SS06 Fashion Don't: Bling Bling

I have been brainstorming for ages of what to write as a fashion "don't". The problem with living in London is that everyone is so well dressed I can't get inspired by people in the streets. Then finally it hit me, I HATE bling!

Bling is something I have hated every since well, forever. For those who aren't completely sure what bling is, it's basically draping yourself in huge, obnonxious, overbearing jewelry. Bling is pretty much an essential in the culture of hip hip. The whole trend of hip hop was brought to a high a few years ago when performers thought it was just oh-so-attractive to wear eye-catching jewelry, whether male or female. And of course, since singers decided it was cool to wear bling, their fans thought it might be cool to imitate them too. This fugly fashion of bling also extends to styles such as wearing sportswear with bling jewelry and encrusting diamonds onto all your accessories etc.

Yuck yuck yuck! I esp hated those huge gold necklaces with the dollar sign. Talk about poor taste.

Now in 2006, we are all about the sophistication, new minimalism and quality luxuries. So unless you're a serious hip-hopper, here's the message just in case you still don't get it: Stop wearing bling!

tokodoki for Lesportsac

Ever since LAMB collaborated with LeSportsac, we have taken an interest in their special collections each season. LeSportsac makes some of the most practical bags -I love how I can squish the my weightless LAMB hobo bag into my suitcase when traveling. For Spring 06, LeSportsac once again collaborates with outside artists and presents tokodoki for LeSportsac. When I first saw the designs, I was like woah, this is so Marukami for Louis Vuitton. But after looking through the site properly, I think it's fair to say this collection is not a total copy of LV.

tokodoki (which means 'sometimes') is a new brand by Italian artist Simone Legno and his partners, Pooneh Mohajer Arnold and Ivan Arnold. I totally expected at least one of the artists to be Japanese, but it seems that they are only 'inspired' by the Japanese culture. One praise I can sing about this collection is that they did make an effort to make the bags relatively Japanese and not some sorry crossover between American and Japanese -you can tell because the shapes of bags are all very Japanese. By this I mean if you walk on the streets of Japan, you'll see people holding bags of similar shapes instead of other more Westernised shapes such as hobos.

To be honest, I generally can't take LeSportsac's overly color & little pictures-bombarded prints on big bags. It just feels tacky to carry a huge childish-looking bag around. The little cosmetic pouches on the other hand can be considered as cute. The other thing I don't like about the bags are the color chains. I mean, the chains work for some of the designs but not so much for others. Anyways, here are a few designs from the tokodoki collection:
This is my favourite bag in the tokodoki print. The bag is small enough for the color prints not to be tacky., the chains def work here and the shape is quite cute!
I like the design of this bag, esp the contrast between the black fabric and the color zippers. The only thing is the shape doesn't seem all that practical.

Oooh, this thing is sooo adorable! I just have no idea what you use it for......

This tote bag is extremely practical. LeSportsac bags in general are pretty sturdy so this bag will be great for carrying stuff like school books. The black makes it so easy to match with outfits, but that green chain thingy has got to go!

Ahh yes, this collection of bags also comes with these little thingys calles Qees. These ones are the cheap US$18 ones.

And this one is the shockingly US$150 8 Inch tokodoki Qee! Unless you're a super fan, I don't know who else will pay for it.

Blackwell's 46th Annual Worst Dressed Women List

Blackwell's annual Worst Dressed List is out! Hmm, I must say I don't completely agree with it. Going through the list......

1. Britney Spears

To the public, 2005 was a seriously fashion-disaster year for Britney. Her clothes seem to get uglier and more tasteless each month. In her defense though, the poor girl married the so-not-cool Kevin F., put a halt on her career and had a baby, so she probably had other more important things to think of. Let's hope she gets her act together this year! (And let's be honest, she was never the best-dressed girl anyways.)

2. Mary Kate Olsen So I'm obviously going to defend her. She's 19 and I think the clothes she wears suit her perfectly. And she obviously cares more about personal style than what trends dictate because Balenciagas were the 'it' bags two turns ago and she's still carrying them, and we all know it's not because she can't afford any of the new 'it' bags. She's one star who won't dress the way fashion magazines dictate just to get be a 'trendsetter', (and this makes her a trendsetter herself.)

3. Jessica Simpson I repeat, Eww! I'm sure all her male fans disagree but she needs to stop dressing so slutty, and as Blackwell says, sack her current stylist!

4. Eva Longoria

I'm a bit puzzled by this. You usually only see Eva photos when she's at some kind of big event or party. She's not photographed by the paps that often so I don't understand the basis for declaring her one of the Worst-dressed. From the photos I've seen, she looks pretty fantastic so...ya.

5. Mariah Carey

Obviously a year with Vogue's Andre Leon Talley didn't help much with her sense of style. Here's a little tip: Cover up more skin.

6. Paris Hilton

Umm, I'm a bit biased since I really don't like the LA style and we all know Paris is all about the LA style. One thing worth mentioning though, I think Paris's formal dress style has improved considerably last year. Let's hope for improvements with her casual wear this year.

7. Anne Nicole Smith
She should be fighting with Mariah Carey for the Worst-Dressed Number 1 spot. Yuck yuck and yuck!

8. Shakira
Honestly, who cares how she dresses.

9. Lindsay Lohan

I'm not a Lindsay fan or anything, but I think her outfits last year were well put together. She and her stylist are great at mixing high end fashion with street fashion. Let's face it, we're all so jealous she can afford to change her outfits three times a day and still not run out of 'looks'. And hooray to Lindsay for dressing less slutty and waaay more trendy last year than her previous years. And thank goodness she got rid of the blonde hair.

10. Renee Zellweger
Is it just me or does Renee look weird in most of the dresses she wears? The dresses she chooses are usually pretty stylish but just doesn't seem to look completely fabulous on her. Weird.