Chloe's Ceremony

I can't say that I know much about Chloe Sevigny. I've only seen three of her movies (Three Needles, Boys Don't Cry, Trees Lounge. Sorry Chloe, I know you hate when people say that.) but I do know that I've seen alot of her as a style icon. She grew up in Connecticut but commuted to New York every weekend and eventually became an intern at cult favorite Sassy Magazine. The apparent inspiration for the line is from her middle and high school years sharing mix tapes and going to rock shows. In the collection there are hints of Molly Ringwald's antique chic and Annie Hall's quirky menswear look. The greatest thing about the collection is that many of the pieces are versatile. Skinny gingham pants can translate into a preppy's wardrobe with oxfords as well as a punk's with Dr. Martens or Converses. A rockabilly girl could wear them with wedges and a button up shirt. High waisted gingham shorts could easily be worn with a peter pan collard blouse or my Nirvana t-shirt (hmm...) with suspenders and ripped tights to accomodate any downtown rocker girl. Liberty print dresses can take you to a day downtown with biker boots as well as to your grandma's birthday tea with flats or heels. One of my favorite peices is a hat made of recycled cassette tapes. This collection so punk, preppy, rockabilly and a good side of the 90s undergound. There's no doubt in my mind that the woman who attended a Sonic Youth show immidiately after graduating high school designed this collection.

Coming January 2008 to an Opening Ceremony or boutique near you.

Dressing Up With Alison Mosshart

Whenever I am faced with an event that entails fancy dressing I either go over the top, grab my vintage BCBG little black number or reach for my black velvet blazer (I call it my Brian Jones jacket) and build a tasteful glam rock look. Upon attending a ballet a few weeks ago I was head to toe in vintage: 1950s champagne colored swing dress with diamond cluster buttons, black heels also with diamond cluter buttons and a black vintage handbag. That night was magical and I felt invincible amongst all the semi dressed up dockers and Wal Mart blue jeans wearers. I'm not saying that I'm better than them, I just believe that dressing up has become out of style culture-wise and needs to make a comeback. On the other hand there are those dressy/not occasions like school plays and friend's dinner party's. Here Alison Mosshart perfects that look. She layers feminine items over her tomboyish clothes and adds an artistic flair (the above shoes). Whether she's attending Chloe fragrance launch (above) or recieving a Levi's style award (below) she looks like an arty rocker who can't put her mic down.

The last image is from here

Icon: Morrissey

Almost exactly one year ago I ventured to a thrift shop in the rain. There I found a goldmine of cassettes. There were alot of names that I'd heard but never listened to and a song here or there that I knew. With a 50c price tag I took home an arm full of the outdated musical format. The Cure "Standing on a Beach", Echo and the Bunneymen, U2 "Achtung Baby"among others came home with me. Today I write about the magic of my Smiths tape. It is a mix tape with a hand written sleeve. "Meat is Murder" is the album. Morrissey's lyrics span serious and ordinary topics and with a sense of humor here and there. I am partial to his despairingly romantic tales and songs where he mentions England. I was enchanted by Morrissey's warm, romanitc tone and music that can be discribed as atmospheric with great bass lines with at times rather delicate guitars. Elsewhere the guitars are intense. An entire year later I've returned to this tape to fall into surreal magic of autumn.

I was rummaging through Hot Topic yesterday and I found a fanstasic book that chronicled the Smiths in photographs. It reminded me of a Smiths concert on TV last spring. I noted the simplicity of Morrissey's look: jeans, a (half buttoned) button up shirt, great hair and that romantic element of a slew of beaded neclaces with a bouquet of flowers in hand. The whole group kept it simple because of the over the top theme of the 80s, but to me it speaks volumes. They knew that they had something more to say than a pop star who looked like a highlighter pen. It is a timeless image of some one who's full of ideas. That simple look most certainly suits the man who bellowed "I am the sun and the air/of a shyness that is crimanally vulgar" and I will be inspired by it til death.

How Soon Is Now

What She Said

I Don't Owe You Anything

Nowhere Fast

Well I Wonder

Hedi Does It

Hedi Slimane's work captures my favorite subject: culture. He examines the way people identify themselves through music cultures and fashion while candidly capturing the adolesecnt search for belonging. There are punks, rockers, skaters, dandies and trash glamour subjects and more. Among the music he finds kids smoking, drinking and flirting in dive-y looking places, all in the search for self. Some people feel that they need to conform to the dress of a certain sub-culture while others search for belonging within themselves.

I was a punk for two and half years. By the middle of eigth grade I'd been reading Nylon Magazine for months and I suddenly felt that my spikes, chains and black nails were a costume. I nolonger needed that to feel secure. I began experimenting with fashion and found that clothes were much more fun when I stepped outside of boundaries and created. I decided that being fashionalby devoted to a subculture meant you had a solid stance on beliefs that accompany it. But I didn't have that, I was a child. I loved the punk music and wanted a place to belong. I didn't know much about punk or why it started. In the words of Marlon Brando "Sometimes people borrow some one else until they find themselves."

HediSlimane.com