2011! Oh! Silly Rabbit...

"I'm late, I'm late... for a very important date!"... Been out wayfaring the sea of life as you know. But I'm back and newly docked at my favorite, little harbor. So happy to see you here in this Year of the Rabbit.

So it's upward & onward in full effect you say? I say yes. And don't forget the lusciousness. Cuz that's onboard too.

It's ready to spill compelling content all over your mental pinafores...

So hold onto your napkins!

Get inspired...amused...and enthused.

2011 has all the dress maker markings to be the best yet...

After all, it is the Year of the Rabbit! So let’s spring back into the swing of things........

I’m working on several projects right now and am inspired by so much. In the coming days, I’ll be covering some of my great loves in music, art, literature, design, photography, food and of course - fashion...

As music is our soul, let’s start with...

Makana

Makana is from Hawaii. At the heart of it, he’s a slack key guitarist having studied under great masters such as Sonny Chillingworth. But what makes Makana’s music unique...and makes him a growing influence to other artists...is that he draws from an exquisite mix of global inspiration - rock, bluegrass, African, Latin, Celtic, modern and folk traditions.

Vibrant and diverse, Makana is an artist who reflects a serene and conscious spirit....independent music at its best.

I think music has the ability to transform us, draw out our own inner voices and dreams.

It makes the subconscious - conscious...

Transcends our momentary concerns, our daily life...it talks to each of us on such a personal level - to the very heart of who we are, what we love and where we want to be...

-- STYLE NOMAD 01/08/11

Photo Credits: (Top) Tim Walker for Vogue Italia March 2010. (Middle & Bottom) Makana

reBIRTH:

spring...is almost here. It is still cold in Switzerland. I am back from hiatus with no regrets. Only a deep desire to get back into it. Here I am peeking forward from my nest after hibernating in adventures and melodies.

Speaking of melodies, my good friend Loren Lopez, an absolutely brilliant + talented girl, just released her first album - BLUE CANDY. Loren's voice is at once luscious, soft, rich, and tender. But it has strength & power to it. A bit of a jazz edge that reminds one of luminous evenings in the 1920's when subtle elegance was key. It's available on iTunes and her single "British Attraction" just got picked up by MTV, Virgin, MCM (French MTV) etc. I am bursting with pride. We used to be peas in the 9-5 pod but she broke away and concentrated full time on music, her true love. She always would sing and do gigs at night or on weekends after her day job. Little by little, she worked her way into her dream. That's the best story I think. Not the overnight success that makes it all seem like luck. But the very adult, real world story of working to pay the bills while chipping away at your dream one layer at a time. For many of us this is the one and only action plan.

So I am here to let you in on a sweet masterpiece by an emerging artist. The director and creator of the video is also a young, emerging French talent. They created the video with pretty much no budget. Just friends, a couple of plane tickets GVA to LONDON, a rented British taxi cab in Grenoble, France (for the interior shots), and maniac cool ideas. Oh, and some wicked fierce style from Miss Lopez courtesy of Zara and H&M (yes that's right! It doesn't cost much to look goregous. Don't believe what you hear!) If you dream of love affairs in Paris, luscious adventures around the world, and being a techincolor girl in a black and white world...Loren's music will take you away and inspire you.

Welcome to Spring! We're so glad you are here.

LOREN LOPEZ - "British Attraction" music video
envoyé par amourangora. - Regardez la dernière sélection musicale.

Thought for the day....

What if we all lived our lives like this?...

I, i am a verb...

I live on earth at present and I don’t know what I am. I know that I am not a category. I am not a thing - a noun. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process - an integral function of the universe...

exceptional & exquisite

fervently fearless

work in progress...

- and this is my sacred dream...

I created this (above) tonight. The visuals and poem. I have been doing this thing recently - where I put images together that I love and have collected or that I find which are inspired by dreams I have or poems or stories I am writing...and then I write the words to go with the images so it becomes a bit like a visual prose poem. The first paragraph was directly inspired from architect, poet extraordinaire B. Fuller's idea that he was a verb. The rest is all me.

Sometimes little pinprick writing helps to inspire bigger writing...especially when one lacks the discipline all great writers must have had :P

Off to pirate away my dreams...

Worth a thousand words...

WoRdS can create thousands of pictures in our mind...musings...& daydreams of how our lives are...or how we wish them to be...

Kind of like an invitation to use your imagination...

or embark on a year's worth of resolutions....

to live what you believe...

SHOW stop(!)-her...

celebrate!-ing a 9 years on the net... SHOWstudio is a living, breathing space where fashion designers, artists, photographers, and stylists interact with the public. Brain child of prolific UK photographer extra-ordinaire, Nick Knight, SHOWstudio sees to redefine the world of design & fashion.

Autumn 2009, saw the exhibition at Somerset House in London where the public was able to go behind-the-scenes and experience live photo shoots as a part of the exhibition. You can submit a video on SHOWstudio that may be chosen for the next Lady Gaga video...watch a visio-bio on designer Rick Owens...or download patterns from John Galliano, Alexander McQueen...etc. as a part of the project archives. The Galliano & McQueen patterns are wicked fierce...

You could spend hours just looking through the archives or the blog curated by the top UK stylists...or if you are awaiting spring, buy the bunny ears Lanvin's creative genius Alber Elbaz wore for the New Yorker magazine photo shoot...

“SHOWstudio is based on the belief that showing the entire creative process—from conception to completion—is beneficial for the artist, the audience and the art itself.”

Nick Knight

PHOTO CREDITS: All SHOWstudio.

ciao bella...

The song "Ciao Bella"...by Rose came out several years ago...but I thought it would be lovely to introduce her to you if you don't know her. Rose is a French singer and reminds me a lot of Lauren. This song is about the passage of time and shows her dancing between screens where she is a child again with her grandfather...I love the visual juxtaposition of her going from who she is now as if she is dancing between the present and the past...pretty cool. Ciao Bella!...have a lovely Sunday...

A Frenchman in Shanghai...

Lions of Puxi...just heard about a band from Shanghai, China and saw an inspired video that made me smile. Their songs are sung in everything from English to French and Chinese. Combining my love of travel, making a life for yourself doing what you love living abroad, and music...especially the little-known...thought I'd share...

Gauthier Roubichou, Lion's lead singer, originally from France, did a cover - "with apologies to Sting"- of "An Englishman in New York" as joke with his friends. It's totally taken off in China and the Lions of Puxi are now set to sing the official song of the Shanghai Expo in 2010. The song, "A Frenchman in Shanghai" features slightly altered lyrics about eating baguettes...drinking wine...etc. Lions of Puxi do funky songs in Chinese with reggae, funk & groove beats and are squarely situated in the heart of Shanghai's famous nightlife....