IM // UR | Emma Bell's AW LookBook 09

BEFORE TODAY by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

It doesn’t take much to make me feel stupid. Trying to find the words to describe the debut album of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti at 4AD is just one of many examples I could give you. To me, ‘Before Today’ sounds like an album that Kevin Barnes could be recording if he loved goth bands more than funk ones. Or like the cold wave genre entering a multicoloured psychedelic stage instead of glazing at it's own depression. Don’t mind my threadbare examples; this is the album that will make it onto every interesting top 10 of the year and you don’t wanna miss it.

WE // R \\ WEARING

I can't resist (probably overpriced) basics-with-a-twist. My wardrobe, full of T by Wang, Oak, Bassike and yes, American Apparel is proof of this; and since in Australia, a new favourite has emerged in the form of Nathan Smith. His selection of supersoft tees, tanks and dresses have sucked me into buying multiples of a number of styles in different colourways. You just can't go wrong with these though! Addictively and endlessly wearable - and not in actual fact, overpriced in the slightlest - Nathan Smith is the way forward for your wardrobe.

WE // R \\ WATCHING

I don’t think any series will treat teenagers the same way that Freaks and Geeks did almost 10 years ago. Although relying on every teen American cliché they could, this series was the closest thing to reality you could get whilst still being something fun and interesting to watch – cause, you know, life is boring. With bands like The Who, The Clash and XTC being either part of episodes or the soundtrack, this 80’s based cult show was short-lived (only 18 episodes), but long enough to enrich the careers of some young actors (i.e. James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Busy Philipps and, erm, Linda Cardellini) and is greatly missed. Can we have a movie about them meeting again in the 00’s?

WE // R \\ GOING

Once, a friend of mine wanted to take me to this 'cheap Chinese restaurant', situated in the heart of Liberdade, a Japanese neighborhood in São Paulo. When we got there the place was packed, but because it looked cheesy and kinda poor, I didn't want to wait it out. It took another friend for me to go back there and fall in love with it. Now, every time the mood for some freshly made noodles (you can watch the chief making the noodle dough through a window) framed in some horribly painted pink walls takes me, I go for Rong He. Did I mention the food is also incredibly generous and cheap?

WE // R \\ READING

The ultimate in peeping tom into other, cooler, more fashionable, richer, quirkier and more-hipster-than-thou lives is Todd Selby's The Selby. Having previously been an internet only voyeur's dream, Todd has just last month released The Selby Is In Your Place, a book the coffee table tome full of twee drawings, colourful interiors and people showering. Half of the images in the books are favourites from the website and the other is stuff he hasn't published online yet. So go check it out, maybe buy it if you can to make your crappy coffee table in your crappy apartment that little bit cooler with pictures of someone else's cool stuff.

Emma Bell's AW LookBook 09

Monday // March 30, 2009 at 21:03 // filed under Fashion

Emma Bell - AW//09. Stylist: Alexis Knox. Photographer: Thom Will. Hair Director: Charlie Le Mindu. Make-Up: Michelle Webb.

For Emma Bell's AW 09 collection she declared "I'm saving dogs." (Her latest collection was partly inspired by her personal ethics on animal cruelty). Besides saving dogs though, she's also been saving London Fashion Week from totally losing it's sense of humour and fun with her boldy printed and sweetly coloured collection, full of sparkle and verve.

I adore the quilted iridescent play armour, with blunt cones capping the shoulders; and the faces on the chest of some of the dresses, and the gingerbread chainmail is just plain old fun, innit. And what I enjoy most is the whole hearted and almost childish abandon with which she presents her designs.

Not for the faint hearted, Emma Bell's flamboyant collections are made up of wearable pieces of art and craft. Without any hipster aftertaste, Emma Bell's creations are a dive into an parallel world where fairytales abound and everything is more colourful than it has any normal right to be. Bell produces clothing that brings to mind the kind of childhood fantasies that we all grow out of but should never forget about. Go check out the rest of her collection at her myspace.

GALLERY