theasceticlibertine

Intermission

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth; it's just that my laptop has been in for repairs and blogging at work is incredibly frustrating because I can't use images.  So... until I get my dear computer back, blogging will come to a standstill here.  It was gone for a week and then last night they told me that it needed to go back for another week.  Le sigh!  Anyway... I will leave you with some fashiony goodness.  I am currently obsessed with the Sass and Bide "black rats" leggings.  I love the ruched effect!  Knockoffs abound in Britain and Australia, but here?  Not so much.  I thought for sure with the current leggings craze in the US, I'd find *somebody* ripping these puppies off.  So keep me posted if you see them anywhere.  I'm definitely on the lookout.  (And yes, I refuse to pay $180 for vinyl leggings).

In other news, I was having a conversation yesterday with someone who'd never heard of Guinness heiress Daphne Guinness, so can I just give a shout out?  She has amazing style and in another life, after I get a turn at being Angelina Jolie, I'd like to come back as Daphne, or at least with Daphne's amazing fashion sense.  Everything she wears is uniquely "her" and she always looks fabulous.

 

Pants Trend '09

Aside from those of us who will not give up on the skinny leather pant, I've noticed that there are a lot of women wearing pleated wide-leg pants, rolled up or pegged and despite the disastrous image that creates in my mind, some of them look quite chic doing it.  The trend started in the fall of last year and is now hitting its spring stride.  When I saw Katie Holmes wearing these hideous things, I really feared for the future of jeans.  I was even more afraid when I saw people wearing them whose style I generally have few issues with, like Reese Witherspoon and Heidi Klum (though, to be fair, they were only rocking the distressed baggy jean--they had enough sense to leave the pegging out of it).

So the jeans... just no.  I am a short person and baggy jeans make me look like a tree stump.  However, the cropped pleated pants?  I don't know, they might also make me look dumpy, but they have the potential for fabulosity, as seen below (pics courtesy of the amazing Garance Dore's blog):

 

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Of course, that girl has the proportion down perfectly (something cinched and/or fitted on top is a *must*), and she's thin enough and tall enough to pull it off. 

Same with this amazing woman:

 

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The cropped blazer makes the bagginess of the pants work.  Michelle from Kingdom of Style also worked with this silhouette when in London for Fashion Week.  All I'm saying is that I don't think we necessarily need to run in fear of this trend, as long as you can make the proportions work for you. 

Coco Avant Chanel

I was just reading in this month's Vogue about the filming of Coco Avant Chanel, starring the adorable and wickedly talented Audrey Tatou as Mlle. Chanel.  This movie combines quite a few of my favorite things, among them French film, Coco Chanel & her eponymous label, beautiful costumes, and Mlle. Tatou, who reminds me of my mom (when she was young), so what's not to love?  See the trailer below, or here.  I'm definitely excited for this one.

 

Coco avant Chanel TRAILER

Sky High Heels: Shoe Trends '09

The world is uncertain and unsteady right now, and I think fashion reflects that in the designs that are cropping up for this year, particularly whereas shoes are concerned.  As ridiculous as it may sound, 2009's shoe trends embrace the current extremes by being completely uncompromising--it's either the flattest of flat strappy, gladiator-style sandals (they never really left, did they?) or kill-yourself-for-fashion high heels that go up to 6 or 7 inches.  Yup, not just for strippers anymore.  Don't really know what that says about us, but anyway...

I am, as you may know, a heel wuss.  I only learned to walk in the things about 8 years ago, and if given the option, I almost always go for a wedge or a flat shoe.  I love platforms, but I can't wear a 5" platform heel, no matter how much I want to (and trust me, at 5'2", I need all the height help I can get).  My max size heel is 3" and lately I've been embracing the comfort of a nice 2.75" heel, so you know where this is going.  Pretty soon you're going to see me in Worishofers and it ain't gonna be pretty (yes, I know the indie hipster girls have taken to them with a vengeance but to me they will always be grandma shoes and that's all there is to it). 

So I must thank the good people at Tsubo for keeping me comfortable and fashionable.  I've been lusting after the Surius boot for ages but I don't pay full price for shoes if I can help it, so I was only recently able to purchase them (at $75, they are a steal at Amazon).  I can't vouch for anything but the Surius and the Acrea heel, but my god if these aren't the most comfortable heels I've ever worn.  I can stand in them all day, walk in them without any kind of pain or discomfort and look good doing it.  You know, I just have to give them props because there are very few shoe brands that actually make comfortable heels.  Usually after about an hour of standing in heels I want to die, and it speaks to the immense comfort of these particular heels that I can stand in them for hours.  I also love that the Surius boot actually looks pretty damned high-fashion.  The cutout at the back of the heel is a nice touch.

 

Tsubo

I've also wanted to post for a while about crazy shoe trends in general (and by crazy, I mean CRAZY) and how much I'm intrigued by some of what's out there, even as I fully admit I could never wear and/or walk in a lot of it.  Maison Martin Margiela has some of the wackiest shoes around, and I just love the label for that.  Here's a sampling of the designs:

 

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Oh yeah, those are nail boots.  I can't imagine they are anything but incredibly painful, but they are purported to be comfortable by those who own them.  I like that the boot is a statement about the pain women go through to be fashionable, and I find it even more curious (and kind of amusing) that people actually wear them.

Oh, and you haven't seen all of it, my friends.  Here's Daul Kim in some Margiela tabi booties (they are definitely helped by the fact that Daul Kim is one of the most stylish models around at the moment and I have to say that I like the Margiela sandal bootie way better on her than Rachel Bilson):

 

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At some point I'll pick this thread back up and post some more about some of the bizarro/awesome shoes I've been seeing.  Also, I'll be posting soon about Zac Posen's F/W 09 RTW collection, which I loved on pretty much every level.  Until then, step lightly.

The AL

ps--Thanks to blogs like Jak & Jil, SeaofShoes and GarbageDress for allowing me to partake vicariously in the world of the avant-garde--esp. Jak & Jil which is *the* blog for shoes and shoe fetishists the world over and the pictures (two of which you see above--the one of Carine Roitfeld and the one of the model in the Margiela tall sandal boots) are just stunning.