Gaultier at the de Young

 

This past week, I went to see the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit at the de Young. Now this exhibit as been at the de Young all summer and I've been looking longingly at the flags hung all around the city, telling myself that I have to go. Of course, I didn't actually get my butt over there until my last week of summer and the last week of the exhibit. Classic. Now I must admit, I'm not the biggest museum person. It's one of those things that I really want to like. I want to be cultured and snobby like that. Unfortunately, I don't have the attention span to look at every piece/object/painting/whatever with the deep intensity and thought it deserves.
Instead, I stroll along looking at what I can recognize or find interesting. Sometimes I check my phone. And although I did do some of these same things when I went to the de Young the other day, I did it much less! Which proves that I enjoyed my experience there!
Honestly, I'm always far more interested by an exhibit when it's about fashion. Maybe it's the inner shopoholic in me that comes out and treats the museum more like a window shopping expedition rather than a museum stroll. Although most of the garments were not something I would wear (as my niece who saw it a couple days after me said), they were still fascinating to see, envisioning them on models strolling down the runway.
But the main element that kept my attention was just the brilliance of Gaultier. Dubbed the "enfant terrible" or "terrible child" of fashion, Gaultier founded his own couture house in 1997 when most people believe couture was dead. Many people actually give Gaultier the credit for the continued strength of the couture artform, with his challenging and innovative collections. Through both his couture and pret à porter collections, Gaultier takes inspiration from the changing world around him and reflects them in his own dress codes (From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk was the title of this exhibition--fitting right?). He bravely and famously tackles sexual issues such as conventional gender roles, transgender, androgynous, HIV all through his clothing. Many of these gender challenging garments were made famous by Madonna. He also looks do the diverse population of his native Paris to create multicultural looks in his collections.
So that's enough chitchat, below are some pictures I took at the exhibit. I hope you enjoy them. Miraculously they let me take pictures without flash! When I went to a similar exhibit at the New York MOMA, they yelled at me and made me delete the picture. How Rude, right?!

See that small picture of Madonna in the background, and that's a version of her classic cone-shaped bra!

Madonna wore this in the opening of her last tour

 

That's not cheetah skin, those are beads! Took over a 1000 hours to make

Waking Up to Life Sometimes Feels Worse

Honestly I'm just obsessed with covers. Can be you believe this is an R Kelly song? I like this version infinitely more.

HOW TO DRESS WELL "WAKING UP TO LIFE SOMETIMES SEEMS WORSE" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Fuck That, I'm Pursuing Happiness

Sorry I've been on a bit of a hiatus. I might be coming back in a week or so when school starts up. Hamilton New York, here I come!

Beyonce Why Are You So Awesome?

Amoebas Love to Haight Cake

Sorry, it's blurry cuz I have a shitty camera.

I hung out with my friends Mattie and Catherine on the Haight last weekend. Even though thriftin on the haight isn't real thrifting...I love it anyways. I hadn't been to the haight for the longest time before this month. I'm pretty sure i've gone a minimum of once a week. I even went shopping on the haight...on a monday night with a calculus test that tuesday. Wuddup with that?

Fat piece of cake that I'm stuffing in my face. Attractive. I know.

Outfit: Top: H&M, Shorts: Zara, Necklaces: H&M, Shoes: Steve Madden, Hat: Aritzia

PS! Lykke Li is a fan of the Haight too! She came this past november and I had way too much first semester homework to see her. But I'm going to try when she comes back in April for my bday!

Sunflowers on a Sunny Day

Hey Dearies!
Sorry I haven't really posted for awhile. I've been quite sick recently and haven't been in the mood to post. Plus, as usual, I haven't been able to load any new pictures for awhile. I really need to buy one of those things to connect your memory card to your computer, and maybe a new camera...Ok, going back. So recently in San Francisco, we've had some sunny weather. You remember how I'm sick? So i've just been staring at the beautiful sunny, blue skies. It's been horrible. I've been eating a lot of Miette graham crackers with berries to soften my sorrow. So here's a picture of me, enjoying beautiful weather, outside, nice and healthy eating ice cream (oh how i miss you) and holding some sunflowers. Taken in DC visiting my friends Lizzo and Sanam this past summer. I know, forever ago.

photo cred: Lizzo

Outfit- Skirt: AA, Shirt: Michael Stars, Gladiators: France

And while I was sick (aka right now) I've been watching a lot of movies, That 70s Show, looking for prom dresses (in vain), and watching some YouTube Videos. In case you didn't know, Lookbook and AA collaborated to make a little book. They made a little video:

Sorry Tim, I prefer it Old School.

So a while ago, I mentioned that I was super excited to see Alice and Wonderland! I found this wonderful spread that appeared in Vogue awhile back and was inspired to see Tim Burton's film. I saw it. I'm definitely a bigger fan of the original disney classic. I'm definitely a bigger fan of the vogue spread. Basically, I wasn't a huge fan of it. It threw you in to this strange world, but didn't give you much a story. The story it DID give you was, well, the Chronicles of Narnia. During the movie, I actually started thinking of the Chronicles of Narnia, expecting to see a giant Lion. And they could have gotten away with that with the visuals and the crazy world. Problem is...i've already seen this world. I saw this world already when I was a wee child, so, maybe you did make it with a green screen instead of a cartoon this time round, but still nothing really that new. The Queen of hearts was pretty funny, I guess...I understand the bad reviews now.

I received this video from multiple different people, so I decided to post it. It's pretty cool, actually. Tim Burton, this is how you remake the original..Oh, and on a side note. My brother right now is working on the Junior League Fashion Show. Guess what the theme is! Alice and Wonderland. I helped out and told them where to get some cheap straw hats. I basically saved the show. You know. I might go, we'll see if their take on Alice is more successful than this movie.

the Ghost Cast Cries Out

Hey you guys!
I have a couple things to share with you. First of all, I have no new pictures to show you because my beloved MacbookPro has been CRACKED! You can see nothing on the screen, it's torture! I miss my baby! More importantly, I miss my computer's camera. I depend on vid chatting with my friends, and now I have to call them on my phone...ew.
I haven't been feeling so fabulous recently, so I stayed in my house for a couple days. I came out of hibernation yesterday to hang out with some friends in the Mission. Valencia has so many quirky little shops! Ah! Love them! We also did like some mild thrifting on the mission, but we were too tired to do any serious searching, so we both left empty handed. Instead, we went to Mission Pie and got some absolutely scrumptious pie!! SCORE! After I hung out with another friend to go to a NoisePop festival concert of We were given jetpacks or something like that. We didn't buy tickets ahead of time. They were sold out. We're Brilliant. After we just drove around downtown attempting to see the Chinatown new years festival. Let me tell you, traffic was horrible, streets we blocked, I wanted to kill myself. We ended up just drinking some tea, eating some ice cream and watching the September Issue. I like Devil Wears Prada better.

Oh and remember all those rooftop pictures I took in the last two weeks? My roof is leaking...my mom is blaming me. It probably is my fault. Damn it. I asked!!

SOOO.. here's a video that I think is pretty fun by Ghost Cat. It's kind of old. But its still just as fun as it was this summer so hush!

Dizzy with Excitement

Remember when I went to see Dizzy Balloon in concert a couple weeks ago? Well, while I was at the concert, they recorded a music video. Guess what! Yours Truly is in it! Multiple times! It even zooms in on me! Who can tell me where they spot Colored Shadows? Although they are still a relatively unknown--I'm not even sure they are signed with anyone, I'm actually pretty sure they aren't--and besides the fact that I don't think they're music is that spectacular, this is still quite exciting. It's my first debut in a music video! Of course, not my first youtube video, but this one is relatively legit and already has 530+ views and it was just released yesterday! Pas mal...ouais?

I would describe the song as cute. It IS quite repetitive and after listening to it like 4 times to find myself it, it got kind of , annoying--BUT REPETITIVENESS IS PROVEN TO BE CATCHY! Yea, so drop me a line about the band, the blog, the video, the time(s) I appear, how cute/ugly/ridiculous/annoying I look...

PS as the picture above says they're performing this Sunday afternoon at the Bottom of the Hill for the NoisePop Festival, which you guys should all check out if you're in the San Francisco Area. I'm planning on going!

Gros Bis

RIP Alexander McQueen

I feel like everyone has been dying recently. There's been far too many suicides I feel. Perhaps everyone just needs some Zoloft and then we'd avoid all these young deaths, you know? Well I'm bringing this up because Alexander McQueen was found dead today, and it seems like he committed suicide. McQueen has had some testing times recently. His mother died, apparently he was having some relationship problems, London Fashion week is coming up, and there was some massive pressure on him for his next autumn/winter line. With all this pressure apparenty McQueen cracked. Quite honestly it's a tragedy. Of course whenever a suicide occurs, it's a tragedy, but it's especially tragic in this case but McQueen was quite possibly Englands most talented designer. He was revolutionary. His runway shows were spectacular, innovative, art...Fashion at it's best. I'm not saying that I would wear all of his designs, certainly not (like those ridiculous shoes from this past collection), but he almost always made something new and unexpected. While people complain that old couture houses are living in the past, recreating the same things, inspired by the past instead of the present or future, McQueen was really looking forward. For this reason, McQueen will truly be missed. His talent was something to be reckoned with and I was personally looking forward to the next thing he would reinvent.

Here's a video of some Fashion Experts saying some things about his death. They feel bad. Note the part where he says that they should nurture and take care of their talent. I think yes.

More importantly, let's look back at some on some of his work...truly une REVOLUTION. (If you happen to be in my french class, you will find this amusing. You probably are not)

I Can't Help But Weep

We played this song during Art Class today. It was stuck in my head all day. We were talking about light waves and deflection and reflection etc etc in physics and all i could do was hum to myself/sing to myself "No amount of whiskey, no amount of wine..." Sadly, I could not find an official vid for this. I don't think they have one. They should make one. This one is pretty romantic, heart related. Which is borderline fitting because its almost Valentines Day....Awesome. Anyways, maybe this will get stuck in your head as well.

Charlotte you old schemer. This will be a night to remember!

The title is a quote from Charlotte's Web in case you were wondering.

Sorry for not posting for a while. I was waiting for some pictures, but as usual I'm having some difficulties acquiring those photos. Story of my (blogging) life. I honestly wasn't going to post tonight, because I have hella homework to do and I didn't find anything cool to blog about. But then I looked at the last date that I posted and it's defintely been too long. I haven't even posted a video! So my friend Lizzo, picture in 1st post, just sent me this video. I believe it's from Charlotte Ronson's Fall 09.

Is it bad that I think she looks adorable and amazing in the video but don't much like the outfits from the runway show? Basically, I wouldn't mind being that girl in that video. Her outfit is just nicely put-together. I like the Leather and the floral. I also like how it's a long coat with a leather motorcycle concept. However, looking through the runway pictures, I wasn't so excited about the collection. I wasn't even excited about the items in the video! I think it's the depressed look on the models faces. The spring collection is reasonably similar (I mean to say they have similar ideas like blacks, plaids, and leather) yet I like the spring runway photos so much more! Why? Probably because the makeup is nice and light for spring and they have a pleasant expression on their faces, which differ greatly from the highly depressed, I want to jump of a cliff/I don't want to be here at all/Life Sucks expression. The style has a very military, manly feel, with studs and plenty of leather. There's quite a tough look coming through, but, of course, she throws in some florals and softer materials to add a softer side to balance it out. She used terms like "Art Deco" and "wartime dressing" when referring to her collection. Apparently the cutout elbows and slashed sleeves were supposed to be a nod to rationed fabrics during WWII. I'm not sure if I'm the biggest fan or if I'd wear those outfits. But I am trying to develop my style so perhaps I'd wear something like it and have it grow on me so that my style could mature. It seems like the collection had quite a positive response, so if you like it and are a little frustrated by my slightly negative tone, t'inquiete. Apparently, you're in the right. Oh, by the way, here are some of the looks from Fall '09.

I really love this jacket. The combination of materials is just perfect.

we see how depressed she looks, right?

Here's Charlotte's Floral for Autumn. It has this dark, prairie, little house on the prairie feel. Perhaps I'm getting this from the brown background of the floral pattern. Although I do love this in the video, in these pictures I can't help to say ugly, grandma is a bad way, or actually couch. That's it. I'm just not sure if I'm a huge fan of this type of floral. I personally enjoy a springy-er floral thats lighter and girly-er, in a more six year old way rather than a 90 year old way. It's that juxtaposition that makes floral during the winter so interesting to me. This floral seems to belong in autumn, it seems that autumn bore it heavily with its its dark colors and harvest tones.

Weaving leather into this is just so interesting and unique.

perhaps this is one of the outfits that nod to WWII?

Although it seems a tad out of place. I kind of like this dress.

I know it's a tad late to still be showing Fall collections. I mean, I've already showed you Spring ones and I have the Vogue Spring Collection Book! But, as I said, my friend sent me this video and it just came up. If you guys know which collections have video campaigns already, just shoot it my way. K? Oh and here's a video of the entire show from Nylon with Cory Kennedy. It's a tad strange, but I like the music better than some of the other videos I just rapidly clicked on .

GROS BIS! <3

RACHEL

Alice in Wonderland

Doesn't anyone else seem to think there's just this whole Alice in Wonderland theme going on? Perhaps it's just because I always dream about having a Alice in Wonderland theme tea party. I always think that it's such a wonderful idea, and then enthusiastically tell a friend-who is usually equally obsessed with tea-my brilliant idea. Most times, I am not met with the "YESS! LET'S DO IT! BRILLIANT! YESSS" that I was expecting. Instead, many a times I have been met with, "what does that even mean? Do you dress up in a blue dress? A cat? I don't get it. Why don't we just have a normal dress up tea party?" I thought about their point and recognized they were right. How would you dress up for Alice and Wonderland theme? LAME...I don't want to dress up as a Cat. (Although I do have some inspirations photos for how to do it coming below...oooo.....aahhhhh.)

More importantly Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland movie coming out in March (which is relatively soon). I'm rather excited. It looks insidious. I mean, Johnny Depp is in it. It'll be MESSED UP. Some of my friends don't want to see it, they're scared it'll ruin Alice in Wonderland for them. But don't you want to see Alice in Wonderland all grown up and matured? I don't know. I think it'll be sick. PLUS Alice is Mia Wasikowka. I'm a fan. She was my favorite patient on In Treatment (HBO). She looks rather sickly in this movie.

And here are some images from Vogue's Alice and Wonderland spread from December 2003. It's beautiful! There are more, of course, but I'm going to put on a million because I am incapable of deciding and love them all!

nt to wear this to my tea party. If only....

the Art of Fashion

hey, so some of you have complained that I started the new year off a little weak. I am in accordance, but my bro is in LA and he took the camera cord with him, so I can't upload any of my pictures (I still have my xmas tree pics to post!) But when he comes back, there will be a wave of catching up posts! ALORS T'INQUIÈTE!

I personally had a lovely new years' eve. I threw an impromtu party (b/c no one was really having a party) at my condo downtown (st regis heard of it?) It was a lot of fun, quite an intoxicating evening as one of my friends put it. Party pics do not exist b/c one of my friends literally stole my camera and hid it, freaked out about parents and colleges seeing it. Pity. My outfit was cute.

Soo...I decided to remind us of the art of fashion. Now a days fashion editorials, spreads in magazines look quite artistic. Believe it or not, it wasn't always so. William Klein changed the style of fashion photography. Think before Klein it looked like Forever 21, after it looked like ART (as it should). Look up this influential artist and you will be amazed. CHECK IT.

Woman in Chicken Hat (Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn), New York, 1948-49

Hat + 5 Roses, Paris (Vogue), 1956

Smoke and Veil, Paris (Vogue), 1958

 

Vestido de Dior en Vogue al principio de los años 1950 

WOW tons of smoking pictures. I'm thinking of picking up the habit...Bad Idea?? Probably....

Fashion by Capucci, American Vogue, April, 1960

Epic #1

French Vogue, April 1961

Epic #2

Broadway and 103rd Street, New York 1954-55 (Became a symbol of gun control)

He also made videos....CHECK IT.

There's more parts, but thats just two parties. CHECK OUT THE REST!

So by now I'm sure you guys are incredibly impressed by Mr. Klein. He really changed the world of fashion, without him, your magazines, well wouldn't be nearly as important. We have to remember that fashion is more than just a simply outfit. It's an art form. It reminds me of that lovely speech that was in the Devil's Wears Prada (i'll post that some other time)...Sooo I invite you to dare a bit with your style this year. Don't think of it as just an outfit in the morning, but a statement, an piece of art. WELCOME TO 2010.

ALSO. Small Note to Some Haters that have arisen. If you don't like the blog, DON'T READ IT. Thanks to all you guys who are reading my blog for real!