Roberto Cavalli – Beautifully Invisible™

Voguepedia: The World of Fashion in Vogue

Beautifully Invisible — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:46:48 +0000

What happens when you take the “knowledge-at-your-fingertips” approach of a wiki and combine it with the fashion bible known as Vogue?

You get Voguepedia!

Was I the only person who didn’t know about this??

At some point (apparently when I wasn’t paying attention) the geniuses at Vogue decided to create an online archive of fashion covering the magazine’s 119 year history. I did some digging online and, according to Fashionista, the concept is still in its early stages. It isn’t a true wiki, like wikipedia or wikifashion, because readers are unable to add information on their own, but its the closest thing I’ve ever seen to an online Encyclopedia of Fashion.

So, how is it different from wikipedia and wikifashion? Let’s compare by looking up designer Roberto Cavalli on each.

Here are the results on wikipedia and wikifashion, respectively:

Roberto Cavalli search results (via Wikipedia and wikifashion)

As you can see, the wikipedia entry is very typical. Because it is so heavily reliant on user-input, there is limited information available and absolutely no collection imagery is present. Meanwhile, the wikifashion entry is a completely blank slate, waiting for someone to fill it out.

Now, let’s compare that to the information available through Voguepedia:

Roberto Cavalli search results via Voguepedia

Not only does the Voguepedia entry look great, more fashion-specific information is available on Voguepedia. Collection imagery. Appearances. History. Reliable sources (which can be tricky with wikipedia). Did I mention collection imagery?

Now, Voguepedia is far from perfect. The concept is still in its infancy so available data/information is still limited.

For instance:

TOM FORD is absent from the designer and brand pages.

Same is true for Gucci.

Although they do both appear in standard Voguepedia search results, wikipedia certainly has more info available. For now.

But the future looks good.

So…

Were you aware of Voguepedia?

Have you used it?

What are your thoughts?

Me Wants It: Asymmetric Hemlines by Cavalli &The Row, 50’s style by L’Wren Scott & Moschino & more!

Beautifully Invisible — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:45:00 +0000

Have you seen (or read) The Lord of the Rings? If so, you may have guessed that the title of this series, “Me Wants It”, is a reference to the character Gollum. That poor, poor creature’s life was destroyed the moment he first laid eyes on THE ring. Yet, for as long as he lived, he could never get it out of his head.

“We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us”

Poor thing.

I am not quite as bad as Gollum. “Me Wants It” is about the things I am coveting each week. Most I can’t afford, and many I am out-sized of. Thankfully, my life goes on – quite happily – without them. However, I do like to look and find inspiration for my real purchases!

This weeks edition of “Me Wants It” focuses on asymmetric hemlines. I didn’t plan it this way. In fact, it was quite accidental. It all started with this Cavalli gown. I was first drawn to the printed silk, but that hem is what finally did it for me. Cascading silk layers. Animal print. Perfection.

This black crepe dress by The Row is already sold out on net-a-porter. I can see why. It’s simple. It’s elegant. And that asymmetric hemline makes it distinct.

Then there is this Rick Owens leather jacket. It’s in a great color for the fall. The ribbed jersey trim and asymmetric hem give it a unique look, while the slightly distressed leather just looks touchable.

I don’t really want to think about winter, because Cleveland winters are cold, grey, dreary and dull. I think this Markus Lupfer twill tartan coat would be a nice way to combat the winter blues. Although the color and pattern aren’t anything out of the ordinary, that hemline just makes it fun!

Now, here are a few symmetric hemlines that are equally covet-worthy:

Love the 50’s hourglass silhouette and dark blue color of this L’Wren Scott metallic jacquard dress. So sexy.

I am also a firm believer that you can never have too many pencil skirts in your closet. This Bouclé wool-blend pencil skirt by Moschino will work for day and evening wear.

Now, moving on to the things that I could fit into to…

First up are these Belle by Sigerson Morrison Cuffed Convertible Boots. I missed buying the Ash Olivia Suede Fold-over boots before they sold out last year. These remind me of them a bit.

Similarly, ever since I saw the ever-stylish Jessica of What I Wore wearing the Coach Karolina Heel in Natural in I have been kicking myself for not buying them before they sold out. Now I am hunting for the perfect pair of nude sandals or pumps to elongate my legs. These Brian Atwood’s are out of my price range, but I adore the touch of black. They would be perfect for the Fall.

And finally, for a bit of fun. At first glance this jade and pearl-embellished ring by Mawi looks pretty tame. But a closer look reveals a skull hiding amongst the pearls!

I don’t know why, but that skull just makes me smile. Maybe because it is so unexpected?

Where do you find inspiration for your “real” shopping? Magazines? Online? Elsewhere?

Me Wants It: Labradorite, Alice + Olivia, maxi dresses and more!

Beautifully Invisible — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:24:00 +0000

What do you do when you need a distraction of some sort, but you don’t feel like leaving your home and putting on a “happy face”? I love my friends dearly, but lately I have just needed some time to myself. I know that when you are grieving over a break-up you SHOULD “suck it up” so to speak and force yourself to be social, but sometimes I just don’t have the energy to act like everything is OK.

So what do you do instead?

I’ve been spending a lot of time online “window shopping” and expanding my shopping lists.

Let’s start with the items I am currently coveting from shopbop and net-a-porter. These would all be GREAT additions to my life:

This oversized Roberto Cavalli labradorite ring. As Gollum would say “me wants it….”

I love Alice + Olivia and this one-shoulder draped silk and jersey minidress is just gorgeous. Love the color!

And in the same vein, this Alice + Olivia faux wrap dress.

Then we have this fun Alice+ Olivia sequin minidress in Bronze.

And for a more casual look, I NEED to own this Alice + Olivia sequin stripe tee!

This printed silk-blend georgette dress by Diane von Furstenberg would be a perfect addition to both my professional and night-out wardrobes. *love*

You can never have enough maxi dresses, and this one by Patterson J. Kincaid is screaming “buy me”

In addition to maxi dresses, you can also never own enough jersey dresses. Like this one by Helmut Lang:

And how about this fabulous Only Hearts lace bomber jacket? Who needs cardigans when you can wear this instead!

This leopard print wrap dress by Haute Hippie has a halter neck – and would look great on a curvy woman like myself!

Gorjana’s designs never cease to impress me. This Graham studded wrap bracelet is the latest item I am coveting from her collection, and at only $50 it’s a MUST BUY item.

I love window shopping.

(all images from net-a-porter and shopbop)