3.25.2010

Fashionably Austin & A Night of MajK with Mychael Knight

Cheryl of Fashionably Austin came to the Art Institute of Austin campus to speak to the Fashion & Retail Management students. If you are not familiar with Fashionably Austin, it's the fashion-forward brainchild of Cheryl and her business partner, . You can find about all the fashion events and happenings in Austin at the website, along with information about local designers, sales, and even watch Cheryl's recent experience at New York Fashion Week. It was wonderful to hear from a fashion insider who has made their dream into their career, all the while living in the beautiful city of Austin.


In other news...

Mychael Knight, who you may know from Project Runway: Season Three, is coming to Austin!

Mychael Knight is visiting the Art Institute of Austin campus on April 14th, and will be the school's first Artist in Residence.

Mychael Knight got his start in fashion as a stylist for the music industry, and was voted the Fan Favorite of the third season of Project Runway and placed fourth overall.

Since his stint on the show, Knight has been awfully busy: he has since designed a line of custom tees for Starbucks, introduced a lingerie line for men and women (Kitty & Dick), created a unisex fragrance (MajK), and on the 17th, he debuted his Fall/Winter 2010 line at the Charleston Fashion Week in South Carolina.

At The Art Institute of Austin's Night of MajK, attendees will enjoy:
  • the Austin debut of Mychael Knight's Fall/Winter '10 line "Carte Blanche".

  • a fashion presentation and Q&A with Mychael Knight.

  • a gallery show inspired by Mr. Knight.

  • hors d'oeuvres by the International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Austin.
To learn more information and RSVP to the event, go here.

3.23.2010

SXSW 2010 Adventures




I've been putting off writing this post because I am in the midst of finals...but I have something else I want to post, and I don't want to get out-of-order on anything.


My South By Southwest experience this years was amazing, to say the least.


From volunteering (hospitality--feeding volunteers) to walking around town and actually going to shows...I had a blast.


After my first day of volunteering.

Last Wednesday I wrote about local band Brazos, and I was lucky enough to get in a few more events and shows.


On Thursday, I went to the American Apparel SXSW Flea Market with my friend Megan.
Megan, if you'll remember, might as well be my partner-in-crime: we've gotten lost together, have shopped vintage together, and have now skipped class together (we were caught up in the class, but still).

This time around, we also met boys from Jersey...


We talked about their hair.
At the Flea Market, I ended up buying a red swimsuit top and a blue "Legalize America Now." tee for 12 bucks. Megan found a dress, a duffel bag, and a shirt for less than $50.


The Flea Market was held in a tent outside the Mexican Cultural Center (600 River Street).


With Megan later that night.
On Friday, I heard a drive-by snippet of Cheap Trick(not pictured--we only saw them because we were stuck in traffic), locals Meggan Carney & the Flying Trapeze, saw a set at Valhalla with Japanese rockers Geeks, heard the only Miike Snow song I know and ran into the Mohawk just to catch the band do the song, and saw Ra Ra Riot for the second time (they opened for Death Cab For Cutie last May).


On Saturday night, I caught the end of Justin Townes Earl (not pictured; ridiculously dirty lyrics), learned She&Him didn't get a sound check, went back to Valhalla to see the London-based Stricken City, the Virginian band Gifts From Enola, and rounded the evening out with Boston's Caspian.



I can't even begin to express the craziness of SXSW2010, but if you ever get a chance to attend, you should. Next year, I'll have a Platinum Badge and I'll be 21 (less than a month--April 21st!), so I'm already planning my schedule accordingly.


Thanks to SXSW for the YouTube clip.

3.17.2010

Austin Street Style : Amber & Brazos at the Mohawk

I took a photo of Amber last year,
right before she was leaving school for SXSW 2009.


At the Art Institute of Austin campus on Thursday.


This year I volunteered enough hours to get a SXSW music pass, so expect more photos from SXSW2010 throughout the week.


Until then, enjoy this 30-second clip of the band Brazos. They are a band from Austin, and I saw them at the Mohawk (912 Red River) last night. Really dug their sound and then today I found the band was featured in the March Music issue of Tribeza. I've been carrying around the issue in my bag all week after I picked it up at Urban Outfitters on the Drag. I spoke with the lead singer, Martin Crane, just as they were packing up after their set. Set list included the songs Kid, The Observer (poem by Adrienne Rich), Day Glo, We Understand Each Other, and Tell. The clip is of "Tell".





If you missed the show at the Mohawk, they're also playing around town through the 20th. Check out their myspace for more details.

I may have taken this photo during the Brazos sound check.
The show was outside and I was worried the rain would cancel it.
Here's what I wore:
Dress: 'Whipped Cream' from Cream Vintage West Campus
Bag: Betseyville by Betsey Johnson
Leggings: Wet Seal

Next week I'm going to be tackling finals at school, so things are fairly hectic as the moment. I'm really looking forward for all the events this week due to South By to be my escape for the week.
Cheers!

3.08.2010

An Education: review of the memoir by Lynn Barber.

Disclaimer: I've never written a book review before.
In fact, book reviews are usually the section of the magazine or newspaper that I skip while reading. I don't like people telling me what to read, so reviews are dreadfully boring. Same with book clubs. Generally, I'm the person that goes to the library and pulls out books from the shelves because of their covers. I read the flap blurb, and then I decide whether or not to check it out.

So why am I reviewing a book? Because after reviewing the film An Education , something amazing happened. The publicist for the publishing company of the memoir, from which the film was based and took its name, found my review, and asked me if I would like to do a follow-up review of the book. Needless to say, I have been overjoyed that Atlas & Co. liked my post about the film. Ever since I received the book, it has been burning a hole in my purse. I finally finished Lynn Barber's memoir An Education last Friday night.

Barber, a British journalist who began her career at Penthouse, starts out by explaining her upbringing: she notes that the Barber family has no ancestors to brag about, and that she has "survived" since her birth in 1944. Barber also confides that she is not a slave to facts, or very kind to her elderly parents. Barber's father served in World War II, and became a lawyer upon his return. Barber refers to him as "socially untamed." Her "beta brained" mother taught her the art of elocution (proper accent), as to not have any other accent be detrimental to her future. Barber practices elocution to live up to the expectations of her folks until another girl becomes her mother's prized pupil. Her parents stress schooling as her only way up in life, and thus stressed perfection. This becomes important as she grows older and wants to read English at Oxford until a man, Simon, steps into her life.

Barber admits that "My life might have turned out differently if I had just said no." While only 26-pages of the book are dedicated to what the film covered, the second chapter sets the tone for the rest of the novel. Her father, who has a reputation for grilling Barber's dates, lets 16-year-old Barber go on a date with Simon, who "said he was twenty-seven, but probably in his late thirties." Needless to say, Simon wins her parents over with his charm. This charm takes Barber on a fantastical ride for the next two years: dinners, theatres, concerts, trips to Paris. Barber learns to never ask about what Simon does with his property business, which includes a fellow by the name of Danny and his delightful girlfriend Helen. Barber learns that Simon and Danny are, more or less, disciples of the infamous Peter Rachman. Barber's parents, who she does not leave unscathed throughout the novel, push her towards Simon: why go to Oxford when you can have a husband? Alas, Simon is not what he seems and after proposing marriage, his sham begins to spiral, leaving Barber's innocence forever lost.

The rest of the book follows her mantra that other people are ultimately unknowable, and she puts this to work in her journalism career. Barber first starts at Penthouse, then Sunday Express, Independent on Sunday, Vanity Fair, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, and The Observer. Reading views on feminism from someone that lived and wrote during the feminist movement, although with a twinge of sadness, were insightful and hilarious. I was surprised to find out that Barber authored the wildly successful sex-manual How To Improve Your Man In Bed (and forgot to ask for rights to the royalties).

Barber also tells the story of how she met her husband, David Cardiff, and how, through him, she learns the true value of family. David, who was raised through boarding schools as a child, is more sentimental than Barber, and lessens her cynical views on life. Together, Barber and David raise two daughters and are husband-and-wife until David's death. Reading about David's illness (myelofibrosis, a bone marrow disorder) was a little hard to stomach, but moving, as the short autobiography changes tone. You see Barber's human side, made up of uncertainty and anxiousness, come through.

Memoirs are the sort of books that take me days to read, as they're personal vignettes of someone's life. I like to think of them as the only way I will ever get to know the author, so I try to drag them out, so they are not as quick of a read. Sometimes I found this particular memoir evoked personal emotions; I laughed, I cried, I became angry at a slew of characters and then found myself cheering them on. In the final pages, when Barber makes a post-mortem accusation of infidelity to David, I was in awe of how Barber threaded the pieces together back to Simon, the man who gave her the education that led her to writing the memoir in the first place.

Straight-forward and candid, An Education is a lovely breeze from across the pond, and reminded me of listening to my grandmothers gossip about what they should have done and, more importantly, what they did.

An Education
by Lynn Barber
184 pages, Atlas & Co, $13.oo (paperback)

3.04.2010

Austin Street Style & Wish Swimwear Fashion Show.

Myself, Dee, and Megan!

Last night was the Wish Ut Swimwear Collection Fashion Show at the Quarters' Nueces House. I went with my friends Megan and Dee.

Fun Tid-Bits: Megan is the former president of the Art Institue of Austin Fashion Club, Ai Style, while Dee is the current president (I'm the secretary).

I share all of my classes with these ladies this quarter, and over the past few months we've shared many adventures in Austin. Nothing compares to the unexpected undertaking we had last night, however: we had no real clue as to where we were going for the show. We knew where Nueces and 23rd Street were, but we didn't know where this 'house' was.


We got lost, parked, wandered around, and Megan bravely asked other people how to get there.

Waiting as Megan asked for directions.

Upon our arrival to the pool at the Nueces House, we found out the show wasn't starting for another 40 minutes (this is what happens when you make plans via Facebook). Dee, Megan, and I decided to go back to the Saxbys Coffee (2222 Rio Grande), where Megan had first stopped for directions (we got our final directions from boys at a rental agency).

At Saxbys Coffee.D & M walking back to the Quarters' Nueces House.

The show started at 9 o'clock, and let me tell you...I have never been so excited for a new swimsuit in my life. I have eight years of swim-team under my belt and one day I would like to design swimwear, so seeing a live swimwear collection prance before my eyes was the ultimate Wednesday night. Plus, it's always nice to go to other fashion shows in order to gain inspiration for future shows. Although it was a bit chilly out, the models did a swell job. I have to give them props, as they looked as if the temps did not bother them. Here are the photos I took:



Which swimwear look is your fave?

3.02.2010

Rare Magazine March Release Party.

Join the Rare Magazine staff at the Mohawk for live music and drinks in honor of the March Music Issue!
All content, unless written otherwise, is property of Chelsea Hands.
Use of author's personal photos is strictly forbidden.