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Contents
Favored
Art Tattler
the glamourai
The Non-Blonde
Perfume Shrine
Lisa Eldridge
Garance Doré
Smitten Kitchen
Into The Gloss
Grain de Musc
Lacquerized
Res Pulchrae
Drivel About Frivol The Selfish Seamstress
Killer Colours
Bois de Jasmin Glossed In Translation
Jak and Jil
Toto Kaelo
Worship at the House of Blues
I Smell Therefore I Am
Food Wishes
The Natural Haven
Messy Wands
1000 Fragrances
Moving Image Source
Wondegondigo
The Emperor's Old Clothes
M. Guerlain
Colin's Beauty Pages
Barney's jewelry department
Parfümrien
loodie loodie loodie
The Straight Dope
Sea of Shoes
London Makeup Girl
Sakecat's Scent Project
Asian Models
Ratzilla Cosme
Smart Skincare
Illustrated Obscurity
A.V. Club
Tom & Lorenzo: Mad Style
Eiderdown Press
Beauty and the Bullshit
La Garçonne Flame Warriors Everyday Beauty
Fashion Gone Rogue
Now Smell This
Dempeaux
Fashionista
The Cut
A Fevered Dictation
Nathan Branch
101 Cookbooks
BEST ACCESSORY
I am not a jewelry person, but from Balenciaga's fall show, this cuff is the one thing I responded to. I just find the curvature of it so beautiful. Not only does it emphasize the graceful curve between a woman's arm and hand, it also reflects on the curves of women themselves. This is just the perfect thing to place at the end of a very long, very lean sleeve.
BEST FUR
I love this punch of fur and tweed from Miu Miu. Fashion is besieged with couture embellishments right now, and this serves as an antidote to that. Though dramatic, there is something very haphazard and undone about simply draping an embellishment over your clothes, and the intermix of grey and white really plays up the coat's inky black. Plus, I just love the shoes.
BEST WEARABLE COAT
This has to be one of the prettiest coats I've ever seen. Feminine, girly, and slightly retro, this Miu Miu coat is something I would have exclaimed over when I was in my early 20s and going through the phase of thinking the only style icon was Audrey Hepburn and clothing had to be tasteful. I have evolved since then, but I still think this is one of the most easily and enjoyably wearable coats I can remember.
BEST FASHION COAT
As much as I love the above, this Miu Miu outfit is the one I'd actually wear. The open top speaks to my need for dramatic clothing and face-framing necklines, and the vest's slim bottom keeps everything fitted and cool. This vest is something I could easily wear years from now, as it's in keeping with my general style, and is not likely to easily date.
BEST LOOK OVERALL
While reviewing the fall shows, this appearance by Miuccia Prada from the end of Prada's show was easily my "eureka" moment. I love everything about this look: the sequins, the slim fit of the dress, the cardigan over the dress, the socks with sandals, how everything goes together, the general frumpiness of the outfit that Miuccia morphs into hip grandma. Essentially, this is what modern fashion is meant to be - taking the clothes and making them your own. Easy to say, hard to do, harder even to do now that we've replaced culture with advertising and can't get away from the hard sell. Despite it all, this outfit tells me a lot about Miuccia Prada herself, as well as about the brand. From this outfit, I can glean that Miuccia Prada is an individual, she should style and model in her ad campaigns, and that Prada is meant to be worn, not venerated, idolized, or scorned. This ended up being my favorite picture from the fall shows, and I think it serves as a better advertisement than all the fall ad campaigns I've seen.
Labels: balenciaga, fashion notes, miu miu, prada
12/08/2009 [2]
BEST JACKET
I am a great fan of bomber jackets, and I particularly loved Givenchy's version. No real surprise. I don't think Riccardo Tisci always knocks it out of the park, but I am generally a fan of his jackets, as he regularly cuts dramatic necklines that frame the face and high, narrow sleeves, design elements I look for as I find them personally flattering.
BEST MENSWEAR LOOK
Finally, a menswear look that doesn't fall back on old, tired notions of sexiness/cuteness/girlish whimsy. This is menswear, period, cut down to fit women without regard to femininity or dressing for men (thank you, Balenciaga). Of course, without concessions to the figure, 90% of women couldn't wear this look, but I didn't choose it for its wearability. I've chosen it more for the idea of taking on laddish cardigans and detailing and the overall aesthetic of extremely boyish clothing, both in look and cut. Turns out you don't need shrunken vests and glen plaid short shorts to look sexy in menswear.
BEST GREY GARDENS ITERATION
For at least the past five years, probably ten, the film Grey Gardens has been a perennial, at times primary, force within fashion. There are a variety of factors that contribute to this, including the Olsen twins' "Dumpster chic" aesthetic and general advanced skill in layering and tweaking proportions; the neo-boho/SoCal aesthetic in the early 2000s; Marc Jacobs's hugely influential 2005 and 2006 Fall/Winter collections, in which he masterfully culminated a twenty-year obsession with layering, deconstruction, and grunge and basically established The New Order for silhouettes and layering to come; and the general hipsterism/new formlessness/grunge-cum-lately aesthetic currently driving fashion. I don't know if Grey Gardens directly influenced this look, but I do think Balenciaga captured eccentricity here in a way that is appealing and ladylike. The dress is gorgeous and feminine, and while the coat is almost barbaric, it manages not to compete with the dress. Overall, the look is restrained and chic and sidesteps the more overt, sweater-as-a-headwrap influences you'll see.
BEST THIRTIES ITERATION
The thirties are a yearly revisitation in fashion, seen every winter I can remember, though more of an influence some years than others. Unlike Grey Gardens, I'm not really sure why this is so much of an influence. Eighties resurgence aside, grown women don't want to dress in a nostalgic reverie. My best guesses for the constant recycling of the idea is that it is primarily American designers that cling to it (think Ralph Lauren, Donna Karen, Proenza Schouler), and Americans are more guilty of theme dressing than Europeans (and everyone else in the world).
That said, this is a beautiful iteration of the theme from Lanvin. I am a huge fan of black lace dresses, as well as dresses in this cut, and the combination of the two does my heart good. I also love the fur shrug over the dress. Given its cut and color, this is a dress that could easily look dour, and the fur adds a much-needed dose of whimsy and shape. Overall, this is such an elegant look, beautifully executed top to tails.
BEST EVENING DRESS
If this dress looks familiar, Tilda Swinton wore it to an event earlier this year. Tilda - she may have crazy hair, but she wears the best gowns, hands down. I chose this gown from Lanvin as best evening dress because it will never age. It isn't laden with trendiness in cut, color, or detailing. It doesn't rely on a passing notion of prettiness, femininity, or sexiness to sell itself. What sells it is its elegance - the draping, the dramatic shoulder-tie, the overall demure quality of a gown that draws attention to wearer and acts as her frame. I'll leave it at that. This is a dress that explains itself.
Labels: balenciaga, fashion notes, givenchy, lanvin
8/18/2009 [3]
Every decade has its designers. Armani, Donna Karen, and Claude Montana led the eighties. John Galliano, Miuccia Prada, and Versace ruled the nineties. This decade's designers will turn out to be Lanvin's Albert Elbaz, YSL's Stefano Pilati, and Balenciaga's Nicolas Ghesquiere.
Nicolas Ghesquiere consistently produces collections that challenge the viewer's perceptions of proportion and fashion, introducing the viewer to technical innovation in fabric, a strong sense of structure and sculpture, and concepts that are often difficult to appreciate at first glance. It can take a full season of looking at Ghesquiere's designs in print and as worn by real women before the eye shifts to accept their proportions, just in time for Ghesquiere to upset them again. Along with only a handful of other designers, Ghesquiere propels fashion forward, plucking it from its everyday tedium and placing it directly in the future.
Despite the wide array of references Ghesquiere includes in his work, he consistently returns to only a few themes, including futurism and neo-sci-fi; structure and sculpture; blackness; neo-bohemianism; retro; menswear; and sportswear. These themes are explored below.
FUTURISM/NEO-SCI-FI
This is an extreme example of what is admittedly one of the more difficult design concepts in Ghesquiere's oeuvre. Ghesquiere explores futurism through both literal interpretion, as in these bubble glasses and gold-plated C3PO leggings, and through more gestural nods, as in the curve and overall cut of this blazer. Futurism/neo-sci-fi is also interpreted through material innovation, as when Ghesquiere introduced top-stitched neoprene as a jacket material in his S/S 2008 collection.
This look also illustrates the principle shape Ghesquiere designs for, which as I imagine is a pole. Ghesquiere's designs are often cut for very thin people, emphasizing a narrow hip and generally lean physique upon which Ghesquiere wraps his layers and bases his sculptures.
STRUCTURE AND SCULPTURE
As the pole is the foundational shape for Ghesquiere's designs, this allows for a certain amount of solid, linear structure upon which to lay a structural frame, and Ghesquiere consistently does so, creating garments that can literally stand on their own. Beyond the mere surface interest of stiff fabric and self-standing garments, Ghesquiere also literally carves out a shape from these structures, creating garments with interest and curvature independent of their wearers.
Along with structure and sculpture comes a lot of volume, another Ghesquiere staple. As the pole is the foundational shape of Ghesquiere's designs, this allows for large amounts of volume uncompromised by the wearer's own shape and particular needs. Though Ghesquiere often has presented massive skirts and shoes in past collections, there is always the element of something whittled away. A skirt and jacket may be voluminous, but a waist will be chipped out of those lines. Oversized boots will be balanced by a delicate wrist. There is always an element of proportion in Ghesquiere's designs, though often not in the standard sense.
BLACKNESS
There are very few designers who can legitimately claim to explore the color black, though there are many who would claim that yes, of course black makes a statement. Differing from this approach is Balenciaga, who explores the properties of the color black itself, whether in the bottomless depths of this top's inky black or how light reflects off black surfaces to create structure within a structure. Ghesquiere's use particularly of latex blacks reveals how integral the color black is in design itself, as the reflection off the color highlights and reveals the garment's structure.
NEO-BOHEMIANISM
Though better known for his more structural clothes, Ghesquiere neatly tucks neo-bohemianism into his designs through pattern and styling. His hugely influential F/W 2007 show featured regional prints and a mix of scarves layered over dresses and blazers that still influences the daily ensembles of tastemakers and wannabes. Ghesquiere's version of neo-bohemianism can be seen in Balenciaga's sari-influenced dresses and patterns, paisleys, floral-print dresses, and the ubiquitous It Bag, the slouchy Lariat.
RETRO
We can blame Marc Jacobs all we want for the continued retro influence in fashion, but Nicolas Ghesquiere has to take some of the blame. Ghesquiere's frequently invokes the ideas and shapes of 60s skirt suits, 70s pant suits, and Balenciaga's own archive of sculptural shapes and innovations. Most recently, Ghesquiere took a departure from his usual retro influences and directly referenced the 80s in his F/W 2009 collection, a look from which is seen here. Reviews of this collection have been mixed: some say it's genius, some say it's bland. Possibly the most succinct, and certainly my favorite, review can be found here.
MENSWEAR
Ghesquiere takes the backbone of menswear - suiting fabrics, dowdy tweeds, and the principle of the matching suit - and repurposes them along razor-sharp lines, fashioning ultra-skinny pants, voluminous skirt suits, and slightly draped pants that recall Rick Owens. Never will you see Ghesquiere design menswear that's cut down for women or that even recalls the shape of proper menswear. There is always the something sharp to it: the sharp line of a narrowly cut pant, the crispness of the structural jacket above. Ghesquiere only rarely allows fluidity and ease into menswear.
SPORTSWEAR
As with menswear, sportswear is one of Ghesquiere's lesser themes, explored here through the literal racing stripe. Sportswear is usually more of an inspiration in fabric, as with Ghesquiere's use of neoprene, seen above in the second image. Ghesquiere's use of sportswear is also notable for its material absence, often more of an allusion than an actual design element, as seen in the above photos' wetsuit allusion and riding hat. The incorporation of sportswear maintains a certain youthfulness and vitality in Ghesquiere's designs, elevating the mood from intense conceptualism without giving in to gimmickry and cheap tricks.
REAL LIFE
Innovation in design is all well and good, but at the end of the day, a design can only be considered good if it can be used. Keeping that in mind, I've included this picture of Lauren Santo Domingo in a Balenciaga dress and jacket as proof that, yes, Nicholas Ghesquiere's designs can be worn to more than just a runway. Granted, Santo Domingo is very thin and, apparently, seven feet tall, but she doesn't look overdone or costumed, just like a lady in her favorite dress and jacket. The clothes do not overwhelm her. She looks more or less like herself who is ultimately wearing just a jacket and a t-shirt dress. Regardless of all the editorial fanfare, Ghesquiere's genius is in cutting very, very good basics that don't look it because, let's face it, a man cannot feed his family off of neoprene short suits alone.
Labels: balenciaga, designer index
6/17/2009 [0]
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