We have quite the tale in store for you today at The Eye of Faith. . .
This one is taken from the darkest depths of our imagination and tells the hidden tales of a quaint small town, not too far from where you sit. It could be any small town, but this one is brimming with mystery, and dare I say, perhaps even evil!
Things started out innocent enough, but there are certain places on this Earth where malevolent energies cluster and stay for many thousands of years. It is in the quiet of the country, far from the claws and chains of the city, that have provided families and individuals with the peace, calm, and safety they desire.
But often times, it is the unsettling chill of calm that can provide the most fright….
Even in a town where everyone knows your name, you never know the myths and legends being made behind closed doors or the grim memories lost deep beyond the trees at night. This one is all about wayward youth, rebellion, seduction, secrets, mysteries, beauty, and strength.
Please enjoy our Small Town Dreams & Nightmares . . .
With shows like CW’s “RIVERDALE” capturing our imagination, and a new season of “TWIN PEAKS” in our midst- it goes to show that while the big city is full of brights lights and noise, sometimes its our thirst for nostalgia, the whispers in the trees, and our love of mystery that truly excites our bones!
To our vintage dreams, and to our vintage nightmares – this one is to a town not yet forgotten. Keep the mystery close, for you never know what clues you may stumble upon. For all you know, they might still need your help.
EXCITING THINGS ABOUND FOR THE E.O.F. {SO STAY TUNED}
‘Concision in Style, Precision in Thought, Decision in Life”
You may have noticed those immortal words when browsing through our ABOUT US page, although the phrase is more like this:
+ CONCISIONEM STYLO, ACCURATIUS CORDE, IUDICARI VITA +
Since our inception, these words have helped build the foundations for creating The Eye of Faith, and we never forgot them along the way.
Wise words from an icon in his own right, Victor Hugo (and I’m not too sure if he would be one for musicals ) . . . but none the less, his “concision in style, precision in thought, and decision in life”, have made him and his work relevant to this very day!
It’s quite wild how the past comes and goes, and is brought back to life again. Inspiration finds it’s way through the cracks of your mind to infiltrate your thoughts and create something special. This comes into play every time you make your way into your own wardrobe, for example. You stare at your clothes and an idea might come to your mind, and thus a new look, and a new you is born!
While our motto CONCISIONEM STYLO, ACCURATIUS CORDE, IUDICARI VITA (it just sounds so F***ing good in Latin) has carried us far the past year, most mysterious 2014, we have a few new thoughts for the year ahead, and some new virtues we want to inherit and inspire for 2015.
+KNOWLEDGE+
+KNOWLEDGE+ has always been an important piece of the puzzle here at The Eye, and for our frequent followers and visitors, you have come to expect in our approach an appreciation for history and all it’s secrets and quirks. We love to expose the {PAST} and examine where it fits into the {PRESENT} and hopefully, using our age defying wisdom, we can summarize a likely {FUTURE}.
Much like the alchemists and sorcerers of the past, the gaining and collecting of knowledge, every little bit no matter how esoteric, is a vital aspect of one’s true power, for when the time comes and all you are left to is you and you alone, you can count on yourself to follow through! Whether we’re talking life or fashion, no one is ever going to blame you for knowing too much.
We hope to continue in this vein, and bring you more and more vintage memories and musings that can both inspire and inform.
+INTEGRITY+
Since we began creating The Eye of Faith, we have been told a million and one things we should be doing instead. Everyone and their mother has had an opinion on our vision, without even asking what that vision may be!
We came into this game knowing full well who we were, and what we intended to accomplish. You don’t see another site quite like The Eye of Faith online, and that is a good thing. We are not trying to fall into place behind other fashion blogs (most of which look the same) who recycle content from site to site, but we wanted to be true innovators on the scene. This dedication to our vision, and always standing by it without changing it to appease naysayers is why we have ruled +INTEGRITY+ as a continuing priority here at The Eye of Faith.
The Eye of Faith was conceived as a portal to the past with many seemingly disparate items, articles, and stories coming together to create a well-rounded vision of how little things have changed, and how cool the past really was! This will continue NOT to change.
We will also not be picking any random articles of vintage clothing to add to the collection. Nothing is arbitrary, and each piece speaks to a certain story or style we are aiming to incorporate into the vision of the collection as a whole. Believe us, it’s not as easy as it sounds! It’s called +INTEGRITY+
+COURAGE+
The Spirit of Contemplation (1901) by Albert Toft {1862 – 1949}
+COURAGE+ has always been our silent leader when it came to creating The Eye of Faith. In fact, the whole idea of the The Eye of Faith encapsulates this virtue entirely.
The Eye of Faith is an age old symbol of +COURAGE+, and by the pure belief in matters at hand, and some proper insight, one may be given sight to see the way to get to one’s destiny. It’s a silent pathway, but a strong one, and without proper reinforcement your trail could just wither into the wind before your eyes and you would be left to find your way without the guidance of the fates. . .
The latter is a path many of choose in life, but since we are beings with a choice, we definitely chose to trust that The Eye of Faith will get us where we belong.
It took a lot of +COURAGE+ to stand up and tell those we know and love our belief in it, but it definitely seems to be paying off, with everyday us getting stronger and stronger.
+STRENGTH+
+STRENGTH+ comes in many forms. We need it constantly; in the physical sense, to keep up the hustle of getting our pieces from one place to another, and even more so in the emotional and spiritual sense, when it seems like you’ll never figure it all out.
Truth is, you’re never going to figure it all out, so best stop wasting your energy on that one . . .
Having +STRENGTH+ of mind is more powerful than any fist when it comes to life. Creeping deep down into oneself and building +STRENGTH+ from within is your best start. From there, everything else will seem like a cinch!
+IMAGINATION+
I once read somewhere that +IMAGINATION+ is more important than +KNOWLEDGE+
But I don’t think that is quite true, as much as learning to utilize both to one’s advantage can be the most powerful tool of all.
+IMAGINATION+ is quite literally the God-Sense in all of us. If you seek the divine in the everyday all you need do is open a pad of paper and sketch, or write for an hour about any old thing, even messing about your wardrobe will suffice. It is simply that beautiful magical moment where your brain has decided to create something new, and completely you.
You are a well of ideas and inspirations, and once you are able to tap into that spring, you might find your true self overflowing!
+ + +
So there you have it!
Our five newly anointed principles that can be used not just for your style sensibilities, but use them in life, as well. If you use them right, the transformations will happen almost immediately.
Feel free to adapt our Rules to fit your own life, or simply come up with a few of your own.
What means most to you? In the end, that’s all that matters. We know what we need to do to survive, and we’re going to definitely be making it happen! So hopefully some of our words of wisdom have rubbed off a bit, and we can all make things happen together!
Lovely ladies, it seems we’ve been thinking of you a lot lately. It’s not by accident, for we have been meditating on many thoughts as of late about our many loves and desires when it comes to female fashions. In true E.O.F. Style we stepped back to the past for a little taste of times past to infiltrate our vintage vision for the future. When it comes to sweaters, it’s not hard to see how having a great one is top of the pops for most style driven Sams and Sallys. If it’s not one, it better be a hundred. There aren’t many sweater that go out of style, either. They are simply one of those timeless treasures that titillate… Indeed, there was a time when we imagined only the good girl donning a prim and proper sweater, but don’t be fooled. Many a femme fatale and vixen have adorned their bodies with an armor of angora to dumb found the senses. We looked back the distant and recent past to pull some of the best images we could find that helped seduce and inspire. Listen close, and you might hear the sweet, sweet, song of the Sweater Girls….
“I’ve got a twenty pound ball hanging on a chain around my neck.
I’ve got to get away, run before I’ll be called away.
I’ve got to break these chains, before I go insane.
I’ve got to get up and go, go any place I don’t know.
I’m gonna break away from all the chains that bind
And everyday I’ll wear what I want
And do what suits me fine…
I’m gonna break away…
Break away from the Everyday…”
-“Breakaway” sung by Toni Basil, Prod. by Ed Cobb.
Summer is at its peak, and its time to embrace the ultimate piece for the summer. . . .the Hawaiian Shirt. For some reason, this idea makes some people cringe, but over the course of this post you will see the innate beauty and wonder that is the Hawaiian Shirt.
The Case for Hawaiian Shirts really began when I was 8 years old and my mother brought home a Hawaiian shirt for me from her trip to Hawaii. I had begged her to grab me one while she was touring the islands for work. Seemed to me like the coolest thing!
It was a wicked print, nothing too crazy, pretty much an example of a classic Hawaiian shirt.
I remember my locker neighbour saying: “Whats wrong with you?”
“WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?!” is what I wanted to say, but I just shrugged and laughed her aside. She didn’t even have a sense about her as she was herself wearing something completely typical of the girls in my classes around these times…
She just couldn’t appreciate it the way I did. For me, it made me feel the most ahead of the game. I was different than the rest, and that’s always a good thing. For me, there’s just no doubting a really great Hawaiian Shirt.
{Donna Reed + Montgomery Clift, “From Here to Eternity” [1953]. }
{Michael Pitt for Prada S/S 2012 by David Sims}
Lately there’s been a huge influx of Hawaiian and tropical shirts in both runway shows and magazine editorials – it seems the world is finally catching on and getting a little more in tuned with not just my drift, but the truth of the whole matter. Open up any mens fashion magazine and you will find them littered in the colourful graphics.
The case for Hawaiian and Tropical print shirts is that they are as much a classic staple in ones wardrobe as other pieces heralded as being part of our sartorial lineage.
There is plenty of mythology revolving around the the true origin of the Aloha shirt (as they are also called) that range from birth in the Philipines to the islands of Samoa. Until the early 18th century, kapa was the main currency of many islands of the South Pacific. Kapa was a simple patterned cloth found in the South Pacific made from pounding and dyeing the bark of a mulberry tree. These prints later made a splash again in the 1950s. However, it is safe to accredit much of why we still sport and wear these styles to the craftsmanship and entrepreneurial efforts of one, Musa-Shiya the Shirtmaker. Throughout the 1920s and 30s, Musa-Shiya was one of the top Japanese tailors in Honolulu, who profited from his made-to-order custom silk shirts made with colourful and bright Japanese fabrics with Western-style tailoring.
These shirts helped tourists visiting the island make that final transformation to truly being on vacation, taking it easy, and saying goodbye to the stresses of the mainland. Forget your troubles, come on be happy! Soon after other Japanese tailors were doing the same, and quickly the demand for these tailored tropical refuges only began to soar. The 1953 film, “From Here to Eternity” would pretty much seal the deal with stars such as Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, and even Frank Sinatra sporting the casual cuts of florals and tropical sunsets.
+ + +
From here on out, it pretty much has become the go-to expression of ease. Picking the right pattern is about 90% of the magic. There must be literally thousands, if not millions of different Aloha prints floating around in this world, and not all of them good. The key is equal parts colour as it is pattern – make sure both are really slamming. Compromise on this and you could really fall flat.
FIT would be another major point. So make sure it fits to your liking, or get it altered to fit your needs. Alteration is often the key to vintage, so if you haven’t already, be sure to check your local yellow pages for tailors or alterers in your neighbourhood. They will be happy to oblige, and you’d be surprised at how cheap it can be.
If you’re feeling a little more lax and party you may want to embrace some volume (think Sean Penn as Spicoli from Fast Times, or Johnny Depp in Fear & Loathing) or you can keep the cut classic and simple with a bit more of a tailored look to emulate classic stars like Clift, Sinatra, or Delon. Either way – you’re pretty much laughing …
And just in case you’re unsure, check out our pics of style stunning inspiration that ranges from the {PAST} to {PRESENT}. So take a look, and decide your {FUTURE}…it’s calling! All year round, these shirts takes you where you want to go! It’s time to declare the Hawaiian Shirt an equally valuable piece of everyone’s wardrobe.
It’s a defining piece with the magical ability to transport us from our everyday, and for those dedicated followers of fashion these pieces are definitely gaining visibility.
This is what I’m saying!
If you don’t look back, you can never go forward!
So hopefully you appreciate this menagerie of the exotic and wild! Check out The Vintage Hawaiian Shirt for more history, and a look at the web’s most impressive collection of them! Don’t be stuck staring at your everyday checks, plaids, and plain…carry on the {TRADITION} and accelerate the past!
Make sure you also check out the E.O.F. {SHOP}! We are stocking up more and more fashion forward pieces from our collected history so make sure to check it out!
{The Feedback and Support has been great! So thank you all!}
Also join us on FACEBOOK , TUMBLR, & TWITTER for more vintage musings from the one and only {EYE}!
Indeed there are many sinfully stylish idols to worship throughout “The Great Gatsby”; like masculine and cool Jordan, soft and feminine Daisy, even the bookish narrator Nick. And then of course there’s the poster boy himself, Jay Gatsby ,who shall always remain in the fore realm of our memory as a hero to determination and an eternal icon of excess.
But, one that is often overlooked has to be Tom Buchanan; the brutish and masculine husband of Daisy.
This powerful Yale alum is as much the style savant as any of the other devilish dandies that parade themselves throughout the story. This time around, however, Tom Buchanan is as much the idol of style as anyone of his other stylish co-sars.
We thought it only {STYLE-WISE} to look at style through the eyes of the ivy league, and look at secret society style with a time travelling hustler’s unique eye for detail. . .
{remember XIXIXI gets you 25 % off in the {SHOP} ALWAYS! }
TIME TRAVELLING at its Finest. Pieces from disparate eras can be mixed and matched to create an overall look. Secret society cool is about luxury, strength, and standing apart from the rest.
When it was announced that Hedi Slimane was to take the place of Stefano Pilati as creative director of the iconic label Yves Saint-Laurent, the fashion world was left wondering what new innovations the Swiss designer could bring to the brand. Then he dropped the Yves.
That’s right. For over fifty years the brand has existed as YSL,a brand coveted for its luxury, craft, and intuition; and yet within a few moments under Slimane’s guiding eye, the brand switched from Yves Saint-Laurent, to Saint-Laurent Paris. A seemingly small change, but for fashion insiders, it seemed to represent a much grander prophecy.
It should come as no surprise, however, considering Hedi Slimane is a designer who is known for being a somewhat of a revolutionary when it comes to fashion. He is the man that ushered a tidal wave of change nearly a decade ago when he was appointment menswear designer for Dior; making Dior Homme not only a coveted brand worn by celebrities from Brandon Flowers and Pete Doherty to Cate Blanchett, but seriously revolutionized mens fashion altogether. While most collections stuck to a very standard approach to mens styles, Slimane flipped it on its head exchanging boot cuts for skinny jeans, made suspenders cool, had young guys think hats are cool, wearing skinny ties, and switching their blazer for cropped motorcycle jackets.
On top of that, he single handedly changed the standard of beauty for male models, exchanging the buff All-American dreamboat for the skinny skater kid you see hanging out in the alleyway with his friends sneaking a joint and giving each other tattoos. What would have been referred to as the ‘Teenage Wasteland’ by our grandparents, has now turned into the standard ideal of luxury by fashion insiders, which you have to admit is pretty damn cool.
And if there’s anyone who knows cool its Hedi Slimane, who took a break from designing and took a dip into the realms of industrial design, exhibition design, curating, and of course his photography which he showcased on his site, the Hedi Slimane Diary.
Now, Slimane has kicked it off with his debut menswear collection for Saint-Laurent in this latest F/W 2013 runway show, proving that he’s still got it in the bag when it comes to making mens fashion that feels fresh, cool, casual, with all the bad ass luxury of a world class rock star.
There’s plenty of vintage inspiration thrown in there too, with a definite ode to the 90s.
It’s a decadent rock n roll roller coaster of goth and grunge (very of the moment) that elevates the styles to a whole new level (being Saint-Laurent, after all). Plaid shirts, cardigans, ripped jeans, leopard print, fur coats, and oversized jackets – these are the new standards. Vive Revolution.
There’s definitely nods to the great, late, one-of-a-kind, king of sadness, rebel bad boy, Kurt Cobain in the mix. And while, we’ve seen this vintage inspiration dozens of times in the past, somehow Slimane is able to rejuvenate the look with unexpected combinations of texture, colour, pattern, and shape. And what might seem like odd styling choices, at times, only adds to the eclectic decadence.
You could even say it ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, as the anthem goes, but its more likely an invitation to ‘Come as You Are’, when you think about it. No need to fuss or muss. Just throw it on, and march. That’s the best part for us, and the most alluring and beautiful representation of Cobain’s unique style we’ve yet to see.
I see a little bit of River Phoenix in there, too . . . he was, of course, a forefather to that grunge look, and probably would have come to represent it even more if it weren’t for his untimely death. There’s also a little Jordan Catalano thrown into the mix . . .
His F/W Women’s Collection is equally full of these rebel notions, and 90’s attitudes. You can spot inspiration everything from Courtney Love, ‘The Craft’, ‘Daria’, ‘My So-Called Life’, ‘Reality Bites’, ‘Poison Ivy’, Gwen Stefani, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Bridget Fonda in ‘Singles’! It’s every fashionista’s dream collection, pretty much. Expect to see even more of this on the streets, and anyone who was doubting this particular breed of style, can suck it because this is Yves Saint-Laurent, baby – sorry, SAINT-LAURENT, baby!
Hats off to you, Slimane. You bring the past to life in a whole new way, and that’s what makes us love you most. You show that fashion is about reinvention as much as invention, and to look to the past and give it a new spin is about as innovative as you can get. You remind everybody that everything old is easily new again with a little bit of imagination.
Your vintage inspiration is out of this world, and you keep reinventing, not just how we dress, but yourself, in many ways, which is both aspirational and incorrigible to all those of us who call ourselves dedicated followers of fashion….
So, Merci Beaucoup. Somehow, you’ve made me feel like we’re definitely doing something right. And remember, it’s not about being perfect; it’s what makes you imperfect that really counts.
We’ve been seeing a lot of these, as of late, on our virtual style quests, and find this mythic hairstyle’s history absolutely fascinating. The hair-doe characterized by its voluminous waves and carefully coiffed height was first coined in the 18th Century after French aristocrat, Madame de Pompadour – the mistress of King Louis XV. The style was later revived in the later part of the 19th Century and onward through the First World War, and became synonymous with the “Gibson Girl” ideal of beauty popularized in this era. The do became a “Do” again, in vogue, as a much tighter version of it could be seen on Hollywood movie starlets of the ’40s like Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. However, it would be the 1950s that would totally turn the style around, and have the men sporting the look. Popularized by rock stars of the day like Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, and Billy Fury, as well as actors like James Dean. The style was quickly taken up by youth culture and society’s outcasts to become a staple of counter culture style and individual beauty. From movie stars to street gangs, the style was versatile, slick, and of course, “cool”.
Bottega Veneta, 2012
The rest is history, as even today, hundreds of style obsessed and nostalgia driven guys (like ourself) pain away the day to get their hair high and enough waves to keep it up there. What do they say again? “The higher the hair, the closer to God”. In that case, we might be looking at the Tower of Babel of Hair with how popular the Pompadour is getting. Check out this latest {PHOTO-BLAST} for a one-of-a-kind blast to the past of “Pomp + Circumstance”. . .
So they didn’t twerk in the 60s, but the dance moves in this 1960s B-Movie cult classic, “Village of the Giants“, was more than risqué and still delivers on undoubted sex appeal.
We can’t help but love the attention the camera pays to the beautiful natural curves and flesh of the actors who really know how to jiggle their juices. It’s cool to see how in 1965, a small flick like this can in many ways be more sexually tempting and stimulating than the in-your-face provocations of today’s movie and music video scene. It’s so simple…and sometimes that is all it takes!
See them burst out their clothes, and terrorize a town!
(I’m in . . .)
There’s a real ‘edginess’, as we say these days, to it all, and the music is great too. Leave it to misfits teens to make everything fun . . .
When a group of rebel misfits get their hands on “goo”, a mysterious compound that makes every GIANT, who didn’t see some wild dance parties starting? Even in the middle of perfect All-American Hainesville, where ducks roam the sidewalks and white picket fences are for everyone, you can’t stop a gang of rebellious teens from having fun, ESPECIALLY when they are fifty feet tall (give or take).
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 50 years since this film hit the screen for the first time, but it is still remembered as a cult classic with notable special effects for its time, and undoubted sex appeal.
Full of exuberant and fresh classic styles, and plenty of 1960s psychedelic fun!
Get ready to dance with the giants . . .
JUST THINKING….
On the subject of rebel misfit teens: How cool would ‘The Bling Ring‘ have been if they were just giants?!
This 1956 classic had movie star Sal Mineo playing a street wise gang member just a year after his Oscar nominated turn as a misunderstood teenager in the legendary “Rebel Without a Cause”.
The film also featured a young bad-ass John Cassavetes before he was pawning off Mia Farrow to Satan or directing his own killer films.
The look of the film is, what we like to call, Rebel Noir :
“Crime in the Streets” promised to tell “the whole story of the Rock’n’Roll generation”, which seemed to be on everybody’s mind. Who were these outcast teens in their washed denim pants, flashy sports coats, and slicked back hair? I’m sure somewhere deep down inside there’s a reason behind the madness.
The film plays better than one might expect, and is definitely a classic of the 1950s street gang film genre. Definitely a must see for real players of vintage style reincarnation. All the time. Anytime.
Check it out!
We have lots of raw, rare, and special finds for you from The Eye of Faith {Vintage} to relive these moments, among many others, so be sure to check out the {SHOP} ASAP to get your fix.
I learned long ago that when someone asks you to pull looks for a vaudeville circus inspired shoot, you do so!
Granted, I’ve never been asked to in this life, but something just tells you to jump at the opportunity when its right. We didn’t even have to question whether or not we wanted to be a part of this when the beautiful, and lovely (don’t forget talented) Jessica Panetta asked if we’d want to work together, and pull some looks to bring to a shoot for the city’s finest up-and-coming folk band, Orchards.
Orchards comprises of Anthony William Wallace (violin, banjo), Daniel John Taylor (bass, guitar, ukulele), and Gabrielle Sylvane Charron-Merritt (trumpet, guitar) who are all uber-talented, fun, and highly multi-disciplinary artists who dove right into every scenario with gusto and poise.
Couldn’t have done it without my wardrobe partner, Heather English, who had a great eye for colour and detail (heart!) .
Their music is haunting and eloquent with captivating melodies that evoke lost memories from deep within our collective consciousness. The songs are classic and utterly timeless bringing a modern twist to classic folk sounds. Needless to say, their music was the perfect inspiration for the shoot.
We played off the softness and decadent dishevelling of men and women seen in vintage photographs for the quieter moments, and looked for bold and intriguing colour and graphic combinations to complete the circus vibe.
All in all, I think the look completed is a nod to the past, but is completely reinvented – just like Orchard’s own music, which ultimately is the element we all hoped to showcase.
Each shot is so great to look back on, as you remember it all happening – when it was moving, and there were sounds, and laughter, and distraction; not with a photograph. These are magic moments here, captured throughout.
Please enjoy the photographs, and definitely dive into the track below entitled “Oh,Sister” by Orchards for a true escape from the everyday . . .
We were so lucky to have such a talented team of individuals who all came together in symbiosis to make this vision come to life! Very proud to have been a part of it, and looking forward to what the future has in store . . .
