Three good things that have happened in the last 30 days ( it's been 30 days already?!), and my favorite song this time last year.
1) I fell in love... with a cow... a beautiful cow... then I cut him up...
2) I got out of this city even if only for two days.
3) I meet new people, always a good thing.
Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
This song has a play count up in the 400's on my iTunes, more than double my next top song. The song itself is amazing, but this music video is beyond belief. I was in shock when it came out, all Alexander McQueen's Plato's Atlantis collection just one week after it showed on the Paris runway. When I saw the collection I said it would be a matter of time before Gaga got in it, little did I know it would be so quickly.
Something I will never get tired of doing and a song that reminds me of my childhood.
SHOPPING! It never gets old for me. I can do it for myself, for others, or for no one. It is something I can do for hours on end and never get tired of it. I made a list of my favorite boutiques so incase you are in Paris or New York you can stop by and check them out... and pick me up something... What? It was worth a try.
l'Eclaireur, by far the best boutique I have ever been to. This is the men's boutique (The women's one is a two blocks away, and just as impressive) which is actually a ten minute walk from my apartment in the Marais, so I stop by all the time. Their clothing selection is second to none. Not only do they carry all the big brands like Comme des Garçons, Balenciaga, Ann Demeulemeester, and Rick Owens, but they have the small guys like Gareth Pugh, Haider Ackermann and Boris Bidjan Saberi as well. It is all very well thought out and the space is just amazing.
Colette. I don't stop by as much as I used to just because it is a fashion mecca and as such is crowded like a can of sardines, as opposed to l'Eclaireur which you frequently are the only customer in the store. They carry everyone who is anyone so it is nice to be able to see the trendy clothes up close before you see them anywhere else (Haakan [not worth the money], Alexander Wang, and Céline are the current window display brands). Also a 10 minute walk from my apartment, which is nice during fashion week because so many parties are held here, I can just walk down my street and be there.
Oak. Carries a great mix of designers from all price ranges. Their Oak brand is amazing; the style you want for a price you can afford... assuming your style is very urban and dark. I still laugh because I sent my mom here last time she was in New York and she brought me back a cobalt blue marino wool sweater. "It was the only colorful thing in there" was her response. I was shocked because I knew she couldn't go wrong in a boutique full of black... yet somehow she found something not only in a color, but a very bright color at that. I do love that sweater though and get my use out of it; it's that perfect splash of color in my dark winter attire.
Seven. A great place to look for the best up and coming designers.
Spice Girls - Stop
Just another reason the 90's were an amazing decade - pop groups. Sorry NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Hanson, and S Club 7, but the Spice Girls get my vote as the best group. I can't believe how many hours I sat around with friends listening to this cd over and over again until we knew every word to every song. Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham) was always my favorite, and I still love her to this day. She is one of the few celebrities that is actually better as a fashion designer than whatever they were doing before hand. The Olsen Twins are the only other people in that group.
My favorite movie and a song that makes me feel guilty makes me nostalgic.
Pulp Fiction; Quentin Tarantino, A knockout cast, amazing dialog, and the clothes (A nice tailored jacket and crisp white button down are two things I hold close to my designing heart). There isn't a Tarantino film that I don't love, but Pulp Fiction is by far my favorite, and his best in my opinion.
Destiny's Child - Say My Name
I can't think of a song that makes me feel guilty, and that's probably because I would never listen to a song that makes me feel that way, not my favorite emotion. So, one of my favorite songs from the 90's. I've been really getting into the 90's again. I guess when you distance yourself from a decade you can look back at it and find all the good. One thing I can't get enough of is the fashion, and this music video showcase some of it perfectly. A little nostalgia and a little inspiration, what more could you want?
A picture of me last year and now, and how I have changed since then. Also, a song I wish I could play.
Then and now.
Well I'm still dramatic in front of the camera, that certainly hasn't changed... the sparkling lycra leggings have been retired though. I don't want to go too in depth about how I have changed in the past year, because it is safe to say that a lot has happened in my life. I will say though that I'm actively pursing my dreams and loving every minute of it.
Rachmaninoff - Six Moment Musicaux Op. 16 No. 4
It should come as no surprise by now that I love Romantic period piano music. It is the only type that I play. Even my piano teacher used to complain that I wouldn't branch out into other periods of music, and she slowly started to introduce me to early 20th century classical like Bartók and Prokofiev, which I now have quite the liking for. Anyways, Rachmaninoff is the composer I admire the most, and his Six Moment Musicaux is a set of music that I would love to learn someday.
I usually keep my copy of Six Moment Musicaux out on my piano to taunt me into learning it... Also, it looks impressive to visitors because of all the notes. "That's a lot of black" is what most people say, which is quite true. This is just the first page, and the first 20 seconds of the recording, it has the most white space of the entire song. I have No. 4 down, just not nearly to the tempo that it needs to be at. When I play this one, it is more of an adagio than presto. One day.
A picture of someone I admire and a song I can play on an instrument.
I think I have said it before on here, but I really admire Andre Leon Talley. I read his memoir a while back and was very much moved by it. He has such a interesting story, growing up in the south, in a humble financial situation with his grandmother. He moved out on his own to New York and worked extremely hard for everything that he has every accomplished. He may now seem like a larger than life character, but it is his working class savoir faire that makes him someone that I admire. I could have learned a lot from him growing up, that it's not about the fashionable things you don't own, but making the most from what you have. The way he re-tells stories about how his grandma took care of her church gloves, or the Christian Dior pajamas that she worked overtime to get him, is very moving. It's good to hear from someone how they have always followed their passion in life, and that with a lot of hard work you can really make something out of it.
Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata 1st Movement.
Although I have played every classical song that I have posted here so far, this is one that I especially enjoy. While so many songs can be filled with emotion when you play them - especially Chopin - Moonlight Sonata can really take all that you have. Even listening to it, you can hear the fingers struggling to hit each key as all of the performers sorrow flows into the piano. It's not the most technically challenging of songs, but the act of preforming it is what makes this song really special.
Chopin - Nocturne in C Sharp Minor - My favorite Chopin piece to pour my heart into.
Clockwise from upper left: Rick Owens, John Varvatos, Maison Martin Margiela, Dries Van Noten.
Kris Van Assche, Ann Demeulemeester, Alexander McQueen, Neil Barrett.
Favorite Looks - Boris Bidjan Saberi, Damir Doma, Siki Im.
It's time to step up my personal style a bit more, since this time of year it gets a little bit bi-polar. Winter everything is heavily layered with loose draped pieces and tailored elements, all in black. This is quite the contrast to summer which is full of color and basically a walking J.Crew catalog. So my goal for this spring is to make my winter wardrobe summer appropriate, sans couleur bien sur. That why I'm feeling beige, paste, and slate for summer; a neutral pallet to mix in some of my darker pieces with for both seasons. So, things we are looking for...
1) Light tailored pieces - Linen and cotton blazers, casual trousers, well fitted dress shirts...
2) Draped layering pieces - Thin t-shirts and tanks, slouchy paper cardigans, loose cotton leggings (to wear under shorts, which I might consider, but only with leggings underneath. The good lord knows I don't like shorts. That image from Neil Barrett makes a tempting proposition though).
3) That pair of perfect summer sandals which I could never find in the states, but is the only thing they have here in France. Oh how nice to be in the land of fashion, where all your wildest fashion dreams come true, and all your fashion nightmares don't exist.
My favorite color, and a song that makes me laugh.
Emilio Pucci F/W 2010
My favorite color is chartreuse, but you would never be able to tell my looking at me since almost everything I wear is black, white, or some grey tone in between.
Antoine Dodson interview that was turned into a song by some teenagers. I literally fall over laughing almost every time I hear this.
I feel like this should be the setting to a fairy tale.
The miniature Venice of France. One of my teachers, who is French, never heard of the "Venice of France", apparently it is Annecy, much to her disagreement, but I would say it is this town.
For my mother, who wants pictures of church tops.
It's unexpected things like this that I love.
The villages were all picturesque.
Hiking paths were marked with little pieces of tape on random objects; different path, different color. There was no map of the trails so it was a bit like hide and seek trying to find out where you needed to go. I went a good 4km at one point before stumbling upon the path I needed to be on.
Church in the woods.
At least they are blunt about it. Heaven forbid I wander in without taking my allergy medications.
My skincare regimen, and a song I want to have played at my funeral.
I know y'all are dying to know what my skincare routine looks like... not... I don't even care that much, but here is the stuff I use on a daily basis. Clockwise from top left: YSL Touche Éclat, Aveeno Daily Moisturizer, Chanel UV Essentiel SPF 30 (I'm thinking of switching to DiorSnow Sublissime UV though because it has more Zinc Oxide in it), Clean&Clear Astringent, Korres Wheat Soap, The entire line of Dior HydraLife, Skeen Purifying Cleansing Gel.
Chopin - Piano Sonata No. 2 Op. 28 Movement No. 3
My funeral will be a very somber affaire if I have any say in it. Strict dress code; veils for the ladies, hats for the gentlemen. No color allowed. And a very austere space for it to be held in...
like the Church of Light by Tadao Ando. Have this song playing in the background as people file out, crying of course, and it will be perfect. There will also be a hefty dose of Rachmaninov's and Prokofiev's music as well. Hey, don't judge me for already having my funeral planned out, my kids will be thanking me one day for having done the work for them.
A picture of something that means a lot to me, and a song I want to play at my wedding.
A sneek peak of where I'm at, I'll post more when I go back to Paris.
As much of a city boy as I am, there is nothing I love more than a little isolation; I am a cancer after all. I find that I'm in need of alone time a whole lot more living here. My life is 100 times more active than back in Minnesota. I leave my place every morning at 8am, and don't usually get back until between 10 and midnight, and my whole day is filled with stuff. Every now and then I just need to get out of town for a little bit and do a whole lot of nothing... ok, that's a lie... usually it is something athletic. Andorra was all about non stop skiing, this little trip is all about hiking. Even weekend day trips to places involve some sort of unusually long walk, like when I walked the entire Versailles property. So yeah, I guess alone time means a lot to me right now, it keeps me sane, and we designers need to keep our sanity. Heaven forbid we pull a Christophe Decarnin, have a mental breakdown, and just disappear into rehab right before our fashion show.
Alejandro Sanz - Se lo Dices Tú
"Y con su mirada, de cualquier tormenta soy capaz de hacer un cielo azul."
I don't think I could just pick one Alejandro Sanz song to play at my wedding, I think there will need to be at least one hour dedicated to him, because no one does love songs as well as he does.
A photo of my evening and a song I listen to when I want to relax.
Dinner at L'As du Falafel, apparently a world famous Middle Eastern Restaurant according to the line out the door and down the street, and the pictures of famous people all over the walls. I won't lie though... The Holy Land in NordEast Minneapolis is better.
Nicolas Jaar; Notorious B.I.G. - Juicy, Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine.
Only Nicolas Jaar can flawlessly transition between Biggie and Marvin Gaye. I always listen to Nico when I want to chill out for a little while, his way of mixing music is so melodic and it just flows from one song to another. I saw him about a month ago and it was one of the best concerts I have been too. 6am, relaxing on a couch, listening to Nico; it doesn't get much better.
A photo of your day, and a song that you listen to when you're angry.
Today, I went to the Christian Dior Exhibition that just opened, it was a sad reminder that John is no longer at the house, since most of the dresses were from his Haute Couture shows.
Arguably one of the greatest Christian Dior Haute Couture collections ever. I know I have seen images of this dress and collection since before I even started following fashion. It was so great to see this dress up in close in person, and of course the amazing coil necklaces.
Christian Dior Haute Couture S/S 1997
F/W 2007 Haute Couture; another one of those memorable outfits from a memorable show.
1950's Christian Dior day dress. The front was plain and simple with no decoration, all the drama is in the back.
Amazing beadwork. I'm doing a small bead embroidery right now for my surface treatments class and can't even imagine how long this took to do.
You Say Party! We Say Die! - There is XXXX (Niveau Zero Remix)
Ok, so the lyrics are super depressing when you actually listen to them, which I guess is good for a song you listen to when you are angry, but what I love is the slow and steady beat of this song. My favorite remix is by Habstrakt off his Pianorama mix, but I can't find that version anywhere online to share with you. This version is pretty darn close to it though.I would love to hear this at a fashion show, the models slowly gliding down the runway.
Boris Bidjan Saberi has quickly risen to the top of my favorite menswear designers, up in the ranks with Damir Doma and Rick Owens. I love how gritty and urban all his clothes are, it sums up perfectly the mood I have been feeling for the past year and a half. I just thought this video was worthy of sharing because of how beautifully the soundtrack and visuals work with each other; It really feels like I was back at one of his shows.
The meaning of my blog name, and a song I wish I heard on the radio.
Embarras de richesses = an embarrassment of riches en français. I like France, I live in Paris, and plan on living here the rest of my life after college, so I guess something un peu français was appropriate. Also, at one point this blog was all about things that I lusted after in the fashion world. Hence why an embarrassment of riches was appropriate. I guess now it is all about who knows what, so the name has lost it's luster in a way.
Britney Spears - Till The End of The World.
I'm crazy about Britney's new sound. Whoever her producer is that has introduced her to electronic music and infused a little bit of dubstep into her sound is a genius. It is that perfect mix of pop and dub. Dubstep, while a great sound, is often tainted with overtones of sexism and violence, but Britney counteracts that. She has enough of it where dubstep producers are going at it, making amazing remixes, that have all that wobbly bass that makes dubstep so attractive, without all the negative that can be associated with that genre. I haven't been listening to the radio since this song came out, so I don't know if it is playing on the French top 40 stations quite yet, but I certainly hope so. It's Britney, and she is back.
10 things I want to do before I die, and a song I like on the radio.
In no particular order...
1) Obtain a respectable position in my field of work.
2) Own an apartment in the 4th.
3) Travel the world and visit places I've only seen in National Geographic; Mont Saint Michel, Angkor Wat, Lake Malawi.
4) Start a serious fashion collection, aka clothes I don't wear but have because of their significance in fashion. I've started it with a few Margiela and Helmut Lang pieces, but I would love to expand it. Get some beautiful Raf Simons and Hedi Slimane for Dior Homme pieces.
5) See my designs on someone on the streets.
6) Start a serious furniture collection.
7) Conquer my fear of heights somehow. Preferably not involving heights.
8) Learn to speak at least two more languages fluently. French and German, I'm talking about you.
9) Get a international license, and a vehicle for whatever country I am living in. Oh the things I would do to have a motorcycle here. One day that vintage Ducati will be mine.
10) To add to my list of things to do before I die, because struggling to come up with only 9 things is ridiculous.
Colonel Reyel - Celui
I really like this song a lot. Maybe because I have a soft spot for commercial hip hop, maybe because I don't understand the lyrics? Ok, I do understand them, but it took a lot of listening to pick up all the words. Also this music video makes me crave the Bahamas. A trip to St. Maarten anyone?
What is in my bag, and a song I used to love but now hate.
J.Crew tote bag, Macbook, iPod Nano, Sony Cyber-shot camera, Burberry pouch that I put my change in, Prada wallet, this mornings issue of Metro, leather pencil pouch full of Copic pens and tech pencils, keys, two usb stick, Burt's Bees honey lip balm, Korres guava lip butter, YSL Touche Éclat (the most amazing thing ever to get rid of all the signs of art school fatigue, including those horrid bags under my eyes), Moleskin planner (can't live without that), android cell phone, tic-tacs, metro pass.
It's a lot of stuff, and it weighs a lot too. Like I said yesterday, I carry my life in my bag. Normally I have scarfs and whatnot in there also, but it was 60 degrees today, and so I went without bringing one with me. The Parisians are still bundled up in their winter parkas and scarfs, while I am contemplating bringing out the sandals.
Benny Benassi - Satisfaction
I think this is the only electronic song that a lot of people actually recognize, and by electronic I mean not dance music. Not any of that Cascada stuff, or as my dad would call it Euro Trash. Anyways, Benassi is amazing, and the beat to this song is absurd in the best possible way. But I have heard it way too much, and like always, too much of a good thing quickly turns bad. I still love hearing it in the clubs though, and nothing beats hearing it in person at the hands of Benassi himself.
