Not Any Ordinary Shirtdress

I'm finished with my last essay of the semester! Woopie! It's been too long since I've had the chance to breathe. While I'm taking a very very short breather, here's a short post on the simple twist of a simple white button-down by Victor & Rolf, spotted on Emma Stone in the May edition of Glamour US.

Emma Stone in Glamour US May 2011
Photographed by Matthias Vriens-McGrath and styled by Anne Christensen.

 Photo Credits: FashionGoneRogue

On the Runway: Victor & Rolf S/S 2011

 

Photo Credits: style.com

Awesome, no? Victor & Rolf are designers that I'd definitely categorize as "out of the box." Sometimes it's extravagant, a little over-the-top even for me. But this Spring and Summer collection was a nice twist on the traditional white button-down. The dress in the second picture would even look good as a wedding gown. The third one would be Lady Gaga, hands down. That's a double thumbs up to Victor & Rolf's collection.

All for now!
Delilah

Culture Chanel at the Shanghai MoCa

Before I headed to Shanghai to spend Chinese New Year, I was ecstatic over the Culture Chanel exhibit at the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCa). I made my visit on February 7th, after a long visit at the newly-opened Gap on Nanjing Road. The MoCa is one my favorite places in Shanghai. Located smack in the middle of Shanghai's People's Park, I make a visit to the MoCa almost every time I'm in Shanghai. In the past, I've also been to a Salvatore Ferragamo exhibit and various other exhibits held there.

All pictures taken by me with my handy Canon IXUS 85IS(the guard there said I couldn't take pictures, but I saw someone using her iPhone to take pictures of everything, so I gave myself permission), so the photo quality might not be too good. Remember to give me credit if you decide to borrow them :)

The moment you're waiting for...Culture Chanel.

By Day and By Night

Outside the MoCa (left) and Inside the Park (right)

The Origin

Inspiration from Gabrielle Chanel's time in an orphanage in Aubazine and religious dress.

Sculpture from the 15th/16th Century, Collection Musee Labenche d'art et d'histoire, Brive-la-Gaillarde (France)

White collared and cuffs on black dresses from Chanel collections of 1965-1980, Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel collections of1989, 2005

Chanel No 5

Perfume Bottle (left, 1921) and Fine Jewelry (right, worn by Nicole Kidman in the No 5 advertising film directed by Baz Luhrmann in 2004)

Harper's Bazaar US: Chanel photographed by Francois Kollar for Chanel No 5's advertising campaign for the November 1937 edition of the magazine

"Madame Gabrielle Chanel is above all an artist in living. Her dresses, her perfumes, and created with a faultless instinct for drama. Her Perfume No. 5 is like the soft music that underlies the playing of a love scene. It kindles the imaginary, indelibly fixes the scene in memories of the players."

Chanel Essentials

Ivory Tweed Jackets (left, Gabrielle Chanel 1963 Haute Couture collection and Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel collections of 1986, 1988, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2006, 2009) and Chanel Camellias (right)

Give Me Liberty

 Coats and Trousers by Gabrielle Chanel 

(left, from the Haute Couture Collections of 1930s and 1960) and by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel (right, Haute Couture, Ready-to-wear, and Cruise collections of 1985, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1003, 2004, and 2009)

Long Live the Queen

Chanel White Collars 

(first picture below: left to right, Daphne Guinness in Chanel 2009 F/W Ready-to-wear collection for Vogue Italy October 2009, 'Reinas de la France' by Jean Cocteau and Christian Berard, Gabrielle Chanel photographed by George Hoyningen-Huene in 1939, second picture below: Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel F/W 1996 Haute Couture collection)

Imaginary encounters with Catherine de'Medici 

(first picture below: Chanel 1971 F/W Haute Couture collection, Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel Haute Couture collections of 1983, 1987, 1989, 1995, 1996, 1998, and 2009, second picture below: Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel 1990 F/W Haute Couture collection)

For more information, either grab the February edition of Vogue China's supplement on Culture Chanel or check out the Website. Remember to stop by before March 14, you've still got a month!

Update: I forgot to add pictures of the spread in the supplement to Vogue China February 2011 dedicated to the Culture Chanel exhibition in Shanghai. Liu Wen in Chanel photographed by Victor Demarchelier for Vogue China February 2011 is absolutely stunning. Source: FashionGoneRogue


The Origin

Liberty

 

Imaginary

Enjoy and celebrate NY fashion week!

Delilah

Mass Elitism: Starting with the Birkin

Who knew Karl Largerfeld's idea of Mass Elitism would come true so soon? Bringing luxury to the masses. I used to think only Karl had the ability to do that, but it doesn't seem to be the case. There's a huge Hermes Birkin bag fettish all over the world right now and when I looked farther into it, there's actually quite a few sources. The basic idea is to print the Hermes Birkin bag on a canvas bag, thus everyone can get Birkin bags at cheap and affordable price(plus the environmental damage caused by dying leather bags would also be lowered and canvas bags can be made of organic materials). So there you have it, low prices, environmentally friendly and very classy and stylish. Here are three sources I've found so far.

Banana Taipei

in French Honey Camel

From Taiwan, this bag reaching the hands of fans all over East Asia. I would know because I just helped my aunt get one. We put in an order for a Supper Champagne Grey one late December and it finally reached us earlier this week. I had actually seen it on the streets earlier but decided not to buy one after finding it in nearby boutiques. The good thing about it is that the size is similar to the original Hermes Birkin, great for school, books and A4 files, the handle is also printed on, theres a magnetic button inside, and there are ten colors to choose from. But on the minus side, you have to be really careful about keeping it clean if you buy a light colored one. The price is around 400RMB to 590HKD including shipping in the East Asia area(I'm not sure about the price in Taipei).

Picture from: Facebook Banana Taipei

Official Site: bananataipei.com

TATA Baby Birkin

From Japan, this is the one that's REALLY hard to get a hold of. I can't even find an official site. I know it's from Japan for sure and available for purchase at a boutique called Liger in Hong Kong. There's quite a few pro's about the TATA Baby Birkin: the material is waterproof, the printing is very detailed, there are various sizes and colors, and there's an extra cross shoulder strap! But on the other hard, the TATA Baby Birkin is the most expensive of the three options. I've flipped around and found that auction sites are selling them at 3400HKD and my aunt gave me a heads up saying it around 3000HKD

Picture from: Savvy Mode

Thursday Friday Together Bag

in Blue

From the US, this is a much more simple version compared to the Banana Taipei and TATA. Nonetheless, it conveys a similar message. Three colors: red, blue, and camel. Available online for 35USD and ships everywhere (which is REALLY convenient for people in the US, Canada, or Europe because the other two do not ship that far yet). It's similar to the large original Hermes Birkin size. The longer straps are easier to through over your shoulder.

Picture from the Official Site: ThuFri website

So, what would you say?

Yes or no to a new canvas look-a-like Hermes Birkin?

As awesome as it is, I think I'll keep looking first.

All for now!

Delilah

Ferrero Rocher x Party Dress

Hi :) Delilah here!

For my first post, I didn't have anything in particular planned. The whole idea of Vanilla Chymes came out of a spur of excitement and I've been wanting to start something like the for quite a while now. I'm sooo happy to have this up and running (thank you, Jeisa!). So to start off, I guess I should say that I'm currently residing in an urban cement jungle in Asia (aka. Hong Kong). And I'm study something completely unrelated to fashion, art, or anything innovative in college (okay, I'm exaggerating a little, but that's how I feel sometimes!)

Here's a treat to begin Vanilla Chymes...

I've always loved Ferrero Rocher Chocolates. There's just something about the creamy soft inside and the crunchy almond bits sprinkled on top that I couldn't get enough of (besides, I only got a box once every year or so. My mom doesn't like chocolate, so I'd only have Ferrero Rochers during festivities from presents). I used to take the gold tape on the side of the chocolate box and use it to decorate this sides of my bookshelves and I stick the tiny stickers onto a page of my schedule. Hehe. Basically, I'm Ferrero obsessed.

One day in high school, I noticed the pretty concentric circle pattern on the bottom of the wrappers and *TADA* I though it looked a lot like the traffeta on the bottom of wedding gowns, evening dresses, and Betsey Johnson party dresses! So I made a version of a full length gown immediately. Sometime in the few months, I came across the work of Danny Roberts and fell in love with his style of painting, drawing on glass, and speed painting videos and I wanted to try it out myself. So I tried sketching out a girl from his painting ( I vaguely remember seeing a picture similar to that of ZhangZiYi at the Dior fashion show) and I didn't really like the black dress. So from the party dress shape, I decided to add in a Fererro pattern :)

Step 1: Sketching

Step 2 Cutting out the shapes

Step 3 Gluing it together

... and that's all I've gotten to so far. I'm hoping to add in a water color background but I couldn't make up my mind. Hopefully I'll get back to it soon enough.

all for now :)