Top 5 Favorite Fashion Blogs and Youtubers

Everyone draws inspiration from somewhere. For me, I’m constantly trying to find new fashion blogs to follow.

Everyone draws inspiration from somewhere. For me, I’m constantly trying to find new fashion blogs to follow. Honestly, following these blogs and YouTubers is what got me into pursuing fashion. I’ve always loved pairing outfits together and seeing what new twist I can come up with for a top I’ve worn 1,000 times.

I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed writing. When I switched my major from English to Journalism I had sort of a melt down. What do I want to do with journalism? I certainly did not want to be stuck in a court room all day. I wanted to write about things that I’m passionate about.

I have been reading fashion blogs for a quite a while now, but just recently it struck me: Why don’t I write about fashion? I certainly enjoy it. It just never occurred to me that I could be the one that people follow for fashion advice and tips. However, I’m finally beginning what I want to do in life and I could not be more thrilled. It will be a slow going process trying to learn the gist of things and get my blog together, but I know it will be worth it in the end because it is something that I love.

So here are my top five favorite fashion blogs and YouTubers that have inspired me to pursue my dreams:

5. Ohabioh

Abi posing for a fashion post for her blog Ohabioh (Photo: Ami/Ohabioh)
Abi posing for a fashion post for her blog Ohabioh (Photo: Ami/Ohabioh)

I am obsessed with Ohabioh’s unique sense of style. She tends to go for a grunge look. I first found out about her from her Instagram and it took off from there. She is self employed, running her own online store where she sells painted phone cases and crafted jewlery. All of which is completely made by hand. The designs are simply stunning.

Hand painted Wanderlust phone case by Ohabioh (Photo: Ohabioh/Instagram)
Hand painted Wanderlust phone case by Ohabioh (Photo: Ohabioh/Instagram)

Ohabioh is one of the first people who made me believe that it’s possible to be self employed and that I should strive after what I love. It is so incredibly inspiring to see women who are passionate and that are succeeding in life.

4. Kalel Kitten

Kalel Kitten being super casual in a “classic” look (Photo: Kalel Kitten/Instagram)
Kalel Kitten being super casual in a “classic” look (Photo: Kalel Kitten/Instagram)

I went back and forth on whether or not to include Kalel in this list, but I had to. There was no denying that she has had an impact on my life. Although she is more of a YouTube vlogger more than a fashion guru, she has been going to school for fashion and hopes to one day create her own clothing line (she has not given an update on this in a while so I am not 100 percent sure she is still in school).

I have been watching Kalel on Youtube since she first started off as QueenBeauty. Since then, she has gone through a number of phases. What I love about her is that her style is always in flux. She’s constantly switching things up and refuses to stick to just one style. Her most recent style is what she calls “Rocker/Sex Kitten” where she wears a lot of black clothing and bondage inspired outfits.

This article was originally written by Emily Nilla Austin and appeared on Medium on April 18, 2015. You can read the rest of the article on Medium.

In Defense of the Good Old-Fashioned Map

Sometimes, a piece of folded paper takes you to places the GPS can’t

It was less than four hours until our dinner reservation at Napa’s French Laundry — all 14 butter-and-duck-fat-sopped courses — and I needed some exercise. Both to build up a suitable appetite and as a prophylactic against the 25,000 calories I’d be cramming down my gullet come dark.

My hotel was in Yountville and I’d done no pre-planning. I asked the concierge for a running or hiking trail nearby, with underwhelming results. So in typical California fashion, I decided to drive to my exercise. A quick Google search turned up Jack London State Park. If it was named after the author of White Fang and Call of the Wild, it had to kick ass, right?

I plugged the address into my car’s navigation and got the most boring route ever conceived — a long, C-shaped snooze that included Napa’s overstuffed State Route 29, full of would-be oenophiles re-enacting Sideways. A 30-mile drive that would take 45 minutes. I just didn’t have time for it.

So out came the map. A real-deal, crinkled, poorly folded hunk of paper that gets shoved into the bottom of my luggage any time I head to Northern California. I spread it out on the dashboard and pinpointed my co-ordinates. It turned out that Jack’s joint (where he built a ranch and was buried) was only 17 miles as the crow flies, directly over the top of a mountain. And there was a road, called Trinity, which jigsawed savagely over the ridge. The GPS in my borrowed BMW turned up its nose, refusing even to list Trinity as an option. It turns out that 18-wheelers and buses get stuck up there all the time, unable to negotiate the tight turns. But as well as saving me time, it looked like a hell of a fun ride (especially considering the way I drive).

These maps are the histories of my various trips, adventures undertaken and survived; grand ideas borne out (or not); harebrained routes eventually abandoned.

Chalk one up for the analog experience. I love maps. I buy them just before I leave on any significant trip and they end up cluttering my apartment, living under the bed in plastic bins and shoved in the corners of bookcases. Once in a while I try to organize them, and instead get lost in the various topographies, hieroglyphic legends and squiggling lines. These are the histories of my various trips, adventures undertaken and survived; grand ideas borne out (or not); harebrained routes eventually abandoned.

There is no more order to my maps than to those of my actual journeys. The Atlas mountains of Morocco are shoved against the Colorado back country. The island of Tobago (where I once drove every single road) is nestled alongside South Africa. These documents serve as a better record of my travels than a journal — not least because I’m too lazy to write a journal.

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It’s easier to orient yourself on a big spread of paper, and your eye is drawn to roads and routes and green spaces you’d never notice on a small screen

Make no mistake: Maps are a pain in the ass. You need a graduate class in origami to fold them. And, yes, nine times out of 10, your smart phone gets the job done much faster.

But just like reading an actual, bound book or magazine versus an iPad or Kindle, you consume a real map differently. It’s easier to orient yourself on a big spread of paper, and your eye is drawn to roads and routes and green spaces you’d never notice on a small screen. A map invites time and care and observance of the details. It encourages the kind of exploration that happens in real life, when you’re out on the road, instead of the turn-by-turn rigidity of a digital device.

And when I’m listening to directions from car or phone, I’m loath to take that curious byroad or phantom trail, worried that it might befuddle the logic of the machine, and that I’ll never quite find my way. (Some GPS units seem to insist that you return to the place where you started taking creative turns, rather than simply re-mapping the route.) So, I resist my more adventurous urge and follow directions.

That’s a bummer, because my best stories usually begin with me getting lost. With a map in my pocket, I always feel (somewhat) confident of finding my way again. And I never worry about a satellite signal dropping out.

This article was originally written by Jason H. Harper and appeared on Medium on February 12, 2015. You can read the rest of the article on Medium.

Apple’s Fork Into Fashion

Apple Watch is but a first step…

We’re now mere hours away from the proper unveiling of Apple Watch. Not the tease, the full monty. Having read all the various takes over the past week, I think we’re covered. It’s either going to be a massive success or a huge flop. Unless, of course, it’s a middling success. The price will range from $349 to $4,999. Or $9,999. Unless it’s $14,999. Or, of course, $19,999. It will be upgradeable. It absolutely will not be upgradeable. It exists to sell more iPhones. But it will make us use the iPhone less.

And so on.

Perhaps most fascinating is the fact that just about every publication/site/blog in every vertical has a take on the device. A device yet to actually exist in the real world, mind you. What does Apple Watch mean for the retail industry? For the movie business? For sports?

That didn’t used to happen in the old days. But this is what happens when the most valuable company on Earth — twice over — releases a new product. Everyone has an opinion.

And that’s great. Everyone is excited. I’m excited. Few things beat the feeling of the night before the big team plays in the big game. The difference is that Apple used to be the underdog in this game. Now they’re the Yankees.

That sounds like a bad thing. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. Millions of people love the Yankees. And if you hate them — all the more reason to watch. The fact remains: with Apple Watch, fly or flop, tomorrow is going to be another key moment for the technology industry.

The most important question to me is one that wasn’t really applicable during the iPhone unveil: will this be the next platform? The answer, right now, is kind of lame: it will likely take a while to know.

While, unlike the iPhone, the Apple Watch has a third-party SDK from day one, it feels a bit… widget-y. My guess is it will take at least one good iteration before Apple Watch apps can truly spread their wings.

1-tMx8pHHNt_4B7QYHS4zkXwAnd so what I’m left thinking about is what this means for Apple. It feels like this is another metamorphosis of the company. All the recent press. All the Jony Ive interviews. The Tim Cook world tour. It’s as if the company wants to make it very clear this is not the Mac-maker you may remember from your youth. This isn’t the iPod-maker you may remember from days gone by. Make no mistake, this is still very much the iPhone-maker — but even as that product continues to soar to almost unimaginable heights, it’s time to not only figure out what’s next, it’s time to put it out there.

I have a hard time believing the Apple Watch, even if it’s a massive success, can move the business needle much compared to the unfathomable iPhone. But it’s starting to feel like Apple is thinking bigger picture.

It’s not about the Watch, per se. It’s about what the Watch stands for: a new Apple that is just as much about fashion as it is about function. This is no longer Steve Jobs’ crossroads of technology and liberal arts. It’s the fork in the road between technology, liberal arts, and fashion. Jony Ive’s fork.

Just look at who Apple has hired in the past couple of years. This should be obvious. Not only is Apple not resting on their laurels, they’re pivoting the company in a pretty big way that’s flying under the radar to all but those watching most closely.

And it feels like a smart bet. Because Apple is at a moment of absolute strength, they can use that clout to get the talent on board to change the engine mid-flight. That doesn’t mean it will work, of course. But it sure seems better than sitting back and atrophying as more nimble opponents approach. This is when you take risks.

Technology has permeated almost every part of our daily lives. This will only continue. So what’s next? Making that technology even more carry-able, wearable, beautiful, useable. Making it blend in more while still making it more desirable. Making it more aspirational. Fashionable.

If all of that sounds impossible, I think that’s what Apple is taking on. And it’s where they tend to thrive. And I think Apple Watch is the first step.

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This article was originally written by M.G. Siegler and appeared on Medium on March 8, 2015. You can read the rest of the article on Medium.

A Tale of Two Fashions

For our first post on the Looklike blog, we take a look at two recent runway showings: Louis Vutton and Dior’s Resort 2016 collection.

Louis Vuitton Resort 2016

Ghesquière has fun in Hollywood

Seeing the Resort 2016 collection from Louis Vuitton for the first time, one characteristic immediately struck me: contrast. Not through color, as contrast is typically associated with, but through texture. A little background on the collection first — Nicolas Ghesquière was inspired by the architecturally striking Bob Hope Estate, stating he loved “the idea of sweet and hard at the same time.” Sweet and hard, an idea seen in every piece of his collection, was applied frequently to maxi skirts, constructed loosely fitting with a fluid sweeping movement, and tops fashioned entirely out of leather, or leather straps and accents to give them a structured, rigid look — contrast.

What We Like

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The ensemble shown, while reminiscent of Coachella, fully embodies the idea of “sweet and hard.” A leather top adorned with tassels at the hem perfectly blends with the “sweet” movement of the white skirt.

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In this look Ghesquière exhibits Louis Vuitton’s leather-working prowess in a masterfully constructed jacket paired with a fluid black pant.

Dior Resort 2016

Raf Simons bathes in the French Sun

Dior’s 2016 resort collection was shown at Palais Bulles (Palace of Bubbles), which even today is a sterling example of futuristic, playful design. The clothing reflects Palais Bulles’s nature, yet harkens to the essence of Dior. The ideals of the “New Look Collection” are certainly on display here, with many pieces sporting a nipped-in waist, and the return of the classic Bar jacket was yet another ode to antiquity. Yet, the variety of material choices for the collection, from sharp leather dresses to tweed coats, makes this collection something to be expected on Raf Simons.

What we Like

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Besides skirt length, a piece like this could be in a Dior collection from the 1950’s, to today. Nipped waist, simple frills, timeless.

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This knitted dress calls to the sands of Southern France, which was an inspiration for the collection

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The fully knitted look speaks to the level of precision of the collection, yet stands out for the lack of excess elements.

In a comparison of two of anything, there a clamoring for better. A winner. A definitve to take away. Both of us preferred Dior, yet, both collections were strong showing, highlighting both the elements that make each house iconic and the designers that currently steers each house’s creative whim. Thus, to say Dior was a winner would be an injustice, for it would degrade from the overall beauty of both collections.

This article was originally written by Peter Mowery and appeared on Medium on May 18, 2015. You can read the rest of the article on Medium.

Fashion Tech brought to Life

Exploring the work and journey of Anouk Wipprecht

Anouk Wipprecht is an artist, designer, and engineer. Her work entwines the worlds of fashion and technology and challenges our relationship with the garments we wear. She explores robotic couture, experiments with sensory experiences, and creates futuristic fashion that empathizes with how we perceive the world and interact with it.

Anouk’s worked with groups like the Black Eyed Peas, Cirque du Soleil, AutoDesk, and is now at Microsoft Research Labs as an artist in residence. Thanks to a collaboration with CODAME ART+TECH, we were lucky enough to have her stop by Salesforce last week to speak and showcase her work. I also sat down with her to talk about her process and learn more about her journey into the emerging world of fashion tech.

These are the highlights —

The Journey to Fashion Tech

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Anouk began as a fashion design student in The Netherlands, passionate about what people could say by the clothing they wore. As soon she arrived to her studies, however, she developed a strong dissatisfaction with the practices and philosophies of the fashion industry that taught to mass manufacture design and deprive people of the best quality garments.

“It felt a little bit evil in a way. I expected fashion to be empathic, a way to help humans understand each other better. The industry itself can be a pretty evil machine in many ways.”

In a search for inspiration, Anouk found robots,

“On the other hand, you have robots — technology which is perceived as evil by the means of science fiction but I felt different…there was something wrong here.”

Fabric wasn’t expressive enough. Anouk wanted to make something that felt fluid, personalized and interactive. “As opposed to having an analog dress that could only express a single emotion or message”, she asked, “wouldn’t it be remarkable to have clothing that could communicate with us… and change?” At the core, she discovered, that this was something she couldn’t find in her fashion studies alone but could find in technology, arduinos, and robots.

“I saw interesting systems that could monitor us…nurture us. I wanted those [systems] to not only be in the devices we carried but also in the garments we wore.”

When her instructors first saw her with robot micro-controllers they kicked Anouk out of class and told her it wasn’t fashion and that robotics and fashion together wouldn’t be accepted. Nevertheless, she left to Sweden to pursue her growing interest in fashion tech and began learning interaction design, programming, and engineering.

Courage to be Different

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I was fascinated by Anouk’s inclination towards risk and experimentation. In Silicon Valley, risk (and failure) have become suitable norms. For Anouk, however, her dissonance wasn’t as accepted. As she continued to develop her craft, she attributed her courage to be different on the innate basis of being human. As she told me,

“I think [risk and experimentation] is what makes a human. Otherwise innovation and development wouldn’t happen. [It’s about] being able to act on your impulses and having a strong belief in what the world should look like.”

This article was originally written by Ian Schoen and appeared on Medium on May 19, 2015. You can read the rest of the article on Medium.

Expanding Fashion Boundaries

When we think of Fashion the cities that we think about are — New York, Paris, Milan and London.

The fashion history of these cities goes back in time when a lot of reputed designers established their design houses in these cities. Today we are in an age of globalisation. As with several other industries, Fashion is also shedding boundaries. We were glad to attend this exhibit at Fashion Institute of Technology, which beautifully highlighted the fashion designers from all over the world. This exhibit looked at 16 new fashion cities on the brink of joining the other 4 established cities.

Fashion is shaped by several factors such as — politics, economy, climate and local style. This exhibit was successfull in portraying the backstory and development of fashion scene in all these 16 countries. Here we will take a closer look at few of the cities, which will soon join the ranks of fashion capitals.

Ukraine- Kiev

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A lot of political and economic factors have shaped the fashion landscape here. Minimalistic and graphic designs dominate the fashion scene at Kiev. This exhibit displayed dress designed by Anna K. Oversized bows along with swarovski broke the rigidity of the earlier designers coming from this country.

India- Delhi/Mumbai

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In India, Delhi has been established as a fashion capital. Today, Mumbai hosts week long fashion weeks as well thus competing for the title of fashion capital of India. One of the piece shown here from Manish Arora beautifully encapsulates the pulse of the country by using old bollywood magazine covers to make a colorful as well as a striking garment.

South Korea -Seoul

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Seoul fashion is a good mix of Western culture along with traditional Korean elements. Seoul fashion industry is funded by the government, which makes fashion a big part of the country’s economy. In this exhibit Big Park’s garment brilliantly captured the country side and street style look in one dress.

This article was originally written by Thread Channel and appeared on Medium on June 10, 2015. You can read the rest of the article on Medium.