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· Just Notes: This, that and the other 1
· Beauty Notes: Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Woman Review
· It's Quite Easy Being Green
· Just Notes: This, that and the other
· Beauty Notes: Guerlain Après L'Ondée Review
· Most Wanted: On the Road
· Ten Monoliths: A Space Odyssey
· Wedding Bells: The Romantic
· Wedding Bells: The Adventurer
· Wedding Bells: The Purist
· Wedding Bells: Introduction
· Beauty Notes: Montale Sunset Flowers Review
· The Sketchbook: Joy
· The Sketchbook: Daïn
· Most Wanted: Tender is the Light
· Beauty Notes: Comme de Garçons Series 2: Red Carnation Review
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Comments
· May 11, 2008 2:00 AM by
Colleen Shirazi
· May 11, 2008 2:03 AM by
Dain
· May 11, 2008 2:23 AM by
Dain
· May 11, 2008 2:55 AM by
Colleen Shirazi
· May 11, 2008 3:00 AM by
Dain
· May 11, 2008 2:02 PM by
Colleen Shirazi
· May 11, 2008 8:41 PM by
Dain
· May 11, 2008 10:52 PM by
Colleen Shirazi
· May 10, 2008 3:45 AM by
Dain
· May 10, 2008 8:56 PM by
Colleen Shirazi
· May 11, 2008 12:27 PM by
Joy Rothke
· May 11, 2008 2:09 PM by
Colleen Shirazi
· May 11, 2008 8:10 AM by
Perfumeshrine
· May 11, 2008 9:26 AM by
Dain
· May 8, 2008 3:08 AM by
Perfumeshrine
· May 8, 2008 2:44 AM by
Perfumeshrine
· May 8, 2008 3:04 AM by
Dain
· May 8, 2008 10:05 AM by
Carol
· May 8, 2008 10:17 AM by
Dain
· May 8, 2008 1:31 PM by
Colleen Shirazi
· May 8, 2008 8:50 PM by
Dain
· May 6, 2008 12:44 PM by
Carol
· May 6, 2008 11:23 PM by
Dain
· May 5, 2008 10:15 AM by
Carol
· May 5, 2008 10:35 AM by
Dain
· May 8, 2008 9:47 PM by
Colleen Shirazi
· May 2, 2008 10:53 AM by
Perfumeshrine
· May 2, 2008 7:01 PM by
Dain
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Just Notes: This, that and the other 1
Posted by Colleen Shirazi, Monday, May 12, 2008 12:00 AM (Eastern)
So...I had an interesting weekend, and I hope you did too.
I got this killer dress from a consignment shop. Quintessential late 80's/early 90's, new with tags, and fitted out with linebacker shoulder pads and little elastic "belt" in the back. A cool Indian design; this type of clothing had always been made in India before the apparel market began to drown in Chinese-made goods. The dress was fashioned entirely of a creamy ivory lace, with a built-in sheer dress underneath it.
Went home, snipped out the shoulder pads...the built-in sheer dress was attached to the lace overlay by the same stitching, so of course it came out. I'm sewing-challenged but have never minded mending, so I sewed it back together, and discovered a hole in the lace overlay (don't ask me how a new dress already had a hole in it). At first I wanted to do a fancy darning thing with ivory thread but ended up simply sewing the hole shut, as it showed less that way. With the genius of the dress design, the hole barely showed even when it was open (the bottom of the dress is an intricate design of pieces of lace sewn together to create a small froth).
While I was doing that, I found a hole in the built-in sheer dress, near the bottom in the side seam. It looked as if someone had cut a tag out using pinking shears. Jeesh! What's wrong with people. I sewed that one shut as well, and though the dress was clearly marked "dry clean only," I washed it in the machine (cold water, delicate cycle, Woolite). I can hardly wait to wear it, though I am pondering whether it's too ornate to wear to work.
Shoes...I trekked out to one of the shops around here that carries Cydwoqs, Rabat in Berkeley.
Hm. This was the first time I'd been to Rabat, and I'll have to admit I was disappointed. Instead of a wide selection of Cydwoqs, they had something like three kinds of the shoes, and maybe three or four kinds of the sandals. I wasn't interested in sandals; of the minute choice of shoes, they had Sprint, Force, and another which I don't recognize on the Cydwoq site.
Force was kind of neat. The model they had on the floor was the exact color I wanted...a brown so dark it looked black at first, so could be worn as a black shoe, or as a brown one.
But...if you expect someone to pay upward of $300 for shoes, you really should have more of a selection on hand. However you look at it, it's a lot of money. So I didn't buy.
The only other standout there was Salpy, another American-made shoe even spendier than the Cydwoqs, but with two amazing leathers...dark shoes with designs traced in gold.
I'll probably get out to Nordstrom next weekend, since I need the shoes now. I'm fairly sure Cydwoqs go on sale seasonally (I've seen their boots on sale online now), so it might be a matter of waiting for a better price.
Labels: cydwoq, just notes, retro, shoes
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Beauty Notes: Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Woman Review
Posted by Dain, Sunday, May 11, 2008 12:12 AM (Eastern)
I sometimes find the inclination for exoticism in contemporary niche perfumery, like oud or fig or burnt rubber, slightly contemptible. I find it is a strategy not unlike when movies use sex and violence in place of plot. So like any jaded sample whore, I approached hyped-up Ormonde Woman with not a little suspicion—come on, hemlock?
I am delighted to tell you, Ormonde Woman is wonderful. I am generally averse to violet's sugary preciousness, even in the masterful Bois de Violette, but the way its daintiness offsets something as sinister as black hemlock, the poison the condemned Socrates drank, ah, it broods and bewitches all at once. I've never smelled anything like it—a Scandanavian spring, wild violets under the damp shade of an evergreen forest—the rare bittersweet. Around the core interaction of magical violet and mysterious hemlock, soft accents embroider the surrounds and fill in the blank spaces: a subtle spice-herb accord of cardamom, coriander, and grass, and a softly earthy-resinous drydown of vetiver, sandalwood, amber, and cedar. Sounds like a lot, but it isn't. Ormonde Woman reads like a fairytale, as they really were, the kind where the babes in the wood die and the prince rapes sleeping beauty and Hans the Hedgehog is shoved behind a stove for years because his parents are ashamed of him.
If it weren't so expensive to obtain from London (international shipping and a 1.989 exchange rate), and I hadn't found a similarly narcotic capacity in my bottle Vol de Nuit parfum, I'd be all over a bottle.
Labels: beauty notes, ormonde jayne, perfume reviews
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May 11, 2008 2:00 AM, Colleen Shirazi said...
Oud is not exotic though. The cost of it is prohibitive, but it's an old ingredient in perfumery. May 11, 2008 2:03 AM, Dain said...
Well, exotic doesn't have to be new. And my point is really that I find it to be a marketing gimmick. If you like it, that's very fine, but I find I soon get bored of perfumes that lack structural complexity. May 11, 2008 2:23 AM, Dain said...
By which I mean, I'm not knocking it of itself, but when it's used to mask lazy compositions. May 11, 2008 2:55 AM, Colleen Shirazi said...
It's definitely a marketing gimmick...but getting mainstream perfume buyers to branch out into niche perfumery in the first place, has to involve marketing gimmicks. A couple of years ago, it wouldn't have crossed my mind not to buy from Givenchy or Chanel or what have you...the mainstream houses. The sole reason I even started sampling niche fragrances is the buzz from the boards. May 11, 2008 3:00 AM, Dain said...
You're definitely right about that. I have definitely reached a point where I have my perfume wardrobe, more or less, and I test for testing's sake, and I do look at it differently. May 11, 2008 2:02 PM, Colleen Shirazi said...
You're right about the hokey-ness....it's annoying after a while. And many of the scents are not well-made. It's very "grab the money and run." In a few years, the serious houses, old or new, will still be there. May 11, 2008 8:41 PM, Dain said...
I feel that way about Organza Indecence. I'll keep my bottle, for nostalgia's sake, but I don't think it's likely I'll use it up. It was definitely from a time and a place. May 11, 2008 10:52 PM, Colleen Shirazi said...
I have a sort of imaginary wardrobe...I don't want to buy everything I want, all at once. I feel at least some of the stash would end up going bad. |
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It's Quite Easy Being Green
Posted by Joy Rothke, Saturday, May 10, 2008 11:26 PM (Eastern)
I just got back from a walk wearing my FitFlops. On my hair is Ayurvedic oil; on my legs an essential oil-infused body oil from Bali. Up one arm and down the other is a series of perfumes, "love potions" [some infused with pheromones], and scented oils from Santa Barbara, Hollywood, Cincinnati, San Francisco, and several cities in Canada. There's LUSH, Dr. Hauschka and Grateful Body on my face. I'll be exfoliating soon with some stuff from Australia, and after my shower will walk around the house in my Yoga Toes. I'm alternating between five different lip balms and awaiting the arrival of a system that may rejuvenate my lips and get rid of my upper lip lines. And I'm considering using henna on my hair for the first time since 1983.
My only criteria are that a product falls under my broad rubric of green/natural/cruelty-free/organic. Anything tested on animals is an absolute no-go, and I'm uninterested in anything with 'cones, parabens, and glycols. Most of the things I'm using come from smaller, independent companies, who don't try to please all of the consumers all of the time, or produce products that will sit for months on the shelves of CVS, Rite-Aid or Shopper's Drug Mart. Once the company sells itself to a giant conglomerate, they invariably change, and not for the better. (I'm talking to you Burt's Bees, Tom's of Maine, and The Body Shop!)
I'm not a crank or a health nut (I still eat frozen burritos, drink coffee with sugar, and take prescription and OTC meds.) I'm just a particular consumer. Anyway, it's not rocket science, just makeup and skincare and perfume. It should be fun, it should work, and make you smell good.
Labels: cruelty-free reviews, green, organic
Just Notes: This, that and the other
Posted by Colleen Shirazi, 1:17 AM (Eastern)
Cydwoq's Horn shoe
I've decided against Jean Patou's Sublime. I tested it out again...it's odd. I've found, with perfumes, that you can seldom turn back the clock. A scent with which you were once so in love, can be like an old boyfriend where it was right at the time, but things have changed.
On the other hand, I still want Joy. And that's not a perfume I really liked that much, before, particularly. In my youth, it was the scent of a grown woman's pocketbook (they don't call them "pocketbooks" on the West Coast btw), the kind of woman whose hair was always done.
I'm still in search of shoes. Willing to give "cheap" shoes another shot, even though cheap is no longer, well, cheap. I mean shoes less than the $300 of my beloved Cydwoqs. Bleh. I know they're worth it, in the sense of not having to shop for shoes in the next ten years, in the sense they are, beyond doubt, well-made and comfortable. And, you could step on them, or your kids could step on them, and it would be fine. They could be rained on. (I don't wear suede shoes.) And they would be...marvellous.
Since I've never been a shoe gal, I never looked at other women's shoes until now, and realized how few shoes stand out. I never craved a lot of shoes, don't need variety (where I so do with jewelry), but it would be nice to somehow own these American-made, unusual shoes with--according to the blogs--excellent arch support. Cydwoq will custom-make shoes if you so desire (apparently they have something along the lines of 250 leathers to choose from). So color wouldn't be a problem.
Oh, I know, I'll end up at Nordstrom or some other dreary department store, and find a pump made in Spain or Italy, and end up buying that. My shoes are starting to fall apart now, after so many years of good service, so putting off shoe-shopping indefinitely is out of the picture. I know I should be glad I can afford a decent, if not shoe-gasmic, shoe, so I don't wish to end this post on a "Paris Hilton can't buy the Titanic" snivelling note. lol I'll let you guys know if I find anything.
Labels: cydwoq, jean patou, just notes, perfume, shoes
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May 10, 2008 3:45 AM, Dain said...
I'm a spender, not a saver, as you well know, but--I'm all for deliberation before buying, especially for anything $100 and above. Is there any way to try them on before you make a decision? May 10, 2008 8:56 PM, Colleen Shirazi said...
That's just the problem. There are several stores around here that retail them. It's a case of, "I'm afraid to try them because I might like them." May 11, 2008 12:27 PM, Joy Rothke said...
They're interesting...but the soles don't look very sturdy. May 11, 2008 2:09 PM, Colleen Shirazi said...
I'd have to see them in person, no doubt. I'm hoping to do that today, since I have to get shoes one way or the other (my beloved Cole Haan's have "vintaged" to the point of developing a hole in one side). I'm going to try Nordies first, but there is a shop in that mall that carries Cydwoqs. |
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Beauty Notes: Guerlain Après L'Ondée Review
Posted by Dain, 12:48 AM (Eastern)
Modern perfumes have become the subject of intellectual rigor, and it is sometimes very grand indeed. Frédéric Malle is a very intelligently designed line, and with an astute nose you can access the mechanics whirring behind L'Artisan Parfumeur and Serge Lutens. And these are the good ones, not the scratch 'n' sniff Sephora junk-food. By contrast, these old Guerlains are meant to be savored, over time. That's a key word, savored. Thoughtfulness is always welcome to the appreciation of an old Guerlain; nevertheless, the experience is largely emotional. For better or worse, these were perfumes that were meant to be worn, perhaps over a lifetime, which makes all the difference in the world. Nowadays perfumes are intended to be bought, and the main difference is a better kind of consumer.
My initial reaction to Après L'Ondée was less than positive: "eau de Necco wafer", plus a string of expletives. I wasn't expecting something so vague, like the last reverberation of an echo or a faded photograph, watered down L'Heure Bleue. Now, I simply adore it, even though it hardly lasts; it's elegant, fresh perfection in warm weather, especially since I don't particularly enjoy the usual "fresh" signifiers like citrus and aldehydes. Après L'Ondée, especially in light of its antiquity (1906), is a conceptual perfume—as the name says, after the rainshower. Yes, there is a mass of white violets, cold and salty carnation (like tears), a delicate filigree of rose and iris, a pinch of anisic bite, the dawn-like warmth of heliotrope that provides a structural core—but more than anything, Après L'Ondée is air, chilled and humid. People call it atmospheric, meaning that it feels wistful and innocent, but I'm rather inclined to use it in the literal, not metaphoric sense, it actually smells like the atmosphere, the refreshing drop in temperature brought on by a thunderstorm after an oppressively hot night. With Après L'Ondée, it really isn't what you smell, but how you smell it—it represents a mood shift.
It is very difficult to find, except on ebay, but I hear Bergdorf Goodman carries it.
Labels: beauty notes, guerlain, perfume reviews
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May 11, 2008 8:10 AM, Perfumeshrine said...
I tend to agree with you ~it has indeed the vibe of a mood swift and the change of humidity in the air: very good description! May 11, 2008 9:26 AM, Dain said...
That's good to know! I got mine off ebay, which is always very touch and go. |
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Most Wanted: On the Road
Posted by Dain, Friday, May 09, 2008 12:30 AM (Eastern)
Let us make Most Wanted a Friday tradition, a more thematically organized version of the Fantasy Web Find. The theme today is the itinerant bohemian. What's summer if not for travel?
WATCH Jennifer Coolidge being hilarious in Christopher Guest's ad-libbed Best in Show about the crazy people who raise show dogs. They're all the epitome of regional stereotypes, but at the same time they're also so obviously all American.
LISTEN
It's never the wrong time to be obsessed with Abbey Road. Each song is a gem, but I find this video particularly poignant.
READ
Just one book for the road? Ovid's Metamorphoses, preferably the Mandelbaum translation, for its fidelity to the Latin and a poet's inner ear for lyricism.
Labels: alexandra cassaniti, APC, bumble and bumble, hermes, most wanted, tsumari chisato
Ten Monoliths: A Space Odyssey
Posted by Dain, Thursday, May 08, 2008 12:06 AM (Eastern)
I wonder, at times, how I ever got into this fine mess, the world of perfume appreciation—then I must laugh at myself—with eyes and wallet wide open, and that's the truth.
To revisit my thoughts of January 22, 2008: "More than anything, I am amazed by how much of perfume appreciation is purely imaginative. This is not the same thing as our sense of smell. We smell a rose in Yves Saint Laurent Paris, we smell musk in Narciso Rodriguez, and even within the gradations of compositional complexity, it is fairly straightforward. But past the physical impressions, are dreams—mixtures compounded of memory and desire. People flock to Chanel No. 5 because Marilyn Monroe wore it, because their mother wore it, because it's a bottle of Chanel, because it makes them feel elegant and sophisticated. None of these things, I must point out, are actually real. They are associations, memories, impressions, and aspirations (respectively). That perfumes are capable of moving us to such profound ecstasies and aversions is a testament to our imaginative powers, perfumer and perfumed."
In deference to the overwhelming importance of personal opinion, I had always vowed never to make a perfume list. However, some perfumes really are objectively great. This is a collaborative project with Helg at Perfume Shrine: ten to bury in a time capsule, for aliens to discover for a retroactive study of the olfactory capacities of humanity. You must go and read her historically oriented (and much more expert) take.
After a dozen drafts, I finally decided on these ten:
- Each perfume must be technically excellent but not inaccessible: a middle ground. These are iconic and therefore representative, but I tried to favor wearability over artistry, because I am particularly interested in the question of "why we wear perfume" rather than "how we make perfume". Helg's emphasis on historicity represents the other point of view, the perfumer rather than the perfumed.
- Collectively, it is important that each has its own distinct character, like a well edited harem. If they are representative, what should they represent? Again, I considered why we we wear perfume—not of necessity, for it is not a life or death matter, but for the joy of it, how it adds a metaphorical dimension to our existence. Metaphors are evocative, but in distinct, characteristic ways—why do hesperides telegraph fresh and clean while animalics suggest dirt and darkness?
To my estimation, there are five major categories of perfumes that a completely untrained individual will recognize: florals, gourmands, orientals, dense, and fresh, with gradations to account for variety and complexity.
FLORALS
I chose Jean Patou JOY as a midpoint floral—if rose had a voice, it'd be a high-strung soprano, while jasmine sings in seductive alto, one neutralizing the other—and just the right dose of aldehydes for uncontested grandeur. If you clarify the composition of aldehydes, you'll get a soliflore, closer to the material in nature, while an obfuscation of spices turns it into a floriental, nearer the center, where all elements are in play (this is how the chart works). The chart also works round its circumference. Counterclockwise: take the cool and salty rose, add plenty of rooty iris and silvery lily of the valley, amplify the aldehydes, freeze it with galbanum, and you've got a crisp, austere floral like Chanel No. 19. Clockwise: honey-sweet melon and candied violet bring warmth to softly indolic jasmine, a night-blooming tropical, in Frédéric Malle Le Parfum de Thérèse, the most sumptuous, refined fruity-floral.
GOURMANDS
Gourmands may be a blip on the wave of trends, but they seem fairly well established to me. They'll certainly be remembered as part of the age of the statement accessory, like the Art Deco creations of the 30s, the aldehydic florals of the 50s, and the obnoxiously loud florientals of the 80s. On the floral end of the spectrum, there are the fruity florals, violet soliflores, and tropicals. The true gourmand scent is dessert fare—fruits, sugar, caramel, chocolate, honey, and vanilla—before it wanders into spicier territory with amber. And no one does the gourmand better than Serge Lutens, such as the boozy Chergui, dark honey under the gravitational pull of smoky tobacco, hay, and the mixed spices of Morocco.
ORIENTALS
Here there be dragons: woods and spices, the resins that compose incense, animalics, and leather. A diverse and exciting group that usually signifies danger and intrigue, on the premise that that which repels also fascinates, as may be guessed by the names: Serge Lutens Muscs Koublaï Khan (sweaty cumin and the dirtiest musks), Robert Piguet Bandit (smoky green galbanum and leather), Caron Coup de Fouet (fiery carnations and pepper), and über-oriental Opium (everything). Wearable is usually not in their vocabulary, but Andy Tauer L'Air du Désert Marocain attains an unusual aridity with curls of aromatic cedar, coriander seeds slithering through your fingers, a whisper of rose, all under a sandy foam of lemon. And as an essay in dark, brooding frowns, Guerlain Vol de Nuit cannot be matched: narcotic jonquil layered with a smoky, animalic galbanum, all embroidered with Guerlinade, that softens into iris and leather. A lonely, difficult thing, we need one in there that gives hell.
DENSE
An abstraction, to be sure, but such is the nature of metaphors. Caron Parfum Sacré may at first be a brassy loud mouth of a floriental, but it soon settles into creamy rose petals and meditative incense, like sinking into a soft, downy bed—pure domesticity and comfort (opposite is socially ambitious JOY, so the chart still works). What list of top ten would be complete without Guerlain Mitsouko, the iconic chypre?—ultimately an abstract representation of a forest. What bridges the gap determines the particular ecosystem, and in the case of Mitsouko, it is the gold-leaved, silver-barked mallorn trees of Lothórien. There never was a perfume so suave and intelligent, an introvert in a state of utter relaxation.
FRESH
Though light of heart and understated, these perfumes also have surprising range. They may play on textures, like the diaphanous Narciso Rodriguez, smoothly dimpled as the face of a manikin, but so inured are we to the presence of floral musks that it registers as utterly unobtrusive, deliberately bland. Or, to bring us full circle, the crisp transparency of Chanel Cristalle, which cuts through oppressive humidity with a diamond-edged knife: bitter lemons and mandarins, a scattering of jasmine petals, and gentle oakmoss sustained by sparkling aldehydes.
Purely based on empirical evidence, this is merely a system that makes the most sense to me, but approach with the proverbial grain of salt, all empiricism is limited by the breadth and depth of experience, and I am but a fledgling fumehead. My iconic representations, they may be wrong. My chart was deeply influenced by Frédéric Malle's schema: I admired how it addressed the sniffer's perceptions above all. Tell me, what are your favorites (floral, gourmand, oriental, dense, and fresh)?
Labels: andy tauer, caron, chanel, frederic malle, guerlain, jean patou, narciso rodriguez, perfume, philosophy, serge lutens, the mnemonic sense
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May 8, 2008 3:08 AM, Perfumeshrine said...
I like your reasoning and it does make sense. There is something to be said for a composition's resonance with people too and some of those are popular for a very good reason, as you succinctly point out. |
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Wedding Bells: The Romantic
Posted by Dain, Wednesday, May 07, 2008 12:08 AM (Eastern)
For those who glory in all the ornate rituals of femininity, one must take care to avoid preciousness. The Purist supplies clean lines with substance, The Adventurer balances raciness with wit, but The Romantic must refine clumsy, gravity-bound embellishments into an utter delicacy, pieces seemingly crafted by seraphim and inspired by natural forms.
THE RING
THE DRESS
THE BOUQUET
THE ACCESSORIES
THE SCENT
THE SONG
THE BRIDESMAIDS
THE GIFT
THE WEDDING NIGHT
THE HONEYMOON
Labels: bottega veneta, carine gilson, guerlain, h chalayan, harry winston, lanvin, me and ro, moschino, nina ricci, prada, wedding bells, william yeoward
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May 8, 2008 2:44 AM, Perfumeshrine said...
Your wedding posts are seriously wonderful! Brava! (loved the Adventurous choices soooo much) May 8, 2008 3:04 AM, Dain said...
Thank you! I've always wanted to do this, but hesitated because I know weddings are such personal matters. May 8, 2008 10:05 AM, Carol said...
I agree, you've done a wonderful job with these. I've enjoyed them despite the fact I have absolutely no need to plan a wedding. May 8, 2008 10:17 AM, Dain said...
Yeah, me neither! When am I ever gonna get married? Lol. Philosophically, I don't believe in marriage. I told Colleen that and she was like, "well, what if you meet a guy who agrees with you?" Touché. May 8, 2008 1:31 PM, Colleen Shirazi said...
Hey! :) I have a little break here, I need to know if a limit ever changes (doing database design). May 8, 2008 8:50 PM, Dain said...
Bridesmaids' dresses are up! A little haphazard, unfortunately, but the idea is there. : ) |
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Wedding Bells: The Adventurer
Posted by Dain, Tuesday, May 06, 2008 12:04 AM (Eastern)
For someone who shuns the traditional wedding scenario in the strongest terms, and would prefer a rock 'n' roll wedding in Vegas, here are some ideas for an extra dose of glamour and glitz. Weddings are generally associated with frills, but I looked for pieces with a thread of naughty humor underneath all the fuss.
THE RING
THE DRESS
THE BOUQUET
THE ACCESSORIES
THE SCENT
THE SONG
THE BRIDESMAIDS
THE GIFT
THE WEDDING NIGHT
THE HONEYMOON
Labels: fred leighton, givenchy, irene neuwirth, l frank, l'artisan parfumeur, opening ceremony, strumpet and pink, vanessa bruno, versace, wedding bells
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May 6, 2008 12:44 PM, Carol said...
The only thing that doesn't do anything for me is the dress. Everything else is just fabu! May 6, 2008 11:23 PM, Dain said...
Yeah, it was really difficult to find a dress edgy enough for all the rest of the pieces. Because white isn't usually considered edgy, in the first place, and if you went short you sorta run the danger of the cocktail dress, and for a wedding, you really need a gown. After looking high and low, this was the best compromise, because it's got real formal-wear attitude to it that isn't all femme, which a lot of gowns are. You definitely picked up on that. |
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Wedding Bells: The Purist
Posted by Dain, Monday, May 05, 2008 12:02 AM (Eastern)
Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity. Not everyone desires gaud and pomp of tulle and lace, so here is a wedding to delight the minimalist's heart. I looked for very clean silhouettes and purity of form, but not without a high degree of sumptuousness, so that each piece is truly special.
THE RING
THE DRESS
THE BOUQUET
THE ACCESSORIES
THE SCENT
THE SONG
THE BRIDESMAIDS
THE GIFT
THE WEDDING NIGHT
THE HONEYMOON
Labels: