threadbaring

Vogue Paris goes behind the scenes with Marc Jacobs for Louis...

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 20:17:00 -0400

Vogue Paris goes behind the scenes with Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton’s Fall 2012/13 campaign.

In this video exclusive to Vogue Paris, Marc Jacobs, director of Louis Vuitton, explains to us his upcoming campaign shot by the lovely Mr. Steven Meisel. He’s struck a chord with me on this one, due to my deep love of early 20th century aesthetic (see also, one of my most loved videogames ever), and my love of trains. Although I have to say I’m not in love with what looks to be the final product, I’m also drawn to the energy and this awesome idea that appeals to my romantic sensibilities.

Dion Lee wants to study your bones. Relatively new (having...

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 19:46:00 -0400

Dion Lee wants to study your bones.

Relatively new (having emerged in 2008) Australian designer Dion Lee showed us his desire for structure and shape in his futuristic 2013 resort collection. Let me just define that a little better. His focus both in this collection and his website (linked prior) seem to be the concept of what we’ve thought of as “futuristic” since the 1960s, though, Lee’s collection certainly has a bit more aesthetic appeal than the costumes from This Island Earth. Super structured silhouettes, flairs of shocking colours, and a theme of vector patterns adorned his collection, while scattered in between were new interpretations of classic ideas, broken and cut into something I’d expect to see in a sci-fi series.

Still, as exemplified best in the photo above, Dion Lee also manages to insert a feeling of the organic and uses patterns that remind me of things that occur in nature - certain patterns of shadows and plays of light on water. And his interest in bones (especially rib-patterns and vertebrae) is certainly of interest to me on a personal level, because natural physicality in fashion are of interest to me.

View the entire collection on Style.com.

Valentino Resort 2013

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 15:38:00 -0400

VALENTINO RESORT 2013

I almost always end up having an issue with designer’s resort collections, because the concept of the collection sort of forces the designer to depart from their essence. Sometimes, this results in very wonderful things. And sometimes, it results in trainwrecks. I find that the former is true of Valentino’s Resort 2013 collection. Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli were inspired by Andy Warhol for this collection, but they managed to take that inspiration and translate it into something truly recognizable as Valentino. What I find most interesting about their interpretation is that the clothing seem to reflect not necessarily the colours or even visual style of Warhol, but a feeling of the 1960’s in and of themselves. Many of the silhouettes for this collection are very ’60s (and there’s a little of this big peplum thing that seems to be spreading like wildfire again all over the place right now). The collection is not entirely cohesive, and the thematics seem to bounce around a little from the happy-go-lucky hyper pink with leopard print to a heavy, more goth look.

You can view the entire collection on Style.com, and I recommend that you do.

a bottle of champagne to the hull

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 14:30:00 -0400

And with that, we have christened my newest labour child, Threadbaring!

I’m pleased to finally be launching this little project of mine that has been nagging at me for quite some time now. This is the first fashion blog - and, really, the first editorial blog of any kind - that I have ever curated and managed, and being that I am the type of person to launch many creative projects and then tragically abandon them, I truly hope that will not be the case for this blog. Do not worry, good reader. I have faith. Fashion and photography (I’ll now be sticking a link to my own work here) are the two things out of the many passions and hobbies I’ve spun through that has stuck around the longest and strongest and has no intentions of going anywhere. As it is, I hope that passion reflects in this blog.

The avatar I have chosen to represent this blog is a photograph by renowned photographer Patrick Demarchelier of Christy Turlington in 1992. It is significant to me in that the photograph was taken in the year of my birth (yes, I am quite young, but since when has that ever stopped or even been a hindrance to the new surge of fashion bloggers?), and it is a photograph I have many times thought back to for inspiration and to remind myself why I love fashion, design, art, and photography. It symbolizes, too, the nature of this blog being for myself. Though I must admit that I do hope some people catch onto this and find themselves subscribing and enjoying it, I am not overly concerned with the publicity and popularity of this blog, because I am doing this project for myself. This is not an attempt to please the masses, although it is an attempt to inform and fan the flames of others’ passion, but it is somewhere for me to pour out the things I so often want to say about the current world of fashion.

——

Now that I’ve said all that, here’s a little info about me:

What I go by: Suki (though it’s not my given name)
How long I’ve been here: 19 years
What I do: Photography (as linked above), fashion
What I also do: I work at a women’s boutique, and I’ve been writing since I can remember.
Where I’m based: Though originally from Colorado, I will soon be based in New York, New York.
What my sign is: Cancer
Who my favourite designers are: At present, the three that come most quickly to mind are Riccardo Tisci (Givenchy), Rae Kawakubo (Comme des Garçons), Stefano Pilati (until recently, Yves Saint Laurent).
Why I spell things with a “u” when Americans don’t: No, I’m not trying to bogart a British identity. I grew up reading old books, primarily from English authors, and so I became very accustomed to seeing certain words (ie. “colour, neighbour”) spelled with a “u”. Such as it is, spelling them without just looks funky to me.
What some of my favourite things in life are: Good books, good food, good conversation. Fashion, design, and art. Taking photographs. Styling. Debating. Drinking pinot gris. Learning languages (at the moment, I have confidence in my skills with English, Norwegian, Spanish, and I am currently learning French). Teaching. Writing instructional things. Writing editorial things. Writing, really, most of anything. Learning.

——

I’ll be putting this entire post somewhere on this blog, likely in the “About” section.

Now that I’ve introduced myself, I’d be very pleased to get to know some of the people who might just start taking an active interest in this blog. Somewhere down the line, I’ll be asking you, if you’re truly out there, to send me a little info and possibly a photo of yourself to stick up on this wall.

Now, with one final question, I’m going to go ahead and get this train a-rollin’.

Why “Threadbaring”?

The word “threadbare” means worn through, possibly shabby, and is often an indication of the lowest means possible. I like the idea that with nothing more than a Tumblr and the wide, wide world of the Internet at my fingertips, I can create something true, raw (two things that I find the word “threadbare” strike in me also), and near to me. I turned it into something of a pun, as well, because I decided to spell it in a way that would conjure the idea of baring threads - like wearing clothing. And then, if you want to get into a more metaphysical state, bearing our threads could be showing our interests, and showing ourselves. I want to, with this blog, at the very least, create something honest and passionate.

Without further ado…
Welcome to Threadbaring!