AN ATTEMPT TO IMPROVISE

I am noticing that I am becoming more and more bored with everyday pieces of clothing. For almost two months I leave the stores empty-handed. Currently I am in the mood to put on some kind of installation. Because of that I got the idea to try my skills and imagination. Primarily I was interested in how my pieces can move away from the standard everyday look. I must mention that I do not have any skills in tailoring and sewing. I even cannot draw what I envisioned. Usually I have to realize a plan quickly so I would not forget a single detail.

The basic idea was to show a sort of rebirth, like a transformation from a dark robust cocoon into a certain amount of softness and light. I used an imitation leather skirt as a sleeve and armor. I wanted to get the volume and drapery from all sorts of materials. I do not know if I succeeded but I like it.

Nikolina: an attempt to improvise

Photos: Erik Simonič

PORCELAIN DOLLS

There is something scary in porcelain dolls. Especially the old ones. Dressed in voluminous skirts and frilly sleeves. Alway looking at you with big eyes behind the glass of a closet in someone's grandma home. They were made to be cute, but there is something scary about them. I don't know or is it the eyes or the big hair or just the posture of the body. But I would not have a porcelain doll at home.

Clothes: a little bit of improvisation

Photos: Erik Simonič

WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY

We're all aware how technology and innovation rapidly evolve and progress each day. But how much is technology involved in fashion design, does technology in fashion serve people, what is the concept behind "intelligent" and technologically advanced garment?

Will it's construction and the way it interacts with people make it desirable to wear or even wearable at all? In the first place we should have in mind inventions like "Brain Cap" or "Solar Powered Cargo Pants" that resemble superhero outfits like Iron Man or Robocop.

Here are some of my favorites which satisfy not only with functionality but also with aesthetics of wearable technology:

Sue Ngo and Nien Lam: Pollution - Detecting Sweatshirts

Gusho - A Reactive Dress that Responds to RF Radiation

Zip jacket - Wearable Tech Jacket Runs iPod With Hand Gestures

Raincatch: A Water Purification Rain Coat

Detectair: an Eco - Wearable that Detects Air Quality

“Intelligent” T- shirt Monitors Hospital Patients’ Vital Signs and Movements

Alice Ziccheddu - Living Kinetic Clothes

Hussein Chalayan’s Hour Glass Dress transform through three decades 1940s – 1950s – 1960s.

And in the end... if I ever get the chance for having my high tech piece, that would be Rad Hourani's limitless garment with it's changeable geometrical shapes, made just for me like some perfect, dark, timeless bulletproof shield in which I can survive isolated, like in tundra, shown in this photo.

Nikolina: vest Zara, sweater Rare – Asos, skirt H&M, pants Stradivarius

Photos: Erik Simonič

TOM BOY

Apparently this winter is a man look for me. No skirts, no curves (like I have any), just very maschuline pants and shirts. I even took a habit from Nikolina to go wondering around men corners of the shop to look for some clothes. I am still trying to figure out what influences my way of dressing. Last year it was very girlish. This year don't show me skirts, I want strickt  pants and raw boots. Maybe it's all about choosing a suitable shell for a certain period of time.

Urška: jeans QS by s.Oliver, shirt by Urška, cardigan Pull&Bear, shoes Cube

Photos: Erik Simonič

THE SHINING

Hello Danny!

Come play with us!

Come play with us, Danny!

For ever

And ever

And ever!

                                            

                        (quote from the movie The Shining)

We found this ravaged military building in the woods. The first room was quite bright, white walls, enough light. We made some shoots there. Then we found another room in the same building. It had an entrance in the woods and it was very dark and small and narrow. It didin't have a good vibe to it. When we walked into the room, we felt discomfort. During shooting, me and Nikolina were looking over our shoulders just in case someone was behind us, like some presence in the silence of the room. Remember in the movie »The Shining«, there was a force in the hotel called »shine« with memories, not all of which were good!? The whole place and energy of the place reminded us of that. And with the day slowly ending, it was getting dark and with darkness the room was getting smaller and smaller - claustrophobic terror!?

Well, Erik didnt feel anything and me and Nikolina, well, we have to stop watching horror movies because our imagination has no bounderies.

Nikolina: blouse vintage from Irena's grandfather, sweater, skirt and trousers H&M, shoes Biaggini

Urška: blouse, sweater and trousers H&M, shoes Cube

Photos: Erik Simonič

CLASSIFIED AD

Two young, well behaved, hard working peasant girls looking for two young, well behaved, hard working farmers with a big farm and large fields :)

Urška: shirt Pull & Bear, skirt Promod, sweater and headband H&M, boots CUBE

Nikolina: t-shirt Urban Outfitters, skirt Promod, shoes Biaggini

Photos: Erik Simonič

VITRUVIAN ME

While the whole fashion world is currently commenting on upcoming spring-summer 2012 trends, I again get preoccupied with the same issue – people's constant need to artistically portray a human body and the way these images changed over centuries.  Ever since the antics sculptors and painters searched for the ways to explain the secret of beauty by mathematics and numbers. The last photo reminds me a little bit of Da Vinci's Vitruvian man and makes me think about the rules of proportions men established, and the idea that shape and proportions of human body are nature's most perfect creation.  Vitruvian measures perhaps can be taken for depiction of ideal human proportions. One of them says: the length of the outspread arms is equal to the height of a man. I wanted to know real examples of how much and how often we deviate from these ideal measures. I asked some of my friends for their measures and here are the numbers:

	Height (cm)	Length of the outspread arms (cm)
Helena	175	172,5
Irena	176	180
Urška	168	176
Maja	172	165
Aleš	186	191
Matjaž	184	183
Fonze	180	180

Urska's measures were a little bit odd so we measured her three times, and the numbers are correct, so she’s gifted with long hands. For two days she keeps saying that she's the living proof that man evolved from monkey... Well Fonze, it looks like you're the only one, if nothing else, then by this one measurement, who is suited to be a Vitruvian man.

Nikolina: blouse Miss Selfridge, t-shirt H&M, vest TOPSHOP, pants Stradivarius, skirt and boots ZARA

Photos: Erik Simonič

TOM

So I put on my hat, I put on my new shoes that look more old that any of the shoes I have at home,  and I look at myself and think: »Well, there is quite a lot of elements of Tom Waits look in this outfit«.The washed black color of the pants and the hat and the shoes.

Coincidence? Or just the fact that I adore him and sometimes I unknowingly choose clothes similar to his. Even thouh I don't think that Mr.Waits gives a shi... about fashion. And speaking of this great songwriter, I just put down some quick answers that he gave in an interview that capture his sense of humor whitch I think it's hilarious.

On what occasion do you lie?

TW: Who needs an occasion.

When and where were you happiest?

TW: Ninetheen sixty-three, 1 A.M., washing dishes on a Saturday night in the kitchen of Napoleone Pizza House, 619 National Avenue, National City, California.

What do you regard the lowest depth of misery?

TW: The floor just below that.

What is your most marked characteristic?

TW: My ability to discuss, in depth, a book I've never read.

                                                                       (Tom Waits, The collected interviews)

Urška: blouse, sweater, pants, hat H&M, jacket Pull & Bear, scarf s.Oliver, cardigan by Urška, shoes Amisu.

Photos: Erik Simonič

NEW LANARK

I am fascinated with places that reflect a strong history. New Lanark is a small 18th-century village and became famous as the site of Robert Owen's pioneering social reforms. I was walking beside amazing cotton mill buildings and thought about how people lived and worked in Owen's time.

Owen reduced working time from 17 hours to 10 and children under the age of 10 were not allowed to work in the mill.

"What ideas individuals may attach to the term "Millennium" I know not; but I know that society may be formed so as to exist without crime, without poverty, with health greatly improved, with little, if any misery, and with intelligence and happiness increased a hundredfold; and no obstacle whatsoever intervenes at this moment except ignorance to prevent such a state of society from becoming universal.”

Extract from Robert Owen’s "Address to the Inhabitants of New Lanark"

New Year’s Day, 1816

Nikolina: skirt H&M, cardigan Promod, shoes TOPSHOP

Photos: Erik Simonič

ALLO 'ALLO

»Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once!«

I bought this trench coat in a second hand market. It is an vintage MURA coat.  Love it, great cut and quality. As soon as I put it on, Nikolina said that I reminded her of Michelle from the TV series Allo'Allo. And whenever she seas me in this coat she quotes to me the very famose frase from the leader of the French Resistance Michelle.

Urška: coat MURA vintage, trousers H&M, shoes Blowfish

Photos: Nikolina Komel

DOTS, MY BELOVED ROOTS

I'm trying to find myself with every new trend. After an unsuccessful search I turn my back and see how lucky I am this season.
Dots are the easiest way to wear for me this season because I grew up with them. In the photos above my dots seem somehow ordinary. I want to hallucinate as Yayoi Kusama and create infinity like she did (see the last photo).

Nikolina: dress H&M, pants Zara, blouse Miss Selfridge, bag s.Oliver
Photos: Erik Simonič and Matjaž Komel