


V Magazine's first ever swimsuit issue- Kate is definitely my fave!
I have always been in awe of Karen O's out of this world costumes and today I stumbled upon the designer of all these incredible pieces- Christian Joy. Joy has designed most of the Yeah Yeah Yeah singer's costumes for her performances and also magazine features. Her pieces are bold, creative, and showcase Joy's fantastic imagination! However she also has a ready-to-wear line for those who are not quite as daring as Karen O. This line is much simpler, but has great construction details, interesting silhouettes and maintains Joy's great sense of originality. If you want to see more of her costumes or collections go to her official site HERE.
In February this year Joy had her first solo exhibition at the Audio Visual Arts gallery in New York's East Village. For this show, entitled The Visitors Must Be Amused, Joy decided to be resourceful in her surroundings, which basically consisted of a huge pile of left over scraps from her past projects. She used these materials to create innovative and striking representations of female beings based on descriptions given to her by friends and family, who in return interpreted her piece and incorporated it into a photo or creation of their own. The pieces are so vastly different and so inspired that no description could do them justice, so below are my 3 favorites shown along with the description that they gave to Joy (click to enlarge).
Alien Space Suit, description by Marci Leiseth & Eduardo Jaurez
Ghost With Boo Sign, interpretation & description by Nick Zinner
There are many more stunning pieces- have a look at the rest of the exhibition HERE.












Dazed & Confused(Accessory Styling):
Dazed & Confused(Prop Styling):
Patrick Wolf:
Her work is amazing and sought after by so many, thus it made sense for her to create her own accessory line which she finally did in 2008. Fred now has 2 collections under her belt. Her Fall 2008 collection is called Dodecahedron Collision- a title that aptly describes its pieces, as you can see below. It is full of bright colors and angular shapes and ranges from head pieces to belts to necklaces.
Fred's latest spring 2009 collection entitled Dahlia Fantasia(shown below) continues to embrace that same sense of whimsy and enchantment, but is darker and more romantic- sort of mystical. It has an origami theme that is especially apparent and in the layered accordion necklace. There are still many colors that are not as bright but have a beautiful glimmer to them. I just love her pieces and though I probably won't be able to get my hands on any of them, she inspires me to be more adventurous with accessories and just have fun playing around with them! They remind me of something Vince Noir might wear in The Mighty Boosh! He would definitely fit into Fred's target market which she described in an interview with Dazed Digital: "Someone that has a magpie sense of style drawn to special shiny things and someone that has no self doubt in their appearance coupled with total conviction in wearing things as an experience to enhance their happiness."
I really love model Irina Lazareanu's style, and it's not just because she dated one of my rock star crushes-Pete Doherty(he's not even that attractive, it's the bad boy thing again!). I just love how she wears men's wear so PERFECTLY- she makes it look so damn good! The vest is probably my favorite piece of clothing, I have a whole drawer dedicated to just vests, and Irina incorporates them so well, whether it's with a 3-piece suit, a dress, or jeans. She also knows how to glam it up- see proof below. Irina can easily slip out of a pair of slouchy trousers into a gorgeous white 3.1 Phillip Lim flowing gown. And it seems she is a fan of Lim as she also wore a incredible tuxedo jacket/dress by the designer, which is probably one of my favorite looks from her. It is one of my goals in life to make men's wear look as good as she does!

I think it is really important that great fashion is readily available and affordable for everyone, especially in this economic climate, and I love that more and more brands and stores are now offering more reasonably priced items. Everyone should be able to express themselves through fashion at any price, and it's definitely smart to buy trendy items at a lower price because in a flash they will be out of style! I think Target does a great job with this, they team up with great designers like Johnathan Saunders and Alexander McQueen (shown above respectively). I also recently discovered this fantastic collection they have called Go International. The concept behind it is to offer the must-have trends of the moment at great prices ranging from $17 to $45. They call it 'fast fashion' since every piece is sold for only a limited time and new designs come in quickly, so you can always go back and find something fresh! Below I picked out my favorite designs. I love the 'bandleader' vest- it's a good way to get that Balmain look and the grey bustier top is spot on with the inner wear as outer wear trend and has an Alexander Wang feel to it. The collection also has a great selection of dresses varying from cute and young styles to a more sleek and sophisticated look. I especially adore the grey and black blocked strapless dress and the watermelon colored tiered dress. Check out the rest of their collection HERE.





I think Josh and Ash have a great look and style, they both seem young and fresh yet still have an edge about them, and of course they aren't too bad to look at either! I'm off to check out their music so I'll leave you with their head shots and Vogue Hommes covers shot by Hedi Slimane: