Interviewing Famous People: Erin Barr

I went to Erin Barr's Spring 2013 presentation in September of this past year, and that was my first encounter with the designer's work. I had never heard of her, but I loved what I saw. I could tell that she was going places. Surely enough, Fall 2013 saw her transitioning to the runway, and she debuted her most recent collection at Chelsea Piers. That's like, a really big deal. The designer was kind enough to respond to a few questions of mine through email, so that's what you'll find below. 

Erin Barr is from Wisconsin, and originally studied to work in hair and makeup, graduating from the Aveda Institute. After working for a few years in the beauty business (quite successfully), she realized that fashion was her calling and moved to London for a year to attend Central Saint Martin's (the alma mater of Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Zac Posen, Phoebe Philo, and a bajillion more extremely well-known fashion designers), and then came back to New York City to finish up her schooling at Parson's New School for Design. She then went on to intern at Alexander Wang and Cushnie et Ochs, and finally in the fall of 2011, she opened her own eponymous line and produced her first collection for Spring 2012. 

[Photos courtesy of MAO PR, from the designer's Fall 2012 collection.]

How did growing up in Wisconsin as opposed to a major city (like New York City) mold your ideas and conceptions of beauty and fashion? 

I think it's really all relative to where you are when it comes to fashion. I know when I go home, I probably dress a bit more practical. For example, there are times in the winter there when warmth trumps style! But you can still make it look cool and chic. In New York, I think fashion is for one much more accessible, and you can get a little more creative, a little crazier maybe!

What inspired you to initially pursue a career in hair and make-up? 

Fashion design as a career wasn't in my vocabulary growing up. For me doing hair and makeup was a step toward finding what I really wanted to do in life. I'm so happy that I have that background now, because it really helps to imagine and communicate an entire look or feel.

Did you always have a passion for clothing, or was it sparked by your high-profile work in New York City in salons and on photo shoots? 

I definitely always had a passion for clothing and design. I used to go to the Border's bookstore when I was in High School and just stock up on magazines. I would tear out everything I was inspired by, and I would keep the tear sheets in a binder. That was my thing.
 

Would you say that the decision to go to Central Saint Martins was life-changing? Did the experience reshape your future, or do you think you would have ended up designing even if you hadn't moved to London? 

For me, moving to London and attending CSM was the best experience and choice I've made. It's such a great school, and it really opened my mind up to the creative possibilities. The fact that there should be no limits, yet you should be able to have restraint as well. If I hadn't gone to London I like to think that I would still have ended up designing. I know I would definitely be making art, though. I have to, it's in my blood.

What was it like to intern at some of the most cutting edge and of-the-moment design houses? 

Really inspiring! I learned so much from working with Alexander Wang and at Cushnie et Ochs.

How did you start your own brand? Was it a huge leap from working for other people? 

I had been thinking about starting my own brand for some time, and then the timing just felt right. It was a challenge in the beginning, but it was the challenge that was exciting.

How would you describe your vision for your line? 

Tomboy-Sexy with a Minimalist twist.

Are there any other careers you would like to explore in the future? 

Motherhood. Artistic Collaborations. 

What would you say are the pros and cons of being a fashion designer? 

It's great being able to work in a creative environment. But you do a lot of running around from factory to office, to fabric/trim stores, to meetings, and then back again. It's never a sit still at your desk kind of day. 

Do you have any advice for someone looking to work in the fashion or beauty industries? 

I think it's very important to get experience in any way. Don't limit yourself to only the big brands, either. There is so much to learn working with a smaller company.
 

Is there anything else you would like to add? 

Well...1. Follow your dreams. and 2. Thank you for the great interview!

***

I strongly suggest checking out the rest of her collections (two of which I've got right here on my blog) and perusing her website. This lady is a rising star, so we must keep our eyes wide open lest we miss the moment when she becomes one of the revered designers on that list of alumni. 

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Ballet Meets Russian Philosophy (Clover Canyon Fall 2013)

It would seem that excess and maximalism is a trend of sorts for Fall 2013. It was a huge part of the alice + olivia collection, and when I saw the Clover Canyon show two days later, there it was in all its bedazzled glory yet again. 

The show notes gave an ample picture of what the creative team at Clover Canyon was aiming for (and achieved). Their inspiration this season was Russia, calling on its "extreme luxury...extreme passion" and "radical, maximal aesthetics." You'll see in a minute how accurate all of this is. Some of the models were attired in pointe shoes--heavily bejeweled, of course--and went up on pointe every few minutes for the entire hour-long presentation. I would classify that as extreme passion. Exhibiting dedication wasn't exactly the point (no pun intended) of including the ballerina-models. Clover Canyon didn't just use Russia as an excuse to throw gems on everything they saw, they used it as a reference point for the collection by gathering inspiration from the "opulence of The Hermitage" and the Constructivism movement that began in Russia around the time of the Bolshevik Revolution and the end of World War I. Everything from the grace of the Russian ballerinas to the Siberian plains was used in this collection. 

What really struck me, though, were the questions posed at the end of the show notes. These were ideas that had not been brought up with the alice + olivia collection, but touched upon a different concept entirely: "Can there ever be too much beauty? Or too much love?"

I'd give you a whole long answer if I could, but I think that's one I'd have to mull over for quite some time. Discuss it amongst yourselves (comments section, anybody?). Let's reconvene in T minus 54 hours and share our findings. (Side note: I just understood the whole T minus thing; T is the variable, standing for 'time.' This is exciting.) 

[Photos (and the special surprise at the end) by me.]

I don't think there's anything more excessive than bedazzled pointe shoes. 

One thing's for sure: there can never be too much texture. 

The crazy thing is that this pattern that looks like a chandelier hanging from her body is actually just printed on the dress! Not a real chandelier! My mom was a little shocked by this news. 

The sweatshirt says "Clover Canyon" in Russian. 

And I'd wear those pants any day.

You'd think the (faux) fur would be the luxurious part of this ensemble. But the gold embroidering on the collar and the print of the jacket are competing with it in the best way possible.

The corner of ballerinas! 

Clover Canyon treats prints as neutrals.

She was so cute that I couldn't not include her here. 

This is probably the most awkward picture I have ever taken.

I guess I'm not the only one that likes dressing like a box.

Those are some good Friday night disco jammin' pants. And everybody needs a pair of decent Friday night disco jammin' pants. 

Short dresses with long sleeves are really, really elegant. I need to get me one o' those. 

The special surprise at the end of which I spoke! She was dancing so I took a million pictures and I later discovered that it looked like she was actually dancing in my photos --> GIF is made. 

It took me long enough to get all of my NYFW stuff covered (it ended over a month ago). Thankfully, meaning THANK THE FUQIN HOLY BEJEEZUS, I am on spring break now and I have about ten days of freedom. Five of these days include going to Harry Potter world. Basically all my dreams are coming true. I really am going back to Hogwarts. 

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Warby Parker + My Face

I was one of those weird kids that always wanted glasses when I was little. I wanted glasses and braces because someone in a book I'd read had them, and I apparently admired this character, and thus I begged my mother to grant me the opportunity to, essentially, be ridiculed by my peers. Luckily, I've never had to get glasses (20-20 vision, y'all), but I've always wondered what I would look like if I did wear them. The answer is: very different. My mother tells me I look like an intellectual when I put on glasses, which leads me to assume that she thinks I don't usually look like an intellectual. Thanks, mom. 

Enter Warby Parker. No, that is not a stage direction. (Buhdum, chh.) For those of you that are unaware of what Warby Parker means, it is the name of a glasses company that so generously offered to do a collaboration with me. Now, this is generally a fairly autonomous site in that I write things by myself for this blog (with the occasional article on the Huffington Post or elsewhere), so it took a lot of thought and contemplation and internal discussion to reach the conclusion that collaborating with these folks would be a great thing to do. 

There were a few things that definitely helped weigh the scales in Warby Parker's favor. The first was that Lola's glasses are from them, and presumably the rest of her family's are as well. The second thing is that their frames rock. Glasses are an accessory, and ones that go on your face, a.k.a. the vehicle for your thoughts when they are manifested verbally, so I'd say choosing the right glasses is one of the most important decisions you have to make in your lifetime. If you select the wrong ones, your brain and the rest of your body are automatically judged on par with your frames. Conversely, if you choose fantastic ones, there's suddenly something about you that people are drawn to. You may not be saying anything different, but it's those glasses, man. Those of us with only two eyes have to rely more on our hair, I think, which is highly unfortunate for me because I have no patience with my hair. I kind of dread washing it because I know that it's just going to do whatever it wants and often it is angry and does not do good things. Except for when it makes itself into very nice, beauty-pageant curls as you can see below. But I digress. 

The third thing that convinced me that Warby Parker is A-OK is that whilst perusing their website, I came upon the section that gives a bit of background on the company's name. I was curious to find out what significance it holds, because it's a pretty funky name, and that is coming from someone with a pretty funky name. It turns out that the four guys that created the company are big fans of the American novelist (who also currently holds the occupation of acting as my computer background), poet, jazz-music-digger, lover of love, Zen Buddhist (can you tell that I'm in love him yet? Because I am), and beautiful man Jack Kerouac. It turns out that two characters from some of his earliest works had the names Zagg Parker and Warby Pepper (he came up with the best names. Dean Moriarty? Mardou Fox? He should've had a million children just to give them all great names), so they chose their favorites from each person and came up with Warby Parker. Seeing as I am such an avid fan of monsieur Kerouac (did I mention that he was fluent in French?), it only made sense, based on the mathematically sound transitive property, that I should be an avid fan of Warby Parker. And whaddya know, I guess I am. 

I selected five of my favorite pairs of glasses off their site, took pictures of me wearing them, and now said pictures are here for public consumption. So now, public, consume them! 

[Photos by me.]

Sloan in Rum Cherry
My mom really liked these because she thought the color looked nice. Red is my favorite color in the Whole Wide World, so I couldn't argue with that. Though I will say that I think the bridge is a bit too thick for my eyebrows. Also, the scar on my nose is covered up by them, so I'd' probably choose a different pair were I to need glasses. 

Begley in Greystone

I like the size and shape of these, although my mom thinks I should stay away from round glasses on account of my big squishy cheeks and the roundness of my face. I obviously put a lot of stock into what my mother says (ya hear that, mom?). But I do think these Begleys are quite cute. 

Sinclair in Burgundy Fade

I liked these a bit more than the Begley pair, mostly because the outer corners turn up instead of down, and I've always wanted a pair of cat-eye glasses like the ones that freaky suburban librarians mythically wear. Also, burgundy is a shade of red, so...

Langston in Amber

These were my mom's favorites; she said I looked the most intellectual in these. I can't say I necessarily agree with her. I tend to lean towards more rounded silhouettes, but maybe it's because my secret ambition is to look more like Harry Potter (hey, we have the same birthday, and I've got the scar on my nose which is kind of like Harry's scar) and Allen Ginsberg, or better yet, Harry Potter posing as Allen Ginsberg. 

Percey in Striped Sassafras 

This last pair might be my favorite. They're round, they don't turn down too much at the edges, and the color is not too obtrusive and loud. Also, Percy Weasley! I don't know what my sudden obsession with Harry Potter is (again), but it's hit me full force tonight. I kinda dig it. 

Welp, that's what I'd look like in glasses. You better call me Four Eye-delia.

On second thought, you better not.

Now it's your turn (I feel like I'm Steve on Blues Clues saying that). You can order five pairs of frames for free that you can hold onto for five days before you have to send them back. That way you can try them on in the comfort of your home without having to contend with other people seeing you if you end up looking like a frightening bug! If you're in need of a second pair of eyes, I'd say this is the place to take care of that.

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Can I Have Your Closet: Ramona Petrini

This week's subject is one of my near and dear buddy-pals, Ramona Petrini. We met in ninth grade, but became infinitely better friends when she switched schools this year. She's the Kerouac to my Ginsberg, my literary-and-music-and-film-and-bebopping-around partner in crime, and one of the best writers I've ever met. In addition to all of these wonderful attributes, she's got pretty bangin' personal style. The way she described it in her interview is quite on point, but even from the first day that I saw her in my freshman art class when she was the only soul brave enough to answer the questions our teacher posed about a twig, I thought to myself that she seemed like a really, really cool chick. I also admired her courageousness to wear a sheer black shirt (something I still can't do to this day, even though I've got one hanging pathetically in my closet), and I was immediately intrigued by her very distinctive drawing style, and the way she so expertly employed a fountain pen. All in all, she's a fantastic gal, and I've been meaning to feature her on my blog since the first day we met.

Odelia: How would you describe your style?

Ramona: It would be like a conjoined twin, or triplet, a conjoined twiplet—triplet [laughs] between my mom in the late eighties, early nineties, Françoise Hardy, and what I imagine the women in F. Scott Fitzgerald novels to dress like, except a little bit, I guess—I don't wanna use the word sluttier, but...risqué. [Laughs] Okay there, that's my answer.

Odelia: Who are your fashion icons and who do admire aesthetically?

Ramona: Again, my mom, late eighties, early nineties. Lee Radziwill, she was a Bouvier sister, she was Jackie O's sister, and her mom was always like, “Oh, you're not beautiful, you're too fat,” when in fact she was really not fat at all. They said, “You're not as pretty as your sister,” and everyone was like, “Jackie O's so beautiful!” But Lee Radziwill, she knew how to dress. I saw all these pictures of her apartment, and she's just an effortlessly glamourous and aesthetically wonderful person. And then also my dad.

Odelia: Where are your favorite places to shop?

Ramona: The first one is my favorite because I don't have to pay money for it, and it is my brother's closet where my mom keeps her old clothes from the late eighties and early nineties! [Laughs] And Beacon's Closet and Salvation Army, and occasionally if you go to Urban Outfitters you can find some pretty weird and cool stuff piled in a pile, in their marked down section.

Odelia: If you could own one or more items right now that you don't have, what would it or they be?

Ramona: I suppose this is kind of corny, but I would very much like to own and never will own, the dress from Breakfast at Tiffany's, the Givenchy one with the long—and how it just sorta bunches at the hips and the waist cinches and it's a really beautiful, well-designed piece of clothing. The other garment would be this pair of socks I saw in a movie. They were just this sheer beautiful black fabric with a little lacy thing at the top and a lavender bow so you can tie it at the calf. It was like, bein'-sexy-around-the-house socks, which are the kind of socks I feel like I really wanna have. Or at least have the kind of lifestyle that would require such socks.

Odelia: Do you remember the movie?

Ramona: No. I don't think it was very good, but the socks were a highlight.

Odelia: Would you say that fashion is a big focus in your life?

Ramona: Well, I'd say that style is. And aesthetic. And colors and textures and everything like that, on people especially. I don't know—if “fashion” as a concept of perpetual visual fixation of humans, and people dressing well, and people carrying themselves well, and everything, you know? If that were how fashion were defined, then yes.

Odelia: How would you describe personal style as a concept?

Ramona: I'd say, first off, that I think it's very important. Not so much that we should put a lot of stock in the way we look, but personal style reflects people. It's corny, but it's true: it's not you wear, but how you wear it. So I'd say that personal style should just be a way of being. So I guess I'd describe it as very...human. And in some instances, very nice.

Odelia: How do you feel that, if at all, high school has influenced your sartorial choices?

Ramona: Whoa. A lot of sartorial choices have been influenced by high school [laughs]. Not totally good influences across the board, I guess at least before I switched high schools. There's this kid at my school, and when I go to school every day, he says, “Hey sexy mama, you look great today.” I think that's been like...well, I wake up every day and I'm like, “If I were that kid, would I call myself a sexy mama and tell myself I look great today?” So I guess that's the most positive and productive sartorial influence that that's had on me [laughs]! 

[Photos by me.]

So smiley and adorable!

She wasn't sure what to do pose-wise, so I told her she could do anything she wanted. So she began an interpretive dance of sorts. 

Gotta love that sweater. 

More dancing. It went on for quite some time.

She's big on satchels and briefcases. At heart, she's a classy business man from the 1950s. 

Hey, notice how she's wearing plaid. Coincidence? I think not.

I mean, also look at her conch necklace.

Also she has some really nice hair. She's got those midi-bangs that I so desperately want in order to fulfill my fantasy of looking like Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday.

Just in case the above information didn't capture the essence of Ramona, here is a short video taken while at her house after we finished up the interview and I accidentally turned the camera back on. 

Okay, I'm being very serious now, Ramona, I really would like your closet and would greatly appreciate if you would relinquish it without much of a fight. Please and thank you. 

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Carpe Diem (alice + olivia Fall 2013)

Stacey Bendet named her Fall 2013 collection "Fantasy Street Style," describing her ideal alice + olivia girl as a "cool, clever free-spirit wandering the streets of Paris." If all goes well, that should be me in five to seven years. That's not to say I intend to become an alice + olivia model, but based on how rad the Fall collection was, I'd be down with walking around in some of Bendet's designs. 

The designer used the burgeoning concept of street style as inspiration for this season's clothing. As I've said before, as Suzy Menkes has said before, as a million people have said before, street style is becoming more of a spectacle than an honest representation of peoples' everyday ensembles. That idea fits hand in hand with Bendet's more is more tactic that she uses consistently in every collection. Why the hell not, amirite? If more makes the outfit work, do as Tim Gunn says and make it work. 

I can understand how someone might think that being a maximalist is exactly the opposite of what needs to be done right now, what with our unstable economy, rapidly deteriorating environment, and global social unrest. What we really need to do, one might say, is give up our consumerist and capitalist ways and go back to basics. There are two approaches to this situation. Either to live simplistically and attempt to make peace with the world that we've so mercilessly harmed, or we can enjoy the way we live now for as long as we can because time is obviously running out. I personally would choose the former option, but that's just me. Stacey Bendet, no doubt, would choose the latter. She might even say, in the spirit of my generation, carpe diem! (As you can see I'm doing everything I can to avoid using that dreadful acronym.)

[Photos by me.]

Stacey Bendet is successfully supporting the return of Puritanical necklines.

Are they looking at each other? Are they just stretching their necks?

A motorcyclist in a tiara. That's something new. 

I'd willingly let Stacey Bendet furnish my apartment.

Also, brocade. I love brocade. I made a pair of shoes out of it for my colonial shoemaking project in middle school, and I just bought a pair of Victorian-esque brocade heels. Fun facts of the day. 

Flower crowns are becoming less of a Coachella thing and more of a cool chick thing. Elly wore one the other day to school, but hers was woven into her hair. 

This may have been my absolute favorite of all of the looks in the collection. 

REDredredred. I want to be red.

Note the brass instruments hanging in the background. 

When I showed my mom this picture, her response was, "What nice hose!" If you say it out loud, it takes on a whole new meaning. 

Sparkles on leather on fur. 

Shirts on shirts on sexy.

Black lace shoulders are another Victorian detail.

PLAID shoes. How about that? 

I loved this whole display. Every garment was beautiful, the setting was interesting, and the models rocked. Plus it photographed wonderfully. 

AnnaSophia Robb, munchin' on a cake pop. 

Victoria Justice, who was mega sweet, especially when I referenced her "Zoey 101" days. 

The alice + olivia show was easily one of the most exciting events I've ever been to. The second I walked in the door at the location in the Meatpacking District, I saw Zanna Roberts Rossi and engaged her in conversation. She was so nice, and even claimed to remember me from when I met her at the ADAM show a few season ago. I ran into a few of the resident New York City bloggers (Natalie Suarez, Claire Geist), and saw my fair share of celebrities (the two laydeez above, Katherine McPhee, and several others; Vanessa Hudgens was there but I didn't see her). I even saw two girls from my school, funnily enough. I drank some bubbly beverages, ate some macarons, and spent the full two hours looking at the beautiful clothing, talking to some people, and chasing down anyone that looked like they had cake pops.

Anyone else feeling like listening to a lot of French music?

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Plaid City

If Plaid City were a real place, I'd move there in a heartbeat. If you weren't already aware of this fact, I'm slightly addicted to plaid (see: my flannel, my winter jacket). I also bought a plaid shift dress this weekend. And remember those khaki-flannel pants I made over the summer? The print is indisputably a core part of my wardrobe. Imagine my delight when I started noticing people wearing plaid jackets earlier this winter. And by "people," I mean basically everyone in the entire world. That's not a hyperbole. I swear, every time I turned a corner, I saw a flash of black-and-red. Of course, I never had my camera with me at these occurrences. But trust me, I've been wanting to write about this since November or December. 

During Fashion Week this past season, I noticed that even the high-fashion crew are jumping on the plaid bandwagon. Check out my photographic evidence of said jumping. 

[Photos by me.]

A classic red and blue combo, school girl-style. 

I chased these people down because they were all wearing plaid. It was magical. 

She looks so happy! ...To be wearing plaid!

This woman was wearing a fur hat, a bindi, and a plaid bag. She's my kind of laydee. 

I may or may not have followed this guy down the street to get a decent photo of his jacket.

My Fashion Week friend, Natalie Suarez, wearing a funky plaid color combo. 

This was a look from the Alice + Olivia Fall/Winter 2013 collection. I became giddy at the sight of the print when I spotted it from afar. 

The thing that I love about plaid is that it's such a versatile pattern that there's no reason to ever shy away from it. It impeccably combines several colors, geometric shapes, and different proportions in such a classic way that the print is rarely too loud or obnoxious. It adds a traditional feel to whatever you're wearing--whether traditional means prep school, lumberjack, or Scotland--while still letting you have some mega fun with prints. Since it's so all-around rad, mixing several plaids at once is quite easy. I do it all the time. People think I'm a little weird, but it don't mean a thing.

It's time to hop on this trend train and take it all the way to Plaid City.
I try to write puns but sometimes they're just genuinely awful jokes that only old people are allowed to make. 

Weekendweekendweekend veryverysoon.

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