L’ecole Des Femmes

School of Women, a label that gets it. Or gets me (does it matter?). I discovered them after they put out their brilliant fall/winter ’08 collection, that was full of leopard prints, fitted dresses, pencil skirts and ultra feminine pin up looks. They had me obsessed from the moment i laid eyes on all the perfect pieces and i managed to score some of them in some blessed online sales. Their spring/summer collection is  (almost) just as fantastic! With a monochrome theme they went the classic route again just opted to keep it a little bit more demure. It’s still picture perfect in my book though.

l’ecole des femmes

No Doubt in our minds

Excitement is roaring as the legendary No Doubt’s big come-back from their 8 year long break is in the makes.

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This band is special to all three of us, in fact we would probably not know eachother had it not been for them putting out great music and launching Gwen Stefani’s carreer with which she was given the oppertunities to venture out into fashion and inspire young females all over the planet.

In 1997 right after my 13th birthday, almost exactly 12 years ago to the day, the first concert i ever went to was No Doubt, at the statenhal in the Hague. It made an unforgettable impression. I was obsessed with Gwen Stefani from that moment on. Her style; combining ultra feminine looks(blonde hair, red lipstick, black eyeliner) with tomboyish clothes(bondage pants, wife beaters), daring outfit choices(combining leopard prints, tartans, polka dots, sportswear, bright colors) it wasn’t like anything else i had ever seen before. She taught me not to be afraid of fashion and standing out, to wear what you think looks good no matter what people think, to be inspired by past and present and mix it up and most of all to dress for yourself not others. No Doubt were fun, different and they’re music never failed and never fails to make me happy. As they looked down on me from my teenage bedroom wall, from this poster that hung there for at least 10 years, i hoped they’d stay around forever..

It’s been 8 years since the release of their last album “rock steady”. Gwen Stefani has put out 2 solo albums during that period, but eventhough it kept our ears occupied with guilty pleasure music.. no doubt’s what we, the fans, want most! Unfortunately the tour will be continental US only, but we’re hoping they’ll get crazy inspired and put out and album fast, that they’ll promote in Europe and the rest of the world soon enough after.

Still to this day we’re all inspired by Gwen’s style. To me personally, the tragic kingdom era is special and this post serves as a tribute to the time i first got to hear this amazing band..

Also an excitement announcement was made today on the official site;

After you purchase your tickets through the fanclub, No Doubt will send you a digital download of their STUDIO VERSION of “Stand And Deliver”(originally by Adam And The Ants)!!

Mark your calendars to see No Doubt perform “Stand And Deliver” for the first time ever on Gossip Girl, May 11, 8/7c on The CW.

the AMAZING original..

I cannot wait to hear no doubt rocking this track, what a perfect fit!

sources: nodoubtweb.com, nodoubt.com, greenerpastures.us

Mirror / Dash by Kim Gordon for Urban Outfitters

And here’s the next celebrity fashion line: Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth has made a clothing collection for the US store Urban Outfitters. Don’t get me wrong, I lovelovelove Kim Gordon, I think she’s really cool but the trouble is, I want to own all the stuff! I already have a room overloaded with clothes and shoes, and one day I have to live on the streets in a cardboard box because my house got overruled by my clothes. 😉

Anyway, back to Kim. In 1994 she started the label X Girl, a clothing line specialised in skater fashion for girls. But this time she decided “there’s a need for clothes for cool moms” . The Mirror / Dash line is a cooperation between Kim and Jeffrey Monteiro and Melinda Wansbrough. “We’re actually trying to do something a little less trend oriented, a little more classic, that might appeal to someone say who used to shop at Urban [Outfitters] but wants something slightly less young looking. And we would like to appeal also to the usual Urban customer as well.”  There’s a lovely video on the Urban Outfitters website, where Kim mentions that french singer Francoise Hardy was a source of inspiration for the collection.

The clothes are reasonable priced  ($54 for a tee, $68 for the skirt/shorts and $98 for the jacket) and are for sale in the Urban Outfitters US stores and their US website. 

www.urbanoutfitters.com

www.sonicyouth.com

http://www.myspace.com/sonicyouth

Stephen Sprouse dressing a certain neighbour

Sadly five years ago the American fashion designer and multi-artist Stephen Sprouse died. He introduced bright fluorescent clothing, sixties-inspired outfits and introduced the graffiti print . Fans of his work are Iggy Pop, Duran Duran, Marc Jacobs and many more, but I like him the most for the clothes he made for the hottest female on earth, the überbrilliant miss Debbie Harry.

Stephen and Debbie, 1987

Sprouse started at the age of 18 working for Halston. Halston was then America’s most fashionable fashion designer. By day, Sprouse dressed celebrities like Barbra Streisand; by night, he haunted downtown clubs like CBGB. In 1975 he moved into a flop apartment in the Bowery, where he shared a bathroom with struggling singer Debbie Harry. Debbie and Chris Stein had recently formed Blondie. Sprouse styled her. He sewed her clothes with classic 1960s silhouettes — swingy shifts and bias-cut draped dresses. He slashed T-shirts, created mini jumpers and  neon headbands.

Debbie in a yellow Sprouse playsuit (worn with yellow tights)

The asymmetrical one-strap dress she worked in the video for “Heart of Glass” was a Sprouse original, designed from a photo he took of static lines on his TV.  Kate Moss copied the dress for her fall 2007 Topshop collection.

 The original Heart of Glass dress, at a Sprouse exhibition

With a loan from his family, Sprouse started his own clothing company. He staged his first show in 1984. He put his models in 1960s styles, women in mini-skirts, men in mod suits, but what wowed the fashion world were his fabrics. Sprouse scrawled graffiti in his distinctive hand, then had it copied into prints. Only Vivienne Westwood had done this before. Sprouse had dyed his fabrics in DayGlo colours. No designer had ever done that.

Sprouse graffiti print used on a Louis Vuitton bag

The same print was used on Debbie’s 1986 solo album Rockbird. Stephen designed the cover.

Long time fan Marc Jacobs organised a Stephen Sprouse tribute, hosted by Louis Vuitton at the Bowery Ballroom in New York on January 8, 2009. Debbie performed in a purple striped Sprouse outfit from 1982.

Debbie in 1982.

 

 And wearing the same catsuit in 2009 (!!!)

 Looking cool in a neon green Sprouse dress with rose tattoo print with matching Vuitton bag, 2009.

 

 No, this isn’t Debbie, but Marc Jacobs with Sprouse all over him. (I know this is a Debbie and Stephen post but I use every opportunity to post pictures of hot naked guys ;-)). 

 

A book on the career of Stephen Sprouse, “The Stephen Sprouse Book”, by Roger Padilha and Mauricio Padilha, was released by Rizzolli on January 13, 2009.

For more info check http://www.welovesprouse.com

Let’s pretend it’s 1969 forever: Ossie Clark f/w’09

London’s starting to swing again; the revived Ossie Clark line rocked the London fashion week runway monday night with the new Fall/Winter’09 collection. Eventhough it was nothing ground breaking it still felt very worthy of bearing the Ossie name and legacy. Avsh Alom Gur did what the line needed to get it’s kick-back-into-gear-start, by bringing the classic 70s designs back and making them wearable and relevant today. We’ll see where he takes it from here(Spring/Summer’09 was nothing to speak of), but it’s nice to see these classic shapes come back and eventhough they’re not original as being Ossie, they are what fashion seems to be missing nowadays. I love London fashion week, it has so much potential seeing what British fashion has brought us in the past. I like to pretend that people like Henry Holland don’t exist, Pixie Geldorf did not just walk the runway at  Luella and PPQ and that i don’t need a time machine to feel what it felt like to to be Pattie Boyd or Marianne Faithfull in those amazing days.

the strongest elements on the Ossie runway were;

(Floral) patterns

Oranges

Nudes

Blues

nymag, elle