Autumn Style Influence/s, March 2010

Good morning and guess what! It's the first day of Autumn. New season, new influences, new inspirations and new ideas. Here are a few of mine:

Melbourne City in the Autumn Season

New Runway Inspiration

Pastel Colours are huge for me now. I want pastel pencils, pastel dressess, pastel blush. Soft and pretty, I'll be wearing it in the stripes of my ideal little pink and white striped cotton frock, teamed with a chunkily crocheted scarf, thigh high navy socks and scruffy brown booties. Oh, and a pastel pink quilted Chanel purse, I wish.

Crochet in the Household

I particularly love the oversized crocheted doily on the floor (left) serving as a behemothic, snuggly rug. And the little crochet-cushion topped three-legged stool is so dainty: the atmosphere in that room is delightfully comfortable.

Bohemian, Neo-hippie Lifestyle

Neo-hippies are 21st century people who claim to live the hippie lifestyle, similar to that developed in the 1960s. My best friend laughingly described me to her mother as a 'modern style hippie with nice clothes and an interest in current trends'. I looked up some descriptions and definitions today as a joke and couldn't help laughing at the similarities (not saying which) I found.

Some Characteristics:

Longer hair and fuller beards than current fashion. Many white people wear curly or natty hair, or dreadlocks, as associated with the 1960s counterculture.

Bright-colored clothing and unusual styles, such as tie-dyed garments, dashikis, peasant blouses, and non-Western inspired clothing. Much of their clothing was self-made in protest of Western consumer culture. Head scarves and long beaded necklaces, for both men and women, were also fashionable in addition to sandals.

Listening to certain styles of music - psychedelic rock such as Jimi Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane, blues such as Janis Joplin (I love Janis), traditional Eastern music, particularly from India, or rock music with eastern influences, soulful funk like Sly and The Family Stone, jam bands like the Grateful Dead and folk music ie. Bob Dylan. Neo-Hippies frequently participate in the bluegrass music scene. Woodford!

Performing music casually, often with guitars, in friends' homes, or for free at outdoor fairs such as San Francisco's legendary "Human Be-In" of January 1967, the Woodstock Festival of August 15, 16, 17, 1969, or contemporary gatherings like Burning Man festival. Woodford!

The VW Bus is usually known as the counterculture/hippie symbol; a peace symbol is usually painted where the VW logo would otherwise be seen. Because of its low cost (during the late sixties), it was revered as a utilitarian vehicle. A majority of buses were usually repainted with graphics and/or custom paint jobs, this was the predecessor of the modern-day art car. Although not as common, they did also use the Chevrolet Corvair cars and vans.

Free love, drug use, communal living, use of incense.

Well, that's insightful. Consider yourself educated for the day, anyway.

So there's a few. I was so inspired when I woke up this morning at 5am that I couldn't get back to sleep, and have been researching all day! I love broadband (does that reduce my hippie authenticity?).

Keep your hats on ladies and gentlemen. xx OTIG