This Helsinki-based brand called "CTRL" is my new flavor of the week. Just about every piece in their Fall/Winter 2011 collection is on my wish list. The casual-chicness of their designs is something that will appeal to all young, modern urbanites that are looking for smart-cut, comfortable clothes that have a bit of attitude or humour in them.
Below are my favorite picks from their look book. For those who live outside of Finland, fear not - they sell clothes online too!
Let's face it - the world is in a bit of a shithole these days. Fortunately, there are some folks who see the more optimistic side of things, or at least get off their lazy butts to help those less fortunate than them.
On that note, I want to call attention to Japan - the natural disasters that have struck this Asian island country are at historical proportions. It is very saddening to hear the news of families gone missing, people reported dead, and those who are at risk from nuclear radiation. One of the best win-win situations for all parties involved is to purchase yourself a goodie from sellers on eBay, such as a Phillip Lim black/gold leather jacket or an Anna Sui dress, where 10 to 100% of all proceeds from the selling item will go towards a relief fund for Japan from GlobalGiving.
For those of you still in your college years and are looking for ways to save when it comes to your textbooks, CampusBookRentals.com has teamed up with Operation Smile, an out of this world, awesome organization, that performs life changing cleft lip surgeries on children whose families could not otherwise afford it. The long term improvement in quality of life for the children that receive these surgeries is almost incomprehensible. The online retail-errrrr....I mean "renter," has committed to donating enough to cover a minimum of 1,000 life changing surgeries. They hope to beat that number, but it's a pretty significant commitment. For every book rented starting now, they will donate a portion of those proceeds to Operation Smile with their sights set on meeting and exceeding their goal of 1,000 lives changed. So add that extra book to your cart, and consider this goal next time you are looking for textbooks.
Just remember some things the next time you need to enter into a monetary transaction: 1) Can I buy/rent this online? 2) Is there a way to have my purchase/transaction go towards a charity? 3) Do I want to feel less guilty about spending money?
If you answered "Yes" to all of the questions above, then get on the internet, do some investigating, and purchase whatever chotchkees you need and win some karma points.
It's been over 2 weeks since Charlie Sheen has drunkingly launched himself into the media's center stage. He has added new buzz words like "Winning" and "Tiger blood" into the current American lexicon. And now he will become the joke of T-shirts, canvas bags, stickers, buttons, and other tangible goods all across this great country of ours.
The first thought I had when I saw this collection was "Jeremy Scott's British twin makes clothes. Radness." Why Jeremy Scott? The local cultural references (ie: Union Jack and tartans), the youthfulness of the collection, the ready-to-wear ability of the pieces, glitter finished plaids upping the campy factor, and the cartoonish humor from the jumpers sporting statements like "Holy Crap" along with the spider web hosiery and skeleton graphics. All those characteristics speak to me as Jeremy Scott.
The distressed, punk-sensibility attitude of the garments also made me think of the punk character "Vyvyan" that was on the early 80s Brit-com The Young Ones. Except the clothes in this collection are probably a bit too refined for the scabby character due in part to the glossy finished plaid shorts, trousers, jackets, and dresses.
ASHISH did hit the distressed trend right on its head, allowing the collection to have a dash of heroin-chicness to perfectly coincide with the overall punk theme from his latest showing during Autumn/Winter 2011 London Fashion Week.
And I am loving ALL of the Creeper shoes his models wore down the runway.
Since the House of Christian Dior recently fired designer John Galliano due to his drunken, anti-Semitic remarks he made last week, there's been a lot of attention around the French label and the British designer lately.
I was sent a link today to the video above, featuring Marion Cotillard and Sir Queen Ian McKellen for the French fashion house, and started to do a bit of digging into their films. This led me to watch at least this first clip a few times as I was trying to get the plot of this video. So, Marion is some sort of magical lounge club performer, that can heal the handicapped with her voodoo booze and play muse to artistic carpenters - all in good ol' Londontown.....yup, that's all I took from it. Sue me.
I honestly don't know what to say about this video except some parts I thought were visually cool, like her Katy Perry wig in the dressing room. But the plot of the story - what's it all about? How the Dior woman is confident and sexy? I guess healing elderly, handicapped people via intoxication/seduction is totally cool and practical these days?
The next video I stumbled upon features one of my all time favorite dreamboats - Jude Law. Guy Ritchie directed this clip and it feels sooo obvious he would. You can always tell something is the doing of Guy Ritchie when it seems to involve something that has this underground, sneaky crime/mafia-esque dialogue, topped off with a British accent.
The short film is called "Un Rendez-Vous." I guess the point of this film is to say - "My cologne is so strong, you'll know when I'm near. And that's a good thing." But when I come to think about the story line of the film, is it trying to say that even though the woman acts subservient to Jude Law in most of the clip, at the end we find out that she is really his equal, or his other half? Either way, the woman in this jazz could be a lot fiercer if she didn't have to meet hubby Juddy in a stripper's day uniform, which is a hat, rain coat, underwear, and heels, at least by Parisian standards.
Take a look at the short film below and tell me your thoughts on either of the films - especially if you think I'm full of crap and you just happen to have a degree in film or English or bullshit.
