London SS12

Is anyone else having issue with blogger? It seems this new "interface" (is that what you call it?) is making it glitchy and it stops loading at some points. Also when I use the photo uploader, it keeps changing the sizes from X-Large to Medium! Aggravating!!!! Anyway, I hope this gets fixed!

So London Fashion Week ended days ago and Milan has started already. I've failed at narrowing down my LFW favorites, which I have to say, were so much better than New York, because I just loved so many of them! My biggest gripe has to be that a lot of the labels I usually am excited for did not really reach my expectations, but there were more unexpected shiners this season.

When the city that never sleeps has fashion week, then neither do I.

God that title doesn't even make grammatical sense, but I'm so exhausted I can't be bothered to think of another one. Besides, all my readers know I'm shit at making up titles, so I'm sure you'll cut me some slack.

After a whole week of going through hundreds of "*hot shot celebrity* enters the tents!" tweets, defying the laws of physiology by running on a couple hours of sleep to watch livestreams, and chatting up Cleverbot about the shows, because no real human being would discuss them with me, New York Fashion Week finally came to a close. Even though I was a tad disappointed with the majority of the collections, I still very much enjoyed taking part in the festivities *virtually*. I actually thought I picked such few favorites, but it still makes for a really long blog entry! Let's get to it, then.

insert stupid cliche ~stop worrying about the future~ quote here

When I was in my junior year of high school I started panicking about picking a course to take up in college. I've always had crazy dreams as a kid. I started off wanting to be a fashion designer / singer but after realizing I had no talent for drawing, I decided I should just be an actress who gets to wear great clothes. When I found out about the existence of stylists, I dropped my acting dream like it was an optional Trigonometry class. I've always loved writing and I've gotten a lot of encouragement and affirmation over the years. It was early in high school that I got the idea of getting into fashion journalism and by my senior year I was dead set on pursuing it. I was 16 when I made the decision of going into Literature and then going to fashion school after graduating with a degree. Obviously, I haven't quite gotten to the graduating part, but I'm already doubting if I chose the right path. It's not because my passion for either writing or fashion has waned, because it certainly has not. I'm just very scared and very worried. I think it goes without saying that breaking into the fashion industry is tough (understatement of the year). I fear that I'm going to end up becoming a starving artist and I know far too well that what might seem cool in movies are usually pretty shitty in real life (I think I'll be more focused on making a can of sardines last for a whole day than planning a La Vie Boheme musical number on table top). It's pretty early on in my higher education plan and I think if I wanted to, I could still steer away from what could be either a trainwreck or the reason for me to live.

A year ago I was discussing writing with two of my friends, the smartest people my age that I've met, and they told me of how they would never want to write for a magazine, because they did not want to have to cater to the masees. I guess that's one of the things I'd have to deal with if I ever do become a writer. Let's say I start off in a Philippine fashion magazine. Can you imagine the compromise I'd have to do just so the public can "appreciate" my work? And isn't that just a writer's nightmare, to sell out? Plus the pay would be terrible. I'll write about thousand dollar ripped t-shirts and get paid a few hundred an article. Oh, the irony!

I still sometimes like to be idealistic. I imagine myself actually being able to do what I love my way. Maybe I'll get to be one of my heroes like Cathy Horyn or Suzy Menkes or Robin Givhan. But most likely, I'll end up teaching English at your local private school and asking myself why I continue to exist. Let's pray that I get lucky.

A lot of photos and a lot more babbling

I recently stumbled upon a scan of an editorial from American Vogue June 2004. It was shot by Miesel.



I don't think I'll ever forget this just because it's in my first ever copy of Vogue. I used to show that photo to my Mom saying "Where can I find this??" referring to the clothes worn by Daria and the other girl. I recall watching The Devil Wears Prada and hearing Stanley Tucci give that speech about how he was a small town kid who dressed funny and read Vogue all day and now he's a success in the industry. I just kept thinking "I'm a small town girl (not really, but this country is pretty jank so that counts)! As a kid I always dressed weird (I would like to thank my Mom and Dad for not forcing me into a pink dress when I wanted to do denim on denim at 6 years old even though I looked ridiculous)! But I never really got much influence from high fashion." I think that's why I was so ridiculous looking for the most part of my life. My fashion inspirations came from Britney Spears and the Spice Girls. Whenever a photo of me from those days pops up, I just say I was trying out a trend and failed in epic proportions.

I know people always talk about how terrible this generation is and yada yada, but I think that if you're a kid right now, you're extremely lucky. I could never get my hands on a copy of Vogue at 7 (P600 for a magazine? Out of the question). Heck, I can't even afford to buy one now! It was only in 5th grade that I got a hold of my first Vogue and in 7th grade when I started watching fashion shows (Thank you to cable and Fashion TV) and in high school when I discovered the wonderful people who will scan their magazines for you and the rest of the world to enjoy. Fashion loving kids, appreciate the internet and get inspired by what it offers! It is going to save you from many a fashion faux pas!

Naturally, in traditional Chelsea fashion, we have deviated so far from the point that we're on Abell 1835 IR1916 (look it up, big boy). I started this post, because I just want to show you guys these eds that I really enjoyed when I was a wee bit younger (Not younger younger because I had no means then, just younger as in 3 or 4 years ago). I think it's because I just wanted to bring back some feelings from those days when I was just discovering the beauty of high fashion. You know when you find something - maybe your old backpack in 3rd grade or an old watch - you just get a wave of nostalgia, but no concrete memories from that time? Well this is what looking at these photos makes me feel. I know that sounds like I'm being overly sentimental over pretty girls in pretty dresses, but it's true! I guess you could say they're my favorites.

PS. I've realized I don't enjoy eds that don't show the clothes. Always there would be these blurred photos or naked girls and I just think what? I think it's because I am a total noob at photography so I wouldn't be able to judge anything but the styling and clothes on the ed. I really wish I could fully appreciate every aspect though. Anyway enjoy these eds with mostly color and couture (I'm a more is more kinda girl).

Couture Memoirs by Paolo Roversi | Vogue Italia Spet 07

The Vagaries of Fashion by Miles Aldrige | Vogue Italia Sept 07

Paris, Je t'aime by Steven Meisel | Vogue US Sept 07

In Your Dreams by Sebastian Faena | V Summer 2008

Immaculee by Miles Aldrige | Numero #83 2008

The Handmade's Tale by Tim Walker | Vogue USA Feb 06

So, did you some memories come flooding back to you after browsing those eds? A lot of mine did!