Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Dior Cruise 2015 (plus an existential crisis) (whatever that means)

                First, a story from my life that I attempt to make exciting: Yesterday I had a terrible, horrible, no-good day. I had really bad allergies (warm weather finally!), exhausted,  lost my back pack that held my retainer and my two favorite fashion books. I also had a biology test the next day, and I was sure algebra was going to kill me. Me and my dad were walking down the street at night, to the Walgreens where I thought I lost it. I was crying and whining and bemoaning my luckily not-as-bad-as I think life, as my dad told me things could be worse. We got there and no, my backpack was not there (it turned out to be wrapped up in my sister's pile of blankets at the end of her bed). My dad decided to buy a soda, and while I waited I read the latest ELLE magazine. Miserable, yet still in love with fashion. What some people call cloth and useless pictures of models frollicking about, keeps me alive. Fashion magazines can even fix the pain of  a lost retainer. Enough with my hard hitting verbiage; I have a Dior collection to review!
                Look 1 reminded me a lot of the last Celine collection, with the colors and ''real art'' theme (I actually really liked that Celine collection, so I guess my opinion of the brand has changed a bit). The sharp lined and square-ish shapes of color were quite Calder-esque. 2 was not that exciting, and the pants were far too high-waisted. I'm a big fan of shorts and vintage jeans being high waisted, but with fancy dress pants? Not so sure. 3 was one of my favorites because it had, wait for it, wait for it- shape! I loved the 4 buttons and the cinched in waist, and especially the triangular shape of the bottom of the jacket. It reminded me a lot of some of McQueen's uneven jackets from early collections. Look 5 was too slouchy for me, and the print in the middle was too subtle to differentiate it from any other brown satin dress. 7, on the other hand? PERFECTION, I TELL YOU! The mix of glittering purple and black, the mesh over the blue flower petals of the top... it perfectly went with Monsieur Dior's love of flowers and gardens. 10 was sharp and sleek... very cruise. Because I frequent cruises so much, I would know (no, no, I do not). The jacket also had the very accentuated shape Dior is known for, but in a more modern, relaxed, breathable way.
                  After these pieces there was quite a bit of filler, and 14...ewwww. I just don't get the extreme body exposure trend! And its not that I'm some modesty enforcing loony tune, but the way designers are doing more revealing outfits lately is so unflattering. Halston, known for his discotheque style of design, is one of my favorite designers, who also did some dresses with low neck lines...but they managed to be flattering, beautiful, and indicative of the wearer. He didn't design to expose; he designed to accentuate. I also disagree with the idea that super exposure clothes give freedom; they actually restrict you, even more so than a corset; if your dancing and having fun in Halston, you don't have to worry about a horrendous outfit malfunction. If your in Kardashian garb? You can't even turn around! Look 15 was especially disappointing, because while there was filler before, this one had a nice color and the potential to have been interesting, although there was no attempt at that. The lace looks of 16 and 17 were pretty boring and typical, like the dress you wear to your first dance because you don't want to draw too much attention. And I feel happy for the model in 19! She had nothing to wear, but was able to wrap squares of fabric around her at the last minute! What luck! 23 was utterly confusing; I need the point of a sleeveless coat explained! It also reminded me of a recent Dior pale pink vest, that looked like a turtle shell. Blech.
                Look 24 made me wonder why they don't keep chocolate-eating toddlers away from backstage. Luckily 25 was a dress I liked. The skirt looked black and velvety, and orange/red square on the top (with black lines) matched with the black. This represented the good parts of modern Dior to me. 26 was even more prettier; I love pale blue for its fresh feel in the skirt, and even though I believe fashion is art and that sometimes it gets annoying when designers try to make it look like ''real art'', the paint brushed of pink, dark red, and orange were quite chic. Most of the jackets were  lackluster, sleeveless, bathrobe like, and blah. 33 appeared kind of gray. It confuses me when flowers (known for being colorful!) have plain colors. 34 was very different and I liked it. One of my favorite things Raf Simons does is mixing prints. And in this dress, those prints were floral, stripes, and shimmery brown/gray speckles at the top (with a slash of black on the collar). He has a special ability to know what goes together. 35 continued with this theme, one which I simply adored. This one had the stripes, flowers, and speckles, but the flowers were much more vibrant and the speckles green and red. Very feminine and beautiful. A completely unique piece like no other. 36 was more romantic, though with the same pattern scheme again. It also had a wonderful shape. 37 was the first outfit to rebel against the pattern scheme, and it wasn't that exciting. Nice pale pink shade, but it looked a bit lazy. 38's top was shapeless like a  fake marble paper weight from the dollar store.
                         Look 40 was lack luster; the flower print fell completely flat and didn't have any of the luxurious attributes the best Dior looks have. I found a look I liked in 41. Very Georgia O'Keefe with the exploding flower; instead of just having pretty poppy flowers, its one big flower in brown, orange, and white splattered on the dress. <3 LOVE <3. 44 was another spectacular look. I loved the wide sleeves and  sleek slashes of dark colors. 45 was a little too wall paper-y for me. Why is that such a fixture in so many collections nowadays? Ugh! 46 was basically a tassled rug turned vest. Colors were unflattering, and though there was a bit of shape in the middle, it looked far from the model's body, like some weird shell. Afterwards there was way too many tassled rug looks, until 50, which was an elegant, wavy dress with a layered fabric skirt and subtle silver/pink top. 52 reminded me of a rainy day, gray and dim yet lush and shiny. And the print on the skirt reminded me of daffodils and crocuses. Look 53 was a very artistic look. It's a long, plain black dress-but wait! On the model's right the side pops out into a white and brown puff. It reminded me of a dress I saw Elsa Schiaparelli in. In 54 and 55, I thought the skirt was too much. Not only was it long, but it went up into the top. The looks after this were pretty boring. Gray jackets, different variations on previous prints of the collection. Quite banal.
              This collection definitely had positives, and the best ones showed off Raf Simon's best design skills. But we really need to rid fashion of filler, and plainness. If you can get plain clothes at Target, then why spend thousands at another place?

              
               
                   
               
        
            

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