Breath of Fresh Air Department

Miuccia Prada's secondary line, Miu Miu, has scored a bulls-eye by combining quite a few trends into one season, Autumn-Winter 2013.

Black and white is NOT in the mix,

But patterns are, as well as pastels, gigantic pink bags, and Victorian footwear, not to mention polka dots, in coats, dresses, neck-wear and tights.  Stripes have not been left out, to be found on bags and tights.

Pink, baby blue and yellow are juxtaposed with navy and white, and black and yellow with red touches.

Refreshing?  Absolutely!

Charming, whimsical, wearable, wantable.

See what you think!!

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Environmental Impact

I like nothing better than getting back home after the end of my day.

I have arranged my furnishings, and appurtenances therein, to function at maximum efficiency while pleasing my eye as it alights on each space.

As with all things in the world, one must be prepared to make choices.

Though I admire many styles, colors, patterns and objects, my opportunities to acquire and appreciate them all simultaneously must be limited to what pleases me the very most of all.

What I always hope to find are items that, while functioning, are also aesthetically pleasing.

What I require in a layout is function and comfort, surrounded by beautiful objects and fixtures.

Following are some of my personal guidelines:

- Restraint and understatement where possible

-  Attention to scale

-  Artful placement

-  Juxtaposition of elements

-  Harmony with a little dissonance

-  Repetition of patterns

-  Authenticity

-  Original detail

-  Symmetry/asymmetry

-  Collections displayed

-  Individual style in a classical framework

What is it you require?

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Black and Blue

Baby Boomers have had a huge impact on every trend of any description from 1967 on.

The clothing, shoes and accessories that will fill every consignment shop, charity shop and Ebay store for decades to come will stand as a legacy of our existence and dominance, once we are all long gone.

Pretty wild.

Observing the history of this phenomenon over the past 45 plus years, 76,000,000 people in America alone, give or take a few million, by embracing everything  that spoke to them en masse, resulted in mass production of objects, art, and musical influences, for the consumption of the millions, resulting in the spread of ideas that changed the world due to their simultaneous demand and adoption.

Let’s take blue jeans for an example.

That trend took about 40 years to infiltrate its way into every closet on the planet, including, finally, all designers, including Hermes, arguably, the pinnacle of the pyramid.and the last holdout.

Organically over time, the garment in question proved its cool factor, usefulness, desirability and universal ease of wear, no matter what societal restrictions had to be overcome to acquire it.

Whether available at your favorite mass retailer, or to be found in every black market in the Communist world back in the day, the demand could not be satiated and would not be denied, as a powerful symbol of youth, and ultimately, freedom.

The way it works, and will always work, is that there are a few visionaries who think outside the box, possessed by an idea that makes sense to them , which then starts a trend that is recognized as the innovation it is and is taken up by others, to eventually become an accepted way of dressing, thinking, etc.

It helps if the idea comes from an unexpected quarter, to create the biggest impact due to having been under the radar of those impacted.

San Francisco in the early 70’s and Japan in the early 80’s fills the bill very nicely, for maximum surprise, wouldn't you agree?

While my generation was getting it's feet wet in the business world, coming up with our Whole Earth Catalogs and Gaps in San Francisco, shocking the mainstream as the success of blue jeans exceeded all expectations, and putting San Francisco on the innovator map forever after, it could be said to be equaled in impact by the introduction of black as the go-to color of the hippest early adopters in fashion, introduced onto the world stage in Paris by Japanese designers, for all intents and purposes like throwing a bomb into the midst of a garden party.

Yohji and Rei were the perpetrators of this revolutionary move. And let's not forget that the color - or absence of it - was not the only incendiary device used.

The shape of the garments, their deconstruction, asymmetric and the opposite of form-fitting, had the fashion world in speechless shock.

But not for long.

In the same way that the idea of jeans had taken the world by storm, the color black had an impact like nothing really before or since.  The 80’saw the rise of black everything in fashion, so much so that color as an option was shunted aside. Red, yellow, green, purple - forget it!  Navy, charcoal, and white or ivory were the options.  Everything else looked passe and uncool.

The 90’s saw the popularity of the aforementioned colors and minimalism in dress.  Pantsuits were the mode of dress of the cool and understated.  Exuberance was out. The Belgian designers came out to play with their take on dimension and deconstruction, moving the game to yet another level of chic

I remember in the early 1980's dismissing the black trend as just what it appeared to be - a fad .Let’s just say that I was not an early adopter.

Then, as the 80's progressed, and as more and more designers embraced the direction that the Japanese had been pursuing, hacking their way through the undergrowth of fixed ideas in their industry, I happened to read the book Color Me Beautiful, and discovered to my intense shock that I was a Winter, not an Autumn after all!

Out with the burnt oranges, browns, camels and nutmegs - in with black,navy, charcoal and silver.

A transformation ensued and, I, to this day, have never looked back.

As much as I would love to wear another color, I have yet to find
something that I prefer more than black. And I am not alone.

I feel glamorous, well-dressed, elegant and appropriate in my black clothing, from every designer you could name.  The only other options are charcoal, navy or cream, of which there are mighty few in a sea of black.  

Silver bracelets and hoops finish the look, every day.

Well, we did talk about uniforms, and this is mine.

Until further notice anyway, or until the universal impact of another innovation occurs, which historically could happen at any time.

So, something to look forward to while relying on my current favorites.

I'm open to anything.

It just has to be amazing.

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