Your Weekly Shot of Lulu

Hello, folks – just a little note to tell you that Lulu Kieran is going to be shifting her focus to her new blog Dorothy Guest Tours the West. ‘Dorothy’ will include the same snappy writing you’ve grown accustomed to here at Lulu’s, and probably just as many drawings, too, but its topics will center mainly on Lulu/Dorothy’s daily life. Lulu’ll be returning to this blog now and then when she feels restless and needs to talk about fashion and herself in the third person – but if you’re unsatisfied with “now and then”, if you need your weekly shot of Lulu, you’ll be finding it in Dorothy Guest: same gal, different pseudonym. Thanks for all the support, and Lulu really really hopes you’ll follow her to the new blog, where emails and comments will be just as welcome as ever!

Much love,

Lulu Kieran

Yojimbeau

Lulu is really excited about Chloé’s Spring 09 collection, for it is filled with sharp, defined lines, muted earth tones, and blouses, trousers, and skirts which blossom above or below the waist at which they’re cinched; all in all, the collection reminds Lulu very much of the kimonos and samurai outfits she’s used to seeing in her favorite Japanese films. Outfits combining looseness – dropped crotches, billowy shirt arms – and tightness – fitted cuffs, trousers narrowing in the leg to a nearly-fitted above-ankle – are comfortable to wear and achingly chic. Chloé’s Spring collection has the best of both worlds; tomboyish menswear cuts and feminine hourglass shapes. Visit the Chloé site here (the look Lulu illustrated above is number 10 in Spring 09).

By the by, Lulu’s received emails from some of you guys asking about the photos she draws from; you say you can find photos of the garments Lulu discusses, but not always on the models she draws, or posed in the way she’s posed ‘em. That’s because Lulu takes pains to make her drawings unique. Sure, she’s illustrating actual garments, but Lulu thinks it’s much more interesting to imagine her own models rather than re-draw a photo. Sometimes, too, she tries to tie her models into the theme she’s discussing.

The above drawing, for example, has the topknot and all that because Lulu was talking of samurai films – actually, the drawing was MEANT to be posing like Toshiro Mifune in this still from Yojimbo, but Lulu got tired to trying and failing to reproduce that pose. She just gave her drawing a samurai sword and had done with it. But look, here’s one of Lulu’s sketches of Mifune – it’s actually a really difficult pose to draw.

These drawings belong to Lulu, and may not be reproduced without her consent.

Lulu Tells a Story

Gather round, friends, and list unto Lulu Kieran’s tale of woe: the tale of how she Could Not Find a Belt.

This story begins as most great stories do – with Lulu pulling on her Red Engine boyfriend-style jeans and finding that they were suddenly too large for her. Lulu was pleased, for this meant that her halfhearted diet and wholehearted exercise routine had been working. Though Lulu’s trousers were falling from her hips, she rejoiced:

When she came down off of her weightloss high, however, she realized that she looked rather like a prison inmate, what with her underwear exposed, not to mention her bold criminal swagger, and she decided that she would go out and buy a belt. Indeed, Lulu could picture it in her mind: a classic leather cowboy belt, with perhaps a decorative buckle. She sallied forth hopeful, and swept into a nearby boutique with this elegant supplication:

The shopkeep, a stylish lady near Lulu’s years, simply parted her hands mournfully, and replied:

Lulu did not understand meaning of the shopkeep’s gloomy words, and so cast her eyes nervously about, and saw, to her surprise, not a single cowboy belt on display. Rather, this shop offered THIN belts, intended not to keep a slim gal’s trousers up, but to accentuate another slim gal’s waist in a frock. They looked rather like this:

Well! said Lulu to herself. That is unfortunate. But surely this next boutique must carry cowboy belts. So Lulu, unfazed, entered the second boutique, and with a breezy gesture toward her dropping trousers, demanded:

This second shopkeep, a middleaged yogalady, took on a disconcerted look, and, glancing between Lulu’s face and the area to which Lulu had gestured, replied:

Indeed, this shop had NO BELTS AT ALL. Lulu, her nerves grated on by this second misfortune and by the yogalady’s expression, bolted out the door and sought a third boutique. Outside this boutique’s door Lulu halted, suddenly hesitant. Would this quest yield no fruit at all? It was a hard thought to hold. Lulu crept inside, twisting her hands and quivering, and whispered to the shopkeep:

This shopkeep replied to Lulu in a voice so cool and detached that it seemed unsuited to a situation of this gravity. He said:

Lulu went silent; she mouthed wordlessly; she staggered backwards out the door. She fled home, and quaked, and cursed the heavens, and scrabbled about hysterically. Then she had a cup of coffee to collect her nerves, and consulted her latest copy of L’Officiel, and noticed an awful lot of these thin dress belts, both in stories and adverts. Check out THIS LOOK from Akris, for example. Awfully cute, sure, but what of Lulu’s trouser’s? WHAT OF THEM, FRIENDS?

And Lulu’s dream of looking like a cowboy -

- what of that, then? (Incidentally, Lulu has a cowboy whip because Lulu found herself unable to draw a cowboy pistol. And even Lulu’s cowboy whip looks rather like a cowboy stick of dynamite, or a cowboy ketchup bottle spraying a thin line of ketchup out.) Is it too much to ask that Lulu’s pants be kept on her hips, or that she look like a cowboy? Lulu protests this new thin belt ubiquity – surely, in our new world of thin dress belts, there is room for classic belt shapes, time-tested and honored! Lulu shudders indeed to think of a world without cowboy belts for ladies. A cold world it’d be indeed.

These drawings belong to Lulu, and may not be reproduced without her permission.

Lulu Offers You a Bailey

Jaci Bailey, that is; because Lulu sure loves her! Or, well, she thinks she does. There really isn’t a whole lot of info out there about this Australian designer – in fact, Lulu’s very first exposure was only today, on seeing the excellent Jaci Bailey advert in Oyster. As far as Lulu can glean, J.B.’s look is made up of muted colors – grays, blacks, and fog blues – and 80’s silhouettes. J.B. seems like costumey for folks who don’t like costumey; the jacket Lulu illustrated above looks just a little bit like something Horatio Hornblower might wear.

But really, Lulu’s building this impression on very little, as the Jaci Bailey site is relatively spare, and images of her Spring collection are hard to come by. Click HERE to visit her site anyhow – you can see the outfit on which Lulu based this illustration on the main page.

Does anybody know anything about Jaci Bailey? Are her stores limited to Australia? FILL LULU’S EAGER EARS WITH YOUR ANSWERS!

This illustration belongs to Lulu, and cannot be reproduced in any way without her consent.

Go Ouest, Young Man

Lulu super-hearts Gaultier’s Spring 09 collection for Hermès; really, Lulu is delighted any time the French re-interpret classic American styles. In this instance, Gaultier has created a really sleek, sexy lineup of cowboy-inspired outfits invloving fluttery leather skirts, jackets and tunics heavy on the shrug-shouldered look (Lulu says “like Clint in his serape”; Lulu’s father, Kristiano, says “like J. Peterman!”) and the floppy, wide-brimmed offspring of the union between the sun hat and the cowboy hat. See footage which Lulu does not own from Hermès’ Paris show HERE, on a Youtube account with which Lulu is not associated.

These drawings belong to Lulu Kieran, and may not be reproduced in any way without her consent.

Lulu Says: “Hooray For Men’s Wear!”

Mens Wear? Menswear?

Normally, Lulu does not care for Marc Jacobs’ clothes for fellas, but this particular suit (the one she drew above!) from Spring 09 she liked very much. The cowboy boots weren’t part of the original Jacobs outfit, but Lulu added them for good measure.

Lulu can’t find a free-standing photograph of this suit online, so you’ll just have to visit the official Marc Jacobs menswear 09 page HERE. The suit Lulu likes is number 18.

LOL, Lulu forgot to add both pockets and piping to jacket and pants. Perhaps later she will amend this; most likely, she will not.

Very short post today because Lulu is very tired. Tra-la!

Lulu Sells More Things

Lulu has pondered long and hard on a way in which to unite her two great loves, Fashion and Literature. Today, she has found the answer! See the below photograph of Lulu’s fantastic original ink drawing, “Mod Puck”:

This Puck is a li’l bit mod, a li’l bit punk, a li’l bit wearing one of Lulu’s dance outfits. “Oh, Lulu, Lulu!” you cry. “I wish to buy this wonderful drawing! I wish to have it for my very own!” BOY OH BOY ARE YOU IN LUCK. Lulu has this 5×7 drawing UP FOR SALE in her Etsy shop. See HERE! It’s one-of-a-kind, so act fast!

Hey, here’s another image of Lulu’s drawing:

Lulu’s Mysterious Flowers

Normally Lulu posts here with one of her drawings, or at least with some interesting fashion commentary; today, however, she comes to you with neither of these, but with an earnest supplication for aid: WHAT THE HECK KIND OF FLOWERS ARE THOSE??? As you can see, Lulu has them on display in her kitchen, and they are very pretty, and (now, you can’t see this part) smell very very nice, but Lulu has no idea what they are. She’d like to know. Perhaps you can help. Surely some among you are horticulture enthusiasts, or have a book of flower types lying around, or are capable of thieving a book of flower types somebody else has lying around. Lulu will not ask the means by which you get her an answer – Lulu’s burning curiousity must be indulged. So get on that right now, all of you.

Update: Thanks a bunch to Lulu Smith (no relation) who told Lulu Kieran that these flowers are STOCKS, called “matthiola incana” by the more pompous. Hurrah! Another mystery solved.

Lulu is King of the Wild Frontier

Lulu is CRAZY about Roberto Cavalli this season – in particular, Lulu loves Cavalli’s glam rock-meets-apache warrior-style garments; they are filmy, brightly-colored, and theatrical. Lulu says “glam rock” because of the lightweight, see-through quality of the fabrics, and the deep necklines of so many pieces; Lulu says “apache warrior” because the patterns, whether geometrical or lava-lamp inspired, seem like melting versions of traditional Indigenous American designs (really, more like Navajo than Apache).

Lulu can’t find a photograph online of the garment on which her second drawing (below) was based; the only photo seems to be on the Roberto Cavalli site, and you have to click through a couple of other images to see it. If you want to do this (it’s not much trouble) visit the collection page on the Cavalli site. Lulu’s sorry she can’t send you directly to the image, and offers you her drawing as an apology.

These drawings belong to Lulu Kieran and may not be used in any way without her consent. Hey, also, as a thanks for reading this legal stuff, here’s a link to Lulu’s Etsy shop.

Lulu Wants to Be a Flapper

It’s true! Lulu’s enthusiasm for all 1920’s fashion burns with the intensity of a thousand white-hot suns. Why is she bringing this up now? Not only to cast some light into your bleak MidWinter, but also because the dress in yesterday’s post brought her favorite era to her thoughts. Gaultier’s bustier dress is an unusual shape: its waist is relatively high, its sleeves mock-kimono. It’s a shape that has been seen before, however, in the very early 1920’s:

This was a common shape for a day dress or “house dress” around 1920. America was just coming off the Gibson Girl ideal: the exaggerated hip of the late 19th, early 20th century did not disappear as soon as the 20’s hit; and the hairstyle you see on Lulu’s drawing is not a bob, but a long hairstyle pinned up; and if Lulu had been absolutely precise, she would have made her model somewhat plumper, as the spindly boyish flapper figure had not yet come into vogue at this time. This is an interesting transitional period, often overlooked for the more sensational “roaring twenties” fashions. It is more demure and more old rule, but knowing about it will help a scholar of 20’s fashion understand from whence evolved the gorgeous looks of later years. And gorgeous they certainly were!

Not that Lulu was around to see them. But she’s read a lot on the subject, and watched probably too many silent movies than is advisable. Lulu’s favorite 1920’s fashion book is titled, appropriately, “Fashions of the Roaring ’20s”, and it was written by a gal name of Ellie Laubner.

“Fashions” is a bible, remarkably comprehensive (do you want to know the names of particular common laces used on mid-twenties undergarments? because this book has ‘em!) chock-full of pictures, and written in a straight, unaffected voice (of which kind of voice Lulu knows nothing, but which she enjoys nonetheless!). This is a reference book, not meant to be read straight through, but an immense aid and pleasure to pick up at need or want. Lulu recommends this book for those who, like Lulu, absolutely cannot get enough 1920’s fashion.

So, you say to Lulu, I wish to buy this book, but don’t know where to do so: huge Amazon-type booksellers are faceless, and big ol’ stores like Borders are only a little less impersonal. Well! Lulu has the answer: buy indie! With the help of IndieBound, an organization promoting independent booksellers, Lulu is happy to offer you the chance to click directly from the IndieBound logo below to a page that will generate a list of indie bookstores nearby YOU that sell “Fashions of the Roaring ’20s”. Buy from a local store’s website with all the ease of Amazon or Borders, but your rewards – tightly-knit community, thriving business in your town – will be far greater. Buy independent, buy local, buy fashion!

Click on the logo to find the website of a bookstore near you that sells “Fashions of the Roaring ’20s”

These two fantastic drawings belong to Lulu, and, like all her drawings, may not be reproduced in any way without her consent.