Adventures in Sparkles and Ruffles

Favorite of the Day: Billy Reid

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:52:00 +0000

I have a bit of a thing for menswear designers who branch out and start making collections for women like Band of Outsiders and Rag & Bone. After receiving a Rag & Bone wool peacoat this past Christmas, I pranced around my house wearing it while singing a made up song with only one lyric. "It's so pretty." (Emphasis on the "It's" and sung in a major key.)

So when Billy Reid, the 2010 winner of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, presented his first collection for women last season, I was maybe a bit too excited. (Okay, I was ecstatic.) This season, there were even more pieces for me to daydream about. All those details that are so important in menswear, small changes in lapel width and coat length, are found throughout his women's collection.

It's easy to forget how vital all of those things are until someone kindly reminds you.

Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Jenni Kayne

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:34:00 +0000

This season is starting out much like the last. Not in terms of the clothes or the trends, but in terms of my reluctance to pay attention to what's dominating the scene until absolutely necessary. There will be time for that later. Time for parsing and analysis.

At Jenni Kayne, I was instead caught by things that I want to come live in my closet. They were, as I can sometimes be, all over the spectrum. From slim-fitting suits to feather minis.

Some things for days when I feel like this. And other things for days when I feel like that.

Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Rachel Comey

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:26:00 +0000

It's finally, thankfully, cold outside. Not early February cold, but cold enough for gloves and thick tights. Usually when fashion week rolls around, I am tired of the cold. Looking for anything but the layers and tweeds and soft wools that are often on display for the coming Fall/Winter season. But this year, I am exhilarated by all of those things.

At Rachel Comey, those markers of cold weather were on full display, but they were offered with a twist.

Nubby knits offset by items in sleek silver. Oversized coats in punchy colors. Cold weather dressing that could never be boring.

Photos via

Uniformity

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:15:00 +0000

On my days off, I’ve settled into a uniform of sorts. It’s not surprising really. All of those years spent in Catholic school wearing jumpers and skirts and mary janes and little socks with ruffles on them make it a bit easy for me to backslide into the ease and simplicity of a clothing schedule.

Though my occasional fits of outfit-related redundancy might suggest lack of purpose, that is anything but the case. Those summers spent wearing girly dresses with swinging skirts were about trying to be the carefree and light person that I so often am not. Last winter I tried to mentally, if not physically, block the cold by wearing dresses and skirts with tights in blazingly, bright hues.

The stripes, that staple that I rely on so frequently…well the stripes I just love.

This winter I’ve been pairing my army of skinny pants with slouchy, and sometimes oversized, sweaters that I started collecting at the beginning of the fall. Dolman-sleeved lightweight pieces littered with sequins. Men’s crewnecks worn belted. Chunky, cream-colored cableknits. The point is to appear relaxed. At ease. Almost lazy. Because that’s what days off are supposed to be. Of course, these outfits are none of those things. I stalk around my house contemplating sweater after sweater even though most of my “down time” is spent in the library surrounded by students fighting off the urge to use their textbooks as pillows.

Though the library, with its soaring ceilings and many murals, is far less oppressive than staying at home stewing in my thoughts, the time spent there is rarely relaxing. It’s all about hard work. The work of piecing my professional life together. And so to try to hold at bay all of that stress and all of that worry, I’ve settled on an effortless look filled with a devil may care simplicity. It’s all a bit laughable. Trying to nudge life into favorable conditions using my clothes. Like my penchant for wearing sequins when I’m in a bad mood. Or the headbands I wear to turn my hard edge into something sweet.

So I keep buying things like these.

Gap

H&M

Guess

And hoping the relief and release follow.

Photos via, via, via

Sticking Around

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:28:00 +0000

For the past few weeks in the northeast, it’s been easy at times to forget what month it is and how much of winter still lay ahead of us. We’ve had almost absurdly warm days. Snow that has fallen only to quickly melt away. I’ve stopped carrying my gloves along with me during my nighttime wanderings and considered, briefly, wearing my skirts without tights. It’s been in all of this seasonal dysmorphia that I’ve made my way through the pre-Fall 2012 collections.

More than in past minor seasons, my bookmark folder overflowed as my want, my need really, for those traditional markers of fall and winter overtook my senses. Heavier trenches and long leather gloves and wool blazers.

At A.L.C.

At Thakoon

At Balmain

At Nina Ricci

At Erdem

At Christian Dior

But there were still reminders of the warm weather that will be at its apex when these clothes arrive in store.

At Zero Maria Cornejo

At Jenni Kayne

At Rag & Bone

At Derek Lam

The pre-Fall narrative was filled with the story of Spring/Summer 2012 and the way in which the trends of that season lingered. There are always a few holdovers, but this year the major trends cast a much longer shadow. The peplum, the trend of Spring/Summer 2012, showed no signs of leaving us behind. In fact, its dominance only seemed to grow.

At 3.1 Phillip Lim

At. A.L.C.

At Nanette Lepore

At DKNY

At Thakoon

At Antonio Berardi

At Givenchy

At Gucci

At Rebecca Minkoff

At Calvin Klein

At Stella McCartney

At Alexander McQueen

The florals, from the feminine to the psychadelic, also held over from the previous season. Though now they often came in the traditionally deeper and more muted colors of fall.

At Erdem

At DKNY

At Oscar de la Renta

At Burberry Prorsum

At No. 21

At Doo.Ri

At Tracy Reese

Many of the neons faded from view but one, the blazing, electric blue, was still to be found in garments of all sorts.

At Dsquared²

At Jenni Kayne

At Preen

At Issey Miyake

At Erin Featherston

At Roksanda Ilincic

At Rachel Roy

At Jonathan Saunders

But even with so much continuity, there was still a sense of things to come. Ladylike sheaths, demure and sophisticated, were seen in a range of collections. They brought a seriousness to the season that I think we'll continue to see for fall as the bright and sometimes dizzying effects of spring fade away.

At Jason Wu

At Gucci

At Yves Saint Laurent

At Louis Vuitton

At Givenchy

At Thakoon

At Celine

Soon enough the Fall/Winter 2012 season will begin. And with it, I hope, the cold will finally settle in.

Photos via

Wrapped Up: Pre-Fall 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:52:00 +0000

I knew from the first pre-Fall show that the coats were going to be a problem. Not a life-threatening or earth-shattering one. Just an issue of large numbers and limited space.

During the Fall/Winter seasons, I always seem to miss the coats. Glance over them on the way to trends in hemlines and colors and cuts and shapes. Though the design of coats can be affected by the changing winds of the season, the need for them to perform their primary function is paramount. In the culture of the fashion world where popularity rises and falls so quickly, a coat is one of the few years-long investment pieces left. In a year, you may rid your closet of that pair of brightly colored denim but rarely will your coat meet the same fate.

In those in between seasons, the Resorts and the pre-Falls, the way that I digest the clothes being offered to me shifts. I often take them in one gluttonous go. In the end, I come out with more bookmarks of things that I just love. That have nothing to add to the discussion of what’s in and what’s out, what’s fresh and what’s stale. And so my pre-Fall 2012 folder found itself stuffed to the brim with coats of all sorts.

Some styles of coats, the peacoats and the duffle coats and the trenches, never fade from view. Hundreds of years old, they come with histories that often trace back to a military origin. They are the coats that most people return to time and time again. Because they never fall out of style. Of course, some designers take those classic shapes and play with them, twist them just enough to give you the hint of something new.

At No. 21

At Dsquared²

At Erdem

At Jason Wu

Some use patterns to add an element of interest.

At Erdem

At Band of Outsiders

At Jason Wu

At Doo.Ri

At Yigal Azrouël

While others play with the shapes, blowing them up and exaggerating elements, to offer coats that would overwhelm all but the right person.

At No. 21

At Prabal Gurung

At Maison Martin Margiela

At 3.1 Phillip Lim

At Lanvin

At Doo.Ri

At Ports 1961

At Gucci

At Chloé

And then there are those who live on the extremes. The stripped down and pulled back.

At Alberta Ferretti

At MaxMara

At Thakoon

At Costume National

At Peter Som

And the super luxe for those rarefied few.

At Derek Lam

At Burberry Prorsum

At Louis Vuitton

At Alberta Ferretti

At Narciso Rodriguez

Photos via

The Leftovers: Paris Fashion Week SS12

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:12:00 +0000

By the time I come to the end of each season, I feel as if I’ve said everything. Found every way to describe every trend in cut and color. That I will bore not just myself but that small pocketful of readers that I’ve acquired over the years. But then I look at the clothes and all of that doubt washes away. Because, in many ways, the clothes speak for themselves and simply picking those that best demonstrate the force and direction of the season can be enough.

Of course, I like to sprinkle a few words here and there to guide those just joining us and to remind myself a bit of what happened during those four weeks in the early fall.

Much like the past few seasons, Paris was once again about the falling apart of the story told in the other cities. The prevailing winds could still be felt, but they were all tempered in some way.

The neons seen in the previous three cities were present in a number of collections though their influence was lessened.

At Valentino

At Anne Valérie Hash

At Martin Grant

At Haider Ackermann

At Roland Mouret

They were joined by colors dampened.

At Louis Vuitton

At Akris

At Uniqueness

At Vanessa Bruno

At Yves Saint Laurent

And those imbued with a certain richness.

At Kenzo

At Dries Van Noten

At Yves Saint Laurent

At Hermés

At Yohji Yamamoto

The florals also made an appearance.

At Vionnet

At Alexander McQueen

At Chalayan

At Emanuel Ungaro

At Cacharel

At Jean Paul Gaultier

As did the short shorts that intrigued me beyond expectation.

At Carven

At Cacharel

At Chanel

At Balenciaga

At Balmain

At Louis Vuitton

And the peplum, my worthy foe all season long. Though here it was deflated, plucked, and deconstructed.

At Céline

At Giambattista Valli

At Limi Feu

At Givenchy

At Dries Van Noten

While the pieces from last season that didn't lend themselves to easy categorization favored the dark, this season they were filled with a lightness.

At Chloé

At Rick Owens

At Véronique Leroy

At Gabrielle Greiss

At Céline

At Valentino

At Chanel

At Giambattista Valli

At Valentino

At Alexander McQueen

At Louis Vuitton

White is one of those trends that visits us whenever the weather warms, so its reappearance after possessing such a stranglehold over the Spring/Summer 2011 wasn't unexpected. But unlike the reemergence of transparency in Milan, it never felt stale.

But one expects freshness each and every season in Paris.

Photos via

The Leftovers: Milan Fashion Week SS12

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:31:00 +0000

Milan hit all of the “right” notes. It was as if the designers had a cheat sheet and were checking off items as they went.

The Neons

At Bottega Veneta

At MaxMara

At Versus

At Antonio Marras

The Florals

At Dolce & Gabbana

At Blumarine

At Antonio Marras

At Albino

At Roberto Cavalli

Le Sportif

At MaxMara

The Peplums

At Giorgio Armani

At Francesco Scognamiglio

The Shorts

At Etro

At No. 21

Yet something was off. The overall tone felt muddled and without direction. Follow the Leader was the game being played and though there was some sidestepping of the rules, it was not in the way that garners applause.

The Milan runways were witness to the reappearance of the transparency trend seen during the Spring/Summer 2011 season. There is something to be said for breaking off from the other cities and finding a trend all your own but not when it is simply being warmed over and served up from a season not yet old enough to be forgotten.

Though, as always, there were those who handled it deftly.

At Marni

At Alberta Ferretti

At Luisa Beccaria

At Dolce & Gabbana

At Etro

At Fendi

When everything came to an end, I feverishly waited for Paris.

Photos via

Back Issues: The New York Collection

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:21:00 +0000

Culling the fashion magazines stacked in one corner of my apartment was one of the first tasks that I undertook when I realized that my New York experiment had failed. It was no small feat. There were two and a half years of fashion tomes to consider. I took to my floor and made my way through them.

I’m generally not a collector of things. My dolls and stuffed animals were to be played with not enshrined. Many of my favorite books are bent and misshapen from spending various lengths of time in my purse. But the stack of magazines was different. Outside of a dust bunny here or there, they were in mint condition. No scribblings in the margins. No sticky notes. No dogeared pages.

Over two years after the move back, I’m still semi-packed. Suitcases are half full and boxes still untouched as I cling to the idea of this move being temporary. So in a box with books that followed me from college to home to Brooklyn and back again, as well as those picked up during my time on my own, live three magazines. As I sat staring at them this morning, my eyes welled up a bit. I had forgotten how many I had gotten rid of. I must have kept more than this. But at that moment in the spring of 2009, I was determined to be an adult about all of it. No crying over silly things. So I was vicious and hard and lugged pile after pile out to be recycled never thinking that one day I’d be 28 and a half, still living at home, and missing them.

The oldest of the three is the Fall-Winter 2008 edition of Vogue Paris Collections. It is an adult, fashion picture book. Photographs of the collections presented neatly in rows on each page. The last quarter dedicated to headshots of accessories. Good enough reasons for keeping it but not the truth of the matter. This magazine was a gift from my mother, and I kept it to commemorate one of those brief and fleeting moments when she seemed to understood me.

The March 2009 Vogue famously had the first lady on the cover in a pink Jason Wu. The fact that this magazine made it back to Boston barely warrants an explanation.

Lastly, there was the May 2009 Vogue.

It was kept because it reminded me of a magazine from long ago. One that lived forgotten in my mother’s house until recently.

When my best friend entered my apartment for the first time after I had gotten rid of them all, she looked at me in shock. Their absence was the ultimate sign that I was waving the white flag.

My current room, the room of my childhood, has magazines from my second post-collegiate Boston turn strewn about. When it’s time to leave this place, parting with them might not be filled with quite as much sorrow.

Images via, via, via, via, via

Party Down

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 01:46:00 +0000

If there’s one word that makes me want to shop, it’s the word party. It can be preceded by any descriptor. There can be a paper invitation or an email or a “C U @ 8” text message. It can be on a roof deck. It can involve a beach bonfire. I could be crammed into a studio apartment. None of that matters. I sift through my closet beforehand and rarely find anything to satisfy me. Even if there is no dress code. Even if no one would blink if I showed up in a pair of ratty, skinny jeans, a striped, dolman-sleeved sweatshirt and a pair of beat up Bensimons.

When I was little, parties meant cupcake dresses. Green velvet, big skirts, and white sashes with a matching bow sitting atop my head. In college, I moved in the opposite direction. Halter tops and tube tops. Stretchy, suffocating fabrics. Bootcut jeans. Parties meant tighter and brighter. Can you find something that makes you look like a sequin that took a dip in a tub of glitter? Perfect! The discovery of the nearest Forever 21 was a revelation. It took far too long for me to realize a number of things. Firstly, a Forever 21 tube top lasts about three washes before it begins to disintegrate. Secondly, I rarely looked good in any of those things. And thirdly, having a wardrobe meant only for partying was a waste of space, money and time.

But the urge to hunt for something new when such occasions arise hasn't subsided, even though most of the parties that I go to now are of the "Everyone Bring Some Wine and Hang Out in My Apartment with Me" variety. On Monday, I wove my way up and down Newbury Street in search of something to wear to a party that I'm attending on Friday.

And just what was I hoping to find? Not cupcake dresses or halter tops. I'm far removed from both of those phases of my life. Feminine detailing. Ease. Pieces that can weave their way into my everyday wardrobe.

By Jason Wu

By Rag & Bone

By Tory Burch

And, for those occasions that call for it, something that I can dance in.

Images via, via, via

The Leftovers: London Fashion Week SS12

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:56:00 +0000

London has a history of living a few seasons ahead of the other cities. Yet in recent years, I’ve noticed a shift. A falling in line. Or it could be a growing up. Though if one truly thinks about it, those two ideas are inextricably linked.

This season, I felt more carry over from New York than I have in past years.

The designers showing in London have always had a way with prints, so it was no surprise that the florals seen in New York continued to flourish there in a range of manifestations.

At Clements Ribeiro

At Erdem

At Caroline Charles

At Temperley London

At Matthew Williamson

At Christopher Kane

At Kinder Aggugini

And of course prints of other varieties could be found everywhere.

At Maria Grachvogel

At Paul Smith

At David Koma

At Jonathan Saunders

At Basso & Brooke

At Michael van der Ham

At Mary Katrantzou

Outside of the floral prints, there were small glimpses of the other trends that dominated the New York season.

The colorblocking

At Jasper Conran

At Jean-Pierre Braganza

At J.W. Anderson

At Jaeger London

At Margaret Howell

The peplums

At Paul Costelloe

At Peter Jensen

At Osman

At Corrie Nielsen

The shorts

At Daks

At Erdem

But those pieces comprised only a small fraction of the whole story. And the story in London was one of neons. But there were no stepping back from the edge here as there had been in New York. No toning down of the brilliance. Maybe it was in that way that London retained some of the feel of those seasons past. At times, the colors felt too strong, yet you couldn't help but stare in amazement.

At Maria Grachvogel

At Nicole Farhi

At Ann-Sofie Back Atelje

At Matthew Williamson

At Jaeger London

At J.W. Anderson

At Paul Smith

Especially at the brilliant blues.

At Pringle of Scotland

At Burberry Prorsum

At David Koma

At Emilio de la Morena

At Paul Smith

It's a color used as a backdrop so often that you can forget its power.

Photos via, via

The Leftovers: New York Fashion Week SS12

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 02:13:00 +0000

Fall has been composed of ups and downs. 70 degree temperatures followed by snow showers followed by cold, rainy downpours. When it was perfect out, those mid to high 50s days with the light streaming through the colorful leaves at just the right angle, you remembered why you lived here in New England. But on those other days, the time warp days when everything felt out of place, you tended to wish for something else.

It was in all of this tumult that I finally found the time and space, both literal and mental, to write about the Spring/Summer 2012 collections. Almost two months removed from the last of the Paris shows, I collected my bookmarks and my thoughts and tried to distill them into something coherent.

For New York, that task was simple. After only a handful of shows, the tone of the New York season was set. This would be a season of neons and sherberts. Of a sporting life. Of flowers, flowers, and more flowers. Of peplums. Of the shortest of shorts. Of the enduring power of colorblocking. As always, the creativity emerged when designers took note of those pervasive trends without being swept away by them.

I doubt that we’ll ever be done with colorblocking. The trend has been around for a fashion eternity. So long in fact that I feel uncomfortable continuing to call it a trend. It is simply a way of life.

At Jenni Kayne

At TSE

At Mandy Coon

At Ruffian

At J. Mendel

But New York’s overarching color story was an eye searing one, full of blazing pinks and shocking blues. Some played with those electric shades in unexpected ways, rendering them in fabrics that draped and flowed and dampened the hard edge that can accompany such colors. Others toned the hues down the slightest bit, stepping back from the cliff and finding a home somewhere between pastel and neon.

At Cushie et Ochs

At Vena Cava

At Costello Tagliapietra

At Kevork Kiledjian

At Doo.Ri

At Wes Gordon

At Milly

Starting with such an audacious foundation can often give designers a chance to pull back in other areas. This season that pulling back often had a hint of le sportif to it and could be found in all types of ways from clean, strong silhouettes in non-traditional fabrics to more on the nose references.

At Kevork Kiledjian

At Reed Krakoff

At Victoria Beckham

At VPL

At Alexander Wang

Florals and I have a long, torturous history that has already been documented here, so it was with some hesitancy that I approached the abundance of blooms making their way down various runways and standing nonchalantly in a multitude of presentations. But that breadth fostered a great amount of depth and flowers appeared in every form from the classic to the acid-fueled.

At Oscar de la Renta

At ADAM

At Richard Chai Love

At Altuzarra

At Tracy Reese

At Peter Som

At Julian Louie

At Cynthia Rowley

At Vera Wang

Alongside the florals lived the peplums. But unlike the flowers, the feeling of unease that welled up whenever I saw one did not subside as the week progressed. I find them to be unflattering on almost everyone. Silly and unnecessary. But even with those feelings, there were some that made me pause for a moment.

At Vera Wang

At Marchesa

At A Détacher

At Marc by Marc Jacobs

At Jason Wu

Shorts that barely warranted the name popped up in nearly every collection as well. Feminine and paired with bows and flowers. Laid back and complemented by the stripes that I love so much. They revealed that I and this New England fall have a lot in common. Here again was an item that only complemented a rarefied few, yet I could not get enough.

At A.L.C.

At Steven Alan

At United Bamboo

At Proenza Schouler

At Jason Wu

And when the shows moved on from New York, I waited for them to appear in London, Milan, and Paris.

Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Louis Vuitton

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 19:07:00 +0000

I spend most of fashion month going back and forth. Avoiding and then embracing and then avoiding the prevailing trends. In the rush of it all, I love things that I later realize I hate. I overlook complete collections only to rediscover their beauty months later.

I've never been one to embrace sudden changes. But in this case, I think it's evidence that I'm pulling back the layers and really looking at the clothes. For this reason, and many others, I both loathe and love the end of fashion month. But I'm getting away from the issue at hand.

Marc Jacobs' has a tendency to change as well. To move from one pole to another with an ease that is rarely seen in the industry. Though there is a good amount of spectacle at every Louis Vuitton show, it never overshadows the clothes.

From the S&M shop of last season, he did an about face and landed in the realm of the feminine, the light, the airy and the sweet.

Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Alexander McQueen

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:14:00 +0000

I always spend the last few days of Paris fashion week unable to make a decision. About what I'm really doing here with this blog. About whether or not I should take a break before starting the round ups. About which collection is my favorite.

The last two days of shows feature some of the world's biggest luxury brands, and they rarely disappoint. Most years I'm left with little to say and a lot of bookmarked slides to sift through. Such was the case for the shows presented on October 4th, but after wavering between three options, I finally settled down.

When Alexander McQueen died in February of 2010, there were a lot of questions about whether the line could continue without him. The singularity of his vision was obvious to anyone who followed his work. But every season since his passing, Sarah Burton has artfully continued upon the path that he forged.

It was all craftsmanship and ingenuity and beauty.

Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Yves Saint Laurent

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 22:20:00 +0000

Ever since Tom Ford, who some consider to be the alpha and the omega of women's design, left the helm of Yves Saint Laurent, things have felt uneasy. This season, like many before it, there were rumblings about the stability of Stefano Pilati's job. During the lead up to Paris fashion week, Twitter exploded with claims that he was to be replaced by Raf Simons of Jil Sander. As an outsider, I've never understood why all of these questions continue to hang around his head.

It would be easy to let the barely concealed whispers affect one's work, but Pilati seems to be above that. Or at least he seems capable of pushing it aside in order to complete the task at hand.

On October 3rd, the trends of the season fell away and shown was a collection of sharp shapes, strong tailoring and rich colors. A collection that quieted the whispers for the time being.

Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Givenchy

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:52:00 +0000

As Spring/Summer 2012 winds down, I can't help but search for the trends of the season in every show. Not only those trends that reappear every year as the cold weather leaves us but also the ephemeral ones that will be everywhere and then suddenly nowhere. At Givenchy, both the pastels of spring and the peplums of 2012 featured rather prominently.

The peplums were origami-like. The pastels were stripped of their fussiness. And with that, it felt different than everything else seen during the past month.

Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Neil Barrett

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 22:57:00 +0000

The spring and summer seasons lend themselves to a certain frothy femininity that many designers serve up gleefully for our consumption year after year. The Neil Barrett collection shown on October 1st strayed far from the relatively safety of that territory. There was a stripped down, versatile feel to his clothes. Many of the looks were topped off with a modified tuxedo jacket that if thrown off would instantly shift the mood from formal to casual.

It was a buttoned up look let loose.

Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Vionnet

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 21:14:00 +0000

For the past several years, the trend in fashion has been to live in any decade but our own. Every decade of the 20th century, as well as much of the 19th century, has been plundered for inspiration. Stepping over the edge and landing in the realm of costume can be hard for some to avoid.

But when handled properly, the results can feel new and exciting. Can be sometimes subtle and sometimes over the top. Can take your breathe away. This season has already borne witness to everything from Gatsby to greasers. The Vionnet collection shown on September 30th settled somewhere in between.

Sometimes a break from the reality of the present is not only necessary but required.

Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Dries Van Noten

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:55:00 +0000

There is a short list of sure things in my life. The swan boat ride that I will take at least once during the summer. The fact that I will, without a doubt, walk around any and every bookstore for 27 minutes holding at least five different books because I can't make a decision about which one to bring home. The certainty that I will spill something food-related down my front before an important event.

I take comfort in the good sure things. I try to slide past the bad.

Dries Van Noten's collections rank among the good sure things. This season the prints were moody landscapes. A spectrum of grays punctuated by sharp greens. The shapes, as they so often are in his shows, were tailored yet easy.

There was a direction and vision that could be felt throughout, but it was one not guided by the prevailing winds of the season.

Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Marni

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 21:23:00 +0000

Marni can usually be counted on for an eclectic show filled with prints and cool girl whimsy. This season, however, there was a certain amount of pulling back. It was a clean, restrained look.

One that referenced the trends of the season without being dominated by them.

Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Etro

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 17:29:00 +0000

The Etro show, like the Ralph Lauren show before it, looked to the 1920s for inspiration. But in this case, the people of that East Coast world of old and new money were traded in for a less serious bunch.

The shapes were evocative of that time. Swinging. Slinky. That taste of sex that would disappear once the Great Depression hit.

But throughout were the signature prints that are seen every season at Etro. They kept the clothes out of the realm of the costume and placed them in our time.

Photos via

Favorite of the Day: Prada

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 00:29:00 +0000

The inspiration for the Prada collection sprang from the American greaser culture of the 1950s. In less deft hands, the results could have been over the top. And not in the lovingly flamboyant way that the fashion world often praises. Outside of a few overt references, like the flames that licked the bottom of one dress, most of the story was told through her choice of fabrics and shapes. Leather skirts were paired with sweet cardigans. Luxe satin jackets faintly brought to mind those of The Pink Ladies. Hemlines primly grazed the knees.

And one was left with the idea that these were the types of girls who never got caught sneaking out past curfew.

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Favorite of the Day: Giles

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:20:00 +0000

There are few designers who continually inject lightness and fun into their collections. After a few weeks, it can seem as if everyone is obsessed with being overly serious. With explaining their inspirations in dissertation-length speeches. Or maybe it's just a bit of fashion-related fatigue that causes everything to appear that way.

The Giles collection shown on September 19th steered clear of such weightiness.

There was, as always, beauty and craftsmanship. But I was also reminded of long ago art classes and the fun that could come from uninhibited exploration and experimentation.

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Favorite of the Day: Marios Schwab

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 03:29:00 +0000

The shows of last spring and summer, especially those from New York, featured a number of plays on the transparency theme. Everything felt redundant, and by the end of it all, I was already looking to fall and the introduction of a whole new set of trends.

But for the coming spring and summer, Marios Schwab found a way to erase all of the bad tastes that lingered from the previous year.

With oversized perforations and sheer overlays, he found a way to show enough but not too much.

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Favorite of the Day: Jonathan Saunders

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:53:00 +0000

On September 17th, Jonathan Saunders continued to, as he does season after season, expose his audience and his customers to beautiful color stories. Blues and yellows bled and faded into each other. Muted beiges offset sky-like hues. All came down the runway in prim and proper hemlines.

Such an eye for color is a rarity. Innately possessed and hard to acquire.

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