Murder on the Dance Floor

...but you better not steal the moves

Dj, gonna burn this goddamn house right now!

...

The moment I saw this hell of a supersonic shoe on my computer screen, Sophie Ellis Baxter's oh-so-upbeat song began ringing in my mind. (How synesthesic I am?)It's like it was made for the New Year's Eve, both so comfy and modern. It really does talk for itself. 

Anyway, for tonight, I'm wishing you all, a year full of happiness, health and love. 'Cuz love is all we need fellas. All the rest is trivial. (NYE Mortals 2:13)

And I do wish that you'd kill it on the dance floor tonight! Load yourself up for a joyous year by hitting and killing the dance floor. Put your most sparkling shoes on and go get it guys!

Kisses and hugs

Take it 'wide'!

For years, with an incomprehensible persistency, I've insisted on going for 'skinny' type when I head for a store to buy some new trousers or jeans. Even when my sand glass figure of Asian origin began to look like the bottom of a huge 8 (damn those hips do not ever never lie against a cheval glass), even so, I've happened to find myself with a pair of jeans, one size bigger of course, in my shopping bag. That's definitely because I'm was a complete fashion conservative back then(I may still have some traces but that's fine), even if I knew that it's NOT OK for my shape, I fell either for the design or the flashy color.  

This season is officially the one for me, for realizing, admitting and implementing that skinny trousers are not the only means of looking sexy. If you have a sand glass figure,high waisted wide leg trousers with heeled shoes feels and looks like heaven. I'm telling you, a girl should never make light of the effect she can create with such tricks, it's all like maths, or better be named 'visual' maths.

   

For the freezing winter, I grabbed myself a checked wool pair, which I pronounced 'a classic', from the moment I put them on in the changing room at Mango. They're warm, chic and cool. Three birds with one stone. Define your waist, cover your hips,'ciao' defection, 'hello' perfection. What's more, that 70's look is a whole another reason for me to fall in love with them.

If you are generous enough to invest a lot more bucks on such a classic item, the same ones with different color and material is on sale on Opening Ceremony. But they're 100% polyester and it costs a lot more than the ones in Mango. Don't let the label but the quality talk. 

That's all I keep saying all the time.

Muses:

Katharine Hepburn

Bianca Jagger

Muppet Show presented by Burberry (!)

Cuteness ü    

innately charismatic look  ü     

coolest dad and mum in the world  ü    

I know this list could go on and on and on but pleeease come on! That's a 10-years old boy we're talking about you guys, ten! Why on earth they let such little children be on commercials or ads?

And don't get me started with  that unbelievably creepy way both the numb models looking at 'nowhere' and Romeo the Beckham are posed. 

Poor Romeo is nothing less than a muppet wearing a fancy trenchcoat.

Hareem Eroticism

Jean Auguste Dominique's famous oil painting, Grande Odalisque, the one with that fair-skinned lady looking back over her shoulder, gazing directly at her 'untimely' viewer, which makes the viewer feel like a peeper who has just accidentally violated her privacy at an awkward moment. And to me that's the main reason why such paintings are sooo much seducing. 

That 'odalisque' word is originally derived from a Turkish word, 'odalık', which was used for the girl serving the wives or the daughters of the Sultan in the Ottoman Empire, that is she is not like the ones in the harem serving the Sultan sexually. 

OK, now, I'm gonna stop acting like a smart alec kind of art student. 

Given you the necessary information on what 'odalisque' is, the origin of inspiration for one of the latest editorials on TheOnes2Watch.com , I'll give you some privacy with the heavenly beautiful model turned odalisque Olga, wrapped up in smooth brocade fabrics, pearls and antique books used as pillow under the dim candlelight. Enjoy it.

xx

Is Fashion Art?

Words would fail to explain how much of a fan I am of the bullettmedia.com. Not only that a Turkish lady being the magazine's editor-in-chief but also its rich content and the perfectly constructed design of its web site, which doesn't behave like a tight-fisted snob allowing you to read only two sentences of each article. (Right here I should also give Dazed Digital's credit for that.)

The latest drop of knowledge from the Bullet Media, which has been keeping my and may be others' mind busy since forever, is Valerie Steele's talk on 'Is fashion art?'. Valerie Steele, in one sentence, is a well-known fashion historian and the curator and the director of the museum at the FIT in New York. Besides all, she's such an educator that I couldn't help being all ears for about an hour. She refers to many quotations by famous designers', artists' and also a famous economist's opinions on the subject during her speech, and comes to the conclusion that the answer to this very controversial question lies all under  'fashion being legitimated as art.'

I strongly suggest everyone to listen to this invaluable lecture worth speech, but for the others to whom this 45-minute span seems like hours here're my notes from it.

xx

-It’s about how we define art right now
-It’s the antithesis of this kind of authentic high cultural art.
- Deformed thief (Shakespeare)
-women's vanity, women’s body
-a mullock that devours modern people (Victorians)
-frivolity and vanity of fashion
-Werner Sombart: “Fashion is capitalism's favorite child.”
-Antithesis of purism and authenticity of art
-Artisans and artists
- artists like van dyke were used as inspiration for couture
-Some fashion is No more than copies of simple paintings by masters.

-fashion for fashion
-William Morris: “Fashion is a strange monster born of the vacancy of the lives of rich people.”
-Oscar Wilde: “So intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.”
-Paul Poiret was hired to be the potato fryer for the house.
-Poiret: "Ladies come to me for a gown, as they go to a distinguished painter to get their portrait put on canvas. I am an artist not a dress maker. "
-Chanel: “A dress is neither a tragedy nor a painting. It is a charming and feminine creation, not an everlasting work of art. Fashion should die and die quickly, in order that newcomers may survive. Neither Italians nor artists can make clothes. A little black dress is difficult.”
-Cocteau and Schiaparelli collaborations
-Working with Dali make Schiaparelli’s field supported and understood beyond the crude and boring reality of merely making a dress to sell.
-Also Chanel worked with artists but she did it separately from her own line of fashion
-Poiret and Schiaparelli saw fashion as a theatre performance, embodying art
-Vionnet: “Fashion is art, art is creative and men are the creators.”
-Balenciaga: “Couturier must be an architect for the cut, a sculptor for the form, painter for the colors and musician for the harmony and philosopher for the style.”
-Japanese fashion was a revolution, dramatically different from the western contemporary fashion.
-New emphasis on fashion as art and new relation between body and fashion.
-Art in terms of visual culture.
-Chalayan and McQueen
-Intersection of art and fashion
-Art is art, fashion is fashion. However Andy Warhol proved they can exist together.
-Warhol is a Key figure in fashion asking ‘what is art?’
-Anything could be art but that doesn’t mean everything
-A work of art is an object which exists only by virtue of the collective belief which knows and acknowledges it as art.
-A belief in the value of art
-30 years before, jazz and photography and cinema was accepted as not art forms but forms of popular culture
-The process of legitimation (classical music old paintings are accepted as ART)
-We believe that something is art or else it won’t be art.

- Producing its value as art
-Legitimation of fashion as art needs producing its value as art.
-Not all fashion is art.
-‘Fashion designers have to make clothes and sell them.’ says Frida and Elsa replies ‘to be honest may be nothing is art, who cares?’

Be still, my spirit!

Church's

Lately, I've happened to become obsessed with the still life thing in photography and styling. I wonder if it also happens to the others, that very moment at which you feel like your mind is gonna explode due to the overdose exposure to visual images for about non-stop 3-4 hours. Right at that moment I am dying for a clean and simple image with soothing colors on the background. It kinda relieves my mind and feels like fresh air to my brain. And I don't mean the scenery images, I mean the 'still life' images. There's something incredibly soothing about the still-life images that works for me. (Of course I exclude the ones like you can find in Vogue Italia's 'jewelry' section! They'd be whole another panic attack triggers at such moments!)

So as the situation is, I keep a 'In case of emergency' file in sight all the time on my desktop. And my latest sedative is by Church's official site. 

Speaking of Church's, damn yes, all I want for the 'to-be-luckiest-year-ever' is the iconic 'Constance' from the brand! (The star of the still-life above)

Breakfast at Barney's

Although the Tiffany's and the dearest Audrey Hepburn are the unchangeable symbols of every woman's dream, I kinda think as the fashion craze has gotten bigger and bigger every other day, the place where this glorious dream is supposed to take place has already moved to its new habitat; the Barney's. So as the Barney's media creatives must have thought, they came up with this oh so cute cartoon film.

The scene where Minnie goes poker face the moment she starts walking on the catwalk is soo much fun! I'd love to see Grace Coddington too, but naaah, they forgot her. That's a shame:/

edit: Oh! There's also no Anna Wintour! Sure, it's wise of them not to pull Vogue US' leg, never and ever, not even in a cute way, not even Minnie with her cutie pie face! 

La Nouvelle 'Vintage'

I know this has just made your heart skip a beat. It seems like vintage but it's not. In fact it's so up to date, from the latest collection of Vivetta. Vivetta Ponti, the creator of the brand, describes a Vivetta girl as "a girl  living in a sugar coated surrealist world, always looking to the past for inspiration, but with both her feet firmly in the present..." She emphasized on the profile section of the brand's website that Vivetta gives a vintage-y touch to the 'contemporary silhouettes' of her designs, and add some surprising details on them. I've always been rather selective when it comes to shopping some vintage clothes. Because there's this tiny little risk of looking cheap and 'dowdy'. So you better spy some pieces with a polished look. And right here let Vivetta be there for you. 

Any time, dear Vivetta. 

Rise and Shine!

I looove it when you can multi-use an outfit. 

I don't know who is the creator of this multi-purpose jacket but it's just adorable. I saved this image as 'cape goes hood' right on my desktop. And its pattern and colour and shape and 'the buttons'...juuust perfect!

Hey there Miuccia!

"To want to be a fashion designer was really the worst thing that could happen to me..."

Guess who said this? The last person we could think of; i.e. Miuccia Prada. Who could have known that the queen bee of the fashion world, once upon a time, hated fashion and thought of it as dumb and conservative. What's more shocking than this is Miuccia Prada had her PhD in political science and was a member of the Communist Party during the 70s in Italy. The story from there goes on as we all expect it to be, but the point is how can a woman changed her mind entirely and end up being one of the-or may even be the only (female) best- in fashion world? My answer is just what my inner voice always whispers to me from deep inside when I happen to sniff at an intended job just after I graduated from the college; "You'll never know. Just give it a shot." To me, that's one of the biggest problems which faces the young adults before they begin their professional career. We all assume that our first job after the college would be the one we've been craving for. That's why even myself, sulking and grumbling, was saying 'No!' to all the job options my father suggested me to apply for. 

 "...But my education at home pulled the other way, giving me a taste for beautiful things, an instinct for fashion. I adored that." Miuccia completes her saying. That's the one and only gist-or endeavor I may say-of the fashion, 'a taste for beautiful things.' Creating beautiful things for one's-designer's-own sake and presenting them to their followers' taste is the baseline which the whole fashion world is built upon. 

Speaking of these, I can't stop thinking about the quotation I've seen on Garance Dore's site. That's exactly what I've wanted to mean above, this tiny line between 'getting pleasure' and 'consumerism', that's the issue on which fashion world still centers around and doesn't know on which side to lie heavy.

 " Yes, I know I could stop – that’s why I don’t want financing or people behind me. Because the day I want to stop, I’ll stop! That’s why I decided to postpone the date of the show, too bad if the buyers and journalists don’t turn up, if just four French journalist turn up, it’s enough, there is no point in turning it into an obsession, into consumerism…

Azzedine Alaïa

Charlotte the Magic Hands

Once upon a time, there was a woman named Charlotte. Olympia's job was to design shoes which make their owners feel like a true princess the instant they put these shoes on. 

One day, Charlotte the Magic Hands, decided to lay her magic hands on bags....

The Trick

That's definitely the best DIY idea I've bump into so far. All we need is a hardback vintage-looking book and a lousy purse which has been smashed under the big guns of our wardrobe for-God knows how long- years. 

Here's the link to the detailed explanation of how to do it.

What the...?

Gareth Pugh

The brilliant question of the season SS2013 comes from D della Repubblica after the fashion weeks have gone with the wind:

   
"Do designers want to see us strolling around in these indeed?"

I don't know them, but I'd rather not see the gals in these way too much 'distinctive' designs. In fact, I don't believe neither do the fashion designers. The thing is the fashion has been showing more and more tendency to the 'art'. That's why a design conveying a thought, an idea or a feeling of its maker has begun to become more important than its being just wearable. But once again, I'd say 'No, thanks. I'd rather not see walking art pieces around'. Let them roll down the catwalk solely.

                      Ground Zero                                                                 

It's like the woman's body is 'visually' under torture. Many of the designs, which I'd give a standing ovation from an artistic point of view, in terms of being wearable, are too much of an extreme, just like the pushing-too-hard-of-a-kind whalebone corsets from the 19th century just to accentuate the hour glass figure, but in a 'modern' way. 

Ann Demeulemeester                           

On the rocks

Q:What would be the reason to love Scotch and Soda more? 

A: Seeing them make a collaboration with a designer for a capsule collection and name it Gin&Tonic and set its sight solely on the women browsing for an evening gown or suit or etc. to wear for a cocktail party at which gin&tonic would be consumed like water. 

I'm not a feminist nor am I a sexist but when I first heard of  the brand called Scotch and Soda, I said; 'Holy shit, this is the best of the best name ever that could be given to a men's clothing brand!'. It really is uncanny. I love the not-pushing-so-hard but 'distinctive' kind of sport-chic style of the brand but I've never ascribed the name of it to a place where women could shop from the women's section. (I do have 2 shirts from the brand and they are both from the men's collection) 

BUT let me lay aside my obssession with the brand's name and give the devil her due. That millitary jacket with ikat designed knitted sleeves is definitely a classic. It's so Scotch and Soda-ish and those sleeves, those ikat pattern (which is my favourite pattern) and that cosy feeling it gives is just splendid.

PS.1: The Amsterdam based fashion brand was founded in 2001 with men's collection only.

PS.2: The name of the women's collection is 'Maison Scotch', which is just 2 years old. 

Florence the Noble

Somebody please tell Florence Welch to take this incredible photo as an inspiration, as a starting point while shooting her next video clip or use it as an album cover, or as a concert poster but just make sure that she uses this photo and not let it just be seen on the September issue of Vogue US. 

The sword, the black horse, clouds, woods, brocade cape with golden embroideries and the vintage lace gown and floating scarlet hair; they all make Florence seem like a royal one coming out of the British history. A brave, noble and otherworldly beautiful warrior, like the Arwen character in the Lord of the Rings triology.

Veiling Issue

Lately I've been thinking about the ways a woman can wear a bridal veil at her wedding. You may say why the hell have you been thinking about that, but there has been a wedding photos explosion on my facebook newsfeed for a couple of months. It's like everybody's getting married after graduating from the university! Of course it's a matter of choice so we respect them all, but the thing I want to speak of in here is the wedding dress and the veil. Every wedding dresses I've seen so far on my newly wed facebook friends' photos is a bit too much traditional! The gals don't let their creativity talks for themselves on their so-called happiest day ever, the day on which everything's supposed to be arranged in the way the bride and the groom desires to be, the day on which the bride's supposed to be the most beautiful girl of them all, the guests. But as my boyfriend says they all resemble a topsy-turvy pine tree:/ No offences. 

So, today, while checking on the looks from latest fashion shows on Style.com, Jeremy Scott's and Temperley London's fashion show made me feel as I found something I lost, the answer to my bridal veil issue! 

Why not to choose a hat, be it fedora, boater, beret or baseball cap and tuck the floor length/waist length tulle (or any other transparent fabric) into this hat instead of tucking them directly into the hair by using dozens of hair grip? This is absolutely what I'm gonna go for if I get married some day in the far away future. 

It's All about the Eyes

Let the fashion pro.s rush from NY to London, London to Milan and so on. No matter what they say, I feel delighted by sitting on my cosy sofa with the latest updates from the fashion weeks near at my hand, on the click of my mouse. 

From the shows I've checked up on until now, what I've admired most in some of them is the way the designers use 'trompe l'oeil'. Some of you might have heard this term before but for those who haven't it is an art technique used to create optical illusion, making the objects seem three dimensional. This is my fav technique ever I've learnt from the art history book, and now seeing it being used by the fashion designers is a huge pleasure. 

The clothes sewed up by this technique seem like they are hanging freely on model's body. As if they were glued onto the body piece by piece, or like embroidered right onto the skin! (Especially that Marchesa dress below.)

I don't know the niceties of the way this technique is implemented on fabrics but it is incredible to look at either on clothes or paintings. 

Blooming Face

Why not try this especially during the fashion week?  I bet whoever tries this will get photographed by Mr. Eyes like a Hawk, i.e Tommy Ton.

Forehead may be a bit too much, but on the cheeks, ooh la la, you're gonna be like Mother Spring.

Also tuck a little bit more of fresh flowers into your hair and ta taam, just adorable!

Who said that we can't walk around the city like a model coming straight out of a fashion editorial?

Juuust do it.

Y.U.C.K

End of the summer means it's time that all big fashion houses come up with their 'eccentric' and 'mostly numb but highly creative' fashion videos sneaking a peek of their fall-winter collections. Well, most of them are the same old story; glamorous, cool and fascinating and bla bla. But, have you seen H&M's 'fashion shower' video, starring Anna Dello Russo? Oh Gosh! I wanna scream out in Anna's face 'Where was your mind while nodding for this whole effing concept of the video?' It's cheesy and cheap from the beginning to the very end.  It's a total disappointment which makes one think 'Thought she was different.'

Blast!

If I was asked 'Of which fashion magazine do you feel most proud to have in Turkey?' I would definitely go for the XOXO mag. We've Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, bla bla but XOXO is'a whole nother thing' and it's by far the most original. And what's more of a blast about it is you do not pay a single cent for the magazine! You just pay the shipping fee if you want the print edition. 

Up until now I was following it just from their site, but I've just seen on Refinery29 that Chloe Sevigny stars on its September issue cover, I've got thrilled! I mean WOW! Not only a site which I consider to be the CNN of the latest fashion news has been talking about the XOXO Mag but also Chloe the Chloe, Chloe the muse, Chloe the OC, Chloe the.......ok I stop, has been shot for the September issue of a free Turkish magazine, that's utterly the most passionate X, the mag has ever received. 

We have Vogue Turkey for more than 2 years, but we still haven't had the honour of seeing a fashion muse on its cover, it's all about supermodels or celebrities, the names you see on every fashion website every single day. No offences but one of them has Conde Nast behind it, while the other one stands on its own feet. So let's face it, which one deserves to be regarded as successful; Vogue starring Miranda Kerr or XOXO starring Chloe Sevigny?

It's like one of them is Facebook and the other one is Instagram (the Instagram before woohooing with Facebook.) Hope our beloved XOXO keeps preserving its super duper cool and one of a kind attitude and not be overwhelmed by a Don Draper-y big gun from the media world.

Faking it!

'Before Adobe created Photoshop, there were other techniques used to manipulate photographs; collages, brushes and overlapping techniques' says D della Repubblica. Those images left from the end of 19th century to this day  are not only bewildering (bewildering, because each one of them is so sophisticated that they feel so real, as real as a still from a surrealist film, like the Orphic Triology by J. Cocteau!) but also fascinating to look at. Some seem absurd and funny but they all deserve to be praised. MET Museum of New York will be helding the exhibition displaying all these manually retouched photos in October. So if you had a chance to stop by, don't miss it!