Trip to Skye

Aldo's patent kitten heel

Lately my eye has been drawn to all things sky blue. I'm not sure if it was a witty T-shirt that I found and failed to buy, or if it's the colour of skin that Hindu deities has, but each time I see this colour, I'm drawn to it. It's been the case for a good two or three months.

He's beautiful, right?

I didn't get too many photos this week. Just a few shoes from the Aldo shop in my local mall. Hopefully, I'll see some more sky blue things around. It might even turn into one of those strong trends.

Moore blue by Gap

Serene Blue by Gap

Stripe Floral by Gap

I love all three of these jeans, also. The floral striped ones are my favorite. But then again, I love the title of the lightest "Serene" blue. I feel it evokes deities and meditation as well as blue skies and how you feel great when the weather's fine.

Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading and happy Thursday!

Italia on My Mind

Hello everyone! I see that I have a few readers from new places this week: Cypress and Netherlands. I know very little about Cyprus, but I know that the plants and general flora inspired perfumist Francois Coty to invent a new genre of fragrance. Le Chypre is said to attempt to capture the trees... et c. of the island. I know even less about the Netherlands, except that I'm going to be doing business with them soon! [Thanks Aegon!]

I've always liked the idea of Italy. I'll be the first to admit that between attempting to learn German and going on a free-for-all research mode on all things Asian culture, I've neglecting learning about this great culture that seems at once close and far.

Paris, France is always on the lips of everyone who deals with any kind of international industry, and all those touristy tote bags say "London, New York, Tokyo, Los Angeles... Paris". I won't pretend I'm not a Francophile, I've learned a French phrase or two, and I've imagined going to Paris many times.

However nothing quite replaces Italy, in my mind. I'd like to start learning more. The language is rich, the coffee has become a legend, the dancing is intense, and the food is great (at least from all that I've seen)!

Now I have a little bit of a situation with trends. I come up with an idea, don't tell anyone about it, and a year or so later I see it being done by someone else. For example, some years ago I imagined that it would be great to have dress shoes made mainly out of lace, and scrapped the idea, thinking it would prove too difficult. And yet:

However, this time I've come up with a little photographic evidence to show that I've been thinking about all this for a while.

Gotta love hair volume! (I think country does that at some time...)

Is a center part a current trend? Maybe not, but the thought-association is there.  Also: necklace!

Italian flag colours

If you've seen Monica Bellucci in Heart Tango (or anything), you know Italian style is great! ;)

I know a lot of my ideas of this country could just be great big stereotypes. However I'd like to change that.

I can easily see Italia gaining French status in the collective American psyche, and it would be great if that could more than a trend of the moment.

What cultures do you love? Which ones would you like to learn more about?

Thanks for reading, and Happy Thursday!

Form over function? (Or Flowers, Fashion and Education)

I've heard the phrase before, "form over function", "form versus function" but while I may have heard the original phrase as well, I don't recall hearing the specific "Form follows function" until I started to research a little bit for this post. 

I took a class some years ago called "Women Artists" and we learned about functional art like the work of Bertha Hoola van Nooten, Belgian botanical illustrator (1840-1885). And it came across to me as a novel concept: It's art, but it's also the visual aids for a textbook!

Nooten's Poinsettia pulcherrima

Nooten's Butea frondosa

It seemed to me that a lot of times, things that are functional (at least in some of my textbooks) seem kind of sterile. I was surprised, for example, when one of my history books used humorous language. A history book... that's actually funny?! 

Imagine your biology textbook being worded in this poetic language:

“This tree of medium height is one of the most beautiful ornaments of the Isle of Java and of the neighbouring islands. The flowers of fiery red are softened by the delicate shades of the buds and by the sombre hue of the bracts. One can easily imagine the striking effect of this tree in solitary and barren places where it is seen from a distance of several miles. Yet, so slightly do these flowers hold together, that they fall off at the least touch and such is the brightness of their brilliant colouring that in strewing the ground they seem to deck the grass with coals of fire” - Nooten (describing the plate above)

It's no doubt that detailed painting of flowers can be beautiful, even when done with a scientific flair. Even so, I didn't expect to find this on the walls of the display room in Ikea:

Plate 22 by Cynthia Newsome-Taylor (Taylor began botany paintings in 1945.)

Even so, I was glad to see it. 

If that took me by surprise, then words don't quite convey how a was oddly, yet pleasantly startled when I saw this in my fashion magazine subscription. 

T-shirt by Christopher Kane. Currently on sale at Luisaviaroma.com

It was actually some sequined variation of this concept, but I thought this was the strongest example with the clearest shot.  There are other interesting variations of the same theme.

Spring 2014

Who knew? Fashion that could educate! Of course, while we're on the subject of fashion-- Is fashion functionality (keeping warm, modesty) or is it also art (pattern, colour, texture, shape)? If you dare, contemplate your body as an artistic canvas (bone structure, muscle shape, curves, hair texture), and imagine if all clothing were to work with your shape, instead of against it. 

With that in mind, I think it's time to bring up the person to coined the phrase. Louis Sullivan was said to be inspired by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio who said in his book "On Architecture" that buildings should be sturdy, useful and beautiful. Sullivan re-worded the concept like this:

"It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic, of all things physical and metaphysical, of all things human and all things superhuman, of all true manifestations of the head, of the heart, of the soul, that the life is recognizable in its expression, that form ever follows function. This is the law."

If that is in fact so, then even the most overblown, detailed items of nature will prove to have a purpose, and those things that seem unnervingly clean will eventually be seen as missing something vital. Maybe one day textbook editors will say "That book needs humor; the kids will forget everything they just read!" Maybe one day we'll look at our bodies and say "It's perfect! It does exactly what I need it to do!' And our clothes will be so beautiful and comfortable that we won't complain on the aesthetic side.

And who knows? Maybe our clothes will keep on teaching us things! 

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Things that are besides the point:

I found some other pictures while preparing for this post, and I still want to share them.

Christopher Kane Spring 2014

Miu Miu Spring 2014

When botanical illustrations meet sinister cats... More news at 11!

Miu Miu Spring 2014

The colours and patterns of the print remind me of sushi... Swim away, Pretty Fishy!!!

Japanese high-fashion florist Makoto Azuma arranged some 2,000 species of flowers, some freshly cut, some withering, for the award-winning book Encyclopedia of Flowers. 

Azuma and photographer Shunsuke Shinoki team up for this project.

In the back of the book, each flower from each arrangement is listed with its scientific name. (I just enjoy saying the phrase binomial nomenclature, so I'm throwing it out there.) Beauty that educates. 

The poster that started the wheels in my mind to turning... 

Happy Thursday, Everyone!

Sources:

"Lars Müller Publishers — Lars Müller Publishers." Lars Müller Publishers — Lars Müller Publishers. Lars Müller Publishers, n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.

"Plate 22." Art2Order. Next Retail Ltd., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.

Speirs, Carol.http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/special-collections/featurewomenbotanicalartists.pdfOnline PDF. University of Reading. "Two Women Botanical Artists and Their Most Famous Works".