The PHOTO ~ The Photodiarist

Here are some pictures of the newyorker blogger Photodiarist. Her works move me. A newyorker Inspiration. She says: "I am a diarist of ordinary moments that move me. I gravitate towards black and white photography but still celebrate color. I love the candid capture but respect the power of the choreographed moment. I study the rules of phos+graphis but am compelled periodically to ignore them". My suggestion? Check out The Photodiarist for a new yorker perspective.

The OFF-CATWALK ~ Milan Fashion Week by Tommy Ton

One of my favourite photoblogger, Tommy Ton of Jak & Jil blog, is back in action at Milan Fashion Week.

The ART ~ My René Gruau collection

I'm all-happy cause among the bounty of things I bought Sunday at the vintage market of Piazzola sul Brenta there are some old advertising drawn by René Gruau (1909 - 2004), renowned advertising illustrator of XX century.  Gruau became one of the best known and favorite fashion illustrator of the haute couture world during the 1940s and 50s. Elegance, grace and luxury characterise the work of "the man who loved woman" as called by his peers.

“Elegance is aura (…) it is composed of will and knowing, of grace, sophistication, perfection and distinction”. G*

Can't wait to frame them and hang it up on my room. Here are some pictures of the old advertising.

The VINTAGE ~ Vintaging on a Sunday morning

This Sunday I went to a very big vintage market in Piazzola sul Brenta. Over 700 italian and foreign stalls in the amazing Paolo Camerini's square and Villa Contarini. The market, born in the 1979, is the second in Italy for number of exhibitors. The market offers a variety of household, old furnitures, home decors, period pieces, dresses, jewelery, laces, ceramics, old books and prints, objets d'art and collecting valuables from many eras. Here are some pictures I took here and there.

The BACKSTAGE ~ Orange/Poudre

Orange, brillant orange, poudre, nude, ivory, golden ivory, blush by day at S/S 2011.

Abbey Lee

Abbey Lee Kershaw in Milan for S/S 2011.

The RUNWAY ~ Orange/Poudre I

Orange, brillant orange, poudre, nude, ivory, golden ivory, blush at S/S 2011.

The RUNWAY ~ Alberta Ferretti

At Alberta Ferretti S/S 2011 Show today the atmosphere - both visual and aural - was like in a garden of Eden. Models were dressed in ethereal dresses of flora pattern silk. A soft silk voile wraped their bodies. Romanic colour palette: pale acqua green, tender ecru.

When I saw these gowns some of paintings i love the most come to my mind. Resemblances and redundancies are undeniable and clearly evident. 

The OFF-CATWALK ~ London shoes by Tommy Ton

The OFF-CATWALK ~ London fashion week by Tommy Ton

One of my favourite photoblogger, Tommy Ton of Jak& Jil blog, is back in action at London Fashion Week.

The CAMPAIGN ~ Love Chloé

Finally Love Chloè is available in perfumeries in europe! Chloé hosted a cocktail party 16 june at Apicius, the renowned parisian restaurant, for the launch of its new women’s fragrance ‘Love, Chloé’. During the presentation party, Raquel Zimmermann model muse of the fragrance, made a glamorous arrival in a vintage Mercedes cabriolet.

The fragrance, was created by Hannah MacGibbon for the Chloé woman: radiant, generous, feminine, understated chic. Love, Chloé keeps to the traditional powdery floral signature style of Chloé fragrances. The top note features  Orange Blossom blended with an icy touch of Pink Pepper. The heart note of the fragrance is a complimentary blend of Heliotropine, Lilac, Wisteria Blossom and Iris. The scent is distinguished by its powdery talc and rice powder musk notes giving it a soft sophisticated finish.

Love, Chloé is designed to evoke a playful yet sophisticated aura, emblematic of what the Chloé woman represents – natural, graceful and spontaneous all at the same time.

The PHOTO ~ Quentin Shih for Christian Dior

It's time for round two. Chinese photographer Quentin Shih was commissioned by the house of  Dior to produce a series of images, using the last couture collection. The images would be displayed in the boutiques windows for the reopening of the Dior boutique in Shanghai. I like the douce colours.

The Chinese photographer Quentin Shih already collaborated with Christian Dior back in 2008, producing the beautiful series of photographs titled "Stranger in the Glass Box".

The ART ~ Cecil Beaton

"Perhaps the world’s second-worst crime is boredom; the first is being a bore".

Some people claim there is art in everything, others that there in an art of doing everything more or less well. Surely Cecil Beaton was an exception: there was definitely art in everything he did, but he also had a very special skill, a sort of art in composing perfect images and putting together inspiring scrapbooks.

No wonder then that publishing house Assouline decided to release a volume dedicated to Beaton's wonderful collages. Introduced by James Danziger, Beaton – The Art of the Scrapbook is a 392-page volume dedicated to a man who was also a chronicler of fashion, style, people and places. The scrapbook pages collected in this thick tome are selected from the forty-two volumes owned by the Cecil Beaton Studio Archive at Sotheby’s in London and are a sort of revised version of the 1937 anthology Cecil Beaton's Scrapbook.

The ART ~ Igor + André

Artist Danny Roberts was born in Newport Beach, California, USA in 1985. Danny's interest in fashion started early as he established and operated his own clothing company in his teens, screen printing his designs on t-shirt, sweatshirts, and sweats, until the end of his first year in college. He majored in photography at Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo, California, and Fashion Illustration at the Academy of Art, San Francisco. Robert's meteoric rise in the fashion art world began when he launched Igor and Andre in 2008. His blog, Igor+andré features Roberts' art works, videos, illustrations and commentary which almost immediately found worldwide appreciation. Igor + André has been featured the US Canada, China, Australia, Europe, UK, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, and Japan. Publications include Vogue Spain, Germany, Brazil, and Japan, Women's Wear Daily, Elle, New York Times, The Examiner, Dazed and Confused, Marie Claire Spain, N*Style, Vision China, Fashion Magazine, and many web publications. Danny has collaborated with Lancome, Gwen Stephani's Harajuku Lovers, Aldo Shoes, Heutchy Shoes, Sundance Channel, Forever 21, to name a few. Here the drawings I love the most. I hope you enjoy the series.

High Wasty

Poudre high waisty on the street of Broadway, New York.

The BLOGGER ~ Hanneli

The BLOGGER ~ L’Amoureux {Catharsis}

I couldn't help to post these stunning pictures of Louise. She wears a robe of  Maria Lucia Hohan. Photos by Pauline Darley between Fécamp and Etretat. She says: "L’Amoureux étant mon arcane majeure, il me fallait une série de photos très personnelle. L’idée de shooter sur les falaises normandes est venue très vite, de même que la volonté d’une aura dramatique pareille à celle de l’héroïne du pays de Caux, Emma Bovary. Ces photos, c’est l’autre moi que ce blog ne montre jamais. En Vierge de base, ma personnalité est faite d’opposés, d’un extrême à l’autre sans jamais passer par l’apaisante neutralité. 

Comme Emma, j’ai toujours été plongé dans mes rêves, ce n’est pas la faute des romans mais d’une vite intérieure trop bouillonnante. Je fais partie de ces gens toujours dans la lune, si intériorisés qu’ils en sont presque fades à l’extérieur, aussi je suis souvent perçue comme bizarre ou transparente. Et pourtant, sous ces aspects placides, j’ai toujours été animée de passions violentes, et guidée par une forte impétuosité, légèrement teintée de pulsions autodestructrices. La catharsis est une necessité, qui m’aide à controler le trop-plein et le spleen, en noircissant chaque jour des pages et des pages de pensées abstraites. 

The VINTAGE ~ Look back to go forward II

This saturday I have been to Padova Vintage Festival with my boyfriend. Over 25 of the best italian stalls of tantalising vintage and unique handmade designs for men and women. To buy vintage is to buy a piece of the past, not only are you kitting yourself out in unique designs and unusual finds, but the recycling element ensures you are also doing your turn for the good of our eco system. Lot of art, music and, of course, fashion workshops. Here are the photos of some amazing pieces I discovered here and there.

So, enjoy this retro voyage through these breathtaking robes.

Windy Dots

The EVENT ~ Stupendous Chanel Soho Story

To commemorate the re-opening of the Chanel Soho Boutique, and just in time for New York Fashion Week, Peter Philips created the Soho Story Collection features feminine pinks juxtaposed with industrial metallics.  The collection includes a palette - inspired by pop art sculpture LOVE by American artist Robert Indiana - with the letters SOHO stamped in the powder. 
For Chanel nail polish collectors, Les Khakis de Chanel features three camouflage-inspired shades created by Peter Philips. The collection includes: Khaki Brun, an earthy gray-brown, Khaki Rose, a muted terra-cotta shade, and Khaki Vert, an army green. For me was love at first sight, especially for (guess...!) Khaki Rose. Hope to get my hands on them soon, since they're limited editions. As well Karl Lagerfeld exclusively designed this limited edition Le Petite Coco, a Coco Chanel rag doll. Don't know whether the doll is for sale, or whether is was just created for the window display. Also some pictures of the cocktail party at the Soho boutique on September 9th, guests moved to the basement of 82 Mercer Street to the Chanel pop-up nightclub.

The BLOGGER ~ Rumi Neely for Rebecca Minkoff

Rebecca Minkoff loves her FashionToast. The New York based design has selected famed fashion blogger Rumi Neely to model in her Spring/Summer 2011 Presentation at Lincoln Center during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. On September 12th Rumi Neely models Rebecca Minkoff’s collection.The designer said: “Rumi represents the type of girl this collection was designed for. She’s fiercely independent, ambitious and is blazing her own pathway to success. I couldn’t imagine a better person to embody my vision for our Spring/Summer 2011 collection, which is why I created the ‘Rumi’ dress”.

“I’m so excited to be a part of the Rebecca Minkoff presentation, the new collection is full of perfect basics with just enough edge – the exact kind of pieces that I live in” said Rumi. "I loved the simplicity of the dress and the hair was just really really good. The Made Her Think earring was literally sewn into my hair and reminded me of a kind of elf princess from the sea. If such a thing were to exist". Straight from the runway, already available for pre-order here, your chance to add the Rumi Dress Nude to your wardrobe months before the Spring 2011 collection arrives in stores! Its feminine high-wasted fit, floating hemline, creamy nude silk and delicate back button detail form the perfect staple piece for life, romance and travel.

The VINTAGE ~ Look back to go forward

This saturday I have been to Padova Vintage Festival with my boyfriend. We have visited an amazing exhibition dedicated to the history of fashion of the nineteenth century, curated by   A.n.g.e.l.o. Vintage. An historical archive of vintage garments gathered from all over the world. The peculiarity of this collection rest upon the presence of evening wear designed by great taylors such as Emilio Pucci, Pierre Cardin, Christian Dior, Chanel, Emilio Schuberth, etc... Here are the photos of the ones I loved the most. So, enjoy this retro voyage through these breathtaking gowns.

The BLOGGER ~ Liz

The BLOGGER ~ Nicole Warne