I Like Socks

I cannot feel bad for abandoning you these past weeks, as all the usual suspects are doing nicely with the shows and really, I told you this wasn’t a place to keep up to date.  I’ve had my hands full doing a very, very nerdy thing.

I am, as I’ve noted, biased.  I think legwear, be it socks or tights or legwarmers, helps complete an outfit.  With makeup and hair, it frames and finishes a look.  Most designers these past couple of weeks seem to be favouring a bare leg, the silly gits.  Or they go for the plain canvas of a semi-sheer nylon, like what you can get at Fred Meyer or Target.  The rest seem to be clothing their models in tights,  but there are some who are having comparatively more fun.  I’m going to give you a bit of a cheat-sheet rundown, but first let me supply you with the basics.

Want tights?  There’s Foot Traffic Combed Cotton and E.G. Smith Leg Therapy. The first fits better and more folks, only one seam at the rear.  The second has more, and more vivid, colours, but if you’re not fan of the butt panel, then you might steer clear (they also have a history of not always making the legs the right length, or equal lengths, don’t even get me started).  Want the sleek microfiber look?  Then you want Erika Microfiber Tights, or there are stirrup and legging options.

Okay, that taken care of, let’s dig in after the jump.  Now, I’ll be adding as more trickle in, and God knows I’ve probably missed some. I’ve looked at maybe 150 slideshows of what walked the past couple of weeks, so you’ll have to forgive me and let me know what I did miss.

And sorry, darlings, no flyovers in these links. I would have just about died.

F2009 RTW

Albino—Tights, lightly ribbed, semi-sheer: MP Lightly Ribbed Tights (grey).

Alessandro Dell’Acqua—Possible toeless anklet, ribbed, sheer: still pondering if these are socks or shoe parts.

Alexander McQueen—Stocking vertical stripe; leather (could be attached to shoe): Vertical Stripe Thigh Highs (orange), Opaque Vertical Stripe.

Anna Sui—Tights, crochet pattern, psychedelic houndstooth, bright vertical stripes, irregular sparkle: Codori Crochet tights (black), or Liliana Crochet Luxury tight (black) nearly exact match; nothing like it for the houndstooth; closest match for the vertical would be Tights Striped Lengthwise; closest match for sparkle would be Lurex Shimmery thigh highs (gold/black).

Bottega Veneta—Ankle height, slightly slouched: B. Ella Meg Unconstricted Top Crew (black), Flat Knit Bell Top Anklet (black).

Charles Anastase—Mix of things,woven pattern tights, heathers, solids; loose striped or solid OTK/thigh high, also semi-sheer trouser sock: Kalana Wool Crochet tights (black) or Zurich Texture tights; Foot Traffic Combed Cotton (heather graphite), E.G. Smith Heathered Tights (heather graphite); Super Stripes (black & olive); June OTKs (caviar), Super Basics (black), O Woolies (black); B.Ella Trentata Trouser sock (espresso).

Christian Lacroix—Tights, lace printed, gold and black: Bebaroque Tattoo Me or Betty.

Comme Des Garcons—Midcalves under loose, seamed, beige/nude hose: nothing like it.

Dolce & Gabbana—Tights, possibly thigh high, black ruffle and gold ruffle backseam: Leg Avenue Lycra Mesh Thigh High with Ruffle Back Seam, closest match, out of stock at a lot of online shops.

Dsquared²—Midcalf, slouchy; plain knee high (could be same sock for both): EG Eco Comfort Top Knee High (black), Luisa Comfort Top Knee High (caviar). Note: these two do not like staying up, so they will create that fallen-down slouch quite naturally.

Emporio Armani—Trouser socks in knee high and midcalf: B.Ella Trentata Trouser sock (any), Heather Socklings (bark, slate grey); Flat Knit Bell Top Anklet (oxford grey).

House of Holland—Tights, extra-bold stripes with thinner white bands: nothing like it (Except I saw a girl on Killingsworth who had vaguely similar leggings, but damn if I don’t know where they came from.  I am hunting.)

Issey Miyake—Lace printed, colour-block stripe tights/leggings: nothing like it.

Jager London—Thigh highs (possibly loose tights) neutral tones, contrast bands and foot: nothing like it.

Jean Paul Gaultier—Tights, opaque and sheer duos; open net: Either Or Tights ; Warning Net Pantyhose.

Lucella—Tights, lurex: closest look would be Lurex Shimmery thigh highs (gold/black).

Marc Jacobs—Legging, fishnet: Lycra Seamless Fishnet Leggings (black).

Marc by Marc Jacobs—Tights, wide striped; segmented bold stripe legwarmer; slouched, flat ribbed socks, possibly legwarmers:  closest match Cronert Wide Stripe OTKs (cobalt, orange); Ribbed Wool Legwarmers (black, ivory), Coco Turncuff Knee Highs (caviar), Harajuku Super Loose Socks (black, ivory, white),Cotton Slouch Socks (black, natural, white, dark red).

Marni—Tights, woolly or cotton patterned, plaid, offset diamond:  Black and White Check Tartan tights.

Maurizio Pecoraro—Tights or stockings, subtle flocked dot: Tabbio Polka Dot Tights, Betsey’s Flashy Dots Capri leggings , closest match.

Miu Miu—Tights, spangled: Nothing like it.

Paul Smith Women—Tights and OTKs, heathered & fall tones: Foot Traffic Combed Cotton (heather mocha, heather graphite), E.G. Smith Heathered Tights (any), Plain Cotton Stockings (brown tweed), Lemonade Stockings (bittersweet brown).

Prada—Loose, Slouched to knee thick ribbed (could be part of shoe): Harajuku Super Loose Socks (black, night grey).

Rebecca Taylor—Mid-calf, heathered: Heather Socklings (chambray, slate grey), EG Eco Comfort Top Crew (denim), Relaxed Top Anklet (denim), Flat Knit Bell Top Anklet (oxford grey).

Ruffian—Tights, possible bodysuit, flocked or woven in dots: Tabbio Polka Dot Tights, Betsey’s Flashy Dots Capri leggings , closest match.

Tao—Ankle socks (ruffled?) with pom-poms: Closest match (most pom pom socks currently made have pom at back) Lace Ruffle Anklets (white) or Ruffle Shorties (white) with Pom Pom sock garters (white).

Tracy Reese—Thigh highs or OTKs, thick knit: O Woolies (black), Long Cuffable Scrunchables (black), Super Basics (black), OTK Tube Socks (black).

Vivenne Westwood—Knee high soccer style socks, various patterns; subtle opaque and sheer vertical stripedprinted sheer tights: no exact match on soccer socks, but Nike Centenario Game Sock, Dreamy Knee High Tube Socks; Kayla Stripe Trouser Sock (charcoal), Dobby Pinstripe Footless Tight; Tattoo Me, Betty, Roots and Smoke Print (grey).

Vivienne Westwood Red Label—Knee highs, semi-sheer trouser sock and thicker roll or comfort tops:  B.Ella Trentata Trouser sock (caviar, graphite); O Pastels (banana).

Wunderkind—Tights, printed vertical & pattern block: nothing like it.

Y-3—Mid-calf, black roll top: B. Ella Meg Unconstricted Top crew (black).

Zac Posen—Tights, large sparkle gradient in grey and red also a plain solid opaque cream, delicate fishnet and a knee high or OTK large-gague fishnet with seam in front worn over some: nothing like the sparkle gradient, maybe Zebra Lurex tights; B.Ella Refined Fishnet (any); the Fishnet Thigh Highs with Backseam which are tube-style and can worn ‘backwards’, also the Lace Up Fishnet Sock.

PF2009 (these two are important, when people want to copy legwear, 70% of the time it is these two)

Miu Miu—Legwarmers, knee high, ribbed: Cronert Ribbed Arm/Leg warmers (anthracite grey), Foot Traffic Ribbed Knit legwarmers (charcoal).

Prada—OTKs, ribbed, folded down: MP Ribbed Wool OTKs (black, grey).

It may be terrible that the first thing I think of is Chiquita Harajuku, but the look is charming, isn’t it?

Hoops: Claire’s ($8.50)

Necklace: Ollie’s Woolies ($21-$30)

Bangles: Claire’s ($2.50) Garbage of Eden ($16-$30), Poppy Raye ($12-$15) Rhinobones ($15-$40)

Personally, I adore watching designers try to reinvent the mid-1980s—I am fond of the look for a multitude of reasons.  To be more precise, it’s more that era’s take on the future of design that I truly love.  Science & speculative fiction’s relationship with fashion is something that just about anybody is aware of by now.  The ability to not be bounded by tradition and/or possibility is (finally) really spilling over into the most commonplace venues.  This, in turn, widens the skies for the truly expansive ideas.

During this beautiful dreaming, comparatively simple jewellery and accessories seem to be popular.  Maybe it’s the portability and modular aspects, the general un-scariness of it.  It’s such a gateway though, I mean—there’s such a short jump from sweet lovey ideas to slightly invasive useful tools to implanting things and gently pushing the definition of humanity.  But let’s not prod that interesting beast with a stick right now.  What we’re looking at here are accessories, gadgets and usefulness.  Or non-usefulness.  It depends on your definition.

Social networking sites, for instance.  The internet and how we use it in general.   An MIT student group have made this thing, it projects information and “virtual gadgets” into what they charmingly call the “tactile world.” Bonus: you can interact with it.

In the tactile world, we use our five senses to take in information about our environment and respond to it, Maes explained. But a lot of the information that helps us understand and respond to the world doesn’t come from these senses. Instead, it comes from computers and the internet. Maes’ goal is to harness  computers to feed us information in an organic fashion, like our existing senses . . . When he encounters someone at a party, the system projects a cloud of words on the person’s body to provide more information about him — his blog URL, the name of his company, his likes and interests.

Talking about this with a friend, her first thought went to implants.  My first thought went to accessories. Because really, how boss would that be?

I mean, really.

Design and tech are starting to go steady and I like it.  Secretly because I am a huge nerd.

Love the layered mono-chromatics, despite the heavy pastel use.  The necklaces are curb chain, but the bracelet was ring.

Ready to go: Vintage White Lucite Chain Link Necklace ($5.00)

Bulk chain one: Mr. Chain, the original plastic chain ($0.48-$3.57 per foot)

Bulk chain two: MimiLoLo ($2.80 for five feet)

We all have different tastes.  This is awesome, it’s one of those boss aspects of humanity.  So I find it interesting to compare the different opinions floating about, with NSFW links, natch.  Take the campaign for Wode perfume.

The reaction at Coilhouse, in October of 2008, where I first heard about it:

Perhaps half-dreaming before my daily dose of caffeine, I was whisked away to another time, where countless mermaids were enslaved and sacrificed for a wicked queen. Something of a Countess Bathory, she soaked in their cobalt tears to gain a mystical quality that made her irresistible in every way. With each bath, her skin would glow an opalescent blue, her voice would hypnotize and her eyes would leave you breathless. Alas, the magical effects of the tear potion were short lived and the slaughtering of mermaids went on until none remained on Earth.

The reaction at Jezebel, January 2009:

We thought we’d found the most offensive ad in the world. But the new WODE perfume (which, inexplicably, turns skin blue) gives it a definite run for its money. Slashing women’s throats? Hott.

During that week, it regularly came across my GReader from various friends’ shared items.

It often seems that especially in fashion photography is one person’s trigger another’s turn-on.  Whether as possibly calculated programmes to gain attention or just because they seem to be wired that way, photographers pushing definitions (of taste, boundaries, etc.) is something that turns up a lot, especially regarding dominance/submission.  With what can feel like a cold war going on, it’s nice to see self-aware reflections, even about pretty blatant stuff, like Klein’s work for French Vogue:

From Tatiana the Anonymous Model, on Jezebel:

This is like a nightmare, come to life inside a magazine, and it’s some of the most moving work I’ve seen from Klein in years. I’m transfixed and appalled and exhilarated and exquisitely, perfectly disturbed, all at once. Like any art form, I suppose it’s not the role of fashion to make anyone comfortable. Luckily it’s almost the end of the day; I need a drink after all that.

I’m sure lots of people do, for a rainbow of reasons.

Not even going into the totally killer headwear, I (as usual) liked the accessories in Chanel’s spring 2009 couture.  Kinda reminiscent of something, but that’s the style.

Gloves: Lace-Up Fingerless Fishnet Gloves, in white ($8.00)

Nail Polish: Sinful Colours, in Snow Me White ($1.99)

I’m going to be a dick and say we all remember those laddered, loose-knit leggings from Rodarte’s F2008 line.

Anyhow,  unlike other much-loved legwear, this stuff never grew up to be a department store knock-off—though some industrious folks are filling that niche and others are building their own.  I’m a huge fan of altering clothing and legwear to extend an item’s life and generally get more out of the damn thing.  The beauty is the ability to fit something to your needs.  So my stubby legs?  I can cut up stockings in a way that the snags will show, instead of them ending up somewhere under my skirt.

Why exert effort doing something most try to avoid?   Beyond “because I can”, there is always something beautiful about looks that take far more dedication than you’d realised.  From the standpoint of someone who makes things:  objects like artfully torn stockings and perfectly balanced loose knits can look like such ass if you think you can just slop that shit together any-which-way.  Asymmetry is the most difficult to balance, natch.

So? Wanna try?