Strutting the Catwalk Part Two: London Fashion Week

So I’m not the speediest of fashion bloggers. But what can I say; being a jet setting model/muse to all the glorious designers leaves me little time to bring the latest fashion news updates on my wee little blog. I’ve finally had some time to settle down. Milan fashion week is not quite as hectic for me for some reason; I’m guessing the Italians don’t take much of a liking to octopus faced models like me.

I always look forward to London Fashion Week. It is perhaps my favorite fashion week city because the designs in London are just so darn quirky and odd. I love quirkiness and oddness as if it were my comfortable blankie I can just bundle myself in. Or maybe it’s just the huge disparity between the safe n’ chic looks of New York. As always, what little knowledge of fashion I have will be quite apparent, but what love of fashion I have will triumph my lack of knowing.

Now as I recount my favorite runway shows in alphabetical order. I’m feeling very elementary school these days.

AQUASCUTUM:



When I saw all these coats come down one by one on the runway I was drooling with jealously! I have a major obsession with coats like no other. Half my wardrobe consists of coats so it is not surprising I was tickled with happiness when I saw Aquascutum's coats. I believe my obsession first began with trench coats. I had wanted a trench coat ever since well, ever since I was big enough to fill out a trench coat. I've had this romanticized fantasy involving a beige trenchcoat playing in my head for many years now:

The scene: A rainy/misty night. A jet is nearby getting ready to
take off. I am dressed in my trenchcoat with black heels and my cloche hat. My hair is in curls, perfect and umm..curly. My lips are red and my face is pale from the freezing cold. My clutch is held in my super cracked, dry fingers. A dark and handsome man in a suit with a fedora stands next to me.

Me: Goodbye my love. Until we meet again, I will memorize and recall your
wrinkled face and graying hair every night before I sleep.

Man: No! Must you leave!? Please stay...stay with me...we can be happy
together!

Me: No, I can't. My husband is waiting for me. I must go.

Man: Please. I love you!

Me ignores the man's words and steps onto the jet. Curls blowing beautifully in her face and trench coat flapping like mad. Never has a woman looked as..as...interesting as me. With one last look, me turns and heads into the jet. Jet takes off and flies Dark and handsome man falls to the pavement drenched in tears.

So that is basically my trenchcoat fantasy. As you can see from the scene, the trenchcoat plays a major role. I did manage to find a London Fog trench coat a while back in one of those a whole bag for $5 sales at my local thrift store. Unfortunately I have not gotten the opportunity to wear it. I think with the casualness of California, trenchcoat wearing would be a little awkward. But then again, when have I ever cared about being awkward? Never. Exactly.

But anways, back to the show. I was super happy to see such interesting coats that emanated the same feeling of the classic trench. I was even more happy when I, yes me and my octopus face, got to strut down the catwalk with the coolest coat of all.

Seriously, nothing beats a trench with a printed photo looking print of a city. I'm like a walking silent film. It's that amazing.

The shape was quite different too. I believe my silhouette looked like that of a bowling pin, but in a good way.

All the fashion photographers were taking pictures of my outfit left and right that I nearly tripped due to the blinding flashes. But who can blame them? This was the coolest piece from the whole collection.

Once again, I did all the begging I could to keep this piece but was again denied from the object of my affection. Things never work out the way I want it to. Maybe I should just give up, but remember those words of wisdom: "If at first you don't succeed, pick yourself up and try again."

BORA AKSU:

I have never heard of this designer before until I last week and boy do I feel ashamed that I didn't know. One of the reasons why I love London fashion week is because of all the new talents out there. Not only do I walk the walk for those already established designers, but I like to with emerging designers as well. What can I say, I'm an equal opportunity employee.
I was immediately drawn to all the frills and frou frou when he first showed me his stuff. There was something very romantic about the dresses. I love me some good ole chiffon.

He showed me the dress that I would be wearing and I was so amazed by the print of the dress. It looked like a knitted sweater! I'm still kind of confused if it really is a knit material or just a print. My mind is always in a state of confusion so it's no biggie. But no matter what the dress was just so gorgeous to walk in. I felt like a blossoming flower in the winter snow.

There were also these very interesting vest like contraptions that reminded me of a horse saddle but for a woman's body. It made me want to go ride a horse but I don't believe in riding horses so that was out of the question.

ELEY KISHIMOTO:

Eley Kishimoto's collection can be summed up in two words: child and fun. Lala can be summed up in two words: child and fun. This was a match made in heaven. I was seriously attracted to every bit and piece of their stuff. In the words of Bacne, Like Seriously, I want them all!! From the colors to the prints to the mixing and matching, I loved the whole clown and jester theme going on. I was literally in heaven. This was totally made for me and all my childish dreams.

I got to wear the final piece.

I felt so cool in the final piece.

Like with that giant polka-dotted ribbon mixed with that more grown up looking coat. It was a symbol for my "in-between" stage in life. In the words of Britney, "I'm not a girl, not yet a woman." No. I'm not a man either.

I have never wanted to wear white tights and white gloves together more in my life.

I have never loved my bangs more in my life. I wish I had my bowl cut back. Come back to me bowl cut! Oh how I miss you so.

I look a little tall and gangly and awkward in this photo, but I swear I'm not in real life! If you saw me you would be amazed how short and stumpy I am and be quite flabbergasted by my model status.

I was again rejected by my requests to keep the pieces so I stole them instead. I got caught and landed in the London prison. I made a few friends during my stay but was eventually bailed out. I have connections ya know?

SINHA STANIC:

Another favorite of mine was Sinha Stanic's. The young duo designer's label was another one I had not heard of before. Why do all these crazy people come from London!? I wish I were there but I'll settle with my suburban lifestyle for now.

Being the equal opportunity employee that I am, I said yes to their show and boy was it fantastic.

I loved their interesting shapes and their motorcycle-esque jackets looked like a piece of carved ham folding ever so gently around the contours of the body. Paired with the deformed bubble skirt and the multi-toned turtleneck tops, the outfits were quite refreshing.

I sort of laughed in a I'm-laughing-with-you-not-at-you way when I saw the tan skirt because it reminded me of a fortune cookie. I told the designers this and apparently they did not find it so funny. I guess fortune cookie does not scream high fashion to them. But dude man, high fashion can come from any inspiration. This little conversation unfortunately ruined all my chances at obtaining a piece from the collection. Me and my big mouth.



VIVENNE WESTWOOD: RED LABEL

Last but not least, I loved the Vivienne Westwood collection. It was fun and funky and cool and everything that I want to be thrown onto a runway. There was definitely still an essence of Ms. Westwood's punk roots in all the outfits. Even the more glamourous looks had something dark and edgy going on. Oh Ms Westwood, please help me become dark and edgy!!

I got the pleasure of wearing the iconic plaid piece. I love me some good plaid, but what I loved even more was my hair. Man it was totally fierce. Never in my life have I wanted super super supernova big hair as much as I do now. It felt like I was wearing this frizzy shawl-hood but when I looked around I was like "oh lala it's my hair!"

My eyes looked cross-eyed only because I was trying super hard to focus on looking straight because otherwise I would have turned around to look at the models behind me to see them rock the awesome outfits.

I really wanted to wear the purple dress with the mustache drawn above the mouth because I wanted to have a mustache drawn above my mouth. Ms. Westwood said it wouldn't match my skin complexion. Oh well, at least I got the hair.

So that was my little excursion to London. I'm in Milan right now getting my beauty rest, but posts about Milan will be coming soon! Oh life is so hard being a world fashion octopus-faced fashion model.

Photos courtesy of Coutorture and Style.com

Strutting the Catwalk at NY Fashion Week

I've got to admit, I'm not a hardcore fashionista. In my mind, I try to build myself to be as hardcore as I can be, but really I just can't do it. I don't know the names of all the designers in the world on the tip of my tongue ready to be spewed out of my stuttering mouth. I don't have the confidence of a hardcore fashionista who can pronounce those designer names like no other. I often hesitate saying them to prevent myself from looking like an idiot. In my defense, I have been practicing my pronunciation. I can finally say Comme des Garcons without sounding like a fool (I couldn't even pronounce pseudonym months ago so this a giant step for me). I don't know much about who inspired what, who wore what, what wore who, and who's who. I don't care much for celebrity fashion or even fashion icons but I do stop to appreciate something when it's something real good to deserve appreciation on my part. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm really just an amateur in this big fashion world. That's why I rarely, if ever, do posts about designers or trends or what I like to call "legit fashion talk." It's really because I don't know. Often times, I get easily swayed by whatever I read whether through fashion blogs or fashion forums. Case in point:

Fashion person X: “So and so’s collection was so revolutionary!”
Me in my mind: "Yeah?...Yeah.... Yeah!....Yeah!!....YEAH!!!"

Then a feel minutes later I realize I did not like the collection at all but was swayed into liking it because I always feel my thoughts are in a way not correct? It makes me wonder if I actually have an eye for fashion. I shouldn't be confessing all my shortcomings seeing as how I really want to make a career out of fashion someday, but it will be our little secret okay?

But in a way I believe my amateur, non-hardcore status helps give me a refreshing new view on the so-called "elitist" world that is fashion. I like my own innocence and naivety. My opinions may not matter all that much, but it helps to show and reinforce the fact that fashion is all so subjective. I may not know why something is considered so wonderful in fashion terms but I know what I like, I know what I love. Just because all others applaud over their little New York fashion darling such as Marc Jacobs, doesn’t mean I have to applaud when I don’t think his clothes are all that attractive (this was just an example, I’m rather impartial to Mr. Jacobs if I do say so myself). Then again, if I really do want to make it in such a dog-eat-dog industry, I must know. I must be knowledgeable. I must form opinions on something at least.

The benefits of being an amateur means that I can hold my opinions high and proud without having the pressure to conform to what all other “professionals” believe. They say forward thinking and magnificent, I say it’s just a brown sack. However, parts of me do wish I were a little more knowledgeable in such matters. It would push my passion for fashion from silly obsession to something more intellectual and provoking. Being able to analyze and deconstruct fashion is much like analyzing a great classic novel. In high school, I often wondered what the point of doing such analysis was; couldn’t we just let the tree be a tree? Do we really have to make it to be a symbol for the narrator’s dying state? Eventually I actually began enjoying the analysis part for it bestowed upon me a better understanding and a deeper meaning of the novel. I would much like to do that with fashion in the same way. I want to be able to see a collection and retell the designer’s story in my own mind. When Project Runway judges say the contestants have a “strong point of view”, I want to know what that point of view is. I want to see clothing and trends as a symbol for what our generation stands for. I want to be able to see colors, fabrics, and textures as indicators of something greater than fashion – something that pinpoints out the world’s state of being something that strives to capture within each viewer a certain emotion, a certain idea. What I don’t want, however, is to break fashion down into all these little pieces that I can no longer enjoy the simple truth of is this or is this not a beautiful piece of clothing. I will find a harmony between subjectivity and objectivity. I will mix knowledge with instinct. All in all, I want to be a hardcore amateur fashionista. A little oxymoronic, but it will works for me.

I was never the overly-obsessed-with-fashion-shows type of girl. With my hectic schedule, NY fashion week almost flew right by me and now London Fashion week has already started. I stress almost because I am still pretty with it, come on, I’m not that out of touch. Sure, I love flipping through countless photos one by on of each designer's collection, but dare I say it; it all is just a little boring to me (couture shows are an exception though). Perhaps it’s because each season, fashion week begins in New York. I’ve got nothing against New York, but frankly, the stuff I see down the runway is just not very appealing to me. New York is known for chic but safe. I like excitement and funky and “POW-WOW”! Moreover, fall and winter is also just not my thing. I relish in clothing with colors and patterns than the typical neutrals and blacks that are so prominent on A/W runways. But I’m going to stop my negative attitude towards the shows and give them a chance. Plus, I think having my own collection debuting in a matter of months makes me appreciate what I see coming down the runway.

ANNA SUI

To start off is Anna Sui. I’ve always had a little soft spot for Anna Sui. Her hippy-rockstar wild point of view is always refreshing to see amidst a see of carefully structured blacks and beiges. She is the one designer I anticipate to see each season because of how fun her clothes are when placed all together. Sure the styling may be a bit over the top and the clothes may not be as forward thinking as other designers, but her clothes just resonate with my personal tastes. But I think it’s also the fact that she’s an Asian rocker working the straight headed bangs. I am still that cool at four decades old, I will die a happy fashionista.

What I especially like are the hippy dippy headbands. I have a fascination with head ornaments and these are no exceptions. I can already see myself heading off to Michaels in search of a giant pink fake flower. I love the colors and florals and patterns. It just makes my heart full of rainbow happiness. The patterned tights may also make my heart filled with double rainbow happiness. Miss Sui's collection is a wonderful cocktail blend of 20's, 60's and 70's that screams "Women just want to have fun."

Now, you may be thinking, what do you know about fashion? True, I don't know much, but let me tell you dear readers, I'm a fashion insider. If you don't know by now, I'm a well established model. Designers all fawn over me because I'm the best muse they ever had. I have the face of an octopus and hair of a monkey, but that’s what is so great about fashion. We all like the different looking models. Don't believe me? Take a look below.

Yes, that's me. Yes, that's my octopus face. Yes, that's my monkey hair.

I felt like a bullfighter wearing this fantastic embroidered sparkle cape poncho. At first I was hesistant about wearing it seeing as how I've had bad experiences with that blimp in fashion trend history (remember when all the girlies were trying to rock the poncho but failed miserably?), but Miss Sui encouraged me to try it on. Now, I don't want to take it off.

I may look and feel like an old bag lady, but boy do I feel and look like a fabulous old bag lady.

And that giant flower around my neck? I feel like a real fairy now! All I need to do is flap my cape around and off I fly into the sky!!

Purple is definitely now my favorite color for clothing. I had no idea the wonders it does for my skin tone. I loved wearing the purple tights too. It felt like I was born a purple salamander.

Unfortunately, I did not get to keep the clothes. I cried all after the show, but Anna showed no mercy. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to save my money to buy one or visit Spain to get an authentic bullfighter cape.

MATTHEW WILLIAMSON

My next fashion love from the NY runways was Matthew Williamson. This Londoner definitely captured my heart with all his flirty dresses and fun colors! Like Anna Sui's collection, his pieces always shout "FUN!" to me. I would totally gobble up every piece in sight if I were a hungry fashion monster. The primary colors against the black made my spirit leap with joy. He is a master at color combinations and can do no wrong. He makes technicolor fun and playful instead of tacky and tacky. What I liked about his collection was the wide range of pieces he created. There was the technicolor, and then there's the beautiful prints of water looked like Japanese watercolors. Anything that has silhouttes of a trees and branches, I dig. Moreover the colors of blue, oranges and yellow, yum. Dare I say, I loved the pieces of fur collars thrown into the outfits. I would feel like a ice princess wolf wearing that pale blue mini with that grey stole.

Once again, I was casted by Mr. Williamson because I am just that cool.

Yeah, I know. My head looks a little irregular. Irregular as in too big for its own good. But that's what you get when you have an octopus face. Besides, that's my bad angle. If you see my good angle, I look fierce, totally fierce and not a big bobble head at all.

I can totally imagine myself frolicking around the city in this gorgeous print maxidress. When it get's cold all I have to do is add on this warm coat. It's like a compromise between summer and autumn.

The juxtapositon between the flirty feminine dress and the much more simplistic, utilitarian coat is lovely. I think I can do this more often with my own wardrobe. Maybe I can even ask to borrow my dad's weather resistant jackets to achieve this look. The look totally says "I don't care" in an I so do care type of way. I think my octopus face totally portrayed that emotion.

Once again I was denied the right to keeping the clothes. I did however get to keep the pink scarf. Sadly I lost it while I was rushing on my way to get to the Marc Jacobs show. It flew right off my neck. Rest in piece my pink scarf of wonder.

RODARTE By far, my absolute favorite collection of New York fashion week was Rodarte. My god are the clothes just stunning in a chilling eerie way. The Mulleavy sisters are my designer icons at the moment. An added plus, they graduated from UC Berkeley, but hopefully my life story will be similar except my campus is on the south side of California. I must always support my fellow Californians!

Rodarte illustrates why I love fashion so much. They view fashion as an artistic expression and it translates beautifully in this collection. The way they manipulate fabric and textures to create another worldy experience. Their artistic influence is never over the top, but rather it's all within the details. I like to think that their clothes are pieces that hold dreams and romance. And with every new layer of chiffon, I am whisked away into an ethereal world full of nature and light and darkness.

The tights on the otherhand took me some time to get used to. They are quite interesting and after reveling in the beauty of these runway photos, I think the tights add some edginess and severity to clothing in a very soft way. It's as if the models ran through some colored spiderwebs and forgot they had glue on their legs. Don't even get me started about those spiked shoes. They are a whole different story.

Walking the Rodarte runway was indeed my favorite runway moment. I got to release the inner gothic beauty within in me. My bangs never looked better and black lipstick never looked chicer.

I felt like an ice queen of the underworld wearing this airy black dress. This would totally be my LBD if I could have kept it.

I liked looking at my legs the whole time before the show. They reminded me of scribbles I used to doodle in my notebooks with my black pens.

And oh my god. I was so happy I didn't trip and fall from what I call the teeth shoes. They are crazy. I believe the Mulleavy sisters have created a wonderful weapon. If women ever find themselves being attack, all they have to do is kick it and stick it and all will be good.

I literally got onto my hands and feet begging for them to let me keep the dress. My begging apparently was not good enough because I was denied. I cried rivers that night. Oh well, until the next Rodarte show, I will keep my hopes up.

I've got to get my beauty rest. I have a whole day of London shows to catwalk tomorrow!

Photos courtesy of Coutorture