THE ALL-NEW REFASHIONER RELAUNCH: Coming to your computer screen in the immediate future. (photo by Alex Crawford)
Tonight at Book Court, catch the founder of ReFashoner Kate Sekules read from her stunning memoir The Boxer’s Heart. A writer and pioneer of the heavily male-dominated boxing world, Kate is now a leading lady in the start-up fashion and tech scene. Stylish, kick-ass and ready to change the way we consume fashion (à la collaborative consumption) - could we <3 her more?
Had an incredible photo shoot yesterday with the amazing photographer Alex Crawford (who does photos for The Style Blogger and Michael Andrews Bespoke) and brilliant group of designers, bloggers, editors and ReFashioners.
Check out our Facebook for more teaser, behind the scenes photos and keep an eye out for our upcoming launch! xx
Modern Day Pin-Up Girls: How Social Media Can Impact the Fashion Industry
Our insatiable appetite for content combined with high fashion’s social media engagement has undoubtedly driven the explosion of Pinterest. High-fashion shoots are tweeted, now use Instagram, and everyone is pinning their own images at an astounding rate.
But what’s interesting is that the leaders, the most-followed ‘pinners’ aren’t the makers in the fashion industry such as Nina Garcia (who has just shy for 400k followers), but ‘normal’ ladies such as moms (Jane Wang, okay, granted she is the mother of the co-founder of Pinterest, over 2 million followers), to a girl who really likes her dog, and a graphic designer from Long Beach (Christine Martinez and Jennifer Chong, respectively, each just shy of 1 million followers).
Every person armed with a camera phone nowadays adds to the endless stream of content: game change! Trends now form from bottom-up, not top-down. Pinterest is the modern version of those collages teenage girls used to literally pin-up over the mirrors in their bedrooms. The difference now, is that their pins are shaping the narrative and the landscape of the fashion world.
I want to meet the baby of Pinterest & Change.org, another social media site that has amassed an enormous user-base (10 million, and still growing quickly) that draws on the power of the masses. A fourteen year old girl from Maine, Julia Bluhm started a campaign demanding Seventeen magazine to print images of real girls, and in addition to having gathered close to fifty thousand signatures in a span of a few weeks, she has become a media sensation. That is a pretty admirable feat for an eighth grade - and imagine what could be done if the effective impact of images were harnessed by Change.org.
Pin-up girls used to be the sole visual ambassadors of what a women should look like; but now every girl and woman can be a modern day pin-up girl. One that isn’t silent, nor static, but participant, creator, and activist. All without having to have a size zero waist.
All-tweed ensembles + all black ensembles with a splash of rainbow complement each other well. And garner lots of compliments. Just another day in the office here.
Betsey Johnson declares bankruptcy today. Luckily we’ve got an eclectic collection from her collections over the years on ReFashioner. Cartwheel over there to check it out.
We had fun at the #Uncubed event today, and started playing with the crowd-source start up Cut your Bias. No samples, no waste. Here’s our bias for the current designer Heike Jarick. Weeeee.
Spring. SoHo. Style. We sent off intern Kietrie to shoot the pretty folk on the infamous cobblestone streets, and then she waxed poetic on her subjects:
“Blond girl in leather shorts: This lovely young woman caught my eye because of her inspired pairing of drawstring leather shorts with a tucked-in blue button down. It is depressing to imagine the months ahead filled with nothing more than cotton sundresses—even the adorable can become monotonous. Leather shorts are a must for spring warm/cold weather basics.
Dapper Man on Bicycle: A mediterranean-inspired ensemble—complete with the navy espadrilles, rolled blue jeans, fedora and white, lightweight scarf. This look may not fly in midtown but down here he looked as natural as if he had just stepped out of his whitewashed villa in San Tropez.
Brunette with sunglasses: Large sunglasses like the ones pictured above look wonderful on those with a narrow face and petite frame. This young woman was an absolute vision of understated cool in her glamorous shades and fully buttoned up blue shirt with shrunken collar.”
Can you tell she has a menswear obsession? Two blue button-down oxfords + one man worthy of the Sartorialist, bike included.
Grey day? Spark it up with some neon yellow. ReFashioner Founder Kate struts her style in a J+ jacket, ALC sweater, incredible pants by Y’s (by Yohji Yamamoto) pants, and a Mad-Men era vintage pin.
One of the perks of being an intern at ReFashioner is getting to dig through our own personal archive of clothes (read: Kate’s Closet).
And on a sunny day, it’s fun to play dress-up and imagine outfits. Intern Kietrie has put together a lovely and unconventional combination of silk and print - here she’s showing off a yellow silk Octopi skirt from Opening Ceremony and a vintage newspaper print top from the Manhattan Vintage Trade show.
When I am constructing an outfit I like to think about choosing pieces that will not compete with one another for attention or create an overly busy effect. One general rule that helps avoiding going overboard is this: choose one piece that catches your eye from a distance and one piece that grabs your attention up close. This will help you avoid the pitfall of looking like you are trying too hard. I love the outfit pictured here because it combines two standout pieces from the ReFashioner closet in a way that allows both of them to shine without causing me to look over-styled. The solid canary yellow skirt has a lovely drape and is an incredibly fun-to-wear spring color with a gorgeous sheen that immediately caught my eye. The top is equally special in it’s flattering, feminine construction and unique newspaper print but is more subdued in color and is matte in texture. The fact that the two fabrics are entirely different allows me to wear both fabulous items without looking too shiny, bright or overwhelmed by a mixture of patterns.
And, she professes her love for shirtdresses:
I am a compulsive and unrepentant buyer (and hoarder) of shirt dresses. The genius behind the design lies in the fact that it is so simple and comfortable and yet comes in an infinite number of variations, all of which have their respective charms. The above iteration is unusually long for a summer shirt dress, which allows room for an wide metallic belt that might overwhelm a shorter version of the garment. As you can see, this roomy little number is a menswear addict’s dream come true and a perfect pick for a sunny summer walk.
