Georgine Fall 2017

The inspiration for the GEORGINE Fall/Winter 2017 collection comes from permanent hotel dwellers, those glamorous creatures that have called the world’s most interesting properties home.  Ranging from Coco Chanel’s suite at The Ritz and Oscar Wilde’s chambers at Hotel d’Alsace, to Howard Hughes bungalow at The Beverly Hills Hotel, and Edie Sedgwick’s room at The Chelsea Hotel, the transient energy of a chic enclave fueled their creativity and made everyday feel like a permanent vacation.

It's not an easy task to draw inspiration from old hotels but in short Georgine has done the impossible and it works smoothly for the season. Keeping with their rock and roll spirit style chick. The clothing this season is versatile edgy and at times colorful. While the collection might be less than hotel living it's more about stories to tell and adventures to be discovered. Clearly not a collection for the timid, and we're loving the deep rooted designer vibe we sense of years ago.

All Photos: House of Georgine

Honey Mama's Cacao-Nectar bars " A Paleo Paradise"

Since our re-location to the west coast there is one thing that we have found here in Portland Oregon that rivals nowhere else in America; the quality of the food! Never have we seen such artisan craftsman & craftswomen turn out such awesome treats on a daily basis.

Honey Mama's Caco-Nectar bars are simply chocolate bliss on a different level! We bought three different kinds:

* Nibs & Coffee~ Coconut Meat
* Dutch~Sprouted Almonds
* Peruvian Raw~Sprouted almonds

The bars we got have NO Gluten, Dairy, Soy, or Grain which is something we happen to really like! The density of these bars are heavy and they have a almost brownie consistency to them but there's more going on here! Our personal fave : peruvian raw, it tastes like chocolate mousse from a restaurant in New York City from the 80's " The Museum Cafe" it just melts in your mouth.

www.honeymamas.com for online ordering, take it from us, it's worth the deals they offer.

Tadashi Shoji S/S 2017 The Rising Sun & Rebirth

For Spring 2017 designer Tadshi Shoji states " 2017 is a ecstatic vision of rebirth" and from what he sent down his runway I could not be in more agreement! This by far is one of Mr. Shoji's best collections I have seen and the "rebirth" aspect shines through! It's a very intricate an complex collection but is saying something more, the client base is expanding and the fashion net is being cast wider. The red carpet contenders can be seen along with smart pieces for the upper east side Palm Beach crowd.

Make no mistake, but even thou this might be a grown up line, a younger customer is in the works here. Smart designers size up their competition and see what their offering and try to come back with something better! He's been around long enough to know when to switch things up and the rebirth has begun.

The standout stunner for me was the feather grey ombre cocktail dress, don't be surprised if you see this in the editorial pages. In my book a good designer ALWAYS has a editorial piece! For the record there's probably more than one. Mr. Shoji, bravo!

Whit S/S 2017

For S/S 2017 Whit did something smart apart from other designers this season, they kept the collection on the small side. I have always found that in most cases in these times " less is more". Uncertain economies and events can change an entire landscape which sweep away everything in it's path. For whit by keeping it small they minimize this.

The prints offered this season seem very wearable and have many color options and at times has the feel of a resort collection due to it's size, they did have a swimsuit on display. The only downside to this presentation was having to photograph this while an artists sketch class was in progress.

Thinking something is "cool" or a new idea to show can work;

but it can also work against a designer. What's the take away? Respect editors, buyers and journalists/photographers, our time is precious, scarce and while you might just have only one show to do for the week, we have many!!!

Claudia Lee S/S 2017

For spring/summer 2017, Claudia Li translates moments between dusk and dawn. There are no inhibitions. No cares in the world. By shedding away reality and setting oneself free, Claudia conceptualizes a budding newfound freedom and embraces femininity. The collection is punctuated with a hazy liveliness expressed in metallic touches and splashes of colored orchid prints.
The season’s story is furthered by the introduction of male models to her show. The idea of wearing “some guy’s” clothes is emphasized with the interchange of typically boxy, masculine silhouettes and soft, feminine silhouettes, blurring the line between expectations to express one’s sexuality
and empowerment.

As in season’s past, denim plays an important part of the Claudia Li’s collection. Introduced here in new ways through embroidery techniques, color and draping; shirts and dresses made from silk charmeuse and cotton poplin incorporate structured cutouts and organic draping that Claudia has become well-known for creating.
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This is the designers inspiration statement for the season. It seems a current trend amongst Asian designers is to be all things to all people. What translates is a very varied collection with little to no design focus and moreso who is the customer of the clothing? Traditionally Asian ladies have been fantastic dressers and have embodies there own sense of "femininity" which seems lacking from Ms. Lee.

Is this what Millennials want to look like when they are attending the spring summer music festivals? Personally I don't attend so I would not know but from previous images from festivals past I have not seen clothing like this. The last time I checked the NYC club scene was dead, could this be a homage to David Byrne of the talking heads?

Her denim work seems quite stiff and is probably using a heavy cord. For the record denim is a wonderful fabric to work with and as Americans we live in it! Lets see what the next season brings.

David Hart S/S 20h17

It seems with TPOTUS making a visit to Cuba it has brought on a new wave of inspiration for designer David Hart. Tropical Havana along with  it's many colors and retro styles seems to be what David showed. As for the fit it seems a bit more tighter on the body than what you might see in old photo's with this style of dress. Granted this is not a collection for all guys, some tend to shy away from prints of any kind and play the solid road. Regardless this collection follows the Latin trend making a comeback and as well  offers men a dose of variety in their wardrobes

Photos: David Hart

PLAC S/S 2017

The Korean design team from PLAC showed a small tight mens collection for S/S 2017 and from the looks of it they maybe taking a cue from an outside signal. For those in the know men's is a tough sell traditionally, so by showing small edited collections it cuts way down on cost but potentially on exposure as a brand, your not that big! In the end it's a trade-off for some that over time things will improve rather than spend big on a successful failure with no sales. Nobody said this way easy. As for the outside signal, have you checked your GDP lately?

The inspiration for this season is David Hockney late 60's era, but from the backdrop and color scheme this collection left me with a sense of cleaned up style boys lost in South Beach Florida with a architectural slant. The miss-buttoned shirts are a standing example of this, yes it's off but it is different! The lines of the collection are hard and seem slimming but something tells me one has to have a size 32 wait it fit the mold. I always get nervous with fit with overseas designers. Nevertheless it's a winning collection for guys who might be color shy; but want to not look like complete wall flowers, if there is such a thing for guys?! With the foundation of this collection this is a line that you can build from and incorporate great standard pieces that with flow from season to season!

Portland's Food Cart Scene... A Lesson in Patience and Quality

Downtown Portland Oregon is a interesting place to visit and more so to live. Its as if you were living a few blocks away from some small herald square in New York City. Small shops, Nordstrom's, Apple you get the picture but in the midst of all this activity it can be pressing to find a good meal to eat!

Now in NYC street food is rapid fire! Hot dogs served up in 30 seconds ready to go, ,knish; whatever. It's what I was raised on and now am being taught a very painful but rewarding lesson about Portland's street food culture.

The variety of cuisines along Alder Street is expansive and makes one just want to walk to see the entire selection, and there is quite a bit! Chinese, Thai, Greek, sandwiches, BBQ, etc. You won't find burgers or hot dogs here but there also is English fish & chips and a great grilled cheese truck also. At any one time you could have fifty trucks open for lunch service.

One thing that you can't avoid is the amount of people waiting for food, which for a New Yorker is a lesson in patience! With that being said YES , one has to wait for their food. I will admit this is a method very foreign to me. In the end the wait is worth it but due to the small confined space of these trucks wait times can vary depending on a trucks popularity. In my opinion find what you like and enjoy! Portland is a foodie town like no other.


Photos: R.Spiegel

Marlowe 142 Shave Gel

it seems in the world of men's shaving the battle lines have been drawn! Are you a cream or a gel shaver? I have been to both sides and the verdict is still out but on a recent situation of low shaving cream/gel I dropped into the target store and picked up Marlowe 142 shave gel $8.99. I've had great results with other brands in the gel dept so I went for it.

Even doing a 5 o'clock shadow shave with a dull blade (full white stripe) the blade seemed to glide pretty smooth AND shave quite close. Let's be clear, you could easily pay more for a lesser quality shaving product but for $8.99 it's worth the money. The only problem we seem to find is small outfits like this either get scooped up or go bust, let's hope they stick around.

photo:marloweskin.com

Rochambeau Fall 2016

Rochambeau drew it's inspiration for its Fall 2016 collection from Tupac Shakur's movie "Juice". According to the designers their guy was "tough and layered" but even if there was no inspiration this collection works on a few different levels. With only showing 28 looks there's quite a bit of ground covered here, from sleek cut jackets to more relaxed baseball styles with guy friendly colors to boot! My personal standout was the two-tone mohair style coat and the black long coat towards the end. Comparative to other designers it's a small collection but 28 pieces could have been 20 and still delivered the diversity they showed. The urban vibe showed through this collection and should be responsive to a younger audience.

Photos: Firstvew