Dear Kay,
OK, we are going to talk about fashion for a minute. I don’t really follow fashion all that much, except for my hero Dries Van Noten. I follow him the way Yankees fans follow spring training.
I knew, for example, that his Fall 2016 collection would be coming down the runway in Paris yesterday, and I awaited the photos and the reviews. You honest to God never know what he’s going to do next, but you know it’s going to be lush and surprising and usually involve strange and beautiful models. He’ll look at the Ballets Russes, paintings by Whistler, Japanese textiles, digital photography. It’s all so, so interesting.
Just yesterday, a new video interview with Dries Van Noten appeared in the New York Times. I think it’s my favorite, because we get to see his studio, which is surely one of the true wonderlands.
This season, he drew inspiration from a love affair between people I’d never heard of, Gabriele D’Annunzio and an early 20th-century femme fatale, Marquesa Luisa Casati. Right on! Let’s go!
It’s a gender-bending, pearls-’n’-cheetah print collection. You can hear him talk about all this in this video. He is the most modest, unwacky guy you could possibly imagine. Maybe his unfettered imagination gets to live in these clothes, and he leaves it all on the runway.
Knits are a part of it all, as often happens in Driesland.
Here is a gray pullover encrusted with pearls. Apparently the Marchesa was known to crush pearls in fits of passion or fury or something. I love this sweater. It may be my next altered sweater. May need to unstring all my fake pearls.
Here we have what I like to think is an homage to my Eight Yarns, One Sweater project. I’m pretty sure Dries is following me on Instagram under the handle @belgiandude224.
Now, this all seems pretty far afield from daily life here in Nashville, Tennessee. But I guarantee you, pearls and cheetah prints and aran sleeveless tunics will show up in a store near us, soon. I’m reminded of one of my all-time favorite movie scenes, from The Devil Wears Prada, in which Meryl Streep explains in a devastating way, how Anne Hathaway has come to wear her dumpy, cerulean blue sweater.
https://youtu.be/p5WWy_0VLS4
In other news, today I had to bite the bullet and call Apple about a terrible problem with my Photos library. I had a feeling it would take a while, so I settled in with my knitting while the tech on the line diagnosed the problem. The tech was supremely confident that she knew what to do, despite the fact that I had several moments of dead black screen and wheels of doom. There was a lot of rebooting and safelaunching and disk doctoring. In the space that comes with waiting on technology, we started talking about the resolution on my new computer’s screen, then we got into how well fonts render on these new monitors, and I told her I was working on a new website so I was thinking about fonts a lot. She asked what kind of website, and I said “knitting”—and she gasped and said, “Oh my God, I’m knitting right now.”
Which took us straight into stash diving, hat making, crochet versus knitting, acrylic versus wool—you know, all the things that knitters talk about.
All the while, she was working through the fix of my Photos library. I got my pix back, and now I know at least one Apple phone technician who is a killer multitasker. She reads this blog, it turns out, so: HELLO APPLE TECH FRIEND! HOPE YOU GET THAT SECOND BABY SOON! I’m not giving your name because nobody at Apple needs to know you’re knitting a hat while making customers happy.
Love,
Ann
It always comes back to knitting! haha 🙂
Reading this is a great way to start my morning!
What a lovely story! Hooray for the return of your pix and the meeting of a fellow Genius.
I love it that the tech was knitting while you were knitting. I would definitely knit at work if I could get away with it. You go Apple Tech!
I’m with you. I love that she can knit and work. I COULD, but I really can’t!
Great customer service and knitting??? That is Awesome!!!!
I had a melt-down yesterday with a home improvement store over the failed delivery of my new washer and dryer. Imagine how much better it would have been if the customer service person had been a knitter! The world would be such a better place . . .
There’s a lot of stuff to process here, but whammy! What new website? I’m excited!
Ok, I’m reading this wonderful post, reading about a wonderful designer and Apple and it all fades to black after I read that you’re working on a new knitting website! Yes, I noticed you slip that in there. Looking forward to it!
Sometimes at work, on days where I have more than 4 hours of meetings I need to knit a few rows at lunch to take the edge off. That’s why there are socks in my purse.
Me, too! I figure it’s better than doing drugs or drinking to take the edge off!
Knitters… simply the best people ever. Especially, Apple Tech Knitters!!
The last time (one can hope, right?) I had to call for tech rescue to get both my barncams speaking to my laptop at the same time, the tech and I ended up having an interesting chat about the different types of predators that goat-breeders have to worry about in the US and in India.
At one point I told him I’ve had far less anxiety dealing with a bear outside my window than dealing with tech issues like the very one this genius was fixing for me. He didn’t believe me, I could tell. But it was the absolute truth.
I love this story.
So you were talking to an actual Apple Tech Genius, not the faux ones in the store!
The techs in our store in Kansas City are great! Sorry yours aren’t. Maybe it is because I’m a grey-haired grandma and I remind them of their grandmas.
Not at all surprised that your Apple tech support was a knitter. I’ve only had to call them a couple times, but they’ve been sharp and nice – no doubt, knitters! Wouldn’t it be great to be able to knit at work? In stressful times, I carry a project with me bacause just knowing it’s there helps. (A few years ago, when things were particularly awful in my (former) job, I used to imagine crawling into the knee hole of my desk and knitting!)
I thought I was the only one with that dream!
Wow Ann, you did it again. One day I decided to get out my Kid Silk Haze and you were doing a Kid Silk Haze cleanse (using it as a means to clear your larger gauge pallet, or some such thing). Last night, at a bar, while drinking an artisan Manhattan on the rocks, my friend Mary and I were discussing the inventory she was currently doing at the shop she works at, AND she mentioned that they have 327 strings of poils. Them’s the same as the “fake pearls” you refer to in your post above. We also talked about the lovely gray of the shirts for sale in the lobby of the bar. I found it to be the perfect shade of gray and had a conversation with myself, while waiting for Mary to arrive, about why purchasing a souvenir from my local bar is not a good idea for so many reasons including the poor use of funds. I wonder if I’m meant to do something with gray wool and poils now. Or, maybe fake wool and poils.
Liz- Why does your auto-correct want your pearls to be poils?
Poils is what prettyfunnyvintage.com calls fake pearls. It’s more fun that way.
Ann, I like your 8/1 sweater more; weather you believe it or not, it’s actually very nice. If you do ever get to make the pearl sweater, I hope you pair it with some equally fabulous slacks. That purple material is sooo very very!
I enjoyed reading the comments in your link to the 2/27/14 MDK post–my most recent milestone birthday…
Wish you and yours a great weekend.
No need to open up necklaces, check your local Michaels store!
I worked for longer than I care to think about on the reservations phone at a major airline. We won’t discuss the amount of cross stitch, knitting, sewing beads on Ren Faire garb accomplished while waiting for people to make decisions, go get their credit cards, double checking with the boss. It kept me sane and smiling while I was blamed for the 2 feet of snow which cancelled their flight. Didn’t know I was the Weather Goddess!
Ann, that sweater was definitely inspired by yours.
No question, though the the netting accent/accessory hanging below the hem may be a designer touch. 🙂
Oh! I have some necklaces inherited from my stepmother than I have not known what to do with. Maybe I will unstring them and use them in my knitting. Must meditate on this. Thanks! (Also, need to get to work on my Aran fisherman’s sweater, now that it is – or will be – trendy. Hope ponchos stay in style – mine is taking a while to finish.)
Yes! Love the knitting Apple Tech…I have much more faith in them now.
Oddly enough I’ve never knit through computer tech support — I’m always too freaked out about possible results.
You’ve also reminded me that I want to be one of those a work from home Apple tech people. Altho I know nada about computers it turns out I often know as much or more than they do…. Hmmmmm…
I’m quite envious of your new computer. Despite the fact that I rarely use mine and now do everything on my small iPhone 5.
I once got to visit a tech support center for another large technology company up in Nova Scotia, and while I didn’t see any knitters, I met a LOT of crocheters. There are a lot of long pauses and downtime during tech support calls, after all!
Among the things the people in this call center crochet are covers for the earpieces on their headsets to keep them comfortable during a long day helping people on the phone — I brought a few home and can attest that they work!
I was thinking about that Aran vest. Looked again and it seems that it isn’t totally opaque? I was wondering how they got the simultaneous drape and bulk. Another case of bigger than usual gauge?
That Prada scene was amazing. No one else would have done it as well. And there is something to it. And I love that your tech phone call ended the way it did. What a giggle! Lovely, ranging post, Ann…
LOVE that she was knitting. And why wouldn’t they be paying homage to your “Eight Yarns, One Sweater” sweater. Not sure about adding pearls to the wool, but maybe to the back of my mittens?
So nice to read about the knitting Apple tech and some lovely designer knitwear. Now, if you can just convince the knitwear model(s) that a paint roller is not the right tool for applying eyeliner. . . .
Yes, my thought exactly! I wondered “didn’t she look in the mirror before she walked down the runway?”
Great post! It sure would be nice if someone from my cable TV provider was a knitter since that would present a conversation where we were on the same page for once.
OK, I thought the highlight of this great post was “Here we have what I like to think is an homage to my Eight Yarns, One Sweater project,” but then I read on and literally laughed out loud at “she gasped and said, “Oh my God, I’m knitting right now.” Who says technology does nothing but alienate us from one another? (This also pertains to my perpetual question. “21st century technology: modern miracle, or tool of the devil? Discuss.” Oh, and the correct answer is “Yes.”)
Knitters are everywhere. Had a moment with the knitter sitting next to me at the Springsteen concert in Milwaukee last night.
I just love apple help people and now I love them more! Now I have to watch the Devil Wears spreads again — wonder if it on Netflix?
Knitting is totally the original binary code – knits and purls instead of 1s and 0s!
How wonderful for the Apple tech knitter who reads your blog to spot this warm shout-out! M-D rocks.
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I was lucky enough to try on a Dries Van Noten dress at the Saks Off Fifth here in LA last year. (This one! https://www.endource.com/product/dries-van-noten-sequin-silk-dress/VFKXx-SwDvDCWyh_ ) Even though it was about four sizes too big for me and the waist was falling at my hips, it was such a gorgeous piece of art that I was still tempted to buy it (if the price was anywhere near what I could afford). There was no price tag, so I had about ten minutes of soul-searching for the magic number of what I could spend on dress/art while they searched for the price. Fortunately for my bank account, the sale price was still nowhere near affordable for me. But I feel lucky to have experienced the dress and am now a Dries fan. I hope it found a good home.
A propos of Fashion week, a great Instagram account to follow is @sophiefontanel, fashion journalist extraordinaire + a true wit in the MDK tradition. Now and then she even flaunts her own Dries Van Noten (gigantic) white slacks. Mostly in French with fanciful English translations thrown in.
Love this post so much–high fashion followed by the high dread of tech support turning into the joy of the anonymous knitter connection. sigh. I love when knitting makes a stranger trust you–I just had the same thing happen through an airbnb host request.
xox
That’s a fantastic tech support story! Love it! Much better than the call I had with a different company a couple weeks ago. I had to pull out my knitting when the call got to 30 minutes long…got quite a bit done on some socks, as the call lasted 1 hour 38 minutes. But who’s counting?
Love the fashion news. So, we should all be smearing mascara or eye liner all around our eyes, right?