theasceticlibertine

More Good Thoughts

Saw this quote today and had to link to the blog that mentions it.  It's pretty much exactly how I feel/sums up my views about fashion pretty perfectly:

“Fashion is an extension of dressing. It’s a very important social factor. It amuses me that fashion and fashion photography are treated so poorly intellectually. Cultural intellectuals tend to feel they’re not qualified to discuss fashion photography, or that it’s a waste of time. I even get correspondence across the forums at SHOWstudio from people who think fashion is evil. There’s a lack of understanding, a moral dismissal, and an anger that fashion, and by extension fashion photography, is a wasteful, criminal thing. I quite like that agitation and aggression, because I don’t believe it. In a society where your first encounter with people tends to be visual, you’re sort of saying “This is who I am.” I can’t imagine a society that doesn’t adorn and decorate itself and doesn’t use its outer appearance in some way as a social communication.” -Nick Knight, interviewed in Aperture 197

Behold, my culture's native dress, most often worn these days when dancing at festivals (images courtesy of Life and this blog):

Bailando

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Fur & Gold: Luca Luca Fall 2010 RTW

Raul Melgoza's designs for Luca Luca were quite lovely.  It was an incredibly cohesive collection for being so large (36 looks), with each piece riffing off of another.  As a whole, the look is sleek and dark, using a lot of different materials to add variety.  The Luca Luca woman is urbane, but also has an Italian flair for wildness to go along with her sophistication, which in this case takes the form of leather, fur and gold.  I didn't love all of it, but here are a few of the pieces I liked the most:

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Short and Sweet: Vivienne Tam Fall '10 RTW

I have to start off with this:

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Isn't Vivienne Tam just adorable?  And wearing one of her own dresses, and I love it.  True to form, her small collection was perfectly edited, with plenty of interesting and unique flourishes thrown into the mix.  Her dresses were shaded, or had origami-style details, and she also featured what is quickly becoming the requisite F/W 2010 fur coat, but I really loved hers.  Even though there was plenty of grey and black, I didn't feel like it was just a rote exercise in non-color.  I really wish I was tall and skinny enough to get away with a coat like this (I would just look like a footstool):

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Behold, the folds: 

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You know, I'm just not a feather person.  It takes a special dress or coat to make me like the feathers on it.  This coat isn't that, but the coat itself, without the feathers?  I'd be totally into it.  I love the structure of the top half:

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  Last but not least by any stretch, some sequins for my magpie eye:

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Feeling Pretty: Lela Rose Fall '10 RTW

I like a lady who can make a good dress, y'know?  And Lela Rose is that lady.  In fact, I would be hard pressed to find a dress I *didn't* like from her collection.  So what I'm saying is that they can back their truck up into my closet and just leave those dresses to me, thank you very much. 

Rose's collection perfectly embodies an example of "wearable" that didn't make me fall asleep in my soup.  She seems to have mainly discarded the black-tan-grey memo that pervaded Alexander Wang and some of the other collections, and for that, I have to thank her.  Listen, when it's winter, it's grey enough outside.  I like black staples (or even wackiness) as much as the next Demeulemeester and Margiela obsessed fashionista, but I'm in need of at least a little color to make those dull days brighter.  Below, my fave looks:

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On the Pulse: Peter Som Fall RTW '10

Peter Som, you had me at not-afraid-of-color, you had me at Mongolian-lamb, you had me at the very first moment your first model came strutting down that runway.  Armchair fashionistas like myself (even if I could use the connections I have in that department, I'd much rather look at things from the comfort of my own home, thank you), appreciate the interwebs for letting us feel like we were there. 

I recently finished reading Joan Didion's Play It As It Lays, and it has put me in a 70's California gypsy-boho Stevie Nicks kinda mood.  I also saw the film version, which is frustratingly slow-paced, but worth watching for Anthony Perkins alone.  I love the caftans Tuesday Weld wears throughout the film, and have lately been obsessed with finding the perfect coat from that era.  I even found myself liking her crazy poncho, but no worries, I won't be going out dressed as Maria Wyeth anytime soon.  I sorta consider my newfound appreciation for this era rather hilarious, as it's always been one of my least favorites (Steve Nicks notwithstanding), and the recent haute-hippie/boho trends have left me cold. 

Basically, what is up?  I have my finger on the pulse, and so does Peter Som.  I've been looking for a coat with Mongolian lambswool cuffs, sort of like the one Kate Hudson wore in Almost Famous, and striking out left and right, but they're apparently coming our way. 

But back to the man's collection--it's amazing and I loved almost every single piece, so I'm going to have to be extra picky when listing favorites.  I'm just so relieved that Som is back, and that he uses color liberally and to great effect.

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  All pics courtesy of NYMag's coverage of Fashion Week.

Celebrity Lines

I'm not going to review L.A.M.B. or Erin Wasson's line, not because I have something inherently against actors/singers/models deciding they suddenly need to design clothes for a living, but because I wasn't really thrilled with any of it.  The Fall '10 designs for L.A.M.B. are interesting, but I'm going to reserve this space for the tried and true lines I love, and the new ones that blow me away.  I do have to hand it to Gwen Stefani, though--of all the rockstars who decided to become fashion designers, she's the one that seems the most invested in her line.  She seems to really love what gets designed, and wears it out often enough for me to believe it's more than just hype. 

The problem with celebrity lines, though, is that often the celebrity in question has this amazing style that somebody tells her she needs to bottle and sell.  This can work.  Kate Moss's TopShop collection is in its 9th season and doing quite well.  But then I look at someone like Erin Wasson, who is probably as revered for her personal style as Kate Moss is in some circles, and I just think, no.  Whatever you have, it doesn't translate.  It won't work for me.  Wasson may yet find her footing, but I don't need to see more T-shirt dresses and faux-fur vests.  None of it seems particularly "designed" to me.  It looks like someone told her that she wore X item really well, so she made X item for the masses.  And let me tell you, nothing lo-fi, cut-off and raggedy that Erin Wasson looks amazing wearing is going to look amazing on me.  So there's that aspect of it, too.  But she's a cool chick, and I'm looking forward to seeing if her line evolves.

Reading My *Mind* -- Ports 1961 Fall '10 RTW

So lately I've been in a lambswool/shearling kinda mood.  Pretty much obsessed with it, actually.  Blame Hanneli, Tommy Ton's continuing obsession with the '04 Balenciaga aviator jacket, and Rick Owens' everything.  With the unveiling of what Ports 1961 offers up for fall, I can now rest easy that I'm not the only one on this particular bandwagon.  (Here's the thing about being the only person obsessed with something--it means no one is making it and therefore you (me) go crazy looking and looking, to no avail.  Hates.)  Designer Tia Cibani isn't afraid to use leather, either, and I like that in a woman.  So far I'm loving a whole lot of this show, even though its main color appears to be tan (oh tan!  you are the "color" of neutrals and I don't really love you).  Despite that, all of the shapes are amazing--great architectural details and structuring.  The satins look like liquid; the coats are gorgeous.  Most of all, everything looks incredibly cozy and perfect for cold, snowy winter.  I have lots of favorites, and I won't gush about each one, but will not be able to help myself on a few of them.  For example, this leather dress?  I *love* it.  So much.

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Aren't these outfits just so warm and cozy-looking?  (Also, did I not call the aviator cap thing a hundred years ago?  Yes, I sure did.)

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I love this dress to bits--want it immediately.

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  I could, quite probably, be convinced to off someone for this coat.  J/K.  Ok, maybe.  But it's just so amazing:

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  Here are a few other pieces I'd gladly take:

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The Continuing Saga of Grey and Black: Vena Cava Fall '10 RTW

Oh, Vena Cava, I had such high hopes for you.  I have to say, the collection is incredibly wearable, but that kind of translates a bit to "boring" in my book, since I'm kind of all about the theatre of fashion, the drama of it.  And you started off so well!  I love this woman, whoever she is.  This outfit is really all about the styling, and the necklace with the open, low v-neck of the dress just makes her so upscale-bohemian-chic that I want to hang out in her study and form part of her salon: 

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And I really love the practicality of this hooded wool coat.  It looks very comfy.  You featured it twice, but the 2nd time I hated the belt with it, so I'm featuring Ms. Fall Shorts instead: 

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This dress is the typical sexy LBD, a little bit Kate-Moss-for-Topshop, but the belt is cool and I dig the whole vibe:   

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This is something I could find at Banana Republic, but I like what you've done with it:

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I know you are all about the wearable, and that's a good thing to be in this economy.  Black and tan and grey--you can't go wrong with neutrals, they say.  Or can you?  I really don't mean to damn you with faint praise.  The clothes are lovely, really.  It's not you, it's me.  I need more excitement in my life.

BCBG Max Azria RTW Fall '10

My boy Max Azria was feeling a little bit Mondrian, a little bit grey, a little bit about the drapey elements of togas.  Did it all work?  I'm not in love, sad to say.  There were a few moments in the show that really stood out, but for the most part, I felt very ho-hum about it.  There's no doubt that it was all beautiful fabric, beautifully draped and designed, but nothing popped out and made me want it *now* the way I usually do with this line.  Still, I love Azria too much to just ignore his contributions, so these were a few of my faves.  (Side note:  I am so tired of grey and black for fall, but I think that's just the way it's going to be for yet another season). 

My fave, because I'm a sucker for sparkles: 

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Even though this is all black, I love the shape of the different pieces: 

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Here's some of the drapey for you:

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  I kind of love this weird side-kilt thing going on here:

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All pics courtesy of NYMag's amazing coverage of Fashion Week.

  

Lee (Alexander) McQueen

Just heard the sad news that Alexander McQueen, fashion genius extraordinaire, was found dead today, an alleged suicide.  I am stunned.  Such a tragedy for his family and friends, and such a loss for the world at large.  I don't have anything brilliant to say.  I will miss his vision.  I hope he is now at peace. 

Alexander McQueen

You've just got to love a man who wears a kilt with a Mickey Mouse sweatshirt.  You will be missed, Mr. McQueen.