Best Dressed at the Grammy's 2011, The Artistic Ones

Foto: Pumpsicle

It's been awhile since a fashion-related post and there is nothing like a new dress from Jean-Paul Gaultier to get me going. After looking at all the boring "best dressed" picks, I decided Eclectix had to have a say! The look this year (and every year) seems to be the Vegas-hooker-meets-boring-sequins or the cheap-tart-animal-print. Thankfully, there was the streamlined, ruffled and peek-a-boo masterpiece that Rihanna wore. It was just simply a work of art. I would love to have seen Rihanna sport the black hair and cut from Uma in Pulp Fiction with this dress, for some reason the red hair just didn't work that well.
Then to top it off, out she came out in a fantastic Christian Dior dress for her performance with Eminem. Both dresses were and are- wearable art, beautiful breathtaking masterpieces and cutting that needed edge.

Foto: BeautyIsDiverse

Runway fotos

Also sporting some very cute and stylish dresses were Hayley Williams from Paramore and actress Pauley Perrette. Both had a rocker, 1960's kinda' flair, upbeat festive little party dresses, no pretense or sleaze, just fun and pretty.

Hayley Williams, Foto: JustJared
Once again. I would like to have seen a hair color change here for Hayley (above). Just imagine her hair (and lipstick) matching that hot pink neon of her feather skirt!

Just loved the musical embellishments on Pauley's hot lime green. Her hair was done up in a great retro do as well, enhancing that elfish expression in a sweet n' sassy way.


Other Grammy Notes:
The Lady Gaga egg was fun but her "new" song was so much like Madonna's "Express Yourself"  that I was very disappointed. Was so looking forward to a great NEW song by the GaGa. Congrats to Eminem for the well deserved win on his Recovery album, just please, stop the silly sagging already! And we know you have a great vocabulary, just use it more! Trash some of those over-abused cuss words and step it up a notch.

Jonesin' For Jean Paul Gaultier's Torso

Blazing my way thru Bloomingdale's (to get to the Westfield mall) the other day and was side swiped by the perfume display out of the corner of my eye. Usually I book it thru fast because I have a very sensitive sense of smell and most the garbage they sell for perfume is just that. Stench of moldy patchouli mixed with bathroom deodorizer.

Yet, here were the most awesome little torso bottles, just sittting there all pretty. So Madonna inspired, headless and wonderful to just look at. Already my brain was racing as to how great they would look in a window all lined up in their various colors, designs and editions. Too bad the smell was not something I liked. If they had been lemon, jasmine or authentic plumeria, then maybe...

Of course when I looked at the bottle's label, it was the grand master of fashion himself, Jean Paul Gaultier. He is one of my fave fashion designers of all time. Just chock full of outlandish artsy designs and cool looks, full of originality and extremes. So easy to appreciate on just a visual level, even if you aren't dying to trip around in those 15 inch heels. Or bare your bum to the world at large. Can't miss the opportunity to revisit some old Gautier and share some new (Lady Gaga following in Madonna's footsteps).

Alexander McQueen: Fashion That Is Art and Art That is Fashion

Just had to post some of the fashion king McQueen's images in memory of his stunning, avant garde works. Altho one may not want to wear some of them for more than an hour, they are true masterpieces. When you're done suffering for beauty, they can be framed, stuck up on the wall and compete easily with masterworks of the flatter variety. Ziggy Stardust, Marilyn Manson and Lady Gaga could certainly carry it off for a few hours on stage, if they didn't, they've lost their chance. It is always so sad to see someone so talented leave before their time. Maybe it's a selfish thought, thinking of all the good stuff that might have come. Maybe it just was his time and that's all there was meant to be. Whatever, I am so grateful for what he gave our eyes, while he was here.
His last Twitter comments:

Some excerpts from the New York Times: 
Mr. McQueen often showed a dark streak in his collections, commenting on brutality toward women and what he saw as the inanity of the fashion world, and it carried over into his personal life. At the beginning of his career, Mr. McQueen became a sensation for showing his clothes on ravaged-looking models who appeared to have been physically abused, institutionalized or cosmetically altered, all while peppering his audience with rude comments. “I’m not interested in being liked,” he said. He once mooned the audience of his show.

But he was enormously creative and intelligent, and he seemed to sense that the fashion industry needed to have its buttons pushed. His fall 2009 collection was the talk of Paris when, reacting to the recession, Mr. McQueen showed exaggerated versions of all of his past work on a runway strewn with a garbage heap of props from his former stage sets. He was suggesting that fashion was in ruins.“The turnover of fashion is just so quick and so throwaway, and I think that is a big part of the problem,” he said. “There is no longevity.”

Aware of his homosexuality at an early age (he said he knew at age 8), he was taunted by other children, who called him “McQueer.” He left school at 16 and found an apprenticeship on Savile Row working for the tailors Anderson & Sheppard and then Gieves & Hawkes. In a story he repeated on some occasions but at other times denied, he was bored one day and wrote a derogatory slur in the lining of a jacket destined for the Prince of Wales.

McQueen's final collection: http://www.alexandermcqueen.com/int/en/corporate/experience_03.aspx

Complete New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/fashion/12mcqueen.html?src=twt&twt=nytimes

Food Meets Fashion- Bento!

Making the transition again linking food & fashion... some fun Japanese bento lunches. These were culled from many sites so it was hard to credit the makers. However, one site stood out as having many fun images.
http://www.mybentolunch.com

"Fierce Fashion!"- A Group Art Exhibition at Eclectix

Exhibit Dates: Jan 16th Thru Feb. 22nd, 2009
A Theme Show Very Loosely Based On Fashion, Persona, Clothes & Attire
Fierce Artists Exhibiting:
Johnathan Baker, Bryan Barnes, Marie Barr, Bill Brewer, Slimm Buick, Sara Christian, Elizabeth Dante, Jenny Dayton, Patrick Deignan, Steven J.Gelberg, Edmund Grant, Louis Hansell, Dion Hitchings, Kerry Kate, Josh Lawyer, Edith Lebeau, Mike Maas, Daniel Malone, Polly Mania , Dean McDowell, Fletcher Oakes, Arabella Proffer, Janna Stern, Eric Trimble, Neil Verni, Carlos Villas, Michelle Waters and Joshua Witten
Card art "The Red Queen" by Edith Lebeau

Opening Reception: Jan. 16th, 7 to 10 PM
PLUS!
A FASHION SHOW BY FERAL ARTERY-Featuring comfortable & fashion with a fun edge! Designs with ray guns, zombies, devils and abominable snowmen.
AN ART CAKE BY SWEETFACE -A local bakery borne out of a devotion to perfecting specialty baked goods that could be enjoyed by fellow enthusiasts of all things sweet and delicious. Creating sweet perfection everyday!
LIVE MUSIC BY DENNIS FORTIN & FRIENDS - Gypsy swing & jazz ensemble.

Eclectix Gallery & Store
10082 San Pablo Ave. El Cerrito, CA 94530
(510) 364-7261
For More Info, Go To: http://www.eclectix.com