Author: Editor

Categories
Fashion

STILL, NOPE!

WHY? 

There is no fun in posting the pictures. What was once sharing experiences has turned into narcissism and greed. A digital feel good pill for those desiring “Z Level” fame. Perhaps it is because I had a life and travelled before the platform existed. Showing  “I am living a great fake life” borders on insane. Carefully curated pictures demonstrating fake joy reminds of the 1970’s sitcom “Brady Bunch”. During my college days people like this were called “MGM”. Meaning, they were fake.

My problem, I hate curating perfect experiences.  I am a what you see is what you get character, loving faults. On Instagram being yourself means a filter, photoshop, and rehearsing.

Pills 

Instagram has become a place of Prozac Reality. I cringe at some of poses and postings. The extremes people will do to get attention. A space to give those with no talent, appeal, experience, a chance to find popularity. The past two weeks, there were 3 Instagram Influencer scandals. I looked over the accounts of the three “None Appealing Fame Seekers”.

Lost on me!  If I saw any of them on the street I would not look twice. How and why they have thousands of followers escapes me. Most certainly a click farm service in Thailand has their credit card details. Just Saying! Sadly, one of the above Influencer scandal will involve jail time for “Glaming it Up” with a fake credit card. 

Still have not returned to the site, I check it, like a few pictures by friends.   During a campaign I asked my friends to like an images. But for most I am happy to stay off. Life is too short trying to be a full time Carol Brady. Sharing was once fun but evolved into silly, tragic, exhausting, and horrific.

Black and Paper stopped placing content on Instagram. This article was triggered by the site of an “Influencer” who photoshops pictures menus 8 kilos.

Categories
Fashion

Bonjour Paris

info@imaxtree.com

Black and Paper countdown to Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture starting June 30th. The City of Lights is our destination to the fashion week of fashion weeks. Couture is the ultimate in craftsmanship. One of a kind looks created by designers to showcase their skills as technique masters. 

An understatement would be the word “Thrilled”. The adjective “Excited” comes in second. This came about because of an email located in our Junk File. The only option available,  “yes”, feeling like the lead character Maggie Prescott from the 1957 film “Funny Face”. We may break out singing a Gershwin Song, “S Wonderful”.

Stay Tuned for all the coverage. 

Categories
Fashion

LV Collection

Not Sure But,,,, 

As Paris Fashion Week Men continues, labels have been affected by the Let’s See What Works” era. Many are going in new directions. What to make of Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton? My first impression was the Three Stooges short “Slippery Silks” from 1936. Moe, Larry, and Curly inherit a dress shop. The guys are really furniture makers and carpenters. The Stooges put on a fashion show with models wearing designs resembling furniture pieces. I laughed so hard as a kid watching this on television reruns.. Now, I am not a child.

The June 2019 collection from LV Menswear felt like an Ikea collaboration. Yes, the location was made for modern media, a square in Paris. But going over the looks, HUH? Gender free, skirts, structures on the body, rain boots, was there a sale at a local flea market? I had a feeling of discomfort thinking about wearing many looks. The kite or lamp or table over the shoulder came across as a bit over the top. How one wear this without feeling a bit ridiculous is beyond me. 

The Louis Vuitton menswear client is a first stage luxury buyer. He wants to show-off his money with the giant LV logo plastered on everything worn. In the Social Media Age this is acceptable wealth display behavior. The #LV attracts a lot of “likes” on Instagram.

Don’t Hate

Personally, I would not buy a single piece from the runway. But Virgil is savvy, established. The saying goes, “Don’t Hate! Appreciate! One cannot guilt the brand or designer for going after the market. Asia is fueling fashion’s growth. LV is a business eyeing big profits. As fashion decides to push boundaries, reject many social conventions, the balancing act is a fine one. Success, ridicule, losing touch, or irrelavance can pop out of the one hat.

Categories
Fashion

Milan Fashion Week Men Part 2

  • Kiton  
  • Spyder 
  • David Catalan 
  • Hot Face
  • Prada 
  • Tod’s
  • A late night view of Milan 
  • Oh My

Images by Canon Camera SX740 HS

Stay Tuned for more detailed reports

Categories
Fashion

Milan Fashion Week Men Part 1

Black and Paper coverage from the Italian Fashion Capital.  

Images by CanonSX740 Sponsored by #Canondeu

  • Starting My Day on the Tram 
  • Caruso 
  • Caruso 
  • Kitten 
  • Missoni 
  • Santoni 
  • Eleventy 
  • Giuseppe Zanotti 
  • Numero 00
  • Milan Roof Top 
  • Canali 
  • Brioni 
  • Church’s 
  • The Manzoni 
  • Transport Milan Style 
  • Milan Moda Graduate 
  • Models on the Street
  • Massimo Alba 
  • Milan Roof Top 

Stay Tuned for more

Categories
Fashion

Less BUT More

I viewed the last Fratelli Rosetti collection at Milan Fashion Week. The shoemakers also had a nice Spring collection with outstanding woven technics. 

From Milan 

Additionally, the luxury label an established luxury footwear brand goes decorative with the Brera Cult Project Collection. All 13 exotic bright fabric shoes have been inspired by landscapes.  The first Brera Loafer from the Milan was introduced in 1968, named after the Milanese artist neighbourhood.  

Mens and women’s looks available in limited editions.

As I have said before, Fratelli as a brand is not as well known as others. This does not mean less quality or pizazz. Every Fashion Week I look forward to checking out the looks.  I leave the presentation wanting a pair. In my book, This is a good sign. 

The shoes are shaped in a more classic and practical way.   



Categories
Cinema Fashion

The #13

For some 13 is a number representing bad luck.  For us, this number represents success.  We were placed on 13 Best Dressed List from the Cannes Film Festival Fashion Reports.  For our first job and collaboration, we are thrilled. 

Categories
Book Review

On Cityscape Interaction

Richard J. Williams was born in Washington DC in 1967, but grew up in Manchester, UK.  Mr. Williams has lived in London, Oxford, Madrid, and Edinburgh.

Since 2000 he has been the Head of History of Art, and Professor of Contemporary Visual Cultures at Edinburgh College of Art. His teaching and research explores the visualisation of the city, through case studies in the USA, Brazil, and the UK. 


The book “Why Cities Look the Way They Do” is the story of dramatic but unforeseen urban sights: how financial capital spawns empty towering skyscrapers and hollowed-out ghettoes; how the zoning of once-illicit sexual practices in marginal areas of the city results in the reinvention of culturally vibrant gay villages; how abandoned factories have been repurposed as creative hubs in a precarious postindustrial economy. It’s also the story of how popular urban clichés and the fictional portrayal of cities powerfully shape the way we read and see the bricks, concrete and glass that surround us.

Listen to the exclusive interview by Steve Yates 

The book  “Why Cities Look The Way They Do” is available at Bookstores and Amazon.

Categories
Fashion

Styling Cannes

The first chance for a styling to came to us via Lea Mornar. The Berlin based actress was preparing the ultimate film festival, Cannes. The South of France takes it up 4 notches in Spring. The entire film world descends on the Rivera for fun, sun, and the Red Carpet. 

The Look

The mission undertaken, get Ms. Mornar noticed both on and off the carpet. Starting with the daywear we needed a complete style representing casual, elegant, and professional for the 10 days. Taking meetings or a stroll on the promenade, visual character had to speak for itself. Italian luxury brand Cividini supplied key looks perfect for La Croisette. Light, rich fabrics that breezy with designs that are sophisticated. We wanted people to notice the details. The striped suit and white blouse became her signature look immediately. Fellow attendees responded immediately to the looks commenting, “the best dressed” to “loving the style”.

May 19th 2019 @ Cannes Film Festival © Huw Jennings 2019

Accessories, easy, Spring on the Mediterranean means, sunglasses. Not just one would do but a selection. Having a cafe at a meeting industry spot or interviewing on a yacht, the perfect pair of specs. Sunglasses can convey the dramatic, color, or hip. The brands used: Izipizi and Etnia Barcelona.

The Walk 

The Cannes Red Carpet walk can make a career. As one of the Big 3 Red Carpet Events, an image goes around the world in a matter of seconds. Photographers line both sides and above the walk to the Palais. The competition is fierce. A Hadid in the rear or standing beside a Dior Couture. The dress has to impress. The walker has 2 minutes. Given this level of importance, I enlisted some help.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxm8jUBI58N/
Patrick Pham 

I called Mephistopheles Productions. The studio collaborates with different Couture Brands in Paris. Feathers, embroidery, and flowing sheer gowns, materials of spectacles.

The design credentials of Patrick Pham and Ziad Nakad served Lea well. The flash and cameras clicked. We have made several global best dressed lists.

Categories
Technology

Affordable Listening

Skullcandy Ink’d Wireless Bluetooth Headphones

The first thing you notice about these Skullcandy Ink’d wireless Bluetooth headphones is how light they are. Initially this can give the impression of them being cheap and disposable. But you will soon find that the opposite is true and the design grows on you. They are a flexible collar-style fit and extremely comfortable. What’s more, after a short while you barely feel that you are wearing them. This makes it easy to go about your daily duties, at work or jogging in the park, with ease. The slim low-profile design means not attracting attention. They easily blend in to whatever you are wearing.  

As for the quality, Skullcandy’s Ink’d is a consistently decent sound quality that compliments its already comfortable design fit. For one, it avoids the treble and bass push you get from many contemporary headphones so has a balanced decent clarity sound in the midrange. The drawback on reduction in bass means these aren’t going to be the greatest headphones for every type of music. However, it still competes well against other neckband-style Bluetooth headphones on offer. 

It also functions as a headset for making and receiving cellphone calls with an instant pause on the music as notification. The integrated remote is on the left side of the neckband and the controls are large and easy to operate by touch. When fully charged, the battery life is somewhere around seven hours which is pretty good. Perhaps the only drawback is that it’s missing extra features like magnetized buds and there’s also no way to adjust the cord lengths. Overall though, better than it looks and definitely competitive in its price range. 

By Steven Yates