This Picture...

I love tumblr as my aggregator of runway news and giving me some inspiring personal style shots at the same time. I don't know if this is just someone's picture they snapped for their flickr or for a lookbook or what. But at this moment, this is everything I love about fashion.

I haven't done a close reading of a photo here... or maybe at all. And I'm going to do one now that explains what I'm loving about this photo. Let's start at the top:

Hair: Bleached and dyed. But not “bleached” in the typical California blond way. I know from reading other blogs that this color of hair is particularly hard to achieve and therefor, pretty rare. You see a rainbow of dipdye at the moment. Solid grey/white dye is different. I like it.

Makeup: I wonder if this is airbrushed or photoshopped because her skin is flawless. No blush, just big lashes and a blended smoky eye. Black lipstick contrasts the whiteness of the photo. Usually black lipstick can stick out drastically but even compared to the photo's tone, I think it fits perfectly and isn't nearly as shocking as it generally is.

Clothes: My favorite part, big surprise! This one top describes my wardrobe in general. Lacey and girly and a bit of punky hardcore. Her top is as feminine as can be in a cream color with a lace neckline and a preppy collar. And then she studded the pocket and part of the collar with pyramid studs reminiscent of a punk rock belt that I had in my first few years of high school. It has that whole "hard yet soft" connotation that so many designers try to portray in their clothes. Fashion juxtaposition is so beautiful to me.

Tone: Minimalistic. Plain white, but it speaks volumes. She's not smiling or putting on a “model” face either, but just looking. This photo made me want to dive for my box of vanilla meringues and arrange them neatly on an antique silver platter.

Does that make sense?