The Tie-Dye Dilemma

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I'm torn. On the one hand my almost obsessive avoidance of anything Rave-related has me thinking that Tie-Dye is bad move. On the other, there's a part of my brain that draws me to it. The same part that has me watching Streetmate and sent me into a potentially life threatning cheese frenzy when McD's added Mozzarella sticks to their menu. The thing with TD is that it's been bubbling under for quite some time now. I wasn't at all surprised to see sprinklings of it during the SS08 shows but the real turning point was that Topshop summer offering, the Unique 'shocking' Pink n' Blue playsuit. Initially I laughed, mocked, poured scorn over the very idea. Two days later I'm thinking about it at the bustop like some forbidden multicoloured desire.

So, I finally gave in, who am I kidding? Guilty pleasures always win out. However this turned out to be more of a compromise then a surrender. In the continuing saga that is my Love/mild dislike for American Apparel, I picked up one of their 'Acid Wash' (ah,the power of semantics) Crew neck Tees, soft and sheer in a dappled mauve. It's my new favourite t-shirt, I'm loathed to wash it because that would mean we would be parted for a day. The effect is pretty subtle, this isn't a an ode to Woodstock and Bongs, more a touch of sharp colour that hints at Hippy but stops short of being too trend-specific. Too scared to go the whole hog, it looks like Pseudo Tie-dye might just be the way to go. Yeah, it's bit half-fat mayonnaise but it feeds the need...

AA


Rosalie Knox

Narcisco Rodriguez
SS08


Veronique Branquinho
SS08


Runway Images:Vogue/Style
Rosalie Knox @ www.oogaboogastore.com/
American Apparel

HAROLD - ZINE CRAFTERS

HAROLD magazine is pretty amazing. I had no idea what it was when I picked up a copy in the Miami American Apparel but the Ann-Sofie Back Cover and the fact that it was FREE!! GRATIS!! etc meant I had to grab hold of one. Apparently this is part two, the premier issue directed by my long-time fashion hero Bernhard Willhelm is at the top of my Frantic Internet Search List.

Anyway, it's really the design that does it for me, everything has a kind of DIY acid-wash feel to it, lots of solid typography and bold colours, it's like looking at a 3D picture without the glasses. There's a rather bizarre but revealing interview with the amazing Ms Back (Bjork and Galliano are overrated and the BFC is her arch enemy), an insight into being ginger and some short but sharp fashion stories featuring bicycle boys in lipstick.

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Swedish upstarts Cederteg Publishing are the brains behind HAROLD, creating a collection of small but perfectly formed zines, some one-offs some a continuing series, they cover a range of subjects but all continue on a similar aesthetic theme of thrown together, eye-catching goodness. Apparently it's available in the UK (bstore and AA) but I've yet to see it anywhere here in London. If I catch sight of it on home turf I'll be sure to send out the bat-signal.

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