fantasies and desires…

i see you!

i went to the avedon exhibit today. it was aaaaaaaamazing! of course that is what i’d expect from a show of a masters’ work. it’s a fantasy of mine to be shot by richard avedon. i would entertain the idea that somehow we’d meet and he’d ask me to model for him and we’d have this amazingly wonderful time running around paris or new york or some other city making breath-taking images. well, whatever miniscule chance i had at that happening ended in 2004 when he died. its okay i guess…that’s what fantasies are for right?

anywho, his work is beyond fabulous and it was awe-inspiring to get a chance to see it in person. i especially love the shots of dovima!

dovima and elephants

dovima

avedon’s images always were full of character and movement…almost like very sophisticated snap shots of life. even though the images look effortless and candid, usually they were big productions to create them! many of his sets were as complex as movie sets! he had this knack of hitting the zeitgeist of each decade over the 60 or so years he worked.

he also stood up to publishers that didn’t want to put nonwhite models in editorials and on the covers of high fashion magazines. he would threaten to quit and the publishers would let him have his way. one of my fave images of his (besides the shots with dovima!) is this one:

donyale in paco rabanne

i learned today that this model, donyale, was a fellow detroiter!! how cool! check out this blog to learn more about her!

china machado

this is another model he fought to shoot for his magazine work. china machado is the western world’s first nonwhite cover girl! she’s portuguese and chinese. if you want to learn more about her, and you should since she’s a really interesting woman who’s led a fascinating life, check out the NYTimes article.

if you get a chance to see an exhibit of avedon’s work, do yourself a favor and go see it! it really is a great experience to be so close to a masters’ hand.

Merry Christmas!!!

Happy Holidays!

so were you good boys and girls or did you get a lump of coal?

i wouldn’t mind a certain kind of lump of coal….a diamond!!!

happy thanksgiving peoples!

happy turkey day...not so happy for the turkey...

(i’m a vegetarian so i won’t be eating turkey…unless its tofurkey! lol!)
enjoy the feasting!

so i guess its true afterall…

daul really did commit suicide. she was found hanged in her apartment by her boyfriend. its been confirmed. its sounds horrible but i’d hoped either it was accidental or foul play…i just was in denial that she would kill herself b/c its too tragic. condolences to her family.

rest in peace beautiful soul

miss you.

say bye to…Daul Kim

model daul kim is dead. i can’t believe it. i’m an avid follower of her blog…you can find it in my blog roll list, ‘i like to fork myself‘. lately her posts were indicating that she was feeling lonely, confused, and questioning of her life… really depressing stuff. i really hope she didn’t commit suicide although its seems like that may be the case according to a source for New York magazine. my heart goes out to her family and friends, the people that really knew her…i only knew her through her amazing modeling work and her surprisingly open and very thoughtful blog posts but i will miss her very much.

her last post seems so eerie now. she posted a house song called “i go deep” by jim rivers. she was a big minimal house fan. she began almost every post with “say hi to”…this last post is titled, “say hi to forever”. now, much like everyone else, i’m wondering if this was some kind of cry for help or a suicide note or if this last post had any other meaning behind it. there were many earlier posts from throughout the past year when i would think to myself, ‘whoa…she sounds so sad and lonely’ or ‘man, she’s so depressed even though her career is really taking off’…but what can a stranger reading a blog do? every time she posted something about how lonely she was or if she was feeling off…there would be lots of encouraging and consoling comments to try to cheer her up.

oh man…now it sounds like i really think she offed herself. i really don’t want to believe that until its confirmed. i don’t want to believe she’s really gone but unfortunately i’m not in that much denial. maybe it was all a horrible accident?

well, i’d rather think about happier things…here’s a selection of some of my fave daul pics:

beautiful daul RIP

OH SNAP! don’t mess with the snap diva!!

this is amazing. triple heart this. its like that show of shows “in living color” sketch  men on film (2 snaps and a circle!) but so much more!

fabulous sites: stylecaster and fashionair

soooo…..are you on stylecaster? its a great fashion (& more!) community site. i recently joined and am loving it! its like a giant fashion hub that also incorporates life, beauty, and great editorial articles.

then there’s fashionair. this is another fashion hub site but very different from stylecaster. its more suited to shopping but i love using it to help pin down pieces that really fit my personal style.

that’s what’s great about both sites…they both clue in to your personal style based on what you click on and use that to automatically tailor your experience to your tastes. pretty cool yeah?

there’s a FAMINE of beauty!

soooo, i’ve seen the september issue….TWICE!

how much do you love this film? its so entertaining and its fascinating to see how the magazine gets put together and all the fabulous personalities involved! i still have my copy of the vogue sept 07 issue (i don’t throw my mags away!); now its great to flip through it and know all the back-story and what was left out! i already loved anna and grace but now i heart them even more!

wtf??? fashion house gone nuts?

did you hear the news? lindsay lohan is now the artistic advisor for emanuel ungaro!! wtf?!!? why would a french luxury house want lohan anywhere near their brand?!

the article describes her “experience” in the fashion biz… her leggings line and her desire to launch a full clothing line in a couple years. omg! this is so wrong! what are people thinking?
i know her position is a consulting job but still, why would you want her advice on anything when her life’s so messed up? they couldn’t find any other actual designers or fashion consultants with real experience?

“Lindsay Lohan has landed a top job in the fashion industry – she been named as a style consultant for French design house Emanuel Ungaro.

Her appointment as artistic adviser comes shortly after bosses replaced the brand’s top designer, Esteban Cortazar, who was reportedly furious about having the Mean Girls star attached to the luxurious brand.”

i can’t afford to buy ungaro, but i do look at it as an aspirational brand…with lohan having any attachment at all lessens my respect for the brand. its not so aspirational anymore.

oh well, i like chanel and lanvin more anyways.

atelier zobel

18kt gold and platinum set with champagne diamonds, rutilated quartz brooch

brooch?

so, whose a fan of michael zobel? i love his work! every piece is soooo beautiful! i’m not a huge brooch person, but his brooches are amazing! they’re more like mini-paintings than jewelry. his bracelets and rings are mini-sculptures for the wrist and finger! zobel is a german designer but his work isn’t what i typically think of as german design. when i think ‘german design’ i envision clean lines, steel, very mininalist, etc…like the designs of xen. i guess that shows what i know! zobel’s work is very clean but there’s a bit of whimsy that i wouldn’t have expected and the use of color is masterful.

18kt gold and platinum set with champagne diamonds lapis lazuli brooch

925 silver, 22 + 24 kt gold, chalcedony, black diamonds and raw diamonds bracelet

so any fans of atelier zobel out there? whats your favorite piece?