StyleLikeU » Girls

Shen Zeng

'Funminitemi Oluwadare — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:55:04 +0000

Like Shen, only children are common in China. However, it is uncommon to possess the acuity of Shen’s eye for what’s next in fashion, especially in the heavily traditional world of Beijing. In short shorts paired with a sheer blouse and polka dot details and a fondness for jeweled tones, Shen was channeling Marc Jacobs Spring 2011 a full year before it hit the runway. I love the royal blue suede belt on a leopard romper and the way that a gold and emerald suede cummerbund makes a blouse and basic shorts look sophisticated. On most, I find granny boots overly trendy, but on Shen they look timeless, as is her respect for traditional values. Of her culture’s reverence for unwritten laws she says, “You have to respect your elders,” and certain details require special attention, like “the way you sit and the way you talk and the way you communicate with people.” There is a seductive innocence to Shen in the emerging exploration of her visual expression within the the structure of her time-honored heritage.

If you love Shen, you may also like Alessandra Calabi, Masha Orlov and Sophie Conti.

Elizabeth Sweigart

'Funminitemi Oluwadare — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 14:33:42 +0000

There is something so irresistible about someone like Elizabeth, who does not consider herself a “fashionable” person, and clearly isn’t one in the classic overly conscious sense, but is so naturally stylish. To me, she gives the most subtle clothes a seductive charm in the way that the iconic siblings Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon do. I kept thinking during the shoot that Elizabeth reminds me of the sister’s legendary mother, Jane Birkin, and the beauty of Elizabeth is that she probably doesn’t know who any of these French style royalty are. Elizabeth’s red accents, simple tie of a silk scarf at the neck with a breton shirt, velvet leggings and Repetto dance shoes and the ’50s floral dress with floppy straw hat, white opaque tights, black lace gloves and classic pumps is understated and graceful in that way that suggests that she’s barely even trying. Sometimes it’s just glowing skin, big eyes, bangs, a raspy voice with a hint of Texan and good energy that makes another hippie dress the one you want to own. Elizabeth told me that she had no idea why SLU would want to feature her, which is exactly why we do.

If you love Elizabeth, you may also like Philippa Price, India Salvor Menuez and Emily Bartley.

Jules Kim

'Funminitemi Oluwadare — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:28:58 +0000

Jules has daggers tattooed on both arms from her wrist to her elbow, in honor of her Korean origin and of her “duplicitous” status as a twin, where the ancient royal women hid swords in their cloak sleeves in case of emergency. She is a force to be reckoned with (weapons aside), with her jewelry line that she spends every waking and sleeping moment either working on or thinking about – she “can’t get the ideas out fast enough.” Jules grew up in Virginia, where she first pursued classical music as a flutist, but would be reprimanded when she “breathed or crescendoed” in places that she perceived were correct, instead of where her teacher knew they were supposed to be. Needless to say, Jules beats to her own rhythm and creative calling now, designing collections for people whose passion she can relate to (musical artists included, even though she is not one herself). Much like pulling a jean micro-mini over a lace skirt, her designs are both urban and romantic. For example, little mouse bones as a fringed modern mask or hardened fairy dust as a two-finger ring. She considers her creations to be a connection between herself and her client. I think everyone would benefit from a little, if not a big, communication with Jules and her jewels.

If you like Jules, you might also enjoy Ms. Fitz or Terry T..

Ally McCormack

'Funminitemi Oluwadare — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:45:31 +0000

The entire shoot with Ally, I kept thinking that she is so put together, she could walk onto a period movie set and the crew would think she was part of it. Ally loves to be “dressed up” and has a way of throwing many influences together into one. Her taste for the past is joyfully obsessive and as a result, she has given up fashion design to be a vintage clothing wholesaler/retailer. She can channel anything from the past into modern times. Three genres she is especially enamored with are the mod of Peggy Moffitt, the classic Hollywood of Ginger Rogers, and the folk/rock of Kate Bush. Although she says, with total conviction, that a new purchase can change her color palette and send her into a different decade at any time. Ally is a little Madeline with her school girl kilts and hats and ornately satin ribboned flats. She also reminds me of Jackie O with 90′s street mixed in, in her neon orange/red shift dress paired with a bright yellow pair of patent Doc Martens. I love this story of Ally’s, it kind of says it all about the innocent spirit that reflects in her style, “my favorite outfit when I was little was a mock turteneck that was yellow and white stripes and I’d wear it with my turquoise bike shorts and I thought it really went well together. I’ve held onto that thing where it comes to combining colors and prints and textures that are different from one another and shouldn’t really go together in the rulebook, and mixing in a non matching way.”

Aki Goto

'Funminitemi Oluwadare — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 02:09:36 +0000

Everything is art and everything is fashion to Aki, it’s all up for grabs whether it ends up as a canvas, dress, or both. Fashion morphs out of her love for and study of art and architecture and aside from the one “fashion-designish” class with Susan Cianciolo (there is nothing conventional or predictable about Susan’s design classes), Aki seems to have no need to change her studies while evolving as a fashion designer. Her
ingenuity as a couturier is particularly notable in her transformation of the mundane Macy’s shopping bag into something precious and chic. Aki has an appealing innocence about how she dresses, I love how legitimately confused she was when I asked her what designers she looks for when shopping, because she literally never thinks about it.

Don the Verb

'Funminitemi Oluwadare — Mon, 18 May 2009 23:56:51 +0000

Don the Verb from Stylelikeu on Vimeo.

“To Don”, the owner of the boutique, Don the Verb on the Lower East Side, Yana Landsaat explains, is middle english for “to dress”, to put on and to wrap oneself in. From the first time I stepped into Yana’s world on Delancey, the store has been one of my go to’s when I feel the need for a new cloak, bauble or to disappear into pure visual inspiration. The interior design of the shop, designed by Yana’s husband Machiel, is abundant in raw charm. Ultra textured, rich, dark and warm, it is the perfect backdrop to Yana’s impeccable taste for vintage that screams extraordinary and always modern.

For any more detail related to the boutique, Yana or Machiel, check out Don the Verb
To see Yana Landsaat and Hanna Astrom’s collection of ready-to-wear check out Don the Verb The Collection

Jen Remark

'Funminitemi Oluwadare — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:02:22 +0000

Jen turns a scrap of sequined fabric off the floor into a Chanel hot pant look off the runway. And that’s just the beginning. With one flip of a collar, she transforms a Goodwill dress into Balenciaga and a classic Laura Ashley into something cutting edge. Her style is a playful throwback to everyone’s favorite Nickelodeon pre-teen on “Clarissa Explains it All”. Covered in nOir’s sequined animal rings and pyramid spiked bangles, Jen is in perfect harmony with the world.