Naturally Selecting.

Terrifying, bulbous, sadistic and grotesque!

All things considered...I hope to see some dear girl fearless enough to brave criticism, common sense and gravity in these glorified lobster claws by Alexander McQueen. McQueen has a very special way of reminding us all of our primordial soupy pasts and how fashion like man, is ever evolving.

Darwin is absolutely rolling in his grave.

xx til next,

a

photos: style.com

Crushing on Velvet.

While I have always proposed that black, black and more black is the way to go lately I have developed quite the wandering eye! I've been going ape as of late for the rich and warm and pregnant hues that fall inspires.

After seeing red for so long now I find myself surprised by my newfound infatuation with her more mature and muted cousins. Romantic rougey reds and plums, deep emerald and inky blue cobalt are marvelous when paired with a strong brow, scrubbed face and blushed cheek.

The most fascinating bit of all is the way in which we can now wear these colorful and enchanting new dyes. Imagine the intensity of a rich plummy velveteen coat over an infinitesimal gold party dress and very pale skin traipsing through the park en route to an idyllic dinner party? Or could you even bear to fathom how sublime these velveteen trousers by Chloe would look when paired with a scooped black top shorn above the navel?

I surely hope to see an army of deeply pigmented velveteen courtesans this holiday season!

xx til next,

A

photos: style.com

Panty lines, redefined.

While most of Leighton's wardrobe on Gossip Girl may be undeniably uptown, Meester proves to be a bit more "cheeky" on the red carpet. At last night's MTV Movie Awards Leighton rocked the shit out of an Emilio de la Moreno cut out dress and some ultra plush Brian Atwood booties.

I love when designers find sexy, and innovative ways to show more skin. 

xx til next, 

A

Hustle

Isabel Marant suede over the knee boot. 

Inspired streetwalkers.

xx til next,

A

The After Party.

My friend Brittany coined the phrase "Rockstar's Daughter" to describe when a chick is acting pouty and holier than thou. 

Don't you love it?

It brings to mind the likes of Theodora Richards and Daisy Lowe, Zoe Kravitz and the Jagger clan. Drinking too much whiskey, smoking every last cigarette, their handbags splashed with vodka and grenadine and filled with hotel room keys. Reform school, boys in bands, day old Marni stacked heels and Givenchy lace ups landing heel first in yesterday's room service. To make a long story short, for one night every girl should be able to act like a pouty entitled brat.

So why don't you...

..forget about work tomorrow and go out tonight? Cash in one of your sick days, (It's not YOUR FAULT that the cute guitarist kept your champagne glass filled all night!) Life is too short to be a worker drone and no one knows this better than these birds. 

..shimmy into your tightest leather pants, throw on your ex boyfriend's well abused and threadbare Lou Reed tshirt and wear a sexy Kiki de Montparnasse bra underneath it all?

..wear those red patent mary janes you bought at a sex shop and for ten quid as a laugh? Fetish footwear is so this season.

..forgo washing your hair and let it hang sunbleached and dirty down to the small of your back? You will be dancing all night anyway.

..wear a fur and all the jewelry in your jewelbox? When it comes to this look more is definitely more.

The night is young and so are you. Be a haughty bitch and have no apologies.

xx til next,

A

photos: foto decadent, lefashionimage

Interior Divine

Chic parisiennes just cannot be beat. 

Everything about Thibault de Montaigu & Sofia Achaval's home GLOWS. 

The books! 

Her lava lamp-esque rings! 

His schoolboy haircut!

I've never thought neon pink patent could feel so at home. 

xx til next,

A

All photos from www.theselby.com

Quote of the Day.

"What you need is a face. If you have a face you don't need height or a voice. Models know this; that's why the good ones don't need to talk much."

-Karl Lagerfeld

xx til next,

A

Charlotte's Web.

Vertiginous, vintage inspired, luxurious- Charlotte Olympia is quickly becoming my new favorite shoe designer. Say goodbye to the redundant red underbelly of Louboutins, put away your bucktoothed Kirkwoods and say hello to the insanely chic gold spiderweb of Charlotte Olympia.

It is my belief that heels should be like a Hollywood trainwreck- overtly sexual, talked about and always extremely high.

xx til next,

A

Where to buy: www.brownsfashion.com

Daily Dare

Black Lipstick? 

I am having a hard time coming to terms with this trend even after the inspired show at YSL last fall. I have yet to see black lips make the jump from editorial to street and I can't say I would go crazy for it if I did. It's working for Alice Dellal here. But she is also a girl who can pull the half shaven head look.

So I'm going to have to say no. It's too indicative of who's been kissing who.

xx til next,

A

Da, Dasha.

Fur & Vodka. While these are just two reasons to love Russia, I'm about to give you another.

It's all about Dasha Zhukova right now.

While she may have gained notoriety for being Roman Abramovich's arm candy, Dasha is a star in her own right. She codesigns the fashion line kova&T (we have her to thank for leather leggings) and converted an old bus depot in Moscow into the highly respected and acclaimed Center for Contemporary Culture Moscow also coolly known as the Garage. She does all this and manages to look marvelous at every event she attends. A fan of Rodarte, Balmain and Chanel she always looks effortless, stunning and fresh faced. I love a girl who smiles! Dasha is set to blow up as a fashion darling because she personifies the Old World/New World mix. Divine dinner jackets in Moscow one night, slashed Rodarte in London the next. Some bloggers have been seriously looking down upon young Russian socialites even going so far to say that they are "bringing down Balmain" but I beg to differ. If you can afford couture and great designer pieces go for it. In this economy designers need high end clientele in order to make ends meet, support the creative! 

Recently Dasha was announced as the new Editor in Chief of POP Magazine, and while there have been many skeptics and naysayers debating her lack of experience I'm terribly excited to see what this gorgeous young thing has in store for the mag. From Russia with LOVE!

What's not to love?

 

xx til next,

A

photos: style, getty, tfs

Quote of the Day.

"Chic is when a woman is in harmony with herself."

-Giambattista Valli

xx til next,

A

photo: the selby

WET.

I've been dying to get this look: a super slick, smokey eye. 

Does anyone have any tips?

Whenever I try to make it dewey and wet I end up taking off all the makeup I just applied.

xx til next,

A

photo: tfs

Daily Dare

Would you?

I'm not so sure if I ever would.

Avril Lavigne scares me too much.

But I am sort of digging the Veronica Lake wave blending into pink.

Ultra feminine.

xx til next,

A

Noir

Daria Werbowy styled by Emmanuelle Alt. 

Shot by Inez & Vinoodh. 

Let's talk shall we? This editorial is so mindblowing- all about texture.

Black washed out suede boots with leather pants so tight, Rick Owens unzipped and heather gray, shiny plastic pleather shorts and knee high flying fringe.

Fuck the French, they're too fantastic. 

xx til next,

A

Why Don't You?

Why Don't You...

..indulge yourself and purchase an Herve Leger bathing suit? I don't care about the cost, or what your tanlines will inevitably look like. They are sexy as hell and would look so damn great with a leather jacket and the lowest, darkest blue jeans. 

..Never throw anything away? I mean this in regards to clothing of course. From my mother I just scored the most awesomely trashy bleached out levis shredded beyond even dental recognition, and from my grandmother I inherited an insanely plush vintage Christian Dior feather jacket, as well as the tiniest silk pajama set of Diana Vreeland's with a deliciously adorable chinois neck. So reminiscent of Dolce and Gabbana Spring 2009. Even at this early age I'm keeping the kiddies in mind. 

..make a mix of music that inspires you to get dressed? Sometimes all it takes for me to get up and out of bed is Violent Femmes or Kings of Leon. Dress every day like it's a music video. 

xx til next,

A

photo: style.com

Holey Shit.

I don't know how long I can live without this sleeveless Ferragamo sweater.

I saw it in April Elle on Isabel Lucas and then left the magazine by the pool and was terrified I would never find out who made this incredible shredded masterpiece. This led to a lot of frantic googling, and more time spent perusing the fashion spot than I would like to ever admit to.

Eventually I found it and now know it was worth the wait. 

The asymmetrical cut? The silver chains and gray threads? The perfect low V?

le sigh.

Over white denim? Leather leggings? White slip dress? Black mini skirt? Underneath a nude blazer? 

Live it, love it, have to have it.

xx til next,

A

photo: tfs

The Journey is the Destination

Dan Eldon was born in London on 18 September 1970. When he was seven years old, Eldon and his three-year-old sister Amy moved to Nairobi, Kenya with their parents, Kathy and Mike Eldon. While he worked as a photojournalist, he is most well know for his private journals. Throughout his lifetime he compiled these incredibly detailed, passionate and intimate journals. They are so incredibly vivid and alive each page like a beating heart ripped from the chest. Filled with photographs, bus tickets, newspaper clippings and postcards. Eldon lived a tragically short live, he and his three colleagues were stoned to death by an angry mob in Mogadishu.

While this is not exactly fashion related I wanted to write about one of my favorite and most inspiration artists. Dan Eldon had such a fierce passion for life and a wonderful sense of humor. His most vivid early memory of Kenya was a confrontation with a baboon who snatched his chocolate mousse and scratched Dan’s arm, leaving him with a healthy respect for baboons and a craving for chocolate mousse. Eldon's collages and photographs are so indicative of being at an incredible corner of the world and an incredible time.

xx til next,
A

Quote of the Day.

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative."

-Oscar Wilde

xx til next,

A

What I'm Packing: Coachella Edition

Let me preface this by saying: I could very possibly be the world's worst packer, second only to my friend Maria from Moscow who visited us in Los Angeles last summer for a week and brought with her NO EXAGGERATION:

-seven pairs of heart shaped sunnies.

-12 pairs of Louboutins.

-4 Chanel handbags and also the insanely practical/impractical Chanel ankle purse a la Lindsay Lohan house arrest. 

This is in addition to her addiction to Dom and her love of Tiesto is why she is a dear, dear friend of mine. 

So as Coachella in all of it's Wayfarer and headbanded glory approaches I have been faced with the herculean task of "packing light". Here are some images totally inspiring me right now:

xx til next,

A

photos: lefashionimage, tfs, nymag

Proust.

I came across some old issues of Vanity Fair and I was so enraptured with Valentino's answer to #5 on the Proust Questionnaire :

What do you consider your greatest extravagance?

Having 6 pugs and traveling with them.

Incredible. True luxury. 

Milton, Monty, Maude, Margot, Maggie, and Molly.

So for the hell of it, here are my answers.

1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Feeling present in the moment, that sense of truly living and being alive.
2. What is your greatest fear?
Losing my handbag…NO! Losing my loved ones.
3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Procrastination? I also have a tendency to never put my clothes away.
4. What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Cattiness. Close mindedness. Poor dress sense.
5. Which living person do you most admire?
Barack Obama.
6. What is your greatest extravagance?
Travel and furs.
7. What is your current state of mind?
Calm and relaxed.
8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Modesty and discretion.
9. On what occasion do you lie?
When I use my fake ID.
10. What do you most dislike about your appearance?
My feet.
11. Which living person do you most despise?
Whoever fired Paolo Melim Andersson.
12. What is the quality you most like in a man?

Humor.
13. What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Confidence.
14. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

Rude? Proud? Maybe “I diiiiie” or “I cannnn’t talk to you about that.”
15. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Leather and silver.
16. When and where were you happiest?
Summertime in Los Angeles.
17. Which talent would you most like to have?

To be a fantastic dancer.
18. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I’d like to speak French.
19. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Independence- still very much working towards this goal.
20. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
A Chanel 2.55 handbag, because it goes anywhere, suits everyone and will always be in style.

21. Where would you most like to live?
I would like to LIVE at the Ritz and have vacation homes in New York, Belvedere, Los Angeles, Miami, Paris, London, and Munich.
22. What is your most treasured possession?
My sanity.
23. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Working a job that isn’t your passion.
24. What is your favorite occupation?
Tastemaker.
25. What is your most marked characteristic?
My height and my sharp tongue!
26. What do you most value in your friends?
Honesty, sense of humor, dress sense.
27. Who are your favorite writers?
David Sedaris, Jane Austen, Tim O’Brien
28. Who is your hero of fiction?
The old woman who lived in a shoe.
29. Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Pancho Villa
30. Who are your heroes in real life?

Karl, the Proenza boys, Alexander Wang, Hedi Slimane, Erin Wasson, Olivier Theyskens, Christophe Decarnin, and Nicholas Ghesquiere.
31. What are your favorite names?
Antonia, Vladimir, Alexandra, Caroline, and Frederica.
32. What is it that you most dislike?
Mid calf leggings and heels. The combination makes me violently ill.
33. What is your greatest regret?

None yet.
34. How would you like to die?
In my sleep.
35. What is your motto?
“Never fear being vulgar, just boring” -DV


xx til next,
A