beach flair

i am a vampire. aside from the black hair and pale skin, i prefer the night and i love fall and the cold more than i love most anything in the whole entire world. i’m quite sure that i’m the only person in the city of chicago who is thrilled with the inauguration of fall via a twenty degree drop in temperature. i love the feeling of being slightly chilly, all bundled up, and layered layered layered with as much as you care to put on. i found this editorial on discoteque confusion from flair magazine, and i love stevie’s commentary on the brilliance of autumnal clothing and layering in a beachy setting.

stylist sally lyndley’s jewelry styling is unbelievable, and i could happily live in each and every boot found throughout this spread. good styling for fall is an art…moreso than any other season, i believe. with the amount of pieces a stylist has to choose from in the colder months, it’s always amazing to see glam mixed with grunge mixed with elegance, etc etc etc and to see the creation of a completely original look as the result. it’s amazing…i think every shot is brilliant and creative and artistic and all things that make fashion a dream.

karl

check out my review at secondcitystyle.com!

photos taken from: wwd.com

dreaming of lanvin

check out my review on secondcitystyle.com!

photo credits: wwd

chanel’s jade collection

check out my chanel jade collection blog post on secondcitystyle.com!

so much style, cannot handle

images of these impeccably styled beauties taken most lovingly from le fashion

alexander mcqueen fall/winter campaign

this campaign, like most things alexander mcqueen, is a complete orgiastic dream. mcqueen is such a sensational master of presentation…the cracked mirrors, the sultry stares, and the structure of those dresses and that top…are you kidding me? i am obsessed with all things voluminous, draped and overbearing, and would wear everything pictured until it died the death of something that was loved just too, too much.

i’ll be honest, though…i am in deep, deep love with the photo for the men’s collection. it’s part daniel day-lewis in “there will be blood”/part “sweeney todd,” the stage version. its an updated 19th century look that conjures images of burberry, but with an australian rural roughness that’s so sexy i can’t stand it. i love when designers put thought into conceptualizing their campaigns for men. i could care less about campaigns that display male models because they’ve fit bodies. but this, this i could look at all day long.

photos taken from: design scene

coca rocha/korean vogue

this “legend of fall” editorial in korean vogue is incredible. i find the asian aesthetic (in its variance in culture and region) very alluring. there’s a darkness, an edge to the look as a whole, but it’s illuminated by immense bursts of color: brightly hued flowers, a striking red lip, and a lightness to the face. so detailed, and always focused on movement, balance (or imbalance), and the total ambience of the photo. coco rocha looks stunning in these photos, and, although i’ve not been a huge fan of her darker locks, her hair is styled brilliantly.

images from: design scene

in the mood

don’t get me wrong. i loves me some fashion month. but the ultimate downside of the ferocious web-attention it requires is that i spend all of my free time (which, thanks to grad school, is none. i’ve taken to now drinking many cups of coffee around the 7pm hour so as to keep me going through the rest of the night) ogling over style.com, and i neglect the other wonderfully inspirational blogs i usually check on a daily basis. as i was doing some work for my wired writing class tonight, i serendipitously happened upon one of my all-time favorite blogs, moodboard, which always has the most stunning images. in honor of fashion week, moodboard was featuring images of designer’s homes, which were, as you can probably imagine, awash with creative genius. because we all need to shake it up a bit, i want to share some of these photos with you. it’s always fun to look at execeptional fashion, but what’s more interesting than a home that radiates personality and an acute sense of taste and self? as i think of the mess that my poor bedroom has turned into in recent weeks…i say, nothing.

thea bregazzi’s closet, elle (2008)

erin featherston, domino magazine (2006)

marc jacobs, house and garden magazine (2000)

chris benz

chris benz: colored, sequined, beautifully modeled genius.

matthew williamson

i apologize for the diminished posting, all…i launched myself into utter insanity this past week with school and adding on another freelance job, and learned the hard way (finally), that the table in front of the tv needs to stop acting as my homework work space. posts will occur with more regularity…especially as fashion week travels to europe! i’m just keeping my sights set on paris…can’twaitcan’twaitcan’twait!

the shows are pouring out of london at warp speed and when i was writing a column about spring metallics last night, i was absolutely floored by matthew williamson. it’s known that he does amazing things with color, but i’m in love with all of his gems, and sequins and brozen glory. it’s amazing…and you MUST check out the detail shots on style.com, they’re sensational. here are some of my favorite details, followed by my favorite looks:

his take on color is really unbelievable…consistently fresh, and always exuberant without being gaudy. the details of his garments are just sick. it makes you realize how much isn’t translated in photographs.

all photos taken from style.com
–sassafras