Knitted Sweaters and Tecate

The patterns and tones of a recent gathering, that this little voyeur could not ignore. 

Fingers. 

Heather's Lollypop.

Reba with Hunter.

Luxury.

Boys.

My Acrylic Day Dream

Wow, this sweater is made of Acrylic. How aweful, says the new roommate, Manny. Not everyone can handle thrift stores. They are dusty, crowded places with lipstick graffitti on changing room walls and no real walking space betwixt those circular clothing racks. At Mission Thrift you need to fight your way past all the sequins, leather fringe and itchy acrylic. Unless, of course, you're into leather fringe...

DKNY houndstooth blazer.
Bill Blass cropped navy jacket with seashell buttons.

Lovely silk skirt with metalic thread detail.

I am obsessed with these colors.

Vintage fur hat.

Sequins :)

Pret a porter BB Dakota cropped jacket.

Emerald pencil skirt with embroidered chair detail.

Oh, my.

Judging A Book By Its Color

I mean I already love everything Miranda July, so you can imagine the shear joy I felt when I found her collection of short stories. 

First of all, the J's were pretty high up on the shelf so I had to use one of those fun, little ladders. Secondly, the book was in stock! This is not always the case when I walk into Phoenix Books on 24th street, though I always find something I "need."

It is curious. For some reason I have accrued several yellow things. Yellow and all of its cousins are beginning to surround me...and I like it. 

I know that yellow is hot right now (we'll discuss more of this in a later post) but I don't think I'm into citrus hues because it's trendy. Generally speaking the things that I collect stay in my closet for several seasons, then get stored away, though only to return. I don't dress according to what the runways dictate; it's not my style and it's too expensive! It's more about my mood and where I am in my life. Does anyone else feel the same way?

Above is a crane fly, saturated and retro-fied. While typing this I look up and he/she is still there. 

Segue to guava with a painted skull...

A ruffled pencil skirt by Zara and my sweet-cream colored Geox pumps with tassels!

The Future

Talk Series: FASHION + TECHSF

Owen Geronimo

At a talk series organized by Owen Geronimo, founder of the San Francisco Fashion and Merchants Alliance (SFFAMA), a small crowd of San Franciscan fashion enthusiasts gathered to discuss various topics relating to fashion and technology. In attendance were designers, students, bloggers (ehm), retailers, graphic designers, etc. 

Speaking at the event were Jill Fraser and Milan Lazich, a Cali-posh duo that founded the line of luxury, leather-alternative handbags, Jill Milan.

Ms. Fraser is a vegan and therefore you will never find a Jill Milan bag made of leather. The handbags are 100% Italian-made with price tags ranging from $400-$2500. The pieces are beautiful and have been spotted in the arms of many celebrities. From Blake Lively to Jane Fonda. 

From left to right: Jill Frazer, Karri Ann Frerichs, Milan Fraser

Karri Ann Frerichs was also on the panel. Founder of Altitude Promotions and StyleElevation.Com, Ms. Frerichs brought a sales perspective to the discussion. When asked what she thought was a number one key factor in marketing, she responded with good photography "and that includes having a model that embodies your look."

Rocko Luciano, the very dapper Creative Director of The Brush Guard was also in the crowd and wanted to learn tactics on breaking into new niches and ways in which to keep the good press coming. 

The lovely Sasha Maksutenko was present, as well. An entrepreneur and lover of all things vintage (just no art deco, please), Ms. Maksutenko sells vintage jewelry online.  

On The Cuff With Jesse Walkershaw

Located at 4010 24^th Street, San Francisco, is a small, box shaped store. The clean white walls are lined with a kaleidoscope of pattern and color: the sleeves of beautifully crafted men’s shirts hanging from silver hooks. Walkershaw Man, the extended men’s line from Walkershaw Clothing, opened in August of 2011 and business is good. Connie and Jesse Walkershaw are the owners of this men’s boutique, though it’s much cooler than a boutique. The Walkershaws also operate a sewing school on Castro Street, called Sew, and are in the band Go Van Gogh, together.

No big deal.

Last Thursday I met up with Jesse and we talked a little bit about robbing graves, marital disputes over flamboyant yellow buttons, and why he doesn’t sell shirts in women’s sizes.

Walkershaw Man: Young lady! Have you taken a look outside? There’s like 50 women’s clothing stores out there! What are we men suppose to do? And besides, Connie has a women’s boutique at Sew.

FASHION SLICE: This is true! Anyway, on Walkershaw Man's Tumblr, you describe your line of men’s clothing as “New Looks, for the Well Dressed Man.” But when I look at your clothes I see a look that’s very retro; shirts that Don Draper would wear on a Saturday. So what exactly about Walkershaw Man is “new”?

WM: It’s a bit of a mix. If you look around, for instance, you check out these vests, there is something positively Edwardian about them. But then again this vest, here, (points to a sleeker, black vest) is very forward and futuristic in design so we’re playing a great deal and I’m stealing from history, you know? I’m robbing every grave I can find because it’s hard to invent something totally new. I’m just taking the bits and pieces that I like from fashion and those juxtapositions are what’s “new.”

FS: On display at your shop, and online, is the Brown and Blue BBQ Shirt. I love this shirt for the double buttons!

WM: The buttons were actually a Connie twist. I cannot take responsibility for that! We started making the prototype for Blue and BBQ and then we started playing around with the buttons because they’re usually after the fact. Anyway, she put down two of them together and said, “I really like that” and I said, “I really like that too!”

And so we get yelled at because there’s ten buttons on that shirt. You know? Ten buttons is a lot to unbutton.

FS: What’s your daily routine like at Walkershaw Man?

WM:I do all the cutting at my wife’s sewing school. Connie’s got a great big table. I go in there everyday before I open here at noon so usually by 9:30 I’m over there laying out fabric and laying out patterns.

FS: So where do you sew the shirts?

WM: Well all the prototype sewing is done right at Sew, but our actual production sewing is done right here in San Francisco, by contract sewers that we’ve known for years. They’re the ones yelling at us for putting 10 buttons on a shirt.

FS: So what’s it like working with your wife in so many ways? You’re in a band together and you design together…

WM: We have a daughter together,

FS: You have a daughter together…

WM: It is eventful (laughs)! In so many ways its great and obviously we have a great rapport. She’s my best friend and my sweetheart and all. Now we do argue all the time about creative things and she’s my pattern maker so there is a lot of negotiation between us.  We don’t’ always agree on everything; sometimes we’ll be buying fabric and she’ll be like “why are you buying that fabric?” or “why aren’t you buying that fabric?”

Or like these yellow buttons that I bought years ago; every time I finish cutting something and I’m like “Oh, yes! The yellow buttons would look so good on this” I’ll take them out and Connie will come over and say “you’re not going to put those yellow buttons on that shirt”

“I’m not?”

“Nope.”

Because at the end of the day I have to accept that her taste is exquisite and that I have a certain flamboyance that she doesn’t always share and I suppose that sometimes my flamboyance is beyond what my customer is going to be interested in; that I do wear clothes that my customer will not wear…yet.

FS: You’ve been in business for less than a year and are doing well. In this economy why do you think people are buying your clothes?

WM: People come in because they like the way the clothes look and the feel of the clothes. I’m very much into the tactile aspect of the fabric. I see fabric all the time that looks great but then I touch it and, ugh, I wouldn’t want this on my skin!

FS: Does Walkershaw man provide tailoring services?

WM: Not exactly. I don’t do true bespoke tailoring, but I can adjust my patterns for people whose arms are shorter or longer or if they were in between our sizes. I’m happy to adjust my patterns so that clothes truly fit people because I want them to look good and feel comfortable. I don’t ever want to sell a garment to somebody and it sits in their closets and they look at it regretfully for two years until they give it to Goodwill.

FS: Changing gears a little bit here, your band Go Van Gogh’s sound is a blend of Middle Eastern melodies, Latino drums and American rock n roll. Does your music influence your design?

WM: I think that the music and apparel that I create reflect the eclectic nature of my interests. With music, I like music from all over the planet. You know I’m as likely to be listening to Hank Williams as I am to Balkan Beat Box or some little band from Peru and the next thing you know on my iPod shuffle comes up the Sex Pistols. So its just like I was talking about robbing the graves for fashion ideas, you know? The Pierre Cardin suit idea, you know, I made a lot of jackets for myself like that for years but on the other hand I like mod clothes from England or I was a total punk for a long time. I still wear black, I’m wearing black pants now, but they’re just not skinny anymore. So I like to mix it up... just not front pleaded pants, please. I won’t go there.

Though not available for purchase online, Walkershaw Man is opened for business: Wednesday to Saturday 12PM to 6PM, Sundays 12PM to 5PM and Tuesdays 12PM to 5PM.

SPRING MAKEUP TRENDS FOR 2012

Baby Bangs

So glad to finally find some online lit on baby bangs! Kat Stoeffel's article in the New York Observer, Snip, Snip, Bangs, Bangs! poignantly explores this fad. I personally chopped mine into existence last summer. It was scary and exhilerating AND I was adament on making sure they were very short.

Though the article accredits Rooney Mara, among other ladies, for this eyebrow-framing movement, my bangs are kind of an homage to Jean-Luc Godard's muse. 

Check out the article, above. Stoeffel isn't so lovey dovey about baby bangs though she does give an interesting look into the look.

Anna Karina: 1960's actress, singer, writer, director, baby bang aficionado.

The demurely dragon-tatted Rooney Mara.

Behind the Seams: Chanel

Shangri-La

A spontaneous Shangri-La styled by Katherine Elliott. 

Check out her work at Rive Gauche Craft.

Katherine.

Moi!

Kitty.

Shangri-La.

Things I Would Wear If It Were Cold Outside...

Pretty Prep.
Above is the vintage Abercrombie beret styled with a leather BC BG purse, a stretchy velvet belt from Sid N' Nancy (a last December purchase) and  a Gap cardigan. Maybe one day it will cool down and I will actually be able to wear this outfit!...Maybe.

French Kitty.

Above is Milani's Tropical Fiesta nail lacquer. I love the color pink and would wear it on my nails anytime of the year. For Fall, contrast pink with realistic animal print, like the Guess leopard bag uptop. Complete le look with black boots, black tights and a black top. 

Dusty Sunshine.
I love this silk scarf, not just because it is a Valentino, but also because it belonged to my grandmother. When folded into a large kerchief, I like to wear it under an opened leather jacket with my Chinese jade necklace. The grey nail lacquer is Essie's Power Clutch, one of the fall colors inspired by Kate Middleton. 

If Art and Fashion had a Baby

An artist sits at one of those checkered tables at Cool Beans and sips on a Red Bull while sketching waifish silhouettes. At first glance, this Lexington native seems to be focusing on her drawings carefully with the help of reading glasses. But sit across from her and you will notice the absence of any lenses and that in fact you are looking directly into the framed eyes of Katherine Elliott. Without any lenses, and without a filter, this graduate of New York City's Fashion Institute of Technology is a control freak when it comes to aesthetics, likes to use the word ‘vomit’ in various contexts, and is not afraid of cockroaches, well at least not anymore.

“I use to be completely terrified of cockroaches and of any other creature like them,” she explains “until I was hypnotized. And it really worked!”

Elliott describes her first confrontation with a cockroach after the hypnosis as calm and easy: “I stared at it and said to myself, that is a huge flying cockroach.”

And so her fear has transformed into fascination, though the thought of finding a roach in her boudoir still disquiets Elliott: “I still don’t think I would want to touch a cockroach, but at least now I’m painting them.”

Since the hypnosis last May, insects have been appearing in Elliott’s art. And while beetles and roaches have become a motif in several of her works, Elliott does not let them take on lives of their own. She is still very much in control of what the insects are allowed to do and how. What dictates the tone of her painting are Elliott’s moods, two of which can be distinguished in her oil paintings “Happiness” and “Demeter.”

Inspired by the devastated divine mother, “Demeter” is painted in muddy greens and browns. In it, insects act passively as filthy wallpaper in the background while desperation and loneliness are personified in the expression of Demeter.

But in “Happiness,” beetles are welcomed to the spotlight as they crawl all over a woman’s body. Judging by her serene brow, the pretty subject is quite alright with it. “Happiness” showcases the twisted and delicate of Elliott’s art, a psychology of hers that pushes spectators to the (rose-colored) edge.

 

Elliott is edgy and not just in her art. She is loud, funny, and makes voices when telling stories that will engage the crap out of you. For some reason, though, she did not fit in with the other kids growing up. But there are no sob stories here. There is always comedic relief with Elliott, such as when she describes her dim schoolgirl years. “Some days I would wear a bright pink wig to class,” she says. “It was really cute, with side-swept bangs and layers. And it also had a built-in scalp so that it looked real. People would tell me ‘take off that wig, Katherine,’ and I would reply, ‘No, it’s my real hair,’ and then I would point to the scalp.”

Elliott’s best school memories spurt from the two years she spent at the Governor’s School for the Arts. There, she focused on painting and graphic design, honing skills she had first developed years before at the Tri-District Arts Consortium at Columbia College.

At the Governor’s School, the young artist was particularly inspired by her art history teacher, Dana Howard. It was in Howard’s class that Elliot was first exposed to one of her favorite artists, Edvard Munch.

"I have a soft spot for Munch’s work, especially for his etchings and drawings,” she says.

Elliott uses “creepy” and “elegant” to describe the etchings and drawings by Munch that she loves so much. This vocabulary is not surprising with the young artist, as anyone might find Elliott’s own paintings to be eerie and chic, descriptors akin to those of Munch. 

Perhaps because of her FIT background, Elliott’s waifish figures and subjects are mostly inspired by fashion. Model-like and almost skeletal, her subjects maintain an exaggerated modern beauty. Elliott’s leading ladies evoke an angular and nymph-like aura similar to that of unhealthily thin fashion models. “I have always felt that curvy women are the most beautiful,” Elliott explains, “but in my paintings, I choose this aesthetic. She’s not supposed to look pretty in the real way.”

When asked why fashion and not art, Elliott’s answer is simple: “Well when I was in high school, I got this crazy notion that I would never make money doing fine art.” And so Elliott decided to devise a career in which she would make clothing that was “artful and fun.” It was a practical decision and, while the young artist thought she would be able to take advantage of her background in art, Elliott soon realized that her time behind the drawing board would be minimal and that sending e-mails, fitting models, and the long hours would in fact be the bulk of that career.

“I think if I was living in the ‘70s right now, I would have enjoyed myself in the fashion industry because there was a lot of freehand drawing involved,” she says. ”But nowadays everything is done by computer, and there isn’t a real need for fashion illustrators, something that I would have been interested in.”

Six years in New York City led to a bachelor’s degree in fashion design, unforgettable rooftop photo shoots, summertime internships with Derek Lam and Bill Blass Group, as well as a position with Calvin Klein’s women’s collection. But it wasn’t for her and besides, she ran out of money. So she returned to her roots in Lexington and it’s the best move she has ever made.

“Well now that I’ve moved to Columbia, I really love it down here even though I thought I was going to hate it and vomit and cry everyday!”

Though she is still a baby in her career, it is exciting to watch Elliott’s first steps. Her debut gallery showing took place during August’s First Thursday, where she showed a ceramic slab piece, meant to look like a castle, for the “Vessels” show at the Anastasia and Friends gallery on Main Street.

When asked what other avenues of artistic expression she is involved with, Elliott responds with a litany of projects and ideas. She embroiders, plays with clay, designs a line of womens pastel-colored accessories and purses under her line of Rive Gauche Craft, and she orchestrates fashion photo shoots, too.

“I’ve been known to throw together a tripod,” she says as she takes my car keys and gently places them underneath her Nikon camera, which sits atop books at a Cool Beans table. On the day of this conversation, I was told to “dress up.” Elliott would take pictures of me, herself, and of us together.

“There is something wonderful about directing and appearing at the same time!” she says.  “It puts me in ultimate control.”

While her photo shoots are casual, friendly, and spontaneous, Elliott takes them quite seriously. Except for a few photographs with her handmade lambskin clutches, the shoots are not done for marketing. Most of the time, they are simply manifestations of creativity. 

“It’s sort of like an excess vomit of creativity that I have to channel somehow, and so I’ll just grab a camera and go.”

Let them have fashion, too!

"The Art of the Back-to-School Wardrobe"

With love,

Karina

Stitch. Don't bitch.

Earlier today I was picking out what to wear for the evening's First Thursday, an art crawl held down Columbia's Main Street. Since the weather is what it is, hot and muggy, I decided to go for a floral, flowy skirt I purchased from Sid n' Nancy ages ago. The skirt rides high on the waist, and with a tucked in blouse (or leotard!) a country chic outfit is fini.

The cotton fabric is gorgeous with realistic red, pink and yellow flowers on a backdrop of navy blue.

It really is a great skirt except for one little problem. The ugly little buttons!

The buttons weren't horrendous. Just a little sad.

Fine print says: "Guaranteed Fast Color" & "Made in the U.S.A."

So I got some new red buttons. And by new I mean vintage. But you guys know what I'm talking about. I got these little suckers from the button section at the Old Mill Antique Mall. And, yes, there is a button section.

Mending.

Voila! I love these buttons because you notice them and at the same time you don't. They resemble poppies or miniature rosebuds and are a continuation of the flower power already present in the fabric. They blend in by standing out.What do you think?

Smelling an artificial flower.

Rosebud buttons!

Columbia Cool

It's Spring! Cathy Ramage in Hip Wa Zee and Stacey Parris in 2Gs.

A couple of weeks ago I hosted a lovely bunch of people in my garden for a fashion photo shoot. Diane Hare did the rosy make up and Mark Green snapped the photos. Two of my lovely friends, Stacey Parris and Cathy Ramage, agreed to be my models and Sid N' Nancy, 2G's and Hip Wa Zee were kind enough to allow this little blogess to borrow some fabulous outfits. Thanks, y'all!

So the idea for this post began a couple of months ago when interviewing the lovely Caroline Desanctis  (February's Fashion Slice). The girl knows a lot about fashion and aside from educating us on the wonders of a certain red lip stick, she also revealed how a closet sans sweatpants is a better off closet, indeed. And it is true! All of the looks below are proof that style and coziness can peacefully coexist. sigh of relief*

And so below are some outfits that I picked out from the aforementioned clothing stores. I like to think that these outfits are as breezy as a flower garden and as intimite as a lady's powder room. 

Let me know what you think!

Tea time with Stacey in a Hip Wa Zee vintage pink slip.

Hip Wa Zee really is one of a kind. Located at 940 Harden Street, this Columbia jewel offers a wide variety of costumes (rentals and for sale) year round. But if you aren't thinking of Halloween in May, that's alright. You still need to check out their vintage apparel. For instance, the pink slip above! 

Cathy, inspired and all in silk from 2G's.

2G's is located at 723 Saluda Avenue. There, one can find clothing made of some of the most amazing fabrics. I love their variety of silks and airy cottons and I'm also a fan of their très chic big floppy hats! Be sure to stop by when shopping in 5pts. At their low prices, 2G's is an absolute must!

No dirty dishes here! Stacey in a mint green silk kaftan with copper embroidery from 2G's. Cathy in a vintage nightie and apron from Hip Wa Zee.

Cathy in a 2G's pretty in pink silk gown,

Stacey "Wildflower" Parris. Belt and sunflower dress from Sid n' Nancy.

Last but not least, Sid N' Nancy! Located at 743 Saluda Avenue, this is one of my favorite shopin' hot spots. You'll always find something you love! Whether it be a cute leather skirt for $25 (true story!) or an $8 sunflower dress, be prepared to leave this shop with a zebra stripped bag in your hand and a naughty smile on your face!

Mark Green is a creative photographer who lives in South Carolina with his wife and four cats. He is fascinated by the force and beauty of life and is gifted with the ability to capture a person’s essence in a still image. He is equally happy working in his home studio or on location – as long as he is taking pictures he is ecstatic! Check out Mark's work at www.markverks.com