Ammerman Schlösberg Spring 2016

I am pretty much convinced Ammerman Schlösberg can do no wrong. I fell in love with their guro inspired Fall collection earlier in the year, featuring a cast of battered dolls from the doll hospital wearing fake blood and eye patches. This time it feels like the viewer has interrupted a seance from the 1970s, like if the Lisbon sisters hadn't killed themselves but stumbled on a Ouija board instead or at least had a Halloween themed party. The long blond hair, purposefully mascara streaked faces and colour scheme create a rich landscape of texture. These images feel like I myself am an intruder or visitor to a world I simply do not belong (which is generally how one interprets things after being disowned from a number of school gangs). And yet, as always, I pine for these cool girls to judge me in the hope for acceptance and to borrow their totally cool outfits. As always the designs are a bit tongue and cheek and partially inspired by Lolita from Japan with a unique Western take, and as always, the results are nothing short of sensational.

Aside from the nods to the nightmarish creatures of modern horror movies, evoked through a blank hockey mask among strange paraphernalia there was something wonderfully nostalgic about these pieces. The collars and shift dress silhouettes evo0ke a bygone era tinted with the tone of Stevie Nicks but the purple and mustard also seems reminiscent of 2013. It's something I'm not overly keen to try myself, it does highlight the transformative power of sparkly eye shadow. These accents were made more powerful with a cheeky marijuana necklace, which tbh is something which reminded me of Jeremy Scott Spring 2015. I've never really recovered from fangirling over all the cute pastels, rainbows and cheap plastic jewellery. While Ammerman Schlösberg is a far cry from the same hype, the brand has already established they are the rulers of their universe. Whether it be the doll hospital, or the projector room from Mean Girls (which is what this reminds me of) the duo has attained levels of cool some can only dream of.

*Images via Dazed Digital, Photography Evan Schreiber

Surrender Dorothy

I'm well underway with thesis writing so I have next to no time for blogging, let alone brain power to string together cognitive thoughts. For now I'm pining over warmer weather and looking forward to wearing tank tops and summery dresses from the 70s. I think my style and what I want to consume is changing. I feel distant from the world of high fashion and more attracted to handmade and vintage stores more in my price range. Of course my attitude might change when I get a job but that feels like a lifetime away.

1- Sea of Shoes, 2- via WHITE LIGHTNING, 3- The Wizard of Oz (1939).

purity ring

White has always had many different associations for me, typically wedding dresses and smocks for baby's baptism. Occasionally wedding dresses which bear resemblance to something a baby wears to get baptised. Naturally I found it surprising that designers had such a level of detail when working with all white and was delighted with the spectrum of different textures. Pleats, embellishments, embroidery, laser cut... you name it, it has graced the catwalk in one form or another and that's just within the last five years. The characters who wear white are just as intriguing, whether they be beguiling doe eyed girls with sharp faces or the typical IT girl (be it fashion blogger or fictional figure in the form of an editorial). With the amount of guides instructing young twenty-something women on 'HOW TO WEAR WHITE THIS SUMMER' I had all but given up on seeing the shade as chic. But how wrong I was and you'll forgive me for losing faith if you were as annoyed by Cosmo or Seventeen magazine's lack of vision as well as anti-feminist sentiments. I have no interest in wearing something because it's trendy, rather, I see something new and exciting because it has transformative powers.

1- Tim Walker for US Vogue 2012, 2- Style Rookie, 3- Christian Dior Haute Couture SS15 Paris Fashion Week, 4- Chanel SS14 Couture. 5 & 6- Christian Dior Haute Couture SS14, 7- Karen Elson and Edie Campbell in Atlas the Lion by Tim Walker for Love #10. 8- Karla Spetic SS15, 9- Ulyana Sergeenko Haute Couture SS13, 10- Louis Vuitton SS12, 11- Tim Walker, 12- Mona Matsuoka photographed by Gen Kay. 13- Photography by Tim Walker, image courtesy of Rhea Thierstein. 14- Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975). 15- WhiteNoise by SOMA magazine, Simone Rocha dress and trousers, Prada bra top.

Pastel Perfect

Pastel tones are often embroiled in the tacky, immature and artificial. However, while highly artificial I think like pop music there can be substance behind these sugary colours. Susie Bubble's 'Plastic Candy' and accompanying works by a plethora of artists largely influenced this moodboard as well as The PowerPuff Girls (hence the blue, pink and green). There's also reference to the (unnamed) movement of artists working with resins, ceramics, plastic, silicon and enamel using a Wes Anderson palette. These pictures are a slight exaggeration on The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and more fixated on ideals of femininity and intersectional feminism. As is my custom I am more interested in women rather than men, especially concerning fashion. That's not to say men cannot embrace pastel tones without wearing perfectly tailored suits but it is more difficult to find clothes which embrace the same bulbous silhouette. These shapes aren't curvaceous in that they do not accentuate the bust, waist and hips that we are accustomed to seeing, but primarily embellish the body in a variety of motifs and textures. I can't wait to immerse myself in more pastel clothes in celebration of spring. 

1- Ammerman Schlösberg SS14. 2, 4, 7 & 8- Arianne Wilson. 3- Mila Kunis (unknown). 5- unknown. 6 & 15 - Christian Dior Couture Spring 2015. 9- Photograph by Pieter Hugo. 10- Hometown Hero. 11- Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975). 12- Kailey Flyte shot by Berta Pfirsich for Ruby Star magazine. 13- unknown. 14- Sister Pact by Nafisa Kaptownwala for Rookie Mag. 16- via. 17- The Supremes in Paris, 1965. 18 & 20- Plastic Candy at Style Bubble. 19- Marie Antoinette (2006).