Fashion and Music: Jared Leto

After covering Taylor Momsen in relation to music and fashion, I decided I should try to do the same with her male counterpart, Jared Leto. 

 Like Taylor, Jared is an actor/musician and also the lead singer of his band, 30 Seconds to Mars.  Also like Taylor, he definitely has based his style around punk, rock and roll, and grunge.  Also like Momsen, Leto has been known to rock some serious eyeliner.

 Jared's look is constantly changing along with his hair, but some pretty consistent looks for him include combat boots, slim fit trousers, and leather jackets.  His style taste sometimes reminds me of a slightly more refined version of the Sex Pistols.

 Jared Leto is also a fashion enthusiast and a regular at Fashion Week runway shows and events.  Just a few days ago Leto was front row at Chanel sitting next to Alexa Chung and rocking a sheer shirt and a wrap skirt over zipper pants.

 Perhaps he drew inspiration from Marc Jacobs who obviously loves to rock a skirt or a kilt every now and then.  This just shows that he is a bit experimental with his fashion and isn't afraid to try something new.

 One thing about Jared's fashion is that what he wears onstage is mostly stuff he would wear off stage as well.  For some musicians, their performance wear is a costume and not something they would wear while grabbing coffee, but Jared stays true to his own personal style and makes conscious fashion choices that give him a consistent image.

 One thing about Jared's style that is constantly changing is his hair.  It's been dark, light, red, pink, blue, long, short, shaved, mo-hawked, quiffed, and pretty much any combination of the above.  Rocker guys could definitely look to Jared to get new ideas and inspiration for their hair and fashion alike.

And here's Jared fearlessly wearing a mesh tank and some awesome red Valentino high tops just because.

Fashion and Music: Taylor Momsen

As we all know music artists have always played a part in the fashion world.  Today it seems like if you're a pop star you automatically get to start your own shoe line for Macy's or clothing line for Kohl's whether or not you have a unique fashion perspective.  Regardless, the world needs fashion innovators no matter what their profession, and thankfully, there are some musicians with an interesting perspective out there.

Taylor Momsen happens to be one of these musicians with a unique outlook on fashion.  

I'm well aware that she started out as an actress, but since she has officially retired from acting, I'll consider her a musician.  Quite truthfully, when she first started acting on Gossip Girl, her personal style wasn't quite fleshed out yet.  She dressed like a cute, normal young girl would.  And now that she has aged some and switched her focus to music, she is pretty much Courtney Love 2.0. 

Her style is definitely not for everyone, and has even been described as trashy, but there is a need for someone to represent this fashion counter-culture.  Her personal style consists of a lot torn jeans, bustiers, cropped band tees, lingerie, stockings and heavy eyeliner.  It's punk, it's dirty, it's rock n roll, which is fitting since she is the lead singer of the rock band The Pretty Reckless.

Her style is definitely not mainstream, but that's what makes it special. There are people out there who enjoy dressing like this, so to them, Taylor is probably something of a style role model.

Her style is very reminiscent of the 70s and 90s with the punk and grunge trends.  Pairing ripped stockings and fishnets with flannels with studs and spikes infuses the two eras together into her own unique blend.

 She often performs in lingerie style dresses paired with garter belts and over sized flannels.  Even though she focuses on her music now, you can still tell she is conscious of her fashion choices in an effort to maintain the rocker image she has created for herself.  She obviously has a love for clothes, and even though they aren't Gossip Girl approved anymore, maybe the fashion aspect of the show has stuck with her.

Man on the Street!

Hello everyone!  This weekend I had some fun finding fashionable people around campus and asking them to be featured on my blog.  On most school days you might be hard pressed to find someone not sporting jeans and a tee-shirt, or sweatpants, but during the weekends students seem to jazz themselves up and head out to the bars.  So that's exactly where I went looking: the campus bars!  And I wasn't disappointed.  People around here know how to dress for the weekend.  I took tons of pictures of people (and with people when they were feeling too shy to pose alone), but unfortunately they were all taken on my phone so the picture quality isn't the greatest.

 Meet Nick.  Nick is the young man on the left with too many beers in his hand (everyone was 21, just as a disclaimer).  Nick was considerably more dressed up than any other guy in the bar, and it definitely caught my eye.  Nick described his style as being classic with his own personality added in.  When asked about his outfit he mentioned that dressing up a little more gave him confidence and usually made his nights more enjoyable.  I asked him where he shopped and he told me a lot of what he wears is from thrift stores!

 Nick wanted me to take special note of his vintage Original Penguin tie.

 This is Ted!  Now if I had to describe Ted's style it would probably be titled "Western Hipster".  According to Ted, he doesn't have a specific style or image in mind when picking out clothing, rather, he just throws on what he thinks fits and looks good.  Sounds like a pretty typical "guy" response", but I definitely see some hipster in him!  Hipster frames, hipster beard, hipster jeans.  And then he threw on a bandana just to be different, and I like it!

Last but not least, this is Tabitha.  As soon as I saw Tabitha, I knew I wanted her on my blog.  The first thing I saw was her long, furry coat and I loved it because it's so different from what most people on campus wear.  Aside from the coat, Tabitha had on denim shorts, plus tights and boots, one of my favorite fall styles!  After summer is over I'm never quite ready to put my shorts away quite yet, so I love the concept of pairing shorts with tights when it gets chilly out.  Tabitha definitely has a style of her own and knows how to dress herself in her own unique way. 

Fashion Week: Oscar de la Renta

There was a definite younger vibe going on at Oscar de la Renta's show this year, and I liked it!  Crop tops, white gauzy dresses, full maxi skirts paired with tee's and tanks all made an appearance on the catwalk, which was a definite change up from the usual evening gowns and suits de la Renta is known for. 

I really liked the full skirt look paired with a cropped tee or tank, and apparently I'm not the only one.  This was definitely one of the more prominent looks from fashion week.  I could do without the black choker though.

Feathers were a huge design component for this collection which was unique from most of the other designs I saw this week.  Feathers were used everywhere for this collection!  Full, floor length feather dresses, feather mini-dresses, feather skirts, feather shoulders, you name it!  The light blue feather dress is my favorite.  It has such a delicate quality to it, and the movement it gets when you walk is beautiful.  The look is pretty ethereal with the frizzy hair and minimal make-up.   And that bright yellow color of the last look has been everywhere this week.  It's definitely going to be all over the stores come spring.

And here is the last look of the show.  This is much more classic Oscar de la Renta to me, but it still fits in with the rest of the collection.  The many voluminous layers of this dress paired with the no make-up look make this look so elegant and lovely.  

I will say this here and now though, because I'm positive it will be true come spring time:  white dresses will be everywhere.  I think white/off white dresses have been the most prominent look I have seen all week.  So if you hate all things white, feminine, and gauzy, you will be tough out of luck in a few months.

Fashion Week: Rodarte

NY Fashion week is almost over.  Is anyone else sad?  I know I am, although a break from frantically checking my phone to watch the next live-streamed show will be nice.  Anyway, on to the fashion!  The Rodarte show would be an exciting one to attend this year.  The front row was filled with young celebrities such as Dakota Fanning and her sister Elle, fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson, and Taylor Swift. 

The inspiration for this collection came from post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh, and I would say the inspiration is pretty apparent in the shows opening look.  The colors and print is pretty much identical to his Sunflowers painting. 

These other looks are pretty for spring.  The knee length skirts and flower inspired colors are pretty much what you would expect to see for a spring collection.  I particularly liked the triangle cut-out on the top look.  Its an unexpected design element that adds a little sex appeal to an otherwise conservative look.  The one thing I do not like about this show is the make-up.  I'm all for tons of eyeliner, but the raccoon eyes seem to clash with the soft and feminine design to these clothes.  The combination is a little confusing.

 The last looks of the show were obviously inspired by van Gogh's Starry Night.  Aside from the similar colors, swirls, I think this design captured the romantic feel of the painting.  My favorite design feature is the sheer overlay of the skirt and the shoulder line.  The dark eye make-up actually looks good with this look too.

Fashion Week: Prabal Gurung

AKA the "It" show of fashion week.

This collection, in my opinion and many others as well, has been the greatest from NY fashion week so far.  I have heard girls vowing to only wear purple and black this spring!  I even read someone say they wanted their wedding dress to look exactly like the final look!  This collection is a lot to take in, but I love everything.  Gurung was inspired by Japanese artist Araki and his Sensual Flowers photographs which featured bond women.  I suppose that's where the harness corset's come from.  The gorgeous floral prints and rich purple color make this collection look super luxurious and expensive.  Gurung also hand painted some of the pieces without the print, and of course utilized a common trend for spring: sheer panels. Here are some of my favorite looks!

I'm hoping that more affordable retailers like Topshop and H&M replicate some of these purple prints for spring!  They would be a big seller for sure.

Fashion Week: Jill Stuart/ Christian Siriano

Here are just a few quick thoughts on two designers shows that I liked.  First Jill Stuart.  Her spring collection was very feminine and very pastel.  It was a mix of girly little prints on collared tops and gauzy skirts, and hot pants.  I know, cotton candy prints that are oh-so lady like do not seem to mesh with hot pants, but somehow it all worked out into a cohesive line. 

Now, Christian Siriano has been a favorite of mine since his Project Runway days, and he didn't disappoint me.  The first half of his collection was very basic with structured pant suits and maxi skirts with basic tees.  I really liked this part of the collection because it was so wearable and effortlessly chic looking.  Then the second half of his collection came out and it was all about over the top volume and embellishments, but I don't care, I still loved it.  Also, his vibrant orange and yellow color pallet seemed very on point for spring.