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.
So I have a sorority formal coming up in a few weeks, and I was going through my closet over and over trying to decide what to wear and coming up with nada. And then I checked my bank account and realized it was a little higher than expected, so I went straight to Rent The Runway. Yep. I finally caved. I'm so excited.
Herve Leger "Naughty and Nice" Dress, rent for $100, retail $1,050, Catherine Malandrino "Modern Queen Elizabeth" Dress, rent for $75, retail $525: I rented (or will rent haha) this purple Herve Leger dress. I've been dying to try one for years, literally, and I love this one. The purple is a great color for me, and the sweetheart neckline is great for a bigger chest, plus it's the perfect length and I love the open back. The way Rent The Runway works is that you get two sizes of the dress you order to try on (and if you order 1 dress you can get another of equal or lesser value for TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS). I'm wearing this with big sparkley earrings and strappy black platforms and it is going to be epic. Now, I won't personally order this second dress for my body type, but I absolutely love the cut of it. Isn't it gorgeous? The open shoulders! Sigh. Someone order it so I can look at pretty pictures of it. Oh! Rent The Runway also sends you a Fit Kit with double sided tape and lint rollers, etc, which is so cute and practical.
The Preppy Polka Dot Personalized Tumbler, $14.50 at etsy.com: The other thing I got myself today was one of these tumblers. I know they're sickeningly cute, but they're so practical for someone who's always reusing Starbucks cups for drinks in my room. You can get different fonts and colors with your name on the front (I did a grey/light pink/black combo). I love things like this that are cute and practical.
Images via renttherunway.com, etsy.com.
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.
The lovely Joeybunny asked me to do a post on how to wear a fur stole, which was ironically coincidental as literally when she asked me I was standing in front of my closet staring at a fur stole I've never managed to wear out. First off, I have to say as a vegetarian I'm not a huge fan of the fur industry, but since this was inherited I feel like if no one wears it then the animal died for no reason (just my opinion).
So I feel like when you wear a fur stole you need to either go one of 2 directions: either go full out and wear it with a cocktail dress and heels like it was intended, or do the rock and roll glam thing and wear it with jeans and a tee. As a college student, option B is a heck of a lot more practical, so that's what I went with.
Here I'm wearing an ASTARS tee, 7 For All Mankind Gwenevere jeans, Frye Carmen Short Boots, a vintage fur stole, and Tiffany's jewelry. I'm also wearing a big Forever 21 necklace with an elephant face on it but for some reason it got swallowed up by the fur.
So my logic behind this outfit (yes, sadly, there was logic) was that you don't want to fight with the fur. Clearly it's going to be the star of the outfit. I'm not a flashy person when it comes to clothes (wearing a fur stole on campus is pretty over the top for where I go to school) so I kept the shirt in a neutral color. I like the juxtaposition between the casual shirt and the glam stole, but they also go so well together because they drape so nicely. I did dark jeans really because they're more flattering and because I think dark denim is a little more rock and roll than light, no? And then I did the boots, which are terribly hard to see, my bad, because they add a casual edge to the outfit but they're sassy enough to stand up to the fur stole and not let it completely take over the outfit. One of the things you have to accept in this situation is that you're not going to get a practical outfit out of this. Short sleeves and fur? Ridiculous, but cool looking in a devil-may-care sort of way. You could probably do a long sleeved shirt here, but I don't actually own any--I have crazy neuroses about things touching my wrists--and I tried layered it over a leather jacket, but that was just too much.
What do you girls think? Would you rock a fur stole during the day time?
I need to choose my classes next year based solely on which ones don't have WiFi in the classrooms. Otherwise I need to change my major to online shopping. Which I would be amazing at. Here are my two favorite things I found today:
Elizabeth & James Odila Leather and Glossed-twill Bell Skirt, $465 at net-a-porter.com, Emma Cook Feather Print Silk Crepe de Chine Dress, $620 at net-a-porter.com: This skirt is HOT. I love me an a-line skirt under any circumstances, but this one is extra fab because of the built-in leather belt with all its geometric cut outs. The sheen of the leather and the interesting texture put all the emphasis on your waist, and the flair of the a-line skirt makes your waist look tiny. Doesn't the flower print on this dress look real? That's why I like it. It looks like a $1,000 dress covered in real feather, but instead it's a $600 dress that balances a vibrant, textural print with a clean, simple silhouette perfectly. It's such a statement in and of itself.
Images via net-a-porter.com.
The good dresses on the red carpet are fun, but the maybe and bad dresses are way, way more fun to talk about, no?
Jenna Ushkowitz in Rebecca Taylor, Kaley Cuoco in Katherine Kidd: Jenna is so, so pretty. This dress is not as pretty as she is. The bottom looks like the curtains from a Victorian themed bordello, and the top looks like it came from a bad '90s prom dress. I love her on Glee, but apparently her stylist doesn't. I think Kaley Cuoco is a maybe here. On the plus side, her long ponytail and minimalist jewelry are working really nicely together, and she wears an off-white beautifully. On the down side, that dress looks like a wedding cake. I think either fewer ruffled tiers or a different, less bridal color would have totally sold me on this.
Jennifer Love Hewitt in Romona Keveza, Lea Michelle in Oscar de la Renta: Jennifer Love Hewitt is actually wearing a wedding dress. And she is wearing a wedding dress that is insanely unflattering, gives her shelf boob, and a top bun that is the size of her entire head. Oh dear. Watching Lea Michelle try to look likable and not like she wanted to kill everyone else in her category the entire night was highly entertaining. This dress is also entertaining, but not in a good way. It's a bit of a hot mess. I like the color, but it looks wrinkled and like she stapled a giant bunch of excess fabric to her hip.
Sandra Bullock in Jenny Packham, Christina Aguilera: I like this look on Sandra Bullock. I like the bangs, I like the shape, color, and detailing of the dress. But...if feels like she's hiding a bit, no? I think the bangs are a little too long, and I wish she was showing a little more skin. Maybe a slit up the side? Oh, Xtina. Oh, oh no. She looks amazing in Burlesque, so I'm blaming the dress and the bad implants for making her look much heavier than she is. Also the dress just looks trashy.
Amy Adams in Marchesa, Jennifer Lopez in Zuhair Murad: Amy Adams has worn some truly amazing things on the red carpet. This...this is a let down. I like the shade of blue, but her hair looks rather dull here, no? And the organic protrusions on her shoulder and hip don't go with the rest of the dress and aren't very flattering. Oh, Jennifer Lopez. You never disappoint. It's like she took a simple, Grecian dress and then threw a sheer, bedazzled poncho on top of it. I just don't understand, although on her that story does make a lot of sense.
Halle Berry in Nina Ricci, Michelle Williams in Valentino: Oh, Halle. I really want to like this because it's Nina Ricci, and she has an AMAZING body for having had a baby 8 months ago, but...it's a little inappropriate. It's like she put on some gorgeous lingerie and then wrapped some chiffon curtains around her waist and called it good to go. I think on anyone else this would be a terrible hot mess, but on her it's just a little unfortunate. Michelle Williams, I want to like everything you wear so badly. You seem like such a lovely person and you are genuinely adorable, but this dress...this dress is terrible. Maybe if it was short and belted it would be a cute day dress, but it's blah, it's unflattering, it looks dated, and it's not red carpet appropriate. I think doing so well with that saffron yellow dress at the Oscars a few years ago kind of sets her up for failure because it really doesn't get any better than that.
Images from nymag.com.
Without further ado, it's time for the Golden Globes 2011 Red Carpet: the good.
Ryan Kwanten, Olivia Wilde in Marchesa: Ryan Kwanten is SMOKIN'. Usually guys on the red carpet are pretty boring, so I like that Ryan spiced it up with the red velvet bow tie. It ties in with the carpet without clashing with it. Olivia Wilde had one of my favorite dresses of the night. It's so fabulously Glinda the Good Witch gone a little naughty--it looks like the night sky! It would have been over the top if she'd done a lot of jewelry, but she kept it simple, just doing a spiky pair of Louboutins and simple hair, so it works. Some people said her hair was too flat, but I think if she'd done a lot more volume it would have been a little too in-your-face princessy.
Amber Riley in Oliver Tolentino, Hailee Steinfeld in Prabal Gurung: How cute is Amber Riley?! Her sequined dress is fun, it's red carpet appropriate, it's flattering, and it's young. I don't think I've seen her look better. I really like that Hailee Steinfeld actually looks her age (14). She didn't pull a Miley and go for something insane and leather and strapless. This Prabal Gurung dress is light and fresh, simple, age appropriate, and lets her natural beauty shine through without being boring.
Jayma Mays in Alberta Ferretti, Kevin McHale: Jayma Mays is working a fab retro look. I wish her dress wasn't black, but the cut is very flattering, with just the right amount of glitz and detail, and her Veronica Lake curls keep with the Old Hollywood feel of the dress without making her look stuck in the past. Nicely done. Kevin McHale is another great example of a guy having a little fun on the red carpet. That studded jacket is so on-trend and so fabulous, and it fits his personality.
Emma Stone in Calvin Klein, Leighton Meester in Burberry Prorsum: Okay. I still don't love Emma Stone's hair color, but she does look pretty amazing here. The color of this Calvin Klein dress is very flattering, the perfect nude that doesn't make you look naked, and the deep back keeps it from being staid. I love that she kept it simple and let the fact that she has an amazing body do all the talking. This dress on Leighton Meester has grown on me. At first I was all "new trendy wife from Big Love?" but seeing how sheer it is and the giant slit up the side makes me think it's more fabulously on trend than outdated and drab. On anyone else I'd hate this, but she's so pretty and has such a great body that she really pulls it off. I wish she'd done a little more bling, maybe a shimmery belt, but overall, nicely done.
Mila Kunis in Vera Wang, Catherine Zeta Jones in Monique Lhuillier: Emerald green is the new pink (Josie and the Pussycats, anyone?). This makes me very happy, because it's one of my favorite colors and it's so flattering on a wide range of skin tones. This Vera Wang dress would be boring in a nude, but in deep emearld the pleating and intricate detailing really shine through. The shape is very flattering on her, and it's high glamour without being too over the top. I hope someone would wear this Monique Lhuillier dress! Catherine Zeta Jones could really wear anything. She seriously does not age. This dress works because she kept the styling simple and because it fits her perfectly. The pick-ups in the skirt and the opulent fabric are very baroque glamour, which really works for CZJ.
Megan Fox in Armani, Mandy Moore in Monique Lhuillier: I like this dress. And Megan Fox looks great in anything. But this dress doesn't seem very her. Don't get me wrong, it's feminine while still being insanely bombshell sexy, and flattering while sweetly retro, and her hair looks FANTASTIC, but isn't it a little girly for her? Interesting choice. I loved Mandy Moore in Tangled, and she looks so cute here. This Monique Lhuillier dress is very flattering on her, the tulle skirt balances out the slim bodice nicely, and the illusion neckline adds a fun, modern twist. Nicely done, Mandy.
Anne Hathaway in Armani, Angelina Jolie in Versace: Hello, shoulder pads. Anne's dress works because while it's very sparkley, the nude hue keeps it from being too glitzy, and the long sleeves and high neckline are balanced by the low back and form-fitting silhouette. Girl is like a tall drink of water. And Angelina Jolie wore a color! Crazy. She was on-trend with the emerald, the slight shimmer adds a hint of glam, and the shoulder pads highlight her tiny waist very nicely. Long sleeves are back!
Images from nymag.com.
