Guide to [My] Style: Part 1

Well, in a long-awaited post, I have finally decided to talk about fashion. Actually, style, more exactly. If I have to explain the difference to you, I’m not sure if anyone can do much good for you..

First and foremost, I will christen this post with the most succinct description of everything the clothing  [should be] about. Said by Our Lady Coco Chanel,

“Le mode passe, le style reste” [Fashion passes, style remains].

Style and Elegance are universal and immortal. Never forget that. Taking this point into consideration, defining yourself through clothing should be part-social-consciousness and part-history-lesson.

Now, a few things to take in mind:

-Less is more.

This is a long beaten phrase, but really is one of the most ignored. Chanel also said that “When accessorizing always take off the last thing you put on.” Again, wonderful advice. It’s appealing to accessorize, but unfortunately it can all to quickly spin out of control to be messy, cluttery, busy, and brash. Although I suppose if that’s the look you’re going for, well then God help you.

-Textile is its own accessory.

I admit to have a bias towards minimalism, but I cannot stress the above point enough. To have stripes, to have dots, to have paisley—these are all to accessorize. Don't think that accesories are just jewlery. Just because you don’t happen to look like a walking charm-bracelet (congradulations, you graduated from the fourth grade), you can still disrupt the flow of presentation by having too much textile, or worse, too many textiles.  I would honestly recommend only having one. Ever. And an extremely sublte one at that. I can see a tiny glimmer of room for exceptions, but don’t push it. 

-Never buy “a piece of clothing”

God what a heinous thing to say, “a piece of clothing.” But yes, never simply buy a shirt; never simply buy a scarf. When you invest in something, be fully aware of its function and form. Know what it will go with, how you can wield it to your liking; how it can present your image. Do not ever invest in a garment. Invest in an outfit, a mood.

  

More to come soon....

Happenings in Idaho

1. I have finally purchased my first black turtleneck, which is something I've been wanting since I first heard of beatniks when I was eleven. And then I heard of the French. And then I heard of fashion. Huh. Pretty much everything good in life points me to it. I figure it's a staple that everyone should simply have. I don't know why in the world it's taken me so long to get one. It's not like I need the black-slimming power though; I figure my 19.5 BMI doesn't really need much more help ( and it's struggling enough as it is because of my love for pears instead of cupcakes). A friend of mine once told me that turtlenecks are just one of those things that really scream, "Hey, I'm a social outcast who makes up for it by pretentiously wearing old man clothes." Well hey, bingo :)  

[Bytheway, all you haters who don't like people wearing leather loafers, my grandfather sincerely complimented me on mine yesterday. He said that he really liked them. So there. And no, this does not prove your point]


2. Also, I've come the conclusion that the test for any and all clothing materials is, does it go well with khaki? Funny how the material didn't even exist until about a hundred years ago. Regardless, yes, I believe that any decent shoe, scarf, pant, or shirt should be able to fit well along side this color (excluding, of course, anything of a differing shade of khaki. duh). If it doesn't, well then I really don't see the value in even owning it.


3. I've finished my first crop harvest today, or at least started it, and must admit that I am quite proud of myself. A city boy by nature, a Southerner by blood and upbringing, and a Frenchie at heart, I certainly felt out of place in rural Idaho--which I've been coming to every summer since age thirteen--, but harvesting is actually really fulfilling.  (and the Idaho dust? Maybe that's where my love for khaki comes from. The trauma's been engrained on my psyche)

4. While eating breakfast at my grandparents house this morning--multiple servings of sausage, eggs, and biscuits with gravy (which had more sausage in it)-- I realized that at that moment, I was injesting more protein than I probably had my entire freshman year at college. Once again, this isn't helped by the fact that I prefer apricots to bacon, but whatever. Someday all you buff guys will be saggy and bloated and you will lust after my figure. Just you wait.

Image Dump I

Instead of doing my assigned reading, instead of working on my art final, instead of being productive, and above all, instead of sleeping, I decided to waste a few good hours on stumbleupon.com. I'm not sure if I've ever not spent 3 hours or more on that site at any given time. It's so addicting. For those of you who haven't ever been on it, you begin the site by selecting certain interests, and the server finds random websites that correlate to that interest (i.e. an interest in "Fine Art" will bring up artist web-pages, museum reviews, art theory, etc). 


I go through phases of obsessively pursuing certain interest--for a while all I will look at are "Satire" sites, other time, "Sculpting." 


Lately though, I've been following the Graphic Design area. Given the exorbitant amounts of images I'm downloading, I feel somewhat gluttonous and selfish not sharing them with people. Some of them are designs and photos I was drawn simply to because it's a style similar to mine, others were of a style that I wish to improve to, others were ones that I want to revamp and make modern. Others were ones that I didn't think were too successful, but were ones that I thought that I could fix or make better. 


I also plan to make the concept of an "Image Dump" more frequent, as it's a good cleanser to my already overwhelmed hard-drive. Here are a couple of the images that I really liked:

America

Things that are completely American and completely awesome:

Jazz,

and

Walt Whitman.

Enough said.

Struck by a strange bout of patriotism, I have realized that I indeed do love America. I’ll admit that my wanderlust often pulls me to foreign coastlines and beyond (after all even my blog name--American Here, American There--is a reference to my traveling obsession), and I do little more than yearn for the magic of Europe and Africa; however, when all is said and done, I am very happy to be American. Despite our fixation with reality TV, cheeseburgers and bad movies, being American has its perks (and certainly many more than the ones I’m pointing out now).

Number one: jazz, the invention of a music form blending European and African styles (probably one of the only good things that came out of American slavery), that originated in the Southern states at the turn of the century. In 1987 it was declared “a rare and valuable national American treasure,” and was given priority in preservation and propagation. I find it to be such an amazingly universal sort of music, which is funny given the fact that it was born of two cultures that couldn't be more different. Since its invention, jazz has consistently morphed and adapted to fit the changing times while always maintaining its purity and integrity of sound. Unlike other forms of music (i.e. its predecessor, ragtime), jazz has remained fashionable, relevant, and popular. Best of all, it's not tied to any one person, mood, or time period. It can be by anyone, at anytime, about anything. 

Reason number two? Walt Whitman, genius and poet extraordinaire, who historians describe as the first (and I would say greatest) American poet. Not to mention, he pretty much invented free verse. Thank him every time you have to write a poem for a class, and you don't have to have some awkwardly kitschy rhyme scheme (*and I'm not saying all rhyming is kitschy, though from my experience with amateur poets...). Whitman is the embodiment of the American Spirit, but I’ve already talked about him on a previous post, so I’ll spare you my drooling affection.

Oh and I forgot--reason number three why the States are awesome? Ebonics.

God bless America. 

Juliette Gréco

So, I apologize first off for not blogging for a few days. It looks like I'm already beginning to let it slide. I'm really, really, hoping that this won't become a frequent occurrence.


The only thing that is getting me through summer finals is this amazing woman right here:

Juliette Gréco.

She was a French model and singer--three of my favorite things right there. I doubt that anything could better describe than une vraie française bohème.  Ici, on peut trouver mes favoris: 

La Javanaise:

Sous le Ciel de Paris:

Sur les Quais du Vieux Paris:

On n'oublie rien:

La Fiancée du Pirate: