What I'm Listening To: Tame Impala "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards"

Saturday, November 24, 2012

I stumbled upon this band after browsing the KEXP radio charts and immediately had this song stuck in my head for hours. This song totally feels like a lost song from The Beetle's "Yellow Submarine" and the album is no different. So this week, trip out to some Tame Impala.
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Previously on Project Runway All Stars: Season 2 Episodes 3 and 4

Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Episode 3 
aka The Graffiti Challenge

Previously on Project Runway  the designers were taken to a legal street art district where the designers got to consult with world renown "aerosol artists." The designers were asked to design their own aerosol art fabric prints in order to create looks worthy of the art gallery and the runway. Lets take a look at the designs.
 
Safe

Althea's animal print spray paint technique was interesting, but the dress was not. I wasn't a fan of the neckline, which felt sloppy, and the dress didn't make a big impact on the runway. 
Althea
Casanova's outfit didn't read as graffiti, but it still managed to look very "Casanova" with his touches of sparkle. 
Casanova
Joshua's dress defiantly read as graffiti art and I really liked this look. However, the judges felt that the top appeared a bit disjointed from the bottom, which kept Josh out of a top spot.
Joshua
I was really surprised to see Andrae in the safe group this week. I thought his print was kind of pretty, but his dress looked like student design work.
Andrae
Gone are Uli's long flowing gowns. I thought Uli's print was cool and remaniscent of a sunset, and the shoulder's were interesting. I'm interested to see what she'll do next. 

Uli
Top 

Anthony Ryan used the spray paint to create a look that was more graphic and print like than graffiti art. I can't deny that this was a cute dress that I would love to wear, but I felt like it didn't meet the challenge requirements as much as some others.
Anthony Ryan
Ivy was really inspired by Roy Lichtenstein and the idea of a strong, super hero woman, so she used the paint to create text bubbles with words like tenacity and passion. The judges liked the construction of the suit and the overall idea, but I'm not 100% sold on the final product.
Ivy
You could tell that Emilio really loved this challenge and really embraced using graffiti as inspiration rather than trying to mimic the big graffiti masters. His color palate made his model look like she was wearing a suit on fire. The judges only criticism was that they did not like the belt, but that wasn't enough to stop them from awarding Emilio with the win.
Emilio
Bottom 

Surprise! Surprise! Kayne decided to use the graffiti inspiration to make a hodge-podge of  prints and then shape them all together into an over the top, tacky gown. I was not a fan of this look and I wouldn't be surprised if Kayne is the next to go. But, for now Kayne was safe.
Kayne
I didn't feel like Laura Kathleen was more deserving of being in the bottom than Andrae. That being said, I did agree with the judges that the hemline was a little short and I wasn't quite sold on the piano braid hanging from the back. But, I'm glad Laura Kathleen was safe.
Laura Kathleen
Sarah says that Sarah was not surprised at all that Suede was sent home. This look had a very "junior" feel and when he started adding the circles and dots the look began to look like it was designed by a child. It was not good.
Suede

Episode 4
aka. Fan Photo Inspiration

Previously on Project Runway, the designers had the opportunity to browse through thousands of inspirational photographs submitted by their fans to use as inspiration for an outfit. The winning designer and look would get to be featured in an article in USA Today. Let's take a look at the designs. 

Safe

Before Kayne's look hit the runway, I thought he was doomed for the bottom since the other designers had already started referring to it as a "Parisian hooker" dress. However, the dress didn't appear as bad as the other's said. Although it wasn't innovative, it was nicely made.
Kayne
I was also surprised that Uli's flowy gown inspired by a picture of clouds taken from an airplane did not earn a top spot. I thought it traveled great down the runway and clearly depicted her image. Perhaps if she would have added a touch more color.
Uli
I thought Ivy did a great job of capturing her photograph of a butterfly and I could have also seen this in the top three. Perhaps the judges aren't fan's of hot pants on the runway.
Ivy
Casanova chose a photo of an androdgonouse woman in a white suit and gave us *drum roll* a white suit. I think Casanova took the easy route in this challenge and should have stepped more outside the box.
Casanova
Top 

Emilio chose the photograph of a young girl and created a look to recapture the innocence that  fashion often looses. I thought Emilio's dress was fun and made a bold impact on the runway, although I don't know many people who could wear such a dress in real-life. If the judges were looking to make a statement in USA Today, I thought this would be the winner.
Emilio
Laura Kathleen chose a photograph of a water droplet. I appreciated that Laura Kathleen created her own print to match the photograph, but it didn't make a huge impact on the runway. I thought that if the judges wanted a semi-wearable look in USA Today, then maybe they'd select Laura Kathleen.
Laura Kathleen
The judges surprised me this week by selecting Anthony Ryan as the winner. I thought that Anthony Ryan's dress looked great, but it didn't surprise me at all. He tends to be architectural in his design and he made the obvious choice by selecting a photograph of some scaffolding as his inspiration. Throughout the judges visits and USA Today interview Anthony Ryan repeated his story about his cancer battle. I don't want to down-play the trauma of battling cancer, but I already heard this story on Anthony Ryan's season and I feel like I've already seen this style of dress from him. I want to see Anthony Ryan show me something different.
Anthony Ryan
Bottom 

Joshua went way too literal by copying his color palate from his photo inspiration of some electric meters that had been spray painted and created an outfit that looked like a costume. Someone even described the look as very Rainbow Bright. I think Joshua was very lucky that another designer went a little more coo-coo this week, or Josh would have been out.
Joshua
Althea selected a great photograph of a train station with many architectural elements, but gave us a boring suit with some sad saggy pants. Althea needs to step up her game, or she's not going to last much longer in the completion.
Althea
Poor kookie Andrae chose to go experimental with his design by creating an outfit with mix and match zipper panels.  Unfortunately, his idea failed as it was difficult to convey on the runway and his use of stretchy fabric and zippers caused a buckling/ripple effect on the seams. The judges finally got tired of Andrae's coo-coo ways and asked Andrae to fly home.
Andrae
Have you been keeping up with Project Runway All Stars? Did you agree with the judges picks? Do you agree with me? Let me know in the comments below.
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What I'm Listening To: Moon Duo- Sleepwalker

Sunday, November 18, 2012

This video pretty much has everything that I want out of a music video- a little bit of yoga, a dude with a gold cod piece and a dancey/hippie beat. So, rock out to Moon Duo's "Sleepwalker" and have a groovy weekend.
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And ode to a Rose

Monday, November 12, 2012

This weekend, I stumbled across a new (to me) beauty product that I am totally in love with and wanted to tell you about. The stuff is C.O. Bigelow's Rose Salve and it can basically be used to hydrate anything (lips, knees, elbows, feet, cuticles, whatever). I first discovered this product at my friend Kristi's house where I would not-so secretly sneak a dab of this stuff on my hands and lips when I would visit her. But, today I found that they're selling this stuff at my local Bath and Bodyworks. It's going to be my go-to to get through the winter.

Do you  have any winter beauty must-haves? Let me know in the comments below.

Note: I was in no way compensated for my review of this product. My comments are my own personal opinion.
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Previously on Project Runway All Stars- Season 2, Episode 2

Wednesday, November 7, 2012
aka. That 70's Challenge

Previously on Project Runway All Stars, the designers got to visit the Nine West shoes showroom where they each got to select a disco inspired shoe and were asked to create a modernized disco outfit. The winning look would be featured in a future Nine West shoes ad. Let's take a look at the designs.

Safe 

Althea flew under the radar again with her pink party outfit. It's nice, but it doesn't scream modern disco party outfit. I'd like to see Althea step up her game.
Althea
Anthony Ryan's dress was also okay (if not a little short), but it lacked any wow factor down the runway.
Anthony Ryan
I thought Emilio's look was worthy of a top spot (definitely more deserving than Ivy's look). I loved it's easy flow, the bright colors and the peak-a-boo back.
Emilio
Joshua's look reminded me a bit of the 70's leisure suit and I could totally see Joshua wearing this at a 70s party...I'm not sure if I could imagine a woman wearing this to a modern 70's disco party. Maybe he was designing for himself this week.
Joshua
I feel like I saw Laura Kathleen's look for sale at Banana Republic last year. It's definitely modern with a 70's nod, but it didn't pack a punch on the runway.
Laura Kathleen
I thought Suede's look was worthy of the bottom (and not just because the guy talks about himself in the third-person). The fabric was cheap looking and I couldn't tell if he clumped the fabric in the back awkwardly on purpose or accident. How did the judges over look this?
Suede


Top

Based on the judges comments, I thought Casanova might have gotten the win because the judges seemed to have the least amount of negative comments about the outfit. They loved the color and were wowed by the back, but Georgina was concerned that the dress was a little short.  Surprisingly, Casanova was not the winner.

Casanova

Ivy's dress was a little too "Atonement meets disco" for my tastes and I didn't think it really deserved a top spot. The judges main criticism was that it looked less expensive because the beading did not continue to the back, and thankfully Ivy was just safe.
Ivy
The "New Uli" (as Uli referred to herself) shied away from the long flowy dresses of Uli's past and created a look that read more modern Native American Indian than disco diva to me (although there was an Indian in the Village People musical group). The judges had the least amount of criticisms for this look and gave Uli the win.
Uli


Bottom

Andrae made the mistake of not listening to the judges criticism from last week and he created another confusing jacket. Once the model took off the jacket, the judges rather liked the outfit and Andrae was safe.
Andrae
Kayne's look definitely fit the bill of being 70's, but also looked a bit like JLo. I appreciated that Kayne took the time to match his stripes, but his top looked a little cheap. The judges decided to keep Kayne around for another challenge.
Kayne
It's never a good idea to take your outfit inspiration from what your tween aged daughter wears, and that's exactly what Wendy Pepper did. I was not a fan of the outfit and thought it was cheap looking and unfashionable, but I am super surprised that Wendy produced such crap and went home so early in the game.
Wendy "freaking" Pepper
Did you watch this week's episode of Project Runway All Star? What did you think of the judges decisions? Let me know in the comments below.
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What I'm Listening To: Barbra Streisand- Sadie, Sadie

Saturday, November 3, 2012

I'm just going to let the song speak for itself today. :-) Details later.
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Prevously on Project Runway All Stars- Season 2, Episode 1

Thursday, November 1, 2012
Previously on Project Runway All Stars, several designers from past seasons returned to New York City in order to battle it out to become the #1 Season 2 all star designer and walk away with fabulous prizes- including a spread in "Marie Claire" magazine, the position as a contributing editor at the title for one year, an all-expense paid trip to Fashion Weeks around the world, a HP Intel technology suite for one year, a complete Brothers sewing studio and $150,000 in cash. This year the designers are:

Wendy "freaking" Pepper (season one, second runner up)
Andrae Gonzolo (season two)
Uli Herzner (season three, first runner up)
Kayne Gillaspie (season three)
Suede (season five)
Althea Harper (season six, first runner up)
Emilio Sosa (season seven, first runner up)
Peach Carr (season eight)
Cassanova (season eight)
Ivy Higa (season eight)
Anthony Ryan Auld (season nine)
Laura Kathleen (season nine)
Joshua McKinley (season nine, first runner up)

First the designers first challenge, the designers were split up into two teams and each team had to pick an attitude to base their group collections on. There is no immunity in the all stars season, and one designer from the winning collection would be the winner, and a designer from the loosing collection would be out. Lets take a look at their designs:

Team Confident consisted of Wendy, Uli, Kayne, Althea, Ivy and Anthony Ryan and they were the clear winners of this challenge. I liked their decision to add black lace into their designs, but I felt like Wendy Pepper's dress and Kayne's outfit didn't belong. In the end, the judges were torn between awarding the win to Ivy or Anthony Ryan, but awarded the win to Anthony Ryan for his surprise lace back despite their complains on the ill fitting crotch on his pants.

Wendy Pepper
Uli
Kayne

Althea
Ivy
Anthony Ryan
Anthony Ryan (back)



Team Bold- consisted of Laura, Emilio, Joshua, Cassanova, Andrae, Suede, and Peach. Team Bold had some great ideas as evidenced by stellar looks from Laura Kathleen and Emilio, but the team was dragged down by the sum of it's lackluster looks from Andrae (what is it?), Suede (it looked very juvenile and holly-hobby) and Peach who were in the bottom. After deliberations the judges decided that although the judges loved Peach's personality, they could overlook the poor fit and construction of her dress. Peach was out.
Laura

Emilio
Joshua

Casanova

Andrae
Suede
Peach
I felt like Ivy's suit was far superior to Anthony Ryan's ill fitting pants outfit and deserved the win, but I agreed with the judges decision to kick off Peach. Based off of the first episode, I am cheering on Ivy, Emilio and Laura for the top 3. Did you catch the premiere of Project Runway All Stars? What did you think of the judges decisions? Let me know in the comments below.
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