other accessories

>> Waffles, chocolate... now the Belgians are moving on to mastering the confectionary of dresses as well.  Bruno Pieters whipped up some seriously delicious looking meringue skirts, frothy and peaked to perfection.  Then, to elaborate on the girly innocence of his collection, he added some adorable cropped hooded capes straight off the shoulders of Little Red Riding Hood.  Needless to say, this collection is enough to make me go skipping through the forest with a basket full of cakes.

The rest of the collection can be viewed here, and prettypretty has some lovely backstage shots. 

>>  Chanel has always been my go-to for the classy, the sophisticated, the chic.  Now, it's my go-to if tight denim bermuda shorts, big fabric camellias, long tacky chain necklaces, and see-through art deco numbers are what I want. But sadly, they're not.  The requisite Chanel tweeds were there, but even they were in bright blaring colors and/or overaccessorized.  It was just too much "revamp" and "re-do" for me, I think.  The runway was set up with a huge computer screen and keyboard at its end, which announced the beginning of the show in a stilted, computery voice.  This signified Kaiser Karl trying to move Chanel forward, but I think he took it a bit too far and made it overkill. 

As always, there is some good to be found in the bad -- a few looks that I did like.  A military style jacket with contrast stitching, and the last two dresses to walk out (left) -- both seem like the Chanel I know.  Not to mention the lovely slouchy boots with their clearly Chanellian black toe -- love those.  Too bad Kaiser Karl couldn't have stuck with these types of things...they really seem to work for him. 

The rest of the collection can be seen here.   

>>  Pie in the sky?  Try pie in the face.  Miss Anna Wintour got a real taste of what it's like to go up against the likes of PETA.  Dressed in a fur-trimmed black jacket as she left the Chloe show, the animal rights group served Miss Wintour up the best they had -- a tofu cream pie.  Mmm, delicious, just like good ol' home cooking.  They claimed to be upset about the number of fur ads Vogue contains, but I think it was more an excuse to chastise her for that fur pelt she wears on her head and calls "hair." 

**sources: yahoo news

>> Lucky me, I got my hands on a couple of vintage Pucci dresses today (for a few minutes anyway), so I thought I would share the wealth.  You all know my weakness for '60s decor -- the psychedelic patterns just make me giddy.  Beautiful, aren't they?

>> ...Or at least that's what Veronique Branquinho purports.  And I have to say, I'm with her on this one -- her collection does a good job of convincing me that capes can be pulled off, especially when built into a dress.  The gothic tree print that showed up on a dress (right) and a couple of tops was absolutely breathtaking, as well as this mint green number remniscent of the Middle Ages (left).  To round out my top three are the short overalls (left)-- yes, I know, I didn't think overalls could be classy either, but here it's happened.  Of course, if none of these float your boat, there's always the mint green heels and the up-to-the-bicep leather gloves.  After that, this collection doesn't have a whole lot of depth -- all the things aforementioned work, and well.  Then it just kind of drops off.  But if you need some inspiration for wearing leggings, take a look at the rest of the collection here -- they've styled them well.

>>  It all started out very minimal, very Balenciaga, with a few lovely white bubble dresses. Then, what's this?  Rocker chic tees emblazoned with "Devils in Balenciaga" and some lovely skinny black and white striped pants, reminiscent (but way too tailored) of a pirate costume.  Skinny suits in paisley patterns... asymmetrical lacy dresses, and then... oh, man, then.  Gee-orgeous rococo jackets that take you back to the days of the Sun King.  All of this, one collection.  Boy, it is an eyeful -- took me a while to process what I was seeing.  But the detailing is exquisite, especially on the rococo pieces -- to the point that this collection almost seems couture.  Nicolas Ghesquiere has achieved quite an impressive balance between the rebel, the minimalist, the opulent sophisticate.  He's done so well, in fact, that many are touting this collection as the best of the season.  I say it's quite good, but best of the season?  There's too many collections still to be shown to be making that decision. 

The rest of the collection can be seen here.

>> Upon first glance at the new Comme des Garcons collection, I was enticed and repulsed at the same time -- torn.  Loved the crowns.  Loved the Union Jacks.  Even loved the tartans.  But the silhouettes, and the wrapping of the cloth and the huge tumorous shoulders...  I wasn't too sure about.  But I forgot, with Rei Kawakubo, there's never just one layer -- all the stuff about England's Lost Empire is just surface. 

It's all about sculpture -- Miss Kawakubo testing her ability to make dresses and crown-shaped jackets from single lengths of fabric, using her hands to gracefully drape and mold the tartans, the camouflage, the Polynesian flower-prints like clay. Even the crowns that I love so much were wired by milliner Stephen Jones from bits of old jewelry and auto parts.  The beauty of this collection transcends the fact that the clothes aren't very commercial -- as Adrian Joffe, Miss Kawakubo's husband quipped, "God knows how we're going to produce the clothes."  It surpasses surface beauty, and goes to the roots of fashion -- as an art...as a craft.  And it's nice to get that reminder every once and a while, to appreciate fashion for what it is, and why it's still a necessity. 

The rest of the collection can be viewed here -- take a look at the detail shots of the crowns -- they're quite cool.

**sources: nytimes

>> I've been wearing leggings for a while now -- under my knee-length shorts, under my dresses, under my skirts... the list goes on (don't worry, I don't do the cliche leggings-under-denim-mini look).  And I wear them a heck of a lot, too.  In fact, I wear them so often that even my fashion-daft friends ask, "What's with the tights?"  So you can imagine my surprise when Urban Outfitters put them on the market.  Okay fine, I wasn't that surprised, just a little upset.  Whenever Urban puts an accessory on the market, especially when it's only $10, it seems like next thing I know everyone and their mom is wearing it.  At least they chose to sell the opaque leggings, rather than the sheer ones -- those just look bad.  Me, I prefer the exercise ones that you can get from Target for under $10.  But that's just me.  And hopefully it will stay just me.

>>  Remember those Stella boots I drooled over a month ago? Satine, temptress that she is, has a precious few in stock.  One of the pairs is in my size.  What to do?  Drop my jaw, let my tongue roll out to the floor, and pop my eyes out of my head, Looney Tunes-style.  $795 boots, I wish. 

>>  Their collection did kind of remind me of Lucky Charms -- there were rainbows, stars, hearts, and lots of magically delicious colors.  But don't worry, Eley Kishimoto's collection wasn't so overdone that it was tacky.  Rather, it was the perfect fusion of the Japanese fashion-inspired and the sixties-inspired, making for a cheerful spring/summer collection to contrast all the drabness that has prevailed thus far. 

On the rainbow dress, right, we see the tiers that were all over in NY, but this is definitely the best treatment I've seen of them so far -- probably because the print is fairly busy, so it draws some of the attention away.  Very cute, and I love the buttons down the front. 

The heart dress (left) is one of my favorites of this collection -- I love the simplicity of the shift dress shape, embellished with a big bright-red heart and a ruffle at the bottom that alludes to a tutu.  Very simple, and yet unique.

It looks like big sunglasses are here to stay for another season, if this collection and Luella have any influence.  Again, I love this top, with the big smacking red lips against the darker background.  Playful?  Check.  Cute?  Check.  Graphic qualities?  Check.  Add 'em all up, and what do you get?  My resounding approval. 

More photos of the collection available at yahoo.