so where's my danish passport?

I finally gather up some courage to show my stocksale finds, even though I’ve been literally living in my new Henrik Vibskov trousers eversince. In a world of good trousers that my wardrobe is it’s hard to be a star, because I choose my trousers carefully – ok, probably the only thing I choose carefully… But nevertheless finding a good simple pair of trousers has never been easy, and I managed to walk away from RA13 stocksale with two pairs of a Danish mastermind, and that is after spending several hours trying to make a choice and probably getting on everyone’s nerves. The latter I have no means of knowing – the RA kids are always sweet and kind. The former follows a strange logic though: ‘why not make two right choices at the same time and by both pairs?’
Well, here they are – wide silk trousers from Stine Goya…plus me – slightly corseted and strapped, naturally.

second-hand corset top

Dries van Noten pleated silk top

Stine Goya silk trousers

Veronique Branquinho harness and wrist-accessory

Zara shoes

And the navy silk Henrik Vibskov trousers, that are very wide at the hip and narrow at the thigh…plus a cut-out shoulder tailcoat from HV as well – it’s from one of his first collections, and I got it in Moscow last year.

H&M sleeveless dress

Henrik Vibskov trousers and tailcoat

Zara shoes

Whether it is a fashion sin – a designer total look – I do not know, but someone did ask if I’m Danish…well, if being Danish involves wearing your favourite designer head-to-toe outfits every day of the year, I would gladly sign myself up for this fashion ‘nationality’.

But for now I’m content with the combination of straps and buttons and surprised how lovely these Zara shoes look with any outfit( a very irrelevant point, by the way). Even my lounging-at-home combination of white denim and grey sweatshirt looks dressed up and formal, I just wish to complete it with some MF Pepe jewellery.

COS silk vest

A.P.C. sweatshirt

Preen for Topshop drop-crotch denim

Zara shoes

do you read me?

I’m glad and proud and very excited to have written a sweet little post for another blog. I love to communicate to a slightly wider audience with rather diverse interests, still keeping my blog personal. So here’s the deal: my first post is up on A Shaded View on Fashion. Please, do read!

http://dianepernet.typepad.com/diane/2010/04/mapp-invites-sangbleu-5.html

I will be covering regularly the events in Brussels and posting under my very well known to you alter-ego ‘.origamimonami’, so keep an eye on it. I tackle the topic of European identity in fashion – in whatever form it may appear. Yesterday’s magazine launch at Mapp. which I advertised earlier on happened to be the very first event of this genre. Now I wonder where it will take me next.

SangBleu5

Here’s a small addition to your agenda this week – probably the most interesting one this month so far is the launch of Sang Bleu magazine’s 5th issue. It takes place at Mapp.store on Friday 23 April at 18:30. + dance performance and food bar!

kids' stocksales @ atelier solarshop

start 22nd of April, at 11:00

blue

It’s not my day make-up, but I would love to wear it on a night out. I had a ‘Eureka!’ moment on seeing the Balenciaga Lego-girl eyebrows today because I have exactly the right shade of coloured mascara that had little use so far. A sleek hairdo and some neoprene clothing would be great for the full impact, but for now I’m experimenting with hair crimplers a la A.F. Vandevorst s/s10, which is, of course, worlds apart.

shoe tuning

Welcome to the week of fun – that is if you are in Belgium. The designer stocksales begin on the 21st with RA13 and Dries van Noten, and followed by Christian Wijnants and Pelican Avenue on the 22nd. Furthermore there’s Stephan Schneider and Bruno Pieters among the most attractive names, just most likely there won’t be any more money left in the piggy-bank by the evening of 22nd of April – I’m hoping to get my hands on some Fabrics Interseason items at RA and some ditsy prints at Christian W to fully switch myself to the spring mode.So ticking off the lines on the spring wish-list one after another I finally bought the printed trousers from Stine Goya – I’ve been hovering around them for a while at Hunting&Collecting;


and just ordered myself a pair of high heels to wear out at any vernissage that may come up.

Since I’ve never been too skilled with heels I don’t ever want to invest into an expensive pair – that’s where any cheap copies are very much welcome! So these are supposed to be the fake leather version of Alexander Wang’s boots of the current season…

…I went for the frosted cream coloured ones, and honestly I find them even prettier than the original. Another advantage about the cheap plastic shoes is that any shoemaker can easily cut 1cm off the heel to make them more comfortable. And the secret to longevity of a cheap shoe is to drive a 3cm screw into the heel from the inside of the shoe, just lifting up the insole and then gluing it back to cover the screw-head.

I just wonder when will the air-traffic be completely restored so that I can receive my order??? I’m getting nicely impatient to show off some of my spring gear for it has been so long since the last outfit post.

mother nature's hitlist

There’s no cure for compulsive collecting when it comes to prints! I’m afraid I have never been in a better print-mood than of nowadays. Blame it on the fact that all prints are good when combined with a trench or on my roots of a forest nymph, since I consume everything with a tree print in some mysterious subconscious manner. Besides, the Mother Nature is just the most talked about celebrity in the current news – so gotta have the fan merch, right?

Tree prints, mountain prints, volcano eruption prints…it feels like the infamous Eyjafjallajoekull decided to erupt at command, because the hype around the ash cloud is completely blown out of proportion. And what are we left to do but to be inspired while drawing diagrams trying to figure out who and how could benefit from this cataclysm?

Anyhow, back to the print-mania. We’ve seen crystals and prisms take over at ACNE, ditsy splashes at Cacharel, abstract florals at Swash, digital galaxies at Pieter Pilotto, plus so much more print-action is happening on high-street. Now all of the above overruled by the amazing prints at Beyond the Valley


and Something Else

– these two indie brands from the opposite sides of the globe must be consumed with caution, you are most likely to have the prints hangover when you’ll be begging for all black outfits, but in the right amount and in the combination these are the best treatment against the winter blues in any outfit…or at least this is the way my wardrobe functions: enter the spring, enter the prints (and the more they resemble the enchanting cover of SVIIB ‘Alpinisms’ the better!).

ORIGAMI...BOUTIQUE is open

Voila! My little boutique is up and running!
For the first edition I selected the greys and the nudes, the artisanal materials and de-constructed details.
Enjoy the shopping!

old vs. new

The new issue of Glamcult has a wonderful supplement from the Zeeuws Museum, and is so distinctly Dutch! You might have figured my obsession with Dutch design out, but it’s not only about objects. So if you have a chance to flip through this skinny newsprint publication, pay upmost attention to the tiny still-life details on each picture – subdued symbolism and surreal still-life’s are the key elements of the Dutch sobriety in interior design, yet these images venture further into the representation of fashion that balances on a thin line between the old and the new. The poses borrowed from the classic art create a soft frame for the modern styling yet looping back from the contrast into the unity as each outfit bares the both extremities of the fashion timeline, combining the antique clothes with the latest creations of young Dutch designers.


There’s something of Fabrics Interseason in the styling, or may be something of Swash… anyhow, the entire photographic series has enough inspiration for the remaining months of spring, strangely coinciding with the whole lot of A.F. Vandevorst coverage lately (Glamcult too has a feature article). Call me a victim, but I found myself very much drawn to their basic aesthetic values – the practical beauty of the old-fashioned hospital furniture (hence the red cross logo), the underwear and its strong but rather uncomfortable symbolism of femininity as it is often reworked into the corrective, functional and almost medical details. A.F. Vandevorst are one of not many creatives who follow the very distinct red thread throughout their entire oeuvre.
I’m not sure whether I can live the entire style, but my fascination with branded red cross garments is somewhat curiosity and somewhat a search for something new. In comes the headline from the aforementioned Zeeuws Museum publication – “old vs. new”…or in better words – the best new is the well forgotten old.


One more point for the mass fashion phenomenon: as ASOS tells me to buy
a) Maxi dress
b) Clogs
c) Spring tailoring
d) Printed trousers
..and denim

…the OC clogs and the Acne printed trews were sitting happily on top of my spring shopping list already, but since I’m not a fan of tailoring I wouldn’t have naturally come up with such idea. Thanks to my adored shop Labels Inc. for acquainting me with this tailoring masterpiece. This powder rose blazer has got the most boring textured tweed fabric…but then the sleeves are sewed in backwards, the collar is dropping slightly at the back and the hidden zipper on one side of the bodice makes for a voluntary slit – a healthy dose of deconstrucivism for one blazer

...and a good way to keep the ASOS analysts happy.

christian wijnants stocksale

origami...boutique

At this very moment there are just too many reasons for a massive spring clearout in my wardrobe. Well, firstly affected by springtime the human beings tend to regularly get rid of piles of so-called ‘unnecessary stuff’, and secondly moving from one apartment to another causes a very similar reaction…
…or at least this is what The Took of the Urban Jungle says…
I’ve been cursing myself with all the big words while moving for being the most non-selective hoarder when it comes to clothes – this must come to an end! And the past couple of days have been dedicated to purely that – sorting through my wardrobe, deciding what to keep/sell/donate, to which I must admit that there are so many nice clothes, but I just don’t make any good use of them. I’ve never been good at layering, neither at rethinking the use of the garment – here a skirt will always remain a skirt and never become a strapless top or a snood…and I do talk about the respect to the design and its purpose, but may be it’s out of the lack of creativity…
In other words…welcome to a rather common blog extension – the shop! At origami…boutique you can purchase my clothes, be it designer, vintage or high-street. I will put them up there 2 weeks prior to selling them on eBay, so that you can avoid the bidding rush and make your purchases at ease. I promise the ridiculously low prices, because the purpose of the ‘origami…boutique’ is not to get rich, but to find these babies a new home.
The boutique will be up and running in the course of next week, so do check back.