Project Runway 6: Irina Shabayeva

I know I'm late on the Project Runway 6 thing but I only watched the finale yesterday (boo... shame on me) and was totally impressed by Irina's winning collection. It was so strong and cohesive in comparison to the other finalists (though did love Carol Hannah's opening dress, below).


I loved Irina's concept of it being designed for the modern day New York woman that is battling with the day-to-day city challenges - a strong woman; accompanied by head shields. The details and the shed load of work that had gone into her collection was immense.... knitwear, outerwear, accessories, pleating... just lush! It looked like a collection that would've easily passed off as a LFW triumph. Too much black? Pah - whatever.

Below was one of my favourite looks:


The whole look auctioned for $510 - all in all not that bad if you consider every piece is thrown in. I would wear the whole outfit head to toe.

The shredded bottoms were fantastic:



I was hoping to find some pieces to buy on http://irinashabayeva.com/but no such luck. What I found were flower/butterfly printed jersey mini dresses. Really not the sophisticated finish that I was hoping for. Her holiday '09 and spring '09 collection looked much stronger than the spring '10. With my favourites from the holiday '09 collection being two dresses:


Even the campaign images from the holiday '09 collection is stronger than the spring '10 - perhaps she was too busy with the project runway show hence it flailing.

(Holiday '09 campaign image)

Well, here's hoping that she'll be using the $100,000 investment to good use and we'll be seeing more of the calibre of work on project runway translated to her e-store.

09 Photographic Portrait Prize

After my yummy noodle soup in london's chinatown, I headed over to the National Portrait Gallery yesterday to see the Taylor Wessing - Photographic Portrait Prize.

I love going to see the latest contemporary portrait competitions... there's something so personal and intimate about a photographic portrait that can be so moving - it compells me to pick up a cam and try to emulate what other talented photographers do (but i just never achieve anything half as good and i don't have a good camera).

I wanted to post my favourites - sharing the most moving photographs with my followers. Here they are:


This was part of a series of photographs documenting the livelihoods of regular civilians in Bangladesh. Arif made a living by collecting railway passengers rubbish and selling this on.


This won 3rd prize. The photographer took a series of pics of inmates at a high security prison. He described this subject as distant and almost unresponsive. He later found out he had been sentenced for murder.

This was a commissioned piece to act as the architect's portrait for a magazine. Something about the perfect balance of lighting and saturation captured my attention. Beautiful.


This was from a series of portraits showing various birth defects in Vietnam. I thought this was particularly interesting as the eyes are usually significant into learning about a person through portraiture. There's something very uncomfortable and moving about this image.


I almost started crying in the middle of the gallery when I saw this. (click to see a bigger pic) From the series 'Rape is a Weapon of War' - "Forgotten woman of Genocide" was difficult to look at. The woman's tears and sorrow is clear and the scar from the rape looks brutal.

All photographs and captions courtesy of National Portrait Gallery

the cost of the cut.

(A/W 09 COS)

I adore beautiful draping details, intricate pleats... i find it so frustrating that the beautiful fabrics and the delicate details i lust for are always only available from niche places at middle to high end price points. but from working in the industry i know why...... if you pay only £20 for a dress - don't expect much more than the basic shape and the cloth! More detail, costs money.

Popped into COS today and pleasantly surprised. From the outset it looks so dull and black but the fabrications and the details are so key to this brand. It's these kinds of details I appreciate most.

But what I really fancy at the moment to satisfy my asymmetric/cropped/draped thirst thing... is this Gemma Degara shoulder shell top $172 @ pixiemarket.com

it's so me, down to a T.

this is how you wear VELVET

facehunter in kuala lumpur

b-side

So I've had a massively long break from blogging.
Between now and my last blog - my life has completely changed, I wasn't myself during the s/s 10 shows - so despite attending a few shows thanks to my buyer - i didn't have the energy or enthusiasm to report back. Disappointing and pathetic as this may be... I have to say - morning sickness and the first trimester is not something I recommend. I would've quite happily stayed in bed for the first 4 months of... well you guessed it.

So i'm back!! The usual blabber of things i want to buy, designers i admire, shapes i love... here it is!

I have stumbled across ken & dana design (thanks to refinery29). What beautiful aesthetic and branding. Sculptural shapes are translated into wearable and incredibly luscious pieces:

Geometric gunmetal cube ring $500

Natural amber and brass necklace $195
Brass & smoky quartz earrings $175

God I <3 style="font-weight: bold;">are what I need in my life.

blurb,

feeling uninspired and lost.
need an inspirational trip.

ASOS Ltd 100

god i cannot believe i missed out on this. 100 pieces by LCF students went on sale from 1pm today and i missed it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! jay - the things i do for you are ridiculous.

see Susie Bubble's blog post for the best picks...i'm too upset to write about it myself.

i am...

...massively in love with this 'tube cut out top' $148 by Orphan Age

cue the deep sigh.

one to watch: dirty elitist

I'm becoming increasingly addicted to twitter ... and finding it a useful source for both political and fashion news (and buzzing new companies). Dirty Elitist began following me and curiousity got the better of me.


Dirty Elitist appears to be a new company with the aim of rivalling the likes of pixiemarket.com and newhighmart.com .

It currently holds a very small mix of product but so far the product looks strong. (I haven't yet ordered from there so don't take my words as gospel!) Similarly to newhighmart.com the VM is mixed with some product only, some anonymous models and some editorial shoots... im undecided at the moment what works best or if i like that there is a mixture of presentation.. but i think i sway toward editorial presentation . I think it's important for customers to see product on the body (as a whole) with an aspirational image to make customers desire the product and to look like the model rather than anonymous models in questionably lit studios/rooms...

vs.

Anyway enough rambling.. i like these men's acid wash skinny jeans!

ruffles and loveliness

i <3 ruffle sleeve woven playsuit.. it feels lush and soft and yummy... *swoon*

available at asos.com; £35.