PostScript!

My friends and workmates Najee and Rebekah put our heads together at her apartment a week ago to assemble this article as seen here at charlestonscene.com. My first photography credit outside of Stratford High's Excalibur yearbook! It's not much, but it's still excitement-worthy, I think (then again, a lot of things that wouldn't necessarily be to other people, are). I need to nab a paper copy of this somehow, for keepsake's sake.

Eine Kleine Neitzel

Before I begin this write-up, I have a confession to make: Until this past Tuesday the 16th, I had been completely oblivious to the name Logan Neitzel. My introduction came suddenly in the form of a tight squeeze between runway seating, where in a flurry of movement I self-cropped myself out of a fan photo and soon after paid witness to young (and I mean pre-preteen young) girls being ushered forward by their mother for his autograph. A quick whisper to a fellow volunteer for information gave me the leg-up I needed: Logan Neitzel of Project Runway's sixth season, and first on Lifetime Television. Don't get it twisted -- if I'd had cable in the apartment, I would have been planning my Thursday nights around it just like everyone else -- two participants, Gordana and Carol Hannah, hailed from South Carolina, after all. 

Looking back, I suppose it would be more correct of me to say that this past Tuesday was my first introduction to Neitzel as a person; it was a quick exchange of words on his way out of the runway tent and not another until this afternoon, when three friends (Najee, Vandie, and Ryn) and I had the fortune of seeking out his trunk show at Hampden Clothing while he happened to be milling around the store back.  

And this would be where I experienced Neitzel as a designer for the first time; after a cursory first run-through of his rack, I bore the assumption that the pieces displayed were factory-made. Not so -- I was impressed to learn from a sales associate that the clothes were, in fact, hand-made by the designer himself. This would later be  confirmed by the man of the hour, who graciously stepped out not long after to greet us with a, "Hey, kids!" and kindly hung around to field a few questions. With the proposition of a trunk show pitched to him without much forward notice, Neitzel had had to cut and sew and, I presume, hand-dye (I so do covet those moss-green leggings with the black paneled knees and stitching) in order to rush-deliver. But the finishing was superb, and the showcase "sci-fi inspired", with a rippling effect between "hard and soft."  Stand-out pieces included a brilliantly bad-ass draped-fit hoodie with all-over black mesh and contrast leather trimming (I'm a sucker for details as it is, but the crippling straw had to be the sequence of cut outs zipping down the length of the sleeves) and a little white dress with a diagonal sash of looped leather forging a path from shoulder to waist. Also featured were shoe skirts (so simple but so brilliant -- just strap it around the front of your ankle and bam! footwear totally transformed, quick as fairy dust!), a wide double-buckle belt (and I mean wide as a cummerbund), and a beautiful cropped white vest (if I knew what the yarn-like hair was, I would tell you!). If I had to throw out a name to compare the aesthetics to, I would have to say that Anne Demeulemeester's menswear sensibilities came to mind -- as devil-may-care as they are empowering, yet appropriately softened and tailored to a woman's silhouette when translated into Neitzel's vision.

But that's not all that Neitzel has up his sleeve for us. Non, non, non. To whet our curiosity further, he gave us a phone-screen preview of a lookbook that won't be wowing the Internet until its April 1st premiere on his website. And let me tell you, whether or not you have the wallet for it, you're in for a real treat.

CF/W 2010

The tents are up, the sun is out, downtown temperatures are finally rising, and as soon as increments of clean clothes start coming out of the dryer, my assembly process for Fashion Week-worthy looks can finally begin. It's become a little trickier than I thought, dousing myself in black; I've spent the past week Look for Less-ing and coming back empty-handed, but I think I'll be able to scrounge a few things together. Tonight is orientation at Marion Square for the volunteers, then tomorrow the fun begins!

Listening: "Flash Delirium" - MGMT

My earthbound heart is heavy; your heartbeat keeps things light.

Listening: "What Is Life" - George Harrison

What the WHAT?!

Snowwwww!

After eight years, it's finally come back to

hang out in the Holy City!

Did a walkabout... snapped this in front of the Children's

Museum. It was really coming down!

I love that truck. Everything in its bed was completely

covered. Also, check the cute romantic stroll going on.

Made this in the parking lot when I first got home

around 9. Had to leave to go charge up my camera, and

when I came back at around 10, all my tracks had

been covered back up! Had to do this, though. Snow

just before good ol' Valentine's!

Wonderful day! Beautiful teal Seychelles heels for $16,

new belts to accessorize with, closing up shop half an hour

early, and walking out to snow, snow, and more snow!

Last shots at the end of the day...

Cory, me, Vandie, Najee and Kristen. Shot by Kate Hohorst.

Map Dream: Spoleto, Italy

I'll fall in love there, I think. If not with a handsome fellow who likes oxford lace-ups and tailored suede coats with elbow patches, who gets around on foot or on bike and enjoys a brioche with his cioccolata calda and thinks my naïveté is both charming and, let's face it, funny, then I'll fall in love with everything else Umbria Hill could possibly offer.

I'm not picky. Not picky at all.

Inspo: Vincent van Gogh

Lately, I've been thinking...

Come a pet-friendly apartment, I will have Vincent, Pablo, Henri, and Pierre. And they will all be splotchy, mutty, just rolled through about three or four spilled puddles from paint cans little ragamuffins.

Closet: Eryn Brinie

It won't be this paycheck, or the next one, or maybe even the next one after that (amenities, Amazon.com book sprees, and my newfound shoe weakness have virtually decreed this) but in some way or another, this freaking adorable sailor romper will be mine.

I did, however, purchase one of her gorgeous turquoise satin belted frocks today. $54 dollars out of $162.80, so I'm feeling really good right about now. Really good, albeit hungry and cooped up in a library where a man's cellular or MP3 device is blaring "Free at Last" from behind me. Should I take this as a sign that at least some aspect of fashion is liberating? To answer that, I spent last night writing an essay on the dichotomy of Christopher Columbus's vintaged golden-boy reputation and his actual fall from grace... it bores me to even have to explain the prompt... but anyway, after forcing myself to make it read somewhat interestingly (I'm sure I still failed there) a little retail therapy was just the thing I needed on this hideously rainy day. So, yes, I would say so.

Writing that paper, however, forces me wonder: Why are we still talking about Christopher Columbus these days? Is he even relevant? He didn't set foot in North America, and the college here doesn't observe the 'holiday,' so. What has he done for me lately?