Frills a-go-go

Brief post today to bleet on about how in LOVE I am with the dress worn by model and actress Laura Bailey at the Anna Karenina premiere in London last night.

I love anything with frills and this is just simply beautiful. It's rather annoying me that nowhere I'm looking had identified the designer - although it definitely has hallmarks of a Valentino design with the elegant tailoring and innovative use of chiffon. A great Glorious Garment of the day for you!

Laura Bailey

Hope you're all enjoying this sunny weather - I just wished I hadn't worn black tights today eek!

Emma x

Baroque is Back

Baroque has to be one of my favourite trends in the world. My wardrobe is filled to the brim with metallics, sequins and gold, and I've always been heavily influenced by the glitz and glamour style of Studio 54 back in the 70s. Which makes me very happy to see that the Baroque trend is set to dominate Autumn/Winter 2012 and the high street is getting stocked up to the brim with baroque inspired garments.  

It was upon coming across a photograph of singer Paloma Faith in this a-may-zing gold and black Baroque number which has inspired me to get out of my summer florals and back to my heavy metallics and vivid golds this Autumn...

Paloma Faith, vintage, August 2012

Having studied the Baroque art period at University, you can indeed take elements from this art form, and input these into your clothing pertaining you get the balance between old and modern right. You can do this either with a slick of plum or deep red lipstick or by adding sparkling, colourful clip on earrings.

Baroque stems from an art form which ran rampant in Italy during the 1600s. Sculptors and painters, such as Bernini and Cararvaggio, were pioneers of this art form as it suited the dramatic subject matter which they executed in their works. Essentially meaning "rough or imperfect pearl", baroque in today's culture evokes drama, colour of depth and in a sense, flamboyancey. Perfect for Autumn fashion.

See how you can translate the colours and forms seen in my two favourite Baroque painters Caravaggio and Peter Paul Rubens into your clothing below...

Caravaggio, "The Conversion on the Way to Damascus", 1601

Peter Paul Rubens, "The Four Continents", 1615

The rich tones and qualities of the Baroque era work really well for Autumn/Winter, and you can find a wealth of garments ideal for this style in vintage clothing stores and markets across the UK. Keep your eyes peeled for jacquard jackets and dresses, vintage oversized clip on earrings and chiffon fabrics to nail this trend on the head.

If you don't want to get your vintage in nor rake through piles of old clothing, ASOS currently have some brilliant items on their site all at relatively decent prices. See some of my favourite ways to achieve the Baroque look, images courtesy of ASOS, below...

ASOS Dolly Bird dress, £75

ASOS Mini skirt in Metallic Jacquard, £35

ASOS Premium Darling Drop Bug Earrings, £20

Now, I know we may still have a few weeks of summer left, yet for those who are already planning their autumn/winter wardrobes (like me) I hope you all embrace the Baroque trend as much as I will be!

Emma x

Yayoi Kusama and Louis Vuitton - A Style Tour de Force

I've been meaning to write a post on the recent Yayoi Kusama and Louis Vuitton collaboration for a long time as this is possibly my favourite art/fashion collaboration EVER. For those requiring an art historical insight Kusama, I'm your blogger, with an expensive Art History degree which conveniently drains my finances each month. I knew that degree would come in handy one day.

Japanese born artist Kusama perpetuates her installation and performance art pieces with a dizzying array of polka dots and colour making her the ideal candidate to create an accessories and clothing collection for Parisian design house Louis Vuitton. When embarking on writing my University dissertation I opted to write 12,000 on the wonders of Kusama's works however my advisor warned me she wasn't big enough an artist to merit 12,000 words on and to focus on the German Modernist art movement instead.  Well Mrs Advisor, after this year's Tate exhibition and now collaboration with one of the world's biggest fashion house I think you have been proven wrong.

Kusama was the Yoko Ono before Yoko Ono. Her beauty, creativity and skill made her a tour de force of artistic wonder and praise in New York during the 1970s. Her pop up installation and performance artworks took form in warehouses and on trees dotted around the city. One notable aspect of Kusama's work that must be recognized is that she suffers from a debilitating mental illness, and her polka dots are her cathartic way of dealing with the mental illness she's suffered since a young girl. To this day, Kusama creates her work in a studio next to her home in a mental institute in her native Japan. In today's society, where mental illness inflicts so many of us, she truly was a pioneer of her time showing that despite being mentally ill you still have the power to create and become something amazing. 

Here are two of my favourite photographs of Kusama during her 1970s artistic peak and illustrate to you how much input she has had in the Vuitton collaboration we see now...

Kusama's personal style is also one that must be admired and I love an artist who actually 'wears' her art, again reinforcing that she is the ideal artist for a top fashion house to work with. Bright coloured textiles and patterns, combined with quirky accessorising and wigs is a fashion win for me and I would love to be able to match my outfit to my wallpaper. Who knows, this could be a future fashion trend...

You can visit Kusama and Louis Vuitton's concept store in London's Selfridges until 1st October 2012. Just go for a look, you don't even need to buy anything, after all - it's art! See some amazing images of the collection below...

Hope you enjoyed reading this rather belated post!

Emma x

*** Images courtesy of Louis Vuitton, Selfridges and Artcyclopedia.