Streams of cotton pearls...

Petite Robe Noire's shining cotton pearls are my new addiction...

Oh La Danse!

Dancing as always been part of my life, even though I have not been practicing for several years, I still enjoy attend ballets, discussing dancers' performances with my ballet mates, and watching the seldom movies about it, such as Robert Altman's The Company (2003). Going through Apple's trailers, tonight I found out about La Danse. I am impatient to see how Frederick Wiseman managed assemble together multiple corners of the Paris Opera Ballet, from rehearsal studios to costume rooms to administrative offices.

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In search for Fall/Winter inspiration...

The Uniform Project

Think about wearing the same dress for 365 days. It seems impossible but Sheena Matheiken is doing it.

Going through the NY Times Blog I have found out about TheUniformProject, a year-long fundraiser for the Akanksha Foundation, a grassroots movement that is revolutionizing education in India.

Starting May 2009, Sheena Matheiken has pledged to wear one dress for one year as an exercise in sustainable fashion. Every day she reinvents the dress with layers, accessories and all kinds of accouterments, the majority of which are vintage, hand-made, or hand-me-down goodies.




I guess that from now own whenever I think that there is absolutely nothing in my closet to wear, I simply need to be more imaginative.



"Rules stifle creativity and enforce conformity. Rules can do something else too: inspire creativity that thwarts conformity. " (NY Times, Rob Walker This Year's Model)

Mook

Yesterday, while I was riding the subway, the advertisement for the first YSL Mook caught my attention, however I thought it would not probably be worth spending the money considering the quality of Mook's presents. Despite my assumption, the same day, while I was at the supermarket shopping for groceries, I noticed a girl carrying this YSL bag on her shoulder, pushed by my curiosity, I moved closer to the girl and I had a quick but scrupulous look at the bag, which seemed made out of sturdy canvas and well embroidered. Consequently, I decided to go and check it out personally tomorrow at the nearest book store. I think it will perfectly work as a ECO bag for my daily groceries shopping.

Tasca

This entire past week, up to yesterday night I have been collaborating with Apartmento's Tasca... here in Tokyo at NOWIDea. It has been a super intense week.. cooking for 40 people daily is not as easy as I thought it would be.


We started everyday in the morning, serve the 2 sessions of lunch and clean the whole place so that all the utensils and tableware would be ready for the next day. A part from the daily hard-working routine the food we made has been well recepted. I loved the food very much as well.. It is now almost 7 years that I live outside Italy and I know for sure that one of the things I mostly miss about it, is the food. In other words, this week has been a nice break from the "Italian" food my host-family provides me every night for dinner. I am not sure when my next post is going to be because I won't have easy access to the Internet until Wednesday night, but I'll try to talk about all the things/people I encoutered last week in Tokyo.

Cold Pea Soup garnished with sun-dried tomatoes and freshly grounded pepper.

(Photos taken from DOSSIER)

Kron by KronKron

Nicole and I have been searching for the perfect pair of shoes here in Nagoya for the past 2 weeks without succeeding. However, recently she made me fall in love again with Kron by KronKron fantastic heels. They are definitely not available here in Nagoya but hopefully, since I am going to be in Tokyo starting on Saturday, I'll be luckier there!

Clarevivier

Surfing on several blogs I came across Clare Vivier Totes... simply perfection! There is a sort of Mulberry-ness that combined with il Bisonte-ness gave birth to this minimal chic bags.

"CLAREVIVIER is a collection of bags, which embody timeless style over trend, quality over. hype, and progression over abstraction. Clare was a journalist working for French television when she was traveling a lot with her laptop and for lack of anything cute in the marketplace, fabricated her own padded envelope. Out of that search for bags with chic utility came CLAREVIVIER. The line is based in LA, and everything Clare doesn't manufacture herself, is produced entirely Burbank and proudly wears the moniker "locally made." CLAREVIVIER is a socially conscious company, mindful of the local manufacturing community for the jobs it produces and the low carbon footprint the company inhabits. All CLAREVIVIER bags carry Clare signature style of classic necessity with a nod to timeless French designers. Clare also works as in-house bag and packaging designer for local luxury companies such as the Viceroy hotels and Mannin jewelry."

à la MIU MIU

Dovetails, Cats, Naked Ladies, Navy Blue, Black, Yellow, White... à la MIU MIU!

Ladurée

Today after finishing up class at 10.50 I went with Clarice back to the dorm, had a slice of toasted bread with Nutella and fell asleep for 1 hour. After a quick lunch, Markus, Clarice and I headed to the Immigration Office in Nagoya.. which is quite a long journey from Yagoto Nisseki station. On the way back we decided to stop by Takashimaya department store in Nagoya Station and pay a visit to the recently opened Ladurée. I purchased 2 macaroons, coffee and vanilla flavor. So delicate and flavorful to the palate. At 17.30 I then met with 4 of my classmates to go out to a Japanese style bar, had few glasses of plum wine and a really pleasant night out, which was crowned by taking purikura all together. Unexpectedly a delightful Wednesday.

Arnold

Recently I got to think about will power. About Arnold Schwarzenegger. About the comforts of what my life used to be and the daily small random challenges that I face everyday.. I remember when I was in high school, the way I was driven and the constant need to push myself in giving the best of me in any situation. Now I feel like I am hanging in here, enjoying the daily routine I manage to create but at the same time I do not receive any stimulus from the surrounding environment. However, I am thinking that I should re-find my strong will power that I know it's in there somewhere and push myself in finding inspiration even where I cannot find it.

Natural Hues

Similarly to what Phoebe Philo presented on the Celine S/S '10 runway, Hannah MAcGibbon did for Chloe S/S '10. Natural hues, beige jackets and pants, khaki shirts, and colorless chiffon...

Black Mink

After the typhoon went by early this morning, I decided that since the temperature is gradually dropping down I needed to go fur shopping. The black mink vest I bought today has been in my dreams for quite few weeks now, today I realized that I could not longer wait and I bought it. Now, with my nightie under my vest I am sewing a new skirt for tomorrow morning.

Celine!

So French, So Minimal, So chic...

The pleasure of a genuine laugh.

Today has been a pleasant day. Nothing much really happened but Alex took me to the Cinema Club's room on campus where we met some interesting Japanese people, who differently from the rest of the Japanese people we usually hang out with, were talking to us not because wanting to practice their English but because honestly interested in us. After the tea ceremony class, I met up with Alex again and we went to Cafe BuBu (1950's Americana decorations and Neon lights covering all the walls.), by far the best cafe/restaurant in the area around Nanzan University Nagoya campus. I felt like I am finally building up a genuine new friendship. Not expectation, not need to pretend to be somebody different than who I am... I laughed with him.. The pleasure of laughing with somebody else is something that I am slowly re-discovering.
On the way to bed now, I am listening to Julian Casablancas' new solo single, 11th dimension, recalling The Strokes "Is This It" style...