Huh. I just got interviewed by thestreet.com about the Ladies Independent Design League, the indie business networking group I started.
Isn't that a financial website?
When I told my friends who know about these things they freaked out and started talking about "Jim Cramer" and "huge deal on Wall Street" and wandered away looking dazed. That would be an interesting segment of the market. Bring it!
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Attn: Indie Designers
Hi, designers! As you can see, I just started this little indie fashion/design blog and I want to review people's work! I'm looking for clothing, jewelry, men's items, tee shirts, pets, baby, and graphic arts. If you're interested, please email me at kkofibru@gmail.com or leave a comment for me on this announcement. My only request is that you link to me once I review you so that we can all start getting lots of clicks and become rich and famous. Or something.
xo
Kpoene'
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
It took 4 hours to get to work this morning.
I need some cheering up, so I took this pic from the Bonbon Blog. It's so pretty. I wish cherry blossoms grew inside of my house.
Also cheering was a lovely mention I recieved on the Bonbon Oiseau blog from the Queen of Beatiful Design Herself, Miss Deborah Stein,
which is here.
Thanks, Deb! That's really awesome. I like your pieces too.
But you know that already.
I was also greeted with the following fashionable activity, which I will hopefully be able to attend without looking too bleary-eyed or otherwise insane:
Nanette Lepore will be there! She is my idol. And the head of the CFDA.
UPDATE: Nanette was there, but I was too shy to talk to any of the important peeps and ducked out as soon as it was over. Most interestingly was the fact that Linda Hamilton from Terminator was sitting next to me. Isn't that random?
What I'm been focusing on instead of packing for our trip to Ecuador is making Anne a present for her sister's wedding and having Jane sew it. It's green shantung with brown undertones, slightly below the knee, with a ruffle
down the front as a nod to the Anne Dress that she designed, and a bow around the neck. It is basically this children's shirt, but lengthened to make a dress, and made much larger. and in silk. Okay it's nothing like this shirt, I just like the picture. It reminds me of Anne, as do most things that are sweet, innocent, and kind of dorky.
I am most excited about the ethically harvested horn buttons and the chocolate velvet ribbon belt that will go with it. Jane is going to sew it for me. Hope it fits!
Also cheering was a lovely mention I recieved on the Bonbon Oiseau blog from the Queen of Beatiful Design Herself, Miss Deborah Stein,
which is here.
Thanks, Deb! That's really awesome. I like your pieces too.
But you know that already.
I was also greeted with the following fashionable activity, which I will hopefully be able to attend without looking too bleary-eyed or otherwise insane:
Nanette Lepore will be there! She is my idol. And the head of the CFDA.
UPDATE: Nanette was there, but I was too shy to talk to any of the important peeps and ducked out as soon as it was over. Most interestingly was the fact that Linda Hamilton from Terminator was sitting next to me. Isn't that random?
What I'm been focusing on instead of packing for our trip to Ecuador is making Anne a present for her sister's wedding and having Jane sew it. It's green shantung with brown undertones, slightly below the knee, with a ruffle
down the front as a nod to the Anne Dress that she designed, and a bow around the neck. It is basically this children's shirt, but lengthened to make a dress, and made much larger. and in silk. Okay it's nothing like this shirt, I just like the picture. It reminds me of Anne, as do most things that are sweet, innocent, and kind of dorky. I am most excited about the ethically harvested horn buttons and the chocolate velvet ribbon belt that will go with it. Jane is going to sew it for me. Hope it fits!
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
The Divine Chic of Bonbon Oiseau
Let's see, who am I crushing on today........... ah yes.
Fellow Francophile Bonbon Oiseau, aka Deborah Stein.
This lady makes the most interestingly pretty jewelry and gorgeous feathery hairpieces you've ever seen. Some of them look so much like fresh flowers that you'll swear you've never peeped a prettier bloom, unless you live in Tahiti, in which case you have gorgeous fresh flowers all the time, and anyway shut up. :)
If I ever get married Jane is making my dress and Bonbon Oiseau is making everything else for me, my bridesmaids, the wife, my mom, her mom, her friends, the cats, everybody.
Behold this piece Deborah custom-designed for a bridal party:
What I like the most about Bonbon Oiseau is that the pieces encourage you to inject some serious glamour into your everyday life, but since they are made with flowers and feathers and natural materials, the look is much more Earth goddess than anything else. They are so wearable and pretty, and with prices ranging between $42-$300, you can afford to pick up
a few for yourself and your friends! I've done several markets with Deborah and her table, booth, and website are so perfectly chic and ethereal that people just flock (sorry, that wasn't intentional) to her table and try everything on. It's fun watching girls who would never think of wearing hair jewelry (including me) having fun with the pieces, but once you've got one on you feel like Billie Holiday with her trademark white camellia blossom.
Of course Bonbon Oiseau also makes incredibly cool jewelry, like these L'Eglantier (Wild Rose) Earrings. They are faceted crystal with antique glass roses. I don't usually wear yellow but I could be convinced:
Can't you see yourself in a summery dress and gold sandals with these framing your face? In fact, you are probably already wearing that outfit, so you should get these to make it perfect.
You can get them here.
And tell her Kpoene' sent you!
Fellow Francophile Bonbon Oiseau, aka Deborah Stein.
This lady makes the most interestingly pretty jewelry and gorgeous feathery hairpieces you've ever seen. Some of them look so much like fresh flowers that you'll swear you've never peeped a prettier bloom, unless you live in Tahiti, in which case you have gorgeous fresh flowers all the time, and anyway shut up. :)
If I ever get married Jane is making my dress and Bonbon Oiseau is making everything else for me, my bridesmaids, the wife, my mom, her mom, her friends, the cats, everybody.
Behold this piece Deborah custom-designed for a bridal party:
What I like the most about Bonbon Oiseau is that the pieces encourage you to inject some serious glamour into your everyday life, but since they are made with flowers and feathers and natural materials, the look is much more Earth goddess than anything else. They are so wearable and pretty, and with prices ranging between $42-$300, you can afford to pick up
a few for yourself and your friends! I've done several markets with Deborah and her table, booth, and website are so perfectly chic and ethereal that people just flock (sorry, that wasn't intentional) to her table and try everything on. It's fun watching girls who would never think of wearing hair jewelry (including me) having fun with the pieces, but once you've got one on you feel like Billie Holiday with her trademark white camellia blossom. Of course Bonbon Oiseau also makes incredibly cool jewelry, like these L'Eglantier (Wild Rose) Earrings. They are faceted crystal with antique glass roses. I don't usually wear yellow but I could be convinced:
Can't you see yourself in a summery dress and gold sandals with these framing your face? In fact, you are probably already wearing that outfit, so you should get these to make it perfect.
You can get them here.
And tell her Kpoene' sent you!
Monday, August 6, 2007
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Witty Painting Obsession
I like to think of myself as an artist, and as such, as a connoisseur of other forms of art, especially 2-D. I have my favorites, like Kehinde Wiley, he of the *brazilliant* images of young Black men done up in saintly poses and rendered in gessos and egg temperas still wearing their normal street clothes, or Enid Crow, the Brooklyn photographer whose "Disaster Series" portraits are finally gaining some well-deserved recognition. Lately I have been looking even closer to home, namely within my own artist's studio complex, and have happened upon the quiet little career of Miss Ella Kruglanskya. 
Ella specializes in painting ladies who are being somehow compromised by their clothing, often physically, as in this painting of a very Hitchcockian blonde threatened by the print of her dress: 
Ella's ladies are all very full-figured, fashion-obsessed, and seem to get themselves into the kind of ridiculous situations we always fear (but hopefully never experience): 
This lady seems to be suffering from "butt-hair" a la Dracula in the Winona Ryder movie, and also the little man printed on her dress is strangling her. I hate it when that happens. A graphic designer by trade (if you live in New York, she may have designed your wedding invitations), Ella takes inspiration from a ton of sources, especially foreign fashion magazines and frequent (daily) trips to Daffys. This fashionista sensibility comes across in the styles and poses depicted in her work. 
I recently attended her show at Brooklyn Fireproof, "Something Swarming Something". When I open a store I am hoping that she will do all of my advertising and also that I'll be able to paper the walls of the dressing rooms with her sketches. Right now I'm content to share her with the rest of the world, but I'll definitely be saying I knew her when. :)
Ella specializes in painting ladies who are being somehow compromised by their clothing, often physically, as in this painting of a very Hitchcockian blonde threatened by the print of her dress: 
Ella's ladies are all very full-figured, fashion-obsessed, and seem to get themselves into the kind of ridiculous situations we always fear (but hopefully never experience): 
This lady seems to be suffering from "butt-hair" a la Dracula in the Winona Ryder movie, and also the little man printed on her dress is strangling her. I hate it when that happens. A graphic designer by trade (if you live in New York, she may have designed your wedding invitations), Ella takes inspiration from a ton of sources, especially foreign fashion magazines and frequent (daily) trips to Daffys. This fashionista sensibility comes across in the styles and poses depicted in her work. 
I recently attended her show at Brooklyn Fireproof, "Something Swarming Something". When I open a store I am hoping that she will do all of my advertising and also that I'll be able to paper the walls of the dressing rooms with her sketches. Right now I'm content to share her with the rest of the world, but I'll definitely be saying I knew her when. :)
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