Stylin' Girl: Kristen McMenamy

As I was doing the research for this post I truly understood just how spectacular Kristen McMenamy is. Looking through photos of her from decades ago is so inspiring! She seems to be able to almost act any character she is supposed to. From the rebellious tomboy to the attractive red-head, nothing is unreachable for her.

Seeing Kristen McMenamy put on such a spectacular comeback in the latest months just confirms this opinion. The grey hair trend is her "invention", and has being highly discussed. Acknowledging that she is a forty-something woman seems almost impossible. I personally find her looking even more fierce now than back in the days.

These are some collages I have put together. Considering there aren't so many pictures of her from daily life, most of the finds are editorial shots, ads or catwalk photos. Despite this (or because of this) her chameleonic personality shines through.

ph. via tfs

Some facts I have found over at The Fashion Spot... The Legend of Kristen McMenamy:

♥ Mid 90's , backstage at a Marc Jacobs show at the Puck building. Kirsten McMenamy in a Chanel mini-skirt, legs wide open doing a full on Sharon Stone. In front of the paparazzi.

♥ She once said :"With every step I take down the runway, I'm thinking "F*ck you! F*ck you, and F*ck you". Can you tell?

♥ She got off the crazy fashion merry-go-round to marry Miles Aldridge who she met in Karl Lagerfeld's car. The wedding was attended by the likes of Mr. Lagerfeld, Naomi Campbell, Manolo Blahnik,David Bailey, Boy George, Rupert Everett and Vivienne Westwood.

♥ After opening the SS05 Prada, Kirsten proceeded to hop up and down in place yelling "It's so great to be back!"

♥ This unlikely icon was a regular face in virtually every issue of the mainstream bible that is US Vogue during the mid to late 90's. And that was even with the shaved eyebrows.

♥ When asked why she stopped modeling, right at her peak she said "I've been on the Concorde with Karl in head to toe Chanel. What else is there left to do?"

Other Stylin' Girls:
♥ Stylin' Girl: Leith Clark. And Lula!

♥ Stylin' girl: Catherine Baba

♥ Stylin' Girl: Agathe

♥ Stylin' Girl: Vika Gazinskaya

♥ Stylin' girl: Anna Karina

♥ Stylin' Girl: Margherita Missoni

♥ Stylin' girl: Florence Welch and Today's fashion news: Florence + The Machine. Yes, again!

Friday Fun: Fashionable Links from Around the Web

photo from Weetzie Bat by Wildfox

♥ Blog: Garance Dore posted about these sneakers with heels hidden inside them. I don't know about you, but I am still undecided: fashion statement or major style disaster?

♥ Photos & Video: Yet another controversy (bigger this time) in the August edition of Vogue Italia: a 24 pages editorial featuring Kristen McMenamy is focused on the environmental drama started by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Backstage video here. Photos from the editorial over at Refinery 29, here.

♥ Photos: Miu Miu campaign overview since 1994 to the present day. The 1995 campaigns featuring Drew Barrymore by Ellen von Unwerth are hot and sassy, à la Ellen!

♥ Interview: Twiggy interviewed by Wendy Worth on I love Wildfox, the blog of Wildfox Couture.

♥ Article: Inside Brazil’s Booming Fashion Industry, via Business of Fashion.

♥ Blog: Spotlight on young photographer Sophie Richards. Over at Fanciful Photography.

♥ Video: Last but not least, an exclusive trailer from the Dolce&Gabbana Motion Pictures Movie. Quando, quando, quando arrives September 2010.

Links à la Mode

Jealousy, Race, and Summer Jackets

Edited by: Thom Wong of The Sunday Best.

A veritable cornucopia of stylish reading awaits you in this week's list. You'll get taken on a tour of (rarely mentioned) downtown Halifax, discuss again whether any role model should be based on image, and look into doing the impossible with a dying medium. Along the way discover what tips men might have for women's style, whether a closet can be perfectly unisex, and what Mormons might know about minimalism.

Links à la Mode: August 5th

• Amanda Lee: Avoiding Fashion Impulse Buys
• All Tumbled Down: Reflections on a year of no shopping
• An Early Life Crisis: Project 27 Completed!
• Beyond Fabric: Work appropriate: tips for being presentable at conservative workplaces
• Broke and Beautiful: You smell different.
• Clothed Much: How to create a minimalist closet
• Fashionable People, Questionable Things: Big Day Downtown: A Roundup of our shopping trip in downtown Halifax.
• Frenchleave: Who wants to wear a summer jacket
• Guacamole and Toast: An interview with The Impossible Project's Florian Kaps
• Independent Fashion Bloggers: How to take your own outfit photos
• Mariel's Castle: A case of unisex
• The Demoiselles: Women in the Media: Adele
• Stylish Thought: Losing Out Essence: Issues of Race in Fashion
• Modly Chic: Friend Friday: Blogger Jealousy
• Oranges and Apple German magazine bans professional models - nine months on
• Sparkle Birds: Sunday's Best
• Sugar and Spice: Christina Hendricks: curvy role model or another unattainable ideal?
• The Coveted: Three essential beauty products under $20
• The Sunday Best: Copy Fail | Gap CORE
• The Very Subjective: The Style Thing
• Un-Stitched: Best of etsy.com

Marc Jacobs possibly doing "plus sizes"

So this morning I read* that Marc Jacobs could possibly be read on tags of clothes from a plus size collection. The possibility was tweeted by Robert Duffy, who also put some more words out there on how they consider such initiatives at Marc Jacobs.

The way I see it, in recent months there has been a pressure on important fashion houses. Consider it a Mexican wave if you want. The idea started from the consumer, in bigger, fuller shapes and sizes. Real girls and women who show their personal style on their blogs. An eye opener if you want. If you don't talk about it, it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. These girls, content about the way they look, share their experience with the public. Soon after, magazine editors get the pitch and start these semi-promotional campaigns which feature spreads with plus size girls. A phrase which does sound silly, but it was the only way to differentiate what is generally admitted as normal size on catwalk from the normal size in real life.

backstage photos from style.com, collage by me

For a while, things seemed to stay at this level. Publicizing the issue so that everyone can have an opinion about it, feel one way or the other, being for and against promoting curvier girls on the catwalk or in magazines. But this time around, powerful names in the fashion industry appear open to the idea of creating dedicated collections. Now you see the importance of the mention at the beginning of the post. If Marc Jacobs can do it (and hopefully they will), then other brands will follow suit. Maybe these plus size collections will be accepted as a normal extension to the already existing brand portfolio. They could be the new fashion 101**.

As new information starts crawling in it is safe to say that, in approximately a year, fashion for normal, curvy women will be a regular idea. Not something magazines have to brag about so that it gets attention. Not something that has to be underlined with common phrases like plus, heavy, curvy***. And not something unsual, just in true fashion-forward spirit.

*over at fashionista, the cut, fabsugar

** from @MarcJacobsInt:

"We are in talks now. For plus sizes. For all you who seem to know my co. Better than me. Hope it works out. Lighten up!"

"I do over share. Gotta stop. Get myself in trouble. But do like to clear up some things with all the experts out there."

"Marc and I are building a brand. That's what we do.We will Always have a collection line.But they rarely make much profit. As everyone knows"

"You have to support it with other things. Marc by Marc,children's mens, fragrances. Home furnishings. Etc.Every house does. It's fashion 101"

*** same source as above:

"I don't like the phrase Plus Sizes. Any suggestions?"

Bear Cat

So I ran into this specific blog with beautiful photos which immediately caught my attention. A kind of imagery which is perfect now, in summertime, when all you ever want is lounge around in as little clothing as possible and do nothing for the entire day. But besides that, the dreamy atmosphere in the images is sure to win your heart. Best part? That the blog is just an extension to an entire shop entitled, Bear Cat L.A. To my disappointment, as I am typing this, the store is under maintenance. I would have liked to see the selection of clothes, as they should range from indie, designer to vintage. But yes, all in all, super-cool branding, guys!

What does bear cat stand for after all? Well, the about page reads this:

Bear cat (bear-cat)- a 1920's slang word for a hot-blooded or fiery girl!

all photos from the Bear Cat L.A. blog (by ///OLF)

Sunday collages: the bad and the good

...click on each one or read below...

Bad or good don't exactly stand for what they mean in this case. They are more like... the darker moodboard and the lighter one. I love them both because I tried to fill them up with images I like. About the images, they are from various magazines, some tumblr photos, some fashion spot items, fashion gone rogue images as well. They are all crammed in my adore folder. Yes, I have an adore folder in my computer... some months back it was named holla. Uhuh.

If you clik on the collages, they will link you up to a full-size version, fit to be your new desktop wallpaper! The wallpaper version is a little bit different, without the writing on the left. Hope you like them. They also can be found by clicking on Goodies on the homepage.