My Typical Summer Day

Blouse - J.Crew - Blyth Silk Blouse
Tank - H&M - Top
Scarf - Good&Co - Paris By Night
Jeans - Ksubi - Black Skinny Jeans
Boots - Acne - Black Pistol Short Boots
Perfume - Dior - J'adore Eau de Parfum

I'm a conservative dresser, for a number of reasons, for social reasons, and physically my arms and legs aren't my best assets so it's not a big a deal. I couldn't find the exact pieces I have in my wardrobe to illustrate, but this is the best representation I could conjure up. My typical outfit last season consisted of a blouse over a tank on top. What I love about blouses/shirts is that there are a number of ways to wear it, tucked, untucked, buttoned up, half buttoned up, completely unbuttoned, sleeves buttoned, sleeves rolled up. A standard pair of skinny jeans on the bottom and boots or loafers for a more casual day. I also love scarves, cold or hot there is always the opportunity to wear one. It's an easy way to inject some colour and sometimes it's the piece that helps complete the outfit.  
Tip: And of course a couple of dabs of perfume on the bodys hotspots: behind the ears, on the inner wrists and behind the knees if wearing something besides pants. There's no use walking into a 4 spray mist of perfume and expecting it to last, perfume best works with heat.

How I dress can affect how I feel, wearing a black tshirt, black jeans and boots/lace up shoes helps put me into architectural mode. If I had chucked on loafers instead, some energy to be productive is lost. Perhaps black only has this affect because I've seen/been told that architects wear black. But there's no doubt that each piece of clothing, depending on how it's styled effects us psychologically. A man's top button, whether done or undone can be the difference between saying formal and informal.

The inner battles of an architect

fuksas

image via Steve King - Environment II Introduction Slides

Architects are an interesting bunch of people. I'm often high torn between the workings of my creativity and my logic, and I think its fair to say that all architects struggle with this. This quote by Massimillano Fuksas descriptively puts the job of an architect and the definition of architecture relative to an ordinary building in a neat little package. One may not understand the importance of Fuksas calls 'alchemy', but rest assured that architects using their design, control how a people feel and move in a space. Depending on the 'tenants' request and the purpose of the building, the architect finds creative ways to make the person feel in a way suited to it.

I'm a sucker for maps, especially maps that reveal how and what one thinks. I'm borrowing one drawn by a lecturer of mine of The Heuristic Design Process because it's epic. Treating the y axis as "The Final Design" and the x axis as time. You have to start somewhere, and it's usually way off the final design, however the only way forward is by asking "what is wrong with this?". Every directional change represents the rationalisation of creativity. Since this is creativity we're talking about, there is not only one way to design something well, hence the start of a new y axis.

 

She and Him - Why do you let me stay here?

Proportion

 

Completely agreed with Emmanuelle Alt's observation on french women and think it should be a rule to every woman, 

"the french woman...if you feel you're body is not made for skirt, even if its the trend, she would never wear a skirt."

Where do I begin on this topic? 

It's imperative that one analyses their body and get to know the assets and not so great parts and how different things change the appearance of one's body. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that every woman should shape their bodies into a single specific measured mould of x height and y waist. This is a discussion on proportions and ratio.What one wears changes the proportions of the body to the eye and it's the cut and colour that drive this.

Human Proportions

I'm quite sure fashion and figure drawing/painting/etc art students have been taught this in the early stages of their course. This image shows the proportions of the body in terms of head sizes and should be the aim when clothing one self.

The image below is quite informative illustrating the significance of understanding the body and what makes it look proportionate or a better word yet, right. (I have a feeling this will turn into a Trinny and Suzannah commentary)

Several things that can be commented on this image:

- Shoes: on a side note instead of the image, today on my train platform, a girl who had calves on the larger side (relative to her height and body shape) was wearing Doc Martins that cut just below the muscle of her calves such that it appeared that the width of her calves at the top were the same width at the bottom, assisted by the chunky tall lace up boot. In essence, she chopped off the lower half of her legs, wearing them gave the illusion that she was a lot shorter than she really was.

- Jeans: the wonders of a well fitted pair of pants. The first outfit with the ill fitting jeans together with the ugg boots make her legs look like they're one width the entire length stunting her height.

- Cardigan: the longer cardigan completely eliminates the possibility of a waist, and along with the jeans and shoes, the eye essentially draws a vertical line from the shoulders to the ground making one look like a log to put it bluntly.

- Top: this woman doesn't have a small chest, having a high round neck white shirt doesn't do her any justice, only making her chest appear lower. Having a chest doesn't necessarily mean high necked shirts/tops should be eliminated from the wardrobe. Each style of clothing has a different effect on the appearance of the body so it's important to find out what style works.

thefashioncode

baggage

Nomia - Detached Shoulder Dress

Alexander Wang - Gabardine Cami Dress

To: my dearest friend

 How do two become one?

From where your standards are based,

they contradict like East to West

There's no unity set in place.

I wrote this poem whilst reflecting on the news of a friend entering into a relationship. They aren't easy things, relationships, the reality of the them is that at the crossroads the possible paths are either breakup or marriage and understanding the weight of the possible outcomes should play a heavy role in whether you choose to enter into it or not - Perhaps it is a good time to clarify that this discussion is purely on starting a relationship.

Some might think marriage as nothing too meaningful since the invention of divorce, likewise in their attitude towards breakups. I have no doubt that people have felt the sting/pain/hurt of a fallout with a friend of some sort and may have carried it for a long time. And with this, putting it into the topic of discussion, the suffering that results from a breakup is tenfold (probably a lot more for a divorce) because the person, is not just a friend but the bestest of friends where you share a connection deeper than all your other relationships. Every time you end a relationships, hurt is attached. Regardless of whether you think you feel hurt or not, the other person probably is.

You carry it with you, and it's burdensome. Into the next relationship, your baggage still exists and it hinders and builds up everytime you have a fall out.

We weren't put on earth to carelessly make and break relationships.

Sigur Rós - Hoppipolla

centre of the universe

Script, Stills

Since watching Julie and Julia, this one scene has been engraved into my brain, the scene where Julie and Eric argue about what she has become due to her cooking blog and I guess it poses the question on the very nature of writing a blog (especially fashion blogs). I think the movie pretty much nails it on the head, it can be a "me, me, me day after day" thing, and one can potentially turn into "a totally self-absorbed person who writes this stuff for a bunch of complete strangers". Clearly I don't think blogging is bad since i'm writing one write now, but I guess i'm more interested in the attitude towards it and whether it turns you into an egotistical monster and forces your relationships start to break down. 

And there are other things that i'm debating and mulling over in terms of blogging. Though I do enjoy reading fashion blogs and seeing the crazy extents to which people go to to take a good picture of them in clothes and makeup they took hours preparing and deciding, in the past when I have asked people to take a picture of me for blogging purposes, there's an ever so slight sense of vanity that creeps up and grows every time. I see it happen to people (not necessarily bloggers), however do you call it confidence or egocentricity? art for others or self worship? or has society completely allowed for the two words with different meanings to meld into one? consequently producing jobs that thrive on self obsession.

Lots to ponder on...

Duffy - Mercy

"The heart is an organ of fire" - Almásy



Image via IMDb



I bought a set of 3 dvds with The English Patient, Girl with the Pearl Earring and Chocolat a couple of weeks back for the bargain price of $20! On the weekend I watched The English Patient, never having seen it or having any prior knowledge of story line I really enjoyed it. So many lovely metaphors intricately woven throughout the story.

"Every night I cut out my heart. But in the morning it was full again."

In the movie Almásy, Hana and a bunch of people are stuck in the desert and Hana asks about water. Almásy tells of this rare plant and that if one cuts out its heart and leaves it overnight, the plant is full of water. Later on as they secretly become lovers, Almásy uses the plant to describe himself when they were apart and how he was in a contradiction, painfully filled with her love.

 This brings to mind how I think when the first time books, movies, music are read, seen and heard without someone telling you about it is when you'll know what your opinion of it is, unhindered by someone elses. And I guess someone may be endangered if they keep reading this, so divert your eyes if you haven't read The Perks of Being a Wallflower!

I remember reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and found it quite dark and realistically raw in the way feelings and situations were written and overall a really moving novel, however I do think it is a more mature read. Coming to the end of the book a friend of mine who had read it pointed out something I never took notice of, Charlie always cries. This quite frankly did make the last few pages hard to read because all I did was mentally highlight when it happened. I guess i'll never know what I would have thought of the book, and I'm a little saddened by the fact that I didn't appreciate the ending as much as I did leading up to it. One day in the far future when I forget the story, I'll have to read it again.
  

The Smiths - Asleep