Owner: A Material World URL:http://www.amaterialworld.net Join Date: Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:28:24 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: L.A. fashion insider blogs about the secrets of the fashion industry, dishes on trends, and chats with fabulous fashion and music stars about their style. Site statistics:Click here
Style Snapshot: Hugh Hefner 2008-03-09 23:58:25 You know, I've never even questioned the bizarre fact that Hugh Hefner
is never seen wearing anything other than silly, shiny pajamas. I suppose I assumed that somehow his ancient age necessitated sleepwear at all times. but, according to his little piece in the New York Times T magazine's Men's Fashion issue, he hasn't ventured into normal daywear in over twenty years. [At his 80th birthday party, Hefner showcases his trademark pajama-and-lounge-jacket look. Girlfriend Holly is in peacock feathers. Paris is in...nothing. Article + photo: NYTimes]"I started wearing pajamas during the day shortly after I founded Playboy in 1953. It made sense because the first few issues were put together in my apartment, where I would often work straight through the night. In the early '60s, when I Read more:Style
, Hugh Hefner
Who's the Star of L.A. Fashion Week? Botox, Of Course. 2008-03-08 21:20:57 I know Los Angeles's Fashion
Week has historically been a pale, tacky cousin to the massive and respected New York, Paris & Milan weeks. But I was still planning on going, especially when I read this beginning of an e-mail from GenArt:Gen Art's"The New Garde: A Celebration of Innovative Los Angeles Fashion,"Emerging LA designers: JMARY, Jesse Kamm, Le Sang des Betes by Trang ChauA spring fashion week event dedicated to showcasing three innovative new LA -based lines in unique installation presentations, shown on models in large-scale vignettes, conceptualized by the designers and produced by renowned set designer Keith Greco. The fashion presentations will be followed by an after-party at the same location with Music by DJ Whiteshadow and The Schoenecker Brothers.Three designers I've n Read more:Fashion Week
Things I Love Thursday 2008-03-06 18:58:03 [thanks Gala!]Sorry for the delay on this one, kids; technical difficulties are, like, so lame. Anyway, this week all the sun and beach-going has made me gung-ho for new spring color and art. Out with the old, in with the new....Spring trends that AREN'T floral - I know every designer and their mothers are doing florals this spring, and at first I thought the return of garden romance was rather charming...but by now, after seventeen flower-dripping fashion spreads in each of the seventeen or so fashion magazines I read, I want nothing more than to run away to a cold, snowy country where flowers don't exist. Therefore, I'm madly grateful for trends that make me feel safely protected against the rose parade: especially the cool, saturated colors of the new neo-mod look. The techno-esque sha Read more:Thursday
, Love Thursday
L.A.'s LAMILL Coffee Has Trendy Beverages, Pants. 2008-03-05 02:55:53 Today I happened to be driving by the new chichi coffee shop on Silver Lake Blvd, LAMILL COFFEE (I assume it's supposed to be all shouted in caps, since its sign is), and realized I'd been awake several hours without caffeine. Never a good thing. So, while I'd avoided LAMILL because of its pricey cups of joe and the large amount of hype--I never trust things with hype--I caved and went in. Just as I'd suspected: tasteful modern decor, white tablecloths (come ON, really?), and an endless list of coffees with long explanations of their origins and flavors and implications. While I was waiting an inordinately long time for the teensy cup of "Puro Something-or-other" that I'd chosen after scanning the list, I noticed that all the waitresses were wearing really high-waisted jeans. The SAME rea Read more:Coffee
, Trendy
, Pants
Why Uggs Are Back 2008-03-04 11:57:50 [painting: Louise Laplante]I just got back from San Francisco, which I've always thought is the West Coast city that's most similar to Boston. The graceful old buildings, the walkable neighborhoods, the trees, the hyper-educated residents and resentful teens who will soon be hypereducated.... This time around, I saw that SF is also like Boston in its fashion statements. Black, black, black...and Uggs! I've already hypothesized about East Coasters and their safe, black cocoons; my dear friend whom I visited this weekend, who works in P.R. and is mega-stylish, reports that San Fran-ers are just desperate to look East Coast. Everyone in the Financial District wears black, she says, and tries to dispel any notions of flowers-in-your-hair hippiedom. When we met up with her work friends at a bar
Britney, This Pair's For You 2008-03-01 15:49:39 Sadly, we've all seen this before.For those among us who cannot imagine a world before spandex, there often arises a horrible dilemma: to wear underwear, as people have done for centuries, and risk unsightly panty lines that divide your bum diagonally and showcase your muffin top, or to go commando and end up like our favorite tabloid crotch-shot divas? This is not a question to take lightly, people. The threats each option poses to your reputation are massive. Thank GOODNESS, then, that Shibue Couture now offers strapless G-string thongs, which cover only the essentials (what did your hips or lower abdomen ever do to deserve the cruel touch of elastic?). They cost $32.00, come with strips of adhesive tape to secure them to you, and promise "total freedom from binding, unflattering panty Read more:Britney
Things I Love Thursday 2008-02-28 19:43:12 Following in the footsteps of the lovely Gala at iCing, I'll be posting a little link collage each Thursday
of fashion gems and related fabulosities. Sometimes I don't want to fill up all your feed readers with 17,000,000 little posts about this and that...so here you go, no installments, just one lump sum of style joy.Lane Crawford - This Chinese luxury boutique has, for the first time that I've noticed, started advertising in Vogue. Their advertisement spreads are works of art themselves; it took me a minute of revelling in the awesome photos to realize it wasn't a Vogue fashion spread! Their combinations of words and images is light years beyond most Western retailers'.Haruki Murakami - I've finally read Norwegian Wood, and it might be my favorite of his books (though The Wind-Up Bird Read more:Love Thursday
Style Snapshot: Heather, L.A. Music Mogul 2008-02-28 03:58:55 Bringing in this next installment of Style
Snapshots is the very fabulous Heather
Peggs, whom I got all paparazzi on recently at Spaceland after the Pity Party played. Heather has had a finger on practically every happenin' musical pulse around here in the past few years, and she now deejays live and via podcast, has her own record label (Hell Ya!) and puts on shows regularly here in L.A. Not only does she always have a stack of up-and-comers' CDs in her purse, but she never fails to appear in an adorable vintage dress and interesting baubles.This night, she was in a Heidi-esque frock with tailored lady coat, sweet pumps and an unexpected purple kerchief. Oh, and a hot toddy, which she says this bartender makes so well she drinks them even when she's not sick. Milkmaid gone wild? She exp Read more:Music
, Mogul
Trend Notes: Top-Siders Are Back! 2008-02-27 02:38:46 I used to think my dad was SO UNCOOL for refusing to wear any shoes other than Sperry Top-Siders. I mean, boat shoes? Helloooo, we didn't even have a pool, never mind a body of water big enough to float the boat that I thought would be the only justification for those ancient prepster shoes.The original Sperry stapleBut times have changed. This past fall, a hyper-fashionable friend of mine sported baby-blue boat shoes with her skinny cut-offs and shrunken blazer, and she looked amazing. Granted, she's one of those ridiculous people who looks good even when she's been kept up all night by the baby and she has her shirt inside out...but STILL, those Top-Siders really worked. So preppy and careless it's hip, you know? So, last night at the Echo, boat shoes came back into my life in a big way Read more:Notes
Style Snapshot: L.A. vs. D.C. 2008-02-27 01:59:10 One thing I love is checking out photo blogs from other parts of the country and seeing how overall styles vary from place to place. Obviously, it depends on the subculture being photographed, but once you start clicking through pic after pic, you'll definitely notice some local trends. For instance, Panda Head, a photo blog charting street style in the Adams-Morgan/Woodley-Park/downtown area of Washington, D.C. (perhaps comparable to...Los Feliz? Lots of singles, artsy types, young government staffers...probably where you want to live if you at all identify as a hipster) reveals that it's waaay more common for people to wear all uber-dark colors, and to use brighter shades color only as an accent.2 D.C. ladies shiver in the sub-60-degree cold.Each wears one small item of color. Discrimina Read more:Style
Style Icon: Blondie 2008-02-27 01:51:19 I have a monster of a post written up about the connection between music and fashion, but I won't dump it on you yet without some extensive un-dweeb-ifying edits. In the meantime, let me get ahead of myself and rave about my current favorite music/fashion obsession: Blondie!Of course we all know how fabulous Debbie Harry was--and still is--but my mad love for her style (and the guys' too, to be fair) was renewed last night. My fabulous boyfriend gave me a fabulous book full of snapshots of the band from its early days and first tours in the late 70s. Roberta Bayley, who's known for her photographs of the early New York punk and rock scene, captured Debbie's moments of looking girlish and like a skunk-haired coquette to looking absolutely fashion-forward and fierce. It took America years t Read more:Style
Film School's Fashion Rules 2008-02-25 18:25:31 Ever noticed that sometimes it's less satisfying to see a band live than to sit in your living room with their record on your stereo? The live show has got to enhance the songs themselves, and I've found that one of my criteria for really wanting to see a band play live is that their visuals must be good. I ain't talking strings of lights and abstract video backdrops, I'm talking fashion: the kids have got to have style, yo! It's not that every musician needs to dress like a MisShape in order to earn my presence, but if I'm going to stand on a beer-sticky floor and hear sound quality that depends totally on the sobriety of the sound guy, I'd like to at least enjoy looking at the stage. Some bands drop several cool notches once I see them in person (hello, Death Cab), but for other bands, Read more:Fashion
, School
, Rules
Project Ethos Gets Starry, Feb.29 2008-02-25 18:24:19 I'm always impressed when someone who graduated from my same fashion design program goes on to do big, glorious things (even more big and glorious than blogging? Could it be?). The latest envy-inspiring ex-student is Heidi Luerra, co-founder of Project
Ethos, a recurring fashion/art/music exhibition for underground L.A. artists. Project Ethos's upcoming show, "Stars Aligned," will be one giant cocktail of 8 fashion designers, 10 visual artists, 3 bands and 2 DJs...all shaken-not-stirred into Hollywood venue The Avalon/Spider Club on Friday, Feb. 29.I may not have heard of "DJ Lady Sha" or have bought these indie designers' pre-collections way back when, but I am SO down with exploiting the whole fabulous art-music-design connection, that's so strong in L.A. Oh, and I love that this isn't
Style Snapshot: anti-fashion fashionist(o) 2008-02-25 18:19:24 Our inaugural guest for Style
Snapshot Sociology Hour with Material Girl is an unlikely victim: not a twentysomething Gucci addict, nor a fortysomething fashion editor, but a sixtyish businessman who has never thought of himself as being aware of, never mind interested in, fashion. That is, until we started discussing business and I mentioned my affection for talking with people about their clothing. "Why, I don't think I make any sort of statement with my clothes. They're not fashionable in the least!" he claimed. But no, I pointed out, he still chose them carefully and they definitely constitute a "look" for him, and a corresponding message. He seemed to grasp my point--oh, I love being right--and here he is, now the first brave soul to offer an outfit and an explanation. I thank him f
Trend Spot: Amusement. 2008-02-24 19:26:26 For all you culture vultures, I've got a real gem today. According to my friend, it's the hottest thing on the internets these days. But first, a little quiz:Do you buy organic food?Do you want or own a hybrid car?Do you totally dig Michel Gondry films?Have you had Difficult Breakups?Do you eat Expensive Sandwiches?If so, according to Stuff White People Like, you may well be a white person! Keep in mind that my dear friend (as pale-faced as I) told me about this site this morning when we were eating overpriced crepes at a local farmer's market and discussing hybrid cars, having just purchased organic vegetables and done 90 minutes of yoga. Read more:Amusement
Uggs Conspiracy 2008-02-21 01:28:38 I know I'm dooming myself to eternal Uggs-ad hell by following up the last post with this one, but... who would've guessed that, tonight at the first meeting of my exciting fashion illustration class, LIKE 20% OF THE GIRLS IN ATTENDANCE WOULD BE SPORTING FOOT ELEPHANTS?!?That's right, MULTIPLE ladies who paid good money to learn how to draw elegant, elongated fashion figures, whose feet taper down to tiny little spikes, decided to make Uggs their first-day-of-school style statement. I was agog. I thought my old fashion school, with legions of girls in Chanel sunglasses tapping away on Sidekicks were bad. But no. It turns out that a whole generation of people prepping to enter the high-end fashion industry are fashion disasters. What a dirty little secret. Time to go soothe my distress with Read more:Conspiracy
Clicking With the Enemy 2008-02-20 14:54:29 In a probably pathetic attempt to start generating a few pennies of income, I just set up Google AdSense on this site. AdSense is a quick and easy way of, in theory, matching up paying advertisers to advertising slots based on frequently occurring words or topics.Since with all my ranting about Uggs being horrid elephant-foot shoes, "Uggs" is probably the most oft-repeated word on this blog...so, naturally, what am I now advertising in a giant sidebar to your right?Uggs. Uggs, Uggs and more Uggs.More ads will probably pop up thanks to this post. Oh Google, you're too clever for your own good! Your ads will never get clicked and I will never make money! Too funny. Gotta love it. Read more:Enemy
Outfit Photos Are Here! 2008-02-19 13:39:01 Omigosh, darlings, I am SO EXCITED that the reason this blog was created--to showcase the clothes and thoughts of all sorts of neat people--is ready to launch for your viewing pleasure! I'm so very excited because outfit photos are going to be fascinating in, like, a billion ways:We'll get to see what people wear in all sorts of situations, and add a little variety (it's the spice of life, you know [as in,"Spice up your life!" Oh man, as lovably absurd as the Spice Girls were, how did that song ever become a hit?]) to the ho-hum clothes we see around us in our normal routinesWe'll get to be happy little voyeurs and find out what went on in the photo subjects' minds when they were getting dressed that day (and don't we all wonder that, looking at certain people we pass on the sidewalk!)We' Read more:Outfit
When Uncool is Okay 2008-02-18 23:34:45 Let me whip out my handy clipboard and write my dear readers a little memo...After my recent Uggs post, I got several emails from people defending their Uggs-wearing rationales. So I want to apologize for being so blanket-statement-happy & to refine my criticisms here, so as not to seem totally judgmental and unreasonable (who, me?).Uggs are ugly. They are not flattering or attractive. This must be understood and acknowledged.Therefore, they must NOT NOT NOT be worn in any sort of public situation when "chic" is the desired effect. One email I received echoes my horror at all the Uggs in Boston (thanks, Annie). "On Uggs: I was in Manhattan in November (where I found it positively balmy) and I swear that one in five women had on a pair of the mid-calf Uggs, in rust brown. Another 1 in
Daily Outfit: I Regress 2008-02-17 22:38:06 This is what I wore to work on Friday:I'm not totally sure what was going through my mind when I put this on. I think it was hot out, so I decided to go with a skirt, and somehow the rest evolved (big skirt --> small shirt --> skinny sweater; skirt --> high boots; workday --> flat (vs. heeled) boots). I realized when looking back on it that this is a really juvenile outfit for me; all the components are college relics except the boots (which are fantastic finds from Zara that people compliment every time I wear them!). I think the subconscious theme going through my mind was wanting to rebel a bit against the sweaterdress-and-belt uniform that most ladies at work wear. I also love wearing this shirt because it was the first thrift-store find, long ago, that I cut up and resized for mysel Read more:Outfit
, Daily
Valentine Finery 2008-02-14 22:08:01 I always forget how cheesy I get on Valentine
's Day until it happens. I go along turning up my nose at sappy romantic ads on the radio, eschewing lingerie stores and admiring the haughty looks sported by Prada models...and then I wake up on February 14 and get frantic when I can't find my undies with the little pink hearts on them. I settle for pink lace--which usually lies at the bottom of the drawer--and wish I still had those socks from fourth grade with the plaid hearts on them. I can barely believe myself. Snap out of it, cheeseball!Nevertheless, I did go around all day today with way more pink on than usual, and feeling very satisfied with myself for having on appropriate underoos as I pasted sparkly hearts on a totally absurd card for my very un-cheesy boyfriend. I guess clothing
Daily Outfits, Divine! 2008-02-14 21:39:16 Okay, kids, story time!Way back in 2007, I was reading an amazing little book called Everything I Ate. Author Tucker Shaw decided to photograph every single thing he ate, every single day, for an entire year--and the result is TOTALLY captivating. Seriously, I never would have guessed that snapshots of Cheerios with brief captions could lure my in and make me wonder all about the guy's life, why he was eating that thing that day, and what my own relationship to food is. So of COURSE I eventually came around to thinking about how cool it would be to have the equivalent thing, but with fashion instead of food.I imagined a site where people from all over the place would tell us what was going through their minds when they got dressed that day. No matter how much little someone cares about Read more:Daily
, Divine
Primary Colors: Presidential Candidates' Fashion 2008-02-09 21:10:46 Happy Super Tuesday!The Red Dress fashion show next Friday may be held in the White House itself, but the most notable presidential fashion shows are occurring all over the country--at each public appearance that a presidential candidate makes. Every time Hillary, John, Barack, Mitt & company show their faces, they're also showing their bodies and making fashion statements, which, of course, are guaranteed to double as political statements too.Imagine the pressure! They probably want to keep a consistent image, yet not fall into the trap of being caught wearing the exact same thing over and over. They want to make a favorable impression, and surely don't want to alienate any potential voters with their choice of clothing. They want their clothing to reinforce their political message Read more:Fashion
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, Colors
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, Candidates
Trend Notes: Skinny Belts 2008-02-09 18:24:04 [style.com]Something I admired on the Max Azria runway (Spring ’08, above) was the proliferation of skinny, natural-hued leather belts tied over filmy, romantic silk dresses. Belts
are nothing new, but this incarnation is identifiable by its skinniness and waist-level fastening (no hip-slung styles for this baby). After taking note of the Max Azria version, which grounds his nude dress dreams, I’ve been seeing similar ones all over in collections for spring. Mars Norsgaard (an amazing Nordic designer whose website I cannot find for the life of me) did a citrus-color one, adding punch to a staid, charcoal Glen plaid shift dress; Louis Vuitton is getting in on the action with brown belts over starchy white jersey dresses, resulting in a classic prep/equestrian feel. I, meanwhile, am mak Read more:Notes
How I Became A Designer 2008-02-08 01:05:25 [What you get when you Google "fashion designer."]As a lowly assistant, I haven't expected to get any plum design assignments at the large clothing company I work for. Since starting my current position in January, I've done a bunch of necessary but thankless tasks to help everyone get ready for the insane, sleepless blur that is Fashion Week (see previous entry on the joy of papercutting!). But last week, after the head designers had flown off to NYC in the company plane (yes, it even has our logo on the tail), I had more free time and wandered over to another designer's office to ask if I could help with anything. Oh sure, she said, there's a shirt we desperately need work on. The designer who'd made a mockup had done a horrible job, and clearly didn't understand the feel that was wante Read more:Designer
BRB, kids. 2008-03-11 22:08:49 NOTE! I'll be on the road for the next few days and then bombing around at South By Southwest, so pardon my spotty appearance for the next 5 days or so. And no, I don't mean I've suddenly gotten a crop of pimples; I ain't no Brit. Power on, fashion friends, and let me know if I miss anything vital in the next 24 hours while we chug Diet Coke and try not to run the big old van off the road on the way to Austin.XOXO MATERIAL GIRL !!!(can you tell I sort of miss Gossip Girl, just a tad?)
Style Snapshot: Perry, Designer & NYC Transplant 2008-03-11 20:22:16 I met Perry
the other night at an utterly L.A. party--the kind where no one actually knows the host ("I think his name is Albert?...He may or may not be Armenian?"). Perry is one half of the unconventional design team behind Solid Gold Rags, a line of silkscreened tees that's already been picked up by swank L.A. shops like Satine. [Check SGR's MySpace, here.] As we stood outside, by the chiseled-out-of-rare-stone pool, he talked about the contrast of living in L.A. after spending years in Manhattan. Los Angeles really is more laid-back, he said: New York nights are full of gallery opening after gallery opening, bar after bar and party after party, while L.A. only demands a party or two per night of the socialista. [Can I say socialista? Like fashionista, but the socializin' kind.] It was Read more:Style
, Designer
Things I Love Thursday 2008-03-13 22:00:25 Tonight's will be a tad rough, since I'm sitting with my computer balanced on my lap in a room at the La Quinta outside Austin and my signal is barely there. But I persevere, in the name of this highly essential blog post. Other than sleep, which I would dearly love to have more of, here are some highlights/good things for the day:This video about Coco Rocha--model of the minute--and all the mechanics and assistance behind the scenes that allow her to be a jet-setting working woman yet retain that I-just-love-to-hang-out-with-my-fab-friends-and-trot-around-in-delightful-headbands carefree charm. I haven't seen the whole video yet (thanks, La Quinta crap internet) but I think it's very cool to highlight all the work that goes into stardom (and all the people other than the star who do it). Read more:Thursday
, Love Thursday
SXSW Style Notes 2008-03-17 18:10:12 Thursday night at SXSW, 6th St., Austin TX. Could this many people all be dressed well? Sadly, no. [photo: Scott Sterling for metromixLA]I just got back from South By Southwest last night, and I'm still trying to work out all the kinks in my spine from being curled up in the band's van for 24 hours. But it was a great time, and, naturally, I couldn't help keeping a sharp and catty eye out for style trends while I was there. Turns out that while music people do tend to be more style-conscious and creative than your average Joe, if you get enough of them piled into one small city, you'll start to see the same basic outfits so many times you'll want to puke. I mean, I wouldn't puke if all of them were fabulous, but...they weren't.Unfortunately, "hipster," especially "music-associated hipster Read more:Style
, Notes
What Would Prada Do? 2008-03-16 20:23:45 [1. Marc Jacobs collage: Pink Rock Candy 2. YSL dress: portfolio.com3 & 4. Dior origami collection: Dior & AngelInChanel 5. Prada
fall '08: Kingdom of Style]While Donna Karan, Armani and Vera Wang have all ventured into the wide world of home furnishings, it’s rare to see other big-name designers applying their visionary, you know, visionary-ness to any product lines other than clothes. Versace is doing luxury private jets, and Chanel lent its name to some sort of limited-edition Moet… in today’s world of designers collaborating on clothing & accessory lines for everyone else and their mothers, imagine the possibilities in other realms of design! A while ago, my fellow Vogue addict friend Mina and I sat plotting new brand extensions for all the top fashion designers, whi
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