some of the best photographers...

naomi frost

rarindra prakarsa

matthew sullivan

rarindra prakarsa

raridsa

perroquet

mikado-pick up sticks...:) best game ever

Mikado is a pick-up sticks game originating in Europe. In 1936 it was brought from Hungary to the USA and was mostly called pick-up sticks. This term is not very specific in respect to existing stick game variations. Probably the "Mikado" name was not used because it was a brand name of a game producer. The game got its name from the highest scoring (blue) stick "Mikado" (Emperor of Japan). Thebuddhistic Chien Tung also contains a stick called "emperor".

The house of "Tsuchimikado" adapted in the 16th century some culture, possibly also the "Chien Tung" oracle. Maybe in the course of Japonism in the 19th / 20th century the "Zitterwackel" game had changed to "Mikado" (probably first named "Tsuchimikado").

iphone 4 cases..

ooo.. she is great..

PACKHAM, Jenny

British designer

Born: Southampton, England, 3 November 1965. Education: Studied at Southampton Art College, 1982-84; studied textile and fashion design at St. Martin's College of Art, London, 1984-88 (1st class honors). Career:Designer/director, Packham Anderson Ltd., from 1988. Exhibitions: London Designers Exhibition, 2001. Address: Zoomphase Ltd., The Imperial Works, 2nd Floor, Perren Street, London NW5 3ED England.

Publications

On PACKHAM:

Articles

Hepple, Keith, "Jenny Packham," in DR (London), September 1991.

Yusuf, Nilgin, "Designer's Inspirations," in Joyce (Hong Kong), 1991 Holiday Issue.

Tait, James, "Don't Change a Thing, Carol," in the Sunday Mirror (London), 12 December 2000.

Dent, Grace, "Who the Nell Would Wear This?" in the Sunday Mirror (London), 8 July 2001.

***

British designer Jenny Packham's early training as a textile designer became an important influence on her later eveningwear. Her first collection of 12 short evening gowns was created entirely in black and white silk, with a bold print of musical instruments. The short evening dress continued to be the principal style in her collections, although full-length dresses were introduced in 1992. She also began designing wedding gowns in the 1990s.

Although the shapes of Packham's dresses remain essentially simple, their construction is complex and owes much to Christian Dior's designs of the 1950s, featuring intricate seaming, linings, and boning. Dress panels were lined with stiff organdy to create fullness, bodices had boned seams for a corseted effect, and full skirts were created with layer upon layer of stiff netting. A typical example of Packham's short evening dresses was a fitted torso, full skirt, and fichu neckline or short sleeves. Her theory that women want to look glamorous by night, with emphasis placed on the bustline and waist, has been a recurring feature of Packham's designs. She also placed an emphasis on comfort, which she believes is vital for eveningwear.

Although the styling of Packham's designs evolves gradually from one season to the next, the colors and textiles change dramatically. The designer acknowledges that eveningwear by tradition is less susceptible to major changes in fashion and thus unusual colors and fabric combinations play a central role in her designs. Packham often draws upon the works of famous artists, including Gaudi, Miro, and van Gogh, as inspiration for her use of color. Bold prints decorate the full skirts of her gowns, with designs based on such themes as harlequin checks, playing cards, and giant florals. Packham's use of rich fabrics and colors has been likened to that of Christian Lacroix, and costly fabrics such as embroidered brocades, silk taffetas, satins, and silk gazars have featured heavily in her collections.

Traditional styling married to contemporary prints and color combinations is the essence of Packham's design formula, and this theme is continued through to the Jenny Packham Sequel collection of less expensive dresses, which echoed the shapes and colors of the main collection. Like the latter collection, Jenny Packham Sequel items are also produced in the United Kingdom by a small factory, supplemented by out-of-factory workers. The Sequel collection opened up a new market for her designs in the U.S., already one of her principal export markets, where her collection is sold through prestigious stores such as Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. Packham's designs are favored by stars such as Sharon Stone, Shirley Bassey, and Nell McAndrew, the six-foot Amazon model who was the original face of Tomb Raider 's Lara Croft. McAndrew showed up at the British premiere of Arnold Schwarzenegger's movie, The Sixth Day in a Packham creation.

Packham's success in the American market, where her collections are widely sold, proved her theory that there was a gap in the middle market for eveningwear which was sophisticated yet still youthful, and sexy in a humorous way. In the last six or so years, however, Packham has become best known for her wedding dress lines. Her Desire collection focuses on cut, shaping, attention to detail, and understated glamor. The white, shimmery dresses range from off-the-shoulder wrapped fronts to a meshed blouse look. Packham obviously designs these lovely dresses to make the bride feel special and comfortable, and they allow the bride to be enhanced rather than distracted while wearing her creations.

In October 2000, Packham was the guest designer for Evangeline Rose Exclusive Bridal Designs, and her creations have been carried by the best London couture houses (Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, Debenhams), next to those of Mori Lee, Rena Koh, Katherine Jane, Sally Bee, and Lady Grace. She also created the Empire line of bridal dresses, including a stylish number called Kansas, a short-sleeved Empire-line dress with delicate beading around the neckline and a fine georgette overlay on the skirt. The Empire line also features organza and organza-and-rose skirts.

Highly active in England, France, Italy, and the U.S., Packham is represented by Flax PR, a public relations firm specializing in the design industry. Their client list includes not only Jenny Packham but also Agatha, Ballantyne, BHS, Fenn Wright Manson, Petit Bateau, Jane Packer, Katharine Hamnett, Land's End, Marilyn Moore, Toast, and Bridgewater.

—Catherine Woram;

updated by Daryl F. Mallett

BIBA- BARBARA HULANICKI

Born in Poland, but raised in England, Barbara Hulanicki began her career in Fashion in the early 1960's working as a freelance fashion illustrator covering all the important fashion collections for the major publications of the day, including Women's Wear Daily, British Vogue, the Times, the Observer and the Sunday Times. In 1964 she founded, with her late husband, Stephen Fitz-Simon, the boutique BIBA, beginning as a small mail-order business featured in the fashion columns of newspapers such as the DAILY MIRROR.

The Biba success story is worthy of a Hollywood movie: a husband and wife, Barbara Hulanicki and her partner, Stephen Fitz-Simon, go into business together against the advice of those around them. After a few false starts and refusing to give up, their last-ditched attempt -- a pink gingham dress with a round hole in the back and a matching head scarf -- strikes a chord with the public and sells thousands of units, allowing them to open a store which becomes an icon of hip 60's and 70's London. It becomes a hangout for artists, film stars and rock musicians, including Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Marianne Faithful among the regulars. The first Biba store was a small Chemist's shop in Abingdon Road, but by the time Biba's doors closed in 1976 it had evolved into an elaborate 5-story Art Deco department store with a restaurant and a roof garden overlooking High Street Kensington. The avant-garde BIBA cosmetics brand was being sold in 33 countries across the globe.

Biba finally closed its doors in 1976, a victim of corporate raiding before the term had even entered the business vernacular. Hulanicki continued to work in Fashion, designing for such fashion greats as Fiorucci and Cacharel and for twelve years, from 1980 to 1992, designed a successful line of children's wear, MINIROCK, licensed to the Japanese market.

In 1980, she returned to the UK from living in glamorous Brazil to open a series of clothing boutiques and start a make-up line, all under her own name. From 1980 to 1987, she dabbled in fashion photography for the London Evening Standard and returned briefly to fashion illustration to draw Sarah Ferguson's wedding dress for the London newspapers. In 1983 she wrote her memoirs in the book FROM A TO BIBA, which was published by Hutchinson's. In 1987 she arrived in Miami Beach where she reinvented herself yet again as a designer of interiors and exteriors, single-handedly reconceiving Miami Beach's then re-emerging Art Deco District. Her projects began with Woody's on the Beach, which she designed in 1987 for Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones. She created a series of restaurants, night clubs and super-clubs, including Who's in the Grove, Sempers, Match Club and Bolero Restaurant. From 1992 to 1997 she worked for Gloria and Emilio Estefan designing the interiors for their personal recording studios, the interiors of the Cardozo Hotel on Ocean Drive, their private home on Star Island, costumes for the music video "Mi Buen Amor", as well as consulting on BONGO, the Estefan's restaurant project in Disney World, Orlando, with the Architectonica Group.

From 1990 to the present, Hulanicki has perhaps had the most impact on Miami Beach through her work for Chris Blackwell and his Island Outpost Group. She has twice reconceived the MARLIN Hotel, on Collins Avenue, as well as the CAVALIER Hotel, Ocean Drive, the LESLIE Hotel, Ocean drive, The NETHERLANDS building, Ocean Drive, and now the KENT on Collins Avenue. Other Caribbean properties she has designed for Blackwell include the COMPASS POINT Hotel and beach resort in Nassau, Bahamas - which is prominently featured in all the Bahamian Tourist Board television commercials - the PINK SANDS resort on Harbor Island, Bahamas. In 1993 Hulanicki won an award from the American Institute of Architects for her work on the NETHERLANDS, as well as an award from an association of Florida Architects. From 2001 to 2002 she worked on the Island life Ministore, located in the heart of Miami Beach on Ocean Drive. This unique shop was renovated completely by Hulanicki at owner Chris Blackwell's request. Coined as "tropical lux," this lifestyle store contained a large collection of gift items, music and film, jewelry and accessories from around the world. It also boasted men's, women's and children's apparel custom colored and designed by Hulanicki herself.

my bridal research so far..