Posts with tag patterns

Finding a vintage knit in wearable condition is hard. Moths get to yarn, colors fade, and odors...well, they linger. Not to mention the tiny sizes they wore back then. Still, the draped silhouettes of the 30s, 40s and 50s are irresistible, so we kept pawing through odd racks at the back of vintage shops, hoping for that one lucky find.

We did finally get lucky, but what we found was a book, not a sweater. Vintage Knitwear for Modern Knitters by Lise-Lotte Lystrup is filed with exactly the kind of knit jackets and shrugs that Joan Holloway or Betty Draper would wear on Mad Men.

Band-Aids have been showing up as fashion statements for years. Nelly sported the seemingly pointless face bandage back in 2002, and Bai Ling has been showing up with decorative bandages on her legs for all kinds of red carpet events.

Save us, somebody please save us. It's not enough that we are forced to look at tabloid picture after picture of Lindsay Lohan dressed in leggings, no pants. That girl would probably show up at the Oscar's in leggings -- that is, if she were ever invited. Now she wants to start her own line.

She talked with Life & Style Magazine saying "I'm doing my own leggings line! But it's a secret. It will be a while before it comes out, but I'm going to do it. I love leggings." Lindsay Lohan loves leggings? No way! I would have never guessed.

She also mentioned that they'll be sold with prints, patterns and designs on them. First of all, that's just silly. She only wears black leggings. I've never seen her in anything patterned. Second of all, were patterned leggings ever popular?

I won't deny that leggings were pretty much the most comfortable trend ever. But the key word in that sentence is were -- as in past tense. How long do we have to drag on this crazy 80's revival?

Please, Lindsay, let this trend die. Repeat after me, "Leggings are not pants, pants are not leggings. Leggings are not pants, pants are not leggings..."

Via Just Jared.

If there's one great truth about fashion it's that designers will look for inspiration anywhere. A case in point is the recent batch of clothing and accessories decorated with Rorschach blots.

Don't worry, the trend doesn't indicate a neo-Freudian undercurrent in consumer culture; rather, fashion designers have picked up on what is an obvious fact when you take the Rorschach blot out of the context of a psychological evaluation -- they make for totally cool patterns.

I admit, I love Rorschach blots. When I was living in Milan, I bought a t-shirt with a blot that looks like a squirrel, and I can't tell you the number of times people have asked me where it was from (uh, Zara) or how I got my hands on it (uh, debit card).

If you want to try out the Rorschach blot trend, here are a few items to check out:

Bernard Maisner for Tray 6 Bring on the Rain Rorschach umbrella ($110)
Junior Raglan 3/4 tee from Cafe Press $22
New Buffalo Gestalt T ($25)
H Fredriksson Baby Doll Dress in Cacao/Black

If you're anything like me, you like to play around with various DIY methods to customize clothing. I usually don't go much further than printing on a shirt or age-ing old jeans with a cheese grater, but some of you might enjoy going all the way and even make the clothing from scratch. The Blue Blog has posted this great pattern for a simple knitted t-shirt. It sounds like the perfect summer t-shirt, flattering, but loose and air-y. I'm tempted to learn how to knit just to make this thing...

[via Craftzine]

Les Savy Fav is not one of my favorite bands. Like Deerhoof or Dr. Dog, I secretly suspect that the writers at Pitchfork Media tried to pull a fast one on us when they showered praise on the dissonant punk group.

Les Savy Fav's lead man Tim Harrington, however, has a lot more going on than his unintelligible yelps into the microphone would lead you to believe. Harrington and his wife Anna own a wonderfully creative housewares and apparel company called Deadly Squire.

What I like about Deadly Squire's merch is that it manages to be simple without being boring. The line itself contains six basic patterns printed on quality pima cotton. Each of the six patterns is available in 20 different products ranging from oven mitts, tote bags, ties, pillowcases and doggy beds. If you do the math, that's a lot of wares, no? Though you might be hesitant to buy a tie that matches your place mats just remember that a good pattern is a good pattern no matter where it shows up.