Fashion Accessories, Gucci Watches

Ladies first. I'll get to some men's watches in the not too distant future, if not next post.

So, as we all know, there are a LOT of predictable looking watches out there. I'll leave certain notable watch brands nameless, and say rather, I decided to scope out Gucci instead.

Turned out to be a great decision. As rather than a canonical batch of tradition, I found more than a few gorgeous shapes, material combinations, and interesting details. The Gucci watches are classic. But not in a boring way. A little different, and fashionable. There are a lot of distinct styles to choose from for being just one brand. And within each style, a matrix of variations. I like multiplicative distinction. And I love variation. In terms of design, I think they rise above the convention of simply needing a watch, or of having a nice/expensive one purely for the sake of it. These each have a stylistic impulse that signals accessory or jewelry more than function or repetitious nostalgia. They each have an aesthetic life onto themselves. And they're all highly noticable, fun, and playful. While still remaining elegant and sophisticated at once. In short, I think it's a best of both worlds situation...

Now, in terms of where to find them. I grabbed all of these from the same place for everyone's shopping convenience. So all you have to do is click on one of the below images and it will take you straight to that particular watch with all of it's relevant information, in a new window, on the Blue Nile website. Clearly as evidenced below, they have a great selection to choose from.

Thomas-Michael

Left To Right:
Gucci Ladies' Twirl Collection Watch
Gucci Women's Steel Watch
Gucci Women's Chiodo Watch

Fashion Accessories, Women's Gucci Watches.
I'm starting off with the three most distinct watches. All a little mod in terms of shape and materials. Maybe even 'Art Deco'. All extremely clean stylistically. I love the stripes on the first one and how it's all one width, like a bracelet. Super refined. The middle watch in gold has very beautifully subtle mod details like those oblong rounded corners. And on the right, I love how minimal that face is, and how it allows that big bold circular shape to come through. All really clean and gorgeous design here...

Left To Right:
Gucci Women's Petite 6800 Series Watch
Gucci Women's Bangle Watch
Gucci Women's 6800 Series Watch

Fashion Accessories, Women's Gucci Watches.
I absolutely love the shape on these. And the materials, particularly on the first two. The shapes remind me of the Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi. Biomorphic and 'Art Nouveau' I think. Really clean faces here again. The shapes bordering between lavish and refined in such a careful balance. Really beautiful.

Left To Right:
Gucci Women's Signoria Watch
Gucci Signoria Diamond Square Mother-Of-Pearl Dial Women's Watch
Gucci Women's Signoria Watch

Fashion Accessories, Women's Gucci Watches.
Definitely 'Art Nouveau' here. Really classic. The shapes are completely amazing. And I love the way that square face is at once floating and locked within them. I particularly like the one with the leather strap. The mixing of materials between the hardware and the strap is nice I think. Gives it a certain texture relative to the other two. But honestly can't take my eye off of that interesting geometry. It's skeletal in a really soft beautiful way.

Mixed:
Gucci Women's Synthetic, Leather, Steel, And 3900 Series Watches

Fashion Accessories, Women's Gucci Watches.
And lastly, these are the simplest of the batch. But still very playful in terms of materials, colors, face texture, and the extremity of that narrow proportion. Super slim, thin, and sexy. Think they would all work equally as well in dressy and casual situations.

Now remember, you can scope any of these watches out on the Blue Nile website simply by clicking on the respective image above...Best, Thomas-Michael

Mens Fall Fashion, Military Inspired Jackets/Coats

And one for the ladies as well. Last image.

I'll admit it, I'm a complete sucker for military inspired fashion. No idea why. Maybe it's because it's one of the few themes we can get away with when getting dressed, whereas women seem to have tons of options. Or maybe it's because of the the excess array of straps, buttons, and whatever else that seem to give it a real sense of the mechanical or of explicit functionality. How male minded does that sound? Whatever it is, a jacket with just a little bit of military design inspiration gives you the opportunity to differentiate yourself against the apparent total monotony of men's fashion on the street. The military design inspiration is clean, crisp, no fuss except the explicit kind, and strong; so it works exceptionally well for a man in terms of what we would ordinarily look for in a piece of clothing. Now, it's a theme, not a costume; and there are a lot of over the top versions out there. So I tried to keep the selections to implied design inspiration rather the excessive, hope you enjoy!

Thomas-Michael

riverisland.com

Mens Fall Fashion, Military Inspired Jacket/Coat. Here we go. This one is from River Island and we can see right away some of the details that enhance the jacket. The gold buttons, striping on the wrists and shoulders, and the mandarin collar all signal military design inspiration. I love this one because it's just inspired details here and there. Only where absolutely needed. Really clean.

riverisland.com

Mens Fall Fashion, Military Inspired Jacket/Coat. Here's the exact longer cut version of the above jacket. I personally like the shorter of the two, but this one would be incredibly useful in the rain.

farfetch.com, By Balmain Paris

Mens Fall Fashion, Military Inspired Jacket/Coat. From English to French it seems. Definately a little bit more literal here, but I still like it. This is more the type to throw on casually with jeans or whatever. The cut and the little extra regalia make it come to life.

balmainonline.us

Mens Fall Fashion, Military Inspired Jacket/Coat. Also from Balmain, this one I love. Super simple and not too much of the theme. Just enough. Would be great for the fall.

thisnext.com

Mens Fall Fashion, Military Inspired Jacket/Coat. Also love this one. Think it's kind of reminiscent of a past generation of military uniforms with that long line of buttons. So classic.

jcrew.com

Mens Fall Fashion, Military Inspired Jacket/Coat. Now, aside from pea coats, navy, and blazers, you can also go fatigues inspired and more sporty or widely usable. This one is from J. Crew, and I really love it. Love the color and the way it sits on the torso. Could wear this anywhere eight days a week, and be super comfortable.

asos.com, By Liquorish

Mens Fall Fashion, Military Inspired Jacket/Coat. And lastly, one for the ladies. Just because I thought it was so adorable. And because if you had to be one of those matching couples, this would probably be the ideal complimentary choice.

Chic Bulletin Boards

So today isn't the sexiest or most mind blowing topic. But we all need some everyday functional elegance from time to time, and I love organization. So it's all about chic bulletin boards. Proof I suppose that anything can have a stylistic side. Now, you all know cork boards are wrong. And if you have one lying around, it may be time to start considering wrapping it in a nice piece of fabric. It's an easy little DIY project that can return sensibility to your home office or inspirational image wall with very little effort. As far as magnetic boards or chalk boards are concerned, even though I know there are a ton of you out there that love chalk boards in particular, I don't reccommend it. They're often cold looking, dark, and messy. I think the selections below will give you some great options in terms of keeping your wall organization artistic and beautiful. Enjoy!

Thomas-Michael

potterybarn.com

Interior Design, Chic Bulletin Boards, Pottery Barn, Linen Pinboard. This has always been a favorite of mine and you can pick it up quick and easily at Pottery Barn. It's linen which is a lovely texture, neutral in color, soft, and elegant. I love these over the bed, but I could also see doing a whole home office wall in them. And those vintage photographs are great as well...

potterybarn.com

Interior Design, Chic Bulletin Boards, Pottery Barn, Linen Pinboard. Here's the larger size from Pottery Barn for those of you who just need one quick one in the kitchen or wherever.

ballarddesigns.com

Interior Design, Chic Bulletin Boards, Ballard Designs. This one is actually magnetic, but I let it pass because it doesn't look like it is. I love words, print, and classic script in atypical places.

emmas.blogg.se, Designer Nina Kejser, Stylist Katrine Martensen-Larsen

Interior Design, Chic Bulletin Boards. This one is fabric, and super chic. Just clean, white, and elegant. Doesn't get easier or sexier than this in terms of wall organization.

decorpad.com, Courtney Hill Interiors

Interior Design, Chic Bulletin Boards. I love the beading here. As well as how it's built in. So convenient. The whole little workspace ensemble is great. Love the colors. The green is perfect in how it's not too minty.

designsponge.com, Aesthetic Movement

Interior Design, Chic Bulletin Boards. This one is great too. Nice and white, let the elements pop on their own. Tiled like art on a miniature salon wall.

emmas.blogg.se, Stylist Susanna Vento, Photographer Kristiina Kurronen

Interior Design, Chic Bulletin Boards. And lastly, the complete opposite. I love when people reverse conventional wisdom to show how both ends of the dialectic work equally. A bulletin board made out of clipboards. Love this idea.

Style And Economics, The Gold Bubble

With the price of gold nearing 2,000 USD, the question has to be asked. Is gold the perfect investment, or is it simply, as billionaire investor George Soros has phrased it, the "ultimate asset bubble". Truth is we won't know until after the fact, but in the meanwhile it's interesting to consider the economics of it relative to it's use in design and it's stylistic prevalence in culture, as discussed in a great article by Charles Sizemore here. As Sizemore points out, gold has two fundamental functions. The first being it's use as a commodity. In jewelry, fashion, and more or less, all things design. But gold also has a second role in investing, as a hedge. Bought to protect investors against market volatility and currently to an even greater degree, competitive currency devaluation. As you'll see in the second image below, it's an interesting relationship which can be inverse. Implying that at gold's peak in style, it is at a lull in terms of being an investment vehicle. As was the case in the year 2000. Though while more relevant to today, it's equal demand in both fashion and in terms of investment may actually be signaling it's top as an investment, and it's return into style. And into all of our lives in the things we care about most on this blog. Being naturally, table settings, interiors, Chanel, picture frames, and of course, shoes. So if the bubble bursts, be sure that you'll be seeing a lot of golden this and golden that all over the place until we're all completely sick of looking at it, and it drifts out of style again. About ten years from now.

Thomas-Michael

stockcharts.com

Style And Economics, The Gold Bubble? Here's the weekly chart of the GLD, an ETF which tracks gold. In just the past few years, gold has more than doubled in price.

investorplace.com, Original Source: Jack Farchy, "Gold Jewelry Loses Its Luster," Financial Times, December 10, 2010.

Style And Economics, The Gold Bubble? This is the key chart for this discussion. You can see how much gold was being used in fashion in the year 2000. Obviously it's predominate use is in jewelry, but I think it's safe to assume that it's use bleeds into everything else design and style concurrently. Now while in 2010, the relationship is dramatically shifted and evened out relative to being an investment vehicle. Thus perhaps signalling a top as an investment and a return into style. I suppose you could conversely consider the ultimate alternative where the trend continues and gold completely has no demand in style whatsoever, but cycles are more likely as we all know from fashion.

oncewed.com

Style And Economics, The Gold Bubble? Now for some examples. This one I LOVE. Gold is really quite chic when used with white. This is a great wedding table setting you can find at the link above. Great pictures there. The gold bottles are fantastic.

nateberkus.com

Style And Economics, The Gold Bubble? Here's a recent gorgeous golden boudoir interior by Nate Berkus. Less chic, more regal and dream like. Really like it.

chanel.com

Style And Economics, The Gold Bubble? And some gold starting to pop up in fashion. This is the Pre-Fall 2011 ad campaign by Chanel. Admittedly there's not a lot of gold inspiration and fashion floating around out there, but it's just the onset of a broader decade long trend if the relationship is correct.

free-photo-frames.com

Style And Economics, The Gold Bubble? I always love an old antique gold frame.

shoeseen.com

Style And Economics, The Gold Bubble? And lastly, some golden shoes By Betsey Johnson from Spring 2011.

Interior Design, Chic And Rustic Furniture From Anthropologie

A few weeks back I did a post on rustic bedroom ideas that seems to have gone over quite well. Apparently there are a lot of people out there looking to make things a bit more textural at home. Here's the post for reference, Ideas For A Rustic Bedroom Retreat. And so for today, I decided to cruise around Anthropologie and pull up some more great options for those looking to pursue this route. I love all of the below. And think most of them will work with what you've already got. In general I think it's safe to say that Anthropologie has a really nice thing going with furniture. It's a kind of rustic modern that I think strikes a nerve. Combined with a little bit of funkiness, it's chic and playful at the same time. So all of the below are from there, with a link provided below each image to the furniture section of the website for easy reference. Enjoy!


Thomas-Michael

anthropologie.com

Interior Design, Chic And Rustic Furniture From Anthropologie. Here's a gorgeous living room example of how you can pull the elements together. I love that old rustic wooden coffee table, as well as that chic off white sofa. It's clean but textural at the same time. The shape is nice and simple, classic and refined.

anthropologie.com

Interior Design, Chic And Rustic Furniture From Anthropologie. Here's a gorgoues bedroom example. The company has a few great bed designs, this one being an antique like canopy. The mirrored dresser I like as well.

anthropologie.com

Interior Design, Chic And Rustic Furniture From Anthropologie. A great rustic claw foot table. You could use it as a dining table or as a large desk. I also have to say that I love everything about how this company merchandises the products in these images. All gorgeous.

anthropologie.com

Interior Design, Chic And Rustic Furniture From Anthropologie. Now for some specific elements. This bed was in the post a few weeks back. It's still one of my favorite pieces of furniture. Hangs from the ceiling. You have to love those big rustic chains.

anthropologie.com

Interior Design, Chic And Rustic Furniture From Anthropologie. Here's basically a modern couch, but a little more rustic with those tufted sides and antique legs. A great example of furniture design that's clean but still with some character.

anthropologie.com

Interior Design, Chic And Rustic Furniture From Anthropologie. Some neutral seating options for your rustic space. A great armchair, stool, and dining chair. I love all three. The armchair is so chic and comfortable. And that stool in the middle has such a great shape. The bronze dining chair is classic.

anthropologie.com

Interior Design, Chic And Rustic Furniture From Anthropologie. And lastly some more colorful options. You don't have to be completely neutral to go rustic. All three of these are more than capable of holding the theme. I particularly love that old patio chair on the right. Such a great color and such a mysterious shape.