Dazed and Confused

So there I was minding my own business when:



...and I fainted. But I'm conscious again though I don't know whether to weep or take a vow of silence. Out in May 2010.

Today I wanna get on one of these and ride away!

Picture this. SA Fashion Week Summer 2010.

I was actually taking a picture of this woman's shoes


This was the cutest girl I saw besides that exquisite squint model. Will look for a picture of her.


I found this picture of this person on www.styleicon.wordpress.com

If this is what happened at SAFW, AFI is next.

I've been nervous about reporting on this year's SA Fashion Week summer collections. If you really want some great collection reviews of the shows, you could ways go to the following blogs and sites:

www.ifashion.co.za
www.safashionweek.blogspot.com
www.styleidol.wordpress.com
www.trendsbeyondthreads.blogspot.com/

I on the other hand, think there's much more value in discussing the actual event, format and the place of a fashion week in South Africa's current state of affairs, more importantly, why we should collectively consider doing something else that will work for our industry. The South African Fashion Week model is based on the American model as far as I could tell when I was in NY. We know how to put on a proper Fashion Week and that's thanks to the pioneer of Fashion Week in South Africa, Lucilla Booyzen of SAFW. When it started in 1997, nobody had done it before.

Fashion Week used to be a magical event where all the know-it-alls and the ones everybody wants to know were in attendance. You aspired to go there if you were on the outskirts of the industry and everything was coveted and very important. Until last year, SAFW was, for five years, sponsored by Sanlam. Last year, the contract ended and Sanlam decided not to renew it. (According to the rumour mill, Patrice Motsepe sits on the Sanlam Board and probably didn't even have to pull any strings to ensure that his wife, Dr Precious Moloi Motsepe and her African Fashion International get rid of their only competition.) The mill also says that the money they were putting into SAFW has now gone to golf. Whether it's true or not, the result of Sanlam pulling their sponsorship has devastated the industry.

I couldn't attend Clive Rundle's 5 piece instillation and I'm very sorry because I heard it was good. The majority of the shows this season were utterly disappointing. I won't knit-pick today, maybe if you bump into me one day we can talk about it. The sense of loss was evident and the event was more of a funeral for the thing we've loved and adored for years than the fashion event of the year. I've been avoiding getting to the bottom of this because I don't want to hurt anybody, but I think people are already hurt that it was the way it was. It was really dry, not because of the organisation, but for me, it was because of the standard and quality of work put out by some of the designers. That said, it's not the only thing that was wrong there, it's hard to pin point actually because there are a lot of unknowns and things that are only whispered in enclosed spaces. There were few high-profile media and a lot empty seats. Where were the people? Where were the big sponsors? No Mac, Loreal, Redken. Etv was a sponsor, I didn't see an Etv crew filming people. I hope I'm wrong. Then the Sunday Times puts a picture of Indian Fashion Week on the front page, the day after SAFW was over. Could that not be construed as a deliberate snub? Where were the established designers?

I don't know what the solution is but I do think there are things we could be doing better. There needs to be a national fashion council if we ever hope to give meaning to the last 14 years. The brains behind SAFW and the money behind the Motsepe's have got to settle their differences. If we really want to develop this industry, we've got to come up with a different format, Fashion Week as we know it leaves a lot of people poorer than they began, despite the exposure. Nip it in the bud, continue changing it until we find something that works, otherwise nobody is going to win. I think the buyer and media and networking sessions really worked for designers at this year's shows and I think those kinds of innovations are examples of where we should be headed. What didn't work was having people like Uyanda Mbuli's ego take up 30 minutes of people's time. To me, her show was a slap in the face of the industry because not only were her clothes insanely badly cut, sewn and thought of, it was more of a spectacle that she could have put on on a private platform. She used celebrity and booted media reps out of their seats so that her friends and fans could watch the show. Of course she's not the only person that's ever done that before but this time, her show stood out because the other shows didn't have that element of dull celebrity. Nobody cares about celebrities anymore, especially in this country.

It's like there's an indispensable plant that we all need for sustenance, but it has weeds all around it. We need to smoke the weeds out of the garden. I couldn't for the life of me post a frivolous report about who showed what because I think this problem has eclipsed that option. If this is going to work, the media, corporates, retailers, designers and other important legs of this industry, need to come together and pull up our socks otherwise everybody is going to lose. I'm tired of keeping quiet and hoping things will be better. I want to act. South Africa is on the precipice of something nasty if the right people don't stand up and speak. Jonathan Jansen has warned us of the dangers of pretending as if things are fine when they are not. Some say it's the year of the Tiger's tendency for aggression and schisms that's making our air a little bit thicker, whatever it is, we've got to come together and save our industry and our country.

Maria Maria

Now that I'm in a better mood (though I write bestest when I'm deeply sombre), I just have to post pics of my lovely shopping day at Maria's house yesterday. Yesterday I met a woman from Finland who liked a dress that I was wearing and was desperately looking for cool vintage clothes. I wasted no time and called Maria immediately, and I took Lotta (the Finnish girl) to Maria's house. We both left very happy, me with 4 new acquisitions that I wore yesterday and today, and Lotta with 4 dresses that really suit her plum coloured hair. Here are the pics! I tried to do this last night, but I was too delirious to make sense, I had an unforgettable day yesterday!

Mantsho

Injected some well needed hope and energy in me this afternoon. Palesa Mokubung, who I used to work with (so I know the power of her mind) delivered what I'd call her most balanced collection in years. The industry's known she's talented and for years she's fed the hunger of people like me who need edgy designers in order to breathe, but this year, she did a collection that's really going to please her buyers and customers. The clothes had a bit of her razor-sharpness but were subdued enough to be liked by the majority of her client base, who have money but don't necessarily wanna channel Grace Jones or bring too much attention to themselves every time they wear their clothes. I think that illustrates growth and a positive step for her as a designer and a business woman. The pictures are not available yet, but they will be tomorrow. xMilli

Untitled

I'm at the 14th SAFW and I promised a few people (including those who are going to pay me) that I'd be sending reports and reviews from here and I don't have anything for them or anyone else yet. Things are different this year, there's no public, new designers and it feels like the industry is at a major cross roads. I'm not going to be fluffy and "fabulous" about anything. When I started this blog, I promised myself I'd be honest with whoever reads it and myself. I may not always say nice things but everything I say is the truth. When this is over tomorrow, I'm going to write from the bottom of my heart, which is a place that cares deeply for this industry, and what I might say may be construed differently by some, but it will be mine. I'm a total idealist and today I have to be a realist. It's not easy and I'm not going to rush into it because of a few hundred rand promises. I'm not in the mood for posting pictures of the well dressed people I've seen here or the cute clothes I've seen. So if you were hoping for that, I'm sorry, please be patient. I don't even know if I should have posted this. Luckily I never made a deal with anybody to be happy-go-lucky!

Hello New Look

I've been waiting for hours to spill these legumes...Welcome to my new look blog! It's my two month present to myself and I thought it only appropriate to put it up in time for SA Fashion Week which starts this evening at the amazing Turbine Hall in Newtown. This morning I'm interviewing someone whose becoming a bit of a legend in the inner city circles, Russell Grant, who is one of the people who is going to help save Joburg by developing a really chic inner city precinct. There's also a really cool new fashion related development happening which I'll fill you in on in an article I'm doing for iFashion next week!

Okay, I don't have lots of relevant pics but I did fall asleep to this dreamy image last night! (kindly stolen from www.thesartorialist.blogspot.com) I love a man in a skirt. (I'm speaking to you Felipe Mazibuko)

Dear ANCYL: Freedom of Expression will NEVER go out of Fashion

Not that Juju and his cronies read fashion blogs, (though God knows they need to) but today I've become a voice amongst many of the country's leading voices in a bid to condemn and simply say NO to the ANCYL's plan to stop media freedom. I've joined a growing list of other bloggers to unite against the intimidation and degradation of the media by officials who would rather have dirty laundry, when we are offering to wash and air it for free! This is an initiative led by Sipho Hlongwane, you can follow Sipho on Twitter http://twitter.com/comradesipho and by looking out for the #SpeakZA tag.

Here's the message to the ANCYL from South African Bloggers united:

Bloggers For a Free Press

Last week, shocking revelations concerning the activities of the ANC Youth League spokesperson Nyiko Floyd Shivambu came to the fore. According to a letter published in various news outlets, a complaint was laid by 19 political journalists with the Secretary General of the ANC, against Shivambu. This complaint letter detailed attempts by Shivambu to leak a dossier to certain journalists, purporting to expose the money laundering practices of Dumisani Lubisi, a journalist at the City Press. The letter also detailed the intimidation that followed when these journalists refused to publish these revelations. We condemn in the strongest possible terms the reprisals against journalists by Shivambu. His actions constitute a blatant attack on media freedom and a grave infringement on Constitutional rights. It is a disturbing step towards dictatorial rule in South Africa. We call on the ANC and the ANC Youth League to distance themselves from the actions of Shivambu. The media have, time and again, been a vital democratic safeguard by exposing the actions of individuals who have abused their positions of power for personal and political gain. The press have played a vital role in the liberation struggle, operating under difficult and often dangerous conditions to document some of the most crucial moments in the struggle against apartheid. It is therefore distressing to note that certain people within the ruling party are willing to maliciously target journalists by invading their privacy and threatening their colleagues in a bid to silence them in their legitimate work.
We also note the breathtaking hubris displayed by Shivambu and the ANC Youth League President Julius Malema in their response to the letter of complaint. Shivambu and Malema clearly have no respect for the media and the rights afforded to the media by the Constitution of South Africa. Such a response serves only to reinforce the position that the motive for leaking the so-called dossier was not a legitimate concern, but a insolent effort to intimidate and bully a journalist who had exposed embarrassing information about the Youth League President. We urge the ANC as a whole to reaffirm its commitment to media freedom and other Constitutional rights we enjoy as a country.

Blog Roll
http://thoughtleader.co.za/siphohlongwane
Pass the message on peeps!

Oh Tilda.

There's really no reason for me to put this up besides my blatantly projectile love for Tilda Swinton. The only thing that makes her relevant right now is that she's apparently going to launch her own fragrance. Booooring. I'd rather just look for pictures of her and show you than care what she smells like. She's too much, too much. She lives with the father of her two children platonically and has had a German painter lover whose 18 years her junior. I rest my case.

This is so unfair

Beautiful Photographs of Beautiful People in Beautiful Places.

http://www.style.com/trendsshopping/stylenotes/032210_Derek_Blasberg/

Derek Blasberg, you've made my heart bleed with envy.

I've been eaten by Wolves

This morning I discovered a brand new restaurant across the street from where I live. It's a cute little spot called Wolves and it opened last Monday on Corlett Drive, Illovo. The menu is a bit of Boat (on four legs) and Bean There combined, but there's a fresher, airier element to this little restaurant, which also sells indie music, magazine and very kitch ornaments. The minute he walked in, one of the owners, Shane Durrant, who owns Wolves with his wife Angie and friend, Gregg, came over to say "Welcome to Wolves". For me, that's always a reason to come back to a place. Plus, the best part - they have "hosts" Edwin and Willy who I instantly recognised - they both used to work at Sugo in Parktown North. Sugo must have been sad to lose these two because Edwin is one of the best waiters I've ever come across.




I had a delicious roast beef sandwich and home-made lemonade for a total of R47, that's mucho cheaper than other places around town. They say the menu's still being developed and they are still waiting for a liquor license before they serve alcohol. Last night there was a live band and a good turnout apparently, and they hope to have this on the regular!

I've been treated very well here...I'm definitely gonna be a regular.

Vogue features the best Fashion Bloggers

As you can see from this video posted on style.com this week... WE (fashion bloggers) HAVE ARRIVED. (Lol as if I'm anywhere near being in that league.) It's great to see the influence of seemingly inexperienced and credential-less people like BrianBoy and Tommy Ton and Me(again, I'm willing my future placement next to these names one day) get recognised and acknowledged by the world's most powerful magazine. In fact:

a) There was a Blogger's AGM during New York Fashion week in which most of the popular fashion bloggers in the US came together to discuss amongst others, the topic of Bloggers placement next to qualified Fashion Journalists in the very very long rank ladder that exists in the industry.

b) The Council of Fashion Designers of America sent nomination forms to Bloggers BrianBoy (and Tavi Gevinsion apparently), stating that these two have influence in the greater industry and their nominations would be relevant and a testament of the CFDA's ability to transform with the times.

This not only reveals how perfect a "breaking and entering" tool the internet has been for normal people trying to get into the high echelons of the global fashion fashion industry, it's also very encouraging for people like me. It's changed the way fashion is reported and thus consumed, giving credence to the fact that social media has put the power back in the hands of the consumer against the corporate machine. These guys (BrianBoy, Tommy Ton of Jak and Jil, Tavi, Yvan Rodic, Michelle Pan and Todd Selby) are almost as influential as editors and journalists who have enjoyed masthead presence in top magazines for years. This Web 2.0 generation hasn't been around for long but their influence is far-reaching - fashion designers know about them and invite them to their shows.

And on our side of the world, SA Fashion Week has invited four bloggers (moi included) to attend their Spring Summer 2010 collections (25-27 March). Since SAFW leads and others follow, I won't be surprised if I receive proper invitations from you-know-who's fashion week/ssssss next season. Okay that was me slipping my tounge where it likes to be. But all jokes aside, I think it's great that they are taking previously disadvantaged blogger-people like me, seriously.

Oh and by the By the CFDA nominations for 2010 are in. Check them out here:
www.cfda.com - Michael Kors (looove him) got honoured with a Life Time Achievement Award, his third CFDA award every and said: “This is my third Supreme, I have the two back up singers and this is my Diana Ross.” Lol.

i.am.not.well.

I found these images on Tommy Ton's Jak & Jil Blog www.jakandjil.com

Goodie Goodie Gumdrops

So last night I went to the Marie Claire prix d'Excellance de la Beaute (gosh that took long to type) Awards, held at The Venue in Melrose Arch. Although the Arch is not my preferred boogie territory, the party was awesome. I'm not really knowledgeable on beauty products or the beauty industry in general so the actual award ceremony was a bit ? for me and I still can't tell you who won what. I'm sure it's going to be up on the MC site soon www.marieclaire.co.za

Anyhoo, I knew it was going to be an uptight crowd based on pics I've seen of the event in previous years, so I decided to dress s(m)illy! This is what I wore:




















I didn't realise I was wearing un Moustache! Vivienne Westood must have drawn it on me when I went to her fashion show in 1989 #inmydreams.

I got rather sozzled at the Party and ended up having a DMC with Jacque van Der Watt about ???? something to do with the New Afrikaaner Elite. I also met the lovely Emma Jordan, had a few toots with Zodwa and Zanele Khumalo and that's all I remember for now.

Then....

I got home and opened my goodie bag, which was full of...



















What a good goodie bag. The only thing missing from the pics is a nifty little bottle of Pravda Vodka which my girlfriend grabbed on immediate sight! And since black don't crack, I'm gonna have to compile a list of all my white girlfriends, who are going to be the recipients of the anti ageing stuff! Can't wait to read the mag! Since I'm going to be saving R27 this month, maybe I should actually buy the hand that sometimes feeds me...Elle.

Lady Gaga's Prison Girlfriend Speaks

In a very 'fulfilling' (for lack of a better word) article in Out Magazine, Heather Cassils, the lady who plays Gaga's prison girlfriend in the vamp's latest video, Telephone, opens up about the kiss, who she is and about being a butch lesbian in 2010. I particularly enjoyed the part where she speaks about how queer culture is represented in mainstream media, versus the reality and what Lady Gaganess is doing for gay people in the US. Here's the link: http://www.out.com/detail.asp?page=1&id=26601

and now for something a little less original

Taken from The Sartorialist's website. I love these Parisian looks! Makes me wanna go to Winter asap!

Now is a good time for a tasty glass of history!

These are pictures of black South African ethnic groups from the book ABANTU, published in 1979 by Martin West and Jean Morris. It's a pity that we hardly look like this these days! These are pictures of AmaXhosa, AmaZulu, AmaSwati, AmaNdebele, AmaTsonga, BaSotho, BaTswana and then for some reason, I really like the last picture the most! It's titled "The Changing Society" in the book. It's hard to think that that's in the same year in present day Gauteng whereas the other pics were all taken in the former homelands.

what TO wear!

I'm going to the Marie Claire Prix d'Excellance de la Beut awards tonight and I'm going to dress up. I was looking for what to wear last night and was having so much fun trying different things on, I can't remember the last time I played dress up just for the fun of it. I even did funny things to my face using make up. People (except the Smarteez and that :-l Cream Cartel crew) hardly ever dress up, and by that I mean dress silly and really have fun with clothing. I'm talking about Jozi people. Be it a hit or a miss, I'm going to have fun with my mis-fit! I've been watching DVDs of old Marc Jacobs and Vivienne Westwood shows (from the beginning) and I'm feeling very very inspired!

Nobody Brrring Brrrrng's it like this one!

Since I don't have a tele, I didn't catch the "World Wide Premier" of Lady Gaga and Beyonce's video for Gaga's new song, Telephone! Actually, did anybody stay up to watch it on Friday night? If you haven't, immediately direct your fingers to YouTube and look for it! Yes now...

I watched Kill Bill 2 this past weekend and Inglorious Basterds last week and I'm generally a sheep for Quentin Tarantino, so when I heard that she had some help from him for this 9 minute long video, I knew it was gonna be gravy like only Tarantino can serve it. Lady Gaga first appears between the arms of two dykish prison guards, dressed in a body suit cum-prison suit that's got the black and white horizontal stripes but is of course, cut like a cozzie with exaggerated pointed sholders. The hardly arresting warders walk her down a prison isle to the whistles and heckles of gaudily dressed prison hoes in McQueenesque heels and Gallianoesque make-up.
















Gaga slips a come-back for her critics because when the warders throw her in her cell and strip her of her clothes, one of them says "Told you she ain't got a dick". Lol. I'm not going to transcribe the video when you can just watch it but there were many a moment that I happily swallowed in the name of good styling and delicious tongue in cheekery.

My favourite moments include a pair of literally SSSSSMOKING Ciggie Specs - glasses that are made from lit cigarettes that she wears when she first enters the prison grounds! The other prisoners skeef her out but the hottest butch goes for her and they right there and then start making out while the butch's hand wiggles its way in between her thights. That was seriously hot. I'm the first to admit my asexuality when it comes to being turned on by what pop culture defines as sexy, but that was seriously hot.
















Then in another scene she channels Madonna in her days of " Desperately Seeking Susan " and in another, wears hair curlers made out of fizzy drink cans. So crass and yet to cool.

The dancing is mental, there are groups and groups of people dressed in psychotic outfits, gyrating and commanding the viewers attention, while Lady Gaga is perfectly pinpointed against the various backdrops of these dancers in exciting outfits. In one, she's wearing a blue telephone hat, in the other she's wearing a huge pirate hat looking one and in the other she's got yellow and blonde curls pleading innocentia.

Beyonce's milky image is sexily tainted by her almost saying Motherfucker and of course, her playing the lesbian (is it lover?) who rescues Gaga from prison, helps her commit mass murder and drives off into the sunset in but my favourite vehicle - Tarantino's PUSSY WAGON from Kill Bill 1!



















In case you have not seen it, I won't spoil it by spilling anymore.
Look out for lines like "Once you kill a cow, you gotta make a burger"!
Ahhhhiiii! Love it!
pics from The Guardian

By the by

When I posted the pics of Alexander McQueen's last show last Thursday, I was so emotional, I couldn't even write a mini review on it. I was deeply touched by the beauty, regality, sophistication and other-timeliness of the unfinished collection that all I could do was share the visions and not smear them with my amateur comments, which quite honestly in this case, wouldn't have been very informed. Apparently the show was in a very small and exclusive setting where only a few editors were invited. The mood in that room is reflected in the gaze the girls all wear so willingly! I just feel bad about taking something so beautiful and planting my computer generated view on a quality of work we will never see again. S.O. I.M M.O.V.I.N.G O.N

Grieving a God

No words can accompany these images. Whatever thoughts I have are halted by the graceful and the ethereal. pics from style.com

Clothes Maketh the Woman! Or do they?

I like seeing fashion shows where you can't interpret the designer's intention and statement. It's frustrating yet intriguing, like Regina Spektor's beautifully written lyrics that actually make no sense sometimes. That's what keeps me coming back, the need to decipher and deconstruct the significance of an artist's symbolism. European fashion weeks are usually the fodder for my hunger for abstract expressionism in clothing. And this past weekend's Paris shows are still painting my pallete with delicious tastes of art. I'm also going to leave some links for you to go on to see more pictures and some really good reviews from Nicole Phelps and Sarah Mower of Style.com and Vanessa Friedman of London's Financial Times. One day, when I go to Paris Fashion Week, I'll give proper reviews of my own. There's a big difference between seeing the pictures and seeing the show live.

Here are my favourites in no particular order...

Comme des Garcons

One critic said she couldn't tweet from the show because the collection was just indescribable in 140 characters. Rei Kawakubo's work is impenetrable. Some have said this collection is commentary on the human body in it's barest form - it's showing us what we don't like to see. Fat, intestines, padding, birth,! What do you think?