Androgyny by way of Accessories

Anyone watching Fashion Star? If you’re following the show (which I have mixed feelings about- love the concept/feedback/instant gratification, less a fan of the production/music/lack of narration), the attention’s been pointed to Kara Laricks- the bow tie and accessories designer gone SAKS desiree. Bringing androgynous accessories to the mainstream, she’s joining the tomboy ranks of many other female fashion influencers.

Following this line of thought, we have these Marwood lace and mesh ties from The Darkroom in London. They’re cool easy adds and a nice mashup for all your his/her, his/his, & her/her outfits.

March 22, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Street Shots from an Abandoned Tattoo Parlor

The last time I was in London I spent more time walking above ground, as the weather was bright and my meetings were well spaced. Enroute from Selfridges to Lambs Conduit Street, I took many twists and turns, passing high street shops and indie store fronts. I passed an abandoned tattoo parlor with piles of tracing paper in the window. It felt rather raw. It’s hard to put my finger on it, but it was weird to see all the papers strewn about, knowing the designs were living on bodies around town. Almost made a larva to butterfly analogy in my head.

December 13, 2011 | By: Shayna Kulik

Trends in European Lighting

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Here are a few favorites from last month’s trip abroad. I snapped shots of three major categories, one of which was lighting. From hanging clusters to smooth and modern wood to cardboard molds and animal inspired sculptures, each display was quite interesting. Which one’s your favorite?

1. H&M retail display at Selfridges 2,3,4. Bensimmon lighting 5,6,7,8. Liberty London lighting 9. Ted Baker printed dress at Selfridges

November 22, 2011 | By: Shayna Kulik

Custom Dressmaking with Ashley Galloway

Meet Ashley Galloway. She’s both a friend and a source of creative inspiration. She currently lives in London and walked me through the Power of Making exhibition at the V&A a few weeks ago while I was in town visiting. With a background in photography spanning the magazine publishing and art worlds, her eye for curation is impeccable. On a recent family trip to Cape Town, she put her fashion sense to work pairing up with a local tailor to design custom clothing using African textiles. Here’s her personal account, I love the idea.

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I have a love for textiles and through my travels I’ve collected many unique pieces. In 2004 I was in Cape Town, South Africa and had a custom embroidered muumuu created at the Pan African Market. When I returned this fall I went to the same clothier and created the two-piece, skirt and blouse from his range of fabrics. I mixed and matched the fabrics to get the right combination. For the outfit on the left, I chose two fabrics that had similar sized patterns, the same pallet of oranges and blues, and also complimentary flow in the patterns with a lot of vertical movement.

The outfit on the right is a faux polka dot pattern made of images of Guinea fowl, which are native to Africa (I had an encounter with some in a garden earlier that day). I like using similar colors and mixing patterns to get the ‘it’s so wrong it’s right’ feel – it’s bold but not over-the-top.

The dressmaker took my measurements and I described my vision of a high wasted pencil skirt to the knee and a simple, fitted blouse. Further down Long Street I found the Mali Custom South African Designed Couture and was mesmerized by their fabric samples. I bought several pieces of fabric for my collection and chose the fabric for the dress pictured in the middle. I spoke to the tailor and described the design that I thought suited the fabric’s pattern – a halter dress, highlighting the paneled shapes of the pattern at the neckline, with a sash to accentuate the natural waistline created by the three sections of the fabric’s pattern. He was as excited as I was about my new clothes!

Though I drew influence from the recent season’s trends of mixing textures and patterns and Burberry Prorsum’s Spring ’12 Collection, I have always been inspired by the vibrant textiles of Africa and I thought these bold patterns, made into modern silhouettes, would suit my life when I returned home.

November 8, 2011 | By: Shayna Kulik

Shots About Town: London & Paris

My husband and I spent this past week abroad thanks to dueling work obligations. Luckily we got to escape via the Eurostar to Paris for an extremely last minute weekend trip. We got to meet the lovely Amy Ditmeyer of Prêt à Voyager and Design*Sponge, enjoy some art from FIAC, eat an overload of creme brulee and most importantly relax without a schedule.

It was a constant battle trying to get our Verizon iPhones to work, I thought this picture captured our unending search for an unprotected wifi signal. Over the next few days I’ll be posting shots, enjoy!

October 26, 2011 | By: Shayna Kulik

The Power of Making

This week I’m in London for a bit of scouting and a bunch of meetings. I had a chance to pop into the Victoria & Albert Museum yesterday for their Power of Making exhibition- it was fantastic. Here’s a life size motorcycle made entirely of wire. It’s reminiscent of the 2D vector drawings so many of us have grown accustomed to making with Adobe Illustrator. After this snap, I was asked to stop, so unfortunately, this is all I have to share- the rest can be viewed here.

October 20, 2011 | By: Shayna Kulik