A Month Worth Of Street Style!

     We are all fashion lovers here and overly familiar with the term fashion week, right? If not then perhaps do a couple of clicks to the nearest home renovation blog or something!?!

     But seriously, let's call a spade a spade - it's Fashion Month not Fashion Week - and I for one couldn't be happier!  I mean it's kind of false advertising right???  Thus far we have survived through New York, London, Milan and now, Paris Fashion Week.  It's a true accomplishment and amazing when people say that they made it out alive.  It's a jungle out there, full of fashion fauxpaus, makeup catastrophes, garment slips, sizing issues, shipping mishaps, hair extension dilemmas and utter disasters.  The show must go on because the runway shows are the true highlight of Fashion Week, but running a very close second is the equally inspiring, knock out, edgy, chic, contemporary, street style worn by the adoring masses.  After all, our society has adopted the trickle up theory and bits and pieces have been used as inspiration for many runway designs.  From country to country let's see what the truly fashionable locals have to share with us.

     The city slickers in New York City don't mess around.  They get down and dirty and straight to business.  They power walk in their 4 inch heels from place to place, texting and e-mailing everyone they know to make sure that everything is running on time and done to perfection.  The days of the New York - hold everything you own bag - bag lady is gone for good.  The smaller the better, consolidation is key when you are spending your days traveling from one runway show to the next.  A small clutch filled with invitations, credit cards, some small change, a cigarette (I don't recommend it) and maybe a cube of cheese in case you feel faint - that ought to do it!  These ladies don't skip a beat.

    Across the Atlantic in London we see that coats are the statement piece.   In the royal land where, when it rains it pours (almost every day), they were lucky enough to have a little peep of sunshine and not a drop from the sky to ruin the week.  Londoners are the queens of outwear and nobody does it better!

     Milan, Italia, my favorite of them all.  Sorry if I seem a bit biased right now - it's because I am!  Somehow the fashion no matter what it looks like, is over the top fabulous set against this most beautiful backdrop.  But, they weren't so lucky in the weather department.  Although, it never put a damper on designer spirits here.  A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, even if that means holding your fabulous clutch over your head to ward off the frizzies that inevitably crop up in the rain and snow.

     Now we are finishing up Fashion Month in the city of light, the epicenter of fashion on earth, none other than Paris, France.  This was the last stop for most fashion goers and it was their last chance to make a grand statement.  And that they did!  What a great way to end this insanely fabulous month where we celebrate the new fashions for months to come.  J'adore!

Photo's courtesy of Vogue.com!

Who's street style do you like best?

Ciao, 

Annie

The Checker Board Champion!

     While Mark Jacobs started off with stripes at the beginning of New York's fashion week he ended with a checkered bang in Paris.  That will be one that goes down in gaming history.  The models stomped down the runway in unique two by two form on a yellow checked playing board after they briskly floated down four escalators.  If that doesn't scream "SIXTIES" then I don't know what does.  Each model had uniform hairstyles with a carefully placed bow tied headband and satin pumps with a tiny metallic heel to complete the look.  

      Jacobs had to switch into his Vuitton mindset and he did just that.  He took the classic Damier checked print and stretched it, shrunk it, tweaked it and diva-tized it.  The color choice was so '60's, electric yellow, deep-woods brown, silver, camel and, for lack of better words, puke green.  The simplicity of this collection was overpowered by the banging of the pattern.  As for the garments, they varied from sheath dresses, maxi dresses, cropped tops, blazer and pant suits to pleated mini dresses.  If you are like me and you stare at a garment for 20 minutes and try to analyze the whole thing you will notice that everything was cut perfectly along the narrow lines.  The sleeves match up with the chest and each pant leg are completely parallel.  Perfection traveled throughout this entire show.

     My thoughts...by far the best show of all fashion week.  I know that's bold of me to say, but I cannot help it.  It was so spot on, the shoes, the hair and the garments.  When you compare the simplicity of the silhouettes to the chaos of the print they clash and make sparks fly.  I don't know if it's because I loved '60's fashion or because I love escalators or what?  I would watch this show over and over again, maybe get a little dizzy because the checks cross my eyes but I loved it!

Check Mate!

Ciao, 

Annie

   

The One And Only!

     Can we first focus on the unusual eco-friendly "runway" set up that we saw in the hall of the Grand Palais.  It appeared to have been made from solar panels that lay side by side with the occasional wind turbine that sprouted up in forest like form.  Karl Lagerfeld wanted to use these turbines because he said they were "beautiful modern architecture".  I think Karl was looking to connect the idea of future technology with fashion.  He used fun and playful accessories like large Lucite handled bags and wide brimmed molded plastic hats.  In my opinion, these are all extreme but somehow, maybe just because it's Chanel, it worked.  There were 80 looks that paraded down the runway from denim, the original Chanel tweed, long sophisticated evening gowns, linen, to beachy numbers.  There was so much going on in this collection that I decided to break it down into three sections, the ones that stood out the most to me.
 

     First, pearls, pearls, pearls and more pearls.  I noticed that the signature braids and chains were not a focus at this fashion show, but pearls were.  Leave it to Karl to change things up, throw a curve ball, mix and match...you get it.  Out of the ordinary, they were used to adorn dresses, cuffs, jackets and more.  But, holy shit, they were also used as necklaces.  Huge chokers with pearls the size of golfballs heavily adorned the necks of these tiny models and it was to die for.  This little pearl collection, within the large one, consisted of the wonderful, black and white.  These styles were stiff and gave the models bodies a break, allowing them to breath a little, unusual I know.  This look is unique, just like finding a pearl in a clam.

     Onto the cropped tweed half jackets.  Ok, unless you are a tiny little fairy with no mid section, these were a bit funny, if that's not a sin for me to say.  I know the cropped look has been in for a while but I feel like it's out dated now but, Karl has proved me wrong.  If you look carefully you can see that all the collars were slightly different.  We saw an oversized lapel, puritan collar, mock turtle necks and more.  There was an unusually wide variety of colors used in these baby jackets, but I liked it.  Ok, so they are starting to grown on me a little.

     Lastly, the feather burst of colorful fabric hanging off of well, everywhere.  I know it's atypical but I actually love it.  It's so curiously different that it's just fabulous.  The shag that hung off the delicate black sheer fabric give you something to ruffle over.  The extreme pants and tunic with furry cuffs shouts, "lions mane, gone colorfully wrong", but who cares?  I'd roar while wearing it and look chic doing so.  There really isn't much to say about this, just look, quietly and observe it.

       Chanel makes a statement all the time.  It's over the top and that's why everyone loves it.  But alongside the innovations, there was a set of skilled hands that touched each and every garment on this runway.  Lagerfeld did a wonderful job reinventing the ever so simple windmill with three-dimensional embroidery and collections of fabric.  Fashion changes with the times and this world is only getting more technological and modern as it goes on.  Good future thinking, Karl.

Ciao, 

Annie