Paris Couture Autumn-Winter 2005-2006

Oooooh, the best time of the year.
Christian Dior - Oh la la chiffon. Dramatic corsets and full skirts of see-through lace, gorgeous bustles of easter egg satins make full trains. I love the layering and draping and the suggestions of antiquity over very modern and sexy minis and moulded busts. Also what we're seeing is the progression of couture gown. The underpinnings, the tailor's pincushion, the wireframe (literally) ball skirts and each model made up as dress form.

Galliano makes every show a learning experience and just pure drama. Looooove. Oh goodness, photo 9, the illusion herringbone suit!

Oh, this is just so fantastical! Stripping away the solid fabric really makes the workmanship so evident. Adding color highlights the detailed beading and embroidery. The photos and the show report are making me cry at the thought of being able to witness this. The most amazing couture show I've attempted to imagine. Ooooh, from Peru, we're transported to old Hollywood - with old Supermodels. Man, Linda, Naomi, and Eva look beat *up*.

Luckily, we move quickly back to ballet, with still some Peruvian influencing in colors. Is there anything more dramatic or gorgeous than photo 38?

Or this??


Giorgio Armani - Such a different world from Dior, but I am again surprised at how much I'm digging Armani.

Maybe I'm becoming bland? The 40s-style trousers and hats and suits and is fur really so bad? ;-) Here it looks luxe, not obnoxious.





Valentino - Simple sophistication, simply pretty. And, again, is fur so bad?

I do have to say that's some terrible hair though.

Maybe a tad dull...for couture. Maybe.

Summer Office Wear

I'm suddenly worried that no one will take me for a serious professional, especially considering that I'm now wearing silver heels with white ankle socks. For god sakes, at least theyre not Uggs or flipflops like a few of my office mates have been sporting. My seriously out-of-touch friend Paul used to lecture me on the importance of appearing professional back when I was remotely interested in my career. I can only imagine I'd be dead or some sort of corporate middle-manager by this time if I'd only followed his advice. I think I'm much happier with my soul.

Shopping Spree Fantasy

I tried to resist for sooooooo long, but I think I might kill myself if I cant obtain a pair of the Adidas 35th Anniversary shoes. It's funny, my friend Vivian's boyfriend owns a sneaker store in Long Beach (and hopefully in Tokyo soon) and I am always amazed at the lengths they would go to for pairs and the prices people are willing to pay. And now I've caught the lust, though luckily not the spare funds to purchase.

I'm also dreaming of a pair of ridiculously expensive jeans. I've always been a hardcore Levi's girl, but the hyper-flattering call of Joe's and Rock & Republic is just too hard to ignore. Who knows where all this label whoring is coming from. I just havent bought anything fun and anything for just fun - that isnt house-related - in so long.

I miss being fashionably dressed.

Fall Winter 2005-2006 Paris Day 7

Junya Watanabe - Nice plaid tweeds used in an almost Betsy Johnson whimsical way.

The skirts are freaking me out a bit, as I've been dreaming about a mini-blind sort of attachment to a skirt for several years now - changing the length and style of the hem as you please.



Kenzo - Did I really complain earlier about a lack of color? In between the almost-day-glo 70s swinging hostess, there are some nice finds. I can see Maria in most of these, actually.



Lanvin - Couldnt ask for more elegance and not in a costumey way. These clothes would do nothing for a bland girl, but can take a fabulous girl to the next level. On a bland girl, you'd see none of the detail - just a black dress.



Louis Vuitton - Just gorgeous. Modern suits with a 60s feel, elegant skirts dresses with an Eastern European vibe. Perhaps a tad somber, but hard to criticize.






Martin Grant - So pretty! Not at all boring, just nice.


Lovely use of color and satin.


Valentino - Mysterious, sexy...variations on a tuxedo.



True glamour, true innovation.



Yves Saint Laurent - An uptight European secretary...is this sexy? Maybe? Not that it has to be, of course. It's just such a departure from the Tom Ford years. I think this is more conservatively eccentric, subversively sexy, more YSL.

Fall Winter 2005-2006 Paris Day 6

Chloe - Standard Chloe: kinda sexy, kinda dowdy...basically your mom in 1972.

Comme des Garcons - Scary ass ghost brides are even scarier in victorian laces and unmatched suits. I know I should understand this, but I dont. The coats and bell-sleeved dresses will probably nice once they hit the stores.

Collette Dinnigan - So pretty. The sweetest laces on 40s dresses and vintage slips.

Sloppy suits and loose dresses keep things from being too perfect.


John Galliano - Tough Marlene Dietrich, though maybe slightly more Francais.

Modern minis (thank god) to keep me happy:

I like them especially when theyre not used to be S-E-X-Y. Gorgeous coats that I would never remove:


Hermes - Terrible hats, luxe suits, the to-die-for accessories. Simple clothes from the label the epitomizes you-can-only-dream-of.

Maybe just this side of early 80s Ralph Lauren. Scary.

fall Winter 2005-2006 Paris Day 4 and 5

Akris - Serious clothing doesnt have to be bland. Perfect office clothes, with none of the sugar-sweet ladylike look of late.


A nod to 70s swing, with some interesting sleeve proportions:



Alexander McQueen - All manners of the 50s screen queen, Grace Kelly to Brigitte Bardot. Modernized Hitchcockian suits to sexy sexy hair and vavavoom dresses. My only criticism would be perhaps a little too costumey? The suits and gowns are classic McQueen however - sleek, modern, crazy.




Ann Demuelemeester - A little bad 80s romantic. Possibly a Cinderella video (was that their name? the band?).

Cacharel - Fabulous prints on nice dresses.




Celine - Less jetset, more prettiness.

But nothing really new.

Chanel - A lot 80s, a little ski bunny, tweed golf pants, legging/legwarmers, a lot disappointed. The hair is making me think I'm viewing a collection circa 1999. I am digging the bows above the knees though. Add more ribbons to the shopping list.


Christian Lacroix - Rich widow - possibly mad or just plain eccentric, fantastic hair.


Big entrance-making gowns.


Hussein Chalayan - Dark, bad lighting, nice coats, interesting beading and feathers?



Nina Ricci - Light, gorgeous, definition of the word floaty. Clothing for an intelligent girl, a cultured girl.




Ooooh, and ribbons above the elbows.

Start to finish, amazing.

Paco Rabanne - So modern, so simple. A little random, but still very nice and very confident.