Put a lid on it.
Gaultier made sly fun of the kinky-fetish aspects of so much black leather-wearing--something on our minds this season as a slight issue of taste emerges. However, when Gaultier sets about using napa leather at Hermès, his real concern is to cut a regular and discreet jacket or coat. His discretion allows and encourages even more room for us to play.
Betty Draper strikes again. The Mad Men era continues to expand and influence showcasing courageously feisty gals. This time around, Betty Friedan would approve. Jacobs infused his collection with charming French guile, and the wisdom that feminine glory is always a captivating celebration.
Girlish temptress, innocent or not, Rapunzel lives on.
Go technicolor to brighten up and effect your own revolution.
American Pop Artist Tom Wesselmann leads the way to crisp, sporty looks that feel newer than ever. At Chloe and Stella McCartney luxury minimalism gives maximum impact with a subtle undercurrent of subversive control and discipline. Clean your palette with one clear, concise message ~ you know what's up.
Dries Van Noten is full of contradictions, that's why we love him. He mirrors our complexities and gives it right back in a casual way, but also formal, confident, traditional, fresh and compelling. He eschews gimmicks and overt aggressiveness knowing that complicated women are sophisticated women...and that subtlety is the best camouflage there is.
www.driesvannoten.be/movie.html
Generous AND selfish. Kind AND mean. Selfless AND egotistical. Compassionate AND heartless. Make sure you exercise your dark warrior side, it needs to come out and play. Wear your cruelty on your sleeve so it doesn't creep up on your co-workers or lover. They have been warned.
The sound of alpine music was playing at Givenchy and Maison Martin Margiela. Cool fraulein's will be donning snowflake-patterned knits, neoprene sports fabric, and enormous fur hats with ear flaps in sporty, energetic colors. Melding unexpected tactile materials is part of this Fall's reworking of the aesthetics of the nineties, personalized with high-drama Parisian electricity.
Women crave bold design ~ masculine tailoring with feminine, fragile detailing and sharp, constructed lines, playing with scale and optics.
Returning to Elbez' African birthplace for inspiration, he walked a sharp edge, balanced between rigorously urban simplicity and explosively fierce embellishment, sourced in African tribalism. A powerful essay on womanhood, it began with no-nonsense, clean silhouettes cut from matte stretch materials with a molded structure. Dresses and coats were cut roomy in the shoulder, tapering to clutch the hips.
The technical starkness was gradually steered away from minimalism-by-rote with the addition of chunky metal and rock-crystal jewelry and beaded spine-tracing zippers, building up to dynamic feats of diagonal pleating that crossed the torso in one direction and shot across the hips in the other, reinterpreting early Art Deco with a twist of Biba for elegant, highly functional women.
Maison Martin Margiela, Alice in Wonderland and Zink Magazine are in sync this fall twisting and exaggerating classic dressing. Searching for excitement in coats, tailored pants and knits plus the ongoing tussle over whether a skirt should be long, short, or neither.
At Margiela overcoats have a new sleeve, widely curved backward in a flattish, geometric way that, after several reiterations in beige leather, red wool, and a gray peacoat, looked groundbreaking and desirable.
The contribution to pant design is more experimental. In one instance, it's only an illusion--tailored at the front, tights at the back--but in the other, wide-legged and elegantly cut from menswear fabric, it's almost the most accomplished shape of the season.
At Margiela overcoats have a new sleeve, widely curved backward in a flattish, geometric way that, after several reiterations in beige leather, red wool, and a gray peacoat, looked groundbreaking and desirable.
The contribution to pant design is more experimental. In one instance, it's only an illusion--tailored at the front, tights at the back--but in the other, wide-legged and elegantly cut from menswear fabric, it's almost the most accomplished shape of the season.
Beautiful windows need great shades. Be lavish with your lashes.
Red lips have always been classic and chic, plus the look serves as the perfect dramatic accent to the current minimal "well-scrubbed" face. Mascara should be neat and clean, best only on the top lash-line. Keep blush to a minimum in a subtle rosy color applied on the apples of the cheeks.
Darker more intense lip color also looks great as the focus for a modern, minimal face, but can be balanced by a more dramatic eye. Eyebrows can be defined but leave a natural shape-and a truly adventurous fashionista will combine dark lips with a bleached eyebrow.
Reminding the brain of things it's seen before, but is completely new--is the hallmark of Ghesquière's complex methodology. Innovation turns knitwear into 3D belted tops in blocks of pastel brights--pale blue, tangerine, brown, and aqua.
Sourcing his ideas in the industrial, scientific, computer-generated possibilities of the twenty-first century, Ghesquière enlists the aid of new machinery and haute traditional needlework techniques recognizably Parisian, chic, optimistic, and of today.
Pushing silhouettes to do unfamiliar things, Ghesquiere finds a way to reach a generation eager to be entertained and informed, yet resistant to familiar approaches. A brilliant focus for every smart luxury brand hungry to conquer the spirit of 20-something Millennials who are set to take over a digitalized world. Heads up!
Gareth Pugh's key silhouette--an A-line cut on the square, falling away to points, with a natural shoulder--was all about movement. Emphasized with a group of pieces draped in fine chains, slithering like flapper dresses, the mood was royal.
Members of a wandering race of Hindu origin, gypsies first appeared in England in the 15th century and are believed to have come from Egypt. They received the name "Gypsy" from the local people ebecause they supposedly came from a land named "Little Egypt", or because some of them fit the European image of dark-skinned Egyptians skilled in witchcraft. On arrival at numerous places in Europe they claimed to be from Egypt, and were required to travel for seven years as penance for apostasy.
The World Atlas of Divination refer to gypsies as nomadic, exotic Wise Women. Here they are worth their weight in gold.
The World Atlas of Divination refer to gypsies as nomadic, exotic Wise Women. Here they are worth their weight in gold.
Runway looks Dolce & Gabbana, Moschino, Etro
V magazine editorial of Daria Werbowy shot by Mario Testino
The phrase is French for "deadly woman". A femme fatale tries to achieve her hidden purpose by using feminine wiles such as beauty, charm, and sexual allure. Typically, she is exceptionally well-endowed with these qualities.
Her ability to entrance and hypnotize her male victim was in the earliest stories seen as being literally supernatural, hence the most prosaic femme fatale today is still described as having a power akin to an enchantress, vampire, female monster or demon. The ideas involved are closely tied to fears of the female witch and misogyny as the femme fatale is an example of female independence and a threat to traditional female gender roles.
In social life, the femme fatale tortures her lover in an asymmetrical relationship, denying confirmation of her affection. She usually drives him to the point of obsession and exhaustion so that he is incapable of making rational decisions.
Lace dresses Dolce & Gabbana Fall
Stems shot by Tommy Ton
German Expressionist film from the 1920's was lead by the enormous mystique of Louise Brooks. American dancer, model, showgirl and silent film actress, she was famous for pioneering the bobbed haircut. Super stars Tao Okomoto and Aygness Deyn have both inspired millions to make the provocative chop of liberation.
Historical Algonquin society was largely hunting- and fishing, based in North America. Being primarily a hunting nation, their people emphasized mobility which feels exceedingly relevant.
Women typically used tikinàgan (cradleboards) to carry their babies. It was built with wood and covered with an envelope made of leather or material, much like the iphones and laptops we carry with us daily. This trend is multi-faceted encompassing women's attitude of independence and self sufficiency growing stronger every day. Cool girls everywhere have already embraced it.
Runway looks Etro Fall and Isabel Marant Spring.
Beauty looks 3.1 Phillip Lim, and Missoni Fall
Beauty looks 3.1 Phillip Lim, and Missoni Fall
Black eyeliner, ripe luscious lips, and creamy porcelain skin: the recipe for a home run. Supermodel in training, 15 years old Lindsay Wixon demonstrates. The world awaits her unique beauty brand as profiled in Life Magazine this week. Welcome Lindsay!!
Lemon meringue is a type of baked pie, usually served for dessert, made with a pastry base, lemon curd filling and a fluffy meringue topping. The temperature the pie is baked at and the method sugar is added determines the texture and durability of the meringue. Lemon custards, puddings and pies have been enjoyed since Medieval times thought it was not until the 17th century that meringue was perfected.
Raise the temperature around you in Haute Couture's newest love affair with all things lemon. Foamy, glossy, distinct peaks, bubbles and swells give seductive form to the look. Valentino, Chanel, Christian Dior and Givenchy Haute Couture all embraced the coquettish hue for Spring. Sunny beauties Reese Witherspooon and Michelle Williams caught on long ago.
What a peach! Glow with warm fruity tones accented with golden highlights to beckon spring's arrival.
Make up by Lancome and Avon. Dresses by Donna Karan , Lanvin, Stella McCartney Spring 2010.
www.avon.com
Disco fever infected both London and Milan where it's ladies night every night. Evoke the iconic glamour of Jerry Hall at studio 54. With an air of compelling charm, romance, and excitement, be delusively alluring to cast a magic spell.
Vintage photograph of Jerry Hall by Willem Diepraam
Editorial shots for Numero by Greg Kadel
minis by Versus by Christopher Kane, kimono dressesn by Etro
In mountaintop villages in Peru, shepherds have the highest respect for their sheep, yak, llama and vicuna depending on them for survival. Shepherds rely on their animals for meat, milk and fibers. Remaining warm, prosperous and healthy means treating their animals like nuggets of gold putting sustainability on top priority.
Tiring of man made materials, the luxury market is craving a piece of Mother Nature, producer of the finest fibers in the world. Finally luxury and ecology are merging as consumers want to purchase durable, timeless pieces that feel whole and authentic. I saw this trend in the folkloric dressing at Missoni and Max Mara. Welcome to investment dressing that supports the future.
Top looks Missoni
Last look Max Mara
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget......
16 year old modeling sensation and ballerina Karlie Kloss as shot by Annie Leibovitz, Arthur Elgort, and Steven Meisel
Elizabethan is back. Many designers are playing with proportions to create grand statement pieces. Moschino sent voluminous skirts down the runway for Fall 2010. Shao-yen Chen, the recent St. Martin's graduate who interned for Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalyan and Claire Tough, is set to take London by a storm. As seen above, he is as innovative as our beloved Viktor & Rolf. We await his exquisite genius and look forward to his next move.
Arrogance opposes truth. Let your ego go and embrace the look of a limitless Free Bird. With wings spread ~ peace, joy and love await. Behind doubt, fear and power plays there is certainty. Lean into the Oneness and feel it now.
Last 2 shots styled by Lisa von Weise for Paper Planes.
Last 2 shots styled by Lisa von Weise for Paper Planes.
Abbey Lee lives on the edge free of restraints. "Relaxed" is the word most used to describe the appeal of this 22 year old Gemini from the beaches of Melborne, Austrailia. She embodies the mindset that you don't have to dress or look like anything or conform to a name. You're a poser if you try too hard so know who you are, know your environment, and be sensitive to your surroundings.
Abbey clearly has a multi-layered vision demonstrating her unique style. She is a cameleon in her expression which displays the variety of her history. She worked in the bakery section at Newmarket Safeway in Sydney before hitting it big Jet Setting from London, Paris, Milan, and Tokyo.
Muliple piercings and tattoos, paired with beautiful beach blonde hair is a refreshing combination that defies categorization. One day beach goddess, the next hard-core rocker, Abbey Lee continues to amuse the fashion world.
Last 2 shots styled by Lisa von Weise for Oyster & Mirage
Top shots, Numero
Abbey clearly has a multi-layered vision demonstrating her unique style. She is a cameleon in her expression which displays the variety of her history. She worked in the bakery section at Newmarket Safeway in Sydney before hitting it big Jet Setting from London, Paris, Milan, and Tokyo.
Muliple piercings and tattoos, paired with beautiful beach blonde hair is a refreshing combination that defies categorization. One day beach goddess, the next hard-core rocker, Abbey Lee continues to amuse the fashion world.
Last 2 shots styled by Lisa von Weise for Oyster & Mirage
Top shots, Numero
Marios Schwab was thinking more about his half-Austrian identity for the collection he shows in his adopted London. "I was the only boy in the sewing school in the Annahof Schule in Salzburg! I had this kind of nostalgia for the ladies who taught me, and who dressed in traditional dirndls on a Sunday. It made me think about working on décolletés," he said backstage. "Oh, and the Steiff teddy bears I had as a kid."
It was hardly The Sound of Music, but with its buttoned-up collarless white blouses under swooping necklines, you could literally see where Schwab was coming from. Most of the looks had long sleeves, with only the legs kept exposed, and all detail was concentrated above a raised waist: bolero jackets, bodices crisscrossed with lacing, and steel clips transposed from the designer's favorite pair of climbing boots.
Inspired by her powerful and chameleon-like portrayals, photographer Craig McDean cast Marion Cotillard in her very own Fashion Performance. The current Lady Dior proved to the world she was master of both film and fashion when she elegantly carried off that Jean Paul Gaultier mermaid dress on the night she won Best Actress for her role as Édith Piaf.
Looking to the work of the 1960s Fluxus movement to informed this one-off performance, full of intriguing yet unexplained meanings.
In AnOther Magazine 18 the narrative continues in an interview, where Cotillard reveals her heroes, her passions, and the contents of her handbag.
Established Bad Girl, Alice Dellal inspires vamping up the edge. Always decked out in leather lace and leopard, Alice plays the quintessential rock n' roll princess for her loyal fans.
Shop Roberto Cavalli www.robertocavalli.com to unleash your inner rock star and Patricia Field www.patriciafield.com to channel your Dellal disposition. We know it's in there.
The first sight of what Christopher Kane does always entails a kind of sick stomach lurch, that slight vision-changing nausea brought on by witnessing something cheap and tasteless being transformed into fashion at speed--and not being able to tell quite how you're going to feel about it. It was black leather embroidered with flowers patterned after parochial Women's Institute craftwork that did the queasy job. Spliced together with black lace and tailoring into a peculiarly Kane construct of prim and perverted, it was, in his words, "about a delinquent teenager." But then again, it always is, for Kane.
Larry Clark is an American film
director, photographer, writer and film producer who is best known for
the movie Kids and his photography book Tulsa. His most common subject
is youth who casually engage in illegal drug use, underage sex and
violence, and who are part of a subculture (such as surfing, punk rock
or skateboarding).
Proenza Schouler joined the band this season as well. Looking to Thora Birch, Kristen Stewart, Chloe Sevigny, Joan Jett, and films like The Runaways, we can one relive our teenage fantasies and mishaps to stay forever young.
Proenza Schouler joined the band this season as well. Looking to Thora Birch, Kristen Stewart, Chloe Sevigny, Joan Jett, and films like The Runaways, we can one relive our teenage fantasies and mishaps to stay forever young.
The cut out trend is a tasteful take of robust cleavage and extreme midriff as seen on It Girl and model Alice Dellal. Sporting cut-outs adds a sporty sexiness while leaving something to the imagination. As the old adage goes, no one wants to buy the cow if you're giving away the milk for free.
The trend began last Fall, with sliced details and has quickly graduated to a full blown embrace, especially popular in London. Ann Sofie Back and Mark Fast quicken pulses everywhere. Undergarments optional.
Last 2 looks available at www.patriciafield.com
David Bowie and William S. Burroughs infuse iconic style and symbols from the Fifties Beatnik generation: deconstructing and re-imagining these themes through Mihara's own signature of sharp precise tailoring with an intuitive feel for textures and fabrics. Writer Alan Ginsberg's alternative and hedonistic lifestyle comes into focus with the new fall collection.
In 1958 Swiss-born Robert Frank published The Americans, and photography has never quite recovered. Frank's passionate and penetrating visual statement taught the world a new way to see and, in the process, obliterated fastidious technical concern for exposure and traditional composition fanning the flames of Beat luminary Jack Kerouac.
Frank's images, murky in tonality and sometimes haphazard in framing, garnered substantial critical attention--and derision. The editors of Popular Photography panned the work, going so far as to say that it was "one of the most irritating photo books to make the scene." Those "irritating" photos did more than make the scene--they've become part of our visual lexicon.
Both clever and relevant, Mihara leaves an impression in Paris menswear.
http://www.showstudio.com/collections/seasons/parismenswearaw10/42060
Photo by Robert Frank
Erdem Moralioglu'a newest collections is reminiscent of fall foliage; Vibrant color leaves falling to the earth and bright flowers beginning to wilt; a picturesque scene from and England's lush countryside.
At the early turn of the century, when electricity was the new technology, society felt as if things were moving too fast. Folks wanted to slow down and get back to nature. Thus the Art Nouveau movement. The sixties stirred the same emotions after automation captured lives. Psychedelia was their reinterpretation of Art Nouveau.
Erdem's 1960's spin on nature twisted with Art Nouveau: Delicious Psychedelia ripe for today.
www.erdem.co.uk
At the early turn of the century, when electricity was the new technology, society felt as if things were moving too fast. Folks wanted to slow down and get back to nature. Thus the Art Nouveau movement. The sixties stirred the same emotions after automation captured lives. Psychedelia was their reinterpretation of Art Nouveau.
Erdem's 1960's spin on nature twisted with Art Nouveau: Delicious Psychedelia ripe for today.
www.erdem.co.uk
Haute hipsters set out to take over financial markets and fashion's attention in one fierce megabite. They may succeed as it all feels up for grabs at the moment. We are open to innovation and welcome the challenge. Leave it to Alex to urge us toward a new sensation - smoldering ambition tied up with a rebel 'tude.
This bipartisan neutral is urging us to take a stand, dig up roots and put ideals to the test. Are you a luxury babe or a more practical earth mother bent on conservation? We are at war, so why not look the part? My fighting spirit is ready to be unleashed.
My Rules: Don't try too hard. Keep it authentic. Choose one cool item and explode it into a look that is simple yet multi-layered. Emphasize sex appeal. Fall in.
Top photo: Vogue Bijoux
Runway: Rag & Bone, Burberry, Aquascutum, Burberrry
A tuxedo shirt transformed into a black leather dress and a lean, languid robe-like coat with sequined lapels at L'Wren Scott proved that discipline NEVER goes out. The use of strict rules of form and content to control overt behavior is something we all secretly yearn for.
L'Wren has instructed us to ultra refined effect. Dovetailing with the theme of propriety was a dose of Victoriana, evident in beautiful cutaway jackets with high ruffled collars and Scott's signature schoolmarm dresses.
Sometimes we need a little spanking to keep in order as fashion folks are a delightfully raucous bunch. If you dare to rebel, prepare to be punished in style.
Top photo William Klien
Lace dress Stella McCartney pre-fall
Luscious and dreamy 18th
century paintings from Europe's Regency period including portraits of Madame de Pompadour, paintings of Nattier and Fragonard: Mary Katrantzou scintillates with jewels, rich color and ecstatic prints.
Details beyond the prints - rows of brass buttons on high-heeled boots and a beautifully high collared navy military jacket nipped at the waist and standing up over a luscious printed dress - nailed the reference.
A fashion sensation from Greece via Central Saint Martins and a master of digital prints, Mary's muses of past seasons were giant jewelery and then art deco perfume bottles, versions of which are now all over London's high street.
I see Picasso's cubism and palette making my heart race while the asymmetrical cuts will gives me just the balance I am craving now.
www.marykatrantzou.com
Details beyond the prints - rows of brass buttons on high-heeled boots and a beautifully high collared navy military jacket nipped at the waist and standing up over a luscious printed dress - nailed the reference.
A fashion sensation from Greece via Central Saint Martins and a master of digital prints, Mary's muses of past seasons were giant jewelery and then art deco perfume bottles, versions of which are now all over London's high street.
I see Picasso's cubism and palette making my heart race while the asymmetrical cuts will gives me just the balance I am craving now.
www.marykatrantzou.com
Biba dolly birds like Penelope Tree and Rolling Stones girlfriends (and daughters!) seduced us with magnificent verve at Anna Sui. It is a Biba revival with triumphant splendor.
Vintage bordering on antique, the overall impression was curiously un-retro. That's because Sui, who once worked as Steven Meisel's stylist, knows how to weigh the whimsy: a flat boot, a big cable-knit cardie, or a fur bolero helped to make her most hippie-princess looks real-world-ready. Crowned London's Model Of The Year, Georgia Jagger is on everyone's imagination and a refreshing act to follow. Indulge your inner Chelsea girl.
http://www.annasui.com
