Friday, December 27, 2013

Present But Mostly Past


Merry late Christmas! I spent the few days before Christmas a.) Emergency shopping on, yes, Christmas Eve, and 2., shopping at the Village Discount. Basically I got this blue dress from Sears and orange coat, both vintage. I also got an ACT prep book, but that's a most unfortunate event.

             My mom endearingly calls this my ''Smurf Dress'', or my ''Edith Bunker dress''.
                                 For Christmas I got three vintage issues of Interview magazine, the magazine Andy Warhol published until his death in 1987. Priscilla Presley covers this one, the 1979 Christmas issue. The advertisements include a Happy New Year's greeting from Diane von Furstenberg and on the back a ''Merry Christmas, from Halston.''

         Priscilla Presley: Are you really involved in politics? Andy: No, we just go to every party.
                Linda Hutton is on this cover:

                             And, Phoebe Cates:
The funniest part about the interviews in these magazines is the name dropping in the interviews. Andy just off handedly offers to introduce Priscilla to Calvin Klein.In the back of the magazine is the column ''Out'', reviews of different parties in France and New York. One of these is the Executive Editor, Bob Colacello's, story of traveling on the book signing circuit with Andy for Andy's book, Exposures. The guests in the regular Out columb include Yves Saint Laurent and Diana Vreeland. And, in the June 1982 issue, Andre Leon Talley (who started out as a secretary at The Factory), best known for his work at Vogue, is listed as Fashion Editor and interviews the couturier John Galanos.


                                  ^^ I have been wanting  this book for so long. It's the book that coincides with the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute's exhibit of McQueen's work. His most beautiful and mysterious pieces are included, and the interview with Sarah Burton (the current Creative Director, aka Designer) in the back is delightful. It's miraculous how McQueen turned dark subjects into some of the most beautiful clothes imaginable. Have a Happy New Year's eve! Because the beginning of the new year just ends Christmas break.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Chic Police

              In Elle magazine's recent article about Oscar de la Renta and his 50th anniversary of his company, he says he doesn't like the words ''pretty'' and ''chic'', but prefers style. Which I certainly agree with. Chic and pretty aren't words that really bring to mind any kind of substance. Better words would probably be ''beautiful'', or ''gorgeous'' (or their inevitable alternatives, at times, ''horrendous'' ''horrific'' and any other word that could connotates natural disaster, but applied to clothing) as descriptors. But the title for my review of his pre fall collection went together so well, with the military style jackets and the fact that ''Fashion Police'' has already been used. Onward!
         Look 1's deep purple jacket and skirt was too monochromatic for me. Purple is an excellent color, but this was too much. The jacket and skirt would look okay separately, but the color still was too dark for me. 2, on the other hand...wow. I love it! The pitch black layered jacket and semi-sheer skirt was so beautiful. One of those outfits that's just enough casual and just enough out there to be perfect. 3 was a filler look. The only way to describe it was long black dress. Done. 4 was too artificial. The jacket, again, too purple/bluish, and the pattern was a lame effort to make a long coat interesting. And no buttons? Ick. Look 5 was so sloppy! The jacket was practically a long thin blanket with pockets, and pants were wide, but not bell bottoms. Just say no to wide pants that are not bell bottoms! The green in the jacket, and blue in the pants, were just the wrong colors. Very Macy's sale rack. Look 6 was another flat jacket with boring print, and the skirt with leaves and one bird looked like a photo, almost. Also, Pier 1 Imports ''art.''  I'm more into patterns. 7 was filler. The structure of 8's sweater was fabulous. It flared out perfectly, and the braided twists were excellently placed. 9's jacket was a copy of classic Chanel, and skirt, again, filler.
            Look 14 was better than most of the looks, but it still wasn't all that exciting or ''new.'' The jacket looked like a sweatshirt. And the looks before were a slouchy jacket and way too much plaid for comfort. One of my favorites was 15, a belted black top with polka dot holes, also in the skirt. The top in 16 was too casual and hippie. The white and black plaid square in the middle of 17's jacket was just strange. I found a favorite in look 18's dress. The top is just black, but then the skirt starts with white lines and dots descending down, and then we have a white skirt with black speckles. The marks on the skirt reminded me of diamonds. Look 19's print was basically a Michael Kors for T.J. Maxx swimsuit print turned into a skirt suit. Blech. 20, on the other hand, brought back the beautiful skirt of 18, and the paisley/sheer jacket was a perfect mix of very different patterns. But did the Michael Kors print really have to sneak in, in the under shirt?
          21 had to be my favorite. A long, elegant dress with the most minimal print, outlined by the print in 18 that I loved so much. The matching dress had one of my favorite trends, a modest dress but just with the very top in brown sheer. 22 waited to long to poof out. It looked awkward. Look 23 wasn't very elegant or beautiful, but it had a slight cute aspect to it. Not a very mature look. I am going to assume look 24 was supposed to appear very extravagant and lush, but the way the dress draped and the diamond (?) bow was sloppy (why can't sloppy just stay with sweatshirts?). Look 25 was an all black gothic outfit. It should've been in the ''Chaos To Couture'' exhibit at the Met (which I went to-it was amazing!) Look 26 was plain ugly, and I might add that even the model didn't look all that impressed.
          Look 27 reminded me of fall themed hotel wallpaper. With 28 came yet MORE wallpaper. But this time I think it was swanky hotel wallpaper. If that could possibly make it any better. 30 was certainly better than the wall paper looks,  and had more structure, but the glittery lace on top of the bright, dark blue was too loud. And 31! It was the fringed curtain that would go WITH the hotel wallpaper. AHHH! Look 32 looked very plastic, and straight out of ''Seventeen's Prom Dress Special- $95 Dollars and Less!''Up until 36 the looks were also very prom, but 36 was one of my favorites. The thick folds on the chest and the flat draping skirt was gorgeous. Rich red wine colored top with a hot pink skirt. A perfect color pairing. 37 was too much like a quilt. The purple body and red flowers just didn't go together, and the skirt was way too wide.
          The last few looks were the best. Look 38's yellow gown that blends into lavender at the bottom was so lush. Lavendar lemonade (Taylor Swift's favorite drink- duh!). The white flowers with gold stems worked well to, and didn't upstage the colors. 39 was, yes, ANOTHER hotel curtain (sorry). Luckily the last look, 40,  was a good finish. A very light lavender gown with a sculpturally folded skirt.
       This collection had some really horrible moments, but standouts like 36 and 21 made it worth it. But designers seriously need to try harder now, or just make less collections.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Smells Like Rain

                Diane Von Furstenberg Pre Fall:       
           This collection is much, much different from the previous one I reviewed, in the way that I loved every look! The only qualm I really had was that it's a Pre-Fall collection, but the greens and florals weren't very ''fall''. But who doesn't occasionally wear bright florals in fall? Not me!
                  Look 1's  honey comb background with green and black splotches was beautiful in the most casual way. Very smooth and soft, but still had personality. The sweatshirt wasn't extremely exciting. One of my favorite trends of recent, when an outfit has two stacks of color and one print, was present in two. The typical rules of matching colors is usually tiresome, but matching the  green sweater with the green in the skirt, and then the black fur in the skirt... So pretty. Look 3 was definitely a favorite. Huge flowers explode across the skirt in shades of green, brown, and silver. Soft metallic is the best metallic. 4 looked too much like a nighty.
           5 was very subtle, and the folds on the top were a bit sloppy. But the skirt that hugged the hips and then gently plumed out was very, very pretty. 6's skirt was so well designed, and so beautiful. The way it tightens at the top and then comes out at the bottom was so perfect, almost sculptural. Look 7 was probably the most work-ready. Very casual and it hung very well, but the belt gave it structure. 9 was perfect for winter. Dark blue and white. Snow-Fairy style. 10 reminded me of something an actual fashion designer would wear. It has that special touch, with the deep blow and folding neck, but it wouldn't over shadow the designer's own crazy designs. Look 11's beautiful blue flowers blended into what looked like the folds of one big flower. 12 was big version of the previous dress with a train. The fold over at the hips looked a little forced. Look 13 reminded us how awesome that bee trend was, with it's Edward Gorey style bees and deep oranges. 14 was the skirt-suit version, which also made me wish I had a reason to wear a suit.
            15 would work as a wedding dress. All white with elegant black ribbon on the bodice. Look 16 was a particular favorite, with it's all white skirt, but then half of the top was dark black with black roses (I'm not really sure what flower it was). 17's dress with orange and white circles was a mix of classic 60's and modern. Some designers go way too far with the whole 60's thing, and it ends up looking like an ABBA costume (despite ABBA not being from the 60's). The next dress, a sheath dress version of 17 was even better.
       19 and 20's black skirt and black dress with (pink leaves? flamingos? baby emus?) was a little too Anne Taylor ''Trying to not look like yet another 'What Not To Wear' '' look. The last look, 21, was a voluminous hot pink gown with soft black bust. I really liked it, but the back was just a little too crumpled.
           One of my most favorite collections!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

What Shall I Resort To?

             As stylish and fashion savvy as I am, I was surprised today when I went on Twitter and saw tweets about Chanel's pre-fall collection. I know about resort collections, but I thought it only referred to pre-spring? Because wouldn't you go on a resort...in a warmer season...like spring? LOL. My interpretation was obviously super-off. But how exciting! More collections to review!
                 My first will be Chanel:
     The quite obvious theme of this collection was Texas/cowboys. Look 1 was a pretty sprinkled gold jacket and skirt combo. The black tie was a rip off of the Yves Saint Laurent ties in the recent ''skinny suit'' ads. Look 2 was a boring red/brown color, and the pockets were too high up. Gabrielle Chanel always had the philosophy against extra, useless buttons... does a more noticeable, useless item like pockets that are too high up make sense? Nope. 4 was typical T.J. Maxx wear, with bunched up stripes that looked like a knitting mistake.
         7 was one of my favorites. The glistening black jacket with the bright gold contrasting collar was so gorgeous. A goes-with-anything piece.  Look 8 gives you a better view of the jacket in 7... but something tells me Levi's already has jeans covered? Or am I wrong? 11 was a favorite. I love, love, (LOVE) clothes with wispy feather accents. Especially in pale colors, like white, as in this look. A great, unique interpretation of the Chanel jacket. 12 was too kitschy/sterotypical cowboy for me. And sloppy. A skirt with fringe just at the bottom is a big no-no for me. It's a last minute attempt at making an outfit interesting. Look 14 brought an instant ''yuck'' reaction. Bottom fringe is bad, but misplaced middle fringe?!?! Look 15 was a strange hourglass jacket that gave the wearer an unhealthy look. When making clothes that have an hourglass shape, you should be showing curves, not an absence of ribs. The diamond in the rough of this somewhat bland (and sloppy) collection was 16, a floating dark black, glittery, and fuzzy dress. Everything I love in a gown.
      Looks 17-20 take us on an unpleasant journey through Plastic-Clothing-Lane. 22, luckily, was not over plasticated. Deep red and blue shades in a soft wool jacket and skirt, with an elegant floral collar. 24's peach shades were simply the best. The good part of this collection was the new interpretations of the classic Chanel jacket. The oranges, maroons, reds, fringe, sparkle...
        Aside from that, so many of these outfits were not Chanel, at all, especially 30. The burly fur and geometric shapes (in many outfits) were confusing (and what Seventeen would probably call ''Aztec'') Is it Peruvian? Native American? I think Just Dumb. 38 was so hideous. The colors too loud, and that fringe was just wrong, on so many levels. 42 was lazy and typical. Does the world SERIOUSLY need another hounds tooth jacket? Look 45 was probably the most horrendous. Now we're bringing in ancient Asian military gear? 47-50 was, again, straight out of T.J. Maxx. NO MORE CIRCLE/SQUARE PRINTS, 'KAY? The shawl was awesome though. Fuzzy and fluffy with those rich orange/red shades.
        52-60 was the worst group of looks in this collection. Denim has already been done by Levi's, and that was the worst trend of recent, in my opinion. 58 and 60 were the worst. The next group, the sparkly one, had one of my  favorites. The subtle and shiny look of 62 was Chanel and fit in with the America theme, with the red, white, and blue and stars. On to 64, the looks were too metallic. The menswear after was terrible,especially the fringed jackets. Just lazy designs, especially 66. Chanel isn't known for it's menswear, so if you want to introduce that, shouldn't you try and make it new, different? Modern menswear is something that seriously needs to improve, and this did not help. And let's face it, 69's skirt was a garbage bag.
         Until 76 it's more garbage bags, metallic paint, and bland. 76's sweater was a favorite. I just loved the quirky feathery nature of it. I've also always loved the whole horoscopes/fortune teller/stars aesthetic. Everyone needs some fortune teller in their life, am I right? 77 and 78 also had that beautiful starry night theme. Look 81 was so different, with the simple black dress and red, orange, and blue skirt, sleeves, and collar. The unlikely colors worked perfectly. From then on things really look up. Look 83 had pastel, tinsel, and floated elegantly. It goes more in a colonial direction, which could sound  school-production style, but it works. They weren't costumes, just subtle inspiration. I really didn't like the very last looks, because they were plain white sheer, but the models wore feathers and head dresses to make it interesting. It looked nice, but the feathers did not compensate well enough for the boring.
    This collection had it's standouts, but Texas cowboys is not a very good theme for Chanel to work from. I have seen worse, though!

Saturday, December 7, 2013

W Magazine Art Issue

     .This issue was one of my favorite magazines yet. Why? Let me count the reasons

1.) The ''Far, Far From Land'' feature. These pictures gave you the feeling that makes you want to use words like ethereal, even though you might not know what it means. Words can have the effect of synesthesia sometimes, the condition (not disorder; since I was twelve I have literally prayed to have this) where someones sees or tastes things that aren't there when they see, read, or hear something. When I see the sea shells, wispy dresses, and twisted branches of this feature, I find a meaning in ethereal that isn't really there. The Japanese wabi-sabi principle also comes to mind. The broken branches, cracked shells, ripped clothes, and jagged rocks. A love of the imperfect.

2.) ''Trouble In The Art World'' is a fabulous read for any art lover. Instead of presenting art as glamorous, perfect, and an exclusive little world of the eccentric,it shows the scandals, deaths, shootings, and ugly divorce; the alimony of $100,000,000 dollars a year for 13 years that couldn't be spent on plastic surgery was hilarious.

3.) ''That's A Wrap'' about Diane von Furstenberg's famous wrap dress and new retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The exhibit also includes portraits of Furstenberg by Andy Warhol, whom she is using as inspiration for her new wrap dresses that incorporate his dollar signs and flowers. It's fascinating how well this issue worked, considering that many designers like Prada were including art, and of course Diane.

4.) A very,very, may I annunciate: VERY small detail of this issue was seeing Harry Styles in the beginning of the issue that sums up  the fashion week parties. Styles was at the W Magazine celebration for Cara Delevingne's cover on the September Issue. In a white T-shirt. *sigh* There are legitimately awesome T shirts, like the ones Grimes designed for Yves Saint Laurent. CAN I BE HIS STYLIST ALREADY?! THE POOR THING NEEDS HELP!

Even if you don't have a subscription, you need this issue. I loved it so, so much, and the Yayoi Kusama designed cover was so cool. The W even had polka dots!
                                            ^^too much bloggin^^

Friday, November 22, 2013

Fresh New Ideas

   Lately I've had a bit more time to sketch out some designs (and charge up my IPod so I don't have to use that horrid computer camera), since I'm well into the school year and the idea that you'll die instantly if you don't do everything at once has worn off.

                      ^ This design is more for the sweater. I added the pants just as a style preference. I got the fitted idea when I was absentmindedly staring in a mirror at sewing class and pulling on my sweater.

       ^ Is there possible anything better than a good fall jacket? No, there is not. I've been enjoying some of the fall items I picked up through the summer, and had to wait to wear for SO LONG. This blue one is kind of my dream jacket.

                  ^ Just a close up of the collar. It would be beaded with bright red glass beads
                   
                                      ^ One of those designs that your proud of but honestly just popped into your head.
                                     This final dress had been on my mind for a while. I love capes and extra layers.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Open Your Eyes Before You Die

                       No matter how big a fashion freak you are, there's always something new to discover, explore, and love. And that, my friends, is what makes fashion  fabulous. My latest discovery is not entirely new. Thierry Mugler, known both for his perfumes and couture, is a designer I have seen occasionally in magazines, and everyone's seen in perfume ads, even  if you don't know who he is. The first thing that comes to mind ( No, I am not going to say McQueen; McQueen is amazing, but comparing him to this designer isn't very creative, considering that analogy would end with ''because of his quirky design sense''. ew, ew, triple throw up) is opulence. Beautiful opulence, one that includes insects, modern art, and flowers.
                   The first (and only so far) full collection of Mugler's I have seen is his Spring/Summer 1997 collection. Throughout the show, we are taken on a journey through butterflies, beetles, flies, and pill bugs. What is so magical about this collection, is how wearable these clothes, are while at the same time the inspiration is clear. Things like a beetle wings jacket, a fly mask, 3-D butterfly wings on the back of a dress, and feathers shooting out of the front of a dress are made elegant and glamorous. Another dress is silky and white, and well-fitted to the body. Streaming fringe swings from the sleeves, middle, and headdress.
                 Sparkle and shine, in the best sense of those words, is seen in my favorite piece. A big, voluminous dress, sparkling white, with a veil of sparkling sheer and antennaes. The front of the skirt is covered by a white cage.
                This collection was an unusually long (by unusual I mean FABULOUS) 40 minutes. Many more looks were in this collection, like the sleek curvy ant inspired jackets, also made this collection beautiful, especially a very plain jacket, that when opened reveals an ornate underlining of 3-D meadow flowers, along with a flower covered top.
               I truly wish I could do this designer justice, but unfortunately that's impossible with just one fashion blog post. Exploring even more gorgeous collections from Mugler (is that possible?) is something I look forward to immensely.

Monday, November 11, 2013

My Latest Design Ideas

      

These pictures are not exactly the best. I had to use my computer web cam, because I can't find my IPod charger. :P Well, I tried my best! Which one's your favorite ( or what the heck, which one's your least favorite?)

Monday, October 21, 2013

Marchesa di Gresy for I. Magnin Women's Suit- Perfectly Polished

Another delightful estate sale find. I. Magnin was a famous fashion and luxury goods department store. Think Bergdorf's (I have been there, Bergdorf's is amazing). I couldn't find much about the designer, Marchesa di Gresy, but what I do know is that she was an Italian woolmaker who won the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award. She shares this award with the likes of Gabrielle Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli.


                                     Me looking like a happy ''Carrie'':

                             And the shoes that are too amazing to stop posting:

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Last Chance

                     Besides finding out I won't be meeting Alfie Deyes tonight, I found out today Marc Jacobs is leaving Louis Vuitton. How sad is that? He totally changed the Vuitton house from just a pricey bag store into a high end fashion empire. And it was all so beautiful, nothing like, say, Marc Bohan at Dior, when he became the designer and turned it into a money machine. This final collection was beautiful, celebratory, and melancholy for obvious reasons. While many ready to wear shows are thrown out in a hurried flourish,this had elevators, fountains, a carousel, a loud ticking eerie clock... Darkly beautiful.
                   Look 1 wasn't really an outfit, more of an Edward Gorey style art piece. While not an outfit, it was a quirky piece. 2, 3, and 4 were made of black velvet, which is the world's greatest fabric (along with tulle) in case you didn't know. The cut outs weren't a favorite, but a black slip underneath would look fine. Look 6 was an elegant gothic version of the much worse tassle looks from the Marc by Marc Jacobs collection. 7 was another sheer, but it had details and glitter besides just being sheer. Repeat after me: wear a slip! It will look awesome! I feel a little bad about 8, because I can't tell whether the fluffy black on the pants is a super low skirt or part of the pants. Either way it's beautiful. 10's black and conservatively glittered cape was the first cape I've ever liked, and doesn't remind me of Sherlock Holmes.
                   One of the big themes of this collection is 20's (and the most fashionable color from back then, black!), and look 13 was a modern/flapper dress. Not costume-y, and not stupidly modern. Very few modern things are actually nice. The military-esque looks of 15-20 weren't my style. Not very fitting with the theme. 22 ripped off Gucci a bit much. 24 was one of my favorite looks. Dark blue/black with glittery vines. Seeing a floor length dress with a train (the most unlikely thing on earth nowadays!) that actually looks beautiful and ladylike was wonderful. And of course next you get 25 *sigh* 27 was a too much. Clothing, people, clothing! 28 as an art piece was beautiful. Not all that wearable, but it has that ''wow, it's just...wow so beautiful'' factor. 29 had too much bulk.
               Me being the lover of fluffy ostrich feathers, look 31 was another favorite. Dark black (like everything in this collection) jacket with ostrich feathers <3 LOVE <3. Look 33 looked a little tacky. Too much going on. 37 was yet another favorite look. well fitted and pinched in, with shoulder pads and Baroque/20's dress embroidery in the middle. The last look was like 37, but had the embroidery all over. Just as amazing.
               I honestly can't believe one of my favorite designers is leaving one of the main companies he works for. Being the creative director (designer) for such a huge label is super hard. If you do one thing majorly wrong, the company could be ruined. But I can't keep from feeling sad.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Classical Chic

                 Everyone knows the very basic parts of the Chanel style. Tweed, braid, and quilted purses. The interpretations of this style by the Chanel house has always had a wide variety. There was 80's Chanel, 90's Chanel, and of course the original. This collection was a nice revival of this classic style. Plenty of tweed.
                  3 and 4 were two of my favorites. 3 with it's spunky bright colors, and 4 the pale pinks and blues I love so much. Look 5 was very plain. Just blue and white plaid. 10 had a predictable yet chic contrast with the light blue and dark blue border. 11 was another boring piece. Plain colors that do not go together. 12 was delightful. A little bulky, but the fluffy variety of colors against the normal tweed was so unexpected. So artistic. Look 13 was a longer version of this jacket, and with less plaid, which made me like it even more. Plaid is okay only when it's done perfectly. Look 14's print was much too T.J. Maxx swim team. 15-32 were so boring! The colors were too loud and metallic, and the white or black looks were predictable. Many filler pieces.
               Look 41 was just another cleavage piece. Gosh, when will people realize how dumb that looks?! 42 and 43 were pretty horrifying. So not Chanel, on this extreme level. Like this ugly version of sports wear ( as if sportswear wasn't ugly enough). The slouchiness was the worst part. Many of the looks after this one were these (yet again) horrific washed out denim outfits, and 49 was the worst of them. Unoriginal, ugly, just ew. Does the world really need another washed out denim vest? That big, especially? Chanel's collections are always the ones you look forward to, and when they disappoint this much, it's super lame. After 49 everything was slouchy version of something that could look good. The skirt of 58 was actually a favorite, light, airy, and with the cutest little white bows. 63's gray/black look with Celtic inspired print was terrible. Like one of those prints you see in a thrift store and wonder how something so hideous could be conceived in someone's mind.
                Look 65's one sleeve sweater had a beautiful camellia flower design. I love sweaters, so having a sweater that's wearable in spring or summer would be nice. 67: EW MIDRIFF CUT OUT! Look 70's medical tubing sweater was a bit disturbing. 73 would've worked without the little dashes of black. The black made it look dirty. 76  would be perfect for a True Value hardware uniform. Look 83 actually looked good with the paint blotches, and the lace. I also like the diagonal collar. 85 looked miss matched. Like when you have a two year old get dressed. 87 and 88 looked broken. The very last look was okay, but not Chanel.
        The beginning of this collection was very beautiful, but it kind of veered off into boredom and weird prints that should never be together.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Better Faster Stronger

          Something about the 80's reminds me of fast things. Like those ridiculous race car movies, or dumb horror movies (okay, those have been around forever and into eternity).  My ever expanding collection of crazy sweaters just got a new addition. The obnoxiously amazing puffy and furry shoulders gives it that faint military look.


                                     The only good selfie I have ever taken:


Pretty Pink Peony

                   Elie Saab represents everything lacy, frilly, and gorgeous. His clothes are some of the most elegant pieces I have seen, by far. Unlike many designers, he doesn't forget to design well for his ready to wear shows.
               One of my favorites was the first look, a light pink jumpsuit with lightly layered flowers on the top.  3's jumper is a perfect look for spring. Cool and in a spring color. The white looks were just as good. Look 8 did look a little winter-y, but the beauty of this dress makes up for any seasonal confusion. Snow fairy costume. 16's cape in the back put an elegant, modern spin on what could have been a plain white dress.   Look 19 was a chic white shirt with white flowers. Perfect if you have a super boring job but still feel like dressing up.  20 was an overly perfect white version of the first look.  
              The green ivy colored looks weren't as great as the previous looks. 23 was plain and over-glittered. Look 24 was too long. It just looked wrong. And 26 was downright dumb! Ah! I hate filler. 29 was my favorite of the white floral print looks. For the others, the print just didn't translate well enough. Embroidery is more my thing.
              37 was my favorite of the bright red. Minimal details, with a full flowing skirt. Look 38 was another filler piece. Filler pieces are so lame. Like who wears them, label happy Kim Kardashian? 39 through 46's patterns were just too, well, patterned. No structure, just a pattern. Like an Izod shirt. The only reason you truly want it is the alligator. Pitch black was the last color group. Too many ''just barely dressed'' looks. An exception, 52, was a long, elegant maxi dress, with a very gothic look.
            All in all a pretty good collection, with a few filler pieces and sheers.

Monday, September 30, 2013

On a Happy Cloud

              Firstly, before I bore I bore you into brain mush, with yet another review, I am going to meet TAVI GEVINSON tomorrow!!!!! Ahhhh!!!! Tavi is from Oak Park Il, right outside Chicago ( where I live) and she's having a book signing and Q&A thingy. I can't wait to read the book (600+ times), and meet other fashion nerds! I will totally have tons of pics and stuff, and I just got the most fabulouis (one direction humor) sweater EVER. Like, if you thought my tropical fish one was good, you have no idea. Anyways, I have more reviews to get to. Some of the really popular shows, like Givenchy or Balenciaga, I won't be reviewing, just because their so boring and I don't want to post ''Ew another gray jacket'' over and over. Well, did that serve as a good review? I guess. Well, now I will review Yves Saint Laurent:
           Boring, boring, then look 11. A simple hot pink sparkly dress with a well designed flair. Dance party! Look 13 reminded me a little too much of a Lisa Frank folder. Pink stripes...with cheetah/tiger print? Ick. Some of these sheer pieces were so irritating. Like, it's gone past the immodest point, and into unoriginal territory. Can we please start making some CLOTHES for once? 18's fire print top was too much like a deer hunting print that would be on one of those hideous orange hats.
         Once thing I absolutely loved about this collection was the shoes! Kitten heels, with glossy black or red colors, and a little bow tie at the tip. Very Dorothy-meets-Vara. Look 20 was from Wet Seal bargain rack. 26's jacket was one of the very few looks in this collection that I really liked. A glittery mix of gold and silver. Kind of Marc Jacobs. So many of these looks were just so boring. I mean, compared to greats like Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen... geez. The runway show wasn't exciting at ALL, and everything was just monotonous sameness. And badly made prom dresses are not stylish! 42 was my favorite, a short black single strap dress, with the single strap being a gigantic layered fluffy tulle thingy. I loved it.
         This was probably the worst look of Paris Fashion week. Aside from 42, everything was so unoriginal, boring, bland, just dumb.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Jean Paul Gaultier sprign 2014

               Sorry I haven't been posting for a while! I just got caught up hanging out with some new friends in the youtuber fandom. So yeah I've basically been spending hours at the park screaming about Alfie Deyes and Caspar Lee. Oh well. Fashion waits for no one but me, so thank you for being patient for a new post! Here I go:
               I honestly think fashion shows have some hope now. Lately it's been so boring. I have to admit I think I' the only one who didn't really like the Rick Owens show all that much? Not because it wasn't serious, and I think it's awesome to have some healthy sized models on the runway, but the clothes weren't that great, and in my opinion a good show shouldn't just have great clothes, or just be fun. It has to be a mix! Gaultier shows are always interesting AND beautiful, with all of the celebrity appearances and such. The American Idol-esque judges were so much fun, too.
              Now, on to the clothes. The first few looks weren't so exciting, but the creative use of leather was fun. Usually designers just make a leather jacket with one extra zipper. Look 12's giant wavy skirt came in a gorgeous shade of beige. One of those outfits you can't not notice. 14 was a favorite. Tan with little twig thingies all over it. It looked very couture to me (EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT!). 21 had an interesting way of connecting it's skirt to the jacket, by having a part of the jumbo collar connect with the top layer of the dress and go all the way  around. Look 25's marble/bubble pants had a nice relaxed look without being harem pants. Harem pants....*shudder* 31 obnoxiously copied off Givenchy. In W magazine they tried to say it was the other way around, with Givenchy's fall couture collection copying off, but I disagree. Gaultier's spring 1994 barely looks like Givenchy's collection. Cheating sucks, people!
          I love, love, loved look 36's half dress/half pant look. 45 and 46 had a colorfully sleek look. Pretty. 47 was another favorite of mine. I love ruffles, and fall colors. This collection was definitely better than many of the previous collection. It was pretty boring though with all the leather and sheer unrealistic sheer pieces, but as with most collections, the standout pieces made up for it.

Friday, September 27, 2013

FINALLY! Christian Dior spring 2014

                Personally? I was sooo worried this collection would suck, or at least be really boring. So many of the recent collections were downright ugly, duplicates of other collections, or just boring. Luckily this collection was none of the above! Classic Dior style, everything. Since it's ready to wear it's a bit more tame, but still beautiful.
               Look 4 was  a definite favorite. A perfect combination of black lace and pink. I really like Raf Simons ability to use abstract shapes in a tasteful way, instead of it looking ridiculous. 11 was the perfect mix of chic and glam. A baggy gray dress with a peak of satin on the bust. <3 LOVE <3 Another favorite of mine about this colletion is the jewelry. It goes right with the floral staging of the show, and is sure to be a hit with accessories enthusiasts. Most of the blazers and jackets were a bit boring. I would've liked to see more modern interpretations of the classic bar jacket.
                29-31 didn't seem like dresses I would usually like, but the simple but carefully paired colors worked wonderfully. Yellow on top of black, green on top of pink. 37 was happily nostalgic of the classic ballooned out a line from the days of Dior himself. It also had a little modern twist, with the caged in lines. Look 38 was even better. A nicely structured dress. Multi colored roses and and tulle sticking out of the front in lines. This look had a nice couture effect.
                 42 was shockingly beautiful. Half the perfect shade of deep yet pale pink, half pink and black beading over pink. I loved it so much. I've always (okay at all times of my life) hated it when people say something that isn't actually couture ''so couture!'' but this ready to wear dress was just that. A house that also producers couture can get away with these things. 43 and 44 were this previous dress's blue versions, 44 including silver. Equally beautifully, and equally hard to choose which is best! Look 45 was one of the most interesting pieces. From the front it looks like any Dior jacket they would add, but then you realize in the back it has silky blue fabric coming out. Perfect modern interpretation of a classic.
                Aside from a very, very few blah pieces, this collection was the best Paris collection so far. Original, classic, and GORGEOUS!

Lanvin Spring 2014

                     Lanvin is one of the labels I always trust to be beautiful. The last few collections were a delightful celebration of flowers and shine.This collection, though? More like Forever 21 with a big price tag.
                   Up until 6, the outfits were formless sheath dresses and obnoxious glitz. 6's skirt had a velvety-silky look, with a swishing ruffle at the bottom. I love the textured ruffly trend recently. 7 had a very ugly uniform look. Like something from an army surplus store. Aside from 6, so many of these looks carried on with the depressing bland trend so many designers are going with. Bland colors, formless dresses, too much color and shine to compensate for bad design. 19 was a bit pathetic. Any average person could see the Chanel copying. I don't even know which Chanel collection to compare it with, because how many times has the tweed jacket been done at Chanel?
                 So many of these looks were just plain boring. I mean, yeah, most of these high end designers's customers are people who just buy for the label, but a ton of people out there also appreciate a great outfit, whether it's from a charity thrift store or Lanvin. Black coats, gray/black dresses, shiny things. GOSH. Look 29 was the definite standout of this collection, with a thickly layered pale yellow skirt and white floral embroidery. Yellow has always been a favorite for me, and this skirt is perfect for spring. 35 had a purposefully torn look. Very elegant, if not a little plastic-y. Look 36's pockets (or whatever they are) helped make up one of the worst looks I've seen so far. Yet another shimmery piece, but with scraps of fabric hanging off random areas. We're already resorting to scraps?
                38 was such a typical strapless prom dress look. I think I saw it in a Venus razor commercial. You know, the one where the girl's in an over the top tropical forest? 46 was a mistake made in fashion school. One strap missing is fine, but when the strap is actually there but just not on the shoulder? Over did it with the bow in the middle, too.
                  This collection was super disappointing. Why can't we make interesting collections anymore? Why does it have to be thousands of black dresses, and one really nice piece? It's depressing if you ask me.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Rochas Spring 2014

         PARIS FASHION WEEEEKKKK! *queue iCarly style random dance* I have been waiting for so long for this week. Ugh! The other weeks were great (especially the color given to Milan fashion week, known for usually being quite boring).  But still. Paris fashion week! Here is my first review of the last fashion week of fashion month!
         The first five looks of this collection were too similar to Louis Vuitton fall/winter. Floral patterns, the whole pajama effect. 6 was a wonderfully shiny sheer/blue flowing blouse. Blue usually isn't a very ''spring'' color, but this totally worked. 7 was a beautiful beige dress with silver embroidered roses and yellow petals. I could see the influence of Dior's dress with the wool top and shimmery blue skirt, but it was inspirational, not a copy. Look 10 looked a little too homemade, and not in the couture way. One ruffle was shorter than the others. If the dress wasn't working, then it shouldn't have been in the collection. 11 is much too Celine, and copying off a often boring brand is never a good idea. Unfortunately, cheating is a big theme here. 13 was Marc Jacobs spring 2013.
        19's skirt was an elegantly toned down version of 7. 21 became even more interesting, as another version of 7, which combined silver AND red roses. Look 25 was so sloppy and beach cover-up-ish. Look 29 brought us back to the cheating. A jumbo copy of Chanel spring/summer 2012. Come on people! 30 had a nauseating intestine effect. Ew! 33 was not feminine at all. Luckily the last look left us on a positive note, with a sheer but not see through top and petticoat skirt. Dressed down, but still has the well designed edge.
         It makes me really sad that some designers that are SO talented, sometimes copy off each other. Whether your collection only has 6 looks or 567, just make them original. I think a lot of the pressure to copy is this idea that you need a certain amounts of looks. Christian Lacroix's capsule collection for Schiaparelli had far less looks than the average collection, but, ta da, most of the looks were delightful outfits that Schiaparelli herself would undoubtedly love. Originality over quantity!

Monday, September 23, 2013

Giorgio Armani Spring 2014

              Milan has been producing some of my favorite collections so far. Prada was like the most beautiful Orange Dream (pun INTENDED). Well, today this delightful week ended, and tomorrow begins the grand finale of fashion month-PARIS FASHION WEEK. Fasten your seat belts, and get ready for collections like: Chanel! Dior! Alexander McQueen! Undercover (a brand I have not reviewed yet-screams fun!)! Til then, I have one last Milan review for you all: Giorgio Armani!
              Look 1 was a nice one to start off with, being a favorite of mine. It has that calm polished look, like something you could wear to a job interview, but it still has style and shine. Metallic and plaid, with a nice shell necklace. After this, it's pretty monotonous. Blue and pink blazers... sheer shirts...pink skirts...blah. Finally in 14 the delight is back. A relaxed red and blue sweater, with little bits of white sprinkled in to simulate snow. Here in Chicago it's expected to have snow in spring, so no confusion with a sweater for spring intended. 15's wavy gray and blue jacket was the perfect mix of Prabal Gurung and Marc Jacobs, and of course Armani. Inspiration is a beautiful thing. It also takes a lot of talent. How do you take things you've seen before, and create something new?
            For the longest time we go through a weird marbalized and floral stage. A long, long stage. 31 and 32's artistically painted suits were elegant and chic. 33's curvy pink jacket seemed too boxy.  Putting curves that aren't there, there, doesn't make sense, and looks costume-y. 35 was one of my favorites, with it's pale pink and blue flowing A line dress. The perfect spring piece. Look 38 was the perfect look for spring in the office. Look 39 was the best suit, with it's red outlined roses. 42 was just too sloppy for appreciation. 45 through 49 were delightful deep and light blue sleeveless a line dresses, with light flower prints. The two looks of 53 had a glitzy dark blue flair. 55's looks could have been beautiful, if not for the there-only-for-shock-value sheer. The very last look, 56, had a Target prom dress print and an oversize wrap.
           All in all, this collection was one of the best. Not perfect, but the standout out pieces were some of the most beautiful I have seen, which makes up for a few filler pieces.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2014

               For a while Dolce and Gabbana never seemed very interesting. All I really saw before reading anything about fashion, I only really saw sunglasses. This collection, though? I love it, and it's quite interesting.
               Look 2 was overwhelmingly gorgeous, like something out of a 20's fairy book. Pure white, with 3-D cherry blossom branches and flowers. Honestly, I couldn't believe this was a ready to wear show. 4 was a more sheer and flowing version of two. The dresses in between these looks depended too much on their Roman prints. Honestly, I've never liked photos  on clothing. 8's cream color mini dress had the prettiest white violets. All of the looks mixed in with boring photo dresses was a bit irritating. Such beautiful looks in the collection, so why add boring filler?
                12 was a vibrant red jacket with a large, fluffy red collar. Elmo style,in a good way. 14 brought back the 3-D flowers, with a lacy black dress with pretty pink peonies. More gothic and sophisticated than the other looks. Again with 16, more delightful flowers. Look 18 was much more tame than the other looks, but the flat floral patterned and cream color jacket was smooth and subtle. Up until 41 it's all printed coins and gold. Argh! Then until 47 we went into black, sheer, and boring mode. 47 had an elegant black lace blazer with silky furry collar. Look 49 was a black carbon copy of that blue look from Valentino's fall collection of this year. It's in a few adds in Vogue.
                62's uber-puffed out orange jacket was a fun artsy piece. Look 68 combined my favorite themes of this collection: deep red, flowers,  and flow. 71's pink vest is like my dream vest. Elvis vest? Bye bye! This fashion month had some surprising couture like pieces, which was my favorite part of this collection. Clothes should be wonderful and well made, couture or not!

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Moschino Spring 2014

             Hello, peoples! I had a fun day today. I went to Vegan Mania in Chicago, where I got two compliments (and a photo) of my jumbo fish sweater which I previously posted. I also got another Portugal apron, but in red with Partridge family style birds, from an estate sale. Anyways, Milan fashion week waits for no one, so here goes another review!
              Love, love, love to infinity this collection. Ohmigosh, like, WHAT?! It was so much fun! So many collections just send ghost like models down the runway in yet another gray sweater, but this was so fun! Facial expressions. Dancing. Swinging. Another interesting aspect was that each look included two modelson the runway, so technically two looks are presented in each picture. Look 2 is definitely a standout. Teddy bear hat with teddy bear necklace? The hat also has a sea anemone effect. 4 was plastic-y, but done in a tasteful way, without being all Fashion sucks! Let's wear garbage bags! 9 had a fancy fitted blazer with ruffled neckline. Both looks of 11 were plain delightful. White, gold, and silvery, outlined with feathery fabric.  Then the other look was a thickly layered black tulle skirt with a glittery black jacket, with chains. 80's Chanel and Gaultier put in one. Some of these looks started to get a little boring, and others overdid the chunky 3-D flower trend. By 23 we got back to being interesting.
            The black look of 23 was black and lacy. A bit negligible, but much better than the usual sheer mesh shirt. 27's white look had the prettiest layered skirt. Highly textured pieces look obnoxious a lot, but this one was so elegant and Dior first collection. 29's fluffy black dress was a definite favorite, wispy, gothic, very McQueen. 31 depended too much on a print. Prints and other art can be used in fashion (very well, in fact) but letting the print overtake it is never good. Look 33's quirky mix of yin and yang symbols, exclamation points, and hearts was a spunky piece. 28 was not very wearable, but was a fun art piece to add to the fun of the collection.
            All in all this collection was a great reminder of how interesting shows used to be, and hopefully will be again soon. Shows like Betsey Johnson's early shows should never be forgotten. A new collection of clothing is something to be celebrated, not dragged across a runway like it's some routine. Yay for fun!

Friday, September 20, 2013

Prada Spring 2014

            I have something in common which pretty much anybody: I love Prada. It's fun but not too strange, doesn't just make boring clothes but with a big price tag (and, yes, they do have a big price tag). This collection is no different.
            Look 1 has so much going on, it's hard to figure out where to start. Bunched up green flowers, blinged out orange collar, with a street art face on the skirt. Some of the best designers on earth (Schiaparelli, Raf Simons at Dior) have used actual paintings or prints in their work, and this is one of the best. 5 was nothing special, but I loved the pointy head piece. Look 6 brought us back to the street art with an over skirt that opens almost through the middle of the face on the skirt. The pop art style of the dress was delightful. 7 and 8 used the same artist for full dresses, which admittedly looked tacky. When you depend to much on someone else's print, it's lazy. 10 made me a bit guilty, since I don't like wearing fur.But it looks SO FABULOUS! It's like the child of Fendi and an 80's beach towel.
            Look 22 was another favorite. Colors of red, blue, and yellow pop right out of the dress. Straight dresses like this can be a bit boring, but these colors compensated. 24, again: Fur guilt! The orange.red shade with yellow and the street art print...ugh. It's like nothing else, especially in the world of fur. And yet again, in look 32! Gosh. This is killing me. I love how Prada is giving us a stylish  alternative to the normal fur that's just looks like ten Pomerians that had their hair blown out. 41, unlike many of the dresses in the collection, was form fitting. Ready to wear can get stuck in that rectangle dress rut a lot. But this dress is far from that. I loved the juxtaposition of the starry night embroidery with a raibow (and a ghostly face peeking up from the bottom. This collection is my favorite so far out of Milan. The colors, prints, and art were just so lush and unlikely. An utter lack of boring!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

McQ Alexander McQueen spring 2014

                    McQ is the ready to wear version of Alexander McQueen. Think Marc by Marc Jacobs, that sort of thing. Still very well made, but not couture. McQueen couture is out of the best dream you could ever have, but McQ has never really been all that exciting. It did get a little more exciting with this collection, surprisingly.
                The first few looks were boring. 4 had a creepy vampire/zombie comic book rabbit on it. Not my style. When we finally hit 10, things get interesting. The pattern of the pants and skirt reminded me of 70's church windows. 11's printed jumpsuit was a perfect homage of something you could truly see McQueen himself designing. Wild yet subtle, a perfect melding of animal print and color. Unfortunately, there are only 13 looks in this collection ;(((( Paris Fashion week is coming super soon, so hopefully I'll have tons of McQueen COUTURE to review for you all.

Frida

            Gucci, I thought, was going to be a collection I was reviewing today. But I disliked so much of it, why should I write ANOTHER post just complaining about it. If you need a short review, it goes like this: Lame, boring, sleeazy, cheesy, Target. There you go. On to better things!
           Overall theme of Alberta Ferretti's collection was Mexico, folkloric styles, and very, very pretty  color. 1-4 looked just like something Frida Kahlo would wear. Look 5 was a version of these looks, but a little too much like Prabal Gurung for Target. Prabal Gurung is one of my favorite designers, but that Target collection was terrible! 6 was  a light a line, white with minimal lines of multi colored flowers. Look 10 really surprised me. Harem pants that look good! Lush colors of blue, orange, and white. Gorgeous, but the logistics of the  pants is what I'm not so sure about. How do you walk in those?! On the shoulder of the white sleeveless shirt are 3-D flowers. A nice floral touch, without coming off too bulky. 19 worked wonderfully. White sheer-ish shirt with woven in ribbon coming down from the front and onto the skirt. The ribbon blends right into the skirt, seeming like it is actually connected. \
           20-22 over did the prints a little bit, and they looked typical. 23, though, was a beautiful floral print. Huge flowers at the collar, and then down the middle they get smaller, and then get bigger again towards the end of the skirt. The white skirt version of this dress in look 25 was just as good. But that shirt? Gee, haven't seen that before.... 30 had way, way too much cleavage, but if it were altered a little bit it would be perfect. One of  my favorites. Skirt was made of crinkled sheer black fabric, then layered with crinkled flowers. My favorite fabrics are like this, tulle and crinoline.Up until 36 everything's sheer. 39 is another favorite. High low dress, with thousands of bright little flowers, all in different colors. So elegant, so spring.
         Look 41 was a perfect look for spring. The deep orange and maxi dress gave this a dressed up but not quite black tie look. Perfect spring bridesmaid dress, or just for a casual dinner party. 45's skirt was nothing to write home about, but the blazer was fantastic. Deep ( i love deep colors) red, cinched in, with shiny red embroidery. Ahhhhhh too fabulous. 50, the second to last look, had a sheer collar, with a dark black layered dress. The flowers that showed up so many times before drape down the skirt. A nice finish to the show. The wedding dress ( traditional end to a fashion show) was quite boring, and casual.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Moo

Ugh sooo many text posts! Geeez. I thought before i dive into Milan fashion week, subjecting you to 500 reviews a day, I would do a funny outfit post!
This is from my ever strange sweater collection. I also thought the sappy goofy Harry poster with the rose was, well, sappy. I am 1D's biggest fan, but I'm not at all into the whole ''eye candy'' thing, so the rose thing is like the ultimate juxtaposition, me being the unemotional anti romantic I am. Haha. *plays Just The Way You Are and pukes* (his voice is great though!)



Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Meadham Kirchhoff spring 2014

           The thing that Meadham Kirchhoff is good at is combining fluffy, innocent images with dark, twisted aspects. This collection especially.
           Look 4 is a perfect example. Little Bo Peep in a yellow and black lace dress, with fitted blazer and wide brimmed hat. As with many, many of the other collections recently, the punk theme was referenced. 6 was not one of this trend's best. The half torn off sleeves just looked torn. Until 16, pretty bland. 16's red dress was a much better rendition of the pajama trend. Deep Valentino-style red, lightly torn at the bottom. Beautiful. The love spreads with 17, baby chick yellow with thin red and green embroidery, elegantly floating through the air.
            23 had similar embroidery, but on a silky, deep red jacket. Unfortunately the lookbook doesn't let you see much of it.
           Unlike many of my posts, this one's pretty short, due to the small amount of clothes in this collection. The other looks were strange corseted looks, others with strange lines of fabric that go around the neck and stomach. Tiger Beat magazine (i know, being the frequent reader i am) for the longest time claimed these body chain things from Claire's were ''in''. Basically the same thing as in this collection, but made out of a chain.
            Certainly not as exciting as some of the Meadham collections in the past, but it definitely improved from the last.
         

Antonio Berardi 2014 spring

            Today I discovered a new designer to enjoy! Yay!
     Look 1 of this collection (can you believe it?!) I loved. The skirt gorgeously floats over the ground, like a misty cloud *clangs wind chimes and begins interpretive dance*. The little white and pink dots on the skirts, and fruit-ish shapes on the jackets were so pretty, elegant, and awesome. 2's jacket wasn't so hot, but the dress, yet again, AMAZING. Floating and elegant, but in pink! Anything that's pink and slightly translucent has always been a favorite of mine. Can pink translucent be a favorite color? Look 3 introduces me to the first sleeveless jumpsuit I like. Very light pink with Japanese style embroidery on the bodice. 6 was too sheer.
    10 had a cool urban style work look. 14.... why do people like this shapeless box trend? I don't get it! It looks like a pink sack! There's an episode of I Love Lucy where Lucy and the gang go to Paris, and Lucy and Ethel attend (an imaginary) designers show, Jacque Marcel. Ricky and Fred don't want to buy them the expensive outfits, so they trick them into wearing fake Marcel pieces, essentially a potato sack and a  wine bucket. I thought of that when I saw 14. 16's skirt was beautiful, but the top is lame and (spoiler!) too sheer. How many times people? HOW MANY TIMES?????????? 21 was a perfect mix of sheer and fabric, also combining the unlikely colors of dark gray and pink. My favorite part of this collection were the dresses with a plain skirt and detailed top. 26 did this with a light pink dress and swirly metal and dark red details.
        Towards the end the collection gets pretty boring. Sheer, odd shapes, unrealistic animal print, white collection filler.... 38's pants were a nice shade of pink, with a touch of metallic flair. The latest collections out of New York and London so far have done metallics very well, unlike the futuristic Burberry things from some recent season ago. Luckily the last look, 42, was an interesting piece. It combined everything in this collection: the pinks, metallics, deep reds, and embroidery. Usually a show ends with a wedding dress, but the idea of putting all of the previous looks in one is an innovative idea, that I hope to see more of! Could I have a Chanel all-in-one dress, please?

Monday, September 16, 2013

Erdem Spring/Summer 2014

       London Fashion Week has begun! With Harry Styles being at a W Magazine party to more collections to look at.....How can anyone complain? Well, as you all know, I certainly can. Erdem hasn't been a designer I've really looked at, but what I've seen in magazines has always been gorgeous, such as the piece Melissa Benoist from Glee wore in Teen Vogue, September. But this collection? dun, dun, dunnnnnn
        Look 3 is down right depressing, I'm sorry. The rip off-ery against Dior is painful in this one. The side flap, a-line... Look 4 wasn't any better. A sheer Givenchy style black dress, with no body or structure. 7's shirt looked torn up. Is it flowers? Is it paper? No, it's a shirt! The skirt was a ''i'm dressed but not quite because I needed an outfit for the VMA's'' look. The gauzy sheer affect of 8 and 9 was okay, but came off to me as an emergency touch to make it look interesting. Nothing can disguise lame design, folks.12 had some more Dior rip offing, but the white jacket with white ostriche like feathers on the sleeves was very pretty. Motorcycle jackets and their recent trend never really caught my interest, but this was an elegant take on the trend. 14? Alexander Wang! 17 was plain ugly. No femininity, style, practical wearability, just boxy and cumbersome. The gauziness of so many of these looks was such a lame move to me. I never understood why designers always have to go above 20 in the number of their looks. With 32 looks, this collection just tried to compensate boredom with gauzy fabric.
        25 would have to be my favorite. Light metallic, with almost a mountain scene. The feathers popping out of the bottom were a fun feature also. When looking at look 26, have Miley Cyrus on speed dial! 27 was another one I liked much more than previous. White and yellow artistically placed paint splotches gave this masculine jacket a high fashion and highly elegant look. Look 28's model kind of distracts from the outfit; A  woman who (like everyone else on this planet) is beautiful, despite the horrible zombie makeup her stylist gave her! We're celebrating ( I thought) beautiful art, so why do you have to coat the models face in bad makeup? The second to last look, 31, had a boring top of the dress, but it's thick fluffy skirt added a glamorous McQueen inspired touch. This collection finished up with it's better pieces, but man, what were they thinking with most of them?

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Deconstruct

         My (official) last NY fashion week review. Unfortunately, it's ending on a disappointing note. When doing women's wear, why would you need to completely destroy the feminine silhouette into a strange Middle Ages get up? Well, at least we know what to wear for Halloween!
         Up until look 12, everything was pretty gnarly. 12 wasn't very exciting, but the dark green with leaves was a good look for semi-formal spring. 13 was elegant and polished, but the tassels were unnecessary. 16 was one of my favorites. Spring is always seen as the season that begins to warm up and get us out of our bland wool jackets, which many of this fashion week's collections went along with. But (especially in Chicago) it can be super cold right up until late May. The jacket of 16 was a perfect mix of spring plants icy weather. The deep red and blue colors would also work for fall. 17 was Super 8 hotel wall paper turned into clothing, with the jumbo green leaves. Looks 18-21 continued the wallpaper theme, some with added tassels. 24's jumpsuit also had the wallpaper, but the red background with blue leaves, and sewn on black leaves at the top, was actually more aesthetically pleasing.
          25's black dress was more black dress and less leaves, but just enough to not be just a black dress. One look that KEPT coming up were these puffy black jackets with tassels, over and over again. They look way too wrinkled and Renaissance Fair costume. 28 and 29 were wanna-be McQueen looks. Look 32's purse was fabulous (minus the infamous tassels) with the beautiful pink and gray petals. But what the heck is that sweatshirt with a Microsoft screensaver on the front? And on we traverse through tassels, McQueen rip offs, and various levels of collection filler. With look 39 we FINALLY leave the tassels behind, to create a gorgeous Victorian/Wednesday Addams dress. Lace, frills, and long collars...:)
           42 did look a bit boring, but also like a dress that would look better if only the wearer fit into it. The rest were just sheer ''oh my gosh she didn't!'' shock pieces. I was pretty disappointed by this collection. Marc Jacobs is really talented. You don't own two versions of your own label and become the creative director of Louis Vuitton if you can't design. But, I think our culture's attitude towards clothes and fashion is sloppy and sleazy (and let's face it people, NOT ACTUAL CLOTHING!!) so designers just assume if they throw some shirts on the runway and scrunch up the sleeves, people will buy it. And unfortunately, it's true.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Shine Bright

              Marchesa is the ready to wear version of an optical illusion. Everything about this brand SCREAMS couture. Even the name (Rodarte sounds like a very couture name too)! As fashion week ends, this will be (probably) my last NYC fashion review. Enjoy!
              Look 2 is a light and airy, blue, sheer mermaid (with fabric underneath). Gold and white embroidery throughout, with puffed out sleeves. Many collection struggle to exactly match their season, but this piece would be perfect for a black tie spring event. The frilly sideways opening of look 6 was a wonderful feature. The blue frills made it look like a literal flower. Look 7's skirt was too sheer for me. A maxi skirt is supposed to be really long and covering, not super revealing. If you don't want to cover up, than don't! 8's shirt was much better than the skirt. The skirt was too typical and Target-like, but the shirt was very ornate and bohemian. 10 was ugly, like a fake modern ''art'' piece from World Market. 13 had that fairy style I appreciated in the Zac Posen collection. White, layered, and wispy, especially in the sleeves, giving that winged affect. Look 14 seems a bit like a novelty piece, but still is beautiful. The huge stacked lilac/white flowers with rather large skirt looks so fun!
               15 was way too much, with no structure. They basically  took the skirt of the dress I just mentioned and turn it into a...um... whatsit? Look 18 did a very, very bad job of ripping off Chanel. Look 19 evoked someone being thrown out a window in their pajamas, somehow surviving, and magically ending up in Bryant Park for New York Fashion week. And no, I do not exaggerate. Have you ever seen a cartoon like Looney Tunes or Woody Woodpecker, and a character attacks a bird, thus being covered in feathers? Look 21! 23, on my favorite model, Lindsey Wixson, was a beautiful black floor length, with Chanel-like Camellia flowers descending down to the skirt. Look 25's skirt was nice, but the sheer top kind of scared me off. 27's 3-D white roses ascending the semi sheer skirt was a beautiful finish to one of my favorite collections yet.

Marc by Marc Jacobs spring 2014

               Boring, boring, bland, OH FINALLY HERE WE GO! That was basically the dialogue between me and myself that occured while looking at this collection. Right up until look 25, everything was so predictable and boring. Sequins are definitely over done in Marc Jacobs collections, anda I feel bad for anyone hoping for interesting menswear from this collection. You might as well go to slightly more feminine Men's Wearhouse.
               I like 25 because of the glitter. You know how when gas leaks out of a car and gets left on a driveway? And glistens in the sun? Believe me, it's beautiful. Look 26 was a windbreaker/sweatshirt, and running shorts. I love windbreakers, and the popping colors was darling. 28 is a red, silky, and slouchy dress. The sewn-on vest exemplified the 90's theme of the collection. Look 30...where have I seen that before? Oh yeah, everywhere. Collection filler! arrrrggghhhh. 31 was kind of a women's version of the previous look, but underneath the boring coat there was either a dress or jumpsuit with a rhinestone design. It looked like something pretty. Why did they cover it up with something so boring? The blazer of 33 was a favorite. I hate the slouchy pants ( they scream ''this doesn't fit me!''), but the blazer is soft and silky, in one of my favorite colors. 36 had an awesome patchwork-miss matched pattern from the 80's thing going on. Light pink and blue was a great color combo for this look.
              Look 38 was so tacky. A varsity jacket has been done a billion too many times, and the M and J patches were just there for a ''Ooh look I'm wearing Marc Jacobs!'' thing. Look 44 was my favorite. Metallic and silky, with glittery stars. This was definitely the stand out piece for this collection. 45 was awesome too. A dark black jumpsuit with shorts and the stars. I think the material was velvety, too, which makes it even more beautiful! 47 was a maxi dress version of the jumpsuit. The loud star design does not work for this dress.
               I really expected something a bit more exciting this time around. Jacobs has done some amazing collections for his own labels and Louis Vuitton, but most of this collection was so boring. Hopefully we get more colors, less sequins, and more rhinestones in the next collection!
              Some people were wondering where I view these collections. If you just go on the Vogue  website, all of the current collections for NYC will be there. The Vogue website is a great source for all stuff fashion. One of my favorites are their Vogue Voices videos, which are interviews with people like Ricardo Tisci and Alber Elbaz.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Zac Posen spring 2014

           Along with Marc Jacobs, Zac Posen is one of my FAVORITE ready to wear designer. And this collection confirmed my favoritism!
           These designs definitely exemplified spring. Look three is my favorite. A very light yellow, flowing, with blue floral accents. I think I love it a little too much. Last night, literally, I dreamt I wore it! 8 was another mind blowingly beautiful look. Kind of the same idea as 3, but pink and floral, with a deeper v neck. Look 9 was a bit confusing for me. Usually when I really like something, I can say, ''Oh, that's my favorite color'', or ''That skirt reminds me of *insert era*''. But this time I have no idea why I like this dress! It even has something I usually don't appreciate in clothes; a weird folding, in a random place. Look 11 has a gorgeous Winter Fairy affect. The sleeves splay out into wings, and the metallic silver gives a pretty, demure attitude. 13 was a bit to alien-like. The structure and rouching makes the wearer look abnormally slim. 15 was kind of ugly. Gold is a hard color, and there was too much folding.
            Look 16, on the other hand, WOW. Extremely thickly layered, in an emerald/metallic color, with florals. There was definitely some Dior going on, with the A-line and minimal floral, but it was inspirational, and not an outright imitation. After this look, the clothing gets a little boring. Brides maid dress after yet another brides maid dress. Other looks had this ugly wrinkled look. Like they needed to be ironed? A lot of designers use holes, rips, or unraveling wool to add an artistic touch. But this just looked wrong! FINALLY, when we get to 34, it gets gorgeous again. Beautiful rosy color, with slight Victorian era style embroidery. The layered top gave the illusion of stacked skirts. A definite favorite.
             The last look, the wedding dress ( which is the traditional end to any fashion show), was a rather disappointing. Yet again, it looked SO wrinkled! If asked whether this dress was from the Salavation Army or one actually from said thrift store, 167% of people would probably get it wrong. I can't imagine someone wearing this for their wedding.
            I know with an ending like that it sounds like I hated this collection. Honestly? The wedding dress and a few bridesmaid dresses DID NOT ruin it for me. Designs like look 3 and 34 make collections worth while.
        Also, my heart and prayers go out to anyone mourning loved ones who died on 9/11. I was super little when it happened, but I can still remember feeling terrified and stunned at how cruel people could be. Hopefully we can all work together so that beautiful cities like New York and events like the Boston Marathon can be safe and happy places for all.

Permanent Hippydom and Other Things

     The new popular stereotype to be is a weird cross between hippie One Direction fan and grunge. I know, strange. I've always had a super Liberate the Earth! Recyle! attitude, kind of hidden. And yeah, I am a One Direction fan. But no, I don't wear denim short shorts with carrot pockets ( if you've been to a concert, you'd know what I mean). Anyways, last weekend I went to the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago. They also have the fair in Austin, NYC, San Franciso, LA, London, and somewhere else I forgot. On the other side of the fair they always have a small area of vintage vendors.

This delightful apron is from Bolted Vintage. She was super nice. When she asked me if I wanted a bag, my permanent disgust for plastic bags (hippie, I told you)came in,and  I instantly said no. But when I found out her mom hand sews the bags, I definitely needed one!
    As you can see, this post also stars one of my mom's Wooly Mammoth sun flowers. Me and my sister have been picking the seeds out for days!

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Rodarte Fall 2014 review

          Ugh I have fallen behind on my reviews!!! Also, I've forgotten to post an outfit post for WAY TOO LONG. I don't want to become one of those crazy anonymous blog critics! Anyways, I plan on doing an outfit post tomorrow, along with reviews for Zac Posen and Karen Walker. For now, enjoy another review!
        As I've said before, ready to wear can become super monotonous and boring. Couture is the one that pulls out all the bells and whistles. But this collection from Rodarte totally changed that. That's one of my favorite things about Rodarte; like Yves Saint Laurent, they are reinventing ready to wear, taking it out of it's shell. The overall theme this collection was punk meets grunge meets biker. Funny mix, I know. But it all managed to come together! Looks 1-4 had some gorgeous glossy blacks and simple whites. The white fringe in 1 was a favorite. Look 5 brought in animal print. A few of the outfits in this collection had a sideways cut skirt that went over another skirt. Coming out of the skirt is white or black fringe. It seems like a great new kind of fashion piece. You could pair fringe with literally ANY skirt or dress! 10 had a great 90's style leopard vest. Very far from the typical 90's vest. A bit more polished. (because, as you know, my wool cat vest is very polished!).
        Shorts in look 16 were another favorite. Normal denim, but with white pockets and tiger print fringe. Much more modest (and stylish!) than the shorty shorts you see at, say, Lollapalooza? When there is more fabric, there's more style! *epic quote alert*. Look 18's tiger print blazer was too perfect. So lush, so polished, perfection. There has always been that cliche of the fashionista who hates her office job because of it's presumed dress code. This would be perfect for that girl. It looks great, stands out, and is well made. Look 20 brought out some Schiaparelli- Dali collab inspirations. Never been a fan of super sheer, but the embroidered scorpion was delightful. The shoulder-less sweater of 28 had a fluffy white collar and sleeve edges. The simple lines, combined with the fluffiness previously mentioned, equaled a totally glam look for winter. You might want to lift up the collar a little though!
        The very last look, 32, was yet another favorite. A knee length high low dress, layered with a striped and squared pattern. And very frilly! It reminded me of this very crazy pink flowered dress I have from the 60's. This is one of the first collections where I had no serious complaints! A few other looks were different variations of ones I mentioned, or kind of lazy, filler type looks. But no serious copying, or horrendously ugly looks.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Let The Trends Begin!

       OMG....what is it with all these trends now? Like, not one show doesn't have anything in common with another! In this collection's, Carolina Herrera's, we had some very un-subtle refrences to a certain Chanel collection. September Issue of Vogue, in the couture shoot, had a dress with a gray and white thin stripe pattern.Looks 1-7 of this collection copied that dres a bit too much. Looks 9-11 were a cross between a generic computer background and a T.J. Maxx bathing suit. You know those strange geometric shapes made out of lines? 14 ripped off Thakoon, Stella McCartney, Alexander Wang...who knows who actually started this look? Anyways, in this show it was super lazy, considering how many times it had been done.
     Look 19 had a glitzy gold shine to it. Hundreds of little gold squares made up this very spring, very flowing dress. 22 was absolutely delightful. Black and white striped dress with a top decorated with wipper will-like feathers. Look 23 had simple half sewn on bee comb shapes. I was missing bees since that fall/winter 2012 Alexander McQueen collection. Many of the dresses in this collection had that ugly ''extended t-shirt'' look. No shape, just straight. Clothing needs STRUCTURE!!!!!!!
       37  finally brought some shape. Layered sheer white fabric top with semi-sheer black skirt, made of rectangular shapes. Very elegant. 40 was a lush yellow/sheer dress with graceful gold embroidery. This dress reminded me of a swan wing. Look 44 had an elegant ''computer generated'' affect. A long satin maxi dress with little pink and black square top.
       One thing I really appreciate from the New York Fashion Week collections so far is the lack of super cleavage, or dumb immodesty that seeks to make a point that doesn't even exist. The maxi dress, especially, is considered such a prissy garment. Many maxi dresses look immature and just seek to cover. But Herrera's dresses in this collection were elegant, shapely, and feminine. All in all, it was a pretty good show.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Minimalist Glitz

            Are you glitz? Mega glitz? While I'm not in the beauty pageant circuit, I definitely love a little glitz. Not too much, but just enough to be TOTALLY BLING.
           This most recent collection from Thakoon was very minimalist, but gorgeous. Look 1, admittedly, was kind of sloppy. I think it looked sloppy, though, because it didn't fit the model. It would have looked very pretty if weren't hanging off her. Number 2 was  more interesting interpretation of the pajama trend. Lacy and modern, but you could totally wear it outside. 3 had that small amount of glitz I was talking about earlier. A simple white jacket with gold edges on the sleeves and jacket. Look 5 was a lazy design, compensating by adding a triangle cutout. (blech). Look 6, with the relaxed roomy pants and folded over hourglass top was GORGEOUS. It all came together with a lace belt below the bust.
           8 was just dumb, a lace bra with a tank top, with a too low neck line. I loved the skirt of thirteen. A lot of designers (think Raf Simons at Dior) have been doing this thing I call ''floral webbing''. It's a kind of lace pattern, but with tiny flowers. Flowing white lines flow through and around the flowers, like in this skirt. And, it reminds of the kind of vegan spider web I would have. Just flowers! 16 had a pretty gold accent affect, but the wideness of the dress ruined it. It reminded me of a too big t shirt. Looks 22 and 23's lace was placed really badly. 22 I couldn't even give one of my snarky comparisons. It was other worldly. From planet Gee That Makes No Sense.
           Look 34 was a lame try at the art-on-clothes trend. Think Pier 1 ''art'' section. The rest of theses looks were bad imitations of the pajama trend, had weird cut outs, and others were just designs that had been done a million times over, used for filler. Gosh, do I hate filler. As with a lot of collections, it had a lot of painful moments, but made up for it with some standout pieces.