Style Bubble

Swash Attack

>> I've written about Swash so many times that I'm running out of ways to play with their name.  The Swash posts will keep on coming though so long as I keep instantly squealing as soon as I see a new Swash lookbook has come out.  The way Sarah Swash and Toshio Yamanaka render flora, fauna curiosities and animalia in delicate watercolours and arranged them into a print portfolio that is seemingly endless will never cease to amaze me.  Yesterday, because I had to go to Antwerp for the day, I dispatched Steve to their sample sale (apologies for not notifying you guys beforehand - not getting enough time notice on these sample sale happenings) to pick up a few things which will tide me over on my Swash fix until I get hungry for more.  The huge pillow that I'm holding is in indication of where my next Swash purchase will lie.  You might have seen on Twitter that Steve and I have been busy house hunting and have plunged into the task of *gulp* buying our own place.  We're well on our way now to acquiring a hovel and Swash will definitely come into play when it comes to soft furnishings of our new above.  There lies the flexibility of being a deft-handed print master.  Cushions, upholstering a sofa bed, curtains, possibly even a laminate dining table surface - the ideas are running rampant in my head as to how I can shamelessly get Swash into my house.  

Of course, their primary offerings of clothes, scarves and accessories (you can find Swash specimens online on FarFetch and 39-39) are still my main priority.  Steve did a commendable job of spending my blank cheque in my absence by picking out a beautiful reversible silk bomber jacket, an illustrated cardigan and a printed body with a contrast collar.  That will add to my growing Swash stash quite nicely.  Swash are in the process of moving studios and I'm hoping to visit their new digs to sit down properly and talk about their illustrated world very soon so bewarned, I'll have to unleash another Swash-y post title.    

Swash bomber jacket, cardigan, bodysuit and socks worn with Dagmar knit skirt and Emma Cook heels

Note of Disclosure: Pictures above taken with the new Canon EOS M.  I'm categorically saying that this is a game-changing camera that will reduce my visits to a chiropractor (DSLRs and heavy tote bags weighting down one shoulder makes for a seriously wacked out back).

Lemme hear you say O:!

>> When I last rounded up the Digi Antics of the S/S 13 season, one of my favourite "digi" discoveries was the redesign of O: by Tank (and Tank magazine) coupled with the accompanying Because Fashion Scan app, which seamlessly integrates creative and fun animated video content with print.  The technology behind the app isn't anything new per se but Tank have taken the time to develop their own pattern recognition app so that when you hover your device over the page, the video content pretty much pops up instantaneously.  What is fundamental is that when you're holding the magazine in one hand, and have your iPad in the other, it doesn't feel unnatural or forced.  This makes even more sense with the new iPad mini's and of course the many various sizedtablet and smartphone devices on the market.  

The new Christmas issue of O: by Tank just came out this weekend and is available with today's Guardian if you want to rush out and grab a paper from the newsagent.  There are over 100 videos packed into the issue with every page offering up "visual finger food" (as Masoud Golsorkhi, publisher of Tank termed it) for you to peruse.  Most clips are no longer than 30 seconds and basically bring the product to life.  Because Magazine has long been producing 30 second clips of fashion loving fun fun fun, often giving a perspective to the product that you wouldn't be able to do with a still photograph and now these videos are properly integrated with the pages of a magazine.  Caroline Issa, editor in chief of Tank and O: by Tank has done a stellar job of cherry picking covetable items, and giving a humorous spin on anything from Tom Ford lipsticks flying on a rocket to this season's IT bags carried by a real human Cousin It.  The animation and editing is purposely not slick or pretentious and instead, you get easy to digest bite sized chunks that don't alienate the viewer.  I quite like how the fashion film editorial films have been broken down into little trippy snippets instead of what could have been an overly long and indulgent vanity film project.        

The focus is shamelessly product-based, which could easily have read like any of those boring shopping pages that are being thrown at us, as Christmas shopping advice really ramps up in the coming weeks.  The Fashion Scan app however really sells the product in a way that is engaging and makes me think that product or market pages that mainstream fashion media so loves could all do with this sort of accompanying video content.  What's even more interesting is that every advert also links through to bespoke video content.  For example, the inside cover Chanel advert brings up an edited version of the Chanel Cruise 2013 show held at Versailles, which gives reason to linger longer on an ad that you would have otherwise skipped.  It's added value for the luxury brand advertiser and I think it will call into question the validity of static ads on a printed page, which will no doubt dwindle over the coming years.  Aren't we constantly asking about what's the future of fashion publishing?  This may not be the finite answer but it certainly is at least an attempt at responding to that question.   

I thought I might bung in a closer look at this Dharma Taylor holographic shirt, which I bought from the awesome bolthole store Primitive London, whilst we're on the subject of mind bending visuals.  Everytime I've worn it, people have wanted to either touch it or look at it closely, because of its holographic properties.  I'm properly into fabrics that have these strange lenticular/holographic qualities so much so that I might try sourcing fabric of my own and getting a dress or a jacket made up, preferably in silver or a heinous shade of orange or green to match my Christmas wrapping paper scheme.  

Think Pink Again!

>> Judging by the number of times I've peppered my titles with "Pink!", I could almost justify having a "Think Pink!" post run on Style Bubble on a monthly basis.  Kay Thompson's voice clearly pops into my head every now and again as I indulge in a panic state of buying up anything that is pink in my line of sight.  This new pink purchase occurred at Biotop, the wonderful treehouse slash cafe slash boutique slash garden centre nestled into Tokyo's Ebisu.  In an incongruous mix that could only occur at Biotop, a vintage basketweave textured coat from the 1960s stood out amongst pieces of Celine and Stella McCartney.  It's a curious texture that I've never seen before as the polyester has been gathered together to create an intricate basket weave debossed effect that is a tactile texture fiend's wet dream.    

Oh, and I like the little International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union label stitched into it.  Apparently there was a little jingle to promote ILGWU-labelled garments in 1970, which seems pertinent today considering USA-made garments are once again being promoted and championed.  Sing it with me...

 

Look for the union label

When you are buying a coat, dress, or blouse,

Remember somewhere our union's sewing,

Our wages going to feed the kids and run the house,

We work hard, but who's complaining?

Thanks to the ILG, we're paying our way,

So always look for the union label,

It says we're able to make it in the USA!

 

Trust the prolific and smart Japanese vintage sourcers to find this gem of a coat that comes with a USA textiles history lesson.  Therefore, I consider it £150 well spent to add to the growing clusters of pink that grow in my wardrobe.  

Joining it is a vaguely naff but ever-lovable piece of vintage Valentino lurex jumper from the reliable Pelicans and Parrots in London and a few pieces of painterly turquoise and candy pink Suno from their resort 2013 collection.  

Note of Disclosure: Pictures taken with Canon EOS M whilst overusing the Miniature effect on the Creative Filter options.  The leopard print Christopher Kane clutch above is indeed all I've been carrying around because the camera is that dinky.