Hussein Chalayan

I am in love with these Hussein Chalayan FW '09/'10 boots! What an awesome and incredibly unique designer! More pictures below...

 I especially love the top part of the boot.

 Hussein Chalayan 2011. The gold pair isn't really my type of shoe, but the rest are beautiful. I wish I could find a close-up of the pair on the far left.

I'm really more of a fan of the studded crotch high boots, the tan and red pair above are gorgeous. I love the studded details all around the boot.

-Katie

Rainy Day Daydream.

"
Loneliness is the human condition. Cultivate it. The way it tunnels into you allows your soul room to grow. Never expect to outgrow loneliness. Never hope to find people who will understand you, someone to fill that space. And intelligent, sensitive person is the exception, the very great exception. If you expect to find people who will understand you, you will grow murderous with disappointment. The best you'll ever do is to understand yourself, know what it is that you want, and not let the cattle stand in your way." 

— Janet Fitch

One of my favorite quotes, and not just by Janet Fitch! The book where this quote came from, White Oleander, was a very good book and I recommend it to anyone!

pictures unknown.

Just put her in a jungle.

Dress from a little shop called Soul & Blues. I have no idea of the name but it's one of those articles of clothing that can be many things. This dress can also be a skirt, I picked up another dress from the same store and you can make it longer or shorter depending on how you adjust the straps, pretty cool!

I love the flowy fabric on this dress, and the nice pale pink color is really pretty too.

P.s I went a little darker with my hair last week, finally a color I like!
xoxo
Katie

Metal Heart

Cat Power - Metal Heart

One of my all time favorite songs. I" Metal Heart " is such a deep, soulful blues song. I think it really stands out from all of Cat Power's other songs. The lyrics are very meaningful and hit the heart hard. I recommend this song to anyone struggling or just in the mood to relax. Today's a perfect day for this song, its raining buckets of crap, and I'm wearing a metal heart. Need I say more?

"It's damned if you don't and it's damned if you do
Be true 'cause they'll lock you up in a sad sad zoo
Oh hidy hidy hidy what cha tryin to prove
By hidy hidy hiding you're not worth a thing."

xoxo,

Katie

New addition to the family.

I'm more of a dog person, but my new cat Mya is adorable!

We've got the vision, now let's have some fun.

Sketches by me.

 Bull necklace

 Feather earring

 Elephant ring with ruby eyes.

 Belt buckle outlines, can you guess which one I decided to go with?

 Belt with belt buckle attachment.

Snake necklace. Something I've been working on for some time now. I wanted it to be like a snake necklace that I haven't seen. Well I haven't seen any snake necklaces that wrap all the way around the neck, at least not yet. Even so, I have a lot of different ideas for this type of necklace. It can go many different ways.

Might have already posted this one, but I'm not quite sure so just in case, heres the Bull belt design!

xoxo

Katie

Rainy Day Music

The Books - Vogt Dig For Kloppervok

It's supposed to rain here all day until Thursday, so I guess that means I'll be inside until its nice out enough to take some pictures! Here's what I've been listening to all day today, The Books. Zammuto has described it as as collage music. "The Books' music usually consists of acoustic instrumentation of folk melodies usually played on guitar, cello, banjo and more, combined with a diverse range of samples obtained from cassettes found in thrift stores, which are digitally processed and edited."

Really cool, huh? I love this band, and I have never really had any favorites when it came to music. Sure there's some artists that definitely stick out more than others, but there is just so many different artists out there that I love so it's hard to have a favorite. But when I listened to The Books I thought, this music is really calming, and beautiful. I've never heard music like this from anywhere else,  Aphex Twin and Black Moth Super Rainbow are pretty similar in music sound, and so is Sigur Rós but they all have different genres of music. 

Sigur Rós I just started listening to and that is some very beautiful music as well.



Sigur Rós - Starálfur


xoxo
KATIE

Reasons

"Behind all things are reasons. Reasons can even explain the absurd. Do we have the time to learn the reasons behind the human being's varied behavior? I think not. " 

Rene Magritte

-Katie

The meaning of "Why are you all dressed up?"

A piece from an article I found online. I've been meaning to write something about this subject for like four years, so I guess better late than never?

"Saying 'Why are you all dressed up?' As a casual observer, it finally hit me, and I understood the meaning of such a question in all situations. In the context the question was asked anyone would have deciphered the meaning. Such a question is a patronizing, belittling question. Do not take it as a serious question, but as one that really singles you out for dressing like you are more important than everyone else. That's all it really means. I suppose a smart ass question should deserve a smart ass answer."

Told from the point of view of a man named Andy.

Maybe this is why I find the world of style so fascinating. I also like art, so occasionally I like to look like art. But really, I like to look nice, most everyone does, but what that looks like to different groups in different times is subjective and riddled with unwritten rules. Rules that don't make any sense to me! I would never ask anyone anything about their outfit choices, I don't care if your wearing jeans, and I don't care if your wearing heels or not. I'm not hating on your style, so what up with all the negative questions about mine?

I hate when people say "Why are you all dressed up?" Wanna know why? I'll tell you why. Because its fun as well as a great conversation starter? Because where else am I going to wear this? Because I can easily be found if I'm lost? ("Oh, yes, officer just look for the girl in fishnets, and a vest with fringe that goes down to her knee, or she'll be in heels that resemble a chandelier.")   Also, I certainly wouldn't call it 'dressing up' if I dress like this all the time, I would call it 'getting dressed'. So now you're just simply asking why I'm getting dressed? Well my good people, because indecent exposure is illegal. I'm just trying to avoid jail time. 

Have a great weekend. Time to lay by the pool with some Best Coast! 

Best Coast - Summer Mood

"Na Na Ah Boo Boo, Stick Your Head in Doo Doo" -Comedian, Daniel Tosh

xoxo

Katie

Fashion Decades. 1950s

1950s. Nylon Stockings.

Balenciaga coat. 1953. I'm going to make it my lifes mission to find this coat. This would be one ultimate vintage find! More info below on the full page.

Top left caption, "Will the ladies obey Monsieur Dior?" Top right, News article about Dior making short skirts for women and the high price you pay for them! His quote: "Aren't people crazy to spend so much on a dress?" Dior gowns in the 50's were selling for $300-$2400, which I'm sure is a deal today am I right? Bottom right, Mattli "petunia" evening dress. 1953. I love the shoulders on this one!

Christian Dior's corset wasp-waist look of 1950. This is another great jacket, I love the emerald green color and the shape. This would be another great vintage find!

Brigitte Bardot, French movie star. 1950s. I really like the look she had, even here in this picture its very inspiration.

Fashion Decades. 1940s

More pictures from the 'Fashions of a Decade" book...

Sketch for a spring jacket. Magnin of Los Angeles 1945. The military had a strong influence on womens clothing in the 40s. I guess thats how the "military look" came about. Thats really cool to think about, they even called it "practical wear" back then!

1943.

Evening dresses. 1946. The beginning of full skirts and narrow waists, I love skirts like that!

British Vogue. 1942.

Chrisitian Dior's 1947 look.

Christian Dior's 1940s daywear/eveningwear. I love the cut of the top of the black dress above. Reminds me of Audrey Hepburn actually, especially with that hat!

Fashion Decades. 1930s

I'm going to do this in three separate posts, just so it's not super long! I made a post a while back on Fashions of a Decade for 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Only that time I drew my favorites on a sheet of paper and scanned them. This time I just scanned them! Theres a lot of great pictures and fashion history in there. Here are some of my favorites...

Cover of Vogue, Fall 1939. Wearing a fox-fur jacket and "bird hat" by Elsa Schiaparelli

Sketches for an elegant chain store look. 1939. I love the tightly-belted waists and gathered sleeves, I have a couple of great shirts with gathered sleeves that I found at random thrift stores around my house.

1930s. I love the shape of this evening gown by Alix. I love the whole goddess look, I remember trying to find a prom dress like this but I couldn't! I was really dissapointed, I found a dress that was pretty similiar but still not the same.

Right, tunic and skirt by British couturier Captain Edward Molyneux, 1936. Left, Alix gown. 1937.

1932-1936.

Christian Dior. Mainbocher's collection of 1939. I like the color scheme of this, reminds me of the colorblocking Prada did for Spring/Summer 2011. I'm looking at pictures from the runway on my wall right now as I type this and I'm really not seeing any similiarities, but neverless it reminds me of it.