with her utterly strange and very italian pronunciation. “You need a fashion shower…”

Suri’s Burn Book

I think we all remember the 2004 film Mean Girls… And maybe we all thought about re-creating their so-called Burn Book, a secret notebook where the Plastics would dish on what they hated about everyone, more often their style choices. So imagine my surprise when I stumbled across a hilarious Tumblr, that’s supposedly in the form of Burn Book entries written from the viewpoint of Suri Cruise.

The youngster did indeed establish herself as a fashionista, with styling choices that are supposedly her own and does seem to have quite the potential in that area. But, as most of her photographs and also the testimonies of people who work for her and her recently-broken-up family, she does seem to be… well… not the easiest to please. So the sarcastic comments on other celebrities’ kids, like Rachel Zoe’s son and Ben Affleck’s daughter are more than just witty. There’s also some sort of sick adoration for the face of Mad Men child-star Kiernan Shipka, can you say “nasty”?!

FFT

A few days back, and after long discussions about my future, I decided on trying to build a more industry-specific body of work, and since I want to get into fashion writing more than anything else I thought what better way to do that then to show my knowledge and passion about current fashion publications. So after thinking long and hard about what I should do to achieve that a thought came to me. I shall, of course, start another blog where I could comment on what I find interesting (in a good or a bad way) in the magazines that I read.

So I started the Fashion Flip-Through, hoping that it would be something that’s not been done so much in the oh-so-repetitive world of blogging. So far, I’ve done a couple of posts about articles from i-D and Company and I’m hoping that I will have the time to do more soon.

xx Jo

Weird Science

After their first ever exclusive denim line, the Kink, a high rise rock chic line of coloured jeans that seem to capture the needs of every modern day girl perfectly with shapes that hug the figure nicely and would flatter pretty much anyone, and an amazing colour palette, online retailer Nasty Gal is now aiming in having a sell-out of their Fall 2012 collection, entitled Weird Science.

The line is, of course, infused with what a Nasty Gal lover would find exceptionally appealing. Combining elements like soft feminine fabrics and tones, and also some rocker chic staples that could compliment any outfit, the line is destined for success. But because Nasty Gal is known for their risk-taking philosophy in pushing the boundaries to sell something appealing to a market that might be not-quite-there-yet and make it the next trend, there are those surprise pieces that might just leave you wondering if you should splurge. I am specifically talking about the Fuse Shag Jacket in Ombre, a rug-looking jacket in bright tones.

The retro that they tried to convey through the lookbook is amazing, so endearing and captivating. It definitely gets you in the mood for at least looking at what they have to offer. Me? I’m only contemplating the ASCII Leather Moto Jacket with Fringe and the oh-so-playful Wired Skater Dress in Black!!

Andy Warhol inspired Make-Up

Of course I’d say YES to that!

Francois Nars is of course the genius mastermind behind this very collection, which is actually separated in two pieces – a more commercial one to be sold exclusively by Sephora and an urban, editorial version to be sold worldwide in department stores that sell NARS products. The collection for Sephora will launch on October 1st, whereas the other one will launch a month after, on November 1st and will coincide nicely with the exhibition at the Met focusing on the influence Warhol had to other artists.

The creative director of the brand explained that he first saw Andy Warhol’s pop art piece at the ripe age of 12 or 13 and was instantly drawn to the bright and vibrant colours – who can blame him? And thus decided to make his first big limited edition collaboration all about him. Creating new vibrant colours inspired by the artist’s work and using some of Warhol’s artworks for the packaging.

Some of the pieces that will potentially fly off the shelves and you should, in my humble opinion, fly to get your piece are the Debbie Harry Cheek and Eye Palette for $65 and the Kiss Mini Larger Than Life Gloss Coffret for $55.

 

I also visited the NARS page and they have a cute teaser trailer for you to watch until they update the page with products and details. xx

Half a year as a journalist

It’s actually been more than 6 months since I started working for a national magazine, writing small pieces about current fashion news and small lightweight celebrity gossip, mostly involving Hollywood as I care too much about not getting at the bad side of everyone; especially not during my first years of work.

I’ve been doing quite well, mostly receiving praise for my work and having more than 20 articles published in the magazine’s website so far, and recently a couple of articles in the print version with my biggest work being in the prints for the September issue.

Interning at the magazine’s offices for a week there are a few things I’ve learnt that certainly helped me understand journalism a lot better and that  I’d like to share with you.

1. Try to blend in with the office dress code. Although casual is not really my thing, I had to adapt for the week I was working there. My first day at the office I turned up wearing harem pants and a chic, grungy sweater with studded pumps and an oversized vintage Cavalli bag. I couldn’t be more out of place – the air conditioning wasn’t working properly, so by the end of the day I was sweating like I had run a marathon.
2. Ask if there’s a PC allocated for you beforehand. Not all office spaces, and especially when it has to do with journalism have a PC or a Mac for everyone, some journalists – like me! – are control freaks and they like to work from their own laptops. So companies only supply computers to the ones that decide they need them. My first day at work I did not think to bring mine, so I spent the day being bored as hell.
3. Never say no. Always jump each opportunity of doing anything they ask you to do. Even if you do it wrong, you’re just an intern so how bad can things be? And plus, they wouldn’t give some big responsibility to someone they wouldn’t trust, so you’re safe either way.
4. Keep your ears open. Working in the journalism field there’s always some interesting news that reporters know and won’t write about because they can’t – they’ll either piss off celebrities that have strong ties with the publication house, or they got paid NOT to do so. This is the kind of gossip that’s usually extremely dirty and fun to listen to (and most certainly to share with your friends!).
5. Make friends. Do try to socialise as much as possible, even if you’re gonna be there for a short amount of time. It’s always good to know friends in the right places and you never know who’s gonna help you out in the future.
6. Getting on someone’s bad side is definitely NOT a good idea. There always are some people at the office who dislike the interns and tend to treat them like insects – either ignoring them completely or even treating them badly. Try to ignore and avoid them as much as you can, that way you are sparing yourself from bitter looks and ironic conversations.