A SKULL IN THE SUMMER CLOSET- ALEXANDER MCQUEEN SKULL SCARFS FOREVER!

There are few fashion items which I consider a must-have for every 'arbiter of fashion'. As you might know, I' am a sucker for shawls& scarfs and there is one which has not yet found its way into my scarf collection- the iconic Alexander McQueen Skull Scarf

The print became instantly famous as Kate Moss modeled the original skull print on a dress at the American Express Black Show and London's Earl's Court venue in 2004.

Kate Moss- stunning as ever wearing Alexander McQueen's signature skull print, which became an instant hit in  2004

The print has ever since been reworked across his collections and accessories lines yet the scarves have become a cult must-have after Moss took to wearing hers almost religiously to many of her admired outfits.

Scarfs are just so perfectly adaptable as you can see here -  Mrs Moss wears her favorite  Alexander McQueen  Skull  Print Scarf around the waist as a belt.... 

I just love this scarf because it can transform an outfit instantly from 'boring' to 'edgy' and it can be worn by both sexes. Considering the price of the scarf ( from around £ 100-£ 450)- it is a brilliant sartorial investment for a couple because both of you can wear it so it sort of halves the expenditure (and if you buy one for her as a birthday present, you have actually bought yourself one, too!). Just love it!

What can you say, ladies? McQueen scarf and sexy  Johnny Depp- the shawl is the perfect unisex accessory, isn't it?

The scarf's getting New York's royal fashion approval- Mary- Kate Olsen, the  ' goth'   part of the Olsen  Sisters, just loves her black and white version of the shawl...

Adored and loved ( maybe also as token of remembrance to the genius that was the late Alexander McQueen)  by the fashion blogger folk- here in yellow and black ...

...and here simple yet amazingly stylish- in blue& white. Do you understand now? The Alexander McQueen Skull  Print Scarf can make an outfit! 

The scarf is just brilliant for men who usually keep a simple wardrobe yet want to ' spice up' the look in an easy yet effective way now and then. The only problem with the scarf is the fact that it comes in a 'zillion' different print styles, colours and fabrics. Every season the creatives at McQueen think new ways to up-date their signature print. 

So, I had a look around and  I would suggest you two styles ( it does not matter if you are girl or a boy) which I found on one of my favourite fashion e-retailers and boutique Cruise Fashion - a brilliant independent luxury retailer from Edinburgh.

The first one is a red and black version of the print whereby the skulls are interrupted with a leopard print- how cool is that! Perfect for the summer month since made from silk and therefore beautifully light to wear. The black and red colour mix is dramatic best worn with just a plain tank top, a pair of tight drain pipe jeans and great stylish sandals or espandrilles. Makes an instant impression especially for going partying all night long.

The up-dated skull print version mixed wit a super trendy leopard print- just genius!

The Alexander McQueen Leopard& Skull Print Red Silk Scarf  as seen at Cruise/ Edinburgh-  it doesn't matter if you are a boy or a girl- this scarf adds glamour to every outfit!

The second suggestion is a black and white version. This model is maybe better if you are looking for a scarf which you can wear all day long. Yet again, although a bit moderate it gives the immediate impression that you one of the people who are ' in the know'- a true 'taste' person who just knows what you are putting around the your neck.
This makes me think- I never buy anything just because of the brand name only, honestly. I think the idea behind an item of fashion, the design and/or the fabric and the skill who created the item, are much more important than a brand name. But sometimes, very rarely though, I think to wear the right brand is necessary. This is the case with this skull print scarf- the print is just so iconic and it just belongs to Alexander McQueen! Therefore I would only wear the scarf made by McQueen and never a fake version. Is that the case, and you have the original, than it does not matter what brands you wear the scarf with.
As I said the black and white colour mix goes just with everything. I can see it perfectly well with a military green parka or camouflage jacket, a white t-shirt and jeans shorts together with a pair of Dr Marten's boots. A perfect outfit for a summer music festival! 

Alexander McQueen Skull Print White& Black Scarf- again seen at Cruise/ Edinburgh- the iconic  print by McQueen. You will wear it for many years, I promise, and you can share it with your partner! The skull print scarf, with its unisex appeal,  can be enjoyed by both- men and women!!

But as mentioned in the text above the scarf is being re-invented every season by the use of different colours,  print techniques and different fabrics. Furthermore the motif of the skull is very important to the McQueen brand. The skull it used to adorn jewelry, hand bags, dresses, high heels... and... and...and... the list goes on and on. Again, here Cruise Fashion offers a very well edited selection of Alexander McQueen 'skull accessories definitely worth checking out, just click here.

THE FASHION PHILOSOPHER IS PRESENTING TOSHTOWER'S HAIR STYLING TUTORIAL FOR MEN WITH LONG HAIR

I'm a long-standing fan of YouTube's v- blog by Toshtower. The only v-blog I really manage to follow. Why? because he is just such an interesting mix of everything- and all this 'everything' is constantly clashing which each other, almost like a atomic reaction- just loads of energy comes from his monologues and discussions, of which some are very personal ( like that he feels lonely a single, and his desperation to find a loving relation ship) or some very political ( like 'Gay Rights Now! Civil Rights Now!Equal Rights Now!).

To his persona: he is German but lives in LA, he looks like a cool indie rocker, but works in finance. He is gay but talks like the typical LA skate dude.  He dresses himself very stylishly yet he seems not really to be interested in fashion and this list could go on and on and on. Yet what I most love about this guy is his mind. He has his strong opinions and in his usually ten minutes v-blogs, he discusses them vigorously. He works for the enemy, finance, but actually I wish he became a politician- he would be the perfect modern Harvey Milk, the famous gay rights advocate of the 1970's.

His passion is the gay community and criticizing them is his main aim. Yet it is not criticism for the sake of critiscm, no, he complains about stupity and prejudices even in the rows of the so 'liberal' gay world! But if you follow he v-blog you will see that Toshtower has a lot of topics, some trivial, some idealistic, some gay -some straight. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cringe and some you will find even outright stupid but he keeps up the one thing America once stood for ( unfortunately the USA is loosing right now so many attributes of a free country it once stood for)- freedom of speech and the right to have an opinion which differs from that of your neighbour's.

Ok, so what links him to fashion, that I decided to introduce him to you, my beloved readers and fashion addicts and include him into The Fashion Philosophers holy fashion pages?  It's that he just had the brilliant idea to give a short manual about how to deal with long hair as a men. Since I have started growing my hair a year ago now and Toshtower has his grown for the last three years and we both are on the same side, in regards that just to let your hair down all the time is soooooooooooo boring. He decided to do a fun tutorial about how you can style your hair as an alpha male and still..., in Toshtower's own words '... look sexy as hell'. Just enjoy it and maybe you see what else Toshower is going on about and you will become as much of a fan of him as I am.

FABULOUS FREAK- UNCONVENTIONAL BEAUTY IN MENS FASHION

Men and beauty- what a topic. Are men supposed to be beautiful or more interesting? Who is more attractive a gentleman of 55 years with tons of money or a 19- year- old art student with the flair of a fucked- up 20th century Arthur Rimbaud?
I just started a new job as newly appointed chief fashion editor of the up-and- coming style website www.stylemywardrobe.com ( we will start posting in May- we are still in the process of creating the website). I talked with the publisher of the website,  fashion stylist Kaz Longe how we would like to create a style blog for women who are different, eccentric, fat & tall.... yet talented and still beautiful in an unconventional way.
Is it true, with Lady Gaga, Beth Dito, Adele, Lynn Yaegger everywhere and head lines like 'Le chic, c'est freak, The Rise Of Eccentric Beauty- an article in the Sunday Times Style magazine are trying to convince us all that 'being different' has become the 'new black'?

Singer Adele- the 'super-sized' super music star- it was hard to find a picture which shows her chubby beauty without the obligatory retouching diet cure administered by fashion editors for 'round' girls like Adele. I can hear the voice of  some famous high gloss mag's beauty editor screaming at the in- house graphic designer, sorry, graphic design intern, of course : 'Listen honey, make her look slim yet not Twiggy slim more Miss Piggy sweet- curvaceous-slim.. don't look at me like that- people do not want FAT! on the cover of a fashion magazine, get it!... and I do not mind fat people, whatever the others say!!!

Lynn Jaegger- contributing fashion editor  for Vogue.com and fashion writer for Vogue, The New York Times, The Village Voice  and some more publications- we love her humorous writing and her very own fashion sense of a Victorian porcelain doll having a lesbian affair with an 1920's flapper-she does with fashion exactly what we all should do with it-have fun! 

'The Voice'-  singer Beth Ditto- how to describe a true  fashion 'nut case'-  fat,  lesbian,  so cool it almost hurts -  and a voice that make my toes tingle...

So, I started thinking who are these freaks in men's fashion? OK, there's me of course, the fashion outsider who always struggled with his weight and who partly is proud of him being different. Yet I still sometimes go back to my old convinction that there is still a beautiful skinny 6 feet tall male model waiting and growing inside me to break through my rip cage ( like in the scene from Ridley Scott's sci- fi horror film 'Alien', except that instead of blood, sequins will splatter out of my ripped open 'man boops', or  maybe gold-pigmented violet nail varnish or...sorry, loosing the plot...and a gorgeous Francisco Lachowski ( a up-and coming male model 'eromenos') is looking cutely confused  into the shocked faces around him) who after he is freed heads straight to New York Fashion Week- to be the 'It' boy of the moment, loved and admired by all his thousands of shit cool, fuck rich fashion friends.
OK, back to reality-and back to finding the style outsiders true heroes. So, who are the pin- up boys of the men's fashion & style world who are fat, bald, chubby, small, kooky& creepy yet interesting, fun, creative and the true fashion & style geniuses with tons of character, charm and true chic! Let me introduce you to The Fashion Philosopher's inner circle of 'The Fabulous Freaks of Men's Fashion':

1. Mickey Boardman- editorial director of Paper Magazine

What did Coco Chanel say: In regards to accessories- take always away the last piece you added to your outfit- Mr Boardman have you listened- Coco just said something???

Mr Micky Boardman take on Andy Warhol's star portrait pics? Je t'aime, Mickey!

Mickey Boardman belongs to those people I really want to work with when I have made it as an stylist, I just love his humour and his style which has been described as 'alcoholic housewife'. He does not shy away to integrate women's clothes into his outfits yet more as a style choice than a life-style choice ( he is never really in complete drag). The self confessed monarchy freak loves his signature polo shirts usually adding amazing jewellery or some great sequin vest top or a cute little ladies handbag for adding a bit of fashionable spice to a otherwise proper guys top. I just admire men who can say 'yes' to their female sensibilites. In an interview with the fashion blog Scalaregia he tells us his fashion ideology: 'Fashion should always be fun ( oh, we get you Mickey-boy) and you make you feel fabulous. Why wear something you don't think it is exciting? It is not about money it is about feeling gorgeous.'... I'm clinging on your lips Mickey..

Actually, I really like the look, it is exactly the right  level of female and  male  sartorial  proportions...

A sporty jacket+ sky blue polo-shirt+ 'It'-clutch= Mickey is here! 

In the same interview this wise fashion insider let's us into his ideas what true 'chic' means to him: 'Chic is confidence in yourself, wearing what you really love regardless of what the trends are- chic is being nice not cunty.'

Absolutely true words and words some fashionistas and her male counterpart should take to their heart. To become part of fashion means more than just to know your Vogue trend report by heart and have the sales person at Burberry smiling at you (since he knows how much you will spend for the last fad). Fashion is everything- fashion is art, fashion is music, fashion is the colour of a flower you just were enchanted by and a good book you just ready. To develop a true feeling for your own style, you must be able to live a 'whole' life and keep your eyes open for ideas and beauty.... thanks Mr Boardman. I'm sure we will get on brilliantly when we will meet in near future!

2. Andre Leon Talley- former editor-in-large and now contributing editor of American Vogue 

Andre in the 60's or early 70's- brought up to appreciate the simple luxuries of life like ironed  towels and  washing done by hand instead of a washing machine- thanks to his grand mother, a simple house maid. Yet she also installed in him dignity and style, attributes which helped him find his direction in fashion ( as you can see on his dignified face impression on the pic above....) 

The 21th century Renaissance man, a bon vivant, a dandy, a photographer, a fashion journalist promoter of young talent....the true 'Fashion Pope' 

Not only physically impressive, six foot seven inches, his monumental status in fashion has been achieved by surviving more than 30 years in the 'chiffon traces'  with style and grace ( and without becoming a size zero or become completely bonkers, but maybe.. hm... hi hi ha..). 

Looking always 'freakishly' amazing in his own creation of  flamboyant 'muumuus', looking like an excotic version of Holbein's Henry VIII. I'm really, really in awe of Andre. I am sure it was not at all easy growing up black, gay and big shy guy in a small town in South Carolina ( isn't the one of the worst case scenarios). He left the South to come to New York in the late 60's early 70's where his first job was being an assistant to artist Andy Warhol! From there he went to meet the person who was maybe the most important person in his life, next to his beloved Granny, who worked very hard to bring her grand child up with loads of love and despite poverty, style!

He met Diana Vreeland, during a time, when she was still working as editor-in-chief for Vogue. She helped him to find his unique voice as an fashion journalist- the mix between Southern small-town brawl and high life sophistication. 

The 70's- a decade with an almost 'disgusting' love for the excess....Andre with Lord Snowdon, photographer and first husband of the 'party  princess': Princess Margaret, the younger sister of the Queen of England. 

Dress-To-Impress- if Lagerfeld is 'The Kaiser'- than Talley is 'The Pope'

He stands for all the outsiders in 'Middle America' and the rest of Suburbia ( around the world since suburb is suburb, which means mental death for every creative mind)- youth who do not fit in and more importantly do not want to fit in. Andre shows them that if you go for your dreams with determination and open eyes, they might come true even  if in the beginning things might not look that easy. Charm paired with creativity and a good timing to be in right spot at the right time sometimes is more worth than beauty- even in fashion.
Not only his live story inspires and helps young people gaining more confidence, Andre also helps many in more practical ways. He uses his flawless connections of the 'Who is Who' of the fashion world to promote young fashion designers. Talley even branches out his help to other areas too which brought him a honorary doctorate in Humanity from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Ok, this man is fat, huge with huge drooping lips yet he learned how to dress his weaknesses and learned an important lesson in search of his very own 'fabulous you' , that is: if you can not get rid of your flaws put them on a golden pedestal for view of the whole world, this creates awe, doesn't; it? .

3. Antony Hegarty- singer and song writer, transvestite and performance artist

Antony- a modern venus or just a freak of nature? 

Antony and The Johnsons- the big break came in 2006- for their album I Am A Bird Now, they won the prestigious Mercury price. In the end individualism and  creativity won....

OK, with Andre Leonard Talley I must confess I already reached almost the dead end with the 'ugly' guys working directly in fashion, except maybe a few designers are left, yet since fashion and performing arts are very close relatives, I thought I cheat a bit and introduce you to Anthony Hegarty- if he needs to be introduced. Although he is not a sinful exotic (and skinny) Lea T nor an androgynous- perfect ( and even more skinny) Andre Pejic, he vowed the music world and the fashion crowd with his amazing voice and his 'bjoerk-esque' way of dressing. Born in the UK but later he moved with his parents to the USA, he already founded a performance group at school and worked many years in underground bars and theatre spaces as singer, writer and performer of late night theatre.

His performance is strongly influenced by the years he worked in gay progressive theatre before slowly developing his singer career

I love his way of dressing, I think he looks like classical Greek actors might  have looked like 600 BC ( without the obligatory masks they all must wear during a theatre performance) while performing the great theatrical playwrights from the Aniquity like Euripides or Aeschylus. As a true brilliant performer you just can feel the fragility of his soul. His draped loose dresses just enhance his ethereal beauty even more- neither man nor woman, Antony combines both- the' beauty' and the 'beast' in a true artistic manner. J'adore....

4.Igor Dewe- fashion performance artist, shoe artist and createur of fashion films

I will not say anything yet, you must watch the video first and than you will understand....



I can already hear some whispers from the sceptical fashion fanatic: '... at least he is not fat...', OK, that is true is not fat, one point less on the fashion crime scala, yet he is anything else- completely bonkers, poor, a fanatic, an exhibitionist, a masochist, disgusting, sexually .... so qui est-ce, Igor Rewe?
He is like a true magic unicorn, maybe the first and last of his kind- can you see him having sex with him? OK, we can accept one apology, this Fashion Dervish is French...maybe an overload of too intellectual- too serious- to 'arty- farty' French dramas in his youth?
Yet, whatever you think of him, he is brave and unique! Beauty lies in the eye of the spectator, doesn't it?

All Igor's shoe creations are self made from the most unusal materials like fruit, sand from the beach and  like in the photo from old food tin boxes- yes just in the act of creation we come close to god- in this case, Igor  is a true prophet of God, Fashion and, even if you would like to discuss this point, of beauty.

Forget McQueen's Armadillo shoes- Igor Drewe's African horn creation is the true killer heel! 

I think in the case of Igor, it is not that interesting where he comes from, what his plans are, commercially viable or not, Igor, for me is about going forward, taking the ugly or unused into something narratively beautiful. It is fashion yet it is art. Igor Dewe's art/ fashion is about exploring the limits, the fugaciousness of the being, to make sense from the senseless. His fashion creations are transcending the useful and logic- they are a phantasm not mend to last longer than the film they are made for.

Thanks for taking the time to share my thoughts with you!

Raj, The Fashion Philosopher

KEEP ON MOVING- ARE FASHION FILMS THE NEW CATWALK SHOWS?

Lately during one of creative 'brainstorming nights' I fell over a couple of fashion videos on you tube. I watched them already last year, like Gareth Pugh's S/S 2011 fashion presentation, yet somehow I did not get it, back than.  Yet this time round it was different, I was transfixed to the screen and felt this strange 'Heureka' moment when you have the feeling you really see something for the first time yet it actually has been dangling in front of you for some time already. And to be honest,I think a lot of fashionistas and fashionistos are not really getting this 'developing' art form which will grow rapidly in the next years, if I can trust my fashion instincts.

Gareth Pugh S/S11 video presentation: music by Mathew Stone & directed by Ruth Hogben



As fate is crossing the Fashion Philosopher's path during the same couple of days lately ( me, suddenly being drawn to fashion short films and trailers- it all happend around two weeks ago, by chance I also watched an inteview with fashion all-round worker ( I say worker since she is just so hard working for fashion in so many areas of style) Diane Pernet from the blog A Shaded View Of Fashion talking about how she has always been interested taking fashion into film and also she things that this way of presenting fashion is absolutely underrated.

Actually sometimes I am surprised how old fashioned and even boring many people who work in fashion are, usually not in the way of dressing, no, their attitude towards mixing fashion with new mediums like digital films, videos and even animation are stupendously conservative very often! They want to keep  fashion runway shows as the main way to present the new seasons, yet I think using film and video opens up endless possibilities to present collections in  new & fresh ways- laptops, ipads, digital mobile phones and ever more advanced developments in entertainment technology will be the new digital catwalks. I  think it just feels fresh and modern to take fashion through film into the digital age. And of course, for the future which might see plane ticket prices sky rocketing, when oil is running out and we all will be forced staying connected through internet and working more and more from home.... yet I do not want to bore you with my tendency to bring politics into my fashion posts all the time! Yet this thought is to be considered, how our way of working will change in the next 30 years...

'Iris' - An Exclusive Fashion Film: directed by Barnaby Roper & model Iris Strubergger  featuring looks from Miu Mius, Celine, Soo Ri, Genevieve Jones and many more....

Yet before going back to visionary Mrs Penet, I would just quickly show you one of the first 'fashion films' around- maybe the film who started this art form- the French quirky 60's comedy 'Qui etes-vous Polly Maggoo?' ('Who Are You, Polly Maggoo') (1966).

This cute fashion film ( or film about fashion- depends from which view point you watch the film) directed by William Klein is a satirical take on the fashion world and its excesses in the 1960's, at time where fashion really started not only to express your status and age yet actually developed into a way of expressing your personality and individuality. This film catches perfectly the Zeitgeist of the 'Swinging Sixties' with all its futuristic aesthetics and it naive trust into a better 'Sci- Fi' world to come! The story is rather simple since this comedy is not a about a deep intellectual plot more about the a glimpse into this amazing period of time: Polly is a model who tells about her experiences when she is interviewed by a television crew in this offbeat satirical comedy. She dreams of a life with prince charming while contending with the lecherous advances of a whole string of men who constantly hit on her and a fashion magazine editor, modelled of course on nobody else than on the famous Vogue editor of the time Diane Vreeland, making her life a living hell! 

Rodarte S/S12- 'Soliloquy 88' video presentation: fashion film by Jason Last& Jame Rubiano 

42 years after 'Qui etes-vous Polly Maggoo?', in September 2008 during Paris Fashion Week, visionary all-round style genius Diana Pernet launched ASVOFF ( A Shaded View On Fashion Film)- the first annual festival celebrating the successful merging of fashion and film. Created as a 3 day event at the national museum of Paris, Jeu de Paume, ASVOFF showcases feature films, documentaries, conferences, performances and installations, actually all these mediums showing fashion away from its traditional way of depicting fashion through the one dimensional medium of 'still' photography.

Yet energetic Pernet has not only been satisfied in creating this important festival and prize competition, no, she has also taken the event travelling the globe and showcasing the incredible work of the most talented, creative famous and not-yet-famous artists to every corner of the world from the Guggenheim Bilbaohttp://www.guggenheim-bilbao.es/?idioma=en to Seoul, from Scope Art Fair in New York to Riga and Moscow.... By combining style, fashion, beauty and film Pernet's ASVOFF has brought together names like Steven Klein, Chris Cunningham, Chloe Sevigny, Yves Saint Laurent, Nick Knight, Ruth Hogben, Georgie Greville and many more, maybe creative professionals who might not have worked together in a more conventional way.

Have I opened you eyes now or are they 'still wide shut' like mine used to be? Have a look on you tube and once you have started watching these amazing fashion videos you will get hooked to them like me.

The Fashion Philosopher

WOULD A VAMPIRE WEAR PRADA MAN F/W 2012?

Nosferatu, Verdilak, Lamia.... Vampire, yes,  I am not only a fashion fanatic- I confess (and this will forever destroy my chances to ever work for Vogue!)- but I am also a stylish horror nerd. I just love vampires and I have always have! These blood thirsty creatures of the night are just so perfect- so beautiful, seductive, secretive and of course very deadly.

Yet ever since Anne Rice's internationally praised book 'Interview with an Vampire', we know that vampires not only love blood but also the high life of luxury. Stunningly designed lofts and town houses stuffed brimful with designer furniture and, one of the advantages of immortality, also a few very valuable antiques, sometimes even bequeathed by a real famous historical figure (just image getting a little present from Queen Marie Antoinette of France herself!). By watching series like the very well written& designed 'True Blood' and reading Anne Rice's vampire novels, I immediately felt home with the morbid splendour and almost Byzantine opulence of the vampire lifestyle. And what about vampire and fashion, apparently having a great body which will not age nor but on weight, isn't that just a dream come true. 

Yet before I start to answer above question whether a vampire wears Prada's F/W 2012 collection, I'd like you to bare in mind that this post is part fun and part philosophical think tank. There might be some interesting points coming up, but please do not take it too seriously. I'm just trying to connect things which have impressed me recently. I'm finding links no one has thought of yet between fashion, fantasy, society and death. So let's start with the Fashion Philosopher's curious thoughts on style,  blood, beauty & immortality and of the course the amazing Prada A/F 2012 show.

Vampire's homes: The 'True Blood'  Bill Compton's ancestral home. From the outside: 'Antebellum de Luxe'- from the  inside: 'World of Interiors'  

Viking Eric is having a time out from killing- in style of course! 

You must worry, that a year of an ongoing creative poverty has shrunk my brain and you 'pauvre' Fashion Philosopher thinks vampires are truely real. Don' worry, I get it, I know they are not. Still, with vampire films like ' The Twilight Saga' being tremendously successful and vampire TV series like 'True  Blood' going into their 5th season, our beloved virtual reality ( TV, internet and cinema) has created an entirely separate world for those deadly yet visually perfect beings to inhabit.  And in terms of showing off stylish fashions, wouldn't you mind seeing Brat Pitt as heart melting sensitive vampire Louis from 'Interview With A Vampire', trotting his Edwardian clobber on Comme de Garcon's or Yohi Yamamoto's catwalks, would you?

The depiction of the Nosferatu in cinema and TV has truly been eye candy ever since the 1970's, with German character actor Udo Kier playing a heavily accented Count Dracula in 'Andy Warhol's Dracula' also called 'Blood for Dracula'.

The imortal Count-  style and sadness in one person. The monster has been attributed with a loving and suffering soul struggling for keeping his humanity

...like the struggle for women and gay rights, the student riots in 1968 and the Vietnam war. The 1960's brought social changes which we had to stomach in the 70's- even vampires, here French avant-garde actor Pierre Clementi as Count Matteo Tiepolo in 'Nosferatu in Venice' were allowed to question what is still human in them and how far their freedom of unnatural power meant death and misery for all beings crossing their way. Sometimes even the ones they loved....

The vampire of the 1970's seems almost as lost and alienated as Quentin Crisp's 'Englishman in New York'. Although seemingly abandoned from society and no place in the modern times, the vampire actually transforms into the perfect 21st century asset for the newly emerging global markets- the never dying consumer, eternally young and wealthy and almost even independent of oil?! At the same time, looking back and into the future, designers are right now keenly taking inspiration of this peculiar 'lost soul'. For F/W 2012, a league of ghost like models in clothes reminiscent of Edwardian and Victorian men's fashions started haunting the catwalks.
Look at Comme de Garcons morbid-elegant Tokyo punks, Robert Geller's take on Ziggi Stardust's bitter sweet pan- sexuality of the 1970's and Oswald Boatengs' wild Asian spirts with their dark long hair and attired in knife- sharp suits are have become the cruel yet refined heralds of a fashion winter in a time of discontent.

French actor Pierre Clementi - like a vampire he was never really accepted- always living, working and depicting humanity  on the edge

Above Comme des Garcon Autumn/ Fall 2012- I am sure vampires would love to get their cold hands on these outfits

Actor Udo Kier as Count Dracula- as the story tells, he needs to drink the blood of a virgin to stay young- I am sure there are some fashion editors who would do the same if it worked and some look like it is working more or less successfully! OK, now we know why fashion magazines needs all these sweet& innocent work interns (oh, it feels so good to be bitchy sometimes, doesn't it? And these remarks were not eve mean!). But back to the Count- I am sure these eyes truly can compel your mind!....yes, take me....just me...

Robert Geller S/S 2012

One of my favourite designer of the moment- German born Robert Geller's S/S  2012 and A/F 2012-  might there be some inspiration  coming from Count Dracul- maybe not, maybe yes?  But I think it interesting how the recent men's fashion might be connected to the elegant- deadly world of the vampires without even knowing it consciously.

Above: Homoerotic and seduction- yearning for a younger companion in order ' to understand the New World'-Antonio Banderas as Vampire Armand in 'Interview With A Vampire'

Ozwald Boateng's Fall/ Winter 2012- even a designer famous for his colour schemes is reflecting these dark times, in which vampire banks and institutions are sucking the world's population and environment dry and colourless. But fashion hypnotises us like a vampire's deadly stare as Boateng's eerily exquisite ad campaign compels us to forget the ugliness of the world around us. That seems, is the great gift of fashion. 

Compared to the tumultuous 70's as a time of social upheaval and unrest, the Edwardian Era can be seen as a time where everything was still in its rightful place. As with the vampire, a lost and abandoned anarchic creature in the 70's struggling with his humanity, the vampire at the turn of the century could still indulge in his deadly pursuit without remorse.

'The Belle Epoque' or ' Golden Age' with its industrial prowess and immense wealth. Landowning aristocrats and the first super rich industrialists owned not only their countries yet also other peoples countries, the colonies! Maybe designers feel drawn to this time right now very strongly since parallels to our times are more than obvious. The turn of the century was a time of  immense arrogance yet terribly elegant and grand and aware of its refined tastes yet so naively ignorant about its own eminent self destruction- WWI. This erea truly is a time for the gentleman vampire- coincidently during this period Bram Stoker writes his amazing novel 'Dracula'. Published in 1897, the hight of Edwardian life, it brings us the sophisticated and seductive vampire, deadly to everyone who loves and hates him, yet so divine and irresistible.

Gary Oldman as Count Dracula- a soul so tormented by the death of his love, Mina, that he breaks with god to become immortal to wait for his beloved to be re-born and than to come back to him.  Actually a very beautiful love story. Gary Oldman is just perfect as vampire, amazingly attractive with this deep hypnotizing longing for his true and only love- Mina.

Exactly this area of the super rich American industrialists and entrepreneurs like J.P Morgan, John Jacob  Astor and Cornelius Vanderbilt, fashion designer Muccia Prada chose for her stunning F/W 2012 show in Milano beginning of the year. The clothes were mend to be a 'parody of male power' and nothing is what it seems to be- formal trousers were cut from denim, the ornate baroque patterning on shirts are, if you look more closely, rows of American football helmets or feathered Native American head dresses.

Gary Oldman modelling Prada A/W 2012- see the red glasses in his coat pocket- a  reminscence of  his great role as loce sick Blood- Count  in 'Bram Stocker's Dracula'

Yet vampires are also not what they seem to be. Looking like humans but actually dead, giving you the illusion of passion but the only thing they want is your blood. Being alive forever, how much emptiness must be filled with elegance, beauty and wealth. If a vampire looks into the mirror- what does he see? Nothing? He can not be touched by anyone or anything anymore- like the super rich lost in their own nothingness of owing everything. Yet somehow they are alive and want beauty to maybe most of all forget the horror they can bring- and what else is Prada's collection with all there ingenious details ridiculing male power dressing other than beautiful, elegant and divinely arrogant. Is the collection really a historical copy of the past. No, when you look at the world around us today with the upper-classes now owning again everything and the poor getting poorer- the world has gone into the past itself, and this kind of fashion is maybe as of the moment as trainers and jeans- and as a Vampire without the pressure of time nor the feeling of shame and remorse behind  him what else would you want more than feeling of 'being' again even just for a moment!

WHEN TASTE GOES BONKERS: 50 UNFORGETTABLE FASHION TRENDS

As you might guess I was brought up in Germany and we all know, that the German rather spend £ 1000 for a car wheel as £ 10 more for a stylish pair of jeans. Somehow the Germans still consider fashion as something frivolous, not to be taken serious. So basically, in German cities you might find people rather dressed in a  classical style- polos shirt, and pearls for the lady and polo shirt and Rolex for the gentlemen ( the Germans aspire to the  look of the North- Italians in their blue, camel and black '0-8-1-5' outfits. OK, they look smart but it is so boooooooooorrrring- you end up looking always like a city banker  ready for a funeral) or if you try to be different, people just look at you ( the famous German stare) if you are lucky or they openly bitch in front about you and what you are wearing and, most important, that they do not like whay you are wearing! OK, here I must say I just talk about Munich, since I grew up there and these are the things that happened to me.

Yes, that is 'good taste & stylish' -  you will just blend in and wear what everyone is wearing! 

A true German original- fashion designer and all-round genius Harald Glöckler- Taste? Style?  No to both but he is himself even if he looks like Liza Minelli after a hormone treatment which went wrong! He deserves his medal!!

This true German attitude to fashion sees strange flowers bloom as you can see above. Unfortunately even the German fashion press writes articles in this negative sensational manner with the Bild Zeitung ( compare it with the English 'Sun') always commenting 'front row', putting its ' Are- we- supposed- to- wear- this- now????' picture on front page showing the most ridiculous outfit, usually some camp environmentally inspired paper/recycled litter dress combined with the very 'witty' Hamburger hat ( don't ask me what that is, I just invented it )which is not mend to be worn on the street anyway. But the difference between catwalk pieces for grabbing attention and pieces for sale is a concept the general German is not really aware off). I keep calling this journalistic attitude the ' 1950's- Burda- Effect'. ( Burda is a famous German women magazine- the kind of fashion magazine that tells you which colours you are allowed to wear and what to wear for each situation in life like going to a wedding, or popping around a funeral (again)- these magazine does not see fashion as a celebration of the individual, or not even something to have fun with, but as some mathematical rule you must apply to always look perfect, or even more important again- to blend in!

But for fairness I must also say that Berlin Fashion Week is getting better and better every year. It is transforming from a 'fashion- student- like- joke- event' with loads of above mentioned paper- garbage dresses which make you cringe in front of hardly assembled international press in embarrassment, to an almost world wide accepted fashion event with serious yet creative fashion, shown in a professional way. I am also proud of my country in regards the the fact that the Germans are not yet completely brain dead in regards to the meanwhile globally infectious society illness of 'suspicous consumption' like the UK and the USA. There people  for example here in London who are camping out the night in front of a H& M store when  H&M is about to launch one of its famous designer collaborations on that day. Honestly, those people- I would just love to tell them:' Get a live'! And that says some one whose life is fashion, but I never ever would give up a nights sleep to get my hands on a pair of cheaply produced trousers even if the label says 'Versace for H&M.

Sorry, now it's me who lost the plot. Actually the above paragraphs were mend to be just a short introduction for a very funny blog post I have found on this website http://www.hostelbookers.com/. The blog post is called 50 Unforgettable Fashion Trends. It covers everything from fashions our ancestor considered beautiful  and now disgust us like the Chinese lotus feet  to meanwhile true fashion classics like the mini skirt. From the obscure like the pollution mask to the newly revived traditional folk fashion like the German dirndl- again a must-have for every busty or not so busty woman at the Munich Oktoberfest!

Learn, read and have fun with ....50 Unforgettable Fashion Trends

The original 'Little Black Dress' from 1926 by Chanel-  Mademoiselle Coco set the trend for this must-have item almost a century ago!

Twiggy in Mary Quant- the 'ini Skirt' - the super trend of the 20th century!!

The Nigerian 'Gele' on Erika Badhu- looks just amazing and as for a trend- you must be quite confident to be seen with it but it is just amazing 

Again please click on the second or third link above and have a laugh or learn something especially now when the 'Circus of Vanities' has started with the men collections already and the women are going to see what is 'hot' and what is 'not' for Autumn/ Winter 2012 very soon.

Enjoy, your Fashion Philosopher