A New Look at Balenciaga

I still distinctly remember the first time I "discovered" Balenciaga: Nicolas Ghesquière had set the fashion world on fire with his über chic reinvention of blazers, scarves and jodhpurs that I continue to love to this day. I have never seen anything more brilliant and was utterly floored by the way the collection was filtered down into the masses and mainstream fashion. I swore he made people "rediscover" the power of a great blazer. The collection was quirky in its cut colour choices, but still familiar enough due to the traditional pieces of blazers and khaki, which made an incredible combo and accounts for its wide popularity. Ghesquière had made consistent collections for the label since, but none of his later works were nearly as memorable (save for the S/S 2008 floral armour dresses).

CR Fashion Book

VIA

It's been a long long time since I bought a "real" fashion magazine (Acne Paper in my opinion, doesn't truly count). Now that Carine Roitfeld's eponymous CR Fashion Book is out, I can't wait to read it. When was unpacking my boxes, I found my stash of Vogue Paris magazines and it made me so nostalgic for anything Carine. I also found its website a real treat to visit now and then. Surprisingly CR Fashion Book is not terribly expensive: subscription for a whole year costs only $30/yr which is nothing when you compare it to magazines that I wish I could afford and buy on a regular basis, i.e. Self Service. I'm so glad she's back – the magazine world has gone a bit stale after you left!

P.S. I'm beginning to update my Tumblr more frequently again. Desperate for some good Fall inspiration here!

Downton is Back

I know the photo in itself is SUPER SPOILERY but there just isn't any better photo out there to announce the long awaited season three of Downton Abbey. Words simply cannot convey the amount of excitement I felt this weekend when I found out that Downton Abbey is airing again in the UK. It was a completely shock – I had been so focused on Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad this summer that I just never saw it coming. I feel like I've been caught cheating on my significant other. Nevertheless, I'm tremendously glad that it's back, giving me much needed fashion inspiration for the new season and of course, something to obsess over other than schoolwork.

What Storm Have We Here

Jacket, Barbour; Shirt and Jeans, Uniqlo; Boots, L.L. Bean.

I'm definitely feeling the effects of global warming this Fall, what with the increased number of tornado or hurricane alerts, with more torrential rain and the strongest winds I've experienced so far in my three years of studying in MA. The turbulent weather calls for the toughest of my waterproof gears: my beloved Barbour Bedale, my trusty pair of L.L. Duck boots and my impossibly strong Filson messenger bag. Crikey. And off to the library I go.

Margaret Howell S/S 2013

COURTESY OF VOGUE UK

I managed to finish all my readings for tomorrow on time today so I thought I'll check out London Fashion Week (#LFW) before I hit the sack. It was probably pretty predictable that I would feature Margaret Howell's latest collection for my first fashion show review of the season. There's nothing revolutionary here: I like that MH stays consistent to her signature clean, almost minimalist, style and only tweaks things a little for every collection. This is why I see her as a realistic designer in that she never really deviates much from her vision, designing for a mythical goddess confident woman who knows what she likes, what she looks good in and sticks to it. She's so comfortable in her own skin she needs no bells and whistles. 

I read Vogue UK's review of the collection and found it strange that they would pick Alexa Chung as "the perfect embodiment of Howell’s tomboyish minimal chic if ever there was one". To be sure, Alexa Chung does have a great sense of style and is worthy of much imitation on the streets by hordes of young women, however this sentiment regarding her style seems to be a bit premature. Alexa Chung in ten years time? Perhaps, maybe. 

See the rest of the collection on Vogue UK.

Lazy Business Casual

"Lazy business casual" is how I would describe what I wore today to my school's financial accouting and modeling boot camp. It's amazing how I still manage to find myself staring at the computer again after having to sit in front of the scene learning to read 10-Ks and complete models in Excel. It was from 8am-5pm, which is by this nocturnal college student's opinion, WAY TOO EARLY. Almost ungodly early really, considering it is the weekend and the earliest classes that I have usually are at 9am. Halfway through I seriously questioned myself why was I doing this, since I pretty much have zero interest in investment banking but ultimately it was for a new concentration at my school that I wanted. These days I've been wearing my Uniqlo sweaters on a non-stop basis; it's to no one's surprise that when I woke up bleary eyed this morning, I grabbed the first things I saw: a sweater and my new structured navy skirt (which is also from Uniqlo). 

I'm not a formal slacks person purely because the structured skirt has far more versatility, which is what I'm gunning for when shopping these days. Formal slacks look too pant suit-y for my liking and I find the pairing of the formal slack with an informal top like a tank looks a little off. I plan for this navy skirt to truly become a major workhouse for my wardrobe. As for the shoes, the label on the sole has since rubbed off and I've had this from junior year in high school so I have no idea where I got it. 

I just logged back into Tumblr to try and revive my econ side blog, A Double Coincidence of Wants, and holy cow has Tumblr changed. While I try to relearn how to use it, if you're asking what I'm reading this days, it's George Magnus's new paper (found via FT Alphaville).  

Taaaaaavz

FROM HER BLOG, THE STYLE ROOKIE

Tavi Gevinson needs no introduction (but if you do click this and this). I CANNOT WAIT TO GET MY HANDS ON HER NEW BOOK. I've never been her biggest fan when she first rose to prominence (her attending NYFW with a giant bow on her head was most memorable, along with spiteful comments from her jealous and much older fashion editors, around 2009). She was a true fashion blogger wunderkind: I admired the eloquence in which she discussed her hobbies, her adorable obsessiveness for the little things, her taste for quirky vintage clothing and could most definite relate to her finding inspiration in esoteric films. A pre-teen with great taste, who did not mindlessly follow mainstream pop culture? Two thumbs up for me. 

The Fashion Week Blur

JOSEPH ALTUZURRA SPRING 2013 FROM THE CUT

We're already in the middle of NYFW although I haven't had any chance to look at any shows. Who really does have the time and the luxury to go through all those runway pics unless you're a bored teenager with too much time on her hands (me back in the day) or in the fashion industry (even then I bet you'll be busy working too)? Starting from the time I got into "building the wardrobe", everything about fashion  is becoming a blur. I can no longer truly differentiate one product from another; they all look the same to me. When I get up in the morning before class, I try to put in a little effort in picking different ensembles together. That effort demonstrates that I still do give a crap about how I look, which leads me to wonder if this is a true sign of my gradual transcendence in controlling my desire for material goods? The long fabled zen state of mind post-wardrobe building? 

Back East

(ACTUALLY THIS WAS TAKEN IN VANCOUVER)

I'm finally back at school for my, can you believe it, third year of college. How does time fly past so fast in college and so slow in high school? I moved to a new part of the campus into a new dorm so I still have a lot of unpacking to do. You would think I would have gotten used to unpacking/packing but nope I still hate it as much as I did back when I was a wee thirteen year old foreign transplant at boarding school. I had a very taxing first day of three very long classes but thankfully they were all very interesting. The only real damper here is that I am terribly jetlagged and lacking in sleep. Also I just wished someone had told me how humid MA is currently before I arrived; I missed the cool Pacific breeze of the West Coast (so cold that I had to wear my new Barbour jacket while walking along the seawall).
All of this was just to announce that blogging has resumed (along with homework and reading). Good luck for everybody starting school!