Or does it???
Or does it???
optimo espacio have been loving our ears since 1997.
Writing yesterday about William Chamber's plastic flowers put me in the notion for digging out my miu miu plastic flower garland necklace...
The Return to the Sub/ Plein Sud Sequin Dress
Wise words from the Glasgow based milliner William Chambers.
Driving back from the club, Sir Midas and I often get to talking about our pet hates.
I try and stay away from shoes which are of the expensive variety since I can trash shoes pretty quickly therefore it's money down the drain. Of course I have succumbed many times but those shoes don't see the light of day too often incase of aforementioned trashing. That doesn't mean to say I don't like to indulge in some virtual window shopping.
Of late my shoe appreciation has been going to British designer Chrissie Morris. She graduated in Fashion Design at the John Moores University of Liverpool in 2000 where she focused her research on Knitwear and Constructed Textiles. But it was only when she continued her studies at Domus Academy in Milan that she began exploring shoe design.
It's clear that what she learned whilst researching textiles has been put to good use in her career as a shoe designer since all her creations are rich in texture and shape. I also appreciate that she isn't afraid to keep her heels nice and chunky. Always good.
Queen Michelle
During Amsterdam Fashion Week the Dutch Project Catwalk winner, Django Steenbakker, presented his first collection. I must confess I never watched any of the Project Catwalks simply because I abhor reality TV, even if it is fashion related. So I am looking at his work on his own merits, as a young designer, and I must say I really like it.
Overall the collection seemed to lack cohesion, seeming more like a random fusion of ideas as opposed to having any single thread which ties everything together. You can see lots of influences; Marni, Prada, a bit of Balenciaga but he has managed to merge them into his own vision and it comes out quite fresh and modern.
If I saw it in a shop I'd be quite excited. I particularly like his prints and the striped coral and black dress. It'll certainly be interesting to see if he has staying power.
Queen Michelle
Whilst in London in September I popped into Beyond the Valley and they had a couple of the wonderful KapowWow ruffled neck scarfs. Sadly none in a colour I wanted but I recently checked their website and was pleased to find they don't just create ruffled pieces, but also scarfs which are made from layer upon layer of strips of reclaimed fabrics that look like ribbon and some which look like a huge tangle of textiles. Utterly heavenly.
A fabulous neck ruff has been on my list for some time although quietly in the back burner, but my desire has been re-ignited once more because I'm reading about 16th century Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory. One of, if not the, most prolific female serial killers of all time. She is said to have been hauntingly beautiful yet with an insatiable appetite for awful cruelty, and is believed to have killed upwards of 600 young women over a period of 30 years. Her portrait shows a woman with huge dark eyes, dark hair piled high on her head and covered in red, wearing a huge ornate ruff and a dress of velvet and jewels.
I would of course be more than happy to have one of the other incredible pieces to tide me over until the perfect colour of ruff comes my way.
KapowWow are also stocked at Pixie Market.
Queen Michelle
For several months now there has been a dress sitting in the Cancer Research shop. The dress is vintage 60's, handmade, bubblegum pink velvet with a gold and pink brocade bodice. The dress is so sickly sweet that I recoiled whenever I picked it up. Yet I still picked it up. Like a bad accident, I couldn't stop looking at it. Then I bought it.
I got it home and once again recoiled from it's sugary sweetness. Yet I tried it on. And I liked it.
What is happening to me?
The dress obviously was made for a child as it had a nigh neck which was really tiny and had to be cut off. The sleeves were also long but the wrists were also tiny and so I had difficulty getting my hands in, therefore I shortened the sleeves. It also must have began life as a long party frock because someone had haphazardly hacked off the bottom which I had to hem.
For reason I know not, I love this dress. Who knew.
Queen Michelle
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