Feature Bag #20: Stephen Sprouse Tribute Monogram Graffiti Keepall

i know some of you have been regularly checking for updates. please pardon the delay, i've just been too busy since i returned to Melbourne. in the next few entries, i shall be revealing a bunch of LoVelies. so hang in there ;-)

anyhooo... the wait is over! without further ado, here's my Monogram Graffiti Keepall 50 in orange:

at long last!!!! and im just as excited about it since i blogged about the rumours back in November. it is very difficult to capture the vibrancy of the graffiti print - i swear it glows in normal light.

the colour is actually more like a radioactive orange-red than this flat tone in the photos

i also think the larger print format of the Keepall compared to the smaller font on the Speedy puts the fluoro contrast into full effect.

i don't have any black light, but i think it still glows in dim light too:

if reason was to be heeded, one wouldn't be inclined to get another Keepall particularly if one already owns a Keepall 50 with a strap even. but i was instantly entranced by this fluorescent vision when it emerged from its dustbag. heads turned, gasps heard.... palpitations and tremours felt.... SOLD!

one for work, the other for play.



here it is along with two other Graffiti pieces i acquired last month:



that's 3 out of the four Sprouse Tribute Graffiti items on my hit list.

one last look.....




it is even more fantastic than i had imagined. im still very much stunned.

just a couple of brown bags...

finally got around to taking photos. all will be revealed soon.

my style idols

this is a new series featuring people whose personal style have been an inspiration and influence to me.

first up, Signore Stefano Pilati and his distinctly Italian spezzatura attitude:

he has become my fashion bellwether. i usually skip the entire show and go straight to the end to check out what he's wearing.

les musiques que j'aime 14

the Valentine's Day Special


"Magic Position" - Patrick Wolf



"Dance With Me" - Nouvelle Vague



"Happy Meal" - The Cardigans



"That Beep" - Architecture In Helsinki



"You Know Me Better" - Róisín Murphy




spread the LoVe!!!

ok, so here's the Plan....

this is the scarf i've been wanting and waiting for since November of last year. its called the Plan Echarpe in noir:

i was told it wasn't allocated to Australia for some reason. but my super SA persevered and managed to have one transferred from overseas. it finally arrived today in time for our southern Autumn season which officially begins in 1 March.

its a double faced 100% silk twill scarf which is part of the Men's F/W 2008-09 runway show:

measuring 152x32cms. its long and light enough to be worn as a necktie too:

reflecting the runway show's theme of bank heists and quick getaways, the scarf is printed with the floor plan blueprints of the Louis Vuitton Maison on 101 Champs-Elysees, Paris.

like they say... it pays to plan ahead. i must devise a plan of attack for when i make another pilgrimage to the Mothership:

i enter through the main doors like everybody else but do a quick right turn up the flight of stairs skipping the massive and always chaotic bag bar - its predominantly women's bags and accessories anyway - and straight into the Men's Fashion section:

i gingerly try on that lambskin bomber jacket... "i'll take it". linger there for a little longer deciding which runway bag to take home. when the selection/s been made, tell Manuel (the friendly and patient SA i met the last time) to wrap it/them up. then we proceed next to the Men's Casual area:

pick up two pairs of their jeans: indigo and black, a couple of novel t-shirts and maybe a few small accessories. followed by a brief stop at Men's Formal:

admire the shawl-collared tux on the dummy for a moment... oh what the heck, "i'll take this too."

"very well sir."

i might as well get a fine wrist watch to wear with the new tux right?

try on a couple or five (tee-hee) but settle for the solid gold Emprise watch with the black dial.

and just as i was about to commit the final coup des grâce at the Fine Jewellery Department:

.....i wake up from another one of those lucid dreams.... *le sigh*

bedside reading 2

here's something that every frustrated urban dandy out there should own a copy of:

its is a very amusing little book about the hows and whys of being a modern-day aesthete. it covers a wide range of topics from picking the right buttonier to how to mount a penny farthing. i have been following this gentleman's blog for quite some time now and you might want to check it out too. i must say he's got the style and panache i can only aspire to and the wit to match as well.

eccentricity rules!!!

the Graffiti wait continues... but

i just got back to Melbourne today and my first port of call was to check in at my LV boutique in the hopes of getting a sneak preview of the Graffiti items that are scheduled to be released tomorrow (2 Feb). but sadly the LV higher-ups have sent a memo to withhold sales until the 15th of January in the entire Southeast Asian and Australian regions =( initially only the Neverfulls were be delayed, but i guess they have decided to hold all the bags to wait for the Neverfull stock to arrive. i was a bit sad to hear about this as i was VERY keen to bring home a Graffiti bag tomorrow. i sincerely love this collection, so what's another two weeks right?

well, i just have to take something home to console me:

(hmm... should i reveal it now or prolong the reveal like others have been doing lately? you know who you are. grrr....)

what the heck, its the "Moving Pictures" book by Chow Yun Fat:

its a collection of photographs taken by the famous Chinese actor. these photos were first shown during the opening of the Louis Vuitton megastore at 5 Canton Road, Tsimshatsui, Hong Kong back in March 2008:

the book's launch followed in June and only 1000 copies of Moving Pictures have been produced. the proceeds will be donated directly to the Hong Kong Red Cross to help the victims of the Sichuan earthquake. initially sold in Hongkong and the Champs-Elysées boutique in Paris only, a few books made their way to Australia a couple of weeks ago.

pics of the slip case:

within this fine cloth bound book are exquisitely printed images the actor took while working on several films, including Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Curse of the Golden Flower, and The Children of Huangshi, as well as landscapes, Chinese rural scenes and still lifes:

(that's the stunning Gong Li)





and of course a self-portrait:

very impressive for the actor's first photography book. i hope to see more of his work in the future. if you can, i recommend you get a copy today!!!