Today is my last day in Los Angeles. Sad faced I am, but I’ll soon be on a plane heading toward the warm embrace of the last few days of New York Fashion Week, so it’s not an entirely woeful departure. MRLA gave such a lovely rundown of his FNO evening so I shan’t bore you with a recounting of my FNO doings (fine – I went to an after party at the W Hotel Hollywood’s rooftop bar, Drai’s, and I missed out on the swag bag). I’ll just tell you about some of the lovely, magical, or otherwise interesting things I did and saw and will look to for inspiration once I return to my homeland.
One of my friends in LA works at a style house/PR agency, Chic Little Devil. They have a massive collection of designer clothes, shoes, and accessories that they rent out (and sometimes sell) to celebrities for special events or photographers for shoots (p.s., if you live in LA they sometimes have sample sales, which they announce on their website). My friend kindly (or cruelly?) invited me to check it out one day last week, and boy was I like a kid in a candy store! Oscar de la Renta gowns, two full racks of Alexandar McQueen, pieces from the elusive Lanvin for H&M collection – they had it all, plus many designers with whom I wasn’t familiar but became quite taken with, like my friend’s current favorite, the adorable, Moroccan inspired Manoush, and Christoforos Kotentos, an Athens, Greece based designer whose website taps into my sci-fi loving side and whose clothes tap into my mini-dress with bright colors, strange patterns, and interesting cuts loving side.
Manoush AW 10 collection (photos via Manoush)
Manoush AW 11 collection (photos via Manoush)
Christoforos Kotentos SS10 collection (photos via Christoforos Kotentos)
Christoforos Kotentos AW 10 collection (photos via Christoforos Kotentos)
Christoforos Kotentos SS 11 collection (photos via Christoforos Kotentos)
On Saturday night I went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for their Muse ‘Til Midnight event, mostly to see the Tim Burton exhibit, but also to see the people who were going to see the Tim Burton exhibit – girls in Marilyn Monroe Warhol print dresses and tiny little top hats, boys with perfectly tousled hair wearing fanciful vests and chain watches. I love when museums have after-hours events; they seem a different world without any sunlight sneaking in through skylights and windows. They had DJs and music-makers and they didn’t even look at me funny when I asked for chardonnay on the rocks (don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it on a hot summer night).
Tim Burton’s films had a big impact on me growing up. I demanded to see Beetlejuice when it came out in theaters, and once it came out on VHS it was in heavy rotation at my house. Likewise with Batman and Edward Scissorhands. Even as a kid I just could not (and still cannot) get enough of Burton’s dark yet whimsical, gothic, romantic, fantastical films. I feel like a kindred spirit, my style being equal (-ish) parts bright/floral/flowy and black/lacey, whether it comes to fashion, music, or home decor. I love the juxtaposition.
I recently learned of a sort of Tim Burton/Alexandar McQueen collaboration on a collection: in the Savage Beauty McQueen exhibit that closed at the Met in New York in August, they included a quote from McQueen citing Burton as inspiration for his AW 02 collection. Burton made a little book of drawings for the runway show. Hardly surprising to learn that those two would have a mutually inspirational relationship, but still it tickled me to find that they actually worked on a project together in this way.
Tim Burton sketches for McQueen’s AW 02 runway show (photo via Arrogance is Bliss)
It also reminded me of a most excellent editorial spread styled by Tim Burton in Harper’s Bazaar in 2009. He selected Burton-esque pieces from various designers’ collections and showed them off in Burton-esque photos. Some of the pieces stand out as obviously the Edward or the Lydia look, but I think that even some that aren’t so obviously Lydia-esque would find themselves happiest on that misunderstood, sweet, brooding girl – perhaps on the grown-up version of her.
On left: Dress and sandals by Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci, headpiece by Philip Treacy for Alexander McQueen, tights by Gerbe.
On right: Top jacket by Jean Paul Gaultier, bottom jacket and skirt by Balmain, headpiece by Shona Heath, fishnets by Wolford, boots by Nina Ricci.
(photos via Harper’s Bazaar)
On left: Dress and hat by Chanel, latex stockings by Atsuko Kudo.
On right: Lydia-esque coat by Salvatore Ferragamo, dress and shoes by Tao Comme des Garçons. Edward-esque jacket and gloves by Rodarte, pants by Phi, boots by Nicholas Kirkwood for Rodarte.