This time, the lovely Vanda from Paraphernalia answers my questions.
You've all seen her creations on these pages or elsewhere, and as she is a bit of a jewelry genius I am sure her designs will continue to appear everywhere.
❤ How would you describe your personal style?
Quite simple, really - I always wear my pieces, usually the stranger ones, so I like them to stand out. I tend to wear a lot of gray, black, white and red, as well as having dozens of jeans of varying lengths. I work from home in my studio so I'm usually in jeans, t-shirts and flats or converse! I seem to have developed a slight obsession with waistcoats lately, and you'd be hard pressed to find me out and about without one. I have dozens of coats too - they seem to do it for me more than shoes or handbags! Also, I like small ruffles, stripes, and interesting cuts and details in clothes.
❤ What are your inspirations? Designers / artists you admire most?
Doing what I do I get to indulge in my obsession with vintage illustrations, and a lot of these include old dress patterns - while you'll never find me in dresses (they just don't do it for me), I made a vow a while ago not to buy any more "basics" and boring clothes, and I think it comes from the beautiful details of previous centuries' costume design that just make utilitarian, minimalist clothing a bit too "blah" for me.
As for designers and artists, they're too many to mention! I tend to pay more attention to independent artists than to established, big name fashion designers, and my walls are full at the moment with prints bought from Etsy artists - Magic Jelly, Allison Sommers, Matt Cipov and Caitlin Quiet remain firm favourites.
❤ Which of your creations are you the most proud of and why?
Sometimes I think that if I never have to make another Heart or Goldfish I'd be a lucky woman, but they remain some of my favorites and the Heart seems to be the one I wear the most anyway. I love the Moving Collection - it was an idea I had, while (rather unglamourously) walking to the supermarket, and that took me a while to put up for sale. The Migration Collection was extraordinarily cathartic, as I was going slightly mad from cabin fever at the time!
❤ Which trends do you think will be big this Fall? Which ones will flop?
I think originality and individuality will start to be even bigger. I hope to continue to see Fairtrade and independent design gaining a foot hole in people's consciousness. While I appreciate the economic Lipstick effect of buying something cheap and cheerful to cheer oneself up, I'm hoping that people will finally realize that buying mass produced, low cost items costs a lot more in the long run (ethically, personally, and environmentally speaking) than buying something with quality that has been lovingly designed. I love the rise of street fashion websites, individual fashion blogs, and communities like wardrobe_remix on Flickr as they are blessing and a breath of fresh air! I also love to see the combinations that get made with my items on Polyvore, and hope more people will start using it - I love the creativity of it.
❤ What's the most fashionable city in the world at the moment?
Stockholm and Helsinki are setting trends every day, and photos from regular people on their streets are a joy to look at. Tokyo fashion is a wee bit too superficial for me, to be honest, and I think Paris and Milan have long lost their crowns. London, while it has a lot of quirkiness to offer, is perhaps a bit too trendy at the moment as well (sorry!). Originality trumps all for me :)
❤ Which websites do you go to regularly?
I have 130+ blogs on my Blogroll, so there are many! Honourable mentions include Design*Sponge, swissmiss, NOTCOT, bits and bobbins, design is mine, design for mankind, poppytalk, and mirror cities, which combines photos of my favorite cities in the world - Lisbon and Tokyo!
❤ What would you wear on a date?
Show up naked, bring beer? Hah! I'm married, but I guess wide leg jeans, wedges, an interesting top, my Heart necklace and the Moving Kiss brooch would be a good combination!
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did!
xxx Mademoiselle Robot
ps - I am so stoked, Vanda is a fan of my blog. YAY!
awww i love paraphernalia's designs... the fauna and the anatomica collection are my favourites!
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