20.12.10

78 MUSO MONDAYS #6

Welcome to the world of the plastic beach on a rowdy ape infested party island.

I am SO excited. What is my first virtual band concert experience going to entail? Reviews say it's hard to pick a highlight because every song is a revelation. I'll take that, thanks!! Lebanese orchestra here I come! Here's 3 songs cos I can't pick one.

Dirty Harry from Demon Days -



White Flag - Plastic Beach



Superfast Jellyfish - Plastic Beach

77 MADAME HAWKE FALL 2011: ME HUMAN

I have raved about Ruby's winter collection which debuted at this year's Fashion Week, and now I will drink a glass of red and obsess over Madame Hawke's new collection, titled Me Human. Since becoming designer in 2008, Emily Miller-Sharma has branded Madame Hawke as a quirky and good-time gal, with an air of sophistication and class. Fall 2011 saw Emily's muse soften into a woman who is "just so beautifully human. With the need to feel safe coupled with the desire to be spontaneous".

This collection is my favourite so far- it is forever interesting and appealing, for the following reasons..

The main attraction for me with both Ruby and Madame Hawke is the incredible variety and use of textures that coheres every collection. Sheer and heavy silk, leather and suede, velvet, woolen knits, mesh, a fine selection of wools for the coats of course, and what about the Lush dress (image 3) !! This along with the Butterfly top (image 5) are high in my favourites list, which is inevitably very long.

Beautiful contrasts make Me Human so appealing and daring. Structured forms are worn with fluid under layers and starched collars attach to sheer silk. Tailored pants come in heavy weight knit for easy wearability and silk for luxury. Touches of ladylike balance the masculine - nipped waistlines, wool cashmere coats, beautifully shaped hemlines and a super tight calf length elastic skirt.

There is a more refined colour palette this season compared to last winter, the brighter bleeds of colour have matured to luscious burgundys, camel nudes and pale pinks resulting in a warmth and richness that could only make the wearer feel warm fuzzies inside. These are contrasted by crisp white and blacks which punctuate the collection.

If you can't fight the cold, embrace it. Ruby and Madame Hawke are of course reputable for their amazing winter coats, and this season just gets better. There is much to be excited about, the range of coats is in-depth and well thought out, and between Madame Hawke and Ruby combined, it is an extensive selection that needs to be part of every girl and their mother's wardrobe.

Here are some of my favourites from Me Human:

4_

3_

2_

1_
Madame Hawke Fall 2011, photos kindly from Eleisha


No one enjoys a rainy day (especially in this humidity) but looking through Madame Hawke's new collection for autumn and winter 2011 makes me wish dearly for the colder weather again.  Of course this range will be a massive sell out locally with the brand's dedicated followers, but I also see a huge and ever-growing international appeal in it. Shoes and bags are also a new addition, completing the look of the Madame Hawke girl.

Me Human is mature yet sexy, classy yet cheeky fun, incredibly modern yet so classic and timeless, with stunning silhouettes and shapes yet such a fine attention to detail, all in a (few) days work. I cannot wait!



madame hawke fall 2011 Me Human
designer Emily Miller-Sharma
model Gina @ Red11
photographer Guy Coombes

18.12.10

76 NOLA BEL JEWELLERY AT BLACK BOX

People in architecture school go on to do amazing things that don't have to include architecture (touch wood). I could not stop staring in fascination at the rings my friend Nicole was wearing the other day, and conversation developed that they were part of her and her friend Kara's wee jewellery collection, under their name Nola Bel.

According to Nicole, they are architectural postcards for the hands of the adventurous and brave. They are inspired by skylines of cities that Nola Bel has travelled to or will one day visit. From staring at them for so long you can see they have been crafted by the hands of an architect - as a delightful difference from the heavy metally clad hot hands (don't get me wrong, I would fit into this category) Nola Bel's rings are made up of a set of 5 individually designed and laser cut perspex rings which together form a mini city on your finger. They are also packaged with care and beauty - tucked into their own special skull box to keep your city safe. 


Nola Bel have been stocking at Children of Vision this year and have just made it into Black Box just in time for Christmas! So go get one or many, for one for all, I couldn't choose... perfect timing for their partay tomorrow. Super congrats and so proud xx


look book.indd


look book.indd


look book.indd


look book.indd


look book.indd
Nola Bel's collection. Look book photos kindly from Nicole 




13.12.10

75 MUSO MONDAYS #5

kanye
photos from google

Today's pick by Wade.

Always a Kanye fan.

74 GARTH BADGER'S NEW FILM WITH RED11'S LILI SUMNER

lili1
Lili Sumner, photos by Garth Badger

Garth Badger kindly got in touch; here is his latest fashion video 'Lili', featuring new talent Lili Sumner from Red11. You may also recognise her from Federation's 10th Birthday shoot, also shot by Garth. The film shows off pieces from Sera Lily, Fast and Loose, and Lauren Nuttall (a recent AUT grad and emerging success).

Garth tells me he had the idea to shoot the project after meeting Lili on a go-see and working with her on the Federation video. He was immediately drawn to the way she moves, her posture and sense of self confidence, which is so evident in the film. It is a hauntingly beautiful work; the overexposed outdoor scenes are my favourite - they are ghostly, delicate and unreal.


LILI from Garth Badger on Vimeo.


director Garth Badger
wardrobe Barry Beetham
makeup Melina Strachan
model Lili @ Red11
music Moby

12.12.10

73 LAWRENCE ARABIA: THE BEAUTIFUL YOUNG CREW

This duo played after Spring Break (which we sadly missed :( I hear it was EPIC). It was like electro funk pop rock with a synthesized voice.... Pretty amazing. More amazing was the fact that one of them was dressed as a piece of bread and the other wore a leopard print visor with a gas mask looking apparatus tied around his head which warped his voice.

lawrence1

Lawrence Arabia and The Prime Ministers did not let us down with their Greats of New Zealand Cricket tour. They were dressed in their whites, including bucket hats of course. There's something about James Milne which is just so... charming. His mannerisms, his eccentric matter-of-fact jerky movements in and out of song, his say it how it is lines...

The music was probsssss the most highly defined music specific version of dream boat ever. I'm gonna put it out there, but about half way through the night I realised they are NZs version of a modern day Beatles... Their syncopated rhythms which define each song, the massive use of the tambourine (big fan) and other instruments such as sax and trumpet, the BEAUTIFUL harmonies and original lyrics, honestly it is just like, a massive massive dream boat of music.

lawrence2

(plays broken chord of next song)
JM: Does anyone know what this next song is?
Audience: mumble mumble...
JM: Oh ok, well.. Well you guys all lose. And we all win. Until we play this song, and then if you recognise it and like it then I guess you all win too.

(comes back on for encore)
JM: Well this is probably the biggest anticlimax you could have to a set, but we're going to start the encore off with another new song, so I'm very sorry in advance. But then we will go back to familiar territory.

Familiar territory it was; we were treated to the honorable bearded Liam Finn in the encore too.

lawrence4

lawrence3
photos by me

JM: This last song, is, well you guys may think it's stupid, but I suppose it's been a night of anticlimaxes, well no it hasn't, I've actually thoroughly enjoyed it, but you'd be silly not to have a dance to our last song...

And so it was the last song, a cover of Alicia Bridges 'I love the nightlife' (I got to boogie... on the disco 'round... oh yeahhh) and we all had a whopping good time.

6.12.10

72 MUSO MONDAYS #4



Todayz pick is a no brainer! Yayayayayaaay going to see James Milne AKA Lawrence Arabia on Wednesday at the King's Arms on their 'The Greats of New Zealand Cricket' tour. Apple Pie Bed is the first song that got me into them a while back, they are just super addictively awesome. To quote off youtube "This is much too catchy".

And how about this video... To quote again off youtube "I've never been so less aroused by so much flesh" i.e. perhaps don't watch the video and the song at the same time if you're listening for the first time... it is too wonderfully disturbing.

lawrence arabia
photos from lawrencearabia.com

5.12.10

71 OH LOOK I'VE CHANGED NAMES

some things can wait. this cannot.

70 FEDERATION + 10 IN 2010 = PARTAYYZ

fed crew



Federation 10 year party invite from Garth Badger on Vimeo.


Fed can put on a good shindig. Howie and I took a trip down memory lane last night as we entered Shed 6, precisely where NOM was inflated last year! Last night was Federation's 10th birthday party, wowzah! The streetwear brand has gone skyhigh since its creation in the Y2K. Shed 6 was done up amazingly, one of those this-shed-normally-looks-shit-but-this-decor-makes-it-so-industrial-cool type looks.. There was a massive '10' ice sculpture in the middle, bean bags, lots of tile prints hahaha, sisters Maya & Vanya were on the decks, and there were lots of yum prawn and chicken kebabs..  HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY FED. xx photos by me or Howstah!

pictures

lockers4

10

ice

horse

mayavanya

lockers1

lockers2

lockers

lockers3

how me

vid middle

fed crew

wall

polaroidz

fed guyz

crowd

Check out party of wolves for more photos!

party of wolves

2.12.10

69 SHOOTING RUBY'S AW11

Today I had a wee bit of fun helping out at White Studios, shooting Ruby's AW11 online look book! Just what I needed after a rather miserable past couple of days :) Amazing clothes and people of course, and BIG UPZ to Deanna for being voted Best Designer for 2010 in the new Metro mag!

ruby shoot
from White Studios and Ruby


Ruby's AW11 - The Adventurers
designer Deanna Didovich
photog Guy Coombes
make up Kim @ Mac
model Gina at Red11

1.12.10

68 EXCUSE ME

for my lack of blogging... I don't know what it is that has made me feel so lazy, maybe its the STUPENDOUS heat, maybe it was my mini (but no where near as bad) repeat of the Barcelona death day, maybe it's working all this time makes me tired and no time to be thinking about inspiration. Anywhere here's something at least... These are things that have been on my mind recently, and by recently I mean a while ago I know this is all pretty late...

1 - the latest young star to grab the worlds attention with her new pixie locks (can we even call them locks anymore?) - Emma Watson of course. Yesterday I read an article about how she thought she was becoming too rich to have a proper relationship. Which was really sad, seeing as a few years back she described herself as a young romantic type looking for a guy to sweep her away. She was after all named the highest paid actress in the world earlier this year - insane! While I am jumpin on the bandwagon ( and a wee bit late too), her hair cut fulfills the 'new phase', 'coming of age', 'post-Hermione' moment in vogue history.

ew
from emmawatson.com 

2 - speaking of hair cuts.. my friend recently had all her hair cut off (from very long to very short) Did you know you can donate it to wig shops and make like a hundred bucks! legit... But I would never be brave enough to do that. And a little freaky.

3 - I love how at least some decency has been put back into designers' collections as of late. Gone are the lowest riding, shortest short shorts and mini skirts, and all hail the maxi! Here are some A m a z i n g ones for this summer, holy F Michael Lo Sordo, this is the most amazing thing.

shakuhachi
Shakuhachi twisted middle maxi dress, from superette.co.nz

Valentina Maxi
Madame Hawke Valentina maxi, from rubyboutique.com, and Michael Lo Sordo maxi, from google

4 - How much do I want a pleated skirt. Time to get makinggg.

pleat
Ruby AW11 / Lonely Hearts SS10.11 / Sylvester for Kate Sylvester SS10.11

29.11.10

67 MUSO MONDAYS #3

Janelle Monae is pretty amazing: fabulous style, stunning looks, and what about that voice! She's such a fresh young and vibrant sort of sound,.. good vibes what!

This song is called Cold War. Take a look at the vid - seriously hypnotised.



JM

janelle-monae

66 GENKI SUDO



this is amazing! watch the whole thing.

24.11.10

65 VISUAL INSPIRATION

Fernando Volken Togni is a 27 year old graphic designer from Brazil. He recently designed a poster for the cool hunter reaching 153000 fans on facebook - BOOYAH! Here are some rad designs he has done, themed '24 hours in ...'

24hours_shangai

24hours_1i

24hours_

Paris versus New York is an amazingg website, Vahram Muratyan illustrates a visual match between the two cities. I picked out the food ones :)  1. le cafe 2. le snack 3. l'obsession

01coffee

29hotdog

16macaron

yum yum.

22.11.10

64 MUSO MONDAYS #2



It's very fitting; I love 500 Days of Summer, and Zooey Deschanel is an absolute babe. She also has a band, She & Him, with M. Ward who she met on the set of film The Go-Getter. This song is called Sugar Town, and it's the bonus track off the 500 Days of Summer soundtrack, sung by Zooey.

Anyway, Mel and I have had a fabulous business meeting of a day where we made some very exciting progress (hardly). And this song was in my head the whole day... Perfect for a lazy sweet Monday :)

29z5w21
photo: http://zooey-deschanel.us/