Oh Yeah...

Merry Halloween!

As my buddy Jenks said to me today.

Did my whole dressing up bit last weekend, so this actual Hallow's Eve I'm off to Heath B.'s place for a little candy-eating, America's Next Top Model-watching and pumpkin carving with the gang!

xo
Haute Hippie







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In-Vested

I've been on the hunt for three items recently.

1. Another hat to go with the fall/winter season. I may have found the one at Mintage on Commercial Drive, but there's always the need to see what else is out there.

2. The perfect vintage sequined top. I saw a contender at Burcu's Angels on Main Street, but see my comment above.

3. A vest. I currently own a super-cropped navy blue one with brushed brass buttons, but that's been in my closet for a few years. It's in the "oldie but goodie" category and my closet needs another option. I'm quite enamored with this one below, from the Spring 2008 RTW collection by Roberto Rimondi and Tommaso Aquilano of 6267.






Aw, heck. Who am I kidding?? I don't want just that vest. Here's what else I want from 6267:














I'm Lovin' it: Getting things out in the open. And guys who wear shoes from Clae.







I'm Over it: Hungry tummy. No food in fridge.


Track of the Day: "Halycon" by Mono, an ambient electronica group from Japan. This song should be in the soundtrack to some indie Natalie Portman film. It would've fit well into "Garden State" or "Closer" for sure.








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Are You Banksy??

Apparently someone caught under-the-radar graff artist Banksy in the act by cameraphone.

After all these years of being Banksy discreet and eluding authority/public eye, do you believe this is him?

I'm not sure what I think just yet...






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Doin' the 'Do

Haute Hippie's hair, at 5 years old: Mother-induced bowl cut.

Haute Hippie's hair, at 13 years old: Bad blunt bob with bangs.

Haute Hippie's hair, at 17 years old: Growing out said bad blunt bob with bangs.

Haute Hippie's hair, current state: Tousled beach waves with side-swept bangs (a considerable improvement over the last three styles!)

Haute Hippie's hair, wishful thinking: This utterly amazing and shiny futuristic bowl cut from a Shiseido promo.






Unfortunately, due to the texture of HH's mane, this look is completely impossible for me. Can't win them all.



* Photo property of Shiseido, dailycandy.com and is used solely for commentary purposes

Ziga-zig-ah Zambesi

I've been keeping my eye on clothing labels from the Southern Hemisphere for some time now, probably thanks in part to having an ex-boyfriend from Sydney (g'day, C. Gauchat) and two good friends from New Zealand (kisses to Lee Lee and Andy Pandy).

Fashion houses from these parts are undeniably daring, funky, edgy and quirky without ever crossing the line of being over-the top. It's more London Fashion Week than New York Fashion Week, and that's fine by me. Zambesi is an NZ-based label that's been around for awhile, founded by Elisabeth and Neville Findlay back in 1979. This brand took NZ fashion from frumpy to forward, encouraging the country's budding fashionistas to look at clothing differently, to use it as a means for self-expression and not merely for neccessity.

Zambesi's Spring/Summer 2008 collection is, oddly enough, full of white and black, lacking the bright pops of colors and prints so synonymous with that particular fashion season. Detail, tucks, pleats and buttons all add to the persona of the brand, while traditional silhouettes and fabrics are twisted ever so slightly to give them a fresh look.

Stockists for this brand are a little few and far between in North America, but you can find it at Elizabeth Charles (which specializes in Oz/NZ labels) on Hudson Street in New York and at Five Figs Couture in Northern California.

See, there's much, much more to New Zealand than "Whale Rider" and "Lord of the Rings".













I'm Lovin' it: The new Shop-A-Matic service on New York Magazine's site. It's slogan is "we window-shop so you don't have to". I think that's pretty self-explanatory.


I'm Over it: People who invade your personal space. Just now, the fix-it guy in our apartment building came by with Steffie's new door and brought along his wife. She came into my office and literally put her face two inches away from mine, asking why I hadn't hung up my pictures because "you know the lease agreement is bullsh*t and you can hang them up". You know what else is bullsh*t? Someone getting so close that you can smell what they ate for breakfast. And, by the way, those aren't my pictures anyway!


Band of the Day: Digitalism, an electronica group from Germany. My girl Seems saw their recent show when they came into town and said they rocked out. The two founding members, Jens "Jence" Moelle and Ismail "Isi" Tufekci, banded together in 2004 and released their debut album "Idealism" this past May 2007. Their tracks are DJ favorites, from Justice to Soulwax to Boys Noize and they count Daft Punk as one of their biggest influencers.







* Photos property of zambesi.co.nz, residentadvisor.net and are used solely for commentary purposes

Why Don't You...

Invest in a little Cynthia Rowley. She has the best sparkly tights I've seen this season. Thanks to Michelle at C.R. for sending me pics and info!






Buy a some art from super-tall Sol Sallee. He's got to be one of the best emerging artists from this city. And he also happens to be my buddy (who towers a good foot and half over me). The painting I wanted to buy was sold at his "Afterlife" exhibition last night, so think I'll have to go the commissioned piece route.






Check out music from Project. My buddy Justin Tisdall is MC Project and man, can he ever rock the house and lay down the lyrics. His show at The Media Club last night was off the hook.







Find this graff art posted on some wall in conjunction with the "bait car" program that's been going on for years to lock down on car thieves. Apparently it's up somewhere in the city!






Listen to The Food by Common, featuring Kanye West. You'll find the track on Common's "Be" album, which is at HMV for $9.99. It's a steal, y'all.






Have a happy, happy Friday!

xo
Haute Hippie



* Photos property of MC Project, Sol Sallee, Cynthia Rowley, lifesaver.net, woostercollective.com and are used solely for commentary purposes

Art of the Day

Most of you Wooster Collective fans know that every couple e-blasts sent out present a new masthead for the site, designed by someone artistically-gifted and undoubtedly very cool.

Check out one of the newest contributions -- by Artur Henrique -- based on color fans Pantone (the end all, be all authority of the color spectrum) puts out each year.

Color me bad.

PS. If you dig art and happen to live in Vancity, come check out my buddy Sol's "Afterlife" exhibition tomorrow at 149 Easter Pender, 2nd floor. It'll be followed by a hip hop show by The Project -- one of the guys is my pal and English Lit cronie JT -- at The Media Club on the corner of Cambie and Georgia. Tickets are $10 at the door. Don't miss it!








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Lagerfeld Does China

You know it's a party when Karl Lagerfeld and LVMH throw a runway show, dinner and after-party worth, oh, about $10 million dollars.

The most anticipated fashion soiree of this year had to be the Fendi event last Friday, where the venue was none other than the Great Wall of China. A guest list of 500 designers, industry peeps, fashion editors, A-listers and NYC socialites made the trek to this over-the-top-in-a-good-way event in their super stilettos, leathers and fur, all to honor Fendi and catch a glimpse of Herr Lagerfeld. These movers and shakers were gifted with hand warmers encased in fabric logo and were served hot chocolate and brandy to make those insides stayed toasty warm in the rather chilly climate. The after-party was replete with dancers and laser graff artists who elicited plenty of oohs and aahs from revelers.

Standing out wardrobe-wise was the always gorgeous Kate Bosworth, who was swathed in fur and her BF James Rousseau.

Love, love, love the big fur jacket -- it's may be black and white, but it sure ain't Cruella.










I'm Lovin' it: My buddy Scootsie's grand idea to have a politically incorrect Halloween costume party. I'd name some of his ideas, but then you'd probably dislike me for listing them and Scoots for thinking of them. A wee trip with the crew to American Apparel happened to spark another costume idea: My girls Aims spotted a shiny figure skating-type dress and we thought it'd be pretty hilarious to show up as Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding -- bashed knee, "Why me?!" sign and pipe included.







I'm Lovin' it, Part Deux: Wall decals and graphics from Blik. My buddies Tys and Ads have dope stencils on their apartment walls right now -- done properly, it looks chic and not cheesy at all. If you want, send Blik your favorite quote or saying and the size you desire, and they'll get back to you quickly with a price estimate.







I'm Over it: My girl Seems called me at 9 am this morning, asking me to be a denim model for a segment she was overseeing on a local television show, since one of her models bailed. I'm absolutely terrified to see the segment playback because the tight jeans I had on may have caused a very faux pas syndrome feared by fashionistas everywhere: Muffin Top.


Art of the Day: A rogue guerilla artist movement threw red paint into the water of the famous Trevi Fountain in Italy to protest the glitz, glamour and ostentatiousness of the recent Rome Film Festival and its accompanying red carpet. They did it mid-day, too, those crazy and mad brave individuals.








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Sang A Song For Me

The countdown to holiday season has begun. This means lots of parties and events to attend while wearing pretty LBDs, killer heels, flashy baubles and cute clutches.

Okay, but let's not go the typical Aldo Accessories route for Holiday '07.

Let's go big, bad and fabulous with beautifully crafted clutches from Sang A, an adorable Korean pop princess-turned-accessories-designer, who just last week held a trunk show event at her Murray Street loft in NYC. She had all the best PYTs and editors come out to check out her wares, mingling with the likes of Olivia Chantecaille, Hope Atherton, Bonnie Morrison of KCD and Byrdie Bell. The celebrity starlets love her, too.

Sang A's clutches and bags are bold in color, shapes and materials -- think blue python, metallic alligator and purple ostrich. These incredible night-out wonders are sketched in a SoHo studio, sourced in France and created in Italy, making the brand internationally known on the fashion-phone.

Word on the street is she's about to receive a coveted accessories design award. The fashion crew expects an announcement in two weeks.

It's clutch time.










I'm Lovin' it: Lasr Friday, I nearly died in label heaven when I camed across a GORGEOUS McQ by Alexander McQueen cream cape coat with toggles while on a wee shopping trip with my girl Stephanucci. And I nearly died again when I saw the price tag read it rang in at much less than half the regular price of $400. So now I'm the proud owner of a McQ cream cape coat -- and extremely nervous to get it dirty.







I'm Over it: Why do fashion magazines have to cost $5 each?!?! Think I may have a lot of money sitting in those magazines stashed in my bedroom.


Band of the Day: Sao Paulo, Brazil electro-rock ensemble Cansei de Ser Sexy, their band moniker taken from a Beyonce lyric and literally translating to "tired of being sexy". German-Japanese beauty Luisa Matsushita, aka. Lovefoxxx, provides the lead vocals and is the lady-love to Simon Taylor-Davis of The Klaxons. CSS is currently a fave of the fashion set, which isn't a surprise, considering their offering of runway-friendly tunes. Check of "Let's Make Love" and "Pretend We're Alala", especially if for some reason you wake up feeling particularly Bundchen.








* Photos property of sanga.com, bluefly.com, Google Images and are used solely for commentary purposes

I Love...

Jen Kao.

You'll love her, too. And this is why:

1. She's a girl of America. Born in Los Angeles, raised in Kansas (yeowch!) and now based in New York.

2. She managed to get artist/photographer-about-town Ryan McGinley to shoot a photo series with model Darla Baker to serve as the backdrop of her Spring 2008 collection presentation at New York Fashion Week.

3. She's among the best emerging designers the fashion set has seen of late. If you ask me, Kao may as well be in pole position.

Her label is so quirky cool, I can hardly stand it.

In Haute Hippie fashion speak, that usually means I really, really, really like something.











* Photos property of style.com and are used solely for commentary purposes

Commuun-al

Overstimulation, too much detail and too many choices is de riguer these days.

Wouldn't it be nice to get back to simplicity? If you do indeed think that simplicity sure would be sorta nice -- and you kind of love fashion -- then I suggest taking a good look at Commuun. This pared down, Paris-based label was established in 2005 by Kaito Hori and Iku Furudate. Their first collection launched in Spring Summer 2006, with showings increasing every year since then.

The philosophy of Commuun is essentially about the construction of nature, "with its balance and tensions". Fabric from the collections are natural and organic, reflecting the latter philosophy, while shapes are strong, futuristically fine detailed and clean. French pattern-cutting techniques are used in the construction of each collection and intensive research is completed before choosing materials.

As of now, eco-minded Commuun isn't availble of the west coast but if you're particularly ambitious, hop aboard a plane to NYC and stop by either Bergdorf's, Project No. 8 or Saks Fifth Avenue to find it.

Linda Loudermilk who??











I'm Lovin' it: How CUTE is Rachel Bilson in her vintage Givenchy dress and Christian Louboutin heels?? She was snapped mingling it up at the recent Saks Fifth Ave. fete -- honoring Louboutin himself -- in Los Angeles this week. I don't care if some y'all think she's just some pop-tart starlet. She (or her stylist) has some majorly good taste in clothes.







I'm Sad Over it: Back in 2006, my girl Sushi came to La-La Land for a visit. While checking out Huntington Beach's Main Street, we were promptly accosted by a rather charming member of Save The Children and both ended up sponsoring children from Africa and India. My little boy, Mezgebu A. Diriba, is from Ethiopia and literally has the biggest grin I've ever seen -- plus he loves his llamas, from what I can see from his drawings. Unfortunately when I moved back to Vancity, I learned that donations from Canada to the USA head office weren't possible and today, I officially had to give up my "son". The bright side to this is that Save The Children has a Canadian alliance, so I'll be adopting again. But it won't be the same with Mezgebu, that's for sure. I encourage you all the sign up to sponsor -- use that $28 toward drinks on the weekend to give a child education, food, clothing and shelter. You'll feel so good inside, trust me.







Track of the Day: Sometimes there's nothing like a little chilled out gangsta music. Nate Dogg always did have some of the best chillaxin' beats. This shout out's definitely for him and for my late high school/early uni days. Rock and roll to Me & My Homies by N.D. and featuring Tupac.








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