Costume and Coats ~ Love.

Had a lazy Sunday today, watched a couple of movies and some other lazy hobbies. Today, it was Stardust and Interview with the Vampire. I'm a fantasy typa gal :)
I'm also one of those people that always notices when somebody gets a haircut, even a little one. And when I get bored in class, unintentionally divert my full attention to what people are wearing, and what hairstyle they have goin on. So, needless to say, when I'm watching a movie, I love looking at the CLOTHES.

Monsier Lestat! J'adore your ruffles, and frilly things. And that colour blue suits you so well! <3

Seriously, this guy - Lestate/Tom Cruise - Is there any other guy that could look this good in frills and lace? And make it look incredibly sexy...mMMm
I'm a real fan of lace and frills and ruffles and flounces etc...ahh I should've lived in the 1800's..attend masquerades...wear frilly nightgowns...............
And, of course, I
Love.
Coats.
And Lestat, who is an amazing character, by the way,
has like, the coolest coat! look at those gold patterns! So elegant, and well done! Gotta find out who the costume designer was. Look at the buttons on Louis/Brad Pitt's coat. So detailed....velvety, silky goodness.

Watching Stardust, I really liked Septimus' coat:

I think it's the abundance of buttons that really got me diggin this.
Tristan's coat was pretty cool too...but not as cool as this baddy's...

There's just somethin about guy coats that I find so attractive. I remember last winter, really wanted a cool coat, but there were so many varieties, making it so difficult to choose.
And even more so, when you're on a tight budget, and the one thing you get has to be totally gorgeous. And when you want something, or there's a piece of clothing you wanna get, your eyes just peel themselves, and you pay a lot of attention to things, and notice things you didn't before.

Like if you really wanted gladiator sandals, you'd start seeing all these people wearing gladiator sandals on the street, in the malls. Or like once, I had a crush on this guy Eric, and I swear! I started seeing his name everywhere! Like it was a sign or something!

So yeah, I ended up buying this coat, that if you buttoned right up, sorta looked something like it was from Victorian times. Like a Victorian dress, which looked kinda weird, so I don't button it right up. It sorta looks kinda witchy, which is why I love it. Love to look intimidating and mysterious. What a perk!

Bag of Lollies!

Snooped around Style.com, and found a bag of lollies! Lolita style <3

Frilly bloomer from Betsy Johnson.. 
Ohh, definitely prep. I can even imagine this as some harajuku schoolgirl fad. Bloomers, as in traditional undies right? I wonder what grandma would say if I walked out with bold pink undies, totally exposed and a skimpy skirt…yeah yeah. I know they're just shorts. Ohh doesn't it just remind you of….bubblegum! how fantastic! Luv Betsy-J.

Chanel Candy Floss! This dress is soo sweet. It can be a sundress, evening dress, nightdress, betcha could even pass as a lil wedding dress?

 

Karen Walker. Can someone shout Pinata?! This is sooo rad. It's cute, yet so much more than just cute. Sophisticated, creative. The graphics are to die for!

Oh you wacky Louis, my Louis Vuitton..you are tempting me with marshmellows and chocolate..mMMm..lollycake lollycake, rockyroad rockyroad!

 

Photo credits: Style.com

Ohh My Mugler!

Was cleaning my computer a moment ago. Yes, and about time too. Utterly disorganised files everywhere. My bedroom's not that bad though, I swear! Anyway, I found a stash of pictures off Thierry Mugler's Women Edition Collection AW09/10

Sophisticated, elegant, simply gorgeous! And sexy. Some of the clothes are hard-edged, and some have a more softer feel. There seems to be a sense of power, an enticing kind of..charisma maybe? embodied in the clothes, the model, captured by the photographer? And the clothes are oh, so wearable!

These are my favourites. By all means check the collection out. There's quite a variety, though they all embody the same sense of power and luxury.
 

I'm a sucker for black lace. Or lace in general. It's just so timeless. Modern and traditional at the same time. And entirely feminine. Deliciousness.

I love how shiny, clad and sexy it is. This one could even be an outfit straight out of an action film. Say Batman/Underworld-esc? Or a kick-ass secret agent..Imagine her kickin ass wit those heels! Classy.

Something you can totally wear from dusk till dawn. Incredibly chic.

I wish I had the bucks to buy this. All I can say is that this dress is so beautiful.  I am in lovee with this look.











Oh, and by the way, isn't Angel just one of the best fragrances of all time?

Photo credits: Thierrymugler.com

Plain White Tee Gets a Makeover!

I wrote about Ann-Sophie Back's AW09 RTW collection earlier, and some of it's inspirations - horror villains, dreams, and other nightmarish posse. And the collection obviously had ideas derived from the native-American dreamcatcher - feathers, circular patterns with intricate web-weaving integrated into the garments, which I reckon was very creative.

Anyway, this wicked t-shirt designed by Kling by Kling caught my attention today. It reminded me quite a bit of the mystical dreamcatcher:

I just find it so...Cool! What's really cool about it, is what the t-shirt was designed for. It's part of Project White T-shirt - which, if you haven't heard of, is exhibited to support the Designers against Aids charity.  31 designers from 13 countries challenge their own creativity and innovation towards the humble white t-shirt. To turn something plain and boring into so much more, into anything, even furniture! The reformation of the plain white tee is definitely anything but plain...

Which got me curious about Kling by Kling. According to their website, "KLING by KLING is a world of dreams and the clothes are there to immerse the viewer with fantasies." Gotta Lovvvee love love that kind of design philosophy.


Moonlight.

Photo credits: Projectwhitetshirt.com

I Miss That.

I just finished reading this blog entry, and I feel I can really relate to Melissa's feelings of taking photographs with a manual camera vs. a digital one. Nowadays, I think people have just become more impatient. Our desire to have things, have them fast, could possibly be reducing the quality of that tiny experience, those little moments that we took for granted. The preciousness of them.

The digital age has probably made us feel less of that spark, little ounce of happiness from driving to the pharmacy to get the developed photographs, and opening the package like it was a Christmas present, and then finding out all at once what sort of memories you had captured, perfect and imperfect moments. Now with digital cameras, we strive for that perfect picturesque. Imperfection has no value.

When I get a handwritten letter in the mailbox from a friend overseas, compared with an email, or a facebook message,  the feeling is different. The feeling is better. That venture of walking to the mailbox, and finding a letter addressed to you, trying to figure out who it's from, and then opening it slowly. It's so much more than just a click of a button. There's anticipation, curiosity. I miss that.

Ann-Sofie Back burns in Hell.

I just discovered Ann-Sofie Back's Fall09 RTW collection Ann-Sofie Back burns in Hell, like, neary a year after it's show on London Fashion Week. Anyway - I digg it. Totally. It's not the kind of thing I would normally wear, but I can say, for sure, I'd be caught dead in it anyday. You know what I mean? And there's definitely something very captivating about it that just holds your attention. It feels different, definitely more underground than mainstream, I suppose is one way of putting it. It's not another season's version of a grecian goddess, or bella ballerina..I say it's something special.

Maybe it's the make-up, the Edward Scissorhands meets beetlejuice meets Freddy Kruger look. Something seemingly...horrible? can become so stylish. The design definitely has a memorable presense to me. It could be a gothgirl's dream, a beautiful nightmare, and hey, I'd say that's a good thing. Possession, prom-queen, dream-catchers, corpses, all bring such a unique perspective. I think you could go even far as to say necrophilia could've been an inspiration. Garments slashed in a way that screams Elm Street, the outfits were conservative but with adequate amount of sexy.

I think one of the key original elements of the collection were the references to Dream Catchers, the webbing, the intricate knotting, feathers. Just the details of it, you could see that everything was very thoughfully done, even the slashing on the clothes. At first glance, you may think it's randomly slashed, and..even your five year old sister could do the same with a pair of scissors to your favourite shirt, you're mistaken, and you realise that there's a structure and a pattern, and everything has been thought through. It's this careful, yet rebellious kind of construction that attracts me to this collection. And it's consistency is flawless, which is why I strongly disagree with this commentary. And what if it's not utterly wearable? This is catwalk. I wonder how Ms. O'Niell reacts to couture..........and she must think I have weird taste. Oh well, can't please all. Weirdoz rule!

Photo credits: Elle.com

Dear Me

I was aimlessly browsing a bookshop a while back. Was having one of those "bookshop" days - Time to kill, nothing else better to do, nowhere else you'd rather go. And you know, every time you have one of these days, you surprisingly find something a little amazing. Ahh..the humble book.

And something a little amazing I did find. A book called Dear Me: A Letter to My Sixteen-Year-Old Self. It was light, and had an interesting enough title and cover for me to pick it up, and yes, I do judge books by their cover. *shocker*. I recommend you get your hands on one - borrow it from the library, buy it, whatever. It's truly inspiring and heartfelt.

Here is a picture and description of the book I got from the publisher's website:

-----
If you were to write a letter to your 16-year-old self, what would it say?

In Dear Me, some of the world's best loved personalities have written just such a letter.
Dear Me includes letters from three knights, a handful of Oscar winners, a bevy of Baftas, an intrepid explorer, a few teenage pop stars, an avid horticulturalist, pages and pages of bestselling authors, a dishy doctor, a full credit of film directors, a lovey of top actors, a giggle of comedians and an Archbishop! 

The letters range from the compassionate to the shocking via hilarity and heartbreak, but they all have one thing in common: they offer a unique insight into the teenager who would grow up to be....
Stephen Fry, Annie Lennox, Paul O'Grady, Jackie Collins, Fay Weldon, Alan Carr, Peter Kay, Debbie Harry, Brenda Blethyn , Jonathan Ross, Liz Smith, Will Young, Alison Moyet, Rosanne Cash, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Yoko Ono, Emma Thompson… to name but a few.
It is the PERFECT GIFT for your mum and dad, sister or brother, gran or granddad or someone who is a teenager, even turning 16
-----

When I read the letters that these famous people had written to their sixteen year-old selves, you could feel how human they all were. I got bits of advice, bobs of inspiration, and a couple of giggles to that. I'm getting to a point in time where I've realised that life moves so quickly, and nothing ever stays still. It's been freaking me out, the fact that soon enough, I'll be worrying about silly unavoidable things like aging and other issues that everybody goes through. Reading this book reminded me to enjoy my moments in my life, and it seems that the older you get, the wiser you do become, and that wisdom brings about something better in life to look forward to. 


Dear Me,

You care too much about what your parents think. You care too much about failure. You care too much about potentially embarassing yourself. You've always thought that crossing the line was a bad thing, but you're not always right, and you've always lived life the safe way. Give up the "I wish" statements, and actually do something to get the things you want. Scrub that. Do more than something. Go all the way. If you don't work hard enough, you'll never get the things you want. 
Treasure your childish giggly moments, because they won't last forever. Don't spend so much on lavish food, though I know you won't listen. Gluttony is so tempting, and you chose to revel in it, so don't complain when you gain a couple more pounds. 
You should stay true to yourself, which is what you already know deep down. So don't let outsiders or people who don't understand you influence what you want, and what you know makes YOU happy.
Always wear a smile, and try to be more confident in your own skin, and remember to enjoy learning about who you are.


Love, Moonlight.

Birth of The Moonlight Journal

Holiday is time away from pressures and commitments, or...it's kind of how it should be. That's what it was made for. Of course in reality it's never entirely this way, but we take the hand we're dealt. The new year has silently creeped up again, and then BOO! It's here! What shall we do? I never was one for new year's resolutions. I mean, they're those things that you say you'll do in order to improve yourself for the next 365 days, and then sort of forget about it after the "Oh, it's another new year" hype is over.

But I like the idea of a said commitment, it sounds like some stylishly serious business. I guess it could be. Has the potential doesn't it? This...declaration, i guess - resolution. Even the word itself is robust. So for the sake of being fortunate to live into another New Year, why not follow this harmless tradition? I think it is harmless. Would you really bawl yourself to tears finding out another 365 days later that you didn't stick to your resolutions? Hardly. I hope. 

My New Year's Resolutions...

1. Take care of myself.

I know I don't do this enough. And I'm annoyed that this resolution is so vague. I should be more specific but whatever. I should really eat better food - as in healthy food, and sleep earlier, as in...say 9pm, and bother to blowdry my hair nicely so I don't look like a hag in the morning.

2. Take care of my money.

As in...save more, spend less. Such a sucker for sales. I buy all this stuff I really don't need at all. Whenever I'm in the zone of such an expenditure, there's these two voices in my head. "you don't need this." "but you want this. you want to have it". "you don't need this" blurs into obscurity. Sometimes I'm happy about the result, sometimes I realise too late, that I really didn't need it. 

3. Draw more.
I miss drawing, painting and stuff. It's quite therapeutic, I think. And it makes me kind of happy, like in that moment there's this really cool purpose of mine. I bought a sketchbook last year, didn't use it much. It's about time I put it to use. Should use it to sketch some new designs. 

4. Work on those damn sewing skills. which suck, I must add. Ok, really I'm not that bad. just slow...and if unlucky, slow and confused. 

5. Study hard. and 
6. Study like I need it to breathe.

In order to prevent from beating myself up mentally for not trying hard enough, and then having to live with the consequences. Enough said. Don't even want to start on that. 

7. Maybe work on my cooking skills too. It's quite the survival skill I want to harness.

8. Improve my piano playing.  ahh, for the sake of art.
and 9. Love fashion more passionately. for the sake of fashion - one of the reasons this blog has been created.

Yours,
Moonlight.