Looking back/Looking forward

By Neslihan

Looking back:
I was 12 when I 'discovered' fashion magazines. It was pretty obvious, I had moved to the middle of nowhere and felt often alone. I didn't have a computer or internet back then and I had to find something to keep me busy with. My mum bought an 'economy pack' of 5 magazines and I stole the one on fashion. I remember its name vividly: Avantgarde. It sounded so promising, almost bigger than life. That moment was really magical, I turned the pages and almost felt this surreal tingle in my brain. The luxury, the drama, the creativeness: this was a way of living too. I read about brands like Chanel and Viktor & Rolf and collected everything there was to collect on their name. I had become a fashion junky. Later, I'd go to my aunt's house and watch full length runway shows on the internetz and even blog about it on social network sites. I felt as if I was part of this world. My contribution was and still is so very small but I liked my place in fashion jungle. I was the biggest fashion lover but also its biggest critic. I literally idolized Karl Lagerfeld and Carine Roitfeld. And my heart also broke in a billion tiny pieces when she left Vogue Paris, which had then become my fashion manual.

This period is marked by staples of Vogue Paris issues. I'd buy it monthly and always looked forward to their amazing covers. I loved Roitfeld's sexy, luxurious Parisian style but also the more edgy and rock & roll vibes Emmanuelle Alt was sending me once she replaced Roitfeld. I would spend 25 % of my pocket money on fashion magazines, the other 75 % would go to clothes/ accessories. I couldn't care less about meeting friends and going to the movies. I'd rather be alone in my room and create fashion articles. That truly made me happy and I felt as if I was gaining knowledge. As I grew in fashion facts, I felt an amazing urge to share it with other people. I was hyper cocky and wanted to educate people. But now, as I look back on it, I realize I didn't want to educate anyone. I just desperately needed to connect with anything. I think I wanted to belong and be good at something, so I chose fashion. But somehing had changed along the way. Anywayz I had.

As I tried to keep up with the industry's pace, I realized this was not what I wanted. I didn't want to have an opinion on every fashion brand. I didn't want to blog about the ones I didn't find significant. I didn't want to spread negativity because I knew every designer put his heart and soul in his collection. I knew they worked 24/7, season after season and figured I didn't want to reflect my disappointments onto them. Taste is so personal and culturally but aslo socially determined. Who are we to criticize anything at all? That's when I started to criticize 'the industry' instead of the collections. There was heart in the clothes but there was envy and filth in the industry. Back then I loved Lagerfeld's aesthetics but hated his body-hating self. And that was not all. I hated the underrepresentation of coloured models, sexualizing children, 21st century imperialism/superiority (scroll to "It's all about refinement..." and feel your toes cringe) and lack of realism. The industry is all about unachievable beauty ideals. I figured I didn't wanna feel un-whole or mediocre just because I wasn't fit to be a girl next door. I searched for my own voice and discovered feminist bloggers like Celia, Annabeth and Laci and blogs like RookieMag. I realized I didn't have to spend a fortune on magazines to be part of this world. I could just start a blog and freely share my thoughts. That's when things began to feel comfortable again. I blogged about more personal topics like sexuality and body image. I think at a certain moment the curtain falls and all you have is yourself and then it becomes very important you can relate to something/someone. That curtain falls daily, it's when the glamour/pretending stops and you comfort yourself in joggingpants and a box of chocolates. That's what I wanted my blog to be: a safe haven for every single soul in doubt because doubt can be very creative. (This sounds so christian, omg.)

So, here I am, still blogging, still overthinking things. As fashion constantly evolves and my taste changes during the years, I'm still searching for my own voice. I'm still learning and hope to be more accurate one day. Everything has changed, even 'Avantgarde' has stopped (read: it's Dutch) but my strong wish to share is still burning fiercely. And I'm here as long as it burns.

Looking forward:
Every once in awhile I still buy magazines. Yesterday I was down that lane again and spent 14 fucking euros on 'Elle Collections A/W 2014'. I always wanted to have an 'Elle Collections'. I know you can find the same information for free on the internet but it's not the same. A magazine is there forever and it feels different because you can actually turn the pages and feel the texture of the paper. On the internet you have to collect the pictures on your own but when you buy a magazine it's already done for you. Not to mention the fabuous layout. It just reminded me of my blog. And since it rains more often now and we're saying goodbye to tropical temperatures, I can finally find peace in sharing some of my favourite items of the past autumn/winter collections.

1) PRADA:

All I can say is: I want all four of the coats. I feel like a fine coat sets a statement. Some are long, others are short. Some ar made of wool, others of leather and some others are made of fur but they all tell a story. That story can be laid back, classy, vampy or sporty. It's a mood, it's a uniform. Autumn starts with a quest for the perfect coat. One that suits your personality. I love the coats with the big pockets. They remind me of the coats I used to draw when I was a kid. Big ass pockets for big ass junk. And if I were to be a diva I'd certainly go for the long red goat hair coat. It just screams Miranda Priestly.

2) DRIES VAN NOTEN:

I love how you recognize Van Noten's trademark. You see it because of the prints, because of the male-female balance, because of the fits. A Van Noten has a (hi)story to tell. It's intellectual and quirky and -eventhough you might doubt it- it's above all timeless. The corsages and bold prints of exotic flowers are inbetween pretty and kitschie but it works so well when you look at the collection as a total. There are metallics, stripes, geometric illusion and dazzling glitter. If someone else did it, it would be tacky but Van Noten knows how to keep it wearable.

3) CHRISTOPHER KANE:

There a few designers I still follow season after season and Kane is one of them. I just feel like our aesthetics click. He's so brilliant, funny and just smart. With Kane you know a collection will be totally different than the one he did before. It feels like he's up to anything but one thing always remains: he's witty as hell. This collection sometimes feels like I'm watching a sculpture exhibition as Kane wants to mold his clothing in certain forms. It's excentric, yet it looks so comfortable for every day wear and I think that's Kane's strength.

4) CHRISTIAN DIOR:

So there was this huuuge criticism when Raf Simons took over Dior. He was too minimalist, too simple, too everyday to be the artistic director of one of the world's leading fashion brands, Dior. He had to prove himself during that first collection and so he did. Now the world has accepted he's fit for the job and looking at his last rtw-collection, I still agree. He knows how to keep the brand young and luxurious but also how to stay true to his own minimalist style. I just love the popping colours. Also in looove with the colourful cords on the waists (3rd picture), what a divine detail.

5) PAUL SMITH:

If I had the money, I'd probably wear nothing else but Paul Smith (and some occasional Van Noten) but I don't so I stay true to highstreet coppies. I love his paistly X baroque prints so much. I just feel like this was the only collection that was strong as a whole. Every piece is interchangeable and it feels as if everything fits with everything. Sir Paul Smith makes my boyish heart pound faster and stab my eyes out from sadness (cuz I'm a peasant).


PS. not sorry for the length of this blogpost since I felt like I had to make up for the lack of posting lately

To Walden Pond, please

By Neslihan

Hi y'all, you may or may not know that I've got to work on two research competences for school. You can see it as two major projects that have to be ready this May. They include both English and Latin literature. Our subject for the English project is about utopias and dystopias and we decided to read Orwell's '1984' (dystopic) and Thoreau's 'Walden' (utopic). We're planning on comparing the two books and we're going to see whether Thoreau's utopia is realistic but also whether Orwell's dark predictions have come true. Reading 'Walden' isn't exactly the easiest thing I've done so far -it has uncountable references to the antique literature and it's an amazing historical-philosophical work- but I feel like I'm getting there.
It may be ancient in terms of setting (first published in 1854, hellooo) but it's crazy how some aspects I've read about so far are still scarily relevant. And how we are still trying to get back to the essence of things once in awhile. Whether it's by actually going on an adventurous trip or whether it's by daydreaming about the same trip. We're still trying to figure out 'the meaning of life', maybe not as intense as Thoreau did in 1845-1847 but we're still trying to break through the ordinary simplicity daily life offers us. And at the same time we're trying to get back to basics. I like how contradictory people are. And how contradictory my own views are. I try to let them crash and this provides pure inspiration. That's why it happens so frequently in my mind and as a natural result on this blog. Look at the image above: a picture from the 'Double Accountancy' shoot from 'Elle Holland' October 2012. I'm pairing up 'Elle' and 'Walden'. I mean 'Elle' of all the things in the world. We're talking major commerce here, Thoreau's main cause in leaving civilized life and living in his selfmade cabin near Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts. Not only did he generally criticize American society but he also had some opinions about fashion and clothing as a basic.

"Our outside and often thin and fanciful clothes are our epidermis or false skin, which partakes not of our life, and may be stripped off here and there without fatal injury; our thicker garments, constantly worn, are our cellular integument, or cortex, but our shirts are our true bark, which cannot be removed without girdling and so destroying the man." -From 'Walden' (Economy: Clothing)

The following quote is so up to date and accurate, I just cannot explain how much I love this one!

"We worship not the Graces, nor the Parcae, but Fashion. She spins and weaves and cuts with full authority. The head monkey in Paris puts on a traveller's cap, and all the monkeys in America do the same." -From 'Walden' (Economy: Clothing) 

I just love how 'Fashion' is portrayed as this  tyrannical person who doesn't take 'no' for an answer and whom you cannot argue with. You can kind of feel the rhythm as you're reading the words, the speed with which those actions are happening.

And this guy just pictures that conscious free spirit feeling I had in mind. You know that kind of guy that pops a beer and starts to talk about Cuba's crisis in 1962, while he casually strokes his gross but lovely beard. And after his stay at a vague
acquaintance's place, he takes his bagpack, gets in his fancy sneakers and continues his route to the
unknown. But he feels perfectly fine doing so because he's accompanied by a wonderful track.

Sources: Elle Holland, October 2012
               Walden
Pictures found here.

Fireflies and cotton candy

By Neslihan

Do you remember those sceptical souls during Simon's first Dior show? It was too minimalistic, too repetitive, too boring... (read here) It's like Raf Simons listened to the slightly negative comments and delivered this poppy spring/summer collection as a reaction to that negativism. He worked with colourful beads, fabrics, shiny effects and enormous prints to prove his audience that he's more than straight and structural lines. He's more than simplistic Raf. He doesn't compromise though, he simply tries to find a way to combine his trademark with Dior's tradition and the new direction the couture house is taking. He matches classy with playful and romantic with -don't shoot me- simplistic as he integrates a couple of black pantsuits with floral beads. But it's always elegant and feminine.
The show consists out of two main parts. The first part is all about Dior basics: little black dresses, black and grey pantsuits, black coats... It was all beautifully tailored, you've got to give him that but I thought it was rather predictable. It's so hard to be inventive or fresh with a little black dress. I think he kind of felt obliged to honor Christian Dior's ideology, which is totally understandable but my heart started beating faster when we reached the second part of the collection: colours, prints, beads, shiny see-through fabrics that reminded me of cotton candy. The whole thing was just divine. At some point you had those amazing floral ball gowns (look five). It was as if they were all on fire. I'm in awe really, because this collection is the embodiment of one of my dearest fashion mottos: crazy, childish heartbreak hotel but the more mature version and I think that's what Raf's trying. He tries to make Dior more youthful but you've got to know that aging is easier than getting your youth back. This collection was a brave atempt in giving Dior's youth back. For sure.

Click here for the whole collection.

Amour simple

By Neslihan

This one will be a quickie! In my previous post I held a true hommage to simplicity as it is and this post won't be any different. I'm showing you some pictures of an impeccable Vogue UK shoot starring Guinevere Van Seenus photographed by Josh Olins. Together they're exposing some delicious clean cuts and sleekly finished clothing. Calvin Klein, Céline and Jil Sander (by Raf Simons) are some names Van Seenus wore during the shoot. I just love how the rough landscape creates an amazing contradiction with the balanced and smooth clothes. I can not tell you how much I loved this shoot when I first saw it. And I will keep on spreading my fashion motto on this blawg: SIMPLICITY FO' LIFE, BITCHES.

Source: Vogue UK, August 2012

Do it like a brother/ Trend update

By Neslihan

I feel like the dudes are being discriminated on this blog that's why I dedicate a blog post to all the fabulousness out there for the males. Becuase you've got to admit: those a/w 2012 collections are to die for! Those suits, shirts, pants, shoes make me wish I were a boy but then again I don't have to be a boy to wear men's clothing...

1 )Printed shirts (Dries Van Noten): Van Notens autumn/winter collection contained a lot of shirts with quirky prints and texts. I know how difficult it is to style a crowded print like this but there are always two ways to combine 'em. Or you go for a sober result by combining it with a pair of black/denim trousers or you go over the top and mix it with other prints. You can find shirts like these in a bunch of second hand/vintage shops.

2)Fur (Maison Martin Margiela): it's hard for a guy to wear fur and not to look like André Leon Talley but I think MMM pulled it off quite well. The beige colour neutralizes the bombastic effect fur usually causes. I wouldn't go for the furry handbag at the same time or I wouldn't go for a furry handbag at all. It reminds me of those stuffed animal rucksacks I'd used to wear to kindergarten. Realising a bit afterwards my orange juice had run out again. Sticky days recall sticky memories

PS: growing a moustache/beard seems to be the new artsy thing to do. 

3)Military (John Galliano): spotted on Van Noten's spring/summer catwalk but a little earlier in Galliano's collection: khakis, browns and camouflage prints should wake up the warrior feel. Going over the top like they did at Galliano is not necessary though, you can also go for a couple key items like a parka, boots, khaki pants or a camouflage printed shirt.

4)Pastels (Walter Van Beirendonck): faded rose, purple, yellow, those are all tones that are not easy to combine as a brother but I appreciate what Walter did. Combining pastels with pastels  is deffinitely the way to go. 

5)Layering (Ann Demeulemeester):  Ann's a/w collection was a true ode to layering. And you can interpret this quite widely. She layered with lengths, materials, prints (tie dye/ombre)... She made her men wear long knitwear and coats, which looked utterly luxurious. As if her models had escaped some dark, modern version of a 19th century novel. The boots made the totality look more dramatic.

6)Florals (Comme des Garçons): Rei is a fucking hero because not alone did she make her garçons wear skirts but also garments with enormous flower prints. Raising her middle finger once more against conformism. I know that it might be scary to wear an obvious print like this but I can tell you you'll love it. It's an instant energy boost. If you're still not ready to look like a fashionably justified rose garden, you can start off with something small. Fold your pant legs and wear flower printed little cute socks in your brogues. 

7)Knitwear (Raf Simons): don't you love to wear your cosy, oversized jumper once autumn has started? Wool, snow and hot coco make an excellent threesome. That's also what Raf thought while he was creating his a/w collection. Look at that wonderful clash: short pants combined with a mustard-coloured pull over! Also in love with the beanies in this collection.

8)Greys (Pringle of Scotland): once it starts to rain more often and the wind is omnipresent and our moods are effected by less daylight, our closet starts to get effected too. Grey is this kind of colour that never gets out of fashion. You can never be underdressed in grey. It's like black but the more sophisticated, snobby and depressing version. 

9)Velvet (Burberry Prosum): is there anything more rich than velvet? The soft feel of this royal fabric is the ultimate weapon against harsh winter temperatures. A velvet blazer is an absolute must this season. Ideal for the holidays to come.

10)The suit (YVES Saint Laurent): there are some irreplacable formalities in life and one of those formalities is the impeccable black suit. A lot has been written and said about it but Yves Saint Laurent still is the King of all suits. This one is amazing in all its simplicity but the leather collar makes it edgier in a classy way.

Check out the whole collection here. 

Source

Defending Raf

By Neslihan

I felt like defending Raf Simons for his first Dior collection because I've read so many negative comments on the internet. I think it's injustice towards Raf's talent and simply unrespectful towards his art. So that's why I'm focusing on a couple of those reactions in this blog post:

"Raf's collection for Dior was a copy of his last collection for Jil Sander."
This is just bullocks. Okay, this collection had that strong, refined, minimalistic Raf stamp but that's what it was supposed to be. That's why they hired the man. You've got to integrate your own vision while respecting the authenticity of the brand. Dior isn't just a brand it's a history lesson in fashion. It's a hard thing to stick to your own style but also respect what Dior originally stands for: femininity, craftmanship and class. Femininity isn't so much about cleavage, glitters or extravagance. Raf stresses on the polished side of being a woman with his sleek cuts. It basically comes down to this: when Raf left Jil Sander, he did take his vision with him. So, the next time you whine about Raf being too simplistic or minimalistic, take a second and maybe think that that's what it actually has to be.

"This Dior show wasn't couture. It looked like ready to wear!"
Can we please get over the fact that couture is only about gaudy luxury? The luxury of Raf's designs for Dior lies in Raf's impeccable sense for tailoring. Have you seen the modern version of Mister Dior's bar jacket? It was the most perfect taloring ever!  And what about the cut out dresses used as tops? I mean the embellishment was breathtaking. The voluminous dresses were another tribute to Christian Dior's style. This collection was actually something like back to basics. Back to what Dior stood for. The poppy colours and elegant pantsuits proved that. Couture isn't so much about showy, crazy extravagance but ir's about smooth fits and amazing details. Or that's Raf's motto.

"We want John Galliano back."
I'm sure we all have to get used to Raf's vision but give the man at least a chance before you start to judge. You can't compare Simons to Galliano. That is just impossible. Galliano is all about theatrical, eccentric, romantic, 20's glamour while Raf is the embodiment of less is more. He's romantic but in his own way (hence  his last Jil Sander collection). You can't expect him to be a Galliano rip off. That would be boring as well. This collection shows us that a new era has begun because Raf ends the Galliano episode and makes the industry ready for poetic minimalism. And I can't wait until the next collection!

Luckily Raf received also lots of good comments. He invited a lot of fellow designers like Alber Elbaz, Pierre Cardin and Marc jacobs but also celebs like Marion Cotillard and Sharon Stone. Even Charlene from Monaco was there. Isn't that the most amazing guest list? The Belgian and Dutch readers can read some of the reactions here. As for my other beloved readers, I've translated a couple thoughts. Scroll down to read them.