Review: M.Patmos Fall 2012

( I love this picture. Happy models make clothes so much prettier!)

(Quick note: how AMAZING is the red/black skirt on the left? Want. Oh, so badly.)

(the models, featured with Marcia Patmos in the center.)

A lone Violinist played as M.Patmos presented its fall 2012 collection at Milk studios last week. There, a little over a dozen models sported beanie hats, wooden jewelry (a collaboration with Ten Thousand Things), and some of the most beautiful knits this blogger has ever seen! I was almost a little surprised by the fact that there were so few looks- only fifteen in all- but I went away feeling totally satisfied. These clothes are gorgeous, and incredibly wearable! My favorite pieces? The beautiful, architectural (and insanely chic) slim-sleeved coats that were shown in pink, red/black, and print, and a hot pink asymmetrical pencil skirt. I also picked up on some of the trends that have been in abundance for fall, like horizontal stripes, red and pink colors, and fur and leather accents. To sum it up, beautiful colors, easy, warm pieces with a fashion edge, and great styling. I wanted every look!

(photos by myself, final shot via fashionista.com)

What I Would Buy: Sachin + Babi

I really enjoyed this collection from Sachin + Babi! It's very relaxed and I love the clean cut lines. I'm noticing for spring 2012 that we're going to see a ton of pastels, and I'm excited to see how other designers use this trend in their collections. I remember they said that the Panatone color of the year for 2011 would be Honeysuckle, but I really didn't see the color so much in collections. I was glad to see it present here in this collection, as well as other cool tones like pale yellow and bold blue. Without further ado, here's what I would buy from the Sachin + Babi Spring 2012 collection!

Look 4: Those fantastic shoes that are featured throughout the collection! Perfect for spring! Also, that blouse. It looks very wearable and transitional.

Look 7: Those pants! Great color, great shape, and I bet they move really well. I would love to see the material. They also come in yellow! Perfect for the new season.

Look 8: Pants and shirt. That shirt is perfect for office, especially for fshion people, and the pants appear to be really fitted and well made. They're a classic!

Look 10: The pencil skirt. Pencil skirts were a big hit on the fall runways and I know that they'll carry over into the next season seamlessly. The 'new length' that the pencil skirt and midi poses is super hot right now. (Also, it's just a killer skirt with a sick design.)

Look 14: The dress. This would be an awesome statement piece that would be worn time and time again and it would transcend into a fall season easily if you throw a cardigan over it.

Look 16: The dress. Another piece that would tranced seasons. And it continues the color-blocking trend that had been so hot this year.

Look 20: The Jacket. This would be a perfect piece to have in the store around March-April when the weather starts getting a bit warmer. The cut, fabric and color and killer!

Trends: Color blocking, clean cut, white, pastels, shorts, honeysuckle, yellow.
Kind of store: Some place with lots of contemporary lines. These clothes are definitely for the effortless cool girl.

All images via style.com

What is this?
"What I Would Buy:" Is Justine indulging her love of wanting to be both a trend forecaster and/or  a fashion buyer.  In "What I Would Buy:" posts, I'll show you which pieces I would order and why! It's as simple as that. I'll also discuss new trends I see forming, and new styling concepts.

The Bill Cunningham Movie!

It all started when my mom walked into the room and said "There's a movie I thought you might like to see that's playing tonight. I can't remember what it's called. I think It's called Bill Patterson? I don't know. But It's fashion related and I thought you might like it." I had no clue what she was talking about (this is normal. haha). So she went into the other room to look up the name of the film, and then yelled "Oh, Bill Cunningham! It's called Bill Cunningham!" 

   See, I was so exited to see the movie when it came out, but it only had a short run and I was unable to see it. So I was THRILLED to get a chance to finally see the film and see Bill in action.

I wasn't expecting to, but I ended up gaining quite a lot of knowledge and insight from the movie.  As a blogger seeing how precise Bill is about his page in The New York Times is interesting to me. It has to be perfect, or it won't go to print. He's also a lot like me in the way his house is laid out. Very few possessions, but decades worth of magazines. My room is the same way, I love my magazines. Every time I get paid I dash to the newsstands, and lately Emmanuels fantastic French Vogues are leaving me quite penniless.

It was fun to see Bill work and see how he lives his life. He's someone who is well respected and loved, yet totally honest and kind hearted in all his work and in all he publishes. I think that's really rare today. If you have a chance, PLEASE make sure you see this movie. I loved it so much and if would love to see it again if I could. Anna Dello Russo, Anna Wintour, and dozens of other fashion icons are in the movie as well. 

Review: Academy Of Art University Fall 2011 (Adventures in Fashion Week)

I had a fantastic time at the Academy of Art University show on last Friday. 
We were just wrapping up at the final session of the IFB conference (which was amazing as well, more on that to come!). When it ended, I and my dad (who was acting as my endearing escort for the week) dashed off to the Lincon center area. We met just inside an LDS Temple (which are beautiful and you should definitely check one out if you ever get a chance). Because I received two tickets from the school,  I chose to bring my good friend Inaam with me. We met up to have dinner, and after a rapid change of shoes (from our street flats and Doc Martens to some high heels) we were off! When we arrived at Lincon Center we both got pretty excited. I mean, it's an overload of chic people. As we were walking in, Inaam even got pulled aside and photographed by a street style photographer! She was totally working the "I'm more hipster then you" look. 

   We got in and surveyed the festivities going on. Then we grabbed some bottles of water and other useful items like notebooks with PR companies contact info in them, which will prove to be very useful come next season.
 Then we had to wait in lines for something like 20 min. Loads of pushing and shoving to get through. We finally got our seating assignments and sat down! I also saw Tony Wang of the awesome blog Post Fashionism, and I stopped to say a quick hello and I thanked him for coming to the IFB conference the day before. 

 We were about 6 rows back, because seats are determined by how soon you get in line. After a few minutes, I heard Inaam say "IS THAT MISS J?". Surly enough, it was miss J, who was swarmed by paparazzi. Another cool attendee was Patrick from Lauch My Line!

Finally, the cellophane came off the runway, and the lights went down. 

The collection I call my favorite was that of Jonathan David Baker. I can't even begin to tell you how perfect it was! It's not often that I want to purchase a garment right after seeing it on the runway, but I want his entire collection... NOW.  He played with black and white contrast, as well as huge knits, lightly (and beautifully done) pleated skirts, layers, long hemlines, and over-sized outerwear. My favorite piece was a fur coat (in the second picture). It was one of "ahhhh" moments and you could hear the crowd's reaction. I feel like the collection is very focused and the designer really has a point of view. 

Ahhh so perfect!

The next collection I really enjoyed seeing was that of Stephanie Gelot. Ms. Gelot's collection reminded me of pioneers and nomads. Pioneers because of the vibrant patterns and because of the print. Nomads because of the warm look and all the layers. It can be pretty risky to throw a bunch of different fabrics together and create a complete look, but in my opinion she was pretty successful. The collection featured knit scarves, leggings, pants, skirts and outerwear. Many of the pieces were over-sized which became a bit problematic when a model almost lost her shawl. If the pieces were just better fitting I believe it would have all been quite wearable and sell-able.

Other talented designers included Hurst Chang-Wei Li, Aura Taylor, Dejchat Sriyoopum,Minha Yoon, and Holly Smith.

The show only had about 46 looks, so it went by fairly fast but I enjoyed every second of it. Stay tuned for more adventures!

Images via Fashionising.com and Zimbio

I Love Claires.com. Really.

Hi Lovelies! So this week I got an email from the absolutely wonderful people at Claires.com, and they sent me over some gorgeous items to take a look at! I have been shopping at Claire's since I was about 8 and I remember calling my friends and talking about my purchases. This Christmas my sisters made me a loooong list of things they wanted from Claire's stores. I guess it runs in the family?

First off, I was sent this great floral eyeshadow palette! I love it because the colors show very nicely and the eyeshadow is very pigmented. You don't need to apply to much for the color to show. Everything from the dark black to the silver comes off well, and stays on all day. 

Okay, I literally cannot stop wearing this head wrap. I like it better then a regular hat, because it works as both a hat and earmuff. It keeps you so warm, and I love the vibrant color! The size is adjustable with a button in the back, so it can be worn loose or tight. I'm a really big fan of head wraps in general, so I was really thrilled with this product. I would recommend this to everyone and anyone. 

These gloves are very warm as well. They gave you that great 'ooooh-it's-freezing-and-I'm-happy-I-have-gloves-on' feeling. I like the design because it leaves your fingers free, and again, they're a great color. I also like that the sleeves are long and keep your wrists warm, unlike other mittens that stop at the wrist. It can be kind of hard to unbutton the gloves once the mitten is on your hand, and the knit came a little undone where the mitten flap and glove meet. This made me quite sad because I really do like them. Thank goodness I know how to sew. 

Lastly, they sent me this incredible bag! I have been using it for a few days now, and it's the perfect size. The strap is nice and long which leaves you hands-free, and the buckles have a magnetized snap on the back to keep them in place. In all seriousness, this is a perfect bag. Not to mention, it reminds me of Mullberry's Alexa bag. haha. The design is great and it has lots of lovely compartments inside for storage. 

More reviews to come! Have a great day.

Norma Ishak Scarves

Hello Lovelies! I hope you had a great week.  I was recently contacted by Norma Ishak, and they sent me over some beautiful handmade scarves to take a look at! Norma Ishak scarves use the highest quality fibers, so they feel GREAT. Not to mention they are pretty darn cute.  

The packaging was really sweet and not at all what I had expected. The scarves come in adorable drawstring canvas bags that could easily be used for a variety of other things once you remove the scarves. The order receipt was original too, because what you get is a piece of paper with no words, but pictures of the scarves you ordered and their bar codes. Quite classy.

The first one I ordered was from the "New Yorker" collection. I love this one because it's so comfortable to wear, not to mention it's a humongous 95 inches long and very wide. This one seems so cozy to me. I hate taking it off!

This next scarf is actually from the mens collection. It  feels really lovely and soft because it's made of Merino wool, and I really love the coloring.

This last scarf is also from the "New Yorker" collection, and it totally stole my heart the second I saw it. The knit pattern on it is gorgeous and reminded me of Prada from last season. It came in a very deep luxurious red shade that was really stunning. I would wear this scarf everyday if I could!

The scarves are all handmade and I love each one! Check out all the scarves online at http://normaishak.com/ . Thanks Norma Ishak! Have a lovely weekend, Lovelies.