90s looks

sources: google, tumblr

cute kids modeling. 'nuff said.

When I was 6 years old, I can clearly remember the feeling of having a mother that is obsessed with fashion dressing up her one and only daughter (me) in the poofiest of poofy dresses, play clothes with a hat to match every color and pattern of the ensemble. It was a treacherous ride for the, nearly 8 years it took me to learn how to dress myself and develop my own sense of style, which you can imagine went the extreme opposite of the Gymboree or Nordstrom get ups my mom would force me to wear. Though I hated it at the time, I look back on old photos and think, "hey, I looked pretty cute in that polka dot jumper"...and sometimes I even wish my mom continued to dress me throughout middle school where my style got progressively Nike oriented (my tomboy phase). That is why, when I saw this article about the kid models for the Australian line Witchery, I couldn't keep silent.






Circling the world wide web is this photo controversy of the child models posed in Witchery's lookbook for kids. As you can see, the tots are not stanced like Gap Kids models, who are cheery and bubbly - just as kids should be...right?

When I first saw these pictures, I couldn't get over how cute the kids looked in their cargos and booties. My thought process went a little like this: "OMG! ... I would probably wear that ... how cute! ... this is a little weird, though ... I wish I was that cool looking when I was 5 ... I wish I looked that cool now.."

Nowadays, I get the feeling that kids are growing up way too fast. The availability of cell phones, the ridiculous television shows they watch (in comparison, my '90s generation shows had it made), their increased curiosity/experimentation of sex now begins as young as kindergarten, from what I've heard. Knowing this, I was not surprised to see these "disturbing" images from Witchery.

Personally, I love the photos. If anything, it shows how good these kids can model and how chic they look in these clothes. On the other hand, I do see the arguments being made from neurotic parents and children's charity spokespeople that hate the photos. One said, "The whole point of early childhood is to be joyous and free." So true in this case where the child models keep straight faces and hold high-fashion inspired model stances. In all honesty though, do the photographers expect children to act this way naturally? I'm sure a great amount of direction was made to achieve these vogue-esqe images, being that kids run on sugar constantly. Still, it surprises me how good the children are at posing this way, maybe they've been interpellated to believing this is how a model should look like - even at age 5.


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Witchery says "the next generation is here," and it really is. Think of how many child actors we have today.. there barely are any that are at least relevant to me. Still the only person I can think of is Dakota Fanning and to my dismay, she has grown up. Maybe the problem here is not with Witchery, but with society in general - it is moving fast, the economy may not be, but I'm sure as hell that the population is and their obsession with media and technology is along for the ride.

Also, how often was it before (aka 1999) to see kids in gossip magazines for adults? Every other second we see Suri Cruise or the Jolie-Pitt clan on the glossy pages. Do kids even read Bop or TigerBeat anymore? Do those magazines even exist still?

My whole point here is that the images are far from disturbing because they are highlighting the type of grown-ups that kids look up to these days. Models, bikers, hipsters...whatever you see posed in this spread is a reflection of the "coolness" society is heaving on its jovial offspring.

images via The Cut, Witchery

nicole is "priceless"

last wednesday, Nicole Richie came out to The Grove in LA for a book signing to promote her latest, "Priceless"

hoping that I would at least have one companion to travel to West Hollywood with to attend this once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity, my luck was shot as none of my LA friends were available. BUT I had a mission and nothing was going to stop me from meeting my celebrity girl crush. so I made the trek alone.. nervous, anxious, and so fucking excited.

thankfully, I got to Barnes a little early and the line wasn't extremely long, to my surprise. I waited for over an hour and finally...it was time to meet Nicole.

she's seriously even more gorg in person than she already is in pictures or tv...I heart her.

I'm about 5 chapters in and so far, so good! I honestly was not expecting much from her (or I guess, even her ghost writer's) writing skills but the story has me hooked and the dialog between the characters is very amusing and even hilarious at times. I can't wait to read what happens next!

until then, here's a bit of her latest from House of Harlow 1960 tribal collection:

really affordable and chic. to see the full line, visit the Trend Boutique

long live McQueen

Sarah Burton carries on the McQueen name and ever so beautifully. check out her first Spring 2011 collection:








see the rest here

via modelcouture

japan meets paris

this is what happens when you mix the modern and cartoonish art of Takashi Murakami with 17th century artwork at the Château de Versailles in France

while I love the juxtaposition of the two elements, japanese and parisian art, do you think Marie Antoinette would approve?

via apartment therapy

consumerism

there's definitely truth in both sayings, not gonna lie

from the unif spring 2011 collection via

sex sells

I first saw the Sex and the City 2 teaser trailer 6 months ago. As a recent fan of the show (I was too young to watch it in 1999) and one of the many women that saw the first movie more than once at the theaters, it was hard not to contain myself after seeing it. Months went by and I forgot about it but suddenly out of nowhere came a slew of advertisements and promos for SATC2. Everywhere you looked, whether on the side of a bus or on the logo of your Skyy Vodka bottle, SATC2 was everywhere. Most notably was the fashion that inspired department stores like Macy's or Bergdorf's to display tributes in store windows. But while retailers and die-hard fans anticipated the opening of the new movie, a completely opposite thing was occurring among film critics. There is not one review that I found that hailed the film as "better than the first," which is what ads/commercials were promoting (enlighten me if you find one otherwise).



one of my favorite blogs by Julia Chesky, Modelizing featured this display at Bergdorf's. see more here

The problem with these big name pictures or anything in the media these days is the continuous hype that builds up until the value of the product is completely lost. This is exactly what happened with SATC2. Despite the negative reviews and whatnot, fans still did their cosmos and dress-up before heading to the theater. The overly excited person I was 6 months ago completely changed after seeing over 100 ads within a month before opening weekend. I was turned off and decided that I would settle waiting for it on DVD (which I assume will be in a few months anyway). But alas, come sunday night my friend and I had nothing better to do and both hadn't yet seen the film so...

15 seconds into the film and my anticipation for what was about to come grew more and more. My reluctance to watch the film in the first place immediately vanished after an audience of 99% women began to applaud and cheer. This growing anticipation within me was fueled by the 2.0 version of Fergie's "Labels or Love" theme from the first SATC movie. Why was I suddenly excited to see this film? And despite all the terrible reviews I read beforehand? My pre-conceived notions went down the drain from that moment on and I realized that this is a movie that is not meant to be reviewed and criticized by 40 year old men (excuse the generalization). If you saw the film, you can agree that really, there is no point to the film other than to have fun, celebrate the friendship all women love and to film another movie in an "exotic" location. And this is exactly where the problems I have against the film begin.

Aside from the uber cheesy "jokes" and one-liners ("Lawrence of My Labia" is my personal favorite), beneath it all was a layer of different issues that provoke thought on women's rights in & outside America. This layer, however, can easily go unrecognized because each point was then followed by a cheeseball line or a performance by Liza Minelli. I can sit here for hours picking out details that enforce women's rights (Carrie wearing a suit to the wedding, Miranda quitting her job) and in this way, I think the film is great in addressing these issues. But where the film really crosses the line occurs in almost every scene in Abu Dhabi (what really is Morocco..how surprising). The New York women are so fascinated by the culture, and by "fascinated" I really mean appalled. They can't grapple the fact that women are given less rights. They seem to forget that they are not in Kansas anymore...or I guess New York.

Throughout the movie, the idea of women having no voice at the workplace (Miranda), in literature (Carrie), or just in general (the women of Abu Dhabi) played a continuous role in shaping the plot/dialogue. The only problem was that the film ended with no resolution for these "non-rights." Before the women leave Abu Dhabi, they meet a group of women in burqas that have a secret room where a group of women meet...sort of like a book club, but it turns out to be so much more superficial than that. Oddly enough these women reveal that under their burqas are the latest fashions, and all the judgments made against them for tolerating their patriarchal culture are forgotten solely because they are fashionable. For the entire film, the audience is supposed to feel bad for these women that have little to no rights but when they finally reveal themselves & their personalities, they turn out to be completely shallow. From this picture, I concluded that the moral of the story is that everything is ok because in the end, there is fashion. And fashion saves lives.

I don't disagree that fashion is the greatest thing on planet earth (besides water & yoga) but to conclude with the idea that being covered in these burqas restricts women from wearing fashion in public is...pushing it. The very thing that ornamented the show with lustful Loubitins or Manolo Blahniks became the epicenter of the movie. Which is probably why it lacked depth.

I came across this article from Vanity Fair which calculates the price of each Carrie outfit. The total was about $230,000. The photo to the left is my favorite and totals to $12,580. I am almost certain that the only women with a wardrobe that extensive are the Real Housewives of New York. Or the Queen of England. Though the fashion is a rudimentary part of why people watched the movie (for me, personally), the degree of consumerism in every SATC episode or movie is heightened as the years progress. But essentially, Patricia Field plays a great factor in building a SATC fan base. There is no other movie or tv show that is styled so uniquely and expensively. With this comes the number of promos and themed events that reduce the level of importance for the highly feminist plot. People are watching SATC2 for entertainment and that only. And it succeeded in doing so. I did not dislike the film for this reason, but there is still the issue of concluding a film without...well...a conclusion. The women made it back to New York without getting infected with the west Nile virus and that's all that matters. Oh, and more importantly with new $20 pairs of shoes.

If there is anything I took away from this film was that although [some] men will discriminate against me and other women, at the end of the day we have our friends, our shoes, and Liza Minelli.

retail therapy

is there really much truth to this statement? think about it - we can easily spend $700 a month on things we really don't need but make us happy. take me for example. the other day I bought a pair of Steve Madden clogs. originally, I wanted the black pair but the store only had them in a 7½. the size 7's were in brown and they fit like a glove...or in this case the glass slipper. now I had the option of ordering the black pair through the store in my size - the only catch was I would get them a week later. there's a little thing called instant gratification that made me reluctant to order that pair and just settle for the brown because I needed them NOW! $140 later I thought to myself, was that really worth it? when I got home I put on the clogs and although I do love them, there is still a lingering thought in my mind that the black pair would look so cute with this outfit I have..

there is a really good chance that in the near future (or week), I will buy a pair of black clogs. because when I see a pair at a store, a trigger will go off in my mind saying that I don't own a pair and I'll end up buying them. because that's what happens every time I go shopping. "I have skinny jeans but I don't have that wash" or "I have black pumps but I don't have black velvet pumps." the bills add up and sooner or later I'm left with a shriveling bank account. so really..is shopping cheaper than a psychiatrist? people go to therapy in hopes that eventually they'll feel better about life. people engage in retail therapy to feel instantly happy about something...and overtime maybe that happiness only amounts to nothing but an unpaid bill. and maybe one cute outfit.

just a thought.

made in china africa

for the past week, I've had quite the R&R post-undergrad lifestyle consisting of 12+ hours of sleep (in hopes of catching up on the n amount of hours lost over the past 4 years), daily caffino runs, and endless amounts of television. aside from the endless hours of job hunting and resume/cover letter editing, I also fill my days with catching up on the latest style blogs and websites. one in particular, Vogue UK, caught my attention with their article on ethical and sustainable fashion labels. after seeing this gorgeous brass necklace, I was intrigued. made is a jewelry line
produced by independent artisans and small communities in Africa. products are all recycled and reused materials. designers of the line include Peaches Geldorf, Vicki Sarge (of Erickson Beamon), Alexa Chung, and stylist Brian Crumley among many others.

made follows fair trade principles that are so rarely seen in fashion - though I'm not positive about this, even my TOMS shoes are made in China, which is an eyebrow raiser because it's such a good cause yet why are the shoes made in China? by sourcing products in East Africa, made hopes to alleviate poverty "through trade, not aid." the jewelry line is a direct effort from Made Africa which focuses on children and education. the line is surprisingly affordable and the designs are impeccable, unique and best of all, supports a great cause!

here are a couple of my faves:


all are made from either recycled brass, aluminium, bone or handmade raw silk (like the bracelet)
shop more of the collection here

true life: i'm a college graduate

it's been 4 days since graduation. I feel no different, look no older, nor speak more professionally. $40,000 down the drain? not quite. there were multiple times throughout the weekend where I could've bitched someone out for cutting me in line at starbucks or for intentionally shaking my seat on an airplane but I did what any mature adult would do...nothing.

procrastination

anything to keep me away from finishing my senior thesis..















via flickr, emmas designblogg, google, modelizing, collecting children's books, upperplayground


have nothing better to do? watch people get shot by a cupcake cannon.