sequins & sequence

- heightened sense of awareness and restlessness - overwhelming spring fever - feel i might start seeing dead people soon. is it possible to be so in tune with the universe?
note: if i were so in tune with entire universe perhaps i could sense lost and lonely Marni dresses at far away op shops in need of rescuing? investigate new sixth sense.
- in enormous show of restraint, put new season Viktor + Rolf dress on layby, intention being i would it off in time for Christmas parties. in enormous show of greed, collected dress following lunchtime. always did think layby was the fashion equivalent of masochism.
- every season it happens to all of them. like an aging spinster, the humble colour goes through a mid-life crisis and thinks it has to reinvent itself in order to become more attractive. grey becomes moccasin. white becomes snow. beige becomes conch. and green goes to fern, naturally. right now there's probably some six-year-old in the suburbs whining to the teacher because she's all out of Hermes fingerpaint.
- fashion can also be downright evil. take the playsuit, for instance. is the distance from shoulders to possum standard across all women? i think not. one girl's comfort zone is another's camel toe. so when faced with a friend in a change room asking if the playsuit is splitting a most valuable asset apart, keep your eyes up, take a deep breath and blame the designer.
- unlike some people, spring for me is not all about racing. not because i don't appreciate a nice flute of bubbly, but because people seem to behave so badly at the races. for reasons beyond comprehension, during the Spring Racing Carnival it is deemed acceptable to start on the cheap sparkling at nine a.m. and wear far too few clothes in so-so spring weather or, alternatively, acquire lobster-red sunburn - a symptom of being totally moronic and maggoted at the same time. all this before passing out under a pile of coats somewhere. oh, and let's not forget the obsession with the fascinator. a stupid bit of fashion if i ever saw one - the only blessing being that you can only see one bleary eye of the sauced-up bogan wearing it.
- with every evil intention comes an equally evil by-product. nuclear weapon = nuclear fallout. Russell Crowe actor = Russell Crowe singer. Krispy Kreme doughnut = Krispy Kreme thighs. low-cut hipster jeans = lower-back tattoo.
just like nuclear fallout, the lower-back tattoo (or 'tramp stamp' as it's so eloquently referred to) has infiltrated our society to the point of no return, leaving hideously deformed victims around every corner. everywhere i look these days i'm confronted with dragons, bats and butterflies..all of which appear to be either entering or escaping some type of cave.
- positions vacant: g-string. must be willing to work in tight spaces. ideal first job for those prepared to work from the bottom up.
- think about why bears do what they do, and see if any possibility of humans getting any of that sweet hibernating action.
- oh deer, there are currently over 1.5 million web pages that feature or reference a deer brooch.
fashion vermin: noun. a once-cute animal that has become far too popular for its own good by infiltrating everything from t-shirts, earrings, brooches, knickers, logos, leggings, and every other conceivable piece of fashion fodder. recent additions to the not-so-endangered species list include bluebirds, owls, squirrels, bunnies and most common of all, the deer.
- think about whether mentally strong enough to go jeans shopping while sober.'
- Chloe Quigley + Daniel Pollock - Like I Give a Frock

a strangely persuasive monster

Dhini 'jali' dress


Woodkid - Iron

Critical Discussion of a Fashion Label / Designer - Dries Van Noten

Dusty Springfield - You Don't Have to Say You Love Me

(full text is not shown here, as always):
'Delaisifan Norton grew up with extensive hands-on experience in the fashion industry, following a lineage of three generations of tailors. the fashion designer rose to global prominence during the 1980s, upon launching his first collection under the pseudonym Dries Van Noten and as part of a group of revolutionary Belgian designers called the ‘Antwerp Six’, all of whom graduated from the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts. the Dries Van Noten aesthetic embodies the fashion industry’s increased cross-culturalism and globalisation. this correlation is particularly evident within the brand’s signature dissonant prints and fabrics that often draw inspiration from ethnic folklore; clearly demonstrating Ted Polhemus’ theory of fashion trends ‘bubbling up’ from subcultures and minority groups into high fashion collections.

despite a traditional design education, the designer became renowned for what was, at the time, a revolutionary deconstructivist aesthetic, often inspired by nature as Van Noten is a keen horticulturist. world influences are deeply engraved in most collections, and frequently appear in the form of opulent globally-sourced fabrics with detailed embroidery or the inclusion of non-Western garments such as Saris and Kimonos. as a designer, he prefers the term ‘folkloric’, stating that, 'a lot of ‘ethnic’ fashion is inspired by a culture that doesn’t exist. if you look at India today, all the brightest and most fashionable Saris are in synthetically dyed polyester. you’ll find an Indian bride waring Nike trainers under her wedding outfit because it’s a status symbol – it’s not about faded silk and old gold any more.'

the global influences are representative of the ‘bubble up’ theory, which states that improved communication, and other factors, have led the fashion industry to take on a more globally democratic aesthetic as ideas from subcultures and minority groups are borrowed. Polhemus states, 'this inversion of the socio-economic order is admirable. the bubble-up process has made us a fully fledged creative democracy in which talent isn’t thought to be limited by class or race or education or how much money you’ve got in the bank. for our culture as a whole it is surely all for the best that the full spectrum of creative energy in our society has been tapped.'

Polhemus concurs, in the statement, 'multiplicity of ‘direction’, coupled with an apparently growing inclination on the part of many simply to wear what suits them rather than to swallow fashion’s prescription, has brought a variety of dress and adornment styles which is arguably without equal in history.'
in claiming to have a market involving three generations of women and men, Van Noten holds the view that advertising campaigns would only autocratically pigeonhole a certain age group, race, or personal image.
due to a diminishing number of Belgian manufacturers remaining, attempts are instead made to employ exclusively European production, and while many designers collect around 70% of annual revenue from sales of accessories and perfumes, the Dries Van Noten company claims that 93-94% of the brand’s turnover is a result of garment sales, while the other 6% is from accessories.'