Glamour and Glitter

Melanie Bilenker and Hair

Melanie Bilenker is an American artist that works with human hair.  She is inspired by the Victorian tradition of keeping a locket of hair and miniature portrait of a lost loved one.  Instead of formal portraits, she recreates mundane moments by drawing with her own hair.  Melanie's creations are small format, secured under resin, and mainly jewelry pieces (brooches, rings, pendants).

 

Drawing a Bath

 

Chocolate

 

Falling Asleep

Delving further into the Victorian trend, we found amazing examples of this fascinating work.  All kinds of jewelry was created with the hair of dead people.  It was not considered creepy, but rather a sign of mourning.

With the easy access to human hair now a days, we think it would be cool to see embroideries or trims made in it.  Or at least some braided horse hair at Ann Demeulemeester.

80s Alaïa Set

This Alaïa ensemble via Decades consists of a tanktop, belt and skirt.  Knowing Alaïa, the tanktop is probably meant to be crazy tight, but we are loving how it looks on this mannequin.  Could oversize tight clothing be the next step in this Balmain/Herve Leger driven comeback of the sexy 80s trend?  It's still very seductive, in a more relaxed kind of way.  Plus, we think it might make you look skinnier, maybe younger?  Think awkward skinny teen wearing her voluptuous step-mother's clothing!

Sea of Shoes Inspiration

Jane from Sea of Shoes has thrown up a great mood board of some of her favourite images.  Go to her blog for the complete run down.  This girl kind of blows our mind with her fashion forward teenage ways.

Black and White Prints

Did we say Rainbow Prints? ...  Well Black and White Prints were major too.

Givenchy

 

Pucci

 

Phi

Pleasure Principle

Pleasure Principle was created in 2002 by Diva Pittala and Adrian Cowen.  After creating the label People Used to Dream About the Future, the Italian/British duo refocused on the more casual line which has been described as neo-punk, subversive, and casual bondage.  The collection, both mens and womens but mainly unisex, consists of unique jersey pieces, reworked vintage (sometimes embroidered or overdied), and transformable pieces that can be worn in many ways.  Past season Glamour & Glitter favourites include a mens shirt with a scarf of the same fabric sewn into the neckline (replacing the traditional shirt collar), and an oversize sleeveless sweatshirt with a delicate embroidery of a girl tied to a chair - bondage style.

This label defines the way Downtown New York dresses.  It is no wonder they are one of the best selling labels at Seven New York, and huge in Japan.

Looks for Fall 2009

Razor Blade Heart Print for Fall 2009

Adrian and Diva answered the G&G questionaire:

What City or Cities do you live in?  new york

Breakfast?  Lumberjack special

Lunch?  leftovers

Coffee?  tea

Dinner?  skip it .....straight to dessert......

Drinks?  brown liquor only

Dancing?  only after hours

What do you do for fun?  illegal activities

Where do you find inspiration?  from the small pockets of culture that haven't been completely obliterated by social conformities and mainstrem thinking.

Past Season Hits:

Laser Cut T-shirt Fall 2007

Top with Attached Braided Scarf Fall 2008

Long Sleeved Tshirt with Attached Scarf  Fall 2007

Past Prints:

Spray Paint Print Spring 2009

Print inspired by the first published newspaper story on Ecstacy  Fall 2008

Black Light Glitter

Glitter rainbow, glitter drums, glitter spit!  The Yeah Yeah Yeahs almost convince us that Black Light is ok (dandruff, lint, stained teeth be warned)...

Pygmy Baby Seahorse

Coucou little seahorse!  This is just about the cutest argument for the colour Coral we've seen in a long time.  

Summer Exhibitions

Surreal Things, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto

The exhibit explores the Surrealists collaborations with the commercial fields of design, advertising, fashion, architecture, film and theatre.  This exhibit has already made the rounds in Europe (including London and Bilbao), but for its North American run, enhancements have been made.  Key loans of works by Dali, Miro, Magritte, etc. have been made by the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Conneticut, as well as 14 surrealist works from the AGO itself.

Fashion has been a long time lover of surrealism and the collaborations have been numerous.  With rumours of a Schiaparelli relaunch, we can bet her work (and collaborations) are on a lot of designers minds.  Particularly from this exhibit, we see the costume designs of de Chirico for the Ballets Russes inspiring perhaps Marc Jacobs.  The Dali brooch screams Sonia Rykiel.

Salvador Dali Ruby Lips brooch, 1949

Giorgio de Chirico's costume designs for Diaghilev's Le Bal, 1929

Man Ray, Model (Lee Miller) in Dominguez' Wheelbarrow, 1937

Bauhaus; A Conceptual Model, Martin-Gropius-Bau Exhibition Hall, Berlin

With over 1000 examples of the school's work, this is the largest ever Bauhaus retrospective.  The Bauhaus School is an emotional subject for Berlin, having opened and flourished in 1919, and shut down by the Nazi Government in 1933.  The exhibition goes far beyond the familiar Bauhaus Industrial Design style, showing also things like paper cuttings by students and expressionist painting by teachers.

We can see designers being inspired by architectural drawings for prints.  Maybe the Bauhaus design concepts of functionality and simplicity will inspire designers to take a more minimalistic approach next season.

Lis Beyer or Ise Gropius seated in the stell-tube armchair designed by Marcel Breuer, 1926

Eugen Batz, The Spatial Effect of Colours and Forms, 1929/30

a glimpse of the exhibit

Moon Glitter

Preparing for a full moon birthday... That plus the 40th anniversary of the moon landing makes us fantasize about lunar-themed prints...

Princess Glitter

Gold Brocade Fabric and Gold Embroideries at Marchesa for Resort 2010. 

We will forever now associate Blair Waldorf and her prom dress with the label.