All in black, long in black & looking good

All black is boring? Safe? Predictable? Possibly. But it also can be utterly stylish when there's a nice balance to lengths and textures as shown here. I also love the white beads that reference proper pearls but without the perfect roundness.

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Keeping it simple in black & white

I am always a fan of motorcycle jackets and think they can be a wardrobe staple if you know how to dress. I like how well this one fits and think it works well with the spiky Louboutin loafers, striped sweater and Hermes bag.

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Leather in Elle Russia February 2011

Last post, I mentioned the love for the leather pieces by the Swedish label, House of Dagmar, and this time it's all about the leather pieces by Chanel, Blumarine and Bel Air featured in Elle Russia February 2011. I want every item. Leather pieces are those pieces of clothing that you really should invest in, as leather is timeless. A great leather skirt looks so chic and fabulous with a sheer, white shirt (or a grey shirt with a plunging neckline as in look 1), and a fitted leather jacket is an essential in every wardrobe, as it is perfect to make an outfit more rough and edgy.

What leather pieces are essential to you?

Source: Fashion Gone Rouge

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Street Chic in Elle Turkey February 2011

I often get very inspired by editorials that are based around street style. Especially when there is leopard, leather and khaki coloured coats involved. I wish that I had every piece to create outfit no. 1 so I could wear it right now. Khaki with leopard print is gorgeous, and the splash of red fits perfectly into the mix.

Source: Fashion Gone Rouge

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Street Style - black overalls

A few weeks back in a "self-portrait" photo I was wearing my new black silk DVF overalls with a white shirt and a black at. He seems to have taken the same concept with a different spin: instead of silk, leather. Instead of a tank top a button up with a tie and instead of a black cashmere beanie cap a black fedora. Overalls are going to be huge soon. So the question is: will you wear them???

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Leather On Leather

I've never really cared for outfits consisting of too much leather. Don't get me wrong; I adore leather jackets, leather trousers, leather skirts and shorts etc., but wearing them together just reminds of try hard biker babes. But when it comes to fashion, there are always certain people who manage to make me change my mind, and Christine Centenera, fashion editor for Haper's Bazaar Australia, is one of those people.

I love how she wears different coloured leather pieces together. The beige and the black creates a chic, but still very exciting combination. However, I am not too keen on the shoes yet. I would much rather prefer to see this outfit together with some classic sky-high black heels. 

Source: trendycrew

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a girl with her boys

Sky Ferreira looks cool and collected in the simplicity of a motorcycle jacket and short black boots proving you don't need to go crazy to look great –find something classic that works for you instead!

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Backstage at Malan Breton

This fashion week was especially insane for me. In addition to just the general madness that is NYFW, my dog (not pictured) was so sick he had to be hospitalized and a tornado struck my apartment in Brooklyn causing serious water damage and - even worse - made me miss my favorite runway show and party. That being said, there is still plenty to share!

There are so many fantastic people (and in this case pooches) backstage that you never see on the runway.

Dean Modah was playing around with Cooper, a fabulous poodle and the understudy dog backstage before the show.


But of course I needed a photo of him alone to show off his style as well. I am loving the hair and the sequined pants!

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Designer Profile: Norisol Ferrari

Norisol Ferrari and the back of one of her hooded coats

In the middle of a massive heat wave in New York I sat with Norisol Ferrari in her un-airconditioned studio and talked about –and even tried on– heavy leather coats. Each one a custom creation, they were also so exquisite that I quickly forgot the heat and was utterly intrigued. I want need a Norisol coat!  I also want to share with you more about both the designer and her collection.

Like all great American originals, Norisol Ferrari is a master of re-invention in the best sense of the word. She has gone from a childhood in group homes and orphanages to teen years in NYC nightlife to emerging as an elegant, articulate and sharply intelligent designer of one-of-a-kind coats that debuted in 2009. Read my interview with her below.

How did you get into fashion?
The truth is I had no education and it was the only thing that I could do. I really loved couture and I lied about my age and had the opportunity to be a showroom slave and did a series of internships at button companies on Seventh Avenue – that sort of thing – and just sort of was an office slave. And this was at a time, 1987, when there were no stylists. When Elektra Records would call and say we need an outfit for Anita Baker’s new album cover no one cared!

That’s crazy!
It is crazy, but it wasn’t a store order so they didn’t care. Give them a store order they’d care…so it fell to the office assistant and me, the office slave, to put it together. A lot of the stuff that is fun and has titles now is how I began.

What was your inspiration for your current collection? It looks old fashioned and timeless at the same time…

This is exactly what I wanted. I fought for this timeless quality in myself, with the seamstresses, by the material I’ve chosen…I’ve never agreed with the fashion cycle of delivery six times a year and something new every season. I strive to create heirlooms. I want people to say “This is my winter coat and I don’t need another coat. It’s not about what’s in or out of fashion but what will become part of my style. The idea is that I don’t want you to know it’s Norisol 2010. More that it’s an amazing piece –so of course it’s a Norisol! (laughter)

I am betting that in 5 years or 10 years your work won’t even look dated. And I am insane about knowing what year’s things are from to the point that I can look at a period movie set in 1925 and be able to tell you if it was made in 1976 or 86 from the styling and make up–
Yes, I’m the same way! Doesn’t it drive you crazy? I find it distracting –I’ll look and think why are there zippers? There weren’t zippers back then!

Exactly! Which brings me to what’s so intriguing about your collection: while it clearly references the past it doesn’t feel costume-y or like a period piece yet there is nothing trendy about it either.
I mix 17th, 18th 19th and 20th century. And I reference English, French Italian and even a little Japanese kimono sleeve…I try to take the best of everything and create something you won’t get sick of.

Inspiration and Materials at her workspace

How does your experience of New York and it's history inform your work? 
New York City and all it’s older buildings, and how it gives you a time machine into the last few centuries is something I have romanticized and fantasized about as long as I can remember. When I was young in Grand Central Station? You couldn’t get me to walk in a straight line I was so busy looking up and around at everything. The Post Office? That era is so alive in my collection, in my aesthetic, in my home…and New York educated me on that. I asked questions and learned the history…that it was a major port and built so long ago has given me a healthy respect and a desire to learn more about the past.

I know you’ve been in NYC for a long time and I know there is a tendency for those of us who have been around for awhile to get cynical about changes in the city, so I want to ask you what you think are positive changes that you’ve seen recently?
That’s a tricky question for me! This is my hometown and someone messed with my main street (Broadway – specifically at Times Square) and I don’t like it! I am nostalgic for my youth! But…I think art is coming back. I think there is more street art and murals happening again and I really like it.

So you feel like street life/art is coming back? Because there has been an attitude that it got really commercialized…
I think it did. Definitely…but there is always a pendulum and I think it’s slowly swinging back…

I hope you're right! Okay, let's get back to your work. What do you like most about what you do?
With every single new skin, meaning the same skin new delivery of it…my passion for it and understanding of it grows. Each skin is different and how you have to work with it is different and I find this exciting. I use skins because they are biodegradable and natural. I will never use synthetic material. The idea of producing something that will sit in a landfill and never go away disturbs me to no end. Even if it’s the easier choice, to use a synthetic material, I absolutely will not do it.

And what do you find most challenging in your process?
The most challenging thing is to find organic materials that are beautiful and workable. Also finding people who really care and take pride in the work they’re doing is really hard. –this is universal– it doesn’t matter the culture or place, there are too many people just working for money and not caring about what they do.

Current inspiration?
Sade’s new album. Is the best ever. I’m working on a fashion film and I call myself Your Armor. When you have that piece that you put on and it’s like it protects you, it’s your armor and her music plays into that.


And finally, what’s the best advice you’ve ever given or received?
The best advice I’ve ever given –I put on a piece of one of my accessories, and if you Google it you’ll get various attributions– so I think it’s just an old bit of wisdom which is “Go within or go without”. When people ask me for an answer to something they are questioning about themselves I generally tell them "I don’t have your answer, you do and you have to figure that out. To listen, to hear it. And if you can’t hear it you need to spend more time listening because it is within you."

And the best advice I’ve ever received was that my scars would never go away. They would simply stop hurting. And be easier to live with. And it was the realest thing that was ever said to me as a child and made me able to move forward and be a good human being.
Norisol Ferrari's collection can be found at Maxfield in LA and by appointment in NYC

Norisol and Jones
large version of coat photo

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Ladylike in Leather

In reaction to the recent discussion that ladylike style is coming in I'm posting this as my compromise position: she is not completely "lady like" ala something like Mad Men, but it's an elegant way to wear leather shorts.

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Young Sophisticate

I could populate this blog with people wearing all black and only black. But that would get boring. However it's so ubiquitous at night that I often find myself shooting all black ensembles. So how do I decide in the end which ones to post? It ends up being in the details. In this instance I love the diamond pattern that is on the top of her tights and that there is also a diamond overstitch on her jacket. (the latter detail blown out a bit by the flash) I also like how she put together varying textures in a way that makes sense. The end result is striking and sophisticated.

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