crescendoing couture: TopShop

Showing posts with label TopShop. Show all posts

10.22.2012

"Bavarian #1 (Say You Will)" - Miike Snow

I recently had the pleasure of seeing Miike Snow live at First Ave, sort of on a whim, actually. I was more excited for the opening band, Niki and the Dove (more on her at a later date), and was only vaguely familiar with the main act. Well. I am familiar now. And I am a fan. It was incredible visual and aural spectacle that cause the crowd to erupt into a dance party on a Tuesday night in Minneapolis. A fantastic show, and now my appreciation for their work has grown (after my initial listens of their albums to educate myself before seeing them live).

One of the songs that I enjoyed most before seeing them live and now have an even greater liking for is "Bavarian #1 (Say You Will)".

This song has a strong, militaristic drum beat layered under some whistling, keyboard, and distorted vocals. It's a really enjoyable mix of eclectic sounds and styles. What's more, the song's about imploring someone to give things up for love, and we all know how I feel about sweeping notions of lurve.

I wanted to incorporate both the strong marching sound and the sweeping notion of leaving everything behind with this look. Balmain is my go-to for exceptionally strong (shouldered) looks, here contributing both a fun jacket and a stern leather turtleneck. I started the bottom half with a no-nonsense wool skirt, but added a whimsical peekaboo with the TopShop celestial pencil skirt. A bright, fun necklace completes the look, giving away that she takes a risk and says she will.

See a live version of the song here.

Balmain jacket / Balmain top / McQ by Alexander McQueen skirt / Topshop patterned skirt / Yves Saint Laurent pumps / Marni handbag / Sass & Bide necklace/ Bavarian #1 (Say You Will)

10.07.2012

"Home" - Phillip Phillips

Topshop sweater / Clover Canyon pants / Dolce & Gabbana boots / Proenza Schouler handbag
Home

Work has been exceptionally stressful lately; it's a busy time and it's been a little difficult to stay motivated. I'm not someone who is satisfied with less than 100%, so I'm able to get through it, but not without some emotional nights. I mention this because it's the first time since I started my career that I've felt a consistent struggle, and, as you may imagine, that's been difficult. Fortunately, I have an amazing support system, consisting of family, friends, boyfriend, fulfilling hobbies and activities, and music. It's incredible how a song can lift my spirits. So perhaps it's fate that right at the moment that I need some extra motivation, Phillip Phillips graduates from American Idol and inundates the radio waves with his first single.

This song can't help but inspire with it's strong bass drum beat and uplifting chorus of "ohs". It begins softly, with a plea to hang in there, because no matter how hard it gets, you're not alone, and you have a home (Perhaps I'm trivializing it when I connect it to how I'm feeling about my job when one imagines the other immense difficulties that others face, but that's something I love about music: I can relate on whatever level I need to relate, and others may do the same.).

As I created this look, I considered how I've been feeling and wanting to feel: comfortable, but not safe. I'm not asking for my life to be easier, and I don't want to stop being challenged, but I want to maintain some level of peace. This look embodies that theme, with a giant Topshop sweater (one of my all-time favorite pieces to wear throughout half the year), some Clover Canyon leggings, and Dolce & Gabbana boots. The pieces alone are always an easy, comfortable outfit option, but the print and pattern are strong and deliberate. The wearer is bold and willing to take risks.

Listen to the song here.

12.17.2011

"Born To Die" - Lana Del Rey

[I'm deviating from my usual formula for today's post, and perhaps experimenting in what will turn into an additional formula going forward: discussing the styling of a music video. Instead of creating a unique look for a specific song, I'll be analyzing some of the stylistic details of a specific music video and creating a collage of looks similar to those seen in the video. Cool? Cool. Here we go.]

all screenshots taken from the music video

Lana Del Rey is an interesting artist, no? She's certainly beginning to garner much more attention in the recent months. She signed with Interscope in October, her debut album is due in January 2012, and her video for "Born to Die" received over 1.5 million hits in two days.

She's not brand new to the scene, however. Amanda Dobbins of nymag.com wrote an excellent piece summarizing her rise to fame, as well as the backlash surrounding it. Essentially, she's being marketed as a sexy new indie sensation, but a number of music bloggers have called her out for being a poseur and adjusting her image to fit into the indie mold (Dobbins' piece references most of those bloggers and their articles).

As for me, I've enjoyed listening to her singles "Video Games", "Blue Jeans", and now "Born To Die", but at the same time the idea that she may be manufactured to appeal to a certain audience leaves a bad taste in my mouth (bad sound in my ears? Does this idiom work?). And then again, how many hundreds of other artists are completely manufactured in order to be successful? I think the issue here is it's typically pop artists and the machines behind them that fall into this category and their listeners don't care as much to lead to any real backlash. Lana Del Rey's people tried to pull one over on the wrong demographic. As an indie sensation, she's appealing to the hipsters, those vehemently opposed to "the mainstream". I know I'm stereotyping, but I think it's those stereotypical hipsters that are being the loudest over all this. If your audience yearns for authentic indie cred and then finds out it's not authentic at all, you can bet they'll yell about it.

Anyway, this is a fashion piece, so let's be done with the politics and controversy and get back to the style, because, you guys, this video is pretty stunning.

The song is about a relationship that's essentially doomed to fail (hence the title) and, in the video, it does so, quite literally. The video was shot in a French castle and the juxtaposition of shots in this ornate location and the gritty scenes in the car is beautiful. The colors are simple and impactful, and the flames at the end are especially abrupt as they provide a bright pop of orange after scenes of neutrals, reds, whites, and blues (minus the tigers, of course).

Each look worn by Lana is fantastic and understated, and the beauty is spot-on. In her throne she wears an Antonio Berardi gown with her floral crown and pet tigers. We also see her face featuring a strong red lip, dramatic cat eyes, and oh-so-trendy triangle nails, a favorite of refinery29 nail DIYs. The next time we see her she's wearing a classic Americana chic ensemble with Daisy Dukes, some red hiker boots and a fabulously fringed motorcycle jacket. Her final outfit is an uncomplicated slip with a perfectly curled hairstyle and nude lip.

Want to recreate one of the looks? Here are some ideas.

12.14.2011

"Daisy" - Fang Island

Have you ever heard a song for the first time and just had an instant connection to it? This actually happens to me a lot. I'll be listening to something on the radio or a podcast and interrupt a conversation to declare "Oooo, I like this". I love when this happens to me, because it reminds me of being a kid. It's totally black and white, and I immediately love something or I don't. Completely uncomplicated.

That is exactly what happened the first time I heard "Daisy" by Fang Island. The melody is infectiously upbeat and I can't help but feel happier when I hear it. Each time I hear it I have an inclination to dance my heart out. It's important to note here that I am not what one would consider "a dancer", so my dancing to this song would like involve much spinning and jumping and running.

That being said, how perfect is this outfit for just that kind of dancing? Can you imagine the twirl factor of this utterly marvelous Matthew Williamson skirt? And the mod Melissa Vivienne Westwood booties give just the right pop of color without being too impractical to impede my moves. This ensemble is about dressing like a kid with a (very) grown-up budget. It also makes me smile when I see it, which makes it the perfect match for this song.

Listen to the song here.

12.07.2011

"Kiss That Grrrl" - Kate Nash

So this Lela Rose skirt is the best, right? I cannot possibly imagine a more perfect skirt. The layers! The colors! Just the best. The absolute girliest skirt of all time ever. I saw this and immediately had to create a look around it, but I couldn't go totally girly; it needed some edge. Enter skull scarf and Alexander McQueen skull clutch.

That's how I feel about Kate Nash's "Kiss That Grrrl". I remember the first time I heard this song, how I thought it was positively delicious. I mean, the title alone gives a less-than-subtle hint at its ferocity. It's the less obvious version of "Before He Cheats", and it doesn't take long to get past the retro-inspired beat to hear lyrics that explicitly warn "kiss that girl/and I will shrink up/and I will die/and I will think up/a thousand ways/that I can hurt you/and you will never touch my hand".

I think if I owned this outfit I would constantly twirl and bounce and adorably threaten my boyfriend to never even think of looking at another girl.

Here is the song