Getting Linear For Spring

Is made easy by these beautiful necklaces.

Designed by Swedish jewelry designer Karin Johansson, these necklaces at first glance, seem too rigid to be worn let alone lend themselves to be anything but beautiful, yet luckily for the wearer, the necklace manages to tell its own story with elegant simplicity.

Carefully and lovingly made by hand, each necklace, although similar to the next, this linear neck accessory tells it’s own story. Either through the different shapes it holds or the many different colorways each necklace possesses, no matter what, these simple plays with lines would compliment many of the upcoming Spring 2012 trends including mixed prints, neon brights, fluffy pastels and various textures.

Using precious metals (Gold + oxidized Silver), enamel + reconstructed semi-precious stones like turquoise, jade, onyx + pink coral, (as seen throughout), Karin makes her necklaces work by piecing together these natural elements with everyday pieces of imagery experienced within her surroundings. Johansson refers to her work as a ‘treasure hunt among things and ideas finally fashioned into pieces of jewelry made to be desired, worn, questioned or loved’.

For the ‘Karin Johansson: New Places – Abstractions of A City ’ exhibit is currently on view at the Klimt02 gallery in Barcelona, Karin had this to say about her pieces in the exhibit, including those above: ‘Necklaces seemed to be the perfect object for my theme, no up, no down, playing around the neck, constantly finding new directions. Wearing the object, become inhabitant of the new place.’ Besides, what’s not to love about necklaces called ‘Neighbors’, ‘Friday Afternoon’, ‘End of the Street’ + ‘11pm’?

Zelda Kaplan, We’ll Miss You!

(photo: PAPER)

Fashion’s 95year old fixture, socialite + club kid, collapsed yesterday at the front row of the Joanna Mastroianni fashion show during NYFW!

The subject of the 2004 documentary, ‘My Name Is Zelda’, she went from a suburban housewife in the Sixties to an all-around night life super star, never waking up before 2pm, as seen below with Snoop Dog.

(photo: wireimage)

It’s sad to see her pass but what a way to go-Zelda werked it to the end!

(via NYT)

Sharpie, A Beauty Ma(r)ker?

I swear by this!

You know when you’re getting all dolled-up for that hot date, last minute hook-up or that fabulous New York Fashion Week (NYFW) party, as you look in the mirror, you shriek in horror to find the worst fashion accessory ever – a zit! It’s red, beaming + sometimes pulsating like a siren, alerting on-lookers, “Look at me, ain’t I ugly?!” But it is this reaction that compelled me to come to this resolve which by most accounts, might be considered a little crazy (and boy, do I know all kinds of crazy!) if not dumb, but you be the judge.

So the logic lies in this: If people are going to zone in on your pimple anyway, telling you just as annoyingly as, you look tired (“How rude! – ‘no shit’ – like I don’t use mirrors in the morning!”), why not turn that eye sore into a mark of beauty, with the help of a Sharpie?

Now the only rule, of course, is to know your boundaries of placement. If your pimple is on the tip of your nose or the middle of your forehead, there is no way to make THAT look sexy. Also, if it’s too close to your lip, as sexy as a mole placed there is, it would break my heart to know someone out there did this and then find themselves being asked what happened to it, after taking a bite out of something? Not cute!

I usually use a black Sharpie and on occasion, a black + a brown Sharpie combo, to dab a black dot on my pimple and off I go. No stressing about how big, yellow (yes, yellow – we’ve all been there! ) or red my pimple is, because now I’m sexier than before, with my new beauty mark! But this is no ordinary beauty mark either because underneath the Sharpie, by next day, my pimple has shrunken in size. I do it all the time + why you’ll always find a Sharpie in my medicine cabinet.

Now, I’m no medical professional + you won’t find any FDA props/accolades here but next time you find yourself with that unwanted zit, take a risk + a page from my beauty book + see how it goes.

R.I.P. Ms. Etta James

(photo: VIBE Vixen)

Known not only for her silky and powerful voice, she made blonde hair with black brows look good.

Roksanda Ilnincic Promises To Make Fall Anything But Boring

With primary colored Legos as inspiration for her Pre-Fall 2012 collection.

By taking a mix of textures + color blocking looks, with primary colors as surprising accents, designer Roksanda Ilnincic’s many silhouettes spark a fun yet flirty sex appeal in the simplest of ways, as pictured throughout. Above, she manages to make a simple b&w color block shift mini-dress pop with a hint of red peeking through the high front slit.

Above, she takes a black long-sleeved dress, with blue bell cuffs + sparks interest by adding a high neck in bright yellow. And it’s all these little nuances that make this collection so appealing. The use of color always manages to change the look of the wearer, no matter the makeup or hair paired with it. Just imagine how much different this dress would look if the model were wearing shoes in a bright salmon or even a harsh metallic?

Love what she does here with this 3/4 length coat – there’s the right amount of volume on the sleeves in what appears to be a patterned black + gray fabric (maybe wool?) accented by a large rectangular patch of red from the top of the back of arm, over the elbow + mid-forearm. The coat is then completed with deep, front square outer pockets, exposing side and bottom folds in slices of blue, which is a little hard to see from the picture but it’s there. I adore the slightly flared yellow trouser pants paired with this coat-truly a great play of silhouettes.

This look below shows how well Ilnincic knows the modern woman by pairing a bright yellow parka jacket with such an adorable mini dress. A bright light blue bell skirt, with a tight top in black accentuating the waist by adding an almost blush band across it, also found on the high neck’s color further implicates Ilnincic in being a master of silhouettes at play.

Then there’s this subtle babydoll style dress made to pop with color blocking and contrasting ruffles starting at bottom in the back.

photos: Roksanda Ilincic

There’s no mistaking Ilnincic’s Pre-Fall woman will definitely stand out, but luckily, it won’t just be for her bold choice of bright color but also, for wearing pieces that say enough so simply.

(via WWD)

Remembering Genius Eva Zeisel

(photo: Talisman Brolin)

Eva Zeisel died over the weekend at the age of 105. For those unfamiliar with her work, Hungarian artist Eva Zeisel managed to amaze + inspire with her hundreds of pieces that were all about curves. (At 103 she was still designing.)

An artist known for her unique approach as a ceramicist, she led a very interesting life up until the end. Having created Pratt Institute’s ceramics arts industrial design department in 1939 Brooklyn, as the first to disregard ceramics as crafts and where Zeisel taught into the early Fifties, she went on to make everyday objects beautiful (her trademark), especially her reinterpretation of the ‘formal dining setting’.

Adopting sensual curves, they often mimicked the human body. A lot of her work also lent itself to the shape of birds, a nod to Hungarian folk art. In Eva’s hands, a salt and pepper shaker set became a lot more. They become two organic forms eager to entangle themselves in a lover’s embrace

and even a 2d piece was not immune to her touch

like this Tibetan Wool rug called ‘Dimpled Stimpled’.

She also worked in various other mediums. Besides ceramics, Eva also worked with metal, acrylic, wood, and glass. Just look at the beauty behind her ‘Mother + Daughter Trestle Table and Chair’ below.

Having worked for the likes of Sears and Castleton China early in her career to pieces becoming permanent fixtures in museum collections including the MOMA, to reissues of her pieces for contemporaries including Crate and Barrel, Room and Board and others, Zeisel will live on through her undeniably strong contribution to modern living as a whole.

My Xmas With A Dragon Tattoo

Was more than thrilling!

Unlike many who spent their Xmas surrounding an endangered pine tree, tricked out in lights and ornaments, I opted for something better. I chose to spend mine watching Lisbeth Sander (played by actress Rooney Mara) on the big screen. Lisbeth, for those who don’t know, is the femme fatale of all Femme Fatales. She is the leading character in flick THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (TGWTDT) directed by the talented David Fincher.

A Chick On The Verge

TGWTDT, the first novel of Steig Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, and Fincher’s first Hollywood cinematic attempt surprisingly (since Hollywood usually seems to fuck shit up) engages, captivates, excites and delivers! (hope Fincher directs the next two in the series) This film has it all folks – drama, comedy, sex, kink, murder, wit, intrigue and romance!

True, hottie Daniel Craig’s performance doesn’t disappoint, especially with his gorgeous face beautifully faceted with age, but Rooney Mara, who plays Lisbeth Sander, steals the show, hands down! Not only does she command empathy when at her ‘worst’, lucky for us, but she also does everything without apology, just how all women should be!

Strong Jewelry To Match Revenge

Then came that one scene, much to my heart’s content – Lisbeth’s rings designed by designer Jules Kim of Bijules get their close-up – shiny and huge on the big screen. On the left hand, is Bijules’s ‘Skinny Bar Ring‘ from her BJ by Jules Kim collection shown here:

while sporting Bijules’s ‘Bony Knuckle Ring‘ from her Scream and Spirit Collection (below) on her right hand.

So I urge you to deck yourself out in one if not both of these rings. If you truly want to channel Lisbeth Sander, you’ll need to get your fingers on one of these; they can not be replicated. Unless of course, you find cheaper versions lacking that something special called authenticity.

Drama, comedy, sex, kink, murder, wit, intrigue and romance!

Sure you can hit up mainstream and attempt to channel her with H&M’s Dragon With The Girl Tattoo collection, designed by the film’s costume designer, but why opt for disposable fashion, when you can truly have a keepsake like these rings by Bijules.

So run, don’t walk and see this flick!

A Scarf That Wraps You With Geometric Allure

A scarf on its own is already geometric as a long rectangle. However, this scarf by accessories designer Aiste Nesterovaite, full of geometric angles and curves can’t help but relish in its originality. Very few scarves can be this versatile. This scarf can be worn as a collar, necklace or just as a scarf, like this one.

What Makes This Scarf Special

True, at plain sight, it looks like just another infinity scarf but this one has something different. What sets this one apart from other infinity scarves is its play with geometric shapes and texture. In geometry, we find both lines and curves, both thankfully found in this scarf. And for that extra something, there is a little fringe attached to the bottom edges along the top or bottom of scarf, depending on how you choose to wear it of course.

Wear it in several ways. You can have the long rectangular geometric shapes hang like a necklace while the knit part cozies your neck like a high collar as seen on the model above. You let it hang there like a necklace, begging for commentary as shown above right. And if that doesn’t move you, just try wrapping it around twice for a layered effect as seen below right.

Playing With Geometry Around Your Neck

Consequently, the versatility of this geometric scarf doesn’t end there. This scarf can be dressed up and or dressed down. As seen in both images above and below, this scarf would compliment both a dressy look just as much as it would a casual one. But isn’t it fascinating to see how wearing the scarf the same way with either outfit, changes the look completely. When wearing the scarf with the tunic dress or pants as a long circle, the dress looks more casual but when layered, it gives it a more sophisticated ‘put together’ feel.

Available in three colorways – dark gray, silver-gray and black – this scarf, this geometric scarf, is sure to become that piece which adds interest to your look. Go to Vespoe for purchase. If you want more information on designer Aiste Nesterovaite, click here.