Nadine Kam photos
A detail of an Eli Baxter installation.

From time to time the way other people dress can inspire me to bust out my camera. So it was when I spent Friday afternoon at The Contemporary Museum during a walk-through of the TCM Biennial of Hawaii artists featuring site-specific installations of Eli Baxter, Vincent Goudreau, Javier Martinez, Yida Wang, Cade Roster, Wayne Zebzda and Meidor Hu.

I enjoyed walking around Wang’s exploration of breast cancer with an installation of hanging Latex breasts, Cade Roster’s series of manga-inspired Plush Gaiden, and Eli Baxter’s sculptures of recycled, polished bicycle tires, inner tubes and molded wax, somehow reminiscent of Alexander McQueen fashion designs.

While there, I ran into TCM’s PR officer Pualana Lemelle and took a photo of her in the museum shop next to the Art-O-Mat, which dispenses miniature pieces of art, whether jewelry, collage or a small sculpture for, last time I checked, $5.

Pualana Lemelle wears an Express wrap dress and gold Western boots from Catherine’s Closet in Manoa.

That reminded me I had a couple of photos of Neiman Marcus’ Contemporary Sportswear/Theory Specialist Alen Ajed. I’m in that department a lot, most of the time just looking, and he’s typically wearing designer, top to bottom, though in his own colorful style. I like that he’s not afraid to wear color and have fun with clothes.

Alen Ajed at the recent Hip Event wearing an Etro shirt with a watercolor-wash print, D&G jacket, Cicinnelli pink pant, Prada belt and Paul Smith tie. His favorite part of the ensemble are his Paul Smith floral design shoes.

On another occasion, I took Alen’s photo (below) with Donna Walden, who also caught my eye because she was wearing this season’s flora-, insect- and fantasy-inspired Prada shoe. Shoes that beautiful have to be uncomfortable, I thought, but Donna said they’re really comfortable.

Alen wears an Etro jacket over a heart-print Prada shirt with a Gianni Versace tie. I cut off the toe of Donna’s shoe, so below are details from Prada’s ad campaign.

When I highlight some of these pieces, I get emails or on Twitter, tweets along the lines of, “What is that supposed to mean?”

Well, to most people, nothing. I don’t want people to walk around looking like fashion clones or slaves. These are just the things I find particularly beautiful and enjoy seeing because they bring an element of beauty into daily existence. It serves the same function as a flower arrangement in an office or lobby, or, if so inclined, a Precious Moments figurine on your desktop. I don’t intend to encourage people to go out and consume, but I am inviting people to train their eyes to see more and to see the ordinary elevated through art.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 29th, 2008 at 5:26 pm and is filed under inspiration, People, Accessories, the way we wear, Purses, art, Obsessions, Shoes, Random thoughts, Beautiful objects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.