Walk this way -

"The Invisible Structure of Fashion"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"...shake structures, school yourself;
look twice at a thing, once upside down;
answer yourself clearly ..."
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Where, oh where?

"Andy's Lament"

digital collage by Mick Mather
- click image to view full size -

"... where the hell is my chiffon ..."
- Andrea Gonzalo

Walking the walk -

"The Most Fabulous Shoes"
digital collage by Mick Mather

Choosing Shoes

New shoes, new shoes,
Red and pink and blue shoes.
Tell me, what would you choose,
If they'd let us buy?

Buckle shoes, bow shoes,
Pretty pointy-toe shoes,
Strappy, cappy low shoes;
Let's have some to try.

Bright shoes, white shoes,
Dandy-dance-by-night shoes,
Perhaps-a-little-tight shoes,
Like some? So would I.

But ... Flat shoes, fat shoes,
Stump-along-like-that shoes,
Wipe-them-on-the-mat shoes,
That's the sort they'll buy.

- Frida Wolfe

Save nine -

"Flying in the Face of Fashion"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... the stitch is lost unless the thread be knotted ..."
- Italian Proverb

Struttin' -

"Talkin' With Your Body"

digital collage by Mick Mather

"... the body says what words cannot ..."
- Martha Graham

Struttin' down the boulevard -

"Fine Points of Fashion"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... there's never a new fashion but it's old ..."
- Geoffrey Chaucer

Considering the spring line -

"Buyers Notebook"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... 'it is naught, it is naught', saith the buyer; but when he is on his way, then he boasteth ..."
- The Bible

Please, dress me -

"A Fabulous Pair of Shoes"
digital collage by Mick Mather
- submission to SusuPetal's Top Fashion Design Project -

"... remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but she did it backwards and in high heels ..." - Faith Whittlesey

Changes -

"Considering a Change to an Autumn Plaid"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... no tartan socks, ‘kay?
Now that would be an unforgivable crime of fashion …"
- The Fashion Police

Illustration Friday: Worn -

"Worn"
digital collage by Mick Mather

“The hour of the waning of love has beset us,
And weary and worn are our sad souls now;
Let us part, ere the season of passion forget us,
With a kiss and a tear on thy drooping brow.”

- William Butler Yeats

Head east -

"Similar But Not Matching"
digital collage by Mick Mather

Toward the end of last month I seemed to be back on one of my fashion kicks. Without knowing why and without asking questions, here you go ... more to come I should imagine.

Slender as a marbled vein -

"Princess of Diamonds"
digital collage by Mick Mather

Here we have a simple monument to things classic. A style, a fashion, a mode and a look that tends to stand up to the test of time.

Illustration Friday: Time -

"Time Bandit I"
digital collage by Mick Mather

It's that time (pun intended) of the week again and here we are at Illustration Friday once more. In some sense, the fashion sense as it were, new styles and trends seem to go back in time for inspiration. Contemporary designers who mine the old claims often as not give us a fresh twist composed of equal parts future and that new way of thinking about the past. Work it, baby! Baby work out!

Another long, long day -

"Yellow Top, With Navy Suit and Scarf"
digital collage by Mick Mather

Yes, again I have to post quickly and run off to greet the day and my grueling schedule. So, what better way than with a bit of a kooky nod to fashion posed in a somewhat industrial setting. Do feel free to meet me for a cocktail at 4:00 - it's always best to get properly prepared for those 6:00pm meetings. :D

Memory Lane, again! -

"After A Fashion"
digital collage by Mick Mather

While reading one of my favorite non-art blogs, Varifrank, this post discussed the ramifications of his 1,000th blog entry along with a bit of a stroll down memory lane. Too, I found a link to another instant fave, neo-neocon that I'll get to in a moment. I talk a lot about memory too - just yesterday in fact! - and how it's a welcome partner and collaborator in my art, about how the synapses seem to catch fire in the most unexpected recesses and of our personal histories that are nudged back out into the open as a cause and effect of the process we call remembering. There's a terrific post about memory at neo-neocon along with this one that relates in the most serendipitous way to an older post of my own while bouncing up against what you see here and now. Phew! That was a mouthful - all puns intended! Then, last week I was watching an old, old movie from my Top 10 list, To Sir With Love, and began entertaining a slough of memories while reliving some of the emotions of my late teenage years. A fabulous slice-of-life documentation of perceived advantage in rebellion among the disenfranchised poor of East London during the mid-60's. One of my favorite lines is when Sir, beginning to make headway with his disrespectful charges, says, "all fashion is a form of rebellion." Pan in on young faces taking a pause for thought as the fantasy of their supposed individualism was neatly sliced and diced via historical and cultural memory. Anyway, from time to time it comes down to being all about fashion I suppose...dunnit?

Sweep that runway -

"Fashion Plate"
digital collage by Mick Mather

Without jumping the gun - well, okay, without jumping too much! - there's that feeling of Spring in the air! My own winter funk is lifting and I'm beginning to feel the energy. Soon enough the snow will be gone, the flowers will be popping up and all the pretty girls will have stored their winter clothes for something a lot more - let's just say colorful, shall we? So, tonight's image is a toast to the imminent arrival...raise your glasses - to Spring!