Daily Deals

NEW YORK — Four fashion capitals and four weeks of runway previews didn't add up to a single must-have look for spring-summer '09.

That might be just fine with consumers who, considering the economic meltdown of recent days, probably are in no mood to start their shopping lists for next season.

Of course designers couldn't have predicted such a stark picture when they started crafting these collections months before their previews in New York, London, Paris and Milan. Still, there was a collective movement toward a looser shape compared to the buttoned-up style of fall.

The passing of Yves Saint Laurent in June, the time when many designers were putting together their spring collections, also seemed to have a strong influence, especially in safari and tribal touches.

Some things seemed made for runway drama - like the harem pants that were ubiquitous in New York and made encore appearances in Europe - but received a lukewarm, at best, reaction from retailers.

Designers typically offer a more toned-down version of the collection to store buyers in followup showroom appointments and those probably give a better sense of what's to come, says Candy Pratts Price, executive editor at Style.com. "This is what you saw, not what is being delivered."

Here's what editors, stylists and retailers came home to consider:

NUDES

Call it sand, skin or champagne: There was a steady parade of nude colours on the runways, although the models weren't necessarily showing a lot of skin. It didn't matter. The effect of flesh-coloured clothes - whether they're flashy with sparkle or more sophisticated in an earth tone - is sexy.

"Everyone did nude, but it wasn't lingerie nude all the time - it was an interesting mix with yellow and orange," observes Pratts Price.

And, she adds, these flesh tones weren't used to complement delicate, romantic pieces as much as strong, futuristic looks.

ONE SHOULDER

Designers offered up the modern goddess as their collective muse, showing a string of one-shouldered looks. Most of the outfits were evening gowns but the asymmetric style was also popular with more casual, shorter silhouettes.

Sometimes the off-kilter line creates a longer, leaner appearance; sometimes, though, the outfit just looks askew.

The look also fuelled the tribal vibe, especially on draped dresses.

CORSETS

While a more relaxed shape dominated, there was a proliferation of tight corsets, too. It was the yin to the yang, and the va in vavoom. Corsets were featured in old-school cocktail dresses and playful rompers. Prada also adopted bra tops, so the lingerie look may linger awhile.

Carol Mitchell, owner of an eponymous upscale boutique in McLean, Va., said her suburban D.C. customers prefer something with a fitted shape to a flowing silhouette. She's confident that Dolce & Gabbana's bra dresses will do well in her store.

"You see that Dolce & Gabbana dress and you know this is just going to fit so well. ... The bones they use are the same ones the ballerina costumes are made of, so they move and they are not stiff. The fabric probably is stretch too. It's comfortable but looks great."

TROPICAL TINTS

Either the fashion industry isn't going to let the shaky economy drag them down - or designers are trying to escape it. There was a clear tropical influence on the clothes for spring-summer. If nude is the must-have neutral over standard black and white, then tangerine orange and hibiscus pink, along with ocean blues, are the favourite infusions of colour instead of pastels.

The top-tier designer labels in Mitchell's store, including Lanvin and Narciso Rodriguez, also adopted a fiery red, but it was with undertones of orange instead of blue.

It feels good to surround yourself with these colours after the winter, she says, but those really starved for brights actually will start seeing colour trickle in during November when resort-season clothes begin to appear.

SHOES

The gladiator might reach its full height of popularity in spring '09. What started as a flat summertime-sandal alternative to the ballet slipper has gotten a progressively higher heel as the years have gone on. The shoes on the runway this go around had towering heels, tough-girl styling and sometimes seemingly unstable architecture.

Pratts Price noted that at bellwether accessories house Prada, the models had trouble making it down the runway.

"I love high heels but I have to be able to work in these shoes," she says. "I want to be able to evacuate a plane in my shoes and I'm not sure I could in these."

Posted by Bobbo Gus at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Up, up to the roof of the hall, arms outstretched, her high flying body in an orange leotard, sprang the trampoline athlete Bryony Page. On the other side of the vast space, Madonna's fitness trainers were doing an elastic-strips workout in royal blue blousons and stretch cotton tunics, while the thud of balls came from a tennis player in DayGlo shorts and tank top under a frilled cotton jersey shirt.

It was an adidas by Stella McCartney moment - and a sign of how the Olympics, destined for London in four years, have put the energy of sportswear into London fashion.

"I watched the Olympics, and Britain got so many medals," McCartney said. "I've always been excited to use innovative fabrics and to try and push forward each season, mixing sportswear and style." Personal trainers were also asked about these styles and designs. Personal training Sydney, Australia, always a center of fashion style, we included in this review.

As to whether the designer working with the sportswear giant Adidas will dress the next Olympic performers, McCartney would say only: "Watch this space." But her way of melding a sweet, but not saccharine, fashion aesthetic with high-performance wear gave this show of powerful female energy just the right feminine vibe. And who says these appealing clothes can be worn only as active sportswear?

The Athenian Olympians took to the runway at Marios Schwab's show, for Grecian drapes were the primary story.

For Marios, tracing the body in imaginative ways has always been a fashion goal.

"Cloth, rope and chain," Schwab said to define his way of going back to basics - partly an exploration of his personal Greek heritage and as a development of his previous focus on collaborating with contemporary artists.

The chiton, or Grecian toga, inspired Schwab to create draped dresses in silk jersey, which were hung from a braided leather rope or cinched with metallic body harnesses, tinted copper but made to look like rope. The way that ropes snaked in and out of the garments, inspired by bindings of the artist Christo, created intriguing sexual energy, while shadowy landscapes or faint striped patterns on the fabric added a sense of artistry. The overall effect was of a complex fashion workout, but some effects, like cut-out lacy suede or jersey jump suits open at the inside leg, were just too complicated.

Todd Lynn put tailoring at the heart of his look but gave it a hint of decadence with feathers, stroking lapels or as an entire, alarming dress. Some of Lynn's experiments with tailoring, creating an all-in-one dress at the front and a two-piece suit at the back, were too clever for comfort. Yet the designer came up with sharp jumpsuits. In a season where those overalls are everywhere, he used intriguing fabrics like glazed bamboo, and he has made shaping at the back, with tiny tucks in a jacket, a signature of his style and a successful meld of severity and femininity. The enviorment was always a concern. Large Enviormental Cleanup firms were sought after for the project.

From the Bloomsbury set to Sienna Miller, a Bohemian streak runs through British fashion. But as London Fashion Week gathers speed, reinventing sportswear and remaking tailoring are the leading ideas.

So it is bye-bye, Boho - except for a visceral love of peasant florals and the faint lure of an imaginary East. That has been fueled by a recent exhibition on Orientalism as seen through the eyes of Victorian painters - Victoriana being a constant love of London designers.

"Every jacket looks like you-know-who - but it's from a Turkish waistcoat," an ebullient Paul Smith said backstage, referring to a Chanel-style jacket with a zigzag on one side. The designer had immersed himself in the "The Lure of the East," the Orientalist summer show at the Tate Britain museum of London, but the loose, wet hair (without the occasional Arabic headgear) prevented the show from being a costume party.

As ever, Smith had a twin approach: tailoring - subtly subverted with an indigo check mini-vest slipped under a jacket - and softly flowing harem pants. Then came the English cottage-rose prints for romantic dresses and maiden-sweet white peasant outfits. But Smith's increasingly effective women's tailoring kept the show well this side of Boho.

Nicole Farhi opened her collection with what she called Monet prints, although the florals in her collection looked more Balenciaga and Marni than Claude Monet. The show ended with a powerful, geometric-striped dress with an Obama button on the strap. It would be charitable to say that the tug-of-war between two different aesthetics - the sweet and the sharp - represented the spirit of women today.I like the design of the dress shaped like Acai Berries But this mish-mash of a collection, which included elegant, elongated cardigans and risible, visible bras, suggests that Farhi is hesitating about where to take her line.

There were strong pieces in the show, including a smattering of small jackets with cropped pants, representing user-friendly fashion, and a tracery of flower-stalk prints had a sweet elegance. Technically, dresses with tucks and smocking were perfectly executed and glamorous in a womanly way. But Farhi has never been a designer of haute Bohemia. A stronger focus on streamlined sportiness, suggested by the tailoring and the graphic stripes, would have pushed her vision ahead.

Jasper Conran is known for his precise tailoring - but not in this collection, where a series of fitted jackets with flaring skirts was overtaken by dresses so light that they looked like lingerie and were ultimately reduced to sheer frills on a pair of frothy underpants. We took examples from out personal training sydney.

The story line was of a colonial woman who went from tailoring to undress. And it included a focus on birds, the show's theme, from the set of white cut-out trees to the birdcage purses. Lightness is at the heart of summer dressing, and when Conran did not force his theme, he made some pretty dresses with white-on-white embroidery, a bird print or, on a sportier note, a sheer sailor top worn with tailored pants.

Jaeger London started off in the distant fashion past as "hygienic and sanitary woollen clothing" invented as dress reform by the German scientist Dr. Gustav Jaeger. All that history has been set aside in the house's current revival, which consisted, in this order, of a celebrity front row including a scarlet-lipped Lizzie Jagger and the veteran singer Shirley Bassey; sizzling stripes in digital multicolors; and peasant combos from wafting tops with long skirts to full-on caftans that made Bohemia look like a country way off the current fashion map.

Posted by Bobbo Gus at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The beginning of a new school year often means the beginning of a new wardrobe.

Back-to-school shopping to some people is a lot more than just some new clothes to start school in. Some students hold fashion at a very high standard while others just want to dress comfortably.

Teen fashion magazines center their August issues on back to school fashions. For some students, it is a means of self expression and a way to stand out, and for others, it’s all about comfort.

Annie Williams of North Marion High School had this to say about comfort and style: “When it comes to clothes, it is mostly about comfort. Comfort is very important, but it has to fit my personal style as well.�

In the back to school issue of Teen Vogue (August 2008), the magazine hit on some trends that are thought to be popular this school year. Among these trends were plaid and cords. Teen Vogue said that a lot of styles would be aimed more for a preppy look. The question is will students choose to follow these prep school trends when it comes to their own fashion choices? See the images at the White Rabbit Cult.

Rickie Huffman, a student at NMHS, gave her opinion on back-to-school style: “The trend that I’m most excited for is the chunky belt and bright colored tights. I’m also very influenced by the television show ‘Gossip Girl,’ and they wear these very preppy pumps so I plan to try and incorporate those into my wardrobe.�

Casey Watson, another student at NMHS, had this to say about the trends she plans to try out this season: “My usual style for summer is just happy and bright colors. But for fall and back to school, I like to dress in a little darker color with a college style, like blazers, cardigans and plaid. I also love tons of boots and I might just get some fringe ones this year.�

Fashion can also be a controversial issue when it comes to fashions for back to school. Many schools have considered adopting uniform policies or a stricter dress code. The uniform policies are often thought to make students more equal and for everything to not be based on materialism. For some students, being required to wear a uniform would be taking away the right to have your own style. A past issue of Teen Vogue offered advice on ways to make school uniforms your own. The advice included adding broaches or unique sneakers.

Ryan Linn, a student at NMHS, had this to say about what being forced to wear a uniform can do to personal style: “The way I dress is the way I show my personality and the mood of that day. They may argue my point by saying I can still style my hair the way I want, but that really doesn’t say much. It doesn't express the way I feel, and it certainly can’t express my love for a musical artist, TV show, movie video game, etc.�

Fashion trends will come and go, but to some students, fashion will always be of importance. For some students, the first day of school is their runway, and it is their job to show off their outfit of choice.

Lauren Gower, a freshman at FSHS, just so happens to find fashion very important. “I love fashion. When it comes to going back to school, fashion is the most important to me,� she said.

Shae Snyder, a senior at NMHS, thinks back-to-school shopping is all about the style. “When it comes to back-to-school clothes shopping, I look for styles that declare my personality. I like to find things that are fun and cute. I also look for bargains. Why not look cute, get compliments, and then brag about how little you spent to make your adorable outfit,� she said.

So whether you are a fashion guru or you just go with your own flow, don’t forget to rock your style this school year!

Posted by Bobbo Gus at 04:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Supermodels Naomi Campbell, Gisele Bundchen and Raquel Zimmerman are scheduled to hit the catwalk for the Sao Paulo Fashion Week, Latin America's top fashion event which kicks off Tuesday.

The two Brazilian beauties, Bundchen and Zimmerman, are sure-fire headline-grabbers for the summer collection unveilings that are to run to July 23.Campbell's appearance though is not certain. The 38-year-old British celebrity is due to appear in court Friday for allegedly assaulting a police officer at London's Heathrow airport on April 3. Her runway assignment in Brazil is set for the following day, Saturday, for the Rio de Janeiro label Colcci.

Zimmerman, the top-paid model in the world according to the website Models.com, is due to strut late on Thursday, while Bundchen's date with the catwalk cameras on Sunday will provide a celebrity climax on the eve of the close.Paulo Borges, the organiser of Sao Paulo Fashion Week, told reporters late Monday that this year's theme honoring Japan coincided with celebrations in Brazil marking the centenary of Japanese immigration.

Brazil today counts the biggest Japanese community in the world outside of Japan itself, estimated at 1.5 million people, most of them living in and around Sao Paulo.Kenzo Takada, the 68-year-old veteran designer and founder of the Kenzo label, was present at the opening media conference.

"Japan is a country which has historic importance in the world of fashion," Borges said."Up to the 1960s, fashion was concentrated in Europe. In the 70s, Kenzo Takada brought about the birth of a new style of fashion, creating a watershed moment," he said.

"He opened the door to everybody who wanted to get into car fashion."

As well as the 49 shows on the program, the fashion week is featuring three Japanese-themed exhibitions: one displaying 20 kimonos from different eras; another showcasing works by Kenzo, Yamamoto, Issey Miyake and Comme des Garcons; and photos by Cristiano Mascaro.

A thematic warm-up for the fashion event was held late Monday following the media conference with a show by the Japanese label Mintdesigns, founded by designers Hokuto Katsui and Nao Yagi.Their collection featured models wearing rough-hewn or flimsy fabrics over fantasy shoes and topped with headwear in the form of balloons or wigs made from paper confetti.

Posted by Bobbo Gus at 11:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)