Fashion Week 2009: Narciso Rodriguez

Narciso Rodriguez Fall 2009 The first thought that came to my mind upon viewing Narciso Rodriguez‘s Fall 2009 collection was “meh.” He recently lost his financial backing from Liz Claiborne, which is surely enough to shake any designer’s vision, and that seems to be at least part of the problem with Rodriguez’s most recent offerings. He’s known for his sleek, modernistic clothing with little adornment and painstaking attention to fitting a woman’s body. Tailoring is paramount, and that’s certainly not where this collection falls flat. To find out where it falters and see for yourself, make the jump.

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Fashion Week 2009 – Oscar De La Renta

Oscar de la Renta Fall 2009If nothing else, Oscar de la Renta knows his ready-to-wear customers. They are not ladies that have felt serious effects of the recession, unless they were personal friends with Bernie Madoff. They are not ladies that have driven themselves through a fast-food drive-thru in the past several decades. They are not me. Or most of you, probably. They are the traditional “ladies who lunch.” They also may sit on the boards of philanthropic organizations, have silly heiress names (anyone remember Shippy Shipman from Sex and the City?), and actually need ball gowns for practical purposes. De la Renta’s clientele is a rarified group of women whose taste is refined and who demand the sort of classic perfection that only vast amounts of money can buy, unless you happen to extremely handy with a sewing machine. Fall into neither category? Neither do I, so make the jump and live vicariously through the pictures with me.

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Fashion Week 2009 – Marc by Marc Jacobs

Marc Jacobs at Marc by Marc Jacobs Fall 2009 RTW Allow me to continue to wax poetic about Marc Jacobs for a moment. In addition to being knock-me-over-with-a-feather brilliant, he might be the hardest working man in fashion. Not only is he the creative director of Louis Vuitton, a huge fashion house in and of itself, but he has multiple brands under his own name that each include clothing, shoes, handbags, and accessories. Anyone that knows the industry knows that he’s obviously not designing every piece of every line himself, but he is the person responsible for holding all of the conflicting ideas about all of these lines and their directions in his head at once. And anyone that saw his Collection show from earlier in the week can attest to the massive difference in direction between that line and his diffusion Marc by Marc Jacobs line. But you’ve got to make the jump to find out why.

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We are getting married!

You haven’t seen much of me on Purse Blog in the last few weeks. The coming together of this wedding has been completely and totally all-encompassing and time consuming. But I could not be more excited or thrilled to have our wedding day fast approaching!!!! Our wedding is Friday evening and we have a weekend … Read more

Bryna Nicole spreads the love…

Bryna Nicole Rosemont ClutchWhen we began compiling information for the Valentine’s Day features we started to notice a trend. Many of the designers we talked to mentioned that more than anything else, Valentine’s Day is about love. No surprise there, right? At the same time, many designers talked about how love should be spread throughout the year. Since everyone here at Purse Blog definitely agrees with this statement, we thought, why not spread the love a little longer? Enjoy the insight Bryna Nicole shares with us!

Do you have a Valentine this year, if so, who? Yes, my husband of just over a year, Ben McMills.

What did you get your Valentine? Every year I get myself some fun lingerie but its for him too.

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Mary Norton spreads the love…

Mary Norton Mollie Orchid ClutchI know we said we were done with our special Valentine’s Day features and I know Valentine’s Day is over. However, we have a couple more awesome mini-interviews to share with you. Today we bring you the uber glamorous Mary Norton!

Valentine’s Day: Hallmark Holiday or Real deal? In my opinion, any time that makes us stop and take a moment to thank and appreciate those who bring us love and joy in our lives is a worthy event. Therefore whether Valentine’s Day has it’s origins from a saint or from a retailer is meaningless to me. What matters is that it reminds me take one day a year to shower with appreciation and love those who give me their love the other 364 days of the year.

What gift would you love for Valentine’s Day this year? If I could have a Valentine’s wish, I would ask for a little cash windfall to take my husband and kids on a fun family vacation.

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Fashion Week 2009 – Marc Jacobs Handbags

Marc Jacobs Handbags 2009 Fashion Week can be a hard for us handbag lovers. Because of the placement of photographers at the end of the runway, it’s often difficult to get a halfway decent look at the bags we might be seeing in stores at the end of the summer. Thankfully, though, we’ve rounded up some bag pictures from the Marc Jacobs show after the jump.

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Fashion Week 2009: Marc Jacobs Ready to Wear

Marc Jacobs at his Fall 2009 show I worship at the altar of Marc Jacobs. Unabashedly. I am unashamed to think that he is possibly the greatest fashion mind of our generation and admit that I’d wear pretty much anything he put his stamp of approval upon. I love him as a character – I love all the fabulous younger men he dates, all the crazy things he does to his hair, and the fact that he has taken to wearing man-skirts and combat boots. So presented after the jump is Marc Jacobs Fall 2009 Ready-to-Wear:

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Pauric Sweeney Overnight 1 Python Bag

Remember when you were young and you looked forward to sleepovers? I loved having my friends over but I also loved going to their houses. I would fold up my Strawberry Shortcake sleeping bag and pack up a small bag with what I might need and patiently wait for my parents to drive me to … Read more

Fashion Week 2009: Diane Von Furstenberg

Diane Von Furstenberg NYC Fashion Week I think I’ve told this story on Purse Blog before, but I’ll be brief: ever since Diane Von Furstenberg was mean to Toccara, the plus-sized model on one of the first seasons of America’s Next Top Model, she gives me a frownie-face. But since she’s actually fairly influential and makes some interesting things, we’re going to talk about her (somewhat crazy) collection anyway. You want pics? We’ve got them, after the jump.

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Fashion Week 2009: Jason Wu

Jason Wu Fashion Week Fall 2009If only New York’s fashion elite would have known months ago that Michelle Obama had planned to wear Jason Wu to the inaugural balls – he probably would have gotten a better slot at Fashion Week. Nevertheless, we kick off Purse Blog’s coverage of the goings on in the tents at Bryant Park with his Fall 2009 Ready-to-Wear show. As it turns out, his show is a fitting aperitif to the more editorial shows to come; his clothes are accessible, beautiful, and would sell if sent to stores tomorrow. After the jump, take a look at his big ideas for what we should be wearing come fall.

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Fashion Week 2009: Reem Acra

Reem Acra Fall 2009 In the current economic climate, many designers that would have normally had lavish runways shows are opting instead for private viewing of their collections for buyers, journalists, and critics. One of those designers is Reem Acra, which may strike as odd anyone that’s familiar with her clothing. Acra is, by definition, lavish – lush materials, floor-length gowns, and lots of jewels. And as a stark contrast to the restraint that a private viewing would indicate, Acra’s clothes were just as posh as ever.

The model over there may be looking a bit like Morticia Addams in that dress, but I kind of love it. A lot. I want Angelina Jolie to wear it, although I think she wore something similar a few years ago when she was still nuts and making out with her brother (anyone else kinda miss that version of Angie?). As it is, I’d like to see it on someone super curvy – perhaps Christina Hendricks? If you don’t know her, Google, my friend. Google.

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