Is this guy responsible for changing the face of color as we know it?
If you lived back in 1856 the answer would be “why yes my good chap, for sure! You see the man pictured above– proudly displaying his freshly ‘maulvine’ dyed wool– is non other than Henry William Perkins. Perkins is known throughout the world of textile dyeing as “The Man Who Rocked It”.
You see, he discovered the first ever synthetic dye. Prior to Perkins, things were always done “au natural”.
And though this pix depicts the scientist as being a bit long in the beard- the actual discovery of his mauve colored dye from coal tar came when Perkins was 18 years old, home goofing around over Spring Break from college (apparently in 1856, Fort Lauderdale and Cancun had yet to be discovered). Read more..
When I switched on the Oscars Sunday night, the red carpet was already in full swing. I swear these 3 dresses above were the first I saw. All I could think was: OMG Hollywood has lost its mind! I was very excited to say the least.
Jennifer and Charlize, I will get to in just a minute. First up Zoe Saldana in Givency. Now regardless of how you feel about this dress, I have to say colorwise she has the perfect coloring for it’s pale lavender hue, plus she is just spunky enough to pull off its couture- meets- cancan dancer style. I actually liked her better in the gown than I did on the model walking in it on the Paris runway just a few weeks ago.
Her peep-toe heels have gotten slack for being too ‘clunky’- but as you can see she didn’t leave much to stylish chance, she simply borrowed them from the runway as well. Read more..
Okay, you have to give it up for Canada. They won the Gold Medal in Men’s Hockey fair and square. The Olympic host team playing a national past time…winning in an “edge of your seat sudden death” overtime…well, it has all of the making of a feel good movie.
Exciting, inspiring, warm and fuzzy and- oh… who am I kidding? I was screaming at my screen like a banshee– jacked up that the good old USA would squash our Northern Neighbors like an icy grape. But, alas. No such luck.
But truly there is no shame in being 2nd. In some ways, Silver is sort of hipper than Gold anyway. Last week when April, Kim and my favorite little Black Eyed Peas fan went to see the band perform live at Madison Square Gardens (thanks again April!)- the band was awash in Silver throughout the entire show.
In person- Fergie is just about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen
When you factor in the fact that the Gold medal is actually a Silver medal covered with about 6 grams of 24 karat gold- well basically if you scratched off the surface, we’d be equals anyway. Read more..
Well if you are perusing the streets of NYC- the answer might be just be “I see a blue chair looking at me!”–thanks to the color-loving, design savvy crew at House Beautiful magazine.
In celebration of America’s love affair with the color Blue, the mag and some of our favorite furniture companies have teamed up to create a kind of “Where’s Waldo-meets-scavenger hunt-meets….do I dare say it: Blues Clues.”
The blue chairs were placed throughout Manhattan (one even made it across the bridge to Brooklyn) photographed and then taken away into safe hiding…but come March 1, 2010 they will magically appear back in their same spots and guess what? The ultimate game of Finders Keepers will ensue.
You heard it right. Figure out where these sky/sea hued perches are perched, bring your pick-up truck (or perhaps hail a cab) and add a bit of blue to your own abode. Happy Hunting—here are your clues:
the “Avalon Child’s Chair” from Target Read more..
Inspiration gets a bit more animated when it comes from these Oscar contenders….
UP
Up was by far one of my favorite movies of the year. The film’s 2 minute sequence showing the couples entire married life together is so beautifully done-pure genius. The message of the movie- its never too late for a new adventure, priceless.
For this I would think bold color, retro style with a twist of ’scout/explorer spirit thrown in for good measure. Winged and balloon inspired accessories take flight, while a cocktail dress –that appears to have actually been inspired by a female “Snipe” named Kevin—would be perfect once you hit solid ground at Paradise Falls. Read more..
I love the escapism of a good film. I especially love when I leave the theater full of ideas and feeling inspired by the flick’s sets, costumes and mood.
Since the Oscars always seem to fall right on the cusp of the changing fashion season…I thought it would be fun to look at a few of my favorite nominees and think about how they can inspire the perfect looks for Spring 2010.
Coco Before Chanel
Ingenue, chic and oh-so-very French. Coco before the Boucle, bows and glitz. Crisp, white shirts and tops with simple cuts. Classic navy & white stripes with a modern twist (her sailor shirt is a classic now- but think how fashion forward it was for her day), unadorned nails and lips-instead a youthful flush cheek. Read more..
How much are you loving the Winter Olympics? Being stuck here in snowy NY while almost everyone I know is off galavanting the world on winter break- watching it every day has helped save my sanity. Plus from a color perspective there is just so much to talk about!
First off: the official logo of Vancouver 2010. The little rock guy based on traditional rock formation landmarks used by natives in the Arctic Region (his name BTW is IIanaaq, meaning friendship) has been causing a bit of color controversy.
You see, it seems that typically official Olympic logos would include all 5 colors of the Olympic rings, as was first designed back in 1912. A quick refresher: each color represents a continent. Many were confused when designers left the color black out of IIanaaq, instead replacing it with a deep blue.
In defense of the designers- I get it, the dark blue does look way better for IIaanaq’s rocky arms and they did use black for the text. So really what’s the big deal? Especially when you get an eyeful of the logo for London 2012. Now that’s shocking!
Apparently the Vancouver logo was meant to represent the regional landscapes of Canada. Blues and greens for the land and water, yellow for the sun and red for the Canadian Maple leaf. I can only guess then that the London logo represents Great Britain in the 1980’s.
Another interesting color story this week is Vancouver’s choice to use brilliant blues and greens to color the backdrop of the Winter Games. Read more..
There is something so kinetic about 2 holidays falling on the same day, don’t you think?
The ruckus of the Chinese New Year’s celebration coupled with the most famous day of amour- lends itself to a real East meets West kind of day.
I had been in fact very excited at the prospect of 2010 being the year of the White (metal) Tiger. Last year’s Brown (Earth) Ox sounded sluggish to me from day one, the tiger seems so much more exciting and sleek. Finally I thought, some action. Read more..
I was so saddened to hear the news of the untimely passing of designer Alexander McQueen. His runways shows have been some of the most creative and inspiring the fashion world has seen over the past decade. He blurred the line between fantasy and fashion like no one else. He was inspiring, unique and unbelievably talented. Our prayers are with his family today.
McQueen was named British Designer Of The Year 4 times
Fans found this sad note today on the company’s website Read more..
When the Grammy’s, the Paris Couture runways and a full moon all fall within the week -you know the cosmic forces are aligned to shower us with some fashion talk.
At Grammy night, Lady GaGa’s celestial, spiral Armani dress most definitely set the tone, but it left me wondering if GaGa herself had text-ed everyone that wrapping was in since so many stars seemed to follow suit by either showing up wrapped in at least one band of metallic or simply wrapped tight in a (surprise) lady-like evening gown. Usually Grammy fashion tends to be lots of ‘head scratchers’, I actually thought this year many looked really pretty-out there, yes-but pretty.
When I heard this week that gray hair was suddenly the height of high fashion I happily toss my box of Nice & Easy to the curb. If Kate Moss and wispy models from Christian Dior and Chanel could embrace and face the facts-that those pesky grays are indeed beautiful, then gosh darn it so could I. Read more..
