Friday, July 23, 2010

Hooked

Okay, I know that after this next post it may seem I am ready to rename this blog "Kirsten Dunst fan page". I was even trying to resist posting this post because I felt I have gone into a bit of an obsessive spiral with finding old articles and photo shoots of her. I think she has officially become my favorite style icon of the moment. Its amazing how I used to not really care for Kirsten Dunst at all and now I just adore her.

I was hunting through a stack of old magazines and stumbled upon this old W from September 2005 with Dunst on the cover. Couldn't help but share the photo shoot  (below) and this amazing quote from director Michel Gondry about Dunst:

"When I first met her, I didn't know how much I liked her, but her beauty grows slowly on you, and you get hooked."

I share Gondry's feelings exactly...she really does grow on you.


Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Pages

While cleaning out my old room I stumbled upon my magazine collection that I have been maintaining for several years (as such it has become rather extensive). I finally decided now is the time to recycle all my old issues of magazines, but I couldn't help and revisit some issues as I was going through them. As such I stumbled upon two Kirsten Dunst magazines that had some photo shoots I really loved. She is quickly becoming my favorite style icon...now if only she would start making movies again now that I have become obsessed with all her older films and her personal style.

Yes, I know its yet ANOTHER Kirsten Dunst post. When I get into something though I tend to obsess so this is my trend of the moment.

Vogue- July 2004

W-April 2007


Crazy/Beautiful

Recently saw the movie Crazy/Beautiful due to a suggestion from a friend that we watch it sometime and I had recently been going through old magazines I had collected and stumbled upon an old Kirtsen Dunst photo shoot and it got me obsessing over her style again. I know I have mentioned Kirsten Dunst before as one of my style icons, so forgive me for repeating myself.

In the movie Crazy/Beautiful she plays a high school senior girl who is the "bad" girl with the rich parents who is deeply misunderstood. She meets and falls in love with a Mexican boy who lives out side of Pasadena, California and commutes 2 hours to go to a privileged school there. Kirsten Dunst's character there meets the boy (played by Jay Hernandez) and they start a romance that is troubled by Dunst's character's desire to cause chaos against Hernandez's character's desire to better his life and improve his economic situation.

It sounds like a crappy romantic teen flick I know. To be honest I would have been perfectly satisfied with it even if it was, but it was much better than I expected. Dunst's character stumbling around drunk in a cut up t-shirt and her underwear in the drive way screaming at her father in one scene pretty much sealed the deal for me on loving this movie.

The wardrobe alone is enough to make me adore it really. Dunst's character's hair is too long to be short and too short to be long and is generally a mess. Most times it doesn't look washed at all, which I just loved for some reason. My favorite wardrobe piece though was the endless supply of cut up T-shirts that bared the showed her mid drift and or were cut on the sides and tied together. Dunst's character apparently did not own a bra either it appeared. The grungy and dirty style was fantastic. Here are a few pictures of the crazy and  beautiful:

Friday, July 16, 2010

The Bee's Knees


During a trunk show we held at the boutique I work at recently, I had the pleasure of meeting the jewelry designer Jene Despain. Her work has been carried at the boutique I work at for some time now, but I had never met her in person and I have to say that it is rare to meet someone that is so friendly and compassionate towards her work. Jene DeSpain came to Seattle for her trunk show to debut her new jewelry line for the Fall called the Black Honey Collection. This collection is rather different than her past collections that focused more on art deco and 1920’s inspired designers. Upon seeing the Black Honey Collection, I feel in love with it instantly. It’s all very wearable and has very simple, but stylish designs. DeSpain works with 14k gold and does a unique gold fill process that ensures no peeling or discoloration for any of her pieces. Her other metal of choice is gun metal, which looks like an oxidized silver, so thus it is almost black. How can you not be interested in something that is made of a material called gun metal? While the collection is not available yet online it has come to several small boutiques as she does her trunk show tour. Below are a few examples of her work:



Regretfully I could not find a picture of the piece I bought (all pictures above are from an interview the designer did in Portland that is featured on her website). I purchased one of DeSpains wrap bracelets, which was a leather strip wrapped that around your wrist twice and was studded had little gold studs. She had several different style wrap bracelets and all featured this amazing gold clasp that had a hexagon honeycomb shape and then was hooked by a gold stud that resembles a bullet. Attention to detail such as the clasp on her pieces is really what intrigued me most about her designs. Another piece I loved that is not pictured are the honeycomb rings. One of her rings is made up of three connected honeycomb shapes that fit over your pinky, ring, and middle finger as one ring.

As for the artist herself, Jene DeSpain works and lives in Brooklyn, NY and was a very interesting person to talk to and truly very excited about her work. She was more than eager to talk to me and customers about the process of how she made her pieces and how important it is to her to use unique materials that will not become flawed over time. Hearing her describe her process and designs was amazing and I overall greatly enjoyed meeting her as she is not only a talented jewelry designer but a very outgoing and welcoming person. Another enjoyable side note side note about DeSpain is that she learned jewelry design at the Fashion Institute of Technology (the college I currently attend. 

Check out her designs and more information about the designer at her website (Black Honey is currently not featured to be purchase but will be coming soon): 

http://www.jenedespain.com 

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Another Ugly Lover

Elle.com recently had a feature article on an inspiring and up and coming jewelry designer by the name of Gemma Redux. Redux’s line and inspiration for her creations comes from the concept of making "ugly things" in fashion forward pieces of functional art. She uses a variety of recycled and found objects in order construct her unique pieces of jewelry. Already Redux’s pieces are receiving attention from many designers that are looking to have custom pieces made for their runway shows this coming Fall. As a fan of pretty ugly things, I support Redux in her truly visionary work. See the link below to check out the article and interview with the designer on Elle.com to learn more:

Gemma Redux's Rachel Dooley On Making Less Than Pretty Things Gorgeous


With the 70’s bohemian style making a come back on the runways this past spring for Fall looks, Redux’s work is sure to be a hit for fashion fans. Lately, I have been drawn to big chunky jewelry and I adore the bead work and unruly style elements of the jewelry. Redux's pieces are very adventurous and I love the concept behind the work. Ugly is pretty. 

White Shirt and a Tank Top

When it comes to personal style, I have always been a fan of basics. If given the option I would probably wear a white tank top, denim cut off shorts, and a black blazer every day if I could. Maybe I would change out the white tank for a striped boxy cut shirt, but essentially I like pretty basic looks that focus more on simple style elements that over the top trendy fashion pieces. I prefer rumpled to perfection because personal style comes from not trying too hard to make a look your own. Anyone who masters the "I just woke up in this" look has a great sense of personal style in my book. Many may criticize a love of basics as boring but black, white, and denim are a killer combination to me and I will always be a fan of the wardrobe staples.

Spring 2010 T Line Ad Campaign

For those of you that agree with my love of basics, you probably also adore designer Alexander Wang. Even if you do tend to lean towards more styled looks, no fashion fan would disagree that Alexander Wang is an amazing designer who brought street chic to a new level. Wang who built his reputation on young, hip, urban looks and dominates the "sex-ed up street wear" look. Last year he launched a more affordable line called T. which featured slouchy street looks. I immediately adored it from the ads to the concept (yes, if I could afford it I might just buy a $95 white tank top. To me it would be worth it.) Given I am just a poor college student at the moment I am merely an admirer of Alexander Wang's designs and am very excited to hear the new T. line this season will also feature blazers and “sex-ed” up low slung pants. These additions to the T line add sophistication, but keep the fun rock star edge to Wang’s more classic pieces. Wang’s T line shows us the designer knows how to keep us on the edge of style and wanting more.

T Line Fall 2010

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue

Happy July 4th everyone! I am going off on a "mini vacation" for the weekend, but I wanted to give a little shout out to the holiday with my favorite color scheme. Red, white and blue look amazing together and I take full advantage of this holiday to wear the color combo. Unrelated to my patriotic pride because other than that colors, the 4th of July is not all that exciting to me. Enjoy the fireworks, barbecues, or whatever else you might be doing.

Enjoy a little tribute to red, white and blue from my clothing wish list:

Obsessed. Must buy this little anchor cardigan.
If you know me, you are thinking I already own this basically. Can't help it, I like stripes.
White lace up sandal. Love, not sure I am ready to keep this clean though.
Denim cut off vest. Considering it a new wardrobe staple that I don't have yet.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Make Over

Decided to change up the graphic image for the blog. Boy by Band of Outsiders blazer featured, if you read this blog, that should not surprise you. Thought I would try a new look, hope you like it.

Reading List

This summer if I do nothing else I will have accomplished my goal of reading more books. I love to read, but its hard to find the time. I am sure many of you feel this way, if you just dislike reading though and have the time, shame on you. Pick up a book!

Here are the books I have read so far this summer:

Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

It was most certainly not my favorite book, but I did enjoy it and if you stick with it until the end it gets pretty good towards the end. I did like the way it was written from both main characters points of view and how the author organized the whole "time traveling" sequence of events, it was well done.

The book was a bit cheesey for me though and at times I felt if they described how fantastic their sex life was one more time I was going to throw the book across the room. I understand its supposed to be sweet and you are supposed to just adore how the characters feel this magnetic pull  towards each other, but sometimes it was just a bit too much and far too sappy. Overall I enjoyed it though and it was a fun summer read.

After I read the book I did rent the movie of the same name. First of all the book and movie are drastically different and it is a hard book to translate on to screen and I could see if you just loved the book that you would probably hate the movie. The film leaves a lot out and takes on a very different angle to the story than the novel does and sort of softens the harsher aspects of the book. I did like the movie though. I know I am quite the hypocrite saying I thought the book was too sappy and romantic when the movie so clearly a romance film, but I tend to like cheesy movies over cheesy books. I  actually enjoyed the way the movie was done and while I think Eric Bana was a poor casting choice for the male lead, I liked the movie and would recommend it as long as you aren't an obsessive fan of the book. I am usually easier on movies than books. I will watch a movie like say, 27 Dresses but if someone suggested I read a book like 27 Dresses I wouldn't be interested.


When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

Usually I shy away from any book that involves short stories and the like. I have an unfair prejudice against short stories. I know short stories can be great, but I just always feel that if it is such a great story, why didn't they just write a whole book about it? Why just the short story? Yes, I know this is unfair. I am sure everyone can say "Oh wait I read a really great short story once though and..." Don't cared, I am not interested. I have read short stories I liked before, but the ones I liked I always wanted to go on longer and then they just end and you have to go on to the next short story which may or may not be as good and you already liked the characters in the other story. Short stories are good for academic reasons, such as analysis of literature. In that case I see the point of reading them in order to analyze a theme, rhetoric used, writing style and annotate; anything you did in your high school or college English class basically. Despite this biast a good friend of mine recommended this book to me and encouraged me that reading a collection of essays was different than short stories. I had almost bought this book nearly 10 times and always stopped because I feared it would be like reading short stories, but I agree the essay style was different.

David Sedaris is hilarious first of all and I enjoyed several of his little essays and very honest tellings of events in his life. Sometimes they were a bit too honest and a bit too graphic, but none the less I greatly enjoyed this book.  I felt understood many of his petty complaints and loved the relationship between him and his partner, Hugh. I can't do this book justice in describing it because there really are too many hilarious parts, but if you are looking for quick read that is purely entertaining I would recommend this book.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

 Part of this book gave me a bit of a flash back to The Notebook movie. Every time I see that movie I immediately get infuriated with the part featuring the elderly people and wish it wasn't included in the film. I have posted about my feelings toward that film before, so I won't bore you and repeat myself, but I do wish the film was just the part featuring Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling. This novel had similar flash back and forth to the past and present scenario, where the elder present day character is remembering his past. I do think it was done far better than The Notebook though.

The story centers around a young veterinarian who works on a circus and the experiences (including love) he has while working in the circus during the Great Depression in the U.S. It was an enjoyable novel and a fun read. The research the author did about circus' during the time was impress and in many cases the conditions (especially the animals treatment) can be shocking. It was a fun read and a good love story.

Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Its kind of shocking that I have never read this, which is one of the reasons I sought it out for my reading list this summer. Its a classic for one and a classic that is around 200 pages (I don't think you will see me trying to read Moby Dick anytime soon). I had seen the movie on this book before I read the book which is rare for me because usually if I see a movie I won't read the book simply because I hate already knowing what happens, regardless if the book is better or not. I was intrigued by the movie though as it was not considered very well done and I actually really enjoyed the movie. True, there were parts of the film that were horrible translations from the book clearly and some of the cinematography and lighting was a bit melodramatic, but overall I enjoyed the film. I thought Robert Redford was perfect as Gatsby and I don't think anyone else could pull off saying "Old sport" repeatedly besides him. I also loved that Sam Waterson was in the film as the story's narrator and main character, Nick. I was told the film was not well received by critics and I think it had some stiff competition give how widely beloved the book is, but I would still recommend the film.

Film aside, I really enjoyed the book and I couldn't help but see while I was reading it why exactly it was a classic. The story is very well done and though its pretty short (200 pages again, not very lengthy) it manages to tell such a great story. I most certainly want to read more of F. Scott Fitzgerald's works now due to my enjoyment of this novel.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Another classic that I had not read and felt should be added to the list. My boyfriend and I actually read this together for a little "book club" like thing (he is still reading it, I was a bit faster). I have to say I didn't have the slightest idea what this book was even about before I read it. I knew it was controversial, but once I started reading it I was kind of at a loss for why. It seems that at the time it was published (1945 is the original copyright date, but the copyright was renewed in 1979) it was unusual to tell a story from a young boy's point of view that was not particularly a hero. The story follows a young boy (about 17) through a few nights in New York City. He is not a particularly charming or likable character I think in some cases, but its an interesting account from a young male perspective.

That said and with respect to it being a "classic" and all, I have to say I just thought it was okay. The last few chapters were pretty good and I was more into the story then, but overall I feel that the shock of reading from a boy's perspective that may be a bit sex crazed at times and use some foul language was not all that shocking to read today. It felt a bit like a male Gossip Girl book honestly. I am sure that is blasphemy to some for me to say that, but it really was rather similar. I could appreciate the writing style, but I was not that impressed by the book. I enjoyed reading it, but I felt that its classic status was a bit lost on me. Angry comments to my take on it might follow, but truthfully I was not greatly impressed. I would like to read another of J.D. Salinger's books though to see how another one of his works compare to this one because I did like the writing style, just the content was not overly stimulating to me. It was interesting though and while the middle had a bit of a lull I liked the ending and I greatly enjoyed the main character's little sister "Old Phoebe", in particular I enjoyed the way he called her "Old Phoebe" and their relationship since it was the only really substantial and meaningful relationship to the character in the book in many ways it seemed. Read it for yourself, because as much as I go back on forth on my opinion of the book it makes it worthy to read for discussion purposes alone.