jan/feb scrapbook

I want to dress like this for the coming month...

...maybe with a bit of these thrown in too. Arguably their respective shows will be the most emulated of the season. (Topshop Unique and Alexander Wang)

...just because it's Haute Couture season. I love the Givency collection. Especially that veiled ensemble. How adorable are those boot/sandal things too (right)? It's not a phrase I use often, but... Lara Stone looks fierce in that Gothic black lace gown.

John Paul Gaultier's collection was extremely interesting. Gaultier can be a little hard to 'get' from time to time and I find his collections always warrant a couple of run throughs on Style.com. This show featured some fantastic structured pieces with a emphasis on 80s' style shoulder exaggeration. I love the party dresses though...

(Daniela Kamiliotis - set and costume designer, fine artist, and vice president of womens collection Ralph Lauren at her office - Midtown New York City - The Selby)

Fantastic close up on one of those Balmain jackets. Who doesn't want one?! Love the hair and make - up too from this Harper's Bazaar editorial.

...the prediction for things to come...well for daytime anyway, I still want that Balmain jacket! The lace dress here is very Chanel Haute Couture s/s 09.

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sweet marie

I only got around to looking at the Dior show today. It's typical Dior - theatrical, enormous expanses of material, gaudy in places, heavy make - up and flamboyancy all against Monsieur Dior's traditional cartoon silhouette. According to Style.com Galliano was inspired by Flemish painters such as Van Dyck. Hmmm certainly evident in the garish earlier part of the collection, but the latter, far more interesting evening gown section, must have featured Marie Antoinette somewhere on the mood board...

Yes please! These are too fantastic!

spring clean..

all very clean, isn't it? Chanel Haute couture shuns colour in favour of a cleansing all white palette (with a teensy bit of black and cream..it is Chanel after all). The result? A collection based on paper and completely in white could have been all pretension and even passe, but it's not. Instead it is modern but intricate with both ladylike and youthful elements. Pristine all white has never appealed more.

There is a certain virginal quality to some of short little lace dresses. The sleeve detail on the far right especially reminds me of First Holy Communion dresses.

and the best part? The paper hats of course.

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the last days of glamour?

The game's up. The age of fake tan, diamonds and hair extensions, glitz and glam and Hollywood over - the - top razzmatazz is over. As Karl Lagerfeld confirms: "This whole crisis is like a big spring house cleaning, both moral and physical. Bling is over. Red carpetry covered with rhinestones is out. I call it the new modesty."

Without sounding too "I told you so".... I did comment on how the current grundgy trend could be a sartorial reaction to the current turbulent economic climate. Perhaps, that's my mad thinking talking, but Lagerfeld's comments surely hint towards this too, no?

I'm not certain where this leaves someone who likes a bit of sparkle albeit not the afore mentioned kind, but it will certainly be interesting to see whether or not future collections from the likes of red carpet fave Lagerfeld will suddenly go all Alex Wang on us? Presumably Lagerfeld is thinking more simplicity rather then ripped tights and 'rotting wool' jumpers though...

For further proof look at this season's trends. Colour blocking, the 80s, futurism and denim are all key players, but it's obvious that simplicity and a seemingly' dishevelled' look(none of the examples here. Think more Topshop Unique) are the common threads. Consider a handful of last year's s/s collections in contrast with the current:

something kinda oops*

"There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. And it is this strangeness that makes beauties what they are, and someone like Cheryl Cole a good looking girl." The words of Alexandra Shulman a mere 2 months prior to Mrs. Cole's Vogue cover debut. A major "Oops" on Shulman's part is my guess and it is clear the accompanying article from this month's issue does all in its power to flatter and fawn over Cole. Presumably to compensate for that silly blunder of dissing the UK's sweetheart. Consider Vogue's latest description of Cheryl: "..And there is a few nicks in her black opaque tights, which underline just how very young she is. And - perversely - how classically, epically shockingly beautiful she is as opposed to just plain old TV - star pretty." (hmmm just a tad too much Vogue, yes?)

Like many others, Cheryl Cole's Vogue cover irritated me. Cheryl is after all LOOK mag fodder and no amount of Herve Leger and Balmain (her new fave designer, don'cha know?) will change this (..well if anything clingy Herve Leger party dresses add to her appeal for gossip weeklies.) I've no major problem with Cheryl. She is what she is - a popstar, a reality TV judge, a pretty face - but style icon? You've got to be kidding.

Perhaps, choosing Cole was Vogue's rather dubious attempt to appear young and cool and in touch with the zeitgeist. But, if this was the aim, then Vogue has only succeeded in alienating much of its intended readership even further. Where Vogue Paris has Lara Stone and Vanessa Paradis, Vogue UK has Cheryl Cole. Spot the difference?
Cheryl Cole isn't setting trends and although, she is certainly blessed with good looks, I for one don't find hers a fascinating face.

My main gripe is Vogue's pathetic jumping on the bandwagon. Fashion magazines are supposed to inspire, introducing us to new faces not splashing over exposed, essentially dull popstars on the cover with the frankly laughable tagline "Cheryl Cole: The story we all want to know"...ehh like who exactly wants to know? Besides I probably read it in HEAT already.

Vogue seem to think we care about how her style has "evolved". And what style is this again? If you happened to catch Cheryl on The X Factor, all dimples and big hair twinkling in spangly floor length gowns and glowing in rainbow bright mini dresses, you might have thought to yourself, like I did: "Ahh my eyes! Too much!!!"
This notion that you can throw on an uber - glamorous, designer dress and be a style icon bothers me immensely and the fact that Vogue promotes this so shamelessly with Cole and her obvious lack of real style, should be another "Oops" moment for Shulman.

* i must really stop using terrible song titles, or puns on song titles like in this case as the titles of my posts..

my skirt tooth

I'm not sure when it happened exactly, but it certainly wasn't a concious choice. Like many others that have gone before me (see Susie Bubble), I have pretty much eradicated the trouser from my wardrobe. I still wear them yes, heck I have to wear them everyday to school as part of my uniform and always when I'm only sitting about the house, but practically anytime I move outside the confines of my own house I'm wearing either a skirt or dress.

Indeed, it was dresses first. I had a couple one minute and the next a whole wardrobe full of them...garish summer dress anyone?...Too many. As much as I still like dresses, afterall nothing feels nicer to wear then a really fantastic dress, I have come to the conlusion that they are what you would call a bit of a waste of money. We all know too well of the stigma that is attached to wearing a dress.. shock horror.. to more then one event. Of course one can wear different shoes and a blazer instead of a cardigan or whatever, but some dresses (generally the 'dressy' dresses) will just be the same dress despite the altering of additional extras. Therefore, I try to avoid the purchasing of said dresses in favour of a more low key style. However, I have come to realise my real vice lies in what I would consider my skirt tooth..you know like the sweet sort except a weakness for skirts instead of sugary snacks..think I have one of those too though... In celebration of some of my skirts...

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