Fashion

After a long day of classes, well, you need something fun and different to perk you up, especially if it’s the start of a long weekend. So when Shannon and Megs told me about a press preview held by fabulous PR firm B’squared, I jumped at the chance.

The brand of exotics, Adriana Castro was featured alongside up-and-coming handbag designer Zara Terez. The loot was displayed all over the hotel room. Have you ever imagined being Nicole Richie and having your Balenciagas and costume jewelry just littered about all over the place? That’s what this was like, albeit much neater and more organized. It was quite the haven. Just imagine- Adriana Castro’s fuchsia Glazed Croc Lola Tote, the Modish clutch, a few Glazed Python Coco clutches, and a plethora of belts and bangles and Lady Zip wallets- all splayed on a bed. The effect was quite vibrant. I asked about my current favorite, the Glazed Python Annie Clutch in Purple, but publicists informed me that it’s on loan to Gossip Girl at the moment. Well. I suppose us bloggers can have good taste too, right?

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When the world ends, and you survive it like a giant cockroach or Cher or something, what do you wear afterward? Rodarte’s Spring 2010 line, if you’re fabulous.

Set against a dystopian, foggy, grit-strewn runway, the sisters Mulleavy presented what is possibly their most well-realized collection in New York on Tuesday. It was clothing fit for a woman living in a wasteland – deconstructed and reconstructed into something that is far more than the sum of the materials that went into it. And those materials were many and varied, and all individually treated and ruined before they were incorporated into the clothing. We saw things as familiar as leather and plaid and as unexpected as cheesecloth, worked into some of the most interesting and intricately constructed clothing of this Fashion Week.

The combination of patterns, textures, and colors in these clothes is enough to make anyone’s head spin, but look closely and it’s all done with such obvious care and thought that I’m in awe of the post-apocalyptic art that they were able to create out of their many and varied scraps of fabric. These are the kinds of clothes that a casual observer may not understand at first look but that fashion people absolutely salivate over.

As they appear on the runway, most of the dresses may not be particularly starlet-friendly, but I hope that a few stars out there that enjoy challenging, innovative clothing will take the plunge and strut a red carpet or two in some of these dresses. Surely some alterations to make them more buyer-friendly will be made before they go to distribution, and with an edit here or there, I think they would look fantastic on a statuesque risk-taker like, say, Charlize Theron.

Pictures via Style.com.

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What is Fashion’s Night Out, you ask? Bedlam. Chaos. Hundreds of people lining up to see Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen only to be yelled at by a security guard who said that the event was closed. He also added that we, as spectators, were a fire hazard and we were all shepherded back down the escalators. That, my fellow friends and purse lovers, is the essence of Fashion’s Night Out.

Sure, the promoters say that it’s all about making shopping fun again, and that it is. But between you and me, more “shoppers” were hounding celebs and snapping up shots on their digital cameras than were forking over the plastic. I think I saw transactions taking place about three times, and one doesn’t count because my pal bought a Fashion’s Night Out tee shirt. Which, by the way, is extremely soft and comfortable.

That’s not to say that out night was a failure. Oh, it was quite the opposite. It was success, but a very different success than that which comes from receiving a good grade or finding the perfect pair of jeans. This was unexpected success- that satisfied feeling that comes after what you know has been a good, good night, even though you didn’t get the perfect shot of Victoria Beckham (I only got three pictures: one dark and two blurry).

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The fashion world has convened in NYC for the past week for the Spring 2010 showing of some of our favorite designer labels. While Vlad and I could not make it this year, we have been glued to the computer checking out all the shows, events, trends, and celebs! One of the biggest parts of Fashion Week is the who is who. Bloggers are now being given first row seats to some shows, while the celeb presence continues to remain a constant. Of course there are the top fashion editors and magazines in attendance as well. One of the most notable faces of the fashion industry has made her appearances at fashion week, Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue.

What do you think about New York Fashion Week: Which shows left you wanting more and which shows did you adore?

No review of Marc Jacobs‘ Spring 2010 fashion show would be complete without taking a good look at the accessories that were also featured – after all, they’ll be what we’re picking apart mercilessly in a few months.

Consistent with the softer color palette of much of MJ’s collection, we saw a lot of champagnes, light and medium blues, creams, and whites in the accessories collection. Many of the bags were made of multicolored lattice leather, sometimes in what looked to be several different textures – I definitely spy some python, at the very least.

There was also Jacobs’ signature quilting, with many of the quilts bearing forth rivets and tassels. I liked the addition of texture, but these were not my favorite bags of the show – the tassels and their cords looked like tentacles to me. Not a good look.

And last put not least, apparently fringe is not over yet, at least not in Marc’s mind. Many of the latticed bags had nearly a foot of fringe swinging from them in the same colors that made up the bag’s body. I have a feeling that this will be shortened somewhat before the products are shipped to stores, but I didn’t hate it. In fact, quite the opposite – I thought that it was quite appropriate, considering the construction of many of the pieces Leave it to someone like him to make us all take a second look at fringe.

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When you’re Marc Jacobs, and your show basically is New York Fashion Week, and everyone expects The Next Big Thing from you, and the world is watching, what do you make? Why, you make harlequin kabuki clown ballerina clothes, of course!

Throughout the sculptural-yet-feminine presentation, there were nods to Japanese culture, Comme des Garçons and Jacobs’ own seminal grunge collection at Perry Ellis, among a slew of other things. We had ruffles galore, lots of layering (as is to be expected with Jacobs), underwear-as-outwear (also not the first time we’ve seen that from Jacobs, and it reminded me a bit of this year’s Christian Dior couture presentation), and more pastels than I can remember seeing at Fashion Week since…well, ever. I hate pastels, but if MJ can make that gorgeous steel blue into a trend, I might let the peach and lavender go.

Overall, the more I look through the show’s looks, the more I like them, but not as much as I did his grimy, glam lover letter to 80s New York from Fall 2009 (or his brilliant show from a year ago, for that matter). Perhaps it’s the colors that are turning me off, or maybe the organza genie pants. I appreciate that his models all more shoes that were either completely or almost flat, the bags looked like they’d be intricate and fantastic on closer view, and the clothes are growing on me and looking more brilliant by the minute. There was one obvious masterpiece, though: the show’s final look. It was an ephemeral, effervescent confection of a gown that defied gravity and looked like it had been made out of spun air. It wasn’t overdone or underdone, but done just enough to show the skill with which it was tailored and the eye with which it was edited. Perfection.

Like the collection or not, that dress should be enough to convince anyone that Jacobs is still the king. It’s taking a while for the ideas behind these clothes to settle with me, but the journey through this master’s mind is nothing if not enjoyable.

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First, let me just say this: I don’t need denim from Herve Leger.

Everyone else on the planet wants to sell me a pair of jeans or something else made out of the fabric, and I’m not that big of a jeans person in the first place. I was a little disappointed to see a brand known for sexy cocktail dresses present a patchwork denim jacket for Spring 2010 – what’s the point? Isn’t that a little bit like Valentino making a pair of sweatpants? Does it really have anything to do with the brand’s image?

And it’s unfortunate that when I think back to the show, those are the outfits that stand out in my mind, because there were actually some rather interesting things going on (well, as interesting as Leger and its creative director, Max Azria, get). We saw a lot more pattern this year than I can recall seeing from the brand in recent memory, and the sex appeal that they’re known for was at once amplified in shredded bandage dressed and toned down in more demure, less body-conscious silhouettes.

My favorites were the dresses that simultaneously hugged the models’ forms and floated away from the body, creating an interesting juxtaposition of the brand’s iconic imagery and the dessert scenes that inspired this particular set of clothing. If Azria had stuck with those ideas, he would have had me the entire way. Instead, he interspersed it occasionally with nonsensical patchwork denim, and those pieces couldn’t have turned me off more. I’m trying to focus on the positive, of which there definitely was some, but I hate it when a bad apple threatens to spoil the bunch.

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Alexander Wang is fashion’s ultimate it-boy these days. He’s the king of downtown cool and has played a huge part in the tough leather and shiny studs trends that we’re seeing on anything and everyone these days. Whether or not you like him, he has probably influenced what you’re going to be wearing for fall.

He showed his Spring 2010 collection over the weekend at New York Fashion Week, and I can’t help but think that with all the hype, he couldn’t have produced anything that would have wowed anyone. Not genuinely, anyway – so much is expected from him based on his last presentation that he probably would have had to find Jimmy Hoffa in the front row for anyone to be shocked.

But what he gave us was kind of cool anyway. His main influence seems to have been something with which I’m quite familiar – football. Wang took the term “American sportswear” quite literally and created a collection full of deconstructed prepster looks and not-so-subtle nods to athleticism. There were dresses and tops that were constructed partly out of tighty-whitey underwear, deflated football handbags, and even a letterman’s jacket or two.

This collection seemed to lack a bit of the intense focus and clear perspective of Wang’s previous collection, but there were flashes of greatness. A divine caramel leather jacket worn by Angela Lindvall was among my favorites, and I bet that there are hipsters in Brooklyn right now trying to figure out how to fashion a shirt like the one Magdalena Frackowiak wore out of men’s underwear.

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What a better way to complement your Burberry trench than with a pair of sleek Burberry rain boots? I have a couple pair of Hunter wellie rain boots, the originals made in Scotland. I wear them with skinny jeans and leggings with sweater during the rainy season. I often wish my Hunter wellies were a little more sophisticated and polished. That’s why I love these Burberry rainboots. Each of these three styles is waterproof and great for sloshing thru puddles, yet chic enough to wear with my black Burberry trench.

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What: DvF Fashion’s Night Out Schedule of Events

Events:

7pm to 8pm: Fall for Fitness
Want to know how to tone your tush for Fall’s skinny pants or tighten your arms while sitting at your desk? Join Tracy Anderson for a fitness Q&A as well as exercise demonstration. Her famous DVD’s will also be on sale so you can take her home with you!

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