Look a Little Closer

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It has to be said that I am writing this post with an odd split personality.  Half my head is saying ick and the other half is peering at it thinking "Hmm…actually…".  Ignore the fact that I'm linking to a website that doesn't rock my musical boat.  Ignore the fact that the illustrations are in fact not my cup of char whatsoever.  Just stare at the prints, stare a bit harder, think a little and hope for the best.

Miss Selfridge is a store I hardly ever shop from because I went through a glut of buying cheap tops from them in my teens on a grossly wasteful WEEKLY basis and since then, I can't bear to go into the store without thinking of that past folly.

However, here is a collaboration that poses an interesting concept in itself.  They've teamed up with "the world's most glamorous music and lifestyle brand" (I promise I haven't vomited on my keyboard just yet…) Hed Kandi to produce a line of bodycon dresses inspired by all things "Ibiza, disco and of course, Hed Kandi".  Stay with me on this one, this isn't as horror-inducing as it sounds.  Ok, so Hed Kandi puts out rubbish compilations and the signature figurines drawn by the illustrator Jason Brooks are overly sparkly and reminsicent of adult Bratz dolls.  However, not to talk down Brooks' talent, the prints on the the ten dresses are upon VERY close inspection very workable indeed.  Maybe minus the strappy stilettos, worn over a sheer black long dress or layered with different colours of mesh garments.  Maybe I'm being overly optimistic.  Maybe only Barbie-tanned limbs, porn shoes, juicy lip-glossed lips are the pre-requisites to go with the dresses.  I'm slowly swaying here, the two halves of my brain battling with each other in a war that goes something like "Prints are awesome!", "No you've been blinded and stupefied…". 

Hedkandi (If you don't have a split personality raging inside of you, the dresses are available from the 30th July and earlier if you sign up on this page…)

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46 comments

  1. i love crazy prints myself! but… i can’t remember where i have seen similar things before… ??

  3. or maybe it’s because i spent a year at the patricia field store and see these crazy colours all the time. haha! i love it though. but it’s bodycon and i don’t have that body! wish!

  6. I nearly feelt the same like you did. There was this “awesome prints!” thought in my head which killed every thought like ” thats quite too much”.

  8. I totally feel you on the confused about liking it or not and I too am a very optimistic person when it comes to maybe it could work.. but these dresses make me giggle a little bit I don’t think I could wear them and keep a straight confident look on my face. However, I really do like the first and last dresses, from my viewpoint they have the most going for them!

  10. I like the purple one a lot..and also the crazy top right one. None of them say ‘Hed Kandi’ OR Ibiza to me (Ok, a little bit Hed Kandi just by the way they’re presented with the patterns in the background). I can happily ignore those things and just like them for being good prints.
    Body con scares me though :/ Or it scares my bum anyway..
    I can see you rocking these Susie, in a very un-Ibiza way!

  13. I think they are really nice!
    If it wasn’t for the Miss Selfridge/Hed Kandi association I reckon you’d be totally loving them in an unashamed way – hell, you already have stuff like this in your closet. Ignore who they are by and get one.

  14. Those prints are pretty sick. But are they sick ENOUGH? Sick enough to be good??? I’m not so sure.
    But I am sure that someone with a great style, like you Susie, can “shoosh up” (as Simon Doonan would say) any old thing and make it look faboulous, even if it is a printed lycra New Age traveller bodystocking dress…

  15. I listen to Hed Kandi when I need mindless beats to zone out to as I’m working.
    The two dresses on the far right are pretty appealing print-wise.

  16. Be honest here; if they were by some as yet unknown designer you would be gushing about them. It is just the Miss Selfridge connection that you are hesitating over.

  18. Flora, DJM, the hesitation does come with the shapes as well… the bubble hem for insance, or the way the panelling lies… the prints themselves are fantastico of course…
    Actually, it’s Hed Kandi that’s the real deterrent…. have you seen those illustrations…the adult Bratz tanned gals on those compilation albums that are annoyingly advertised on MTV every two minutes…. I can just hear that DOOSH DOOSH DOOSH pounding and someone shouting “This is BANGIN” in my ear…

  19. I LOVE these prints! They are so YOU!
    Just added some new stuff to my site. Hope you can check it out!
    We sell Vintage and Designer clothes, shoes, and accessories all in one place. We have some really great things up right now! Studded boots, Alexander Wang halter top, and vintage blazers. Check it out!
    http://www.fashionlagniappe.blogspot.com

  21. I went to have a look this morning, and I had a VERY hard time picking one. I ended up going with “summer mix” (the most simple tank dress” as I thought it would actually look ok worn as a top with super preppy chinos or something.
    Also, while I think the prints are actually just about admissible, what made me a bit sick in my mouth are the fabrics they used. I know Miss Selfridges isn’t Prada, so I don’t expect amazing quality, but that was just pushing it a tad too far for me.
    I was in and out in about 10 min, after trying to explain politely that Ibiza wasn’t really my scene.
    Shame I missed you though!
    Oh I thought the space print was good, but couldn’t deal with the rest of the dress! xx

  25. Hy Susie, don’t think so much;)
    haha:)
    It’s a wierd combo, I agree. Like the third dress. Kinda reminds me of Bassets (the candy).

  26. Hideously miss selfridge! They dont exactly rival Peter Pilotto but im sure you could pull them off!
    X

  28. Hmm I agree with the split personality thing! I think I’m leaning towards that GAH!(not in a good way) tho..
    xx-LJ from SOS!

  29. I’m not really a fan of the skin-tight cuts or the prints, the dresses look too much like rave-y club wear for my liking.

  33. Love how you wrote it all. And I think I’m going to declare the dresses to be in the Barbie no knees tip toe porn shoe category.

  35. ehhh some of them are nice&some are blegh
    &i’ve never heard of Hed Kandi in my life
    i don’t think the dresses are that “disco” actually…
    by the way like the new look of the site

  38. Weird as it may sound, I collect psychedelic printed dresses. It’s just that, running across someone wearing the same thing as you do is highly unlikely.
    Wearing a ruffled blouse under that first one, the tunic bubble top, screams fashion.

  40. Hmm, I actually quite like the purple one! But I really see what you mean, something about that description (not to mention the illustrations) are quite obnoxious…

  41. Hey perhaps you are right. My initial thoughts on this collection were great colours, great prints, but I could never wear them in a million years. Layering sounds like a great idea. I could even try one with my favourite uniform, my leggings.

  42. The prints are awesome. I lime them. Maybe it’s because today is the first sunny day in weeks…

  44. Not for me at all. I can see a troupe of girlies queuing outside Vivid and Elite back in my Essex home town wearing these. However, I would love to see you work your bubble magic on one. If anyone can turn Hed Kandi into eye candy in one fell swoop it would be you! Go on, you know you want to!

  45. Love the idea of Hed Kandi and Miss S together – its a £40 dress – its not trying to be pucci or Peter Pilotto.

  46. I don’t agree, I think Hed Kandi’s compilations are refreshing. That’s your subjective opinion. In the same way I could say These new puritains, are so rubbish, nothing they’re do is original. Just a repackaged tribal stew

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