A Fashionable Saturday

Dublin Fashion Festival takes over the city this weekend, setting up their ‘Fashion HQ’ in the old Waterstones building on Dawson Street. There are four days of make-overs, styling tips, fashion shows and free champagne. If you feel like some aesthetic indulgence on a shoestring there’s plenty to be had around town today, tomorrow and Sunday. 

Tomorrow, start off in Lush in the morning where they’re doing free facials and arm massages. Next, make for Fashion HQ for tips on how to put a stylish outfit together on a budget with fashion blogger Anne Marie O’Connor. Then, check out the Barnardos pop-up shop where bargain clothes you might once have thought suspect will now seem like diamonds in the rough, just waiting to be artfully styled. If you happen to buy a pair of impossibly high, but just perfect heels, stick around for the ‘How to walk in high heels’ masterclass at 2:30. You’ll have worked up an appetite by now, so head for the Westbury Hotel, where they’re serving a Fashionista’s Afternoon Tea until 5:30. Finish off with the Fashion Blogger’s Brainstorm to hear what the hippest, hottest and most happening of the fash-pack have to say about trends, blogging and the future of fashion.

For the full festival programme see http://www.dff.ie/home/full-programme-guide/

A Dublin Saturday

(via we heart it)

I'm back! Well, I haven't exactly been away. Just lazy. I mean, seriously working hard on various variousnesses. So thank you to Sam for sort of holding the virtual fort in my absence. Tomorrow we Buzzcats get to spend a Saturday in Dublin, something we haven't done all summer and we're very excited. We plan to visit the inaugral record fair in Whelans - it starts at 2pm, has cheap booze and hopefully LOADS of classic tunes for not so much money. I'm in the market for some Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan and maybe even some Doc Watson if they have it, thanks very much. After that, or maybe before, we're going to venture to excellent sounding new vintage store Shotsy Vintage, on Temple Lane South, for their Norwegian cardigans and €5 men's plaid shirts. After that, who knows... though I hear worrying rumours among friends of a karaoke expedition.

Hilarious Honda Hipsters.

Hipster bashing has been everywhere of late. Since "Being A Dickhead Is Cool" hit our viral senses a year ago, hating hipsters is well...hip. The word 'dickhead' has even entered the lexicon of our everyday speak as a new term for hipsters. Some brilliant people who do Honda's advertising realised this and have made this wonderful ad. It's wry and funny and there isn't too much hate in it. Just poking some gentle fun.

You used to be cool Nick Valensi.

I remember being at Oxegen music festival in 2004. I was a teenager. I had made my way to the front of the crowd to see The Strokes. They were the reason I had gone. When they walked on stage guitarist Nick Valensi was dressed in white jeans, a sleeveless denim jacket and hoodie. He looked cool, not many people could have pulled that off. He spent most of the gig with his hood up and just pulling riffs out of his guitar. I haven't forgotten it and I don't think I will for a while.

In a previous post I reported on the fraught nature of the recording sessions for The Strokes fourth album Angles. Lead singer and sole songwriter Julian Casablancas was banned from recording sessions, the rest of the band contributed to the songwriting process and rumours that they were only doing it for the money. Particularly outspoken during the whole process was Nick Valensi. As the only member of The Strokes who had not released a solo album during their five year gap between records, he felt he had a large creative contribution to offer during the Angles sessions. He was quite outspoken about the fractious nature of the sessions and the relationships in the band. Despite this, the record was completed and released to a mild reception. Lead single Under The Cover Of Darkness appeared to have "promising return to form" written all over it. Very little of what followed on the full album matched this, it was a disjointed and somewhat indulgent affair.

Shortly afterward it was announced that the band had started working on their follow up. It was then announced that Julian Casablancas had scrapped the sessions. In an interview with the band in this months Q magazine, Valensi stated that Julian kept stopping the sessions. In a phone interview with Casablancas, he said that Valensi had tried to use unfinished Strokes songs for a solo album he wanted to release. This breached their contract and led to Casablancas cancelling the sessions. Valensi also pointed the finger at guitarist Albert Hammond Jr's former drug problem as a big factor in the bands troubled relationship since their last record, it allegedly "started the whole thing off." He was also consuming drugs during the same period but was "having a great time...different people took it in different directions."

When The Strokes first appeared Valensi was probably considered the coolest and most understated member of the group. He was an excellent guitarist who played some of their most memorable riffs, he was handsome and he had mystique due to his brooding stage presence. In the time since then he appears to have bought into the idea that he is a rock legend. His performances reek of wannabe Slash posing and his image has grown to match it. All of this wouldn't really matter though if he hadn't started acting the way he has. It is small, petty and destructive. He has shown no ability to exist in the music world without the rest of the band and is seemingly fueling the destruction of it.

When he was cool.

...Now...

American Apparel in peril?

The once hipper than hip hipster clothes store American Apparel may have been saved from bankruptcy today by selling it's shares at a discounted rate to a Canadian led group of private investors.

Reports of financial instability have been rife since August last year when their auditors resigned over "material weaknesses" in the company's financial controls. The store, considered the coolest thing since fixie bikes upon it's arrival in London in 2004 and Dublin (belatedly) in 2009, has been dealing with a long running sales slump as well as several sexual harassment suits filed against controversial CEO Dov Charney.

Beloved of the trendy youth, American Apparel specialises in cotton basics - tshirts, leggings, tracksuit bottoms, hoodies - made in an entirely vertically integrated way at their LA factory, with an emphasis on environmentally friendly manufacturing, and a pro-immigration stance. But, the brand seems to have been unable, or unwilling, to develop. As Amelia Hill wrote in The Guardian last August "for a company who took the humble T-shirt from basic item to fashion icon, to fail to catch on to this year's hot look – the soft jersey cotton T-shirt – is quite a lapse."

In a way, they have pigeon-holed themselves, at least on this side of the Atlantic. They have a reputation for being the brand of choice for a certain type of 'there's something retro on my necklace' hipster and their advertising, their staff, and their recruitment policies may have alienated them from quite a large demographic who would buy responsibly sourced basics.  As The Guardian points out, with the onset of the recession, the company has also found itself trapped in the limbo of the high end of the middle market. And, they have a peculiar policy of rarely having a sale. A sale in London last spring ended in hipster handbags at dawn.

It would be a pity if they went as there are a lot of good things about the company,  but at least if they end up liquidating they might have a decent sale...

Rocco's Weird Stuff: LES and his vintage top hat

It's been too long. Rocco has busily been accumulating more weird stuff so it's time for another installment.

Here are some photos of his latest (though temporary) acquisition. It's a very fine moleskin top hat of unknown vintage, made by royal hatters Woodrow of Westmoreland Street and once owned by someone called Les (or of course more sensibly, someone whose initials were L.E.S.).

The best bit is that it comes in a beautiful leather hat box, lined with red velvet that even has secret compartments for love notes and what not.

The other best bit is that the hat belongs to John Boorman, director of such pieces of celluloid gold as this:

Lovely slippers and old fashioned shopping

I bought these slippers for Sam and I in Vienna last month. They're traditional woollen Austrian made slippers and they're incredibly warm and comfortable. They're from Loden-Plankl, a shop filled with all kinds of traditional Austrian garb - Geiger cardigans, edelweiss brooches, dirndls, Loden coats. All things that I love but that probably seem as touristy and naff to the Austrians as the things in the 'traditional Irish' shops on Nassau Street in Dublin. As this rather amusing review put it: "If you want to deck yourself out like a walrus-moustachioed burgermeister or a Julie Christie lookalike, the Loden Plankl holds the keys to the lederhosen kingdom." Find them here.

 

What do I know

So I was talking with my father this evening, a man who spent a couple of decades as a creative director (and therefore has a special place in his heart for Don Draper) and he thinks the Utterly Repellent M&S campaign is brilliant. "I'd be very pleased if I came up with that," said he. He's of the opinion that, known for their less than beautiful suits, Marks and Spencer are having an hilarious joke with themselves and us. I suppose they are.

REPEL ME!!!!!!!

Tommy Hilfiger : Indie Prep

At New York Fashion Week Tommy Hilfiger unvieled a new Autumn menswear collection "Indie Prep". It seems that he has tried to infuse his classic preppy style with the attitude of indie music.  The collection's foundation is a selection of smart separates. The overall silhouette has been narrowed and the tailoring is leaner. The focal point is outerwear motorcycle jackets, toggle coats, bomber jackets and macs. Trousers include  cargo, slim-fit, slouched or tracksuit pants. No skinny? Detailing is military with regimental stripes, armbands and lapel pins playing against, colored sweaters, pinstripes, flannel suits, and oversized waffle stitch cardigans. The colour pallete has a lot of air-force blue and burgundy which is offset with pops of colour and greys. The looks are topped off with hats, sun glasses, loafers, boat shoes and fabric ties.

The result however is not authentic. As far as the "Indie" in "Indie Prep" is concerned the collection doesn't deliver. When we think of Indie we think of boys in bands, we think leather jackets, skinny jeans, scruffy hair, a somewhat disheveled look. We think of the skinny silhouette of designers like Hedi Slimane. Looking at the images from this collection we see the preppy look of Tommy Hilfiger made "indie" by some sunglasses, models with long hair and some hats. There is a lack of commitment to what sounds a great idea on paper. The "Prep" part is right, how could it not be it's Tommy Hilfiger. However the "Indie" appears only as an after thought. Which is a pity as there are two bands in particular who are making this look work. The Drums, New York's latest band to be hyped to sky scraper levels mix varsity jackets, college sweaters, Wayfairer Raybans and Converse to great effect, perfectly mixing the edgy and scruffy elements of Indie with Preppy neatness and colour. Vampire Weekend also pull off the same trick, maybe in a more understated way. If Hilfiger wants this to be the new "Indie Uniform" he needs to look to bands like these and kids on the street for the authenticity this collection is lacking.

Indie Prep by Tommy Hilfiger

Indie Prep by Tommy Hilfige

The Drums

Vampire Weekend

Utterly repellent menswear?

Marks and Spencer seem to have gone insane. They've just launched the first ad campaign for their menswear range, where they are highlighting the 'utterly repellent' qualities of their suits. Ahem. How, HOW can the ranks of PR, marketing, and advertising people, as well as (presumably) some of the upper echelons of the management have okayed this incredible gaffe? So the clothes are waterproof, but surely there's a way of saying this without also saying they're completely repulsive. Or perhaps it's a giant joke, along the lines of Joaquin's faked meltdown. Perhaps.

Here are some posters I saw today in their Grafton Street store.

Okay, so he's a footballer, but he's not that bad...

 

Just to reiterate.

I heart it

I have an addiction. It's called We Heart It. It's a pretty inane interweb pastime that involves 'hearting' images on weheartit.com. I love it because it's like a virtual mood board that can be continuously updated at the click of a button (or in this case a heart) - something of an online scrapbook. Looking back over your hearted images can often be an interesting reflection of changing moods and tastes. One day I plan to plaster an entire room with images from it. I also love the Hype Machine which also involves clicking little hearts. Maybe that's the real draw....

Here are my favourite images from today's hearting session.

My mother was a fashion illustrator...

And she was one of a very few working in Dublin in the seventies and eighties. She illustrated ads for Dublin department stores such as Switzers and Boyers and perhaps most interestingly for Penny's who had just opened and were as cheap as ever. I've been digging through her old portfolios and drawing books and found some that I thought were lovely...

Lucy Nuzum and the pictures she takes

She has a lovely way of capturing the light, movement and a sense of beautiful surreality.

See more here...

http://www.facebook.com/lucynuzumphotography

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutr

Levi's New Fits.

I received a sup of spam today telling me that Levi have released three new styles of jean. Great, I am a big fan of Levi's, I think I have only one pair of jeans that aren't made by them. I am a particular fan of their 510s and of course 501s. I followed the link. I was disappointed.
First there was the awfully titled "Ex-Girlfriend Jean" an unappealing jean both in name and appearance, too legging like for anyone but emo kids. Stick to the 510s.
After this came "The Skinny Carpenter Jean". Now these are quite simply appalling and should be banished from the face of the earth.
Finally there is "The Taper Jean". A perfectly nice cut for those with the sense to avoid boot-cut and aren't into the skinny look. I feel however that they are somewhat pointless and if you are considering these just get 501s, they are a classic and will always be cool.

Zadig and Voltaire Kill It.

The Kills shot by Olivier Zahm for Zadig & Voltaire's 10-11 Lookbook. A very cool band with a great sound and look. They are somewhat under the radar. But with a new album and accompanying tour on the way in April, now is the perfect time to get on board.

Prima ballerina

Sometimes the release of a film with an easy to interpret style can have a greater impact on street fashion than what filters down from the catwalk. Natalie Portman's new ballet film Black Swan could well prove to be one such film.

Natalie Portman in Black Swan

The ballerina look was rampant a few years ago, with leggings and ballet pumps a staple of many wardrobes. It's an elegant look, especially when topped with hair swept up into a clean ballet bun, and one that's often more wearable than S/S '11 trends like the maxi skirt.

Topshop ballet pumps

Haute Hippie jersey tutu dress

Hair by Peter Stigter

Step away from the bootlegs

Bell-bottoms, palazzo pants and billowing wide legged trousers make a welcome return for women this season. Disturbingly, they also appear to be on the fashion radar for men. Most worryingly, the style for men is just wider than a bootcut, my most hated of all cuts - as seen below at Acne.

Ireland is a country filled with men clad in ill-fitting jeans and apparently obsessed with the unflattering bootcut. When well styled and hanging off a rakeish model they can pass for acceptable, but on your average fellow shambling about Dublin they're just wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Ugly. The ends are always ripped and covered in mud, and they do nothing good for anyone with a waist bigger than a 32.

The news that they're once again deemed fashionable is just going to fuel their mania for the awful things.

Hemingway Movies and Wide White Pants.

As we at Buzz Cats are big fans of all things 1920's especially the writing and clothes of the time I was quite excited to see the general release last month of The Garden of Eden a film adaptation of the posthumous novel by Ernest Hemingway. The plot of the book revolves around the story of a jazz age American couple, David Bourne an American writer and his wife Catherine taking an extended European honeymoon and documents the next five months of their life, the story takes place mainly in the French Riviera mostly in the Cote D'Azur. During their honeymoon they meet a young woman named Marita whom they both fall in love with and ultimately only one of them can have and things go on accordingly from there.
The Garden of Eden was the second of Hemingway's works to be published posthumously (1986) and was greeted with some controversy due to what was dubbed by Susan Seitz as "Substandard" editing. This film adaptation was greeted as a "a boundaries-breaking erotic drama" on it's screening at the RomaCinemaFest, it is directed by John Irvin and the ensemble cast includes Jack Huston (grandson of filmmaker John, and great grandson of Oscar-winning actor Walter),Mena Suvari, Caterina Murino, Richard E. Grant, and Carmen Maura. Let's hope it does the book justice and if it doesn't at least some of the clothes look great,there's a trailer below, take particular note of the matching striped T-shirts and wide legged white trousers, always a good look.

Vivian Maier

Vivian Maier - French ex-patriate, wearer of men's coats, Chicago nanny, world traveller and fascinating street photographer.

http://vivianmaier.blogspot.com