Afton Con Ganas: GANAS LOOK OF THE WEEK. LANDING ON THE MOON.

Treated like the space shuttle from 2001: A Space Odyssey--I only feel euphoria and a deep immersion-ism as I space walk into Frank Lloyd Wright's Civic Center Library. A glimpse of the future and my nostalgic yearning for a bygone era amalgamate in this space. Synapses fire like rocket engines and the connectivity of my thoughts all seem to stream from one outlet. At this point images are pasting themselves onto a mental inspiration board. The library is made up of classic shapes and neutral de-saturated colors, all of this combined with F.L.W.'s respect and appreciation for the West Coast environment and it's inhabitants, motivated me and I became aware of what it was like to stand in someone's creation-- a creation with an unreachable stature of imagination and originality. As I attempt to regain my bearings, "So Long Frank Lloyd Wright," by Simon & Garfunkel, begins to faintly play over and over again in my head. He truly does "... change my point of view."

I feel at home within the space and immediately catch a glimpse of an interconnection. Franny and Zooey, the work of J.D. Salinger stands out in my periphery. I grab the book and turn it to the page that I also relate to my inspiration for the outfit I'm wearing in the library. It reads:

"She was wearing a sheared raccoon coat, and Lane, walking toward her quickly but with a slow face, reasoned to himself, with suppressed excitement, that he was the only one on the platform who really knew Franny's coat. He remembered that once, in a borrowed car, after kissing Franny for a half hour or so, he had kissed her coat lapel, as though it were a perfectly desirable, organic extension of the person herself."

My specific inspiration for this outfit was Margot Tenenbaum and Rodarte's runway look for Spring 2011.

(Rodarte photos courtesy of Zimbio)

The connection between Franny and Zooey and "The Royal Tenenbaums" is quite obvious if you are an avid Wes Anderson fan, or, if you just pieced together the excerpt from the book and the clip right below it. Anderson is strongly influenced by Salinger and made "The Royal Tenenbaums" about characters who are privileged and articulate--as well as naive and maladjusted--and the Glass family in Franny and Zooey, were a family of neurotic, depressive, hyper-achievers--wonderfully reminiscent of the aforementioned family also populated with child geniuses.

My inspiration for most outfits come in the form of ideas about character's. Whether they are stewed in my own subconscious, imagination, or taken from films and or television, they are characters that I attribute a certain iconic status to, and as a consequence, these characters influence my taste and inclination towards certain items of apparel. I usually start basing color palettes or silhouette on one single piece that is reminiscent of said "character." Then, as I begin to compose everything together--on a good day--I end up being able to live vicariously through these icons. Whether simple or decadent, they allow me to display a sort of visual shorthand for who I am or at least who I like to think I am.