Spring 2008 London Fashion Week: I Don't Get It

There is a reason I've given my blog the catch phrase: "an ordinary woman obsessed with fashion." That would be because I have no formal training and I'm not a fashion editor. For that reason, designers like Gareth Pugh get a blank face and a "Huh? What?" from me. For example, this was his opening look for his Spring 2008 London show.

I don't get it. Here are a few more looks I don't get.


The model below is wearing a stole made of white mink mice with red eyes and tails. Um... okay....

Does anybody actually wear these clothes or are these just outfits for fashion-insiders to editorialize about? Of the 15 looks he showed, this was the most wearable:

And I think I'm stretching it a bit by saying "wearable." I guess his particular role in the fashion game is to provoke and keep things interesting. Read more about Gareth Pugh's show here.

Spring 2008 New York Fashion Week: Dream Items

I absolutely LOVED the shoes from Tory Burch's Spring 2008 showing. I am definitely getting these adorable, gold gladiator sandals.

I will be sure to pose like this model whenever I wear them.
And this sunny yellow Marc by Marc Jacobs dress will be perfect for Spring. I love the bow detail, the silhouette and the flowery print.

Although, unlike the model, I would have to smile in such a happy dress! I guess I should start saving for my Spring 2008 purchases now....

The Marc Jacobs Controversy

Suzy Menkes rips Marc Jacobs a new one in her review of his Spring 2008 show.

Marc threatens to move his show to Paris where he would be appreciated more.

Diane von Furstenberg attempts to smooth the whole controversy over.

How will it end???

Spring 2008 NY Fashion Week: De La Renta Designs for the Life I Wish I Lived

I live a jeans-appropriate existence. The fact is, for the majority of my day-to-day activities, jeans would be okay to wear or be the expected style choice. My job is fairly casual with its dress code. And New York city has become increasingly more casual with jeans worn at events that used to require formalwear such as going to the opera. "Dressing up" is often considered dark wash jeans.


But the fact is, I'm a woman who loves dresses. I am actually much more comfortable in a dress than jeans. And if I could wear an A-line dress with a slim fitting bodice that poufs out from the waist everyday, I would be a very happy camper. So in my dream life, I'm a "lady who lunches." This dream woman lunches at fabulous restaurants during the day with her lovely girlfriends and attends charity balls in the evening... And, of course, her wardrobe for this life is exclusively Oscar de la Renta.


He started his show with beautiful suits like this one. (Very appropriate for a smart lunch with the girls, right?)Next, came some gorgeous ethnic print dresses that would be perfect to pack for that upcoming vacation in South Africa.





Oscar showed some lovely solid-colored dresses. In my imaginary life, I would wear these to the various dinner parties I had to attend and be the most chic woman in the room.






And finally, what's a girl to wear to that formal gala or red-carpet event? Oscar has that covered, too.









In my opinion, I think his show embodied everything Fashion Week is meant to be: gorgeous, aspirational, stylish and feminine.

Spring 2008 NY Fashion Week: What's Missing?

What's missing from the Spring 2008 ready-to-wear shows? Models of color.

Thanks, Cinnamon!

Spring 2008 NY Fashion Week: Making Sense of Marc

I worship at the altar of Marc Jacobs. I make no bones about it. I agree that he is a genius and doesn't just design lines but moves fashion in a new direction almost every season. I want to BE that funky, hip, luxurious downtown girl (with a few of my own grown-up touches) that his clothes represent. I buy into it wholeheartedly. But his Spring 2008 namesake collection confounds me.

The Bad

The "silly-string guipure gown"

Marc's been quoted as saying he "loves a blouse that's dumb." Well, this dress with it's awkward top and strange strings hanging from is dumb.

The tan shoe was billed as the "too-small pump"and the hot pink and green shoe is what I will call "the accident waiting to happen." The too-small pump seems a little more wearable than the shoe with the heel protruding from the foot bed but both are not knocking my socks off.

Even Worse

I don't understand what's going on here. I'm not going to try.

All of these layers for SPRING??? Even the model looks frightened.

The Interesting

Trompe l'oeil Underwear

Underwear as Outerwear

Marc's usage of underwear as part of the outerwear of the ensemble was an interesting theme, although I feel like I may have seen this explored before.

The Good

I love the looks above for a simple reason: They're pretty. There are no gimmicks, no tricks and they don't need to be explained. And isn't that what most of us really want? The chance to wear a pretty outfit and feel good in it.

Spring 2008 NY Fashion Week: Make Me Understand Vera Wang

While it's hard to tell in the picture, these are drop-crotch satin shorts.

DROP-CROTCH SATIN SHORTS, I SAY!!!

I was watching Full Frontal Fashion yesterday night and the commentator said that Vera Wang views these as a modern take on the cargo short. WHAT? These look more like a modern take on the MC Hammer pant. Unfortunately, the pictures do not do full justice to how uncomplimentary and unforgiving these shorts are. The back view looks like the model is wearing a droopy diaper. I don't know who can pull these off since they're not really working on these 6 foot tall, 110 pound models. I am not amused.

And remember what I've been saying about the death of volume?
Oy vey, Vera.... And this dress just looks like the model has a goiter growing out of the side of her thigh.

Who looks good wrapped in all this excessive, shiny fabric? Boo, Vera Wang...

Spring 2008 NY Fashion Week: I Enjoy Being a Girl!

As I looked through the runway pictures for Thakoon, Tracy Reese and Catherine Malandrino, I was reminded of one of my favorite show tunes: I Enjoy Being a Girl! The looks were feminine and girly, and celebrated a woman's curves. No more trapeze, tents and empire-waist dresses. It was all about cinched waists and shorter hemlines. (Bye maxi-dresses!) In particular, I adored almost everything from Catherine Malandrino's show. She used several feminine touches including lots of pink, colorful prints and ruffles.

I also noticed that quite a few of the shows have been featuring an asymetrical, single shoulder dress but I liked Catherine Malandrino's take on this style the best. If you want to get an early start on this trend, try this version from Banana Republic.

Here are some of my favorite looks.

Thakoon

Tracy Reese

Catherine Malandrino

Spring 2008 NY Fashion Week: Proenza Schouler

Proenza Schouler interprets Spring 2008 in a manner that is usually saved for Fall collections: military! Their collection was full of military themes, vests, oversized-metallic buttons and lots of usage of khaki and navy colors. And similar to many other designers who have shown this week, there were a few beautiful metallic dresses. The collection was particularly interesting to me since so many aspects of it seemed menswear inspired and Proenza Schouler was known for its exagerated bustier styles.

This is actually the first show I've seen so far that has me truly excited because the looks seemed so unexpected for Spring. Here are my favorites.

Fashion Week!

It's Fashion Week in New York City! This is one of my favorite times of the year. If you walk by Bryant Park (where the tents are for the shows) during the day time, you might not see someone famous but you'll definitely see someone fabulous. Model looking women, flamboyant fashionistas and gorgeous men seem to be everywhere. While most are excited to see the Spring 2008 ready-to-wear collections, others want to be seen in all their fashionista glory.

I've been checking out the shows from the past few days on Style.com and I have noticed a few trends:

• Volume is dying a slow death. For many designers, such as BCBG and L.A.M.B., dresses that compliment the feminine form and cinch the waist are back. Hallelujah! I was so sick of seeing racks and racks of tent-style dresses in stores. They only flatter tall, thin models. They make the rest of us look pregnant!
• Dark colors will work for Spring. Badgeley Mischka, Nicole Miller and L.A.M.B. all heavily featured dark colored clothes (like black and navy) on their runways. Who won't have a wedding or party to attend where a spring-time little black dress will make perfect sense?
• Metallics and ethnic inspired prints are spring-time favorites. Marchesa and Nicole Miller both included ethnic touches in their collections while most of the collections I viewed also had metallic style dresses or appliques.

So what can women who aren't a sample size (0 or 2), who have careers, families and active lives wear, or be inspired by for next Spring? Here are my favorite looks! (Click on the picture to find out the designer.)

I'll have more fashion week coverage next week!

Fall 2007 Couture: Elie Saab

With 55 gowns in mostly gray and silver tones, two words kept coming to mind as I looked through the Elie Saab Fall 2007 Couture show pictures: Red carpet. I can definitely see many of the gowns gracing the flawless figures of Halle Berry or Nicole Kidman at upcoming award shows and other red carpet events. While Style.com gave the show a scathing review and called it repetitive, I found that many of the gowns were gorgeous and elegant. Here are some of my favorites.

Fall 2007 Couture

Couture.

I think most people don't really know what that word means. I've heard people refer to their jeans and t-shirts as "couture." Officially, couture is a French word that refers to the creation of exclusive, hand-made, custom-fitted clothing. Couture clothing are usually made from high-quality fabrics with extensive attention to detail and finishing. In France, the words "haute couture" are protected by law and only certain fashion houses are allowed to refer to their clothing in this way.

So who buys couture clothing? Worldwide, there are only about 2,000 women who buy these items. With evening gowns costing up to $100,000 and tailored suits starting at $16,000, it's easy to understand why there is a very small market for these clothes. But the tradition of couture continues even with such a small market and many of the themes explored on couture runways are often incorporated into the labels' ready-to-wear lines.

The Fall 2007 Couture shows are happening in Paris this week. On a personal level, I love the evening wear pieces best and found the Chanel, Christian Dior and Jean Paul Gaultier shows to be the most visually stunning and inspiring.

Chanel
Ever the genius, Karl Lagerfeld delivered haute couture with a twist. LITERALLY. According to Lagerfeld, "Everything is flat at the front. It’s all side effects."

Christian Dior
With the recent passing of John Galliano's chief designer, Steven Robinson, one might have expected a somber Dior show. The show was anything but. The clothing was exuberant and paid an homage to painters, fashion illustrators and photographers. Best of all, some of the most famous supermodels such as Gisele, Naomi and Linda walked the runway.

Jean Paul Gaultier
Gaultier's show revealed a variety of influences. From Prince Charming in fairy tales to military and Indian-inspired themes, the Gaultier show existed somewhere between a dream and reality.

Source

For more pictures and runway reviews, check Style.com.

Milan Fashion Week Spring 2008

Men's Fashion Week is in full swing in Milan this week. As I was perusing the shows on Style.com, I found that a lot of the styles seemed over the top and not clothes my male friends or husband would wear. Many things were almost comical! I would rate Alexander McQueen's designs among my least favorite. And since I know you're all busy people, I'll tell you why in three words:

Man-pris?

LEGGINGS?!

Polka-dots??

While the collection was rather dark for Spring, Prada's Spring 2008 offerings were my favorite. Again, here's why in three words:

Understated.

Chic.

Whimsical.

Check out a slide show of the worst of the worst from Milan here.

Caribbean Fashion Week!

As a women whose parents were born in the Caribbean, I am ashamed to admit that I had no idea that this week is Caribbean Fashion Week. Taking place in Kingston, Jamaica, CFW is currently in its seventh year and features Caribbean designers.

As to be expected, tropical colors and mixing textures was a big theme and the designs were featured on slightly more curvaceous models than what you would see at the New York shows. You can see pictures and read more about Caribbean Fashion Week here.