New York - Autumn/Winter 2006-2007 cont.

Sass & Bide-
Sort of a 35 year old cool girl. Not terrible, but very low-key with hints of personality - a little girlishnessness, a little buttoned-up businesswoman, a little reformed punk.


Carolina Herrera-
Ladylike, as always, but not that Hepburn/JackieO look. Modern, rich, classic. The prints and those blue ribbons are gorgeous.



Marc Jacobs-
I'm thinking plaids are the key prints for Fall. Everywhere. Here we have a vagabond version of the ladylike looks from Doo.Ri. Very modest, with little figure-displaying let alone skin-revealing. Boxy jackets, followed by loose and flowing jackets and wraps. I'm not too keen on any specific look, but it's growing on me for the last few seasons (he's definitely been pushing away from the tailored and baring). I do welcome the idea of dressing without care of perfection or matching or prepackaged "looks". It's an individual style, which can never be wrong.


Max Azria Collection-
The hair, the knee socks, the glasses, the dress. Cool girl. Totally basic and wearable, but just a little off - which is perfect. Looove the black patent boots too.



Oscar de la Renta-
It seems that the 70s YSL Russian look is back too. Those sleeves - what are they called? - and luscious sweaters and a really great shearling jacket are totally on my wish list. As usual, his clothes are an absolute dream and he's one of the few designers that I think one could acceptably wear for her entire life. He's neither young nor old nor classic nor trendy. He's just exquisitely right.







TSE-
You might want to add a sweater dress to your shopping list. I'm seeing it everywhere too. And look how easy and chic it can be:


Y&Kei-
Very nice dresses and suits in jolie-laide lamés and metallic threaded fabric. I imagine that if IOC had any talent, they would like their clothes to look like these. Modern/space-age disco.



fyi- I prefer British Vogue's coverage, but American Vogue uses the same pictures but labels each photo with the model's name. So you might want to check it out as well. They also often cover different shows.

New York - Autumn/Winter 2006-2007

I dont think it will be possible for me to devote much time to the shows this season. Here are some of my favorite looks.

Alexandre Herchcovitch -

I've never been one to say no to black boots, but I'm thinking I cant say no to pirate boots again. Looove. I'm liking the accessories more than the clothes here. The dresses are filmy and pretty, but they are also a bit of potato-sac-y. And the florals are my most-despised Grandma-friendly. Laura Ashley Gypsy is not on my list of Fall identities to recreate.

Badgley Mischka-
Dramatic midnight blues and burgundies with gold detailing. From boys who only know pretty, this is some heavy Opium-era YSL. I love the bordello wallpaper prints and rich-gypsy styling.



Diane von Furstenberg-
Polished I Love Lucy, but a bit more English countryside. Exaggerated plaids and herringbones, mismatched and overdone. So wearable and so office-perfect.



DKNY-
I guess I like the clothes (those I can make out), but just not very exciting...Simple dresses with quirky details, an occasional shock of color. Black tights and boots - probably how we'll all actually end up looking next season.


Doo Ri-
From the first photo, I'm in love. Wide leg men's trousers, blouson tailored jackets and blouses, gloves (or the skinny forearms that give the illusion of gloves).

I love the juxtaposition of formal suit fabrics draped and cuved as if they were knit.


Jenni Kayne-
Some great jackets, but mainly seriously boring cropped pants and tanks. Very ho-hum and not-needing of a runway show.

Kenneth Cole -
Tippi Hedren suits are never wrong, but havent we seen enough? I do like the dove grey and the somewhat-modern collars, but wearable and pretty, but not necess inspiring.

The body-hugging jersey dresses are nice and a tad bit surprising, but not really "new" - just new for him.


Lacoste-
Loooove the colors, sweaters, stripes, and shorts. Not ground-breaking, by any means, but fun. Despise the puffy boots, however.


Lela Rose-
Beauuuuuutiful dresses. Sixties JackieO, but brought up to date with more sexiness. A prettier Prada. Soon to be seen on every Nicole Richie and Lohan in hollywood.


Luella-
Lucy Ricardo filtered through 1982. Punk-influenced prom dresses. And the Ultimate in Skinny Pants. I have looooved her last two seasons, so maybe I should hop over to Target to check out her new line there.



Ruffian-
Nothing particularly bad, but that 70s style loose that is rather boring and lazy too me. Too much satin and too much fabric. Some nice disco office gear though.


Sari Gueron-
Simple and cool. Not terribly thrilling, but it all looks very comfortable and polished. And this looks like the world's most comfortable sweater:


Tuleh-
Glamour 50s girls. Hitchock heroines. Of course it's pretty, of course it's covetable, but is it new?
This sweater/wrap looks nice:

i want i want i want

I've become unhealthily obsessed with these:


I *need* them, dont you understand??? Fortunately, Marc will never understand and would never allow me to spend $645 on shoes.

I will also consider these:


For a mere nine hundred and seventy five dollars.

Paris Couture Spring-Summer 2006, cont.

Elie Saab - As usual, unfailing prettiness and dramatic entrance-making dresses. An absolute dream of confections and clouds, with just the right amount of disco thrown in to sex it up.



Givenchy - It is hard to make out the details, but there's something futuristic and clean about these nerdy/sexy, ugly/pretty clothes.

Later in the show, things get a little Miss Havisham...decaying luxury...and then a bit of a new bordello. I like both in a haunted sort of way. But I really just love this ruby skirt.

A really cool, spooky museum show.

Jean Paul Gaultier - I actually cant say that I understand the show or the theme. I get the hair and the cigarettes in cigarette holders, but I'm really not sure how it all ties together. The Grecian-holiday/Jackie O is definitely there, and I like it. There's also a bit of Genie and some truly hideous suits. I like quite a bit of it though.

Paris Couture Spring-Summer 2006

Anne Valerie Hash - Spooky gothic ghosts and modified hunting suits. Strangely sexy but frumpy. The random closing gown is a stunner though:


Armani Prive - Suits. Some stylish, some stylish for old ladies, some bland. Some gorgeous dresses made from either tight or frilly fabric bandages.

Some seriously 80s rhinestone numbers that are only saved by being strapless. The reviews call it "perfectly Armani". I think that's code for "boring" and "sells well for the 60+ demo". Not that there's anything wrong with that. To be fair, that's probably the demo of couture anyway.

Chanel - Oooooh. Gorgeous suits. Cropped jackets with 3/4-length sleeves in white. Exaggerated hip demure skirts. Flat heeled boots. Girlish, but with romantic lace blouses underneath. My favorites are the dresses though.

And the negligee-jackets.

Alternately simple and over-the-top, I cant decide which is more modern or more beautiful...



Christian Dior - Bloody, scary, Marie Antoinette-y. In other words, brilliant and so at-odds than the Pretty-Pretty we're so used to. It very much reminds me of JPG, though.

Just far too short!

Christian LaCroix - Impossibly elegant and fun.


Prints and colors and textures that in any other hand would be wrong.

I'm dying of happiness in all this lace and tulle.

I need to just paste in the whole show here.

Revillon - Dour greys and blacks with fur trimmings from this fur house. Did they not realize it's the Spring-Summer collection?

No, not edgy. Oh righ, I forgot. The current designer is Mr Bland Bland Bland Boring Rick Owens.

Valentino - Vampy, but demure - perfect for a woman of a certain age. I hate the muted/dated florals though.

French Kate

I finally have the issue in my freezing cold hands. Curse my inferior French-translation skills! There are so. many. Kate articles in here too. More than anything, though, the photos are *amazing*. I will try to get around to scanning the whole damn thing for you to peruse. A gorgeous black and white layout - where the covers came from, a fantastic snapshot of her sticking her head through the sun roof as she drives by the Grand Canyon post-rehab, two separate retrospectives of her career, and papparazzi photos comparing her style as inspiration for individual designers. The depressing part is that her role in the issue would have been much larger had she not been forced to rehab after the scandal.

Elles ont le goût incroyable!

The Cherry-YUM-DIDDLY Dip segment of my Lik-m-aid FunDip exploded and it is taking every last shred of willpower to not lick my desk and my Snoopy lunchbag.