New York - Autumn/Winter 2007-8, Day 3

Lela Rose - Boxy but sometimes sweet dresses and blouse/skirt combos.


Reyes - More uniform dressing, but this time with a utilitarian/military (current! not antique!) details. Less sweet, less my style.


DKNY - I wouldnt consider myself a Donna Karan fan, but she always seems to whip up exactly what I want to wear. I guess she's got the understanding and experience of making clothes that actually sell. The color scheme is nothing short of gorgeous - all charcoals and purples - and the tweed dresses and suits are so covetable.



Naum - The avant dresses and coats are impressive, but the rest was too Flashdance-ian.


United Bamboo - Proper pieces with paper-folding-technique tailoring.


Sari Gueron - Loose drapings, easy-to-wear Winter office gear. Very Sophia Coppola.


Luella - I think she's pushing us to fox-hunting or into forming a band. She's always so very cool. Stuffy suit jackets and coats, with wacky twists seem to be another theme for Fall.


Philip Lim - A little frumpy and bland, with some nice jackets and skirts mixed in.


Tracy Reese - Metallics, tans, dusty pinks, and black. Super smart dresses that rank with the sophistication and prettiness of Chanel to me.



Erin Fetherston - Pretty, dreamy dresses and ruffles! Love that dove grey, with a little shimmer.


Diane von Furstenberg - A harder, more cerebrally sexy look than we're used to from DVF. I'm not sure I'm won over.


Issa - Modern woodland prints on simple dresses make for a nice theme. Something is a bit dungeons and dragons here that I cant place, but I do like.



Naeem Khan - Romantically regal. Sophisticated and sexy. Exactly the gala wear you'd want in this weather.



Tuleh - The sexiest trousers I've seen. That's quite a lot of fur though.


Matthew Williamson - A little too heavy on the 70s Mrs Roper. Fun injections for the Winter, if you're the brave sort.

New York - Autumn/Winter 2007-8, Day 2

Do you know the perfect antidote for winter? Morrissey's "My Love Life".

You will instantly be transported to a convertible, driving around on a perfect LA day. I promise.

(a missed one from the first day)
Douglas Hannant - Sexy sweet dresses, a more wearable futuristic bent. I'm becoming a real fan of these cobwebby laces. Ruffled hems and edges seem to be an emerging trend in NY. Feminine but not sugary. So much good stuff here!



Lacoste - They're trying to sell you denim suspendered walking shorts, but dont fall for it! Go for the mismatched layers instead. Dorky Librarian is always head and shoulders above Dorky Mom from 1984.


Karen Walker - Dorky belted everything and 70s Secretary tweed suits, but her trenches and dresses are fun and modern.



Ruffian - Inspired uniform dressing - with bits of satin and pleather and ruffles. Simple without ever being boring or classic and personality without being obnoxious. Would be perfect in almost any workplace.


Toni Maticevski - So many looks and lacking a clear theme, but some really fun individual pieces. The day looks were a tad Circus Emcee, but the evening looks were either sleek (sexy columns), girly/sexy (short, stiff organza), or cozy (sleeping bag ballgowns) - look much better than they sound!



Alexander Wang - If I concentrate really hard, I can half-manage to forget the Caroline Brady Rap gold-studded baseball cap. I'm not sure it it's worth the effort though. More suspendered shorts (I'm not falling for it, I'm telling you for the last time!) and skirts...nothing that excited me.

Threeasfour - They're staying true to the ugly appliques, but I do like the shredded ruffled one-shoulder gowns.


Bruce - Fairly bland, with a few winning office looks. I think I'd just give up if this is all Fall had to offer.


Alice Roi - Loose, untailored pants and skirts, with sweet jackets and sweater dresses (god, I need a sweater dress now).



Alexandre Herchcovitch - Lots of coat dresses, either trench-inspired or free-form (sometimes to the extreme free of a Hefty bag). I'll ignore the Heftys, as this coat and these boots are too beautiful to pass-over.


Abaete - 60s Bond Girl, flirty flounces and rusching. The best minis so far.



Sass & Bide - Lots of gold and black. I like the silhouettes, but the actual clothes dont inspire me much.

New York - Autumn/Winter 2007-8, Day 1

There are funny things going on this Fashion Week, have you noticed? It seems that every half-assed celebrity gossip site is now updating us on the daily fashion news. I think this has something to do with fashion shows as another papparazzi moment and the feeling with certain designers that the celeb contingent is maybe more important than the people who actually *buy* their clothing or who have an actual understanding of style and fashion (I wont even mention the fact that more than a few seem only concerned with the celeb side and none at all with the actual business of making clothes. Ahem, BabyPhat. Ahem, Heatherette).

Ok, down with the (severely delayed! sorry!) business:
Yigal Azrouel - Loose, sedate layers that would be very much at home on a Williamsburg girl or an Olsen Twin. Feminine, not necessarily messy, but not a girl that needs to look sexy or put-together to be cool. The almost vintage looking jackets and dresses are my favorites.



Rag and Bone - Sexy menswear, with some boxy 60s bits. All in beautiful suiting. The trousers look so comfortable and so flattering.


BCBG Max Azria - Moderately fitted pillowcase dresses that unfortunately fall a little too far into the Solid Gold Dancer Realm or perhaps a particularly low-budget episode of Dr Who. An attempt at making simple dresses interesting that feels a little ridiculous, if you ask me.



Nicole Miller - Peruvian officewear, which feels a little early 80s Ralph Lauren to me. I much preferred the evening looks, with truly new-looking prints.

Couture - Spring/Summer 2007, cont.

Christian Lacroix - OHHH RUFFLES! Whimsical skirts and technicolor prints and shredded lace flowers, life would be so much happier if we could wear this every day. I cant pick a favorite. The polka-dots are perfect, the gowns are divine. Just have a look for yourself.





Givenchy - Kind of a downer and hard to get past the gigantically ridiculous hats, but there are some attic-finds and surprisingly sophisticated gowns.



Jean Paul Gaultier - Like all the Madonna con Bambinos in Italy, but a bit more fashionable and fitted. Simple gorgeous. From the simplest dresses to the most stunning gowns - and the most heavenly headgear.






Armani - Perfect for the upper-class, 55-year-old, Dynasty afficianado. Gems to be found, of course, but his overly-long shows always bore the bejeezus out of me.

Couture - Spring/Summer 2007

Anne Valerie Hash - Puffed long sleeved blouses with neck bows and mini pleated cheerleader skirts are fun and playful, but I'm a little confused with the Grand Ole Opry jackets and cheesy space-age gear. Particularly the back of the jacket in this photo:


Chanel - Black tights. Coat dresses. Long ribbon skirts. And some feathery confections stolen from an MGM Musical. Part severe in structured/tailored dresses and jacket, part dream in feathers and shreds. Lovely.




Christian Dior - Ahh, the dreamer is back. Painted fabrics and faces so extraordinary and extravagant that I'm having a hard time picking my jaw off my keyboard. Kimono jackets, but so very Western. Origami decorations. Electric color combinations - very Lacroix. I am fairly certain that I have never seen clothes so elegant, so beautiful, so extravagant, so perfectly Couture - such individual works of art. You have to look at every single photo, I cant post them all. If you have the means, how can you not afford to order it all??






Elie Saab - Perfectly lovely dresses that will look great on Beyonce, but I never see much difference from season to season or RTW to Couture.


Valentino - Always beautiful and feminine. This season, a 60s kitten. Soft and lacey and pretty and sometimes half a step to the right of 70s sex siren.