Sunday 26 February 2012

slr tlr and rangefinders

As you know (or not) I happen to love old cameras. Now my parents have absolutely crushed all my hopes of ever taking actual pictures with old cameras, with arguments such as :"developping the film (which by the way is expensive) is expensive" or "now you won't find anyone who'll develop them" or "it doesn't take good pictures, numeric is better". Yeah, let's all be modern (bugger !). Anyways, I've decided that I didn't care, and I soon as I turned 18 I would be and take pictures with my old cameras. On holiday, I was at my grand-parents (which is where I find all my old clothe and old things, including old cameras) and I found two (well, more, but I could only get two) old cameras that belonged to my aunt. The first is a Kodak Tele-Instamatic 330, a sort of flat rectangular camera (too cool for school) :


And the second one is an Afga Optima Flash Sensor which is basically marvelous :


And I've no films for either of them though I researched and found out that lucky me, each necessitated film was no longer manufactured but could still be found (and the Afga's films are still used today so easily found). Anyways, just a peak to share my undying and binding passion for old out-of-use cameras, that I will someday use (be it the last thing I do).

On a totally different subject, tomorrow I'm going to Paris (easier since I live in France)!!!!!! It's absolutely and totally super super cool as I'm going with my best friend who also happens to love fashion like me. So we're going to dress chic and try (and manage) to get into Chanel and act like we're rich and try on all sorts of really expensive out of budget clothe. That's also too cool to be true. I've also made a plan of all the second-hand stores in Paris, and found out that some sell dresses and stuff at like 5 euros (about 7 dollars) which is also totally cool and from which I will profit immensely. Paris, here I come !!!!!

And the random person wandering in Paris

When I'll be there I'll take a lot of pictures (I double checked batteries, flash card, amount of storage available on flash card (oh yes, I did get to a wonderful location and find out I had no space on my camera to take pictures anymore).
I'll post them on my return :)




Monday 14 November 2011

I wanted to talk about the Alexander Mcqueen Spring 2012 RTW for a few reasons. First, of course, I kind of adore it, and it's as good a reason as another. But there's also a theme that I see recurring in the collection; even though it may not have been Sarah Burton's idea, but I felt like all the little (giant) models were actually tiny ants, that, in order to work together, had to form a whole. I mean, you have to admit, they do resemble the different social levels - if i may say - of a society of ants - there's the pink princess, the dark survivor (you know, the ant that's alway following but never keepin' the pace, I know, creepy that I know so much about ants? I thought so too.), there's the tulip ant (did I mention I like nature? But not more than NY, of course - woo pollution right?), there are the goddess ants, the baby ant, the chic ants and the first dark warrior ant's budy right at the end (it's in chronological order, in case you wanna check)









Of course, it immediately reminded me of :



So I got kind of red in front of my computer typing 'heigh ho' up (*cough*lying*cough*) and decided in the end to put it up. Sarah Burton's clothe are much more fashionable than the 7 dwarves, at least I believe so very forcefully, and that makes me affirm that I love the dramatic yet little childish sense of it to me (ants ARE dramatic ! Do you think it's easy to see your loved ones die everyday ? Huh? I'm fighting for a lost cause here, just return to heigh ho).

Anyway, this is why I preferred the whole to the details (ant complex) in this articular collection, it just seemed to fit better.

1960's here I come !!!!

If there was ever a moment in history I would want to invent the machine to go back to the past for, it would have to be, without hesitations, the 60's. Just close your eyes and imagine : waking up in the morning because your phone is ringing, to pick it up, put it to your ear and hold it still while putting on a long cigarette the most naturally of the word, then actually feeling fashionable in a long pale silk gown and playing Blanche Dubois in your long hot bath. Then going to this new and exciting job that's actually up in skyscrapers like you've never seen them before. Order a steak and a scotch. Make it double. And you're in 1960, New York, getting ready for the best years of your life... Aaah, dreams that will never come true...=D They say hope keeps alive.

I mean, when else than in 1960 could you say Turn on, tune it, drop out ? I can pretty much imagine myself saying that to my English teacher - either she wouldn't understand, or she's actually so old that she would remember =P.












Whoever thinks of saying 'Oooooooooh yes, the singleman party'** now, huh? I miss the 60's (and saying this strictly meaning that I was unfortunately not born, not even conceived... My mother was not born in 1960. My father was not born in 1960. The 1960's existed without the knowledge of me... How lonely it must have been :p

I also had a huge crush on the singer of The Seeds and on their Can't seem to make you mine (I love the little sounds he makes at the end of a line sometimes !). It's like, hey, I wanna add something that'll make me be remembered, let's do weird noises ! Yay (going totally out of my mind now...)



You might also happen to know Canned Heat, for the singer's very peculiar voice (okay, I'll tell you, he's got a quite high voice - but so great)



Of course, I need to keep the best for the end - The Velvet Undergrounds, who are basically eargasms over and over again :



You have to give credit to Mary Quant for freeing about everywoman in the world and becoming our legend :




One of my favourite photographers happens to be Cecil Beaton, for his almost sculptural silhouettes in his black and white photos - the grace is so present behind his camera that there a thing to his photographs, that you can't really define but that's there...






1960's Telephone, Mad Men, Twiggy, Mad Men, Campaign for Louis Vuitton, Mad Men, 1960's cCigarette Publicity, Mad Men, Dennis Basso Spring 2012 RTW, 1960's women, Mary Quant mini skirts, Marilyn Monroe by Cecil Beaton, Coco Chanel by Cecil Beaton, Vanity Fair magazine by Cecil Beaton, Vogue June 1948 by Cecil Beaton.

Tuesday 25 October 2011

How To Steal A Million

I've just finnished watching How To Steal a Million, with Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole. It's about the daughter of a rich man who copies art of real artists as a passion. One day he lends a statue to a museum, thinking it won't get tested. As it turns out it will, his daughter decides to steal it, using a thief that entered her house and that she stopped to do this.
Of course, you couldn't expect a movie with Audrey Hepburn without eyegasm - her clothe ! my god, her clothe !!




My favourite one is when she's at the hotel, waiting for Simon, with her lace dress and her lace mask, smoking. Chic and Classy must me synonyms for Audrey Hepburn in the dictionnary !
What's also interesting is we get a big whiff of the Audrey's 60's in our Srping 2012 collection with the lace - this time colourful, with No.21, Louis Vuitton (again!), Valentino... :


I do love to relate different times of fashion - and the 60's are definitely my favourites !

Marc Jacobs

One of my all-times favourite designers would have to be Marc Jacobs, especially after the godly collections he's presented at Louis Vuitton's house. Before I thought Louis Vuitton was only a bag's collection, and for grandmothers as it was (you know, with the LV copied again and again on the fabric.... --'). Anyways, I don't know what changed my mind, but it might have been due to Mr.Jacobs who is now one of my fahsion icons - and you have to admit, he does some beautiful job !I know we've now already moved on to the Spring 2012 RTW, but I'd like to zoom back to the Fall 2011 RTW that for my part, was an eyegasm :

I particularly appreciated the hats that we saw on nearly every model, and that were decorated either by fur, LVs and all had a little mask on its side. I remmber it hit me when I bought the latest edition of Citizen K :
If you watch closely, you can even see the handcuffs at the right of the picture, so it looks clearly inspired by Marc Jacobs runway show of the season... The shoes too are Louis Vuitton, with the little cute knots that break the sexy and high side of the shoe to make an incredible one !! Each time I see a pair of shoe I love, I promise myself they'll be the first one I'll buy when I'll have the money, but my eye always catches another one a second later, so today I'll break my rule and not swear I'll get them - even thoough I have to bite my lips...:)

Anyways, here are some pictures of my favourite pieces of Marc Jacobs Fall 2011 RTW collection :




You'll notice that I loved the plus-sized buttons that ornated almost every clothe, and the shiny coats - and, of course, the hats that I won't forget for a very, very long time !!!