Friday, January 30, 2015

Chanel SS 2015 Haute Couture

Reading: Come Away by Stephen Policoff
Haute couture week has come and gone and it was a wonderful season. From John Galliano's triumphant return to fashion at Maison Martin Margiela to the country-inspired looks at Viktor & Rolf, this season had its fair share of whimsy and fun. No other show took away my breath the way Chanel did though. By far, Chanel's most beautiful collection in years. For most Chanel shows, it takes me awhile to warm up to them. However, the SS 2015 Haute Couture collection immediately caught my attention with its ethereal beauty and youthful LBDs (looks 33-37). I especially enjoyed the lovely flower decorations placed along the hems of skirts, sleeves, and various beanies. (How dream-worthy is the finale wedding dress with its exquisite skirt!) All in all, it was refreshing to see a little less of the tweed suit and more of the gorgeous frocks that we all want to own. By the way, is there anyway Karl Lagerfeld could send me one of those beanies to help me survive this winter? Please and thank you!

Photos: 1,3 and 5 from Chanel News/ 2 and 4 from Vogue

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Quick Trips to Washington, D.C.

Playing: No Phun Intended (Whole Album)-Tyler Joseph
Reading: Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Way back in October, I took a weekend trip down to visit my brother, Ted, in Washington, D.C. I haven't been to D.C. for around six years now and I have to apologize to D.C. for not liking it the first time I visited. This time around D.C. felt cleaner than last time and I loved the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History's aquatic section. I'm not sure if it's because I like aquatic things in general or if it's because it was actually of exceptional quality though.
Walking around the National Mall, I found this little fountain and sitting area next to the old Smithsonian Institution Building that was rather quaint. I liked this little pocket of beauty in the middle of the area.
The Smithsonian "Castle" was closed the day I went unfortunately, so I couldn't go inside. However, it was nice to walk around the lovely gardens and I enjoyed looking at the actual building, which is rather impressive. Lately, I've been into castles and such probably as a distraction from my finals. I mean, why study for finals when there's a documentary on Chatsworth on Netflix and you have easy access to Wikipedia?
My brother and I took a quick day trip to Baltimore, MD to check out the National Aquarium. Although it was nice, my brother and I both thought it was overpriced considering the tickets cost more than the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA and we both think the one in Long Beach is much nicer. They do have larger animals, at the one in Baltimore though, like dolphins and such. How pretty is this jellyfish ceiling decoration? I wouldn't mind putting up something like this in my home.
The main reason for my trip down was to see Bastille's The Last Stand concert. I was kind of disappointed by the performance because the audience was seriously low energy and not many people were singing along aside from "Pompeii" and "Bad Blood." Maybe it's because I've been getting used to general admission concerts, but something about stadium seating makes it hard to get into the concert. I also felt like Dan Smith didn't interact with the audience that much except for a few awkward attempts at dancing. I usually find awkward dancing extremely endearing (Examples? I love Andrew McMahon's and Forrest Kline's dance moves). However, I didn't feel the same towards Bastille and I'm not quite sure why. Anyways, sorry for being an extraordinarily lazy blogger, but I really ought to try harder to keep this up. I've been blogging for close to six years, so I feel a sense of obligation towards the site.