Swede Nothings

I have an awesome job right now.

Here's my boss, Amanda Ericsson, dressed up as a panda:

The guy is her boyf (sorry fellas)/bandmate--they're called "Panda Project."

Needless to say, I think she's amazing.

I work remotely (she's in Sweden) so we email. She wrote this to me when I had some questions about the kind of design that Dreamandawake, the company, does. We remake old dresses, and here Amanda breaks down how and why and her really interesting perspective on design:

In general old dresses are a bit too heavy for today’s user and they are covering too much of the body. [So we generally "reduce" them].

What I don’t like with some redesign is that many times it is overdone and too much combinations have been done! The dresses are very beautiful as it is but just need a push in the right direction to be more comfortable for today. I really see no reason to cut and combine too much just for the sake of “redesign” cause this is also a waste of time in a way and a waste in a beauty that is already there….

Maybe it is a bit “Scandinavian design” over this way of thinking….

French seem to like lots of lace and lots of add-on-layers while Swedes like it to be clean and let the shapes and details speak for themselves….

(Here's where it gets really good--LD.)

What I like with the dresses is the feminity inside the fabrics and how they touch the skin and follow movements. It is about comfort.

Also the fact that you may wear nothing underneath (except maybe knickers) make them “sexy“ in their own secret/transparent way (also with heels they become more “fashion” directly).

I also like the way they, combined with sneakers or boots, will make the wearer look dresses but at the same time not over-dressed….

Well that’s just some of my thoughts!

Neat, huh--my first primary-source interview with a designer, here on the blog! Such an interesting perspective on fashion. I think she's right, it is really Scandinavian... as a nerdy designer and an overthinker I tend to also overdo and things can easily get fussy. I appreciate the argument for the value of simplicity and a kind of "honesty" from these existing garments... and I appreciate the opportunity to practice this philosophy! This job is great.

Plus I work from home so I can do it in my underwear.

Dreamandawake's website

Dreamandawake's Tumblr

My "what I'm doing/thinking at Dreamandawake" Tumblr, drm&awk

It's times like this I wish this fucker was a tumblr.

Via Facebook, from some of my dear friends' recent trip to Wisconsin or something.

I secretly don't like the name of this blog. Thinking I'll change it to its (new[ish]) top-level domain: LAURENDDDDD BLOGS. You know. Because of "brand."

EDIT: DONE AND DONE. Consider this post a requiem for "Bomb Squad."

I'm working on a post, btw. Still. Again.

Too long for Twitter, basically.

Abs, Christ imagery.

My favorite activity from last week: watching Smallville on DVD with Jackie and yelling "DUDE HE JUST SUPERMANNED THAT HO" anytime Clark Kent did anything. Anything at all.

Anyway, I'm probably going to write about the upcoming Lady Gaga + Kanye tour soon, so look out for that.

This is Why I'm Smart

"Oh, what am I doing? Oh, you know... just, wearing glasses, thinking about numbers.... smart girl stuff."

I often feel like the consummate math nerd in my studio (I must note, being the consummate math nerd among a group of really right-brained women doesn't take much.) I'm pretty obsessive with my patterning while most of the other girls tend to "drape," or as I like to call it, "oh my god how do you know you're not going to mess up?!?!"

But boy did I feel like a technical genius when I caught myself noting this brilliant equation on one of my patterns today:

18 = 39

Yeah, I have the exquisite technical stylings of, say, an Issey Miyake.

On My Poker Face, and How He Can't Read It

Don't be fooled by my skinny jeans and design school enrollment. I'm not a music snob.

I used to be. In high school I was all "I'm so upset about Elliot Smith's death that all I can do is listen to whatever Pitchfork tells me to! Wah!" But these days, I'm pretty much the antithesis of a music snob. I'm anti-snob. Here's a flowchart that pretty much lays out my taste:

So... that gives you an idea about the taste level and commitment involved here.

The problem: I can't tell whether music is good. I guess I never really could, and I used to just let the Holy Spirit of Indie Rock guide me. But these days, the closest thing I have to a guiding spirit is 106 and Park. (Exception--my DJ friends who throw mixtapes my direction. See below.)

But when I hear music that might have some shot at legitimacy (see: a song that DOESN'T refer to a specific brand of alcohol), I can't tell in the slightest whether it's actually a good thing. In most cases I find the "cool, heard it on All Songs Considered" stuff boring--once one grows accustomed to music that's genetically engineered to be catchy and lovable, it's hard to go back. But occasionally something strikes my fancy, and I get all excited about telling someone about it, because they're tired of hearing me talk about how much I love "Kiss Me Thru The Phone" and maybe they will think I'm cool for liking something with guitars. But the way it plays out, it's like I'm a housecat. All, "LOOK I BROUGHT YOU THIS BECAUSE I KNOW YOU WILL LOVE IT" and whatever music-literate friend is all, "Man, why is there a dead chipmunk on my porch."

So, that's that. I'm all about owning my shit these days, so here's me saying I AM NOT COOL WITH REGARDS TO MUSIC. And I'm fine with it. Just nobody tell my high school friends or they'll stone me to death with wadded-up concert tees (the Fleet Foxes ones hurt extra bad).

This blog post dedicated to Positronic! and The Dreamforce, DJ friends who do their best to give me points of reference for what is cool.

One thing I know is so, so cool? "Special Agent Man" by Gaznevada. FEAST YOUR EARS ON THE ITALO DISCO. I'm going to go listen to that Keri Hilson song we've got on heavy rotation around here.

Also, I totally saw a ghost one time.

I'm really not holding up my end of the "nerd girl" bargain these days. Sure, I have the eyeglasses. Sure, I'm still really obsessive about meaningless stuff. But I'm not smartin' around too much these days.

I've been talking creative work with people a little more than usual recently, and it's making me think about how little I'm thinking. My knitwear project this quarter, Space Bunnies (perhaps you've heard of it?), is driven by the lofty concept of two words that sound funny together, for the most part. There's more behind it, but I can't give you a great reason for why I chose any of it: Electronic music. Sexiness. Retrofuturism (I give up! You win, retrofuturism, you are too awesome).

A Space Bunny?

I think my work as a trend forecaster has led in part to this. "Seeing the future" can kind of be done in three ways. At one end you have "logick out the present..." and you get a really good look at the present, for the most part. At the other end is "be a genius and logick out the present," and you have the most likely prediction of the future. (You have to be a fucking genius to do this. It's why my old boss was able to afford a personal chef.) And in the middle you have the territory of fairy dust and going with your gut. Some call it "guessing"--the benefit of this tactic is that you have the chance of being right. Most trend forecasters will tell you that going with your gut is totally key, and between the consistent advice from People Who Know What They're Talking About and the instances where it's magically worked for me--I believe in it. So I do it all the time now when I do fashion work. Why sex and space and rabbits? Because I trust myself and the universe, (Because, omg, I am totally psychic), and because seeing the future matters in fashion.

I think being an amazing fashion designer is this ineffable thing because sure, you need the chops to execute brilliance, but I think the things that make great fashion so great are hard to define. As I often insist, I sometimes hate fashion. I am a jaded-ass motherfucker. And yet when I see great work I just melt inside. Magic factor 1: Perfect, brilliant, inspired aesthetics. The perfect composition of a fantastic piece seems like a "you-have-it-or-you-don't" to me. If I've ever managed to achieve it, I've just happened upon it. Don't think this has happened often (ever?).

But there's this other thing that makes lovers of fashion so constantly rabid, which is fashion's relationship to time. Creating fashion that's "of the moment" is that other magic factor. As much as I understand that the overconsumption that's wrapped in with fashion sucks, I can't claim to not understand why we do this so hard and fast and over and over. Hitting the front edge of the evolution of style is fucking gold. This ever-striving towards the threshold of the present is what makes fashion exciting! It's why futurism is bullshit--it's overshooting. And reaching that threshold? That's what's ineffable. I honestly believe that it takes being "psychic". You can get close through observation... we're always told to watch HOW people are styling what already exists to see where the styles naturally want to go. And you can "do your research"--every major cultural event is supposed to blow up on the fashion map, but in my experience, it's a red herring. They said it about that Marie Antoinette film, all we got out of it was some piddly floral fluffiness from Louis Vuitton (I liked it, but it was no revolution). They're ALWAYS saying it about war, or conflict in the middle east, or the economy... and so designers design to it, but it feels dated and costumey... a nod to the recent past. It's the fashion world acknowledging sadly its own lag. But the Great Ones... they are unfettered by lag. They simply design from their wonderful, psychic hearts to create the looks that we've been longing for. The fashion at the tips of our tongues.

So... that's my defense of not thinking about it. I love the shit out of myself, but I'm still not stupid enough to claim that I have The Vision that these designers have. Nonetheless, my antennae are still the brains behind my fashion design. As I was complaining at the beginning of this post, I'm not really smart enough to do it any other way. And sometimes, I'd like to think I get lucky. I mean, I am a little bit psychic.

Portrait of the author as a young mantis.

(See, you feel around and then pray you're right.)

I'm Sorry

I'm feeling much better today. So I have no excuse for more dumping. But PLZZZ how could I resist these! LADY ROBOT SPACE DISCO PERFECT. By Louboutin.Thanks, Snobette. Sorry everyone.