Friday, July 27, 2012

Clothing Zen

Let's take a moment to meditate on the Eastern inspired beauty found at Proenza Schouler's Fall 2012 Ready to Wear Collection. "It's Asian, but in a New York Way," Lazaro Hernandez, Designer behind Proenza Schouler.

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." 
-Confucius 

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Look of the week:
PVC Trench by Sonia Rykiel
Editorial shot found at Elle.com, Photo by Max Farago
Styled by Mel Ottenberg
Also seen at: Burberry , Emma Cook , Prada
Burberry 2001
Emma Cook 2009

What to wear under it? Neutral color combina-tions
Prada 2002
Schiaparelli








Interestingly, for Spring 2012, NYC's Met Museum currently offers the exhibit,  Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations, which views through August 19, and showcases the striking relationship between Schiaparelli and Prada, two similar designers who come from completely different eras. To the left you can see Prada's 2002 clear, vinyl coat, and to the above right is Schiaparelli's rendition from 1935.


Louis Vuitton FW11
 These Trenc-hes remind me of
------->






TOPSHOP put out a great variation of this designer coat in summer of 2010 for $110, but it quickly sold out, especially after retro loving Christina Aguilar sported the look.



Hello Kitty for Forever21(L)

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eBay.com

Milly Resort 2013















Other places to go or NOT go clear:
DO with an umbrella::
A clear umbrella goes with any look. Plus, they are very afforable, so you can spend more on your rain coat and boots.
DO NOT go clear with a purse:
From Louis Vuitton SS/12. I know a lot of us, especially men, have been taught to never look inside a woman's purse. There's a reason for that, and the clear handbag obstructs that logic. Plus, how aesthetically pleasing is a mess of personal items? 

Monday, July 16, 2012

Couture Fall 2012 : Top Five Looks

Plus, how to wear them


Valentino
Valentino



Let Valentino inspire you to wear: A mix of subdued gold, white and black, sheer paneling, feathers, maxis with long sleeves
 




Dior

Dior  




Let Dior inspire you to wear: Cobalt blue with black, pretty, full skirt s(go for volume and length) floral prints with simple and solid tops, worn in, sheer tees,
Versace
Versace
Let Versace inspire you to wear: Combinations of purple, red and pink, color blocking, translucent fabrics, glitter, body clinging dresses, etched in belts, swooping necklines  

Jean Paul Gaultier
Jean Paul Gaultier
 
Let Jean Paul Gaultier inspire you to wear:
Velvet trousers, a fitted or structured corset top, modern art inspired clothing, architectural elements, long leather riding gloves

Givenchy


Givenchy
Let Givenchy inspire you to wear: Powder pink, luxurious and cozy fabrics, monotone attires with varying textures, cape sleeve cover ups, knot tops





 

Friday, July 13, 2012

My top five looks from the Fall 2012 Couture runways:


Valentino
Dior
















Jean Paul Gaultier
Givenchy
Versace

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Does Stacy London Know What to Wear?

I was pursing the book selection at Salvation Army (of course after shopping the clothes!) when I spotted an aqua satin dress, on a cover of a book, that looked oh so familar. There she was, Stacy London, in Yigal Azrouel, exuding her signiture confidence next to  Clinton Kelly, for their 2005 book Dress Your Best.

I assisted London's stylist, Jessica Neff,  on several 2011 projects for London, but flipping through the pages of  this 7-year-old book, it was the same SL I watched smile on the Today Show, or strut on a Dr. Scholl's commercial; beautiful hair, beautiful body, and of course, beautiful clothing.
 I could see it was clearly jammed packed with valuable information, particularily regarding dressing for your body type (which was the focus of the book).
Anyone can see, London consistently dresses to kill on her show What Not to Wear, and I used to feel honored back in 2011 when I would hear her analyze a look out loud, or take a phone interview in my presence. I certainly consider her a style guru, who often leaves even me wondering, "How the hell does she know that?" I consider myself to have a good style intution, but SL's success lies in her awareness of her natural talent in dressing, and her ability to formulate easy to follow rules that make dressing for the rest of us possible and on point. But maybe she dumbed it down a bit too much for "the rest of us" with this book.
For example, she said, "Paring red and black can look matronly (very Raiza Gorbackev) but can look infinitely chic with a third color- a nuetral such as white, cream, or camel."pg 53. Great advice, but the look to go with it was a plain black skirt, a plain white shirt, and with it, a plain red jacket (to Stacy's defense, the jacket was leather, adding some interest). Such a shame, because there are infinite stylistic posssibilties with this great peice of insight! Such as adding multiple nuetral tones with red and black, and definitley using prints so its not so one dimensional.
To incorparate how effective prints can be on a red, black and nutetral pallette, I created my own look combining this additional SL'ism: "Don't be afraid to mix patterns like florals and animal prints, but dont let either over power your outfit. use them as you would use spices in your favorite dish-as accents and sparingly." pg 29. I like that she said it's ok to mix prints, but I think it is actually also ok for mixed prints to play a dominant, main course, not just pepper kind of role, especially if the prints are in nuterals. (An outfit "spiced" by print is a chic option too, however). To see my adaptation outfit of London's laws to dressing, keep scrolling.


<----------I thought this pump would be the first step in the right direction, considering it embodies both of the SL'isms: Use of print, and use of red, black, and nuetrals (in this case, white and beige). Leopard is a great choice because it goes with most other prints, try it with stripes (seen above) or polka dots. But do keep your mixing in the same color family, as seen with the clutch (below), top and heels. Houndstooth (seen on clutch) is a lot like leopard print- you can mix it with anything- but maybe the two prints achieve their ultimate coolness when combined together. Layer nuetrals, such as this striped long sleeve under a sleeveless shift dress (below). It creates a great neutral canvas for adding accents of color, (but consider this sophisticated pair up with other colors!). SL wrote about using print as a "spice", but try using a  color as a spice on a nuetral outfit, referred to above as 'accents', effectively done with a belt (below). Just err on the side of quality- a colored belt can look tacky and cheap if it resembles any form of plastic. And as always  the case, a contrast of materials, such as the leather in the skirt of this dress, adds visual interest.


An other SL'ism to think about: "It's fine to mix patterns as long as they aren't competing for attention." Stacy London, pg 139
                          
Let's not forget Clinton Kelly, who partnered with London for this book. I spent some time on the What Not to Wear set, enough to learn this guy is stylish and hilarious. I love how Clint signed the title page of the book to the original owner: "Anne, if the other Stacy ever gets sick, you'll be the first one I call. Best, Clint." So glad Anne, whoever she is, donated this book to Salvation Army, because all in all, Stacy has a lot she can teach me.

Shoes: Giusseppe Zanotti Design
Turtleneck: Murphy & NYE
Belt: Hugo Boss
Clutch: Jil Sander
Dress: Raoul