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Lost in Closet: Galia’s Yohji Yamamoto Shirt

Ramona_Canino — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:55:57 +0000

Obsessed with 19th Century French poets, Galia wears white blouses and jackets in the silhouette of Rimbaud and Ingeborg Bachman.

Revisit Galia Loupan’s closet.

Princess Julia

'Funminitemi Oluwadare — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:18:14 +0000

Red feathered pillbox hats and green velvet turbans do not sit in boxes waiting for Easter in Princess Julia’s closet. Typically donned to the max in suits and satin, she says, “I’m the person that doesn’t go out of the house without make up… there isn’t a dressed down moment for me.” The dandy elegance of Quentin Crisp is one of her influences, but Julia was mostly brought up under the spell of David Bowie and Bryan Ferry’s London glam rock movement. “To make an effort dressing is no effort at all,” she says. Early in her teens, Princess Julia was running to Seditionaries and Let It Rock, Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s shops in the 70′s.

A little Joan Crawford meets punk, with her tattoos as accents to peplum jackets and vintage cocktail dresses, Princess Julia is a legendary DJ who enjoys fads, but does not follow them. Suspenders with a red pencil skirt and suede lace ASOS pumps are as trendy as she gets. Unphased by standing out in her Westwood pirate patent mary janes, she considers herself a pioneer in lifestyle as well– between her love for music and writing, and her immersion into the cultural eclecticism of London. “My grandmother was stagey and flamboyant,” says Princess Julia, who feels that old ladies have the best style of all.

If you love Princess Julia you may also like Diane Naegel, Sorcha O’Raghallaigh and Paisley Dalton.

Wandie Kabule

Ramona_Canino — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:30:33 +0000

I’m a secret admirer of the classics, and wish I could look as striking as Wandie does in Marc Jacobs’s understated take on a sweatshirt-as-sweater, vintage Sonia Rykiel trousers and Bally loafers. It would take her extraordinary and exotic good looks to make “clean” so memorable– but how Wandie embodies her frocks and her life has as much to do with being an outsider early on (and learning, quickly, how to be her own person) as it does her bone structure. Born in Zambia only to find herself in Orange County at six years old was a huge culture shock, starting with packaged Lunchables and leading up to finding herself two years ahead of her peers in education – and, thus, two years behind the rest of the kids in her class in age. “Elementary school taught me how to deal with people and how to be my own person. It was hard being teased for being who you are, and for where you are from.”

Comfortable in herself — tailored but not uptight — in an American Apparel tanktop and Opening Ceremony trousers, Wandie finds being alone, even while traveling, a luxury. Autonomy is a constant theme in her life. She produced an independent feature film in the past year that was inspired by the work of British director Mike Leigh and his method of creating characters and a story from the ground up. Wandie’s mom, a great source of strength for her, brought individual fruit cups made up of watermelon, kiwi, and pomegranate to everyone on the set on the first day of filming. Behind her oversized Karen Walker sunglasses and glamorous, very “LA” vintage sundress, Wandie feels that breaking down every day helps her when she’s under extreme stress. Either that, or a trip to Laguna Beach and one of her favorite shops– The African Hut.

If you love Wandie, you may also like Nadia, Sophie Assa and Wamuhu Waweru.

Lost in Closet: Shelly’s Jewelry

Ramona_Canino — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:36:29 +0000

Extremely passionate, Shelly piles on what she loves. Here she wears a collection of rock crystal jewelry by Stephen Dweck on other days it’s designs by Erickson Beamon or Robert Lee Morris.

Revisit Shelly Bromfield’s closet.

Lost in Closet: Oliver & Kira’s Native American, Hippie Aesthetic

Ramona_Canino — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:19:58 +0000

In a Native American headdress and Indian sweater, Kira is a combination of Russian fairy tale and rock ‘n’ roll, making for the perfect counterpart to Oliver’s Syd Barret meets Charles Dickens feel.

Revisit Oliver & Kira’s closet.

Julius Debruhl Lewis

Ramona_Canino — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:49:54 +0000

I have a Bergdorf’s and Saks card, but why should I go there when I have The Salvation Army, Julius says? Looking at him, in chunky tweed trousers, an African print shirt, the snazziest of spectators and his piles of museum-worthy indigenous bangles, cuffs and cocktail rings could send the most conscientious shoppers among us into a major guilt trip. Even Julius’ massive adornments, “the bigger the better’” he feels, are bought for an obscenely thrifty amount. “I can make a gunny sack look like the Taj Mahal if I wanted to,” Julius claims, and this is clear when you witness his American Indian-inspired suede fringed poncho that he made from various found old pieces of clothing, not to mention the accompanying DIY chunks of turquoise and silver.

Part American Indian, Julius’ family history has the overtones of the romance and dramatic beauty that he lives for. A tidal wave in 1900 in Galveston, TX propelled his ancestors to the East coast. His big persona makes Lily Pulitzer pants debonair with a navy double breasted blazer and a white shirt unbuttoned so as to reveal a crystal choker. Radiating good energy, through the rocks he wears on his body and the plethora of authentic collectibles that he lives among, is a calling for Julius. His hyper-artistic sense of dressing is surreal, like an embroidered kimono with ivory bangles to the elbow and antique claws on his fingers. “There’s no bull shit with me,” Julius states. He even admits in this interview that he is a hundred and one years old.

If you love Julius, you may also like Natalie Gibson, Louise Ingalls Sturges and Patrick McDonald.

Lost in Closet: Marcus’ Kimono

Ramona_Canino — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:21:25 +0000

In his Leyla Bigli kimono, Marcus breaks all preconceived rules of how a man should dress.

Revisit Marcus Holmlund’s closet.

Lost in Closet: Robert’s Shirt and Jacket

Ramona_Canino — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:25:36 +0000

Raised by a woman who enforced pressed shirts and vests, Robert has never drifted from the sophisticated look of his style icons, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

Revisit Robert James’ closet.

Lost in Closet: Andrea Mary’s Less is More Aesthetic

Ramona_Canino — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:23:53 +0000

Andrea’s “best painter’s outfit” of A.P.C. jeans and a white tee serves as a simple backdrop to her sexually provocative art.

Revisit Andrea Mary Marshall’s closet.

Sarah Frances Kuhn

Ramona_Canino — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:39:50 +0000

I think we scouted Sarah ten different times. She stands out form the vanilla crowd with her choppy DIY bangs and real Chinese dress from Pearl River. A sponge for the original and the authentic in culture, she was brought up in Nashville (the country music in her), and lived in Jerusalem (the pioneer in her) and Cincinnati (the hippie in her). Former editor at Teen Vogue turned musician, designer, and entrepreneur, she finds her own inspiration by digging down deep, as far away from the insipid as she can get. Rocking a shredded black crocheted dress she found in a flea market in the South of France, she looks to unsung legends; the outlaw country singer-songwriter, legend, and poet Townes Van Zandt; Alan Lewandowki (aka Ayshe, Anita Fix, and The Working Poor, among other stage names) ; Bo Diddley’s guitarists, Lady Bo and the Duchess; and Kate Bush’s divine combination of dance and music– especially the videos from her first album, The Kick Inside.

As a kid, Sarah was a strange mix of dancer and skateboarder, who found herself after college in the front row of shows at London Fashion Week after talking herself into an internship at W Magazine. It was there that she says she was thrown into writing, working on shoots, and covering street style, but, Sarah throws herself into things. It reminds me of her father who became a Rabbi midstream in his life. She dreams up a red flamenco dress and manifests it, like she found a niche designing camera straps — her first foray into designing accessories — and playing guitar, singing, dancing, writing, with a little tambourine in her bands, Open Ocean and Rockit From A Drone. To be willing to be a beginner takes courage and vision, much like Sarah projects in her vintage velvet high waisted suit.

If you love Sarah, you may also like Louise Ingalls Sturges, Maria Elba and Emily Leonard.