31 December 2010

Weekend Reading List

I must say I wasn't given many promising things this last Christmas, and I certainly didn't get that many books. I was, for instance, given a black leather CK bag (I gave it to my nephew JX to use for the new school year). I should think books are the most obvious things to give me, and I'm not that hard to please. I think.When I unwrapped the neat package that my designer friend EC had sent to my room at the Traders Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, I knew it was a book. Not surprisingly, it was a buddhist book, Peace: A Compilation of Short Teachings by Tsem Tulku Rinpoche. Tsem Tulku Rinpoche is EC's guru, and EC is truly devout. I want to just quickly note here that the Traders Hotel is a wonderfully civillized place to stay if you ever find yourself in KL - my room, very spacious and no-nonsense (I like no-nonsense rooms, don't you?) overlooks the park and the KLCC twin towers (they look like twin phallic maize, don't they?). My colleagues and friends keep telling me that the hotel is 'very central' but that's nonsense to me (central? central to what? why does everything need to be central? Are taxis quite unheard of? Am I interested in the malls at Bukit Bintang? Shudder, and repeat). The hotel's service is clockwork, housekeeping is prompt and thorough, things work, and that's all you can want from a hotel. The bedside clock, for instance, lights up when you lift it - I found that out when I brought the clock to the bathroom to time my bath. Of course my friends kept talking about this impressive Sky Bar thing to which they repaired each night, but I wouldn't know a thing about it to tell you, now would I?I was given a food book by M There's No Carrot in Carrot Cake: 101 Hawker Dishes Singaporeans Love, by food blogger Leslie Tay. Now, I don't know why M thinks I need this food guide which describes food I know and eat often, but there you go. It's prettily designed, like a Tang's paperbag, but that's about all I can say for it.F made me buy the winter 2010 issue of Acne with Leigh Bowery on the cover. I must say it's visually very convincing with stories on Lucien Freud, and other artists' studios which appear fascinating. There's a portrait of Dame Agatha Christie by Lord Snowden which is lovely (pictured here). There are Deborah Turbeville interiors. But I've been flipping it, not reading it. It's truly inpenetrable. One can't get into it however determined one is, and then one is asleep, the lights still on. And then one feels guilty. It's the same with the winter 2009 issue of Acne. I took it back from the office because it seemed so interesting on first flip (Tilda Swinton as the mad muse Marchesa Casati? Sold!) but again, unreadable. Very dull, if fetchingly designed.
So lets resolve, shall we, to only take to bed things that have quality and innate value, in the new year, instead of merely pretty things, hollow, but well designed.
Bookwise, and otherwise.(Ms Swinton by Paolo Roversi)

Auspicious Red Things

Venetian Plaster (over gold plaster)...
Before Calvin Klein.Japanese PeonyRiding coat, worn and torn, so quintessentially English.Edison, before the fall - he still looked touchingly unbroken and fresh.Sadao Hasagawa painting - the painter committed suicide in the Pinnacle Hotel Lumpini, Bangkok.
Mark Rothko painting.

30 December 2010

Have a Great Party Yawll!


This hit, Justify My Love, was from Madonna's 1990 greatest hits compilation The Immaculate Collection, released on November 6, 1990, 20 years ago. It was written by Lenny Kravitz, Ingrid Chavez and Madonna. Kravitz wrote the song based on a poem written by friend and Prince protégé Ingrid Chavez.
The (then) controversial video was directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino, and prominently features Madonna's then-boyfriend, the much-undressed model Tony Ward. The video is a tribute to Jeanne Moreau in La Baie des Anges.

Ms Moss into Music

Kate is said to be venturing into the music world to record her own album. Of course, it’s not a world that’s all too foreign for her – many of her (dubious) boyfriends, including her current one (very dubious), Jamie Hince, have been rockers. And she’s dabbled in music before too, singing on stage with her unwashed ex-boyfriend Pete Doherty at a gig in 2009, and guesting on tracks for Primal Scream and The Lemonheads. Recently, she’s Bryan Ferry’s Roxy Girl, the face of his latest album, Olympia, and is rumored to sing a duet with him on his next album.
Friends dish that Kate’s album will be “a set of edgy urban songs,” according to the Daily Mail. Another source said that, “Kate’s fashion days are winding down and she’s no longer designing for Topshop, so her dream is to to record an urban album.”

29 December 2010

Kelly Reemsten

Paintings by LA artist Kelly Reemsten. Aren't they inspiring? They would make a great watches and jewellery spread.

Completely Gone

I also want!!! Whatever they're on, it's completely blown them into another galaxy. Poor Kate, Anna Dello Russo looks like she wants to lock Kate up in her doubtlessly capacious show closet, or one of her vulgar trunks.

28 December 2010

I Can Fly


Scandal-plagued beauty Edison Chen is back with a new album. Mr Chen was recently seen working on the video of I Can Fly, which will be included in his upcoming album Confusion, due out on December 30. The album is his first after the nude photo scandal of 2008, which almost ruined his career.
Mr Chen has gathered some of his musician friends to help him work out the album, which he said would reflect his recovery from the scandal. The song I Can Fly is written by Jay Chou, and is about not giving up hope in the face of adversity.He's so pretty, and nice and stylish, but... not very gifted. Hope he gets a hit, or something.

1981

Celine, Paris, 1981

Karl for Volkswagen


And Beloved Baptiste tiptoes into the act! Really, he's almost dancing in on points! Hilarious.

Unconventional

Jon K in the new Lacoste ads along with Anja Rubik, Liya Kebede and Noah Mills wearing white Lacoste polo shirts worn over black eveningwear. Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot shot the pictures, which feature the phrase "Unconventional Chic".

27 December 2010

He Said, She Said

"The secret of life is to appreciate the pleasure of being terribly, terribly deceived." - Oscar Wilde

Paris Mens Fall 2011 Schedule

January 20th:
09.30am VIKTOR & ROLF MONSIEUR
11.30am ISSEY MIYAKE
12.30pm RICK OWENS
02.30pm LOUIS VUITTON
05.00pm JEAN PAUL GAULTIER
7pm DRIES VAN NOTEN
8pm YOHJI YAMAMOTO

January 21
10am JUNYA WATANABE MAN
3pm KRISVANASSCHE
5pm COMME DES GARCONS HOMME PLUS
6pm GIVENCHY
8pm JOHN GALLIANO

January 22nd
09.30am MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA
11am KENZO
3pm DIOR HOMME
8pm HERMÈS
9pm RAF SIMONS

January 23rd
11am LANVIN
2pm YVES SAINT LAURENT
4pm PAUL SMITH

26 December 2010

Milan Mens Fall 2011 2012 Schedule

Milan Mens Fall 2011 2012 Schedule: January 15 - January 18January 15
10.30am Ermenegildo Zegna
12.30pm Costume National Homme
2.00pm Dolce & Gabbana
3.00pm Jil Sander
5.00pm Burberry ProrsumJanuary 16
9.30am Bottega Veneta
10.30am Emporio Armani
12.30pm Salvatore Ferragamo
2.00pm Vivienne Westwood
4.00pm Missoni
6.00pm Prada

January 17
12.30pm Gucci
2.00pm Etro
3.00pm D&G
4.00pm Canali
7.00pm Alexander McQueen
January 18
9.30am Dsquared2
11.30am Giorgio Armani
1.30pm Z Zegna

Nils in New Yuck

The stylish and cute Nils Butler in candids. So cute!

Run To You


Whitney! Isn't this a classic? Weren't we all there once - so young and so innocent? It made me think of all my first loves: The one who plucked the mangoes from the tree. The pastor's son, who became a pastor. The one in his dad's Mercedes Benz. The one that drove a van, and gave me a tin ring. The one that sold T shirts in Far East Plaza. The one that left me origami animals. The one I met coming out of the third floor toilet with a tennis racket under his arm. The hippie who showed me his college haunts in Tokyo one winter and bought me a lump of crystal. The model who played me a song on his guitar during a sandstorm in Beijing. The drug addict. They all made me who I am today, dry eyed, looking back, unable now to see their faces at all clearly, even if I tried.

25 December 2010

Truly Beautiful

Tang Dynasty scroll bearing the Chinese translation of the Heart Sutra (originally in Sanskrit), AD 636.

More Stuff You Don't Need

Victoria Beckham paired up with former Luella and Marc by Marc Jacobs accessories designer Katie Hillier to create a collection of bags with a severe edge. Two of the styles–the leather and nubuck shoulder bag and the hexagonal chain bag in crocodile (above) – went on sale yesterday at Net-a-Porter. The leather and nubuck sold out within the hour. The nearly USD14,000 crocodile bag (right) sold out by the afternoon. The collection comprises of six styles ranging in price from USD1,800 to USD13,950. The stuff will be in stores later this month.And then there's the Tom Ford line of lipsticks called (pompously) the Tom Ford Private Blend Lip Color Collection. Each of the 12 scented shades is full of rich, natural ingredients, including soja seed extract, Brazilian murumuru butter and chamomilla flower oil. Said to be incredibly moisturizing, and wears for hours and smooth as silk (blah blah blah). USD 45. And that looks like Jon Jon's nose and mouth doesn't it?

Black Swan Buzz

These Black Swan ads are so nice! Can't wait to see the movie really...

We Wish You

24 December 2010

Jessye Norman


Biem Schlafengehen, Strauss

23 December 2010

He Said She Said

"It seems that perfection is attained not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to remove." - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900 — 1944)

Christmas Looking Things

A tartan riding habit: Portrait of a Jacobite Lady, 1770, Cosmo Alexander

Tilda Swinton, Richard Avedon

Vogue Dec 15, 1946 (Why oh why do Vogue covers not look like this anymore? Instead we get Angelina Jolie with her dreadful, carnivorous and pendulous lips.)

Yves Saint Laurent, Fall Collection, 1965 (Isn't this wonderfully whacky?)

Nativity, Giotto, 1310s (I love the blue and gold of it, and the cute donkey in the manger!)
Roger Vivier shoe, 1966 (Made by Mr Vivier for Pauline de Rothschild)

22 December 2010

Extreme Youth

Extreme, Electric Youth. There comes a time when one needs to question if this is exploitative.

Heart Chloe

I heart Chloe ( to me, a much under-rated label by Hannah MacGibbon) and I totally heart Malgosia Bella. Iselin Steiro looks acceptable here only because her drag-ful face is cut in half, otherwise she's just the pretty version of her royal dragness Anna Dello Russo.
As for the Balenciaga ad, the less said the better. I can't say that the pictures actually help the less than brilliant collection. Putting the very, exceptionally dull Giselle in a wig just doesn't help - this girl is nothing without showing skin. I always thought this was clear - Giselle is her body. Give her a bikini (or less! always less!). Besides, hasn't her moment passed? She's no Kate, obviously.