Review: Katya Leonovich Fall 2012

Photos by moi.

The music was loud and the house was packed to capacity at the Katya Leonovich presentation at Lincoln Center during NYFW. I could barely move around without ruining someones shot or stepping on someones foot! I really appreciated Katya's sense of structure and architecture. She's like a sculptor of fabric! Olive tones and metallic materials were prominent in the fall 2012 collection, and strips of fabric and snake skin were interesting details. I liked the purple-blue print that was inspired by some of Katya's paintings.(I wish I had snapped pics of the paintings!) Although beautifully crafted,  I think that Katya's clothes are more artwork then wearable garments. The collection took the beholder to what felt like Mars with the green jackets and metallic pants, to the space age with the sharp black and white looks, and then to the Flatiron district with the printed looks. I found myself craving more more cohesiveness in the collection. But I digress- I think Katya has a strong point of view on dressing woman. It might be a bit outlandish, but it is a point of view nonetheless. Her dress construction and attention to detail is freaking amazing and really inspiring. See the full collection at NYmag.

What do you think of the collection?

Crying In The Middle Of An Apple Store

This is a little story about how I can get extremely emotional about the simplest things. But it's a good story, so I think I'll share it with you. A while back I was contacted by an amazing company called OnSwipe, and they asked me how I would feel about making my blog iPad-friendly. I said yes, of course. Why would I not want my blog to look better on an iPad? And that was that.

I didn't actually get to see this new, beautiful, app-like format in action until fashion week. I was early for a show, so I decided to mosey on over to the nearest Apple store and check some emails. When I was finished, I checked to see how the new OnSwipe format on my site looked.

Holy cow.

It was beauuuutiful. The images had crazy high resolution, it was easy to navigate, and my website looked amazing! I knew it would look good, but this totally exceeded my expectations! I was standing there with this iPad just freaking out. I don't know what came over me, but I was just so happy! I literally wanted to go around screaming  "Hey you! look at this!!! I made this... thing!!!" I guess this blog is kind of like my child, and seeing it in all its iPad glory made me feel like it had graduated college and moved on to bigger and better things. I honestly got a little bit emotional. 

(obligatory shots of myself geeking out w/iPad)

(my coat is by our sponsor Ainsley NY, and it's from the fall 2011 collection. It's the best coat in the world! You can purchase it here)

I didn't want to miss my show, so I eventually had to tear myself away from all the digital wonderfulness. I was really tempted to run all over the store and pull up The Girl In The Check Scarf on each iPad, but I resisted the urge. Thank you, OnSwipe. You totally exceeded my expectations and made me start crying in the middle of an Apple store. 
With all that being said, The Girl In The Check Scarf is now on the iPad! Rejoice!
If you are using an iPad, you should be redirected to the new blog format as soon as you go to www.thegirlinthecheckscarf.com. Thanks OnSwipe! You rock.

Amazing Jewelry Elizabeth Patterson and Meghann Sommers (That I Get To Wear!)

 What could be inside the fascinating brown box? Why, I'll show you...

THIS. In all it's amazing glory.

As I mentioned in my last post, the fantastical people at Craft and Culture were kind enough to lend me some of their incredible items to wear during NYFW. I really love the idea behind Craft and Culture because it focuses on showcasing and highlighting new designers of all kinds. The talent that they have on their website is stunning and I highly recommend that you check them out. This necklace is from &c. by Meghann Sommers, and I fell in love with it the very moment I saw it. The quartz cluster is HUGE and it totally claims the title of being the heaviest necklace I have every had the pleasure of wearing. I really need to be careful when I'm wearing it. That thing could be used as a weapon. The crystal is enormous, cloud-like, beautiful, and a fantastic centerpiece for an outfit. I love how natural it looks-- like it was plucked straight from some mind-blowingly incredible mine and placed on a chain to be worn as art. You can read more about it here. Something I didn't realize until after it was sent to me is that this necklace is one of a kind. So, basically I have the only one. I don't mean 'well, duh, every crystal is different." I mean, I have the only one of this style.  That makes me feel rather special.

The second necklace is this stunning little gem from Elizabeth Patterson. I loooove this one, you guys. It's light, it's a great accent to so many outfits, and the color and tone are gorgeous. You can read more about it here. Something about this piece is really personal to me, due to the fact that it was hand crafted, and Elizabeth's initials are stamped into it. That little detail really means a lot to me, because I think today we have lost that connection between artist and buyer. The quartz is a little jagged, giving it that 'perfectly-imperfect' feel. It's a really beautiful stone, and you can see right through it. This is also a 'one-of-a-kind-I-have-the-only-one-in-the-world-gee-I-feel-super-cool' piece.

 Can you see the initials?

Huge thanks to Craft and Culture, &c., and Elizabeth Patterson for being kind enough to let me borrow these wearable works of art. I'm so excited wear them this week! I'm planning to work the &c. necklace into my outfit today, and I can't wait to show you the result. 
PS. Craft and Culture, &c. and Elizabeth Patterson all have pretty rad blogs (see here for CC, here for &c., and here for EP)

...And all this time I have been trying to figure out how to say 'Moschino'...

It's extremely important to understand how to correctly say designer brand names (oh goodness, I'm so bad at this!). I found this list on dulcecandy.com, and I think it's pretty helpful. As a random side note, I am SUPERSUPERSUPER exited for London anad New York fashion week. If you don't know already, every London Fashion week show will be broad casted live online at Londonfashionweek.com, and Marc Jacobs will be doing the same thing on his website Feb. 15th at 8pm. YAY! So I'll need to pop some popcorn, grab my camera and a notebook and drool over Burberry Prorsom! Sounds like a fun week...
Enjoy...

Abaeté: Ah-bye-ah-tay

Agnes B: Ah-ni-ess Beh

Alejandro Ingelmo: Allay-handro In-gel-mo

Alexandre Herchcovitch: Ah-le-zan-dreh Hair-ch-co-vich

Andrew Gn: Andrew Jen (rhymes with “ten”)

Andy Thê-Anh: An-dee Tay-Ann

Anya Hindmarch: Ahn-ya Heind-march

Arthur Mendonça: Ar-thur Men-doe-sa

Badgley Mischka: Badge-lee Meesh-ka

Balmain: Bal-mah

Bottega Veneta: Bo-tega Ven-e-ta

Bulgari: Ball-gah-ree

Burberry Prorsum: Bur-bur-ree Pror-some

Carolina Herrera: Caro-leena Hair-era

Cesare Paciotti: Che-sah-ray Pah-cho-tee

Chaiken: Chay-kay

Christian Lacriox: La-Kwa

Christian Louboutin: Loo-boo-tin (“tin” rhymes with the French word “vin”)

Diane von Furstenberg: Fur-sten-berg (pronounced as spelled)

Dolce & Gabbana: Dole-ch-aye Ga-bon-na

Dries Van Noten: Drees Van Know-ten

Ermenegildo Zegna: Er-men-a-geel-do Zen-ya

Etienne Aigner: Eh-tee-yen On-yay

Gareth Pugh: Gareth Pew

Giles Deacon: Jy-els Dee-kin

Givenchy: Jee-von-shee

Giambattista Valli: Gee-ahm-battista Valley

Hedi Slimane: Eddy Sli-mahn

Hermès: Air-mez

Hervé Léger: Air-vay Lay-jay

James Perse: James Perse (as in a lady’s purse, not ‘pierce your ear’)

Joeffer Caoc: Joe-fur Kay-ock

Junya Watanabe: Joon-ya Wah-tah-nah-bay

Lambertson Truex: Lam-bert-son Tru-ex

Lanvin: Lon-vin (“vin” also rhymes with the French word for “wine”)

L’Wren Scott: Le-ren Skot

Loewe: Low-ev-ay

Louis Vuitton: Loo-ee Voo-ee-ton

Madame Gres: Madame Gray

Marchesa: Mar-kay-sa

Mainbocher: Maynbo-shay

Moschino: Mo-ski-no

Monique Lhullier: Mo-neek Loo-lee-ay

Narciso Rodriguez: Nar-siss-so Ro-dree-gez

Nicolas Ghesquière: Ni-co-la Guess-ki-air

Olivier Theyskens: Oli-vier Tay-skins

Pierre Cardin: Pee-air Car-dain

Proenza Schouler: Pro-enza Skool-er

Ralph Lauren: Ralph Lauren (as in Lauren the girl’s name, not Sophia Loren)

Rei Kawakubo: Ray Kah-wah-koo-bo

Rodarte: Ro-dar-tay

6267: Six-two-six-seven (not Sixty-two-sixty-seven)

Sonia Rykiel: Sonia Ree-kee-eel

Sophia Kokosalaki: So-fee-a Ko-ko-sah-lah-kee

Thakoon: Ta-koon

Thierry Mugler: Tee-air-ree Moog-lay

Tibi: Tbi (not Tee-bee)

Tocca: Toe-ka

Versace: Ver-sah-chee

Vionnet: Vee-oh-nay

Yohji Yamamoto: Yo-jee Ya-ma-mo-to

Yves Saint Laurent: Eve San Lor-ron

Zac Posen: Poe-zen

   
I don't like having picture-less posts... Eli Saab spring 2010