SALE SPREE

Acne Duchess dress now €120

Ossie Clark(Matches) t-shirt now €52

It's that time of year again when one can't help but check out all the gorgeous new AW/09 looks appearing all over our favourite online stores. I have already written a wish list from the Acne and Matches online store alone. However it is worth diverting your eyes away just for a little longer, as there is a feast of sales cropping up across some of the most exciting, and independent online stores such as: Farfetch, Tresbienshop,Branten, Scouthestore, Matches, Doshaburi, Ok-ni and Surface to Air. There are bargains galore on all these sites with some items slashed to 70%.I have put together a little selection of treats to choose from. Browse and shop to your hearts content and remember to acknowledge the fact that you are supporting the independent designers which these online boutiques promote. I hope I have inspired some online shopping sprees.

Martin Margiela blazer (Tresbienshop) now €208

Tsumori Chisato dress (Tresbienshop) now €305

Beyond the Valley Jacket (Farfetch) now €180

JC de Castelbajac dress (Farfetch) now €70

Tsumori Chisato cuff (Farfetch) now €71

Henrik Vibskov shirt (Scouthestore) now €90

Henrik Vibskov Vest (Scouthestore) now €105

Diana Orving dress (Scouthestore) now €55

Comme Des Garconnes jacket (Farfetch) now €486

Bernhard Willhelm dress (Farfetch) now €350

Ode to a Style Icon

Everything Michael Jackson put on his back had an iconic significance.It's difficult to know where to begin or which decade to choose from. The red leather jacket from Thriller always triggered something in me, and is one image that remains in my mind, perhaps it was the fact that I was petrified of the video as a child.I will also always remember MJ in his white socks and shiney patent shoes.The most impressive piece from recent times has to be the Givenchy studded gold jacket which Mary Kate Olsen also sported.In my ode to MJ I would like to Thank him for inspiring three decades of experimental fashion.

A MEDIOCRE SUCCESS

Mediocre Success is designed for those of us that like our accessories to be simple, functional, and above all tactile. These days there is such an abundance of clutter surrounding our lives that it becomes useful to compartmentalise our belongings in order to be organised. Mediocre Success does just that, by providing intricately designed pieces for storing and wrapping up, all the important bits in your handbag. Mediocre Success is designed by the savvy Swiss native Eveline Erni who studied fashion design in Milan and has since worked as a stylist for various menswear labels. It is stocked in select concept stores such as The Hunter in Berlin and Vestibule in Zurich. She creates everything from wallets, travel holders, vanity bags, to i-phone holders, USB-stick holders and passport pouches. I met up with Eveline in Dublin while she was working as a costume designer on a short film. Below she tells us a little more about her design background and her decision to follow the accessories route of design practice.


Style-Sphere: Where did the name Mediocre Success originate?Eveline: I was looking for a name that encourages one to think about what lies beneath the brand - it had to be a name that could stand for any kind of product. Mediocre Success, sounds confusing because it has negative attributes so I figured it would be the best name ever!

Style-Sphere: What is your design background and how did you decide to enter into the realm of accessory design?Eveline: I studied fashion design and received a scholarship for a leather accessories course. Following my studies in Milan, I worked for several years for other companies in this particular area. I then realised that I had sufficient experience to launch my own label. I believe that the design process is all about your passion.

Style-Sphere: What accessories designer to you admire the most and why?Eveline: I truly admire all accessory designers who possess a strong conceptional approach to design such as, Maison Martin Margiela or Costume National.

Style-Sphere: If you had the choice to stock Mediocre Success within any store in the world, where would you choose?
Eveline: I would have to choose stores which carry a clear statement and believe in promoting a strong concept such as: Park in Vienna, Circus Store in Dublin, Frip in Milan or Merci in Paris.

Style-Sphere: What are your future aspirations for Mediocre Success?
Eveline: I would hope that Mediocre Success will become recognised as a label with a unique style and a design aesthetic that highlights individuality and functionality.

http://www.mediocresuccess.com/

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.

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

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.

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

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

INTRODUCING: ARTIST DARKO DRAGICEVIC

On my first encounter with the artist Darko Dragicevic he was wearing a fantastic Bernhard Willhelm check shirt and shopping for some Henrik Vibskov pieces. For Darko, clothes aren’t merely clothes but art in themselves and his interest in fashion lies far beyond the scope of a fondness for good design aesthetics. He prefers fashion that has a strong concept, an impacting ethos, and above all he admires designers who are multifaceted like design genius Henrik Vibskov. (C)Branka Dutina.

A native of Belgrade, Darko attended the New York film academy and his work as a film director in several different projects brought him back to Europe where he currently resides in Berlin. Darko devised the ‘Taste of Life’ exhibit in New York in 2007, the exhibit consists of 12 video pieces which are followed by 12 tracks and 12 pages from a selection of published works. The principal plot concerns time and physical absence in the domestic space such as ‘the apartment in the big city’. Under the name SCHNITT, Darko along with Berlin based architect Branka Dutina, organised and facilitated the ‘Taste of Life’ exhibit in and around Berlin. The moveable exhibit took place within a camper van positioned in various locations around Berlin. The exhibit is scheduled to wander further afield in the coming months. Below is an interview with the artist.



Style-Sphere: How did you conceive the idea for the 'Taste of Life' exhibition?
Darko: By observing what was going on in the boxes being called the apartments in the big cities…At the time I used to live in New York, so the concept of the space and everything that’s been happening inside of it was more dramatic than now. Then when I came to Berlin the idea of the videos was adopted to this place and it slightly changed. Many new things were born inside of SCHNITT, in collaboration with the Exhibit Architect Branka Dutina.



Style-Sphere: Has living in Berlin changed your overall outlook in your work ?
Darko: No, I wouldn‘t say so. The basics will always remain the same. My work is who I am and I don‘t believe that people change.



Style-Sphere: What element of the Berlin lifestyle has mostly influenced your development as an artist?
Darko: It’s structure. Buildings and people. It’s past. It’s landscape of diversities.



Style-Sphere: 'Taste of Life' is essentially a mobile exhibition, what places do you aspire to travel to next?
Darko: Places that would bring something new to the ‘Taste Of Life‘. Places with a completely different landscapes or social structures.Places where I could have a byte of something unexpected.



Style-Sphere: 'Taste of Life' took place in a camper van. Whilst living within the exhibition, what music did you play the most? what food did you eat? and what did you wear?
Darko: Apart from the music used for the videos, I was mostly listening to Cat Power, David Bowie, Bebi Dol, M83 and Bach played by Glenn Gould. I was eating whatever I had in the van or what my friends would bring over. That was always a surprise! The clothes I wore weren’t that impressive as I’ve mostly had to think about how cold it was both outside and inside (the doors were open for the visitors). It was always the same: military coat, scarf and hat, pants or jeans and warm shoes.

Style-Sphere: How would you describe Berlin in three words?
Darko:Bad news!Good news!Bad news!