The Fashion Industry - Stimulus Plan

We all love Michelle Obama for so many reasons...we certainly love her fashion sense, and plus she looks great in everything as we all wish we could.

Nowadays everyone seems to be getting a stimulus plan for one thing or another, but what about the Fashion industry, well the Fashion industry's newest top patron is not forgetting about who butters her clothes...check-out "The First Lady Effect" in today's Women's Wear Daily

My Love and Paris

I love Paris, I keep trying to find the time to learn French so that I can justify moving there. Really I don't need a justification (it just sounds nicer to say), I just need a project or to become independently wealthy so that I can partake in the joie de vivre of the City of Lights.

I love the idea of Paris simply because I feel that it could make me a better person.

It is a city that cannot be captured at a glance, it takes hold of your every sense and its energy removes the red complacent tape replenishing your soul with tranquil ambitiion.

Boyle Heights and Gentrification: A Tale of Two Possibilities ~ An Editorial

Photographer: Daniel Aguilera

We must hold real estate developers accountable for responsible development. I present a strategy for Boyle Heights in Los Angeles, CA in my first published editoral in the debut issue of the Brooklyn and Boyle newspaper: Boyle Heights and Gentrification: A Tale of Two Possibilities.

Originally titled: Boyle Heights is Not for Sale

As I walk the streets of Boyle Heights, I see our people, I feel our energy of a neighborhood in motion. You can't help but sense the vitality of a community embracing itself in rediscovery. Despite the tumultuous Real Estate market, property prices have increased in value but they have not priced us out or pushed us out. We are still here. We are reviving, rejuvenating and taking back our neighborhood and showing the rest of LA the beauty of Boyle Heights.

I see families walking together hand in hand at night and get a tingly feeling of gusto as I see the newly wed couple: the father with his young wife and their infant crossing the street at 10pm, where else in LA do you see that? Only today in Boyle Heights.

Photographer: Daniel Aguilera
I also see new construction activity, shiny new storefronts, and the newly revamped state of the art hospital, White Memorial. I'm not a native to LA, but I have heard the horror stories of the old hospital, before one of our own, Oscar de La Hoya, decided to give back to his community, because it also needs to be about giving back to the community. Oscar helped make the hospital into an institution that could actually service our community.

The best part about the change that is going on here is that there is only a tinge of the dreaded baggage that gentrification tends to pack. New businesses are coming to the community and improvements to existing businesses are also being made. Property values were on the rise before the whole housing market crashed, but the people who have grown with the community and which the community has been their lifeblood are not being pushed out in the way that gentrification has impacted other communities in growth and in need of renewal and improvements. The new middle class people who are coming to the neighborhood are for the most part people who had grown up in the neighborhood and had left and that are now returning on their own accord.

Call it nostalgia or simple economic sense the neighborhood kids are coming back to the neighborhood now that they are all grown up. Boyle Heights is nourishing itself, to ensure that the kids and grand kids of the abuelitos today will continue to want to come back to the neighborhood, and spend their money in the neighborhood. If you want a nice dinner there are places to go now, the amenities are here, there are choices now, there is no need to have to deal with traffic to have a glass of wine when Eastside Love is just right around the corner.

We are undergoing a renaissance and the Boyle Heights renaissance is inclusive, the community is holding change accountable. Gentrification should be about discovery not about greed and displacement, and our rejuvenation is about discovery and making our community better. Sure there will be sour deals, but you as a community member need to speak up if you suspect and see injustice otherwise you are just part of the problem. If we are not going to fight for our neighborhood who will? We know what we most need, so let's make it happen, don't let the evil part of gentrification seep through our streets. We have kept this community alive for so long don't let big money come and taunt us with perceived goods—Question and Verify. Remember the examples our abuelitos and abuelitas have already set, it is not just about us today, it's about our survival, it's about our success, it's about our future, it’s about the future of the neighborhood.

This is our neighborhood, this is our home. We can not become sell outs, we can not let our neighborhood sell out. Gentrification will take the best of our neighborhood if we let it. Lord lead us not into temptation: let us hold our politicians accountable; let us hold businesses accountable; let us hold institutions accountable; let us hold ourselves accountable. Let there be a transformation but let us not lose our essence.

21st Century Celebrities

Need we say more...Me and the Boys:

Evan Handler, from Sex In The City










Stan Chambers from KTLA







Google Search them!

Skirts ... Complementing the Goods

Why the skirt? And why do women still wear it and men don't?

My theory: It really boils down to the fact that the circular cut of a skirt, just like it was in the 1700s and early 1900s, has always emphasized and complemented the curvaceous body of a woman. And men, whether gay or straight, don't have an interest in wearing something that has such an innate feminine quality.

The Delphos Gown Circa 1907

Quite possibly the first patented fashion gown, Mariano Fortuny patented the world's Delphos gown from his office at the Palazzo d' Orfei in Venice.

The Delphos gown is a direct descendant of the classical Greek chiton. It was made in fine silks, dyed in effervescent colors, hand-pleated and it falls in a sleek column line from the shoulder to the heel.

Truly a classic modern design, 100 years later, the Delphos gown is still in fashion! 

Death To Cookie Cutter Creativity

Natural flowing curves use to be rare in buildings.  Once upon a time only the masters would attempt to conquer this inherent feat. However it seems as though more architects are attempting to add more curvature, it seems to be the new fad, but then again most new architecture seems to mimic each other, why? 

I can't help but ask myself where has all the creativity gone? Is the Architecture industry also suffering from the notorious copycat epidemic that's attacking the fashion industry? Or are architects putting creativity to side for the sake of getting design approval and collect their piece of the pie?

You want examples, just look around, everything is starting to look the same. This needs to stop. Our cities are not monolithic, there are different factors and each city has different needs and there is no reason why laziness should be condoned in creativity. Sure there is something to be said about street scape context and continuity. In these rough economic times when construction activity and real estate transactions are low it would behoove developers and architects to keep in mind that customers are not made out of stone either. I can appreciate competition and the effectiveness of the market to generate better products as a result. Unfortunately,  in most of the recent cases the quality in urban and rural development is at best mediocre with big arrows pointing to the big sign that reads: COPYCAT.

Under Construction the New LA Police Headquarters…

"Bad Boys, Bad Boys whatcha gonna do when they come for you?" What are you going to do when you have to go to the new police headquarters currently under construction in downtown Los Angeles, because it is a despicably hideous structure? It is an absolute disgrace not just financially because of the incompetent and thieving construction managers and contractors they have hired, but also aesthetically.

I was driving by the site last week and noticed the glass facade, which is the only part that really merits any architectural grace. But as I took the whole structure in, I noticed that it is just simply gross.

My intent is not to offend, but certain things just don't make sense to me. For instance, how can any respectable architect design something like this? The contrast of the glass facade with the light peachy stone facade is awkward and clearly not the best choice.  The mistake here is obvious, the stone's use and color encroaches on the refined beauty of the pattern.

Or even worse how can a client planning committee approve something with these characteristics? What kind of taste does the Mayor and his team have? What about the police commissioner, how does he feel about this atrocious building?

Personally, I am ashamed that my tax dollars have to go towards something like this. Buildings cost a lot of money and for the cost of this project they could have done something much nicer, they should seek real professional help, they should hire me as their aesthetics consultant and I know more citizens will be happy with how government spends everyones well-earned tax dollars.

Home is Where ME Makes It

How do we know it's home? 

How do we feel at home? 

How does it feel to be home?

It's about comfort, you just know when it's right. The beauty is that home can really be anywhere, it doesn't have to be in a constructed structure, the structure just makes it a house or an apartment, not a home. After all haven't you ever wondered why the words "house" and "home" exist? A house is an architectural structure created by a construction team. A home is created by a person or a set of persons putting their things and feelings into their space, it is their creation. A house can be empty or full but a Home is always full.  

I've been in transition, traveling from place to place and I'm still at home most of the time. I look at stuff, clothes, books, make-up and other essentials and they all make me feel at home. My clothes especially make me feel at home, and what I wear can influence my mood and behavior. What can I say, it's hard not to wander at Home.

Plans for 2008...More than Just Architectural Delights...they are the new IT Places

The New York Times 53 Places to visit in 2008 List ....Wow...so many places. How will I decide? I would love to visit all, but I'm going to aim to at least cover 1/4 of the places, not including the obvious that I will trek to by default.

So here's the list:

1. Laos

2. Lisbon

3. Tunisia

4. Mauritius

5. Mid-Beach, Miami

6. South Beach, Miami

7. Maldives

8. Death Valley

9. Courchevel, France

10. Libya

11. Hvar, Croatia

12. Puerto Vallarta

13. Sylt, Germany

14. Prague

15. Quito

16. Liverpool

17. Munich

18. Iran

19. Tuscany

20. Anguilla

21. Bogota

22. Playa Blanca, Panama

23. Alexandria

24. Mazatlan

25. St. Lucia

26. Oslo

27. Buenos Aires

28. Rimini, Italy

29. Malawi

30. Roatan, Honduras

31. Mozambique

32. Kuwait City

33. Verbier, Swiss Alps

34. Lombok

35. Northwest Passage

36. Easter Island

37. Virgin Gorda

38. Namibia

39. San Francisco

40. Detroit

41. Itacare, Brazil

42. Kilimanjaro

43. Algeria

44. San Diego

45. Malaga

46. Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

47. London

48. Vietnam

49. Essaouira, Morocco

50. Las Vegas

51. Barossa Valley, Australia

52. Tokaj, Hungary

53. New York City

Style Directions

Thou shalt follow the following fortune cookie advice:

"Be yourself, and you will always be in fashion"

Town Architecture, Part 1 The Case of Mexico

I'm getting ready for a journey down to my mother's homeland, Mexico, in the next 2 weeks. I have not been deep down in Mexico in almost 10 years and the excitement is churning up my insides with more excitement. Since my last visit I have become an architecture and culture aficionada, and I'm sure that my eye will wander and wonder with enchantment at all of the structures and ways in which people move through life.

In doing my usual research before trecking aimlessly through Mexico City, Toluca and S.L.P, I realized thatI do not know much about Mexican architects or architecture. I'm familar with Aztec, Mayan and Enrique Norten architecture, but apart from that I'm clueless, but I know that this trip will help to rectify this knowledge gap.

There is no doubt of the influence from Spanish architectural tradition in Mexican architecture. And of course I am also sure that population, political and economic growth has dictated the installations of formal and informal buildings, but who were these cities and towns built by? In the case of Mexico, have new buildings in small towns been more a result of proactive formal planning or of reactive informal planning? My assuption is the latter, but my certainty is ambivalent, I need more information.

Halloween Fashion...2007

Let's play the "Do You Know" game:

• Do you know that Halloween originated from the Pagan festival Samhain, celebrated among the Celts of Ireland and Great Britain?
• Do you know that the Church traditionally celebrated that day as the Vigil of All Saints (because all Saints Day is on Nov. 1st), and, until 1970, it was also a day of fasting?

Don't feel so bad I really didn't even know until I decided to Wikipedia-It a few seconds ago.

I have always associated Halloween with trick or treating, parades, parties, scary stuff and costumes.

• Do you know why we wear costumes...because ancient Gaels wore costumes and masks to the festivals in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits to placate them.

Picking a costume and putting it together really leads up to all the festivities. Most Halloween costumes for women tend to have one theme in common: sex. It doesn't matter if you're nurse, witch, Dorothy, etc., whenever someone asks someone like me what they plan to be, the answer 9.9 times out of 10 will always be: "A Sexy _____" if not you will get those looks, the "she's a weird girl" look. Is this how we blend with evil spirits?

Personally I don't always mind it, I just wonder if my costume really changes much from year to year. It makes things easier for me and I am not forced to buy those awful polyester outfits that cost and arm and a leg for cheap versions of items that I can find in my closet. Plus I feel that any great Halloween outfit really comes together with the accessories.

So do you know what you're going to be Halloween this year?

Oh Condé...Why Don't You Care?

Oh Condé, why don't you tell me more?

I'm constantly disappointed by the coverage of Fashion Weeks around the world. The news sources only care about the pictures and the show itself, but what about the reason that collections were even created?

Fashion Designers want to be taken more seriously as artists but how will that be if the treads of inspiration are not shared?

The picture coverage is phenomenal but most of the articles do not reveal anything beyond the make-up behind the image. Personally I don't care much about what so and so is eating or not. Plus people don't need to get ideas to eat Kleenex to feel full, we already have enough fuzzy girls running around thinking fuzzy bones are sexy. Yet these details make the cut along with trashy celebrity gossip, while more important details are overlooked, but then again who cares about civilization or the environment for that matter.

The Cult of Culture

Pop-Quiz:
I'm the dancer in this picture, where am I?















Possible answers:

1. Casablanca
2. Moscow
3. Paris
4. New York
5. La Havana

If you don't know the answer, you don't deserve to know the answer.

Street Holes

The street is a public space. It is literally the road that gives order to any city. It is the means by which we navigate and explore with a conceptual sense of cultural context.

I hate the fact that we all pay taxes and there are potholes everywhere that ruin my peace of mind while I drive around with all of the psychos on the road.

I wish there were less potholes, perhaps LA would be a nicer place, but unfortunately this is not a priority for our politicians. At a national level politicians care more about having a political penis contest than really protecting the best interests of the people who pay their salaries, at a very local level the mayor of LA can't seem to keep his penis in his pants to actually fix simple things like potholes.

And then I can't help but wonder if the press would get me out of my jam if I didn't pay my taxes because I don't think politicians deserve their compensation, maybe not since I'm not worth much to corporations because I do not have the power to give out government contracts. I say that if we really lived in a democracy then the citizens of the world should be able to have some say in the corralation between the performance of politicians and their pay, but this isn't the case.

Yellow Lights on the C Road

Will the Council of Fashion Designers of America really be able to outlaw fashion copycat retailers and manufacturing companies?

So my question is:
How will regulating America regulate the world?

Fall 2007 Fashion - Blanks

A week or so ago I anxiously awaited my monthly Fashion news.

Elle supposedly came out with a new and improved layout, ehh it was A OK, not to different from before. I was hoping for more of a WOW factor but, but not the wow I got.

A Bang for your Block

Is design even a critical factor for the average end user, my guess is no. Why do I say this with so much conviction, well just take a look at the selection of the buildings around,… building economics perpetuates homogeneity.

It doesn’t take an expert to guess the answer to this question:
What does design mean to the end user vs. the architect?

This question doesn't get asked often enough, even though we live in a society full of opinionated people. Agree or not, if you don’t have an opinion then why are you reading? The process of Architecture today has no choice but to take millions of opinions from all different sides, mesh them into a cohesive design and ultimately form one big gigantic monumental decision (literally).

Have doubts, compare an architect’s initial concept and compare it to what is actually in the ground. The myriad process and the reality of price makes real estate easier to admire than to indulge; end users typically seek the combination of size and price than a building’s architecture merit....Again, one word: Economics.

Personal Style vs. Market Style

My fascination with culture theory questions how the fashion industry really manages the phenomena and demanding needs of "independent styles" in an era of global mass production homogeneity.

Independent style is usually thought of as a dissident reaction to mass consumption. My style, though in my mind is unique; it is not truly unique, it simply has a unique interpretation of the trends of the time because it is still dependent on the products provided by the market.

In my short life experience, I have learned that constraints are a natural part of everyday life. The art of fashion design relies on the ability of a designer to mix creative span with the constraints of raw material access (such as textile type, color and quality), budgets, product marketing and sales, and of course profitability maxims.

Fashion designers provide us with tools to create our independent style and like them the art of our independent style relies on our ability to mix our creative span with the constraints of product options, market access and spending budgets. Because let's face it, we all want that hot Chanel or Gucci something or other, but can we all really afford them...the answer is no.

In the imperfect utopia outside of our little perfect world there exists an effervescent presence of constraints on our style choices. Fortunately, our style will not be compromised even if we do not always get our optimum fashion preferences because we will always still go with something that captures the general essence of our preferences.

What you wear will define your value system. The question is, how much are you willing to compromise because of constraints? The answer should be: Not Much.

So, how much do you compromise?