Fish-Net-Knits

I don’t have to tell you that fall is chunky sweater season. Right now the two main styles catching my eye are the creamy, cropped, Swedish child like sweaters (as done by the likes of Alexa Chung for Madewell) and the over sized chunky sweaters in bright hues ( as seen HERE). When I saw this photo on the Hanneli blog

I become deeply jealous of this woman’s minimal perfection.  Luckily I was in the bay area this weekend and managed to thrift a similar but very much me sweater from a store on Valencia.

So cozy! And NO I will not go into the use of red in Soviet history (I will save that for Anna!).

sweater: thrifted

jeans: opening ceremony

boots: thrifted

shirt: american apparel

necklaces: vintage and erica weiner

photo credit: http://www.hanneli.com/

-Galina

I dug up these old Jil Sander ads from the depths of my hard drive when I saw Galina’s Lanvin ad. I found these 4 (or so) years ago and they really did a lot to define my ideas about how asexuality can enrich womenswear. Often, the tendency to borrow from menswear works to highlight feminine sexuality, but these ads show that paring menswear down to its most basic forms (the buttoned oxford, the blazer) can bring out a woman’s beauty without fetishizing her as a sex object. In our over-stimulated, over-sexualized culture, isn’t that such a pleasant departure from the norm?

- Anna

Inspired: Eva Fontanelli (Post Script)

For me, Eva epitomizes the appeal of “cute.” I’ve culled infinite inspiration from her charming, witty outfits.

- Anna

Inspired: Eva Fontanelli (Part 1)

While Anna and I often take our style cues from different sources we are both heavily influenced by “street style” . There is something about seeing a living breathing creative and well dressed woman that is just so much more exciting than any high fashion editorial. One of our favorite people to watch is Eva Fontanelli, an editor for Italian Elle.

chic and demure , she looks whimsical without looking foolish

a master of mixing textures while still keeping a clean and uncluttered aesthetic

accessorizing trousers

Inspired: Eva Fontanelli (Part 2)

As Anna puts it “has there ever been a woman as cute as eva?!”

(pictures from the sartorialist and fashion spot posts)

not only is it impossible to pick a favorite “look” , but look at that smile! she always looks like she’s having the best time!

-Galina

Inspired: Louise Brooks

“I have a gift for enraging people, but if I ever bore you it will be with a knife.”

Louise Brooks was an American personality during the silent film era. She is most notably known for her role as “Lulu” in the three German realist or “new objective”  G. W. Pabst films: Pandora’s Box (1929), Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), and Prix de Beauté (Miss Europe) (1930). She also known for her bobbed haircut which comes “into fashion” again every few years or so.

I first came across Louise Brooks in images and then again when my local silent movie theater did a showing of Pandora’s Box. Louise in pictures is obviously beautiful but to see her moving is to fall in love with her. She moves like a classical dancer with a sense of humor. She flits around in beautiful costumes enraging men with her all around untrappable beauty.

Louise is an inspiration not just because of her obvious style cues ( bangs and bob, fur coats, flapper dresses,menswear) but because when Hollywood abandoned her she found a second life among the french “Cahier du Cinema” set sometimes as a film writer.

Louise Brooks “Looking for Lulu”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8WOm2ekeGQ

this film produced by Hugh Hefner for Turner Classic Movies is a really done and detailed biography of her life

I take inspiration from Louise or “Lulu” when I get my hair cut

( when it’s straight I can kind of mimic her hard edged bob)

this is my “louise brooks” dress:

“There is no Garbo, there is no Dietrich, there is only Louise Brooks!”

-Henri Langlois

-Galina

(images from tumblr but if you want a wonderfully capped review of “Pandora’s Box” go here:

http://ilovehotdogs.net/post/88889688/pandoras-box-1929-i-know-what-boys-like)