Clio Peppiatt Fall 2014

As mentioned a bit earlier, I wanted to discuss Clio Peppiatt's collections starting with the most recent and then take a step back in time. It was in Fall 2014 that I recognized the brand's genius, which was largely facilitated by the over sized faux fur coats and photo editing featuring hand-drawn iconography by the founding creative director. I had always found the fusion between handmade and high fashion extremely charming, but Clio Peppiatt also proves that it can be sexy. Naturally as someone who dresses for herself and not for men (or other women), looking sexy isn't something I really care for. But the latex bustier tops in pastel colors with heavily sequinned hearts are the perfect balance between man repelling and sexy. There's something to be said for clothes which are fun and empowering for women. I think Clio Peppiatt does just that, it attracts the offbeat girls and women that march to the sound of their own drum and gives them an aesthetically super charged sanctuary. 

It's hard to ignore the backdrop to these photos which is so reminiscent of Froots (the Marine and the Diamonds album, not the food type). Florals were another strong element of the photo-editing, emphasising the blue photo-realistic roses on a few of the fur-lined jackets. As if that weren't enough, hand-drawn illustrations from none other than Clio Peppiatt's creative director are the finishing touch, and appear across the website. The website itself is a thing of beauty and features some designs which don't feature on the clothes. Although Tumblr doesn't quite have the pulling power that it once did, combining DIY with high fashion still seems to be popularized (as evidenced by Grimes playing at Dior). It's definitely an aesthetic which I very much admire because at its core it promotes creativity and individuality. Imagine if every member of the community were as obsessed with personal branding and celebrating their own uniqueness, rather than clamoring to become a member of an online following. The world would be a much more magical place, and a bit more eccentric in the way that Clio Peppiatt evokes. 

A number of pieces are the best of both worlds in my opinion: their sexy but still retain a sense of creativity. I'm specifically referring to the crocheted turtleneck bodysuit with pink flowers and latex sheer latex, bell sleeve dress with hand-painted motifs but it seems to reoccur within a number of Clio Peppiatt's collections. Yes, I've mentioned this before but it's worth pointing out a second time with two very cool examples. A lot of the clothes I wear are hard-wired as being "cute" and "fun" and I could hardly be accused as dressing sexy. However, colourful bustier and crop tops, as well as mini skirts are pieces produced universally, but typically for young girls and sometimes lucky tweens. In much the same way Courtney Love pioneered the kinderwhore aesthetic, I'd love to see more brands appropriate clothes which look like they were made for young girls but make them for women. Molly Goddard is another excellent example, coincidentally from London as well. Clearly what I need to do is accrue the skills to make my own sassy subversive clothes- but that might take too long (for now I'll stick to writing about what I know!)

Fendi Resort 2015

The silhouettes so often employed by the trendiest fashion bloggers and editors meets colour and imagination, finally. Fendi has created the embodiment of twenty-first century chic while simultaneously injecting colour and substance, as the continuation some of their more successful motifs from Spring/ Summer. The familiar alligator tails in leather can be seen on some of the bags, as well as the owl bag charms alongside some of Fendi's signature totes. Accessories aside, this collection had a greater emphasis on the tailoring of the pants and aforementioned silhouettes exaggerated by the slightly unnatural poses of the model. Don't get me wrong I love being sold on the idea of transcending all human capabilities and never feeling awkward or uncomfortable but when attempting some of these slouchy gravity-bending poses, in reality, they look far less spectacular.  Jibes aside I was intrigued by those statement jackets and long skirts combining the best of troupe-like obsessions with the splendor of high fashion.

Although it's only a short collection, I feel like Fendi were able to curate a number of different ideas and execute them well. Each outfit was holistic in its approach, but lacked cohesion necessary for either Spring or Fall. In many ways it was a composite of some of the house's more decadent, as well as their more well-received pieces all rolled into one. There was also some tentative experimentation with texture in addition to those spectacular colorways. On a completely unrelated note, after staring transfixed at the mysterious floating model, as well as circular designs featured on a number of shoes that there are explicit mod references within this collection. Of course, it's all so subtle and with the pseudo-uppercut featured in a number of different looks it all feels so modern. In reality the collection does not belong to a particular decade or heavily borrow from a specific place- it exists across all time and outside it. Fashion collections have that kind of mind-altering affect on me, especially after I have spend hours staring at coal or have had very little sleep. Floating models don't help that either.

Keep it simple, stupid

Wearing: Target turtleneck and skirt, Asos faux fur coat and Dr Martens boots.

I wore this outfit on the weekend and although it's fairly conservative for me I still got a few looks. I'm not sure if it's because it was a strange hour of the night or what I was wearing, or a combination of red hair and pink lips but I think at least one lady was trying to smile at me. It might have also been because I was with my boyfriend who's white and even though I'm mixed and halfway some people might still have a problem with us? I don't know, it's pretty confusing trying to guess what someone is thinking. Anyway I needed to wear a warm jacket because we went out to the city to celebrate a friend's 21st. It was a friend from work but we often hang out to play video games and order pizza and he's crazy good at just about everything. We ate at B’Churrasco, located on A' Beckett Street which served yummy Brazilian barbeque-style cooking. Our dining experience included fourteen different meets served on sword-length skewers, thankfully there weren't any vegetarians but the banana fritters were absolutely delicious.

I dream of Clio

Wearing: ASOS faux fur coat and skirt, Walter van Beirendonck turtleneck, Sara Sboul buffy muff and Nicholas Kirkwood X Meadham Kirchhoff shoes.

A couple of weeks ago now, during the Easter break Clio Peppiatt launched their new collection and offered a 30% off discount but because of bad timing (I had just bought a Shrimps clutch and there was a lull in work for three weeks) I couldn't buy anything and was super bummed out. Fortunately I still have my Sara Sboul muff and since she collaborated with Clio Peppiatt on her latest range of accessories it seemed fitting that I create an outfit inspired by both these designers. I wanted to wear this with my fluffy fur coat from Asos but wasn't quite sure as to how to go about it. The yellow skirt I'm wearing is a very similar to one sold by CP with two dalmatians on the front which is super lovely. For extra warmth I'm wearing my turtleneck is Walter Van Beirendonck but I'm wearing it backwards so that the muppet on the front doesn't show up on the bottom. Wearing my Meadham Kirchhoff shoes always makes me feel extra glamorous and it seemed fitting.

Just be yourself

Wearing: Asos faux fur coat, gifted t-shirt, Emma Mulholland shorts, Karen Walker Iris sunglasses, American Apparel socks and Lipstik jelly sandals.
 
I know it's been a few weeks since the Natalia Kills fiasco but I thought I'd use it to discuss some thoughts I've been having about originality and authenticity. What she said was nothing short of narrow-minded and delivered in a very vicious way and without being featured on StylelikeU I would never have heard of her. Her music didn't really inspire me to dig deeper than that and I had no idea her husband was also a musician. I also find it amusing that someone who models herself on Cleopatra and identifies as the Egyptian Queen reincarnated has the gall to complain about someone else's lack of creativity. In the days that followed she became just another Internet meme. I was obviously influenced by the photo of Kills wearing her Karen Walker sunglasses compared with Willy Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

So here's the thing, the notion that you should "just be yourself" or "stay true to your artistic vision" is not helpful if you aren't sure what that is. Or if you're still trying to figure that out. Collaboration is often seen as a dirty word and citing something as an influence usually draws negative connotations. Being able to reinterpret something artistically and re-examining why our interests are special should be seen as adding value to our feelings, rather than detracting from them. In biology it's widely accepted that as a consequence of living in the same environment, different animals converge on the same morphology in what's known as convergent evolution. But a similar philosophy cannot be applied to art or culture and suddenly there is this pressure to create something totally unique, individual and not having to credit anyone.