Do I Move You

I did this today: http://musingsofbuffyleigh.wordpress.com/.

Any thoughts about a platform move? It seems much trickier formatting photos to my liking on WordPress, so that's a big vote against for me. I also can't figure out how to change the colour of the post titles to non-blue. I hate blue fonts. Oh, and there's no back button for editing changes I decide against while writing a post. However, it does look nice and clean all around. And I have to use Safari to work with Blogger, something which no one should have to do in the 21st century. Let me know what you think and I'll do up a couple more posts on WordPress to test it out before making a final decision.

(Photo via NJAL from British knitwear designer Amber Hards, of whom you can see more on the test WordPress site)

Folding faces

I've thought it for the last few days, but today I actually said it out loud: my PhD thesis idea is dead. Sigh. Which is not to say that I definitely won't be doing a PhD, I just no longer have a case for getting my department to allow me to do an interdisciplinary PhD rather than a strictly Classics one. Meaning my next option is to do a UK PhD, which is about 4X the tuition per year, and thus many years of real employment away. Ah well, researching for that was getting in the way of the more present-day concern of finishing my Masters thesis on time. The books I checked out for the PhD topic also smelled a lot more than the Masters ones. Anyway, the contents of my brain and my thesis-idea notebook now look like the prints of London-based designer Frances O'Leary's S/S 14 collection (found via NJAL), i.e. metaphorical lines drawn to link ideas/cultural phenomenon in a coherent manner, but being more or less just jumbled up lines that have nothing to do with the original elements. Pretty and interesting, but not dissertation worthy. I actually have half a mind to just use the pages of that thing to wallpaper my study or something. Or write a fantasy novel with those ideas. Hmm...

Fisticuffs

I've always loved a good clean white button-up, but I haven't actually owned one for at least a decade. I just can't keep it clean enough (and it reminds me of working in an oppressive bakery). This BA grad collection from Natalia Troitskaya (found via NJAL) though has made me realize what it is that I love about the white button-up: the cuffs. And if that's the case, I don't even need the whole shirt, just something made of white button-up cuffs. Like a long skirt. Also, I might revive my search for a McQueen men's tuxedo jacket so I can turn it into a shrug (notice the back of the second look in the third photo). Though perhaps that's what I should do with the McQueen that is nearly a week into its freezing cycle. Reducing the fabric should reduce the smell, right? That's just logical. Though at this point, I'm thinking I should probably just resell it. Any offers on a freshly cleaned size 44 wool/cashmere mid-length 2007 McQueen that is perfect other than an expensive perfume smell, some mending done in the sleeve lining (from previous owner) and a couple other small holes in the lining? Speaking of offers, I think tomorrow is the day to photograph some stuff I'll be putting up for sale. Oh boy.

Syncopia

These fantastic grunge-meets-classic-meets-futuristic looks are from Brussels-based designer Alice Knackfuss' collection entitled 'Syncopia' (found via NJAL). And though the collection is inspired by Rachael in Blade Runner, I think that, given Alice's definition of the collection title, it also stands as a stylistic representation of today, Ian Curtis' birthday. I.e. the day that allowed for the syncopation of music as we know it and the creation of a musical utopia that was all too brief. Happy birthday, Ian. Now, time to spin Unknown Pleasures...

Rizzo in the Box

Though we managed to move in such a way that nearly everything is already where it should live less than 24 hours after it came through the door, the majority of my everyday clothes (i.e. underwear and summer clothing) is still in boxes. Hence the connection to these looks from the (Pratt Institute) grad collection of Sam O'Brien (found via NJAL), a former intern of both Sruli Recht and Zam Barrett. Perhaps tomorrow I'll be able to both take a shower with a clean towel and find something to wear that doesn't have dust and dirt all over it. Of course I'd prefer one of Sam's other looks that don't remind me of boxes, but I'll settle for a clean pair of jeans and non-XL sized t-shirt if need be.

Maria Carstens

It's a wonderful thing, encountering a new-to-me designer who seems to be on the exact same page as me, or at least the next call number over from me on the shelf I'm currently on. Today's example is one Copenhagen-based Maria Carstens. I was already convinced by the two collections she had posted on NJAL, particularly by how she nails the oversized blazer. But then I saw Maria's Pinterest, which was almost like peering into my fashion soul. Is this what Pinterest is all about? Connecting like-minded people with each other in a very visually stimulating way? Perhaps I should sign up. It's not like I'm getting any work done anyway...

Edit: Bah, both 'Buffy Leigh' and 'Steff Leigh' are already taken as Pinterest usernames. Perhaps it's a sign from the thesis gods that I don't need another online source of distraction...

Spin the Black Circle

The website where this photo came from is an absolute nightmare to navigate, but it was worth it. This is My New Favorite Outfit, i.e. the work of Munich-based (fashion and graphic) designer (and illustrator), Corina Gruber (found via NJAL). Kind of makes me think of what the womenswear and red-headed version of Urbandon's fantastic new Black Sun collection would look like...

Great Scott!

I just returned from my latest excursion to NY, a very low-key jaunt courtesy of a flight credit I had to use up by the end of the summer. I've already lost count of how many times I've been there, but NY never ceases to surprise me in some way. One of my favorite surprises this time around was a matinee of Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle at the Classic Stage Company, starring Christopher Lloyd as the Singer (who, ironically, didn't actually sing) and Azdak (each cast member played multiple roles). I wasn't familiar with either the play or the playwright, but I knew I couldn't miss it as CSC is one of my favorite venues, Doc is one of my favorite...doctors, and the music was done by Duncan Sheik (whose "Barely Breathing" makes up a good portion of the soundtrack to my Grade 9 life). I was not disappointed. Not only were the music, set, and acting/singing superb, but the audience wasn't too shabby either, as I got to meet the actor who played my favorite minor character from my Netflix viewings of the last academic year, John Cariani, a.k.a. Otto(bahn) from Numb3rs. I am not the type to go up to celebrities/strangers that I'm a fan of, but I grew quite attached to Numb3rs as a Joel Fleischman fix and break from translating Latin and Greek last year, and I just had to make sure I wasn't hallucinating that the guy sitting beside me looked and sounded exactly like Otto, sans glasses and physics. Turns out that John is one of the friendliest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting on my travels, and, as IMDb told me later, he's also a playwright. Guess I'll have to go back to NY next time one of his plays opens...

(Photos via NJAL of Georgian designer Lika Kubaneishvili's 'How Coca-Cola Saved the USSR' collection, of which the Caucasian Chalk set reminded me...)

Anuschka Hoevener, S/S 13

Simple and perfect pieces from kOs favorite Anuschka Hoevener. It may prove to be dangerous that some of them are already in Anuschka's online shop. Particularly as the dip-dyed tee is a lightweight cotton/silk blend, the 3/4-length sleeve sweatshirt also comes in black, and the jacket is a linen/cotton blend. And I can't help but label the season's look as a slightly more Euro mydearthing. Sigh.

(Photos by Katia Wik, found via NJAL)

It's not easy being green

The first thing I noticed before even touching down on European soil is that at least the parts of Europe we saw are much much greener than it ever gets here. Of course, things here are just starting to bud/flower, but the difference in humidity makes such a huge difference even in just the colour of the grass that has managed to grow here. So, back at home with a flat of greenhouse-grown herbs in front of me waiting to be potted, I'm imagining that I'm back where it's proper green. And you'd think that with green being my favorite non-black colour, I'd have a green dress (that isn't my wedding dress). But I don't, so here are some green looks from the A/W 12/13 collection of Berlin-based Polish designer Dawid Tomaszewski. I'll have to also take some photos later of the prized possession I brought back from this trip, being my very own green spring jacket from kOs favorite Dusturbance. A spring jacket! I'm a real adult now. Also, I got to touch that wonderous Dusturbance piece (which is green, of course) that led me to meet the wonderful kindred spirit who is Dust. Life makes sense again.

(Photos via NJAL)

The Polyomino Game

Do you remember Lisa Shahno's 'Iteration collection', which was based on the fractal cosmology theory? Well, I think Lisa has one-upped that with her newest collection, 'The Polyomino Game'. The collection is actually a collaboration with Canadian jewelry designer Tania Hennessy, and it's in the nature of the collaboration itself that I'm most fascinated. Without meeting each other (Lisa's based in Moscow), each designer created their contribution independently over six months, guided only by the same set of rules: each had to create seven pieces, each piece could only be made with squares of a particular size (30cm x 30cm for the clothing, 1cm x 1cm for the jewelry), and only black, white, grey, and violet could be used. The photos here catalogue the final result, when the designers finally met. It's fun to figure out how the abstract photo on the right results in the piece Lisa designed, particularly the skirt below.

The Internets is such a prime place to make other collaborations like this happen, and I'd sure like to see it. Just think of the epic international Tetris tournaments we could have...

(Photos via NJAL)

Ümit Ünal

It's been quite a while since I last thought 'I want those pants'. But thanks to my determination this morning to find something post-worthy and NJAL, I said those very words multiple times in a row. The label is Ümit Ünal* from the Turkish-born and -based designer of the same name. The collection is A/W 13/14, or 'Heaven's Gate'. The lookbook is awesome. The pant/skirt hybrids are relevant to the paper I should be writing.

*The website has the name written both with and without the umlauts. My apologies if one is more correct than the other.

One more miracle, Sherlock, for me.

I had bookmarked this collection by Barcelona-based label [m] marc lago, and then proceeded to watch the last episode of Sherlock. Little did I know that it would foreshadow the events of the episode. Not that anyone died of hypothermia, but I saw my new favorite face looking very very dead. TV/movie writers have no heart.

(Photos via NJAL)