Thursday, June 25, 2009

ALEXA IN WONDERLAND


By a reader and fellow bloggers request I am devoting a blog post over to style icon of the moment Alexa Chung. I don’t normally follow celebrity fashionistas bar Chloe Sevigny, but I must admit that Alexa is one heck of a clothes hanger. She can transform the simplest Breton top into the trendiest piece of the season, and she is indeed the girl who revamped this trend. Her exotic looks which stem from a British mother and Chinese Father can transcend every look from grunge, classic tomboy, to quintessential British chic, and couture. She has proved herself to be quite the style chameleon and holds as much esteem in the style stakes as long standing style superiors Chloë Sevigny and Kate Moss. Below are my top 8 Alexa looks.








1st Image: Alexa graces the front page of French Jalouse magazine.
2nd Image: Attending a Chanel fashion show in an Isabel Marant Paddington jacket.
3rd Image: Sporting a Breton top and Hunter Wellingtons at a festival.
4th Image: British Chic on the streets of London.
5th Image: Preppy and perfect in a Burberry Trenchcoat.
6th Image: Supporting British fashion designers in a nude dress by Poltock & Walsh.
7th Image: Looking frou frou in a Luella frock.
8th Image: Romantic and beautiful in couture Giambatista Valli for Harpers Bazaar magazine.

Friday, June 19, 2009

LOVELY BLOG AWARD


I was so enamoured to receive this blog award from Miss Milki who writes the fantastic blog missmilki.blogspot. It's always nice to get some recognition from a fellow blogger. Apologies that it has taken me this long to respond!Thanks Style-Sphere.X

Thursday, June 18, 2009

OPENING CEREMONY FEVER













I have Opening Ceremony fever at the minute, I love the selection that Très Bien Shop are selling at their online site. This cobalt blue dress is a particular favourite, I love the unexpected split at the back and the simple, linear design of the dress. It would look great teamed with the Opening Ceremony flare trench and the corset tied shoe boots also featured here. It was their collaboration with style maverick Chloë Sevigny back in 1998 that sparked off my interest with the brand. The ingenious collaboration continues with Sevigny creating a line of menswear pieces for AW/09.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

POSTER OF A BOY


Darragh Shanahan is the Jack of all artistic trades; drummer, photographer, and creative director to name just a few of his career endeavours. He forms one part of the über cool band Dark Room Notes who are presently taking these shores and beyond by storm. He is also the photographer responsible for capturing Style-Sphere’s blog profile photograph and therein lies the story of how we first met and collaborated. One random night, after an even more random chat, we decided upon doing a fashion shoot together. A date was set and a meeting point decided upon. The spontaneity of our first collaboration developed over pints outside a Dublin nightclub. I provided the face, the fashion, and the theatre, while he came equipped with a snazzy vintage camera, charisma, a pair of ray-bans, and a box of smokes. I showed up at the shoot armed with costumes in superpower colours of gold, royal blue, and red á la Wonder Woman. Below Darragh discusses the symbiotic relationship between fashion and music and shares his precious style notes with us.


Style-Sphere: Earliest fashion memory?
Darragh: Probably getting a school uniform, I can remember asking my mother to take in my trousers so they were drain pipes, they're the first item I had any influence on changing how it fit me. There was also a yellow t-shirt with a cartoon rodeo on it I had as a young boy, I set fire to it and myself while playing with matches, I actually told the Garda that I was attacked and they went looking for this guy I called Joxer Lawlor, I'm scared for life.

Style-Sphere: Who are your style icons and how do they influence the way in which you dress?
Darragh: Everything is a style influence to me but probably film would be my biggest style icon. Watching how people interpret an era or watching some contemporary piece (check out The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey) is a great source to remind me that fashion is a language is so many ways.


Style-Sphere: Has your personal style evolved since the early days of Dark Room Notes?
Darragh: I've always been a one for natural selection, I'm a warrior, I don't shop a lot so my experiences bring clothes to me, and the people I meet share a lot. So if you start hanging around with a band it changes things, you meet designers like Pete Reddy who has been wonderful with his cast offs, Arran from the band showed me a new way to look at colour, the stage brought drama, the road brought the need for comfort, the photo shoots brought character and writing about it brings reflection, I've rediscovered nudity.

Style-Sphere: How would you describe the overall image of DRN?Darragh: It's evolving.

Style-Sphere: What has been the most outlandish outfit you have worn while performing in DRN?
Darragh: Green eyeliner, Mohawk dusted with green eye liner, a black Perspex magpie silhouette on a chain around my neck with a leaf going through the nadir, black Speedos, karate shoes called Men Shoes that have white cotton soles and a smile.



Style-Sphere: The latest video 'Shake Shake my Ceiling' set in Berlin follows you on your dancing journey through the city of Berlin wearing a pair of very slick shoes. Tell us about your look in that video and your reason for choosing to shoot in Berlin? Darragh: I am a big fan of scarves, gloves, hats, shoes and sun glasses for the reasons I talked about in your icons question. Over time I've put them together in different ways, certain combinations stick with me. Berlin was selected because of the director Rory Breslihin, he wanted to shoot in this bar called Dr Pongs. So we did, and the idea wasn't working, but for a few weeks before we left I couldn't stop dancing to that song and just for a laugh Rory agreed to dance around Berlin with me. You should see the out takes! x




Thursday, June 4, 2009

PUCES Á PARIS


Style-Sphere has taken an extended holiday recently but promises to be back in action with some interesting style musings once the glorious sunshine departs these shores. However, I will devote a post to my longstanding Puces préfèré Marché de Vanves which I revisited recently in Paris.


Puces de Vanves located in the south east of Paris is the third biggest and in my opinion the best flea market that Paris has to offer. The beauty of Vanves lies in its ability to capture all the charm, whit, customs, and eccentricity of the French all in the one Sunday morning visit.


Wading through Vanves every onlooker is treated to a tranche de vie of French flea market culture . Two Vendors enjoy a game of chess behind their stall, a man wearing a sailor cap plays a piano at the other end of the street, while a crazy couple fumble over a bottle of Bordeaux in between two children playing hopscotch with an old cigarette tin. I on the other hand, camera in hand, am interrupted from my gaze by an homme Francais asking me to take his portrait, 'j’étais un mannequin' he jovially informs me. He proceeds to pawn off a hideous dress to me telling me that the colours are 'super bonne' pour les Rousses (redhead en français).




Vides Greniers which literally translates as an attic clearout is commonplace in Paris, it always occurs to me that French folk must be natural born hoarders, unlike us Irish counterparts who decided to throw everything out during the sixties. One tradition the French do uphold is to keep every odd toy, book, and delph as well as various other obscure objects that tickle take their fancy. An entire stall was devoted to vintage keyrings and another to antique buttons. Irish people tend to have a more ‘out with the old, in with the new kind of attitude, we aren‘t natural born hoarders like the French.




Get thee to a French flea market and rummage to your hearts content. One word of advice don’t leave behind mint condition Chanel shoes.



All photos by Style-Sphere (c)

Metro: Porte de Vanves
Ouvert: 07h-13h