a lesson worth noten down

i have new favourites. meet lanvin and dries van noten. one's from paris, the other antwerp. dark and elegant but unrelated. the names are thrown around but i noticed not many people know more than that.

dries is elegant and classic european in its style. rich forest greens, eastern european greys, that intriguing mustard yellow and hints of gold make the slightly conservative styles food for your eyes. the models aren't blank canvas's or made to look like albino giraffes. the longer hemlines and large use of tailoring is screaming to the client to bring back the skilled designers not the t-shirt printing christopher kane's.

Lanvin is in the same realm. it's a darker sister of this genre of design. there's still skill, tailoring and draping but its more experimental haute couture. its just such wearable art. it's for grown ups only in its style as the design is not risky or overtly sexy and unappealing to the reality tv stars trapsing hollywood boulevard. its the quiet achiever of the fashion world. the lanvin campaigns confirm this. they always look like a side from a hollywood film, action in the photo sets the mood. Head designer, Alber Elbaz, deserves an encore applause for the direction he's taken with the french fashion house. here's to the new wave of the polished look. out with the 'effortlessly chic', oversized t-shirts and in with..fashion!

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when even a little is too much

This month saw vancouver's finest in fashion strut their stuff. they once again showed the world why they arent a fashion capital. boring, highly conservative cuts were met with a slew of prints that made the models look like they were attacked by a box of origami paper.the designers took the trend of printed fabrics to an extreme when they shouldve only used a hint for a maximum effect.

the hem line of choice was mid thigh, darker shades of green were the favourite and interestingly leather was the repeated material of choice.

surprisingly, amongst the not particularly attractive cuts and colours were a few shining gems. Laura Siegel that recently graduated from parsons shone very brightly as

she showed her talent for draping by manipulating the volumious shapes to give line and shape. She chose a deep earth colour palate for the beautifully unusual garments. there was a definite african influence in her line. natural fibres were used in shades of cream and brown. layering the fine knits created the bulk and were complimented with accessories such as fingerless knit gloves and head scarves.

Carolyn Massey from the UK took a new direction for the british mens style. key notes were layering, tailoring and soft nautical colours such as sea blues and beige. the preppy was met with modern street style of denim, short pant suits and classic sunglasses to polish.

after sorting through the mountain of designers showing at vancouver a hand full were inspirational and a breath of fresh air. the long list included many foreign designers confusingly as i was under the impression that being canada's official fashion week they might proudly show canadian talent??..however my two favourites above werent canadian so perhaps it is a good idea to keep vancouvers fashion week open to one and all especially if we have another origami explosion again next year.

painting my toes

sitting on my steps today i thought about the email i received from a good friend about her success at showing for latvian fashion week. the neutral tones, sheer blouses paired with tailored military pieces. i was surprised at how great it looked. hmm, who knew latvia had a fashion week and on such a big scale? but then again who knew any city outside of the list of paris, milan, new york and london had a fashion week thanks to the press? all i mean to do is point out what goes on with some while we go about our usual business of say painting our toes.

we all move at such different rates. we all leave school. some marry, some dont, some have kids by accident, some reach for the stars and some sit watching the world. i think i fit in the last category. there's something so enriching from observation.

Sarmite's show was a success with interest from leading latvian boutiques and magazines. there were structured dresses with capped sleeves, epaulets used across the body and in multiples to give a feminine look or twist on the traditional. hem lines were high and tailoring the new structure. garments were tailored for the feminie with a tough side. paired with flat boots and high uniform socks the show was strong, clean and showed potential.

the common trends with the designers were clean lines, modern, neutral palettes. just when you thought you felt a yawn coming on a few designers pulled out the bold. the play with shapes was amazing at times and uh..interesting? at others. the colour palette needed a little work for all designer's lines. the designs were great but would've popped a lot better with the impact colour has. neutrals were the favourite for everyone although it would've been great to see more colour somewhere.. oh well, maybe next week?

où appartiens-je ?

..it has been brought to my attention that "this too will pass". sometimes we frame our thoughts and forget that nothing is the be all and end all. i look back and see the difficulties i've experienced and know i could've shaved off a few years of wandering but then again it's not in my nature to regret my actions. i never doubt my decisions and think that the word regret is a silly word.

i often wonder when it was that i lost my confidence. was it at age four when my skin was bandaged to cover the weeping? was it when i was seven and bernice told me courtney was close to being better? or maybe it was much later..when i went back to school and wasn't the brightest kid anymore. sad thoughts used to consume me. the laughing stopped for a long time.

i've always felt that i don't belong here. there's a separation like oil and water that rubs me up the wrong way. but then i wonder where do i belong? where is place that makes me smile and amuses my intellect?

for the time being i think the smaller things in life will have to suffice for my happiness. appreciating the blue sky, being kissed, summer afternoons, having him smile, my curiosity and dreaming of what is to come.

to notice the cobbled streets

On the streets of the campus there are so many students in their own world. You see it in their friends, fashion and smile, or lack there of. There is a slight air of stress and unhappiness like in the"real world" where real people havereal jobs that make them "really happy" (smerk).

So what is it about being on holiday that we stop

and breathe? We cock our heads and look

at the cobbled streets,noticethe coloured shutters. All of a sudden the weather becomes relevant, the people we are walking by catch our attention.

So, why does that feeling slip through our fingers so easily when we return to the norm?

Have you ever noticed no matter how suppressed our happiness and self are you can't help but express yourself often unconsciously? You see it in people being drawn into strange hobbies like dragon boat racing, wearing colours that shouldn't be put together with a print that allows us to imagine the wearer just turned into a large leopard or withdrawing altogether into a book for escape.

How people react to real life is immensely interesting. How people fight the urge to do what they really want is just perplexing.

I wonder.. what would make us stop and throw in the towel? Why do we separate ourselves from our dreams? J'ai deteste being told i can't do something or reach for a far away dream.

It's my dream.

It's my light

It's what makes my life "real".

We should dream more.

Some of my favourite moments happen when I'm pondering.

Whether it's about the new Wang shoes, what I wa

nt from today or how the stranger beside me on the tra

in feels. I think I get something out of inner reflection and love doing it in my spare time. Hmm, did i just realise my strange

hobby that belongs in the same category as dragon boat racing?

when in rome..

Arrivederci a tempo, and ciao ciao to Italia. Sun, wine and fashion fills the streets from north to the most south of Italy. It's not so much fashion but lifestyle that influences their style.

First was Roma. The street lined with the coveted was Via del Corso. Stone buildings as old as time have been transformed into Zara, KiKi and the high end of Ferragamo. All on trend according to Vogue this month. The city attracts the rest of world annually and shows off what the world started as and how far it has come by its youth.

Looking past Rome we were trained to Firenze in the North. Peaceful, clean, with a scent of money in the streets. The streets at night glowed with warm street lights and the young. The mix of europeans are still present here which brings a culture with it. Nike sneakers are big here as they are in Napoli with the punks and the youth. Paired with jeans and a Diesel tee and you're in. Not my kind of...pizza? but a definite style in Florence.

As we moved south the Australian and American accents lessened and the pace people moved at was like time was a fad that had passed. The style was older and more conserved in a blazing bella Italiana. The beauty of Positano and Amalfi could be compared to the mouth gape David gives you from his well detailed...so Sicily on Saint Maria's public holiday is a local culture feast. Thousands of people. Loud western disco (the smaller the car, the louder the music apparently) and old people taking their time makes you stop like ur breathing it all in on the island of Capri.

Making our way down the country gave an insight into the culture change and trends kept and dropped. Blown away and yet more at home with it. Go figure. ciao for now x

a lost dreamer.

"The most exciting attractions are between two opposites that never meet. "
Andy Warhol

Is that what we think about life? We reach for the unreachable, we dream of the unobtainable and get a high from just the thought that our lives could actually be complete. Why do we refuse to obtain it?

There are the few of us that can shine like the stars in the sky but it is those few that can have difficulties in being brought back down to earth to shine. I look towards my troubled idols, Yves, Andy, Basquiat.

I realise they aren't the only talented souls that had to fight for their passion's freedom.

Millions of us wander the streets looking for their passion in life..or just the courage to do what they know they're gifted at. What is it that holds us back? With so much beauty in the world, why are we all sitting on the couch? Who told everyone that the unreachable can't be reached?

Who said I can't be Andy?