Met Gala 2011 Red Carpet

The Met Gala red carpet is always so consistently entertaining.  It's not as publicized as the Oscars or the Globes and it's based around a fashion exhibit, McQueen this year, so the red carpet is always full of daring fashion choices (and occasionally mistakes).  So without further ado, here are some of the more notable looks from last night's red carpet (and here's hoping that an extra-long post today makes up for a lack of postage yesterday!).


Michelle Monaghan, Jenna Lyons: This may be one of my favorite looks of the night.  It's very simple, but the pink is such a sassy hue and the fit is so spot on that it still manages to look red carpet appropriate.  Also I love an eye-skimming set of bangs with messy curls on anyone, and she is rocking it particularly well.  For those of you that don't know, Jenna Lyons is the creative director of J. Crew.  I love how consistent her style is with her brand's.  Pairing a big v-neck cashmere sweater with a diva-esque feathery skirt is such a J. Crew styling move.

Jessica Szohr, Hailee Steinfeld: Oh, Jessica Szohr.  This is not red carpet appropriate.  It's too short, the shoes are weird, and her hair looks bedraggled.  Ayayay.  On the other hand, Hailee looks adorable.  The dress is age appropriate, she looks so happy and fresh and young, and she's pulling off the short in front, long in back thing perfectly.

Isabel Lucas in Louis Vuitton, Jessica Stam in Tommy Hilfiger: I like the idea of this dress on Isabel Lucas, but what's going on with the headgear?  She looks like she's playing Cleopatra, no?  I like Jessica Stam's dress too.  It has a bit of a prom vibe, but with the hair style it goes a little too far over into the tween category for my taste.

Zoe Saldana in Calvin Klein, Karlie Kloss and Angela Lindvall: Zoe does simple and chic so well.  The yellow is such an unexpected but flattering choice, and I like the bright hue against the simple dress.  Ugh.  Models.  These two look like complete Amazons in these floor-length metallic gowns.  Hating my life a little right now.

Kristen Stewart in Proenza Schouler, Serena Williams in Oscar de la Renta:  Kristen Stewart looks miserable.  I would too in that dress.  It's not flattering, the pattern is odd, and...it's just really not flattering.  I guess Serena Williams had fun watching the royal wedding!  Look at that voluminous skirt and that fascinator hat.  At least she looks like she's having fun.

Christina Ricci in Zac Posen, Miranda Kerr in Marchesa: I almost want to talk about how Christina Ricci looks ridiculous, but I can't hate on someone who can confidently rock a dress that looks like it's made out of spider webs.  That dress isn't wearing her.  Can we just talk about the fact that Miranda Kerr had a baby like 3 months ago?  RIDICULOUS.  She could be wearing a trash bag and I would give her props for being out and about and looking so fab.

Gisele in McQueen, Diane Kruger in Jason Wu: This is another of my favorite looks of the night.  Although it's been proven that Gisele can work a potato sack, she looks insanely fab in this McQueen gown.  I love the combination of the vibrant red with the simple bodices and then the BAM impact of the voluminous, Gone with the Wind type skirt.  I WANT TO BE WEARING THIS.  Also her date isn't half bad either.  Diane Kruger can really do no wrong.  The slit is a little high, but the full coverage top balances that out.  I love that the bodice has a pattern like a Klimpt painting.  So retro-glam.

Michelle Williams in Miu Miu, Lea Michele: I actually really like this Miu Miu dress.  The cut is simple but flattering, the metallic birds are a fun, whimsical touch, and I like that she kept the rest of her look simple.  Well played.  I feel like this is the fourth or fifth time that Lea Michele has worn a badly fitted, boring taffeta dress, and it gets worse every time.  Love her hair though.

Ginnifer Goodwin, Leighton Meester in Louis Vuitton: Ginnifer Goodwin is looking fierce!  The dress is a fantastic color for her, the cutouts are fun and sexy without being too revealing, and I love the long sleeves with the thigh-high slit.  Ok.  I love Leighton Meester.  I think she is gorgeous and she is the best part of Gossip Girl.  But this dress is not a winner.  It's not flattering cut or length, and it looks like she's wearing a basket.

Emma Stone, Amy Poehler in J Mendel: Emma Stone ftw!  Love another natural blonde who dyes her hair red (like me!).  I really like this dress on her.  It fits very well and the shape is flattering, and the clean lines work nicely with the graphic floral print.  Maybe a little more bling would have been nice, though?  Oh, Amy Poehler.  Who did this to you?  I love her to death.  She is so, so funny and accomplished.  But the poodle fro is not flattering on anyone, and the dress is a little on the schlumpy side.

Freida Pinto in Chanel, Dakota Fanning in Valentino: Huh.  Just huh.  Freida Pinto is clearly one of the prettiest people ever, but this dress isn't doing her any favors.  It looks a little '90s, and not in a good way.  How adorable is Dakota's dress?!  I absolutely love it.  It's cute and whimsical but not too over the top.  Originally I thought her makeup was seriously lacking, but I saw another picture and it's definitely the lighting to blame.

Ashley Greene in Donna Karen, Hamish Bowles in Alexander McQueen: I think this is great styling on Ashley Greene's part.  The dress is lovely and princessy, and makes her look gorgeous and ethereal without distracting too much from how pretty she is.  She definitely beats Kristen here.  I think Hamish Bowles' ensemble sums up the entire event.  That is straight up McQueen.

Rihanna in Stella McCartney, Gwenyth Paltrow in Stella McCartney: I actually really like Rihanna's hair here.  I'm a sucker for red hair (obviously!) and braids.  The dress is pretty, a little more subdued than usual from her, which is nice.  Gwenyth has done this look a lot, but if you can manage to consistently pull out looking like a fabulously glam FemBot, I can't help but admire you.

Andre Leon Talley, Blake Lively in Chanel: Oh, Andre.  I don't really think there's anything to say.  As for Blake Lively, I am LOVING the new strawberry blonde hair color (it's not as apparent here, but it is actually red).  The dress is interesting.  I like the idea of the corseted dress under the drapey fabric but it's been done to death and it's not particularly flattering.  I just want to rip off the draped part.  And Karl...oh Karl.

All images via nymag.com.

The Royal Wedding!!!

So the reason I didn't blog yesterday is that I went to bed at 9PM (yes, 9 PM) so that I could get up at 3AM to watch all of the royal wedding between Kate Middleton and Prince William (who apparently has no last name?).  Scones were baked, tiaras and floppy hats were worn, and it was all around ridiculous.  I'm sure literally everyone watched it so I don't need to recap it, but I just wanted to talk about a few of the dresses (and also secretly lament that the list of royals I must stalk and marry when I go to Europe is now one shorter).


Prepare yourself for wedding dress overload.  The dress is done by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen, which was highly speculated and sincerely hoped for (by me at least).  I am so, so happy for Sarah Burton.  It's such a big moment for her career that she really deserves, given how wonderful her first McQueen collection was.  I also love that Kate went with such a modern, avante-garde design house instead of doing something conservative and traditional.  She wore a Cartier tiara from 1936 (I die), a lace-edged veil, and McQueen shoes.  Also she got to ride in a carriage.  She accomplished like 99% of my life goals in one day.  Sigh.

So, as for the actual dress.  It had sheer, hand-made lace sleeves with a corseted, sweetheart-neckline bodice, padded hips, a voluminous skirt, an 8 foot train, and lace appliques all over the skirt.  I liked this dress a LOT more than I thought I would.  I may even love it.  Initially when I saw her in the car with the lace sleeves, I hated it.  I personally just don't like lace, especially sheer white lace over skin.  It feels a little tacky to me.  However, I understand why she went for the sheer lace sleeves, since she probably had to have sleeves of some sort in Westminster Abbey, and this was a clever solution that still let her show some skin.  Personally, I kept wishing that she could take the lace off for the reception because without the lace this is pretty much my dream dress.  I do think that with the lace on the skirt and the sleeves it is a little on the fussy side, but the sweetheart neckline and the corseted top keep it fresh and young.  It's just such a flattering shape on her, and it makes her waist look tiny!  I also LOVE the padded hips.  It's so signature McQueen, and with that and the geometrically pleated bustle (it's a little hard to see here but kind of amazing) the dress had the perfect combination of modern and classic.  I was a little surprised that the train wasn't longer!  Princess Diana's was ridiculous.  All in all I think this was a great choice for her.  She's always seemed to be like a very grounded, calm person that doesn't push herself into the spotlight, so I like that she went for a simple, classic, and elegant dress.  It matches her personality, but it's also grand enough for the surroundings.  Excellently played.

Can we talk about how gorgeous she is?  She did her own makeup for the day, and she did a great, great job (although I do wish she'd toned down the eyebrows and the blush a little).  She just looks so happy and composed and calm, even though I'm sure she was freaking out on the inside!  I would be.  Also, I've always been a girl that hates veils, but this one with it's simple lace edging...I really like it.  It's making me reconsider my anti-veil stance.  That's saying a lot. 

This McQueen dress on Pippa, Kate's younger sister, was definitely one of my favorite looks today.  I'm a little surprised that she wore white, especially since she was walking behind her sister a lot of the time, but it is such a pretty dress.  The fit is immaculate and so flattering (although she's so tiny I can't imagine much being unflattering on her), and the lacy drape in the front and the buttons down the back added just the right amount of detail without distracting from her sister's dress.  Very well done.  And the little flower girls! Awwww.  Kate's dress really reminded me of Grace Kelly's wedding dress.  The voluminous hips and the sheer lace sleeves with the sweetheart neckline underneath are almost identical, no?  If there's anyone you want to be compared to on your wedding day, I think Grace Kelly is a pretty stellar option.

I think what struck me the most about this wedding were the crazy hats.  In the US, no one wears hats to weddings, especially indoor weddings.  I consider it rude to wear hats (or apparently 'fascinators' as the UK announcer was calling them) inside, but I could count on one hand the number of women at this wedding not wearing hats.  I...I think most of them look silly.  Definitely entertaining conversation pieces though.  How fierce does Victoria Beckham look in that dress?  I'm sure she designed it.  She looked pretty grumpy throughout the ceremony but she is ridiculously pregnant and wearing platforms and real clothes and up relatively early so props to her.  David is so adorable with his suit and medal.  Aw.  As for the princesses Ferguson of York...oh, dear, those hats.  Wow.  Lady Gaga would be proud.  The pink one looks like a bow with antlers and the blue one looks like a bird on top of a space ship.  I wonder if when Brits watch American weddings they wonder where all the hats are?

Images via nymag.com, dailymail.co.uk, women24.com, people.com.

This Hair. I Need It.

I need the hair from the Fall 2011 Chloe show.  It's to die for.  First off, that strawberry blonde color is covetable, but it's the combination of straight and wavy that's going on here with the bedhead thrown in.  It's an interesting, new take on beachy waves.  It looks like they just curled a few sections in the middle of the hair with a center part and lots of volume.

Image via allure.com.

Alexander McQueen Fall 2011

I know everyone was waiting for the McQueen show this weekend with baited breath, as it's the first McQueen show designed entirely by Sarah Burton, the new designer behind McQueen.  I think she proved that she is as much part of the brand's DNA as anyone could ever be after McQueen himself.  The series of white dresses at the end did nothing to assuage the rumors that she's designing Kate Middleton's wedding gown (which could possibly be the best thing ever).


The zipper detail on that white skirt is just shutting it down.  And that jacket looks like it's about to take flight!  In the best possible way.  I need some of those leather leggings and those fabulous platform shoes.  The combination of textures between the tweedy top and the furry, tactile skirt is so unexpected but so right somehow.

I want this vest to wear in the cold here and I want it now.  The giant fur hood is very glam Eskimo, the leather biker shorts are very Hells Angels, and the shoes and gloves so dominatrix, but all together it manages to work somehow.  How elegant is this white dress?  The sleeves just float so perfectly, and the slit detailing in the skirt gives it a fun, younger twist.

The skirt on this first dress is so fascinating, like folded origami paper.  The neck ruff is very Elizabethan, but the dress still looks so modern and unexpected.  I adore this second gown.  The bodice is like shattered china pieced back together and the skirt is just waves and waves of tiny, intricate folds that flow away from the body so majestically.

Dear Kate Middleton: wear this first dress to your wedding next month.  Kthanks.  The cut of the bodice is so fragile and elegant, and the overall shape is so simple, but the detail and texture and appliques give it such an alien, ethereal quality.  It really is from another world.  And I just love the combination of bondage and chiffon in this second dress.  Who else could make chiffon look tough and intimidating?  That dusty lavender hue is just gorgeous.

Images via style.com.

Christian Dior Fall 2011

So my normal Fashion Week coverage has lulled.  And by lulled I mean died before it even started.  See the thing is that I've looked through all the shows and have a giant Style.com lookbook of all the looks I like...but it keeps crashing.  Like the lookbook doesn't work.  Every time I go back and try to pull images from it it goes crazy.  So.  I don't know what to do about that.  Coverage may come eventually?  In the meantime, I felt like the Dior show was noteworthy enough to go through the pain of figuring out how to post.


I'm sure some of you have heard, but Galliano was fired from Dior for making some particularly hateful and anti-Semitic remarks on camera.  However, I can't hate the clothes for his mistakes, so let's just focus on how pretty they are.  Because they are very pretty.


The overall vibe here is boho luxe meets '20s meets '40s meets Zorro/medieval peasants.  Yep.  That's a lot of influences.  I think the main thing to focus on are the shapes and the fabrics.


Doesn't Karlie Kloss look like an awesomely high-fashion Zorro-bandit in this first look? I adore those thigh-high boots.  It looks like the fur circle scarves from a few seasons ago are going to be back full force (I blame the Prada fur stoles from last season).  I love the layering here, with the miniskirt and the thigh-high boots.  It's not showing a lot of skin, but it's still hot.

And more furry circle scarves!  Sweeping a-line coats are also going to be a thing next season.  There's something so USSR about them.  That blue coat belongs in my life.

Also cropped fur jackets.  Basically fur in all incarnations is going to be big.  That gold coat might be my favorite piece.  The cut says military, but the fabric says baroque luxury, and the fur on top gives it all a wild twist.

How Hitchcock heroine is that fur scarf/jacket combo?  The bow at the waist is too cute, and the fur picks up the color palette of the jacket perfectly, while the skirt's light texture gives it all a bit of a whimsical twist.  I feel like this red dress is what a Jane Austen heroine would wear to a cocktail party today.  Which makes me love it so much.

I love the subtle variations in hue of these two looks.  At first glance they seem to be all greyish beige, but once you look closer you see all the small changes in color and texture.   Also I love that these two looks show how different outerwear gives a totally different vibe to similar dresses.  The blazer makes the minidress more daytime appropriate, and the fur jacket makes it very nighttime luxe.

And the fur circle scarves even go with cocktail dresses!  These dresses are so interesting in that they seem like just layers of silk and chiffon, but then you start to see all the detail and construction that goes into them, like the artful draping on the second dress and the tiny, asymmetrical layers on the first dress.

All images via style.com.