Fall Winter 2005-2006 London Day 1

Julien MacDonald - Ruffly blouses under sweaters and tanks are things I love for Fall.

I dont think the trousers look very flattering, but the dresses and coats and skirts are adorable. Very Poirot Murderess.



Ben de Lisi - Pretty fabrics and draping, but it seems he has the body shape a little off. Like the waist is too high, hips too low. A little cheesy too with cheap looking sequins and broaches.

Basso & Brooke - Versace fabrics in edgy/dorky/futuristic shapes.

Emma Cook - Clever little dresses, though a tad on the plain side.

The fabrics have left me underwhelmed.

Karen Walker - Words cannot express how horrible these pants are:

The tiered skirts and ruffled skirts are surprisingly cute. How do you explain the pants???

London Fashion Week is not looking so hot...

Fall Winter 2005-2006 New York Day 6

Donna Karan - Much fussier than you'd expect from DK. Futuristic, Helmut Lang-y, less girly than the recent collections that I actually liked.

Sweetface - Jennifer Lopez - Can you say Vanity Project? There is no comprehensible explanation for the necessity of this show or even for the existence of this line. This is her "upscale" collection *cough*, yet the only people who could remotely be interested in her style are in 7th grade. Whoooooo could this market be? It's by no means awful, it's just that whoever is the actual designer should have done it under her own name.

Ralph Lauren - I will never tire of sweater dresses, pinstripes, and the 30s. Glamorous clothes for the girl who hates to talk about fashion...the non-boring no-nonsense girl's Armani or perhaps a less-flashy Michael Kors.



Derek Lam - Rich hippy vibe, but still body-conscious and classy. The pulled-together girl who thinks herself artistic.



Roland Mouret - Sexy secretary suits with some off-kilter details leave me breathless for more.


Skirts with little capes, dresses with over dresses, shrugs with full backs?...layering without adding much width, I like it.

Fall Winter 2005-2006 New York Day 5

Boudicca - Bladerunner coats, killer boots, spats?, oil-slick metallics.

The poof sleeved jackets are the more futuristic version of that Yohji jacket I died for a few years ago.

Calvin Klein - Too dark to make out many details. The leather?vinyl? pieces appear limp and ill-fitting and in the most unappealing shades. The fitted coatdresses with tall boots seem nice and are (thankfully) not at all 60s in tone. I really like the back of the chartreuse gown:

I always think a little gathering makes things so much girlier.

Diesel - If you can get past the abominations in denim and fringe, there are some good pieces. Such as the slit skirts and petticoats and wackily belted jackets.

J.Mendel - Ok, I'm seriously getting obsessed with the 3/4-length-bell-sleeved jacket. I really love the tie on this dress:

All in all, surprisingly edgy mixed with the expected pretty and fur. Plus, I will never not love a blood velvet tuxedo.



Pretty impressive for a furrier, not a Fourier.

Jeffrey Chow - The prettiest, coolest schoolteacher. Maybe a little Kate Hepburn, with the boxy plaids and pulled-back hair.

Peter Som - Russian princess-Heidi-schoolgirl? It works. The colors are great, the dresses are gorgeous.

Vera Wang - Pretty fabrics, but everything seems a little limp, like everyone is unexcited and has bad posture. The belts are nice though.



Wunderkind - Cute dresses but hideous pants. So high-waisted and bulgy around the stomach...a very bad dorky vision.

Zac Posen - Oooh, such a rich but surprisingly fun look.

Overly-tailored and detailed, but in a good way. I like that he doesnt do anything small and he never takes the simple and pretty (easy) route. Very pretty, but also very interesting - a little off. In the wrong hands, everything could be extremely ugly.

Fall Winter 2005-2006 New York Day 4

Anna Sui - Woah, is that a *beat up* Naomi in the first photo?? Brown and teal herringbone is my new favorite,

brown tights will be a must-have, oooooh and brown velvet trousers. I like the wackier side of 60s-styling - classic Anna Sui, but a little fresher and prettier this season. Wendy, whyyyyyyy didnt I buy that lace petticoat in the Haight a few years ago???

Behnaz Sarafpour - Weird, the first few photos remind me of a subdued Anna Sui...Less precious than past seasons, so I'm a little disappointed. She does pretty/precious/princess so well. The signature ribbon details are still nice, I just want more of them. I guess maharajah is the look for fall, but here it looks a little boring. And dont those herringbone pieces seem totally out of place?

Daryl K - Minus the horrendous cowboy boots, this is totally the mood I'm in right now. "Moody Teenager" is the perfect description. Layers over tight pants, beat up boots...


Lela Rose - Knee-length trousers, wide-legged trousers, funny little jackets...such a sweet collection.

Perfect for the everyday eccentric.


Michael Kors - Slouchy jet-set equestrians. Everytime I view his shows, all I can think is how much I want this life. It's a different type of fantasy than I usually find in fashion, but a fun fantasy nonetheless. A tad overboard on fur though. Pure American ease, a girl could rush in from outside or off the plane and toss on any of these evening looks and a swipe of lipgloss and look perfect.

Phi - Razor-sharp suits, military coats, combat dresses, I love the slightly swingy jackets.

He manages to maintain a feminine breath too.

Fall Winter 2005-2006 New York Day 3

Bill Blass - Society girl suits...only for someone whose sole aim is to be proper, yet fashionable. Some pretty and some semi-shocking dresses, but nothing to get my blood rushing. Staid is the key word. And not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just not what I would dream of spending loads of money.

Isaac Mizrahi - Bizarrely cool. Figure skater mini-dresses and pantsuits. Richly beautiful. Can I only speak in adverbs? This is essentially a couture collection.




Marc - The last few seasons, I've felt so down on Marc Jacobs. His LV collections are fantastic, but his others seem too low-end and concepty to me. Again, nothing on which I'd dream to spend money. Except these Vivienne Westwoody pirate boots:


Matthew Williamson - English cool girl...these are straight Kate Moss/Sienna Miller stylings. I guess someone should capitalize on it. His colors and fabrics are quite nice though.


Do you notice that we're not seeing all the clothes though?

Monique Lhuillier - Oooooh. Dark. Drama. I loooove that gold bead necklace. The style of skirt is so new, I'm definitely going to find this pattern.

The dresses have a vintage feel but are more substantial and more fresh than your standard Audrey Hepburn ripoff.

The trenches are the perfect Russian Spy, while the village girl skirt has been classed up so much it's almost impossible to see its origins.


Love it all...a very mysterious Oscar de la Renta. I think that can only be a winning formula. Plus, look at how pretty she herself is.

Narciso Rodriguez - Clean, pretty. A toned-down Oscar (again, you cant go wrong). An impeccable white blouse:

I abs love his over-everything bra/tank thing (it fits well with my love of tube tops over dress shirts).

Explain this skirt! Are those rhinestones or a print on the fabric? The fabric seems too delicate to hold anything that heavy, but it's just so shiny I could believe those are rubies.

Fall Winter 2005-2006 New York Day 2

BCBG Max Azria - Too hippy for my tastes. This seems too loose and dark for BCBG...it's usually so girly and sparkly. I'd be depressed wearing any of this.

Carolina Herrera - Pretty, ladylike, as per usual. I'm not a fan of fur (unless it's fake), but this jacket is just so very cool:

I will never not love 3/4 sleeves with tall gloves, poof sleeves, cap sleeves, ribbons...classically decadent.



Jill Stuart - Victorian Eastern European Village girl. I love how fussy and complicated the fabrics and ruffles and layers are. The mix of time periods reminds me of a Dr Who sidekick.


The shoes are fantastically fussy too.



Marc Jacobs - So heavy. I feel like I couldnt walk fast in any of these clothes. On the whole, fussy little girls' clothes. I dont think this is right for anyone I know. I see that he's trying to change the silhouette, but only the very young and thin should attempt to do so.

Oscar de la Renta - Less pretty than usual, but still so ladylike and cool. The most perfect coats to be found, Prada-esque full skirts, rich colors...



I'm def thinking gold for Fall.


Proenza Schouler - A 40s vamp? Perhaps Marlene Dietrich or an 80s Madonna? A 60s henchman's girlfriend? The overly detailed, heavily stitched bodices and dresses are a nice signature. And maybe I'm in love with yellow.

Fall Winter 2005-2006 New York Day 1

Diane von Furstenberg - Always a favorite...the clothes that are closest to my price range and the closest to my ideal of something that can easily be thrown on with zero thinking and with maximum coolness.



Doo Ri - Awesome. I love how the crop jacket evolves throughout the show, and I love it in each instance. The blue she uses is dreamy and the shoes and pants are pure cool-girl, very reminiscent of my friend Vivian. I like how well-edited this collection is too, nothing extraneous.



Hollywould - Just awful. Because you're a semi-successful, semi-known shoe designer, does not mean you know anything about fashion or that you have a style anyone would be interested in mimicing/adopting. This is low-class Michael Kors mixed with some seriously bad Roberto Cavalli. It's always a bad sign when the models look like crap and appear to have thick waists.

Tuleh - At heart, some great pieces, but it's all overshadowed by tooooo much. Too many accessories, too many trashy pieces, too much effort in creating a 'downtown' look. That said, when he sticks to his core ladylike ways, there are some almost perfect dresses:



Habitual - Comfortable downtown cool. Plus, these look like my most favorite jeans:

Nothing earth-shattering, and I'm not certain it needs a show.

Imitation of Christ - To be truthful, not nearly as shitty as usual, but still completely devoid of anything necessitating a show. These are like the in-store brand of a good boutique. Simple basics, slightly trendy, nothing that would ever need an ad, its own store...and 70 fucking photos? Ummm, edit. The same boring dress in 5 colors is still a boring dress.

Jasmin Shokrian - Nice draping and the sort of random pin-tucking that I like (though I usu just use a safety pin and I'm usu concealing a stain), but a little concept-y bland.

Luca Luca - Rich, beautiful fabrics. Very pretty, though maybe we've already seen this last year at Carolina Herrera and Louis Vuitton. Woah, the designer is even looking like Marc Jacobs!

Richard Chai - Avant-Chanel. Interesting and new take on the ribbon belt. Beautiful coats.

But dont take my word for it, there are some other shows that might speak more to you...