In awe…360 days of The Uniform Project

must. watch. now.

Uniform Project Picture Book from The Uniform Project on Vimeo.

360 days of Sheena’s adventure with The Uniform Project. So inspiring. Please watch!

sunday links

Hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was relaxing and pretty great. I have been enjoying the rain in LA, but it was nice that it let up for a bit so that we could go to Runyon Canyon a couple of times. I’ve been online way too much lately, so here are some links:

I would love to run a franchise of this store in Los Angeles.

Ever wonder how to reuse old toilet paper rolls and other items?

Weirdest sculpture of Lincoln ever.

Read to help Haiti.

Gorgeous wedding dress.

Long vehicle? =) Love it.

iPhone, making everything in life easier–including taxes. (thanks Ting’s mom!)

Very excited for the blank Kokeshi doll I received in the mail this weekend.

Good gift idea.

A random guy I met in the Kaiser biolab was laid off from LAUSD and started this company. Awesome.

Really, H & M?

Probably the best Save the Date ever.

The Spice Station in Silverlake is wonderful. I bought truffle salt.

Dan and I hit up a wine tasting at Silverlake Wine. Highly recommended.

Finally made it out to Reform School. I love that store and the website is pretty great too.

Enjoy!

Nick Cave’s Soundsuits at the Fowler

I am still obsessing over an exhibition Dan and I saw last weekend. A colleague of mine at KCRW invited us to the opening of the exhibition Nick Cave: Meet Me at the Center of the Earth at the Fowler Museum at UCLA. The exhibition is absolutely fantastic. Chicago-based artist Nick Cave has been creating wearable sculptures that he calls Soundsuits since 1992. The pieces can stand alone in a gallery and look stunning but are also meant to be worn and danced in. The Fowler’s exhibit showcases 35 of Cave’s Soundsuits and shows a rolling video of the works in action.

The Soundsuits are multimedia pieces made from items Cave has scavenged from flea markets, thrift stores, and garage sales over the past two decades (no wonder I like them!). I was blown away by all of the bead work, textiles, and crochet work included in the pieces. One of Cave’s philosophies is that his creations have been works in progress for centuries since all of the materials have been made by other people from other times and other places. He wants to showcase all of the craftsmanship of these unknown people together in a new, artistic, and fuctional garment. I love that. Click here and here to view a couple of videos of the dancing Soundsuits.

This exhibition is really a must-see. Or, if you don’t have time to swing by the Fowler, a small selection of Soundsuits are on display in the Neiman Marcus windows in Beverly Hills. Or, see both!

Nick Cave: Meet Me at the Center of the Earth
Fowler Museum at UCLA
Through May 30, 2010

sewing inspiration

I have been sewing up a storm lately. I promise that I will post some of my latest projects sometime soon. For now, here are a few of the things that have been inspiring me lately…

LA-based fashion designer Jasmin Shokrian

Fujimori’s Treehouses

Maira Kalman

"His first thought on getting out of bed—if he had any thought at all–was to get back in again."

Autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire sketches cityscapes by memory

My little sister. She ran a marathon last weekend and I am very proud of her.

risk-taking and the joys of feeling like an idiot

via luckyds

Tonight, I felt like a total idiot.

I decided to take a hip-hop class at my gym. I saw the class practicing before my yoga class on Monday and noticed that there were quite a few newbies struggling through the moves. Seeing them make it through the number was very inspiring and I decided I had to try it for myself. Well, tonight, there were no other newbies accompanying me (only dancers who had obviously earned the title ‘dancer’ at some point in their lives), but it was fantastic. I could not for the life of me get the steps down and sometimes felt that my arms were so gangly that, even if I had the steps down pat, I would still look like some sort of long-armed gorilla. At the end, the teacher made us perform in small groups for each other. I fumbled through the whole thing but still felt accomplished at the end.

I smiled while getting into my car after class and began reflecting on risk-taking and the joys of feeling like an idiot. Hip-hop is so far outside my comfort zone, but I think I will keep trying it. It is easy to come home and do the same thing I do every night, but it is harder to do something new.

Another risk-taker that I want to mention is Germany’s most popular women’s magazine Brigitte. They announced this week that they will no longer be using professional models but will instead be using “real women” as a way of combating the unhealthy standards that stick-thin professional models encourage. I think this approach is fantastic and can’t wait to see the results (I am even thinking about subscribing even though I don’t speak German!).

Anyways, cheers to risk-taking! Take a risk this week. It might be fantastic (or humiliating and then fantastic like my hip-hop experience, but this is really about the end result, right?).

Have a good Thursday!

…currently listening to Blackalicious, Alphabet Aerobics

my picks…ny fashion week 2009

I must admit that I have been more than a little obsessed with the runway shows from last week’s NY Fashion Week. I have spent hours looking through all of the shows and picking out my favorite looks. If you would like to see a slide show of all of my favorite looks, click here (note that there are about 350 looks to go through, but it is so worth it to see beautiful designs!).

Here are a few of my favorites (be sure to click the images to see the full designer collections).

COLORFUL PATTERNS

Diane Von Furstenberg

Brian Reyes

Karen Walker

Tibi

BOLD NECKLACES

Vera Wang

Malandrino

LAYERS

Adam

Balenciaga

Chris Benz

Lela Rose

SEQUINS

Cynthia Rowley

Rachel Roy

Stella McCartney

Vera Wang

and a category all its own…
CHANEL

Chanel

Chanel

Chanel

the september issue

I had a “driveway moment” a couple of weeks ago listening to an NPR interview with director RJ Cutler about his new documentary The September Issue. Cutler spoke about the bizarre and fascinating world at American Vogue led by two incredibly powerful women–editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and creative director Grace Coddington.

I went with my lovely friend Ting Ting to see the film at the ArcLight on Friday night and really enjoyed it.

Culter had the opportunity to follow both of these magnificent women through the process of creating the American Vogue September 2007 issue, the single largest issue of a magazine ever published. Cutler’s access into photo shoots and re-shoots, closed-door meetings, harsh scoldings by the ice queen herself, and very personal moments with both women makes for an incredibly compelling documentary. Besides the dim and sometimes unflattering light the film sheds on the strange ways of the fashion industry, the most interesting focus was on the decades-long relationship between Anna and Grace.

etsy love for april

Sometimes it is hard to remember what life was like before etsy. After work (and sometimes during lunch breaks) I can disappear into the world of international individual crafters. Someday, I will get my etsy store going. For now, here is my roundup of some etsy faves. If you have never visited etsy before, BEWARE! It is a wonderful, amazing time-sucker and your internet surfing time will forever  be changed. Click the photos below to go to the etsy sellers’ sites. Enjoy!

=)

fashion is no new thing…

I never knew her, but my great grandmother was quite a wonder. So classic and just beautiful.

If I ever were to design clothing, I would design it after her. Wonderful.

Mercedes-Benz NY Fashion Week–my favorites

Click here to see a slideshow of my favorite looks from last week’s Mercedes Benz NY Fashion Week.

Here are a couple of my favorites. I love all of the patterns and textures. But seriously, click the link above for some truly beautiful and innovative fashion. If you want to see more looks, click here to go to the official site. Man, I can’t wait for the next season of Project Runway.

alexandre-herhcovitch

christian siriano

matthew williamson

milly by michelle smith

nanette lepore

tibi