style
First of all, I really don't like ponchos. When someone saids Poncho first thing I think off is not Sarah Jessica Parker wearing 1,400 Euro worth monogrammed Burberry poncho on 5th Avenue, but rather stereotypical short, fat, Mexican man having a siesta by the tree and wearing sandals, poncho and huge hat.
I like the notion of 'blanket coat' if worn with beautiful suede thigh high boots with jeans or decent lenght dress or a shirt as otherwise it may look very trashy.
Instead of full poncho, I went for more of a structured version with sleeves, leather piping and looks like more of a wrap coat like the one bellow.
Rag & Bone Fall 12'
Topshop | Deva Obre Coat | Topshop
Blanket coat looks great with thigh high boots, I prefer suade ones, black, grey or burgundy, preferably flat ones, especially if you decide to go with more expensive pair, you want to get maximum number of wears out of them and let's face it...heels hurt. :)
Stuart Weitzman
What's your pitch perfect Fall look? Write it in comments!
“Fashion, it’s the armor to survive the reality of everyday life. I don’t think you could do away with it. It would be like doing away civilization.”
There are no words to express how much I adore this man.
I saw Bill once working when I was coming back from Anna Sui's studio to showroom I was working in with Karen, the showroom owner. I remember running in my heels, hands full of jewelry samples, trying to keep up with speed walking Karen. We passed next to Bill and Karen waved to him: "Hi Bill!" he waved back "Always nice to see you Karen!" with big smile on his face. Later in the showroom I asked her who was that peculiar old guy. She responded: "That is Bill. Bill is New York. Everyone knows Bill and Bill knows everyone who matters."
I saw Bill once working when I was coming back from Anna Sui's studio to showroom I was working in with Karen, the showroom owner. I remember running in my heels, hands full of jewelry samples, trying to keep up with speed walking Karen. We passed next to Bill and Karen waved to him: "Hi Bill!" he waved back "Always nice to see you Karen!" with big smile on his face. Later in the showroom I asked her who was that peculiar old guy. She responded: "That is Bill. Bill is New York. Everyone knows Bill and Bill knows everyone who matters."
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“You see, if you don’t take money, they can’t tell you what
to do. That’s the key to the whole thing. Don’t touch money. It’s the worst
thing you can do. Money is the cheapest thing. Liberty, freedom is the most
expensive thing.”
Bill Cunningham is The New York Times photographer and cultural anthropologist who is now more then 80 years old. For decades Bill has been riding his Schwinn bicycle and documenting fashion trends and high society charity soirees for The Times Style section in his columns "On the Street" and "Evening Hours".
You can now see his photos online in video form in his weekly column on the Times website, he just improvises, talks about his photos in the video, without a script and adds some interesting historic facts to his trend report, I listen to it every week, he is my reporter from New York. :)
You can now see his photos online in video form in his weekly column on the Times website, he just improvises, talks about his photos in the video, without a script and adds some interesting historic facts to his trend report, I listen to it every week, he is my reporter from New York. :)
Bill has been as he saids 'documenting' New York's uptown figures like Anna Wintour, David Rockefeller, Tom Wolfe, Brooke Astor and others as well as downtown eccentrics and stylish passersby on the streets of the City who's clothes interested him. We can freely say that Bill has pioneered the street-style photography.
“Most of my pictures are never published. I just document things I think are important… I do everything, really, for myself.”
What I love about Bill is his passion and love for his craft and dignity he projects. This old man is so happy when working, it's contagious! Most importantly, when Bill gets out on the street he does it without any preconceived notion, he just let's the street talks to him and he lets street trends tell him new fashion story every day. Bill never judges the trends, he just notices them, reports them and shares them using wonderful descriptive and warm words - you can tell he loves fashion. He knows so much about fashion and history it's absolutely incredible!
“I said many times that we all get dressed for Bill.”
Anna Wintour
In 2010. a documentary came out about Bill. Below is the teaser movie clip, I really urge you to watch the full documentary and get to know this very special man. He really changed the way I love fashion and the way I love New York.
Bill Cunningham New York is a 2010 documentary film directed
by Richard Press and produced by Philip Gefter. Bill Cunningham New York is distributed
by Zeitgeist Films and was released in theaters on March 16, 2011.
“I don’t work. I only know how to have fun every day.”
Here's to Bill.
A historian. An artist. Happy man. Gay man. Simple man. Energetic man. Lonely man.
Modest man. A kind man. A broken man. A legend.
“Elegance is a sort of harmony that rather resembles beauty,
with the difference that the beauty is more often a gift of nature and elegance the result of art. Elegance is rare in the modern world, largely because it requires precision, attention to detail, and the careful development of a delicate taste in all forms of manners and style. In short, it does not come easily to most women and never will.”
This is the second book titled Elegance which I read in the last 3 years. My friends often tease me that I have a funny way of picking books (based on the way the cover looks). Ok, it's true that I gravitate towards fancy font, pink colored, girly covers which mostly means that I go for so called chic-lit tittles.
The first book titled Elegance by madame Genevieve Antoine Dariaux I purchased on a yard sales when I lived in Towson, Maryland and went to many yard sales with a lovely lady who I babysat for at the time- Mrs.Deb.
When I came home I parked it at the shelf and didn't get to read it until I moved to NYC to work in fashion industry. I can say, without exaggeration that this book positively contributed to my transition from a young lady to a women, in that particularly sensitive age from teen years to twenties. This book is a complete guide for woman who wants to be well and properly dressed for every occasion, it is a true style bible.
The second book titled Elegance by Kathleen Tessaro is inspired by the original Elegance by French madame Genevieve Antoine Dariaux. It is an interesting and witty real life trial and interpretation of Dariaux's style rules from the original book written in the 1960's by an English lady author Kathleen Tessaro.
I highly recommend you to read this book so I will not tell you how it ends.At first, I felt sorry for the main character Louise Canova, she reminded me very much on a Bridget Jones type of girl, so I had some prejudices as such character is a polar opposite of my own personality. However, as I continued to read, I started feeling as I was her friend, she pulled me into her story and I could relate on many situation she was going through, despite our character differences. I was very proud of her at the end of the book. :)
Here is a short video summary of the book by Kathleen Tessaro herself.
Next, I would like to share a couple of my favorite quotes and style rules from madame Genevieve Antoine Dariaux which I memorized and have continued to ensure myself into as I go through my life adventure, so I hope these help you lovelies as well.
"Being beautiful is no guarantee of happiness in this world.
Strive instead for elegance, grace and style."
“To be elegant is first of all to know oneself,
and to know oneself well requires a certain amount of reflection and intelligence.”
"Refuse to be seduced by anything that isn't first rate!"
"When comfort becomes an end in itself, it is the Public Enemy Number One of elegance."
"Always shop alone. Women who shop with their friends may be popular,
but elegant they are NOT."
"Underwear. Do not confuse beautiful lingerie, the kind that supports well and remains fresh, with the cheap, vulgar stuff of men's magazines. Fascinating? I'm certain. But elegant it is NOT."
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