Luca Guadagnino’s On-Going Film Affair with Fashion

If you’ve ever caught me in conversation about the 2009 film “I Am Love” – it’s never really a quick discourse. I always feel compelled to go on and on about the artfully presented sensory overload by Luca Guadagnino. You simply cannot talk about “I Am Love” without about talking about the performance of the beautifully clothed Tilda Swinton. And it comes at no surprise, the entire film had been costumed by Raf Simons for Jil Sander - which now upon his exit will live forever in vaults of fashion history. Guadagnino’s strong suite is leaving a vision behind for his viewer to understand the intricacies of emotion in image, aesthetics and fashion.

I’ve always been fascinated about the idea of what makes watching strong fashion in film so appealing to me. It’s been this obsession of mine that I can’t seem to quit for quite some time now. Silvia Venturini Fendi, the producer and stylist of “I Am Love” said in an interview once that “There is a sort of osmosis between fashion and cinema, there’s give and take. So we designers are often inspired by films and we also collaborate with films. Both our jobs [are] to create strong emotion. The difference is that a movie remains impressed on film and the fashion work is destined to pass very quickly.”  But even still there’s a synchronicity between fashion and film that cannot be denied.

Putting down the last puzzle piece of the interlocking relation between fashion and film, Guadagnino puts his best foot forward with a newly released short film for Sergio Rossi’s Fall/Winter 2012 collection. Evoking that sense of discovery into one’s self, he explores the body of a woman and the sexuality that steams from the eroticism of her shoes. She dresses and undresses in Sergio Rossi, which conveys a sentiment: wearing Sergio Rossi will give you the sexual power to desire and be desired. Although through advertising, Guadagnino permits us to look deeper - to interpret the things we wear, into how we perceive ourselves. 

Resources: 
Sergio Rossi F/W 2012 by Luca Guadagnino
Io Sono L'Amore
The Future of Fashion Film 
Great Costuming or Great Television?

Pinning with Love & Lots of Lace

Source: hautekills.tumblr.com via Lala on Pinterest

Pinterest has easily become the addiction that I can't seem to quit lately. Finding new images and sources, exploring what's out there in the WWW, and creating perspective through images I can share with others - is a sure fire way to get me hooked to a platform. It's been the one thing that I run home to do, other than making sure that I've got this week's It's a Brad, Brad World recording on DVR. The mobile bookmarklet is easy to use on the go for my iPhone and iPad. And finding more and more images that fit into my tightly edited boards is like an education in imagery. And when it comes to fashion images and photography, what more could you ask for? If you're on Pinterest too, let's pin together, it'll be fun, I promise.

Resources:
Lala Lopez, Pinterest
Valentino Haute Couture Gloves, WWD
The Imperfect Love of Peter and Vandy

Tom Ford: A Creative + Intuitive Mind

Early this morning, I found myself surfing the interwebs - only to find the full episode of Tom Ford on Visionaries on the OWN Network. Entranced by every second of the forty something minute episodic exploration into the brilliance that is Tom Ford, all of my senses became excited and sensitized. When you think of Tom Ford, of course you think of all the superlative titles you can imagine for the king of cultural fashion, but instead my mind always wanders to the people and friends that are completely fanatical about the man. And very rightfully so. Yet, after watching this and many other videos that I could gather up on this snowy Saturday morning, what I realized was so special about the man whose pieces are an homage to the form of a woman, was his intuitive nature. Trusting that his vision is guided and failure shouldn't even be a concern. For every creative being, once you reach that level of faith in your craft, there isn't anything you create that won't be a masterpiece. Even if you think that you're the only one that believes in it, I could just bet that others will start to believe, too. Confidence just works like that.



Resources:
Visionaries: Inside the Creative Mind - Tom Ford
Spring 2012 Tom Ford Ad Campaign

The Retrophile

I bought these cute new notebooks from Thomas Paul on Swirl, just days before they became Daily Candy Deals - which by the way I was totally bummed about.  I left the set of notebooks in my closet for a while because I wasn't sure if I wanted to use them or not. I always think that the quest for a good notebook is grounds for good writing to go into said notebook. So before even thinking about writing a word in any given notebook, I have to feel it out, even down to the examining the spine, stock of paper and type of lining - just to feel comfortable committing my thoughts to this new collection of pages. I don't know, it's silly. It's almost like some sort of writer's superstition I have, but without fail my notebook judgment is always accurate. Anyhow, the first thing I wrote in my new handy dandy notebook was about the word 'Retrophile'. I wrote it after looking at a post on Who What Wear. I never heard it before but I thought it was such a great word to describe me and probably so many other girls. I thought about the countless amount of women who have certain habits that surround around fashion, items, and developed habits from decades that they have never experienced but are dying to know about. I've always been one of those people that have had their head in the clouds wondering what life would have been like in some other time and some other place. So, this is for all the lady retrophiles out there that fantasize in black and white and could definitely appreciate some Sarah Vaughan.



Sure, she appreciates a good film by Goddard but she really takes a liking to the Italians like Fellini. Wanderlust flutters about her when she peruses dreamy objects at antique shops. Her favorite filter on Instagram is Earlybird, but her love of a good fashion aesthetic makes her play with Brannan, once and again. She loves the look of a good cat-eye eyeglass. And the fuller her skirt, the happier she is. When she finds a good Ferragamo from the 60s larger than a size 7, she grabs it even if it means to squeeze because it will look wonderful in her collection. She secretly believes she will have her romantic Disney storybook ending one day. She can spend the entire weekend on a quest for the perfect clip-on button earring as long as the price is right. Coffee table books are not only home decor for her, they've become very good friends. But if you would ask her other friends to describe her, they'd say she's an old soul, with passion deep and an imagination high. There's a grace to her that simply cannot be learnt. But she attributes it to the hours spent watching post-Depression, black and white musicals, and the years reading the works of famous female novelists. Her favorite food is cupcakes, the sweeter the better. She believes that long gloves are a suitable accessory for any occasion. She daydreams in colors of cotton candy pinks and blues, and often in shades of sepia. She appreciates a good trunk or briefcase in leather and studded in brass. She doesn't mind the smell of moth balls when it comes to digging for sartorial treasures from yesteryear. When she walks down the street, she has the strut and poise of a silver screen goddess. She's super sweet and knows how to carry herself like a true lady. She is the pleasure to love, incredible to know and absolutely impossible to forget.

Resources:
Thomas Paul
Youthquaker, Vogue Magazine 1965-1975
Who What Wear, The Retrophile Gift Guide

Current Fixations

 

There's a few sure fire things that the lingering holiday season can do to you (even when the hangovers are gone), like: make you gain weight, read the books you've hadn't the chance to, look at old pictures of yourself during your awkward "over-tweezing" phase, and last but not least, identifying the objects and items that you plan to obsess over for the next month or so. There's a few things that I can't seem to quit recently and it wouldn't be fair not to share my new vices with you. Even if they just might be gone tomorrow.


1. Anthropologie
Visits to endless suburban malls during the holidays from Maryland to Long Island had me wandering a little further from the Auntie Anne's pretzel stand and closer to the quaint and embellished decor in Anthropologie. I've always gone into the store, gaped at the brilliant decor but always become too distracted and forget that I was there to shop. But, once I put my ADD at bay, I found myself getting my hands on the most precious lingerie and lounge sets, candles, squirrel jewelry holders, fragrances from Le Labo, and the magazine for the ultimate wanderlusters: Anthology. Keith Johnson, now I'm getting the full picture of why I loved you so much in Man Shops Globe.

2. Pinky Rings
I always loved that saying in mobster movies "kiss my ring", which is usually pertaining to the pinky ring of a mob boss. When I ordered this grenade ring on ASOS from AMO by Tom Binns, a size smaller than I am, I just slipped it on my pinky finger and kept it moving. I didn't want to send anything back, but this ensued all types of pinky acessorizing brainstorming. Ironically enough, I ran into a sale at Club Monaco where I found a stack of delicate rings with a Moroccan motif. I painted my nails in Terracotta by Essie and stacked some more statement rings on my ring and middle fingers. So now everytime I look down, it feels like I've been transported to a Moroccan marketplace.



3. Portlandia
I got a year long Netflix subscription as a gift and I couldn't be more ecstatic about watching every last movie and docu in my instant Q. One early suggestion that came up for me was Portlandia, the satirical sketch comedy on IFC from Fred Armisen (SNL) and Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney). After watching season one in its entirety, I've been hooked on the sarcastic humor of the feminist bookshop keepers and Nanc who gets pulled into a polygamist cult after searching for the owners of an organic free range chicken she ordered at a Portland restaurant. And in all my shrewd glory, Portlandia came back for season two on IFC this past Friday with Andy Samberg as guest star.

4. Mindy Kaling
Finally, I got to read "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me + Other Concerns" and so glad I did. I finished the book in 48 hours cover to cover. I couldn't put the book down, worrying I would be missing a funny little quirk of Mindy's or screenshot of the everyday thoughts that run through her scintillating mind. I marveled at the bravery of honesty in her writing. Mindy is proud to be herself when no one or everyone is looking.  Her radiating confidence gives her the keen ability to make people laugh and feel good about themselves. Not everyone can do that. She's really a shining example of a creative woman of modernity and wit.

5. Smashbox Blush Rush
I'm not into loud makeup of the dark and bright persuasion, but I do love beauty products that help achieve a natural and understated look. There's always a new product that I love to get my hands on to try. I had been a Benefit girl in high school and slowly turned to Nars for everything in college. Now more recently, I've been using Laura Mercier because her tinted moisturizer is beyond. I was getting tired of the redness of my everyday Nars blush in Lovejoy. So after a bit of beauty browsing, I picked up Smashbox's Blush Rush in Bare. And although skeptical at first, I became a believer after applying it the next day. It's soft and sweet in color, a natural flush for olive skin and right up my alley. And if you're ever looking for great brushes for application, Bare Escentuals has the softest around.