theasceticlibertine

L'ombre

I know ombre is soooo last season but I am mildly obsessed with it.  Prada did it for Fall 07 which means that now it is trickling down to (aka being ripped off by) department store merchants and more affordable shoe designers.  I was kind of over it before it was even in, but for some reason (learning to see more of the shadows in things?) I am really drawn to it now.  I am particularly enamored of patent degrade or ombre accessories.  Charles David is totally doing a rip of the Prada handbags:

Ombre

I tend to prefer footwear, as you all know, and will be on the lookout for something that isn't cheap looking or lame.  Whenever trends trickle down, they tend to get a little déclassé. 

And while we're on the subject of French, and obsession, maybe it's just the movies I've been seeing lately but it struck me the other day as I was listening to the Deftones' version of No Ordinary Love just how subversively psychotic that song is, and I love it.  The original is great and all, but Sade is my go-to for mellow, and I really like that the Deftones make the song into this painful ballad sung by someone who might well be a total stalker. 

I made the mistake of re-watching Wicker Park, the American remake of L'Appartement, and wow was it underwhelming.  There is just no comparison once you've seen the original.  But another song that popped out at me (besides Aqualung's Strange and Beautiful, which is both of those things) was Coldplay's The Scientist.  I guess I'd never really listened to it before.  It was on the radio so much that I tuned it out, but seeing it in those final (and inevitable, thanks Hollywood! <rolls eyes>) minutes of the film made it hit home.  It also has to do with the place I'm at emotionally, of course, in that these are the things appealing to me right now, but while I normally think that Chris Martin is a very limited lyricist there's something about the words to The Scientist that just really hit home at the moment.  To quote Ani Difranco, "Every pop song on the radio/ is suddenly speaking to me..."  She's talking about love, and I'm talking about loss, but sometimes it's the same thing.

Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are

I had to find you
Tell you I need you
Tell you I've set you apart

Tell me your secrets
And ask me your questions
Oh, let's go back to the start

Running in circles
Coming up tails
Heads on a science apart

Nobody said it was easy
It's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard

Oh take me back to the start

I was just guessing
At numbers and figures
Pulling your puzzles apart

Questions of science
Science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart

Tell me you love me
Come back and haunt me
Oh and I rush to the start

Running in circles
Chasing our tails
Coming back as we are

Nobody said it was easy
Oh, it's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be so hard

I’m going back to the start...

Shifts in Perspective

Another not entirely fashiony post:  film recommendations, of all things.  I highly suggest that if you have not seen the French films "L'Appartement" and "À la folie... pas du tout" that you go rent them immediately.  Both deal with perspectives and obsession and were great fun to watch, if you like that kind of thing.  What I need to do is go back and watch Kurosawa's "Rashomon" (which was done at my university as a play but I didn't see it then, either). 

Perspective is something that is of infinite interest to me.  It always intrigues me when I hear two different versions of the same story.

Hmmm... mentioning Rashomon now makes me want to buy a kimono.  Yes, I do have a one-track mind and that track is shopping.  But remember when kimono robes (not the traditional kind, which are super cool but not what I'm talking about) were all the rage?  When I worked in a theatre costume shop there were a couple of beautiful vintage silk kimono lounging robes.  A total rip-off of the real thing, but still very beautiful with intricate embroidery and hand-dyed colors.  I always wanted to steal this faded red and white one with a dragon on the back, but wasn't unscrupulous enough to do it. 

I'm of the thought that lounging around in something like this would feel incredibly glamorous:

 

Calling Card

I have rarely seen a more beautiful thing:

Card cases are rarely so chic, or gorgeous.  I'm a sucker for tortoiseshell, real or faux, and even though I'm generally not a huge fan of gold, this case is just stunning.

In a contest, though, this one wins, hands down:

 

 

I Want This Dress

British mid-market label Reiss (touted as the DKNY of England) has a few lovely silk spring dresses that I find cute, but I like none of them more than this one:

Reiss

In fact, when I was thinking of a spring silk dress, this dress (named Jillian, as if it were a person) is exactly what came to mind.  It looks kind of poochy and loose on the model (the perils of being twig-like), but if it were on someone with a more hourglass type figure to fill it out, or if it were tailored so that it's less of a sack and the waist actually came in a bit, it'd be perfect.  It's not super colorful, but somehow it's still very spring to me.  There are other variations, such as this one, called Fabiola:

Redreiss

But it's cotton, not silk, and just doesn't grab me as much as Jillian.  But maybe a lot of people say that.  :)

Belanova - Me Pregunto

I visited Spain a couple of years ago (hard to believe it's been that long; I miss you, Madrid and Barcelona!) and saw this rather comical video show one lazy Sunday morning.  They played the video for the song "Me Pregunto" by Mexican band Belanova.  It's such an upbeat, poppy song but if you take a close look at the lyrics, it's heartbreakville in there, both things which are apropos right now.  In fashion news, the lead singer of Belanova, Denisse Guerrero, is a style maven.  She dresses in an incredibly wacky and fun kind of way, and I appreciate her for that, because if a pop star can't dress like a crazy person, who can?  I haven't yet bought the new album, Fantasia Pop, but I will probably do that soon.  In the meantime, the words for "Me Pregunto", which even if you don't speak Spanish, is a great song to bop along to: 

 

Camino por la ciudad

Mirando al cielo

La lluvia me hace pensar

Que tu estas lejos

 

La gente viene y va

Yo me congelo

Solo para aterrizar

En tu recuerdo

 

Me pregunto por que

No te puedo encontrar

Todo habla de ti

Pero tu no estas

 

Me pregunto por que

Te pudiste marchar

Creo que te puedo ver

Pero tu no estas

 

Camino por la cuidad

Busco tu boca

Nadie sabe donde estas

Creo que estoy sola

 

La gente viene y va

Yo solo espero

Justo en el mismo lugar

A tu recuerdo

 

 

We Take a Break Now

To navel-gaze.  I know this should be about fun and art and fashion, but the spring and fall lines are the least of my concerns at the moment.

Every morning, Gordon Downie wakes me up.  Against a background of glittering small noises, he says this:

The concert was today. I heard the wild crowd moan.
It's not that life's distasteful to me. It's just that I am all alone.
If I should hear a bird, or when I'm making toast.
It's in the smallest moments. When I expect the least, I think of you the most.

It's not that it's a mystery, this newly-found malaise.
The trouble is, the mystery has taken your place.

I turn my head away. Now everything is gone.
It's taken this catastrophe to see what you mean to me.
If I could have my way, I'd turn and start again.
We'd sing and dance and laugh and be exactly the same as we were then.

The problem is, of course, that Gordon Downie, even though he is beautiful, is not the person who should be saying these words to me.  The problem is, the person who should may never do so.  It's not that life's distasteful to me, it's just that I am all alone.