Reel Knitting

Mark Fast Knits Dazzle London Fashion Week

Up-and-coming knitwear designer Mark Fast created a sensation again this year at London's Fashion Week--not so much for his collection, but for his larger-sized models. This was his answer to critics of last year's show who said that only skinny women could wear his clothes.

It's interesting to see the difference a curvier model makes on the clothes. His knits look much more sensual on the few larger models whom he used. (In fact, it's been said that designers don't use curvy models because they tend to upstage the clothes.) Here's the contrast between an "Ana" model from 2008 and a model from 2009.

Regardless, this year's collection shows that Mark Fast has grown wonderfully as an artist. I love the subtler colors that he is using and the softer patterns and textures. More feminine, less geometric.

Here are some pics from his 2009 London Fashion Week show from www.swarovski.tv.

Bad & Dangerous Films in Seattle

Tonight is the start of the 2009 Seattle film noir fest! It's the longest running noir fest in the country and is programmed by the talented Greg Olson.

This year's lineup:
October 1: The Reckless Moment (1949)
October 8: Nocturne (1946)
October 15: Riffraff (1947)
October 22: Desert Fury (1947)
October 29: The Story of Molly X (1949)
November 5: Alias Nick Beal (1949)
November 12: Bigger Than Life (1956)
November 19: The Bad Seed (1956)
December 3: The Naked Kiss (1964)
December 10: Games (1967)

Besides being excellent films, film noirs are great to watch to get fashion inspiration. Here's a nice example: Lizabeth Scott and Mary Astor in the technicolor noir Desert Fury. They both wear "Glamorous Forties Cowgirl" looks throughout the film, as well as more formal attire (shown here).

The multi-talented Czar of Noir Eddie Muller makes an appearance every year to publicize the Film Noir Foundation, which is always entertaining.

Some of these films are available on DVD, so check them out!

The title image above is thanks to graphic designer Christian Annyas, who has collected hundreds of title screenshots from classic films.

Dreaming of Haute Tricoter

Recently I've been thinking about a different kind of knitting: haute couture knitting, or to be exact haute tricoter (literally, high knitting). What I imagine haute couture knitting to be is knitting that uses haute couture sewing techniques (things such as linings, facings, stays, darts, shirring, ruffles, beading, embroidery--everything we think of when we think of classic haute couture) to make elaborate, knitted garments.

But, why knitting? Why not just make an elaborate dress on a sewing machine? I guess I like the idea of haute couture knitting because knitting is one of the few crafts that we still do by hand--we make the fabric by hand, sew the seams together by hand, and sew on zippers and buttons by hand. I guess it just seems natural to take advantage of the handmade nature of knitting. I also like the challenge and disjunction of using a medium that traditionally yields floppy, relaxed garments to make structured, formal garments.

For example, this pale pink wedding dress was made entirely by hand. It was designed and knitted by Jemma Sykes for Butcher Couture, then displayed and auctioned at Harrods for a 2007 breast cancer event. I love the way that the loose yarn looks like feathers. Brilliant!

Free Pattern: Nigel Argyle Vest

It's good to be back on the ol' blog! I've been knitting and designing like crazy and I have my first pattern right here, the Nigel Argyle Vest! It's only a draft, and hasn't been tested, so any feedback is much appreciated. More soon!

Download NigelVest

A break off the ol' blog

Hello, loyal blog readers! Just a quick post to let you know that I'm taking a month off to develop some free patterns for the ol' blog. See you in August!

And the Winner Is...

First of all, my apologies to everyone for the delay in drawing a winner. I used a random number generator, and the winner is Philippe! His recent favorite movie is In the Mood for Love. Here's Philippe's blog: http://philippeforamerica.blogspot.com/.

With only eight comments for this contest, everyone had a great chance of wining! Hope to see you all commenting again soon! Good luck next time.

Hello Summer! Contest

 It's about time I offered another blog contest. This time, enter to win a TCM 2009 DVD catalog. It has lots of great features for the classic movie lover.

Just leave a comment to enter. You can write anything you want, or answer : 1. What's the last memorable movie you saw? AND/OR 2. What knitting project(s) are you working on right now?

One winner will be drawn out of a hat and announced Saturday, June 16, 2009. If you won the last contest (the Welcome Spring paper products contest), you are ineligible to enter.

Good luck!

Free Pattern: The Schiaparelli Bowknot Sweater

Arguably, the most famous women's sweater is Elsa Schiaparelli's Bowknot Sweater. (For men, it's the Duke of Windsor's Fair Isle vest.) The series of trompe l'oeil sweaters Schiaparelli created in the 1920s launched her career. Schoolhouse Press kindly offers this pattern for free on their website, so that we can knit a part of fashion history.

Schiaparelli is one of my favorite female fashion designers. She was a great friend of the Surrealists, and that surreal spirit shows in her many over-the-top designs, such as this shoe hat.

Using the magic of Photoshop, we can see what the Bowknot Sweater would look like in different colors.

Here's the pattern:
Download Bowknotwritteninstructions
Download Bowknotfront
Download Bowknotback
Download Bowknotsleeve

To learn more about Schiap, check out these sites:
Wikipedia
Philadelphia Museum of Art
schiaparelli.com

Jill Boyd, Personal Life Coach

I wanted to write about my life coach because she's really amazing.

Jill is a Seattle-based, licensed life coach with a master's degree in Human Development. I work with her one-on-one in once-a-week, half-hour phone sessions to work on and discuss my creative goals!

I've worked with a handful of life coaches and career counselors over the years, and Jill is one of the best. She starts with a thorough assessment to understand the areas you want to tackle, and to learn about you.

Next, she works with you to clarify your goals if you need that. If you already have clear goals, she helps you break them down, analyze solutions, and helps you figure out how you're most productive. If you enjoy homework, you work together to choose weekly assignments.

Jill is incredibly supportive and non-judgmental. She adapts her style to how you work best and asks lots of questions to get you to really think about things.

Weekly check-ins keep you focused and committed, and help generate discussion topics.

Jill's company is Coaching Alchemy. (Because she works via phone, you don't have to be in Seattle to work with her.) She doesn't know I'm writing this, and I don't get anything for doing it--I just think she's a really good coach and want to give her some publicity.

Aquilano & Rimondi at Milan Fashion Week

The  collections from the Milan Autumn 2009/Winter 2010 Ready-to-Wear fashion shows in March were stunning. I really liked the drama of the Dolce & Gabbana and Giorgio Armani collections, but the big standouts were newcomers Aquilano & Rimondi. They had a collection that was creative, skilled, and balanced.

 

The Milan collections--and the Aquilano & Rimondi collection in particular--had silhouettes that were exaggerated and materials that were decadent: sensual satins, silks, furs, and velvets. 

One theme throughout the collections were exaggerated shoulders. Aquilano & Rimondi created pointy and pouffy 1940s shoulders on beautifully-tailored jackets and dresses. 

Cinched waists played off and balanced the big shoulders, a seductive combination of angles and curves. 

Because of the economic downturn, many of the designers who showed in Milan used fur sparingly. They created garments with fur sleeves, collars, and capes.

 

Another sign of economic woes were the conservative palettes that designers used--mostly grays and black. Nevertheless, the subdued palettes looked urbane and chic.

All-in-all, Aquilano & Rimondi expressed a restrained sensuality that emphasized women's curves in a way that made them look dignified and powerful yet sensual and feminine, while showing their creativity by adding a bit of the unusual.