and the winner is: the knitted trophy jacket

this holiday season, i'll get by with a little help from my trends. namely, the trophy jacket. it's the best fashion term since jeans and leggings hooked up to produce the "jegging." what's more, it's cleverly derived from "trophy wife," which refers to the charming practice of ancient warriors capturing beautiful women to bring home as wives. (which is not unlike our modern version of the term, though i have a hard time imagining j. howard smith dragging anna nicole back to his cave.)

etymological appeal aside, the real allure of the trophy jacket lies in its offhanded glamour. it loves the nightlife, but is not afraid of the light of day. it can be worn with boyfriend jeans and a t-shirt or thrown on over a gown. it can be beaded, studded, sequined, feathered, and yes, it can even be knitted. one thing it cannot be is put in a corner. the trophy jacket makes a statement without saying a word.

thinking about a knitted trophy jacket reminded me of this matador jacket i've had in my inspiration file since the early 90s. i think it was designed by givenchy.



here's my take on that piece, which is still awaiting embellishments.



desperately seeking inspiration for your own knit trophy jacket? madonna's pyramid jacket was hot when the movie first came out in 1985 and it still rocks today.



or you could channel your inner chanel.




to knit your trophy jacket, find a pattern for a cardigan. simple shapes and uncomplicated stitch patterns work best. short and somewhat boxy with 3/4 sleeves would be perfect. then embellish to your heart's content with feathers, fringe, beads, buttons, you name it.


too many holiday projects queued up to knit your own trophy jacket? topshop has more trophys and just as much drama as tiger woods, including specimens in leather, lace, satin, faux fur, and wool. here are a few of my fave knitted ones:







so now you have no excuse not to give yourself a pat on the back. rest assured, this is one trophy that won't languish on any shelf.

next up: how to style your knitted trophy jacket

yes, yes nanette!

browsing around saks on my last visit to nyc, i made a beeline for this lacey peplum sweater in the nanette lepore department. turns out it is the EXACT same one featured in the fall 2009 vogue knitting. funny, i did not fall in love with it there. looking at the image in the mag, i think i know why. the devil really IS in the details here.



it looks like the model is putting her hand on her hip to hold up the shoulders of the cardigan. also, i don't like how the shawl collar on this one flares out at the waist. the store version of the collar tapered in and was more streamlined. the leopard belt is a cool idea. especially since it looks like the cardigan would fall right off her without it. the store version had a firmly knitted self belt--perfect.

of course, all this comparing-and-contrasting is merely procrastination for my own attempt to actually finish the darned thing. working from the top down, i've got about six inches of the neckline done. my knitting these days has consisted mostly of reverse stockinette stitch pillows at knit night with the girls. unfortunately, given the choice between knitting lace and drinking syrah, the syrah's gonna win out every time. oh, the sacrifices a girl will make in the name of fashion...

fringe benefits

readers of this blog will know that i am slightly obsessed with shaggy embellishments. and who can blame me with all the fringe benefits the current season is dishing up? case in point: this loopy vest from missoni. i am also mad about this topshop fringe jacket paired with gold lame by one of my favorite style bloggers betty.


i'm not exactly sure of the genesis of this obsession. maybe it's a flashback to a childhood filled with hirsute creatures like mister snuffleupagus and cousin itt. come to think of itt, was itt a he or a she?

my design: bubble bath

i'm really excited finally to be able to blog about my first published design! it's part of the newly released pure knits by yahaira ferreira. the book features 30 patterns for women, men and children--all knit in pure, white yarns. check out all the designs here.


my design is called "bubble bath." it's a light, airy babydoll tunic knit up in luscious kidsilk haze. i call it bubble bath because the texture of the garment reminded me of a tub full of mister bubble.


all this creamy white is the perfect backdrop for sumptuous texture...in this case, smocking at the waist.


the top also features flutter sleeves, another cute and easy technique with satisfying results.

i think the top would be a great layering piece over a sexy silk cami or slip dress. i like the idea of toughening up the romantic, ethereal look with a pair of boyfriend jeans, a short black biker jacket and distressed leather frye boots. i also like the idea of a long tunic-y top like this worn with shorts and tights.

let me know what you think!

rowan lust

the new rowan studio is out. they do such a great job styling these tightly edited pattern booklets. this little fitted cardigan is one of my faves. it would look really cute with shorts and tights, don't you think? the charming blog de betty showed a great sequined pair that would sharpen the edge on any holiday outfit.

goofus and gallant

j lo mistakes a shower cap for a slouchy beret.


e wazz wisely perches her seed-stitch beret jauntily to the side.

snooditude

what could be simpler, more versatile, and suddenly, more chic, than a long, knitted tube? the snood abides. and once again, it's a trend we knitters were onto long before burberry or missoni thought to revive it for fall.

rifling through my stash of vintage vogues, i came across this rihanna-ready specimen from 1985. insert your own shoulder pads and thinly veiled irony and you're snood to go! everything old is new again! or, as my mother likes to say, "it ALL comes back."



but this time around, it is decidedly NOT your grandma's snood.



a quick google turned up versions from the high-end net-a-porter to the more affordable gap.





or, for even more recession-friendly fashion: grab some bulky yarn from your stash and a pair of big needles and whip up your own. with a few additional inches of stockinette, my free XO UO cowl pattern could easily be turned snood-worthy.

casual friday: time for sequins?

3.1 phillip lim fall 09

in case you haven't noticed, i'm a bit of a trend whore. maybe it's the fact that i work in a creative biz and it's my job to stay open to new stuff. maybe it's the fact that i was raised by a mother with an extensive feather boa collection. either way, i am all over this sequins-for-daytime thing.

i'm not just talking daytime-at-the-mall or daytime-at-the-music-festival. hell, phillip lim (i wonder if he'd mind me calling him phil) in his fall 09 collection managed to make them look like they'd pass the dress code for daytime-at-the-IRS.

and the dressed-down sequins trend continues for spring 10 at ralph lauren.

how can i not be inspired? so inspired in fact, that, as i toil away in my sunlit studio, alone save for my norwich terrier mac, i am adorned in a fab vintage top that's completely encrusted in sequins and beads. ode to carrie bradshaw, i suppose.

the key to mixing sequins with your cheerios seems to be keep it simple and juxtapose it. in other words, resist the temptation to strap on a pair of tranny shoes or thigh-high loubies. step away from the statement necklace and leopard tights. instead, pull on your sequin top over your fave pair of skinnies and understated flats. or wear your sparkly dress with a cozy grandpa cardigan and rugged frye boots.



rooting around for just the right piece to wipe the smartass grin off my own sequin top, i came across this cowichan-inspired cardi designed by cecily glowik. on loan from knitscene for my stylespotting gig, the casual cardigan is the perfect foil to my glitzy vintage top. paired with a rocker tee, skinny jeans and tobacco suede flat boots, i'm feeling very haute hippie. mac can barely contain his excitement. perhaps a sequin collar is in order?

cape fear?

like many knitters, there was a time when i thought if i never saw another poncho or cape, it would not be too soon. in fact, i felt about ponchos and capes the way i feel about backward baseball caps and goatees. enough already!

but lately, i am starting to come around (again).

starting with this drop-dead-gorgeous cabled cape from louis vuitton. featured in this month's phonebook-sized vogue, it's part of a return to forties-glam that's made modern with a warm-grey pencil skirt and accessorized with a flirty bow, dark leather gloves, and thin, chocolate brown anklets paired with pumps. what makes the cape work for me is that there is not one iota of boho to it. it is chic, lady-like and veddy british. classic.

the moment i saw this cape, i thought of this ruched beauty from last year's amimono fall collection.



my friend michelle is making this out of the rich mushroom isegar alpaca 2. it is as soft as powder and drapes perfectly.



i pulled this missoni ad clip out of my inspiration file. not sure which fall collection it's from; 2005 perhaps? but it's every bit as beautiful today. which is more than i can say about backward baseball caps and goatees.

cape or cloak? readers of this blog who happen to be fashion history nerds (and you know who you are), may appreciate this enlightening diatribe.

welcome to the new knitlit!

i've been wanting to change up my blog template for ages. today, in an impulsive rush of caffeinated energy, i finally did it. the masthead is courtesy of my uber-talented designer pal, chrissy ortiz. sidebar links to come...but what do you think of the new look so far?

kiss kiss, pom pom

my husband was out of town last night. all the better for me to indulge in one of my guiltiest pleasures: watching DVR'd episodes of the rachel zoe project. slowly i watch, frame by frame, so as not to miss a single fashion nanosecond. in between multiple pause-asms over taylor's thigh-high louboutins, i find myself strangely intrigued by the hat rachel tries on at diane von furstenberg.



the hats top off DVF's fall 2009 "nomad" collection. it's a look intended for a woman who likely lives nowhere near a kazakh pasture, though that is precisely the inspiration behind it.



DVF reinterprets the ubiquitous russian hat, or ushanka, without a single follicle of fur. instead, she uses a medium more dear to my inner child than silly putty: pom poms.



and that is exactly the genius behind it.





of course, not everyone can pull off this look. but then again, it takes a special kind of je ne sais quoi to pull off any kind of look that truly stands out from the crowd. some may say it takes balls. giant balls of yarn.



inspired to make your own version of DVF's gallinet pom pom hat? there's no better way to use up leftovers from your stash while creating one of fall's most coveted accessories (really, RZ almost walked out the door with hers!) to begin, knit a close-fitting cap. then rock out about 25-30 pom poms. they should be a mix of sizes and mix of solids and multi-colored hues. the first trick is placing them on the cap. (one false move could take you from "how'd she do it?" to "oh no she di'int!") the second trick is growing the kahunas to place the cap on your head and walk out the door in broad daylight. as DVF says of the nomadic woman, "wherever she goes, she belongs. her clothes are her friends." maybe frenemies is more like it.

crop or not?

louis vuitton fall 09

let me be brief: i am short.

short as in shortest-kid-in-the-class-all-through-school short.

short as in i-worry-about-being-decapitated-by-the airbag-in-a-car-crash short.

i am five-foot-one to be exact.

bless me, trinny and suzannah, for i have sinned.

i have fallen head-over-five-inch-heels in love with a pair of cropped trousers.

call me short-sighted, but i am gonna pull this look off, dammit.

and thanks to the similarly vertically challenged anamaria wilson, i now know just how to do it. she writes about the new pants in the current issue of bazaar.

tips for pulling them off:

* wear a skyscraper heel. flats quickly transform cropped trousers from fab to frump.

* size totally matters. stefan pilati, who pioneered the abbreviated silhouette at LV, says in the article, "you have to manage the volume of fabric; otherwise you end up looking like a wagon."

* add a dash of panache. pair with a cropped or short jacket, basic tank and "accessories with lots of punch."


j. crew fall 09

did someone say "accessories with punch?"


via

in case you need another reason to love cropped trousers for fall: anklets and heels, socks & sandals, peds and platforms. call me short, shrimpy, dwarfen or crazy, but i am planning on diving straight into this look, too. feet first, of course.





naturally, stylish knitters had been showing off their socks and shoes long before the fashion cognoscenti got a whiff of the trend. check out this amazing 2007 FO shot by flintknits, one of my favorite knitting photos of all time.


via

and what about these lacy anklets by the fabulous laurent of laine zinzin?

i am not much of a sock knitter, but there is a pair of new cropped silky trousers in my closet that are calling out for a pair of dainty socklets to keep them company.

how 'bout you? will you sock it to the cropped look?

yarnover movement

this is BAH!nanas. such fall fabulousness is making me want to commit random acts of stitchery this very moment.

spotted

forget the fact that i have a girl crush on alexa chung. who wouldn't? she's just so damn cool. but let's focus on the spots for an MTV minute, shall we? i love the way this leopard knit looks paired with the red cross-body bag. and are those vertical strips of sequins on that pencil skirt? meowwww! the point is, we're seeing spots all over the place these days.



i've long been into leopard. the vintage cape and hat belong to my friend mary ann.



found this amazing funnel neck tunic by mary jane protus in my collection of vintage VKs. this one is from 1989.



and this 1986 perry ellis animal print could have prowled the fall 2009 catwalk.



sure, you can treat it as a neutral, but there is nothing beige about a leopard print. some years back, i went to cannes during festival week. i thought i had seen it all the night we were walking back to our hotel at 4 am and spotted a man casually strolling down the croisette, butt naked. the next day, we saw the leopard ladies.

this mother and daughter duo apparently meander around the festival year after year spreading leopard love.

j. crew creative director jenna lyons says leopard worn below the waist cheapens the look. and much as i heart jenna, i may have to disagree. this girl looks effortlessly cool in her little white sneaks, bomber jacket and leopard leggings.


via

what about you? will you wear animal print tights or leggings this fall? or just a touch of animal chic like a belt or a hat? or do you prefer to keep your wild side under wraps?

pixie dust

love this oversized grey braided number from pixie market. the whole look is very marc jacobs circa 1989.

slouchy knit cap: wool, silk, cashmere, alpaca, possum?

i can hardly wait to knit this slouchy cap by cathy carron from the fall 2009 issue of VK. the yarn is a brand i've never seen before: kia ora's zealana "rimu." which all sounds very exotic in a holly-hunter-in-the-piano kind of way. upon closer inspection, however, i note that the fiber content is new zealand merino wool...and...possum.

come again? possum? really? my mind immediately changes channels from "the piano" to "flight of the conchords;" and anyone who watches that knows what the aussies say about NZers and sheep. now...this.



with apologies to bret and jemaine, not to mention ellie mae and granny, i can't quite envision myself knitting with yarn spun from a varmint. a few years back, my friend laurie and i attended a knitting retreat in camden, maine. strolling through the picturesque harbour town, we spotted a woman knitting in her car. we poked our heads inside to inquire what she was working on. i can't recall what the garment was, but i will never forget the fiber. it was yarn spun from dog. her dog. she swelled with pride. we recoiled in horror.

don't get my wrong. our norwich terrier mac will always be my BFF, but i simply can't imagine merrily stockinetting away with the fur off his back. let alone wear it on mine.

how 'bout you? do you share any of my knittiosyncracies with fiber content? or am i being just a hair too fussy?