Neutrals in Humboldt Park

Neutrals in Humboldt Park

November 8, 2012  |  City of Chicago, Personal Style

Thrifted coat, Kokorokoko Vintage cashmere-angora sweater,

c/o Rag & Bone jeans, vintage heels, H&M hat, thrifted pearl clutch

Humboldt Park has fast become one of my favorite neighborhoods in Chicago to explore. When a close friend of mine moved there recently, I finally became acquainted with one of Chicago’s most vibrant neighborhoods on a more intimate level. My outfit was inspired by Chicago’s park system, so I stuck to a neutral color palette to allow the materials to take center stage. And just as Chicago’s neighborhoods blend together, the off-whites complement each other as the eye moves seamlessly between the faux fur collar and sequined front.

Usually my outfits are quite colorful, so I challenged myself in a different direction. I’m also in love with this incredible cashmere/angora blend sweater covered in feather-shaped sequins. I bought it at Kokorokoko Vintage, one of my absolute favorite stores in Chicago. Combining sequins and cashmere/angora in a single garment? Now that’s just plain brilliant. Nothing in this outfit cost me over $35. Most of the pieces were thrifted or vintage, because I wanted to capture the individualist spirit I feel embodies Humboldt Park. And just like with vintage, often times it’s the overlooked things, the pieces that are passed over by the masses, that have the most character and spirit.

See more photos

Personal Style: Blue Snakeskin & Breaking Bad

Personal Style: Blue Snakeskin & Breaking Bad

October 21, 2012  |  Personal Style

Equipment top, Siwy “Rose” jeans in Bitten

c/o AllSaints leather jacket, vintage heels from Kokorokoko

c/o Ray-Ban Wayfarers, TopShop enamel skull ring

My inspiration for head-to-toe snakeskin was first piqued when I saw Hannah MacGibbon’s Fall 2011 collection for Chloé. I thought her presentation was a bit one-note, as snakeskin deserved to be explored at a deeper conceptual level if it was going to be the sole reference. Slathering it across chiffon and leather in predictable boho-chic silhouettes is just plain lazy. I’ll tell you the truth – the only reason I was excited to see MacGibbon’s snakeskin overloaded collection was because it looked inspired by Tuco Salamanca.

I know what you’re thinking.

Who the hell is Tuco Salamanca and what the hell does he have to do with Chloé?

Well, dear reader, unless you’re a die-hard Breaking Bad fan I wouldn’t expect you to know who Tuco Salamanca is. For being a meth-snorting psychopath who “beats his homies to death when they ‘dis’ him,” Tuco is by far the most fashionable character in Breaking Bad. Aside from Jesse, he’s the only character with a discernible sense of style. After all, you’ve got to admire his penchant for snakeskin-printed silk and bedazzled shirts… Yesterday morning when I walked into my closet to get dressed, I saw my Siwy jeans and Equipment blouse within eyeshot of each other. I immediately remembered how I felt when I first saw the photos of Chloé Fall 2011 on Style.com. And so I channeled my inner Tuco for a full-on outfit inspired by one of TV’s most epic villains.

I went with a color palette dominated by the dual landscapes of Breaking Bad; the steely grays of industrial Albuquerque; and the icy blues that are central to the series’ lush visual storytelling. If there’s one color that dominates Breaking Bad, it’s blue. Fifth Season episode “Fifty One” is fully submerged in blues, from the pool that figures prominently in a crucial plot twist to the clothes Skyler wears. Even the core of the series, the substance that catalyzed Walter’s disintegration from family man to homicidal maniac, is ‘blue’ meth. One of the reasons Breaking Bad is the best show on television is how the visual elements of storytelling are just as important as the plot.

I thrifted these Siwy jeans during my trip to New York in September when Rhianna led me on an afternoon jaunt through the Lower East Side constellation of thrift & consignment shops. I’d never owned a pair of snakeskin pants before because I never found the right pair. With these, I love how subtle and cool the print is done in a metallic dye that shimmers in the light like scales. I loved the way these two snakeskin prints blend together quite seamlessly. Different enough to avoid being matchy-matchy, but similar enough to make it work. A skull knuckle ring? Surely Tuco would wear one if there had been a TopShop in Albuquerque…

My “PanAm” heels from Kokorokoko lent a graphic, angular touch while staying within the color palette of grays, whites, and sky blues I envisioned for the look. The sharp edges and abstract design have a Southwestern vibe that I can’t quite place. In my memories of childhood trips to the American deserts in New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona, the architecture had a strangely cosmic twinge, like humans only recently settled the area. Why does ‘Space Age’ imagery always look perfect in deserts – could it be something so simple as the landscape mimicking the rocky, crater-ridden surface of astral bodies like the moon and Mars? This photo of Jesse and Walt wearing their futuristic lab suits in lawn chairs perfectly encapsulates the color palette I’m trying to describe with words, but is better explained visually…

Sometimes it’s best to let photos speak for themselves, no?

The Oversized Coat

The Oversized Coat

October 9, 2012  |  Personal Style

The alternate title of this post is Why I Have The World’s Greatest Little Brother… what, you say?

Before I divulge one of the (many) reasons why my little brother Matt is one of my favorite people in the entire universe, lets talk about coats. If you live in Chicago, or anywhere cold for that matter, you should have a wide selection of coats. Why? Because your coat is the look when it’s chilly. People seem to forget that! Sure, the “official” purpose of outerwear is to protect us from the frigid wind shears that barrel across the frozen surface of Lake Michigan like waves of of tiny daggers, but you and me both know the real power of coats is that they make or break your cold-weather outfits.

Thrifted wool coat, Proenza Schouler tee, c/o rag & bone jeans,

Dethrose Vintage heels, Tom Binns earrings, c/o Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses

MAC ‘Amplified Heartlessness’ lipstick, Essie ‘Fishnet Stockings’ polish

For Fall 2012, several of fashion’s leading designers showed the new boxier, looser-fitting silhouette. Céline and Proenza Schouler entranced women with their new architectural explorations of the space surrounding women’s bodies, albeit from different references – Philo pushed forward the neo-minimalism first pioneered three years ago, while Jack and Lazaro sought inspiration from the flat, angular karate uniforms of Asian martial arts. And we haven’t even gotten to the sumptuous crimson coats that collectively wooed women – myself included – from across the runways. After all, I had been on the search for a coat in this style for months ever since the February shows. Finding the perfect red oversized coat was always in the back of my mind, although  I’ve never converted into the fashion version of a heat-seeking missile, searching out my prey with cold, laser like efficiency. Thrifting for me is more like a meandering form of meditation as I lose myself in the treasure hunt, looking for that one magic piece.

So why was this $12 wool coat – in perfect condition – quite possibly the greatest thrifting find of my life thus far?

Photo via Style.com

When I saw this red Jil Sander coat (left) for the first time on Style.com I felt like I’d been struck by lightning. This is fashion that moves the spirit. Powerful yet feminine, in an unforgiving shade of lipstick red, this was sure to be the coat of the season. It envelopes the body like a cocoon, reminiscent of the revolutionary silhouettes championed by Cristobal Balenciaga yet completely forward-thinking. I prefer the looser shape of Jil Sander’s with the wide, somewhat cartoonishly large lapels with their vaguely Prada feel to the other red coats shown below.

Comme Des Garçons, left; Calvin Klein Collection, right

American Vogue, October 2012

A blog post about Fall 2012’s infatuation with the oversized red coat wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the striking outwear shown by Rei Kawakubo at Comme Des Garçons, a cheeky riff on pattern-making. The models looked like 2-D paper dolls, and there’s no better color to make a dramatic statement than red. Francisco Costa – ever the master at creating directional fashion that is as wearable as it is influential – presented a gorgeous poppy-colored coat using a densely woolen fabric for a softly touchable yet completely architectural spin on the “power coat.” Yes, the “power coat.” Could there be a better phrase to label such an intimidating piece of outerwear?

So, wherever did I find my amazing new vintage wool coat that looks about as close to the Jil Sander piece as I could get? Clearly not in Chicago, where this would have sold the day it came in. No, I found this magnificent piece while thrifting with my little brother Matt at the Madison Goodwill on State Street near the University of Wisconsin campus when I went up to visit him last weekend. Keep in my mind that Matt just pledged to join a frat (I don’t hold that against him) and is one of those classically handsome, blonde-haired blue-eyed boys who’s authentically friendly yet intimidatingly popular. He is honestly one of the coolest people I have ever met. Whereas I am constantly going fangirl on people in my head, I think Matt could have dinner with President Obama, Radiohead and Michael Jordan at the same time without breaking a sweat, but he’s not at all bored or cynical or tired. He’s just fucking cool. THIS IS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT – I am totally going fangirl on my own little brother right now. How meta of me!

So when I told him I wanted to check out the vintage and thrift stores near campus, he didn’t complain. No, he shepherded me from store to store and helped me deliberate over the strengths of all-black vintage sequined tops versus colorful vintage sequined tops in the corporate office environment. He patiently waited while I dug through coats before coming across the sartorial Holy Grail – this seemingly unworn wool coat from the early 80s with exactly the right proportions, silhouette, and color and a literal steal at $12. Yes, TWELVE DOLLARS. I still can’t believe it. Hallelujah, I found my dream coat and it’s all thanks to Matt! He did note that it “looks big,” but conceded that it was “totally something I would buy and wear.” The best complement of my life.

And that is why Matt is the world’s greatest little brother.