September 29, 2012

Raf's Dior

Raf Simons commenced his reign over Dior, in terms of RTW, with a more different direction than past Dior collections. The Dior we knew in the past, under the mind of Galliano, was full of theatrics and exaggeration. It was abounded with glamour and luxury. I think when people thought of the return of Dior, they reminisced of the Galliano era. Galliano is an artist, and he had a mind like no other. He created beautiful collections that will remain in the hearts and minds of many who witnessed it; as well as in the history in fashion. However, that era has finished and a new one has begone. Raf stripped away the theatrics, and presented a sleek, fresh, and minimal collection, at least minimal for Dior. Raf demonstrated a different type of elegance, where less is more.

As much as I loved the collection, along with many others, there were others who criticized Raf and called his collection amateur and boring (these being regular on the Internet). They exclaimed to the heavens to ask for Galliano back. I was disappointed in people to expect for Raf to do what Galliano did for Dior. Galliano didn't only use the same style of designing for Dior, he also used it for his own label. I mean that's only expected seeing as that was his style. Galliano was all about the exaggeration, the drama, the bold looks; Simons is not that. Even though Simons doesn't like to be called a minimalist, it is safe to say that he is more of a minimalist than Galliano. Raf Simons has presented his idea of what the Dior woman is, and what she wears; different designer, different opinion. It is no surprise that Simons came up with something more minimal, after seeing his haute couture collection for Dior. I admit that I did criticize his Haute Couture collection, and stated that I was disappointed (for the exception of some pieces). However one night I understood. I was pondering in my thoughts when I realized what Raf Simons did. I think he remembered that Galliano didn't establish Dior, Christian Dior did. The work that made Dior famous during the New Look  wasn't the same work that Galliano presented down the runway. In 1962 Jackie Kennedy wore a Marc Bohan Dior dress, a long pink gown, I remember it quite well in my history textbook. That same pink gown reminds me of Simons collection. The solid color gown with a shining metallic material. Raf Simons is channeling Dior himself and other past Dior designers, because that is what Dior is. He is using them as inspiration and using his own vision to put together his mark for the house. 

The theatrics is a thing of the past, it is something that Alexander McQueen and John Galliano mastered when they both designed in the past. I notice how collections  become more minimal season after season. Fashion advances and I think the age of theatrics is over, at least for now. With more people wearing designer clothes and becoming more interested in them, clothes have become more wearable. The age of collections full of huge gowns is something we rarely see. I really feel like Simons understands that, and I feel like he creates such wearable clothes because he wants people to wear them. However his collection wasn't too entirely minimal. He created a collection for the modern yet futuristic woman. With metallic detailing in the shoes and dresses, he resonated a futuristic era. His last couple of pieces had long skirts with a floral print, and top was a shiny, metallic nylon that resembled fire, thunder, light, and water. The movement of the model created a different illusion in the skirt, and many other pieces had a included this shiny nylon to create the same effect. The shoes, with a perfectly shape heel, had a metal strap across the shoe which evoked a feeling of a galactic shoe. The bags were simple and soft, which in my opinion were the epitome of the elegance that Dior is. The jewelry was decadent, yet in parts was very futuristic, which is completely cohesive with the collection because the collection does resonate the future. I really do believe that this collection is true to the basics that Dior was founded on, but also reminds the world that a new creative mind is at work. This collection brings forth a new moment in history that will continue on the legacy that is Dior.



September 23, 2012

yearbook

I know I have been a little bit absent from posting. I took a voluntary hiatus and I had time to think and really evaluate this blog. I really just sat on my couch eating grapes and contemplated my feelings towards this site that I call my blog. I really thought about when I first started it, and my initial ideas and hopes. After having this blog for a little over a year, my attitude has changed entirely. My lack of posting shows that I am just tired of taking pictures of myself and writing about my adventures (which are more like actually leaving the house than actual adventures). I guess sometimes I just want to demonstrate something entirely different. I just find it so boring to post what I wore, when I can just do it via Twitter or Instagram if I really cared that much. I guess I just don't want to be THAT (fashion) blogger. I mean, do I really even want to be a blogger? So I mean that really explains my absence, and also to be entirely honest I've been so lazy to post. Which just makes me want to take a new direction, a new path to motivate me to keep going with this blog.

So with that being said, I'm just going to share with everyone a little book review.
I first heard of the Rookie Yearbook One a little before I actually attended the Rookie Roadtrip Meetup back sometime when it was still summer. I had two initial thoughts when I first heard of it: am I going to skip buying this since it is just articles I can read online, or am I actually going to buy just because IT IS TAVI. You know I didn't really think about it again until after the Rookie Roadtrip when I just felt totally Rookiefied and I was so proud and cheerful...I mean angsty. I did end up buying it because I just wanted to really start building my collection of books that I can keep on my coffee table in my chic Upper East Side apartment. You know when I'm a socialite partying with Lindsay (soberly of course) and then having Olivia Palermo over the next day. This book does come in the coffee table size, and it would probably look good in a book shelf as well. So I didn't buy it right away, but I got it eventually...I mean I just received it like yesterday but that's actually not what we are going to talk about. The book is just articles, editorials, and other pieces from the Rookie website. They are totally revamped with an actual print layout filled with pretty little things. I'm not going to lie, I never actually read all of the articles on Rookie (oops), but I just have a really short attention span online. I can never really focus on one thing at a time (oh the woes of the technological era). I'm not going to say I've finished the whole book, because I really don't want to finish. It is really so captivating and it just feels more real when you read it in print. I mean the articles are mostly for the teenage girl trying to live the life...of a teenage girl and not what society, or the media portrays teenage girls to be. FYI, yeah I not a teenage girl but this book is beyond just that. I think we can all really relate to it at some point because it really is about youth and the ideas we have (or had) at that age.

The yearbook starts off with a couple of actual signatures and entries (like the ones you receive in your actual yearbooks that you pass around and people reminisce about the past year). I want to believe the entries are filled with satire because they are symbolizing what a real yearbook entry would say. They are all for a girl named Rookie, and all these people write something in Rookie's yearbook. You even have the Mulleavy sisters from Rodarte share a little something. I just sat there smiling reading all the yearbook entries, almost as if they were written to me. I want to believe that Rookie is a girl who just gives no shits and is a teenage witch to Tavi's definition. She really encompassed everything that the whole book talks about. 

 Tavi is one person I just couldn't be more proud of. You know after meeting her I feel like you realize so much more how much of a genius she is. It's always annoying, yet interesting, to see how she often isn't taken seriously (mostly by other female bloggers and some males and mostly always people who are older than her). There's always a different Tumblr post or tweet complaining: she's just a joke of a blogger, she just isn't fashionable, she's just famous because she's young. In my opinion Tavi isn't the definition of the fashion industry, she the definition of herself (and in my eyes the soul of the modern yet somewhat antique teenage girl). She really brings together more than just fashion to demonstrate what she can accomplish. To think that she has realized all this on her own is just amazing. You really see other bloggers sometimes selling out and changing their ways to make themselves more acceptable in the fashion spectrum. However Tavi really has just grown up with all of it together. You know I'm going to confess that Tavi wasn't always someone I admired. I started analyzing her and questioned everything. How could a girl that just takes pictures of her accomplish something this major? I just really didn't give her my full attention, but once I actually read her blog Tavi seemed so cool, everything she said seemed like it was planned but also natural. It took me a while to get over this funk (I saw her H&M rap and fell in love), and since then I realized this girl may not ever be someone who will be predictable, but she's going to be somebody really influential (more than she is now I would say). I think like me people have this grudge against her and her popularity. I mean it really just is inspiring to see how she brought her ideas and imagination to be something she has grown up with, and crafted to be what she envisions. Take it from someone who used to be blinded and realize people like Tavi really are the geniuses of our generation. It's not about the fashion or the Tumblr-esque persona of the Rookie reader; it's the idea to craft your vision to reality. I really think that's what makes Rookie Yearbook One so special, it brings together memories and dreams of different people to complete Tavi's ultimate idea (I make her sound like some world dictator). The Rookie Yearbook really does make you smile and admire the words of others, but also reminds you of your past and your stories. It makes you reflect on your past and just is full of nostalgia...almost like when you read your yearbook at the end of the school year, and you smile at all that you have been through. With that you also can't keep but feel happy you're on the next step to make new memories.