QC Loves || Bridge & Burn F/W 2012
17/12/2012 § 1 Comment
A gorgeous little love note to New York, Bridge & Burn‘s Fall/Winter 2012 short by Monica Reyes makes me want to bundle up in Erik Prowell’s amazing collection and take an extra long walk around the city. I’ve long been a fan of this Portland-based brand that effortlessly mixes just the right amounts of ruggedness, prep and menswear detailing, and Fall/Winter 2012 has definitely proven to be no exception to this rule.
Be sure to visit Bridge & Burn.
A Prayer for the Wild at Heart
04/12/2012 § 1 Comment
Mixing equal parts Isak Dinesen, Amelia Earhart and Katharine Hepburn, the campaign for Maiyet FW 2012 is exactly the sort of thing that my African safari dreams are made of. Featuring the Daria Werbowy in Chyulu Hills, Kenya, photographer Cass Bird has gorgeously captured the free-spirited — yet refined — essence personified by the collection’s deft combination of luxe textures and tailored details. And can we please talk about that wide-brimmed fedora, and how badly I need it in my life? Such perfection…!
For more, hop over to Maiyet.
La Bombe Dior
19/10/2012 § 3 Comments
Tourbillon dress and bolero in black crepe wool,
Haute Couture collection Fall-Winter 1957-1958. Ligne Fuseau
Aventure outfit, jacket with black and white houndstooth, pencil skirt in black wool.
Haute Couture collection Spring-Summer 1948. Ligne Envol
Abandon dress in black wool, Haute Couture Fall-Winter collection 1948-1949. Ligne Ailée
Arizona wool coat in cherry red. Haute couture Fall-Winter collection 1948-1949. Ligne ailée.
Porto Rico dress with black and white polka dot.
Haute Couture Fall-Winter collection 1954-1955. Ligne H
Portugal evening gown in white organdie with cerise embroidery
Haute Couture Spring-Summer collection 1957. Ligne Libre
I suppose that when one is Marion Cotillard, it is practically all in a day’s work to pose in iconic haute couture pieces from the Dior archive — created by Monsieur Dior himself — and transform oneself into the “The Dior Bombshell” for amazing photographs by Jean-Baptiste Mondino as part of the Lady Dior web documentary.
Le sigh. She looks so perfect that it almost difficult to be jealous.*
*Please note I said “almost.”
The Ivy Coed {Jil Sander Pre-Fall 2012}
23/01/2012 § 2 Comments
Taking design inspiration from the mid-century American college student isn’t particularly innovative these days. In fact, it can sometimes seem like designers are perennially stuck in those hallowed years between childhood and adulthood, where the most pressing matters of the day are studying for a midterm or rushing the right house. Particularly if said years are spent in one of the more storied institutions, such as the colleges of the Ivy League. This was perhaps most recently and significantly evidenced by the recent reissue and popularity of Teruyoshi Hayashida’s 1965 book Take Ivy, a collection photographs of Ivy style, and its appearance in bookstores and J.Crew stores alike.
But here is where we shall take a step back, because we should note that the conversation above is truly about men and menswear (and perhaps menswear-influenced womenswear by extension). When was the last time we’ve seen the college coed honored, and not as a caricature — not as a girl in boy’s clothing — but truly female? Honestly, I cannot recall, sadly. Which is why the Jil Sander Pre-fall 2012 collection is so exciting to me.
For Jil Sander, designer Raf Simons has honored the collegiate woman. Not content to merely reproduce — the quagmire that menswear frequently finds itself mired in — Simons’s reinvention of familiar forms is refreshing and startlingly well-executed, especially in the case of outerwear. The presentation of the designs in a campaign that echoes Hayashida’s photographs, in group portraits that recall sororities and ladies’ clubs, is a stroke of genius and I couldn’t resist pulling up a few real ones. You know me.
SMU sorority, taken by John Dominis, 1951.
Alpha Kappa Alpha at Howard University, Washington, D.C.
Taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1946.
Vassar College.
Bryn Mawr. Taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt , 1956.
Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority at University of Kansas, Lawrence.
Taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1939.
Vassar College.
Vassar College.
Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority, University of Kansas, Lawrence.
Taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1939.
Wellesley College, taken by Nina Leen, 1949.
Images via Vogue, the Vassar Archives, and the LIFE Archives.
Rabbit Hole: Vintage Ralph Lauren
06/10/2011 § Leave a comment
You might hate me after this.
…but I just happened upon The Style Registry’s treasure trove of classic Ralph Lauren campaigns, and I couldn’t resist. Could you really expect me to? So much inspiration. If you hate Americana, ladies in ties, boats and/or classic supermodels, it would probably be best to just skip along to the next post. I’d also question our friendship, but I am very open-minded. For your perusal, a few classic RL images — many shot by Bruce Weber — dating from 1981 through 1997.
Oh. My. God.
Shades of Out of Africa. It’s almost too much.
All images via The Style Registry.
Dree Hemingway for Margaret Howell Fall 2011
05/08/2011 § 2 Comments
Noted that there has been quite a bit of Dree Hemingway on the blog lately…decided I was okay with that…especially when she’s modelling for one of my favorite designers…and looks this dapper.
Her eyes are amazing, are they not?
I really want a hat like this. Like really, really, really want a hat like this. Do we think Margaret Howell also made the hat, or it was gotten elsewhere? Please interwebs, reveal the answer to me…
Images via FGR.
Quite Continental 