Prada in Milan

My favorites from Prada RTW 2010
pictures from WWD.com












It's not every day you can say that Prada is really "Ready to Wear." Usually some of the pieces are quite off the wall, but this collection was overall very wearable.

Milan Fashion Week: D&G

I don't know why it baffles me, but it does. Why does Milan have a fashion week? I know all the best brands are Italian, but why not Rome fashion week or Venice? Well apparently its because all of these fashion houses (Valentino, Gucci, and Prada (Muiccia's father was born there) etc.) are headquartered there. Apparently it is a more of a headquarter of culture than I thought.

Well anyway fashion week has started here and the first show I picked to feature is D&G the younger, slighty cheaper version of Dolce and Gabbana.

The theme for this show seemed to be ski meets evening gown. There was a lot of mixing of knits and sheer fabric. Not all of the outfits were practical the way they were put together on the runway, but the pieces could be mixed and matched seperatly to make cute outfits for every day use. The worst part of the collection to me were the hairy, UGG-like boots.







Photos: WWD.com

London Fashion + New York Fashion Weeks: Trends So Far part 3

SPARKLE, GLITTER, and SHINE

Some designers went all out with this theme and some just added hints of it to their clothes. Overall it will be a fun way for fashion lovers to spice up their boring winter wardrobes. Though neutrals dominated this season who says you can pair those with a bit of glam?


A little splash of shine fits well with Vivienne Westwood's glam-punk aesthetic.



A little bit more glitter and a little bit of menswear for contrast.



Vivienne Westwood LFW

Isaac Mizrahi went all out with the bling.



A little bit more restrained.



Isaac Mizrahi NYFW

A bit of menswear plus a little sparkle = the perfect work outfit.



This dress says I'm ready for a party!



Tory Burch NYFW

Francisco Costa adds some shimmer to the very modern aesthetic of Calvin Klein.



Calvin Klein NYFW

photos from WWD.com

London Fashion + New York Fashion Weeks: Trends So Far part 2

TIGHTS

These are my favorite things in the fall. I don't know what I would do with out them. I must have 10 pairs. I'm glad to know they won't go out of style anytime soon!

The options are endless.....

Deconstructed:



Colored:




Paul Smith LFW


With a dress...



or with a jacket and some tough boots.



Burberry LFW



Classic Black:



Proenza Schouler NYFW


Patterned:



Colored AND Patterned:



Anna Sui NYFW

Pictures from WWD.com

Zippers, Buckles, and Leather Oh My!

Leave it to Christopher Bailey to be creative not only with his collection, but the way he presents it to the public as well. In special locations fashion lovers could watch the show in 3-D and he let viewers watch the show live on the Burberry website. Talk about being in touch with the 21st century.

Those three materials are definitely motifs that popped up throughout the collection. It was very army/air force inspired, but at the same time essentially British. Bailey has certainly resurrected the brand and turned it from the cheap "chav," a word the British use to describe tacky and urban style, to something terribly sophisticated. The classic piece, the trench coat, was re-worked and given a new face. The whole collection went along with the menswear + feminine trend. Tough jackets were paired with colorful rouched dresses.


Here is a tough army jacket paired with a lovely contrasting lacy dress.



Love this reworked trench, but I am not fond of the snake skin knee-length boots.



It looks like you can unzip this trench and make it into a shorter jacket. How original!

McQueen Show To Go On

According to several sources like WWD.com and the fashion news blog fashionista.com the Alexander McQueen collection will still be shown in Paris week after next.

I new they might continue the brand. I don't know how, but just like after Michael Jackson died and they made a movie, I knew they would want to make money off of him still. The "they" I am referring to is the Gucci Group the largest owner of high-end brands besides LVMH.

This surprises me though. I really want to see McQueen's final collection, but on the runway with out him to close the show? No way. It deserves to be in a museum somewhere. That's where I want to see it.

Hopefully they will end the show respectfully and honor him the way he deserves to be.


In other fashion week news: Burberry will show their show live at 4:30 English Time (GMT) which is about 9:30 in NYC.
Can't wait for this!

London Fashion + New York Fashion Weeks: Trends So Far

Menswear plus Feminine

Sass and Bide LFW F/W RTW:
Contrast of the tough manly leather jacket with the feminine blouse.




House of Holland LFW F/W RTW:




Ralph Lauren NYFW F/W RTW:




Calvin Klein NYFW F/W RTW:
Francisco Costa played with the silhouettes of normally manly jackets and coats and turned them into more feminine pieces.



photo credit: WWD.com

Sonia Rykiel pour H&M

I have been looking forward to this for a really really long time. I thought I was going to have to wait till I go to L.A. in the spring to maybe get something, but it turns out they put the collection in lots of stores! I got to go the day it came out and buy a lot of cute stuff. I love these designer collaborations. I get a lovely brand name with out the price tag.

MY PICTURES:

This bag was only $4 and it all proceeds went to UNICEF.



Cute tights and a pin which I plan on wearing tomorrow



Cute light weight sweater



A very springy sweater, but could be used to spice up my all black winter wardrobe.



This is a pretty black knit skirt. You can't tell the detailing from the picture because I wanted to show the lovely hangers they let me keep (such a nerd), but it's pleated. I also got another kinda tight top on my shopping trip that looks really nice tucked into this skirt. I see me getting a lot of use out of it.



here's a picture from H&M showing what the skirt looks like and some other pieces from the collection.



not my picture!


Overall I loved the pieces. Some were very outrageous and "bling-y" and I had to ask myself where would I wear this? If the answer was "I don't know" I didn't try it on. But the pieces were definitely not for non-girly girls. So tomboys beware.

My Favorite Photoshoot

The day I really fell in love with fashion photography was when I got the September issue of Vogue way back in 2007. The shoot was by Steven Meisel and was titled "Paris J'taime." It was styled by my heroine Grace Coddington the best stylist at Vogue. I loved the models in here the best of all the other models. Coco Rocha is definitely my favorite model of all time. It combined my two favorite things, Paris and the twenties era of fashion. I love the hats and the clothes and one day I will be an eccentric old lady and I will wear hats like that everyday. And when I finally get into fashion I will dress like that every day.











Photo credit: Vogue

Romance

That is the best word to describe the Nanette Lepore RTW collection:

I'm a sucker for colorful dresses and black tights.



I want to try to duplicate this outfit I wouldn't have thought to pair that plaid skirt with a printed cardigan like that:





Love the contrast here. The sparkle and the tough leather jacket.



photos from WWD.com

Homage

I was not a big fan of Betsey Johnson's Fall 2010 Collection. Too Western for me, though the gothic dresses at the end were pretty.

But this deserves its own post:



Way to go Betsey!!

Pretty Tough...

That's the perfect way to describe the Marc by Marc Jacobs Collection. It is a lovely mix of bold prints, army inspired mens wear for boys and girls, and pretty dresses with polka-dots. It might seem like a mishmash of things, but it goes together seamlessly.

Photos from Style.com

Here you can see the mix of pretty (a plaid shirt) and the tough (a structured jacket):



Very army inspired:



I want this dress!



If I saw a boy dressed like this I wouldn't think twice about dating him.

What I've Been Waiting For

Marc Jacobs finally had his Fall/Winter RTW show!!! I can hardly contain my excitement. I was almost late for a lunch date because I was admiring all the pieces he had.

I'm truly in love with this collection and would wear every piece. And the collection is so wearable and down-to-earth a real difference for Jacobs who is always so out of the box. But it was out of the box. In a good way. I certainly did not expect him to make a collection that anyone could wear.

The colors were nothing extraordinary, but that's what made it so amazing. To be able to take such a bland set of colors and make pieces like this out of them takes an extraordinary hand.

Marc Jacobs is my favorite designer no doubt. For my 16th birthday my present was to go to Savannah and visit his store there. The closest one to my hometown.

Here are some highlights from the collection thanks to WWD.com

When I saw the first outfit I fell in love. It was something I would wear! Exactly like it was. Something I could wear to a job interview or something like that. I think that because of this dreadful economy designers are trying extra hard to appeal to more ordinary people.



The structures of the coats were fantastic and everything was so laid-back.



Eyelet dress in the fall?! Very creative and fun!



My choice for dress most wanted to be seen on the red carpet. Chloe Sevigny are you listening? This is perfect for you!