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^^