Angelina's Oscar Moment Lives On: The Slit

We usually associate showing lots of skin with the season of summer, but this fall bearing skin lives on.  

Trend Spotting: The New Peplum

The peplum has taken over our summer wardrobes! And for those of us without hips, peplums provide us with an illusion of having the curves of a woman. Designers this fall have innovated the peplum by subtracting that extra flap of fabric. Viola, the patted hip. Designers have structured the fabric and seams to form an hour glass shape before it even hits your body!

The Shoes & Handbags of Chanel

YSL Channels Anikan

Not that I'm complaining, but what's going on with all the Star Wars references? Combine Balenciaga's hat with that black structured hooded pant suit with the leather sash belt and you've got a great Darth Vader Star Wars costume guaranteed to win first place at any Halloween contest. And the ambience just further suggested a Star Wars theme. With flames sparkling in the background, the setting rendered a scene from Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith when Anikan and Obi-Won-Kanobi are surrounding by lava as they battle it out to the death.  

But enough with the joking. Yves Saint Laurent's Fall 2012 collection had me bursting with joy. Although there'd be no killing or light sabor fighting, the attitudes of these women were just as provoked strength and fierce independence.  In a way there's almost a sadistic feel to it.

Regardless of if YSL was trying to portray a Star Wars inspired collection, which I highly doubt even if the new films are being rereleased in 3D or a dominatrix/sadistic 1980s collection, its safe to say that the collection was one of my favorites.

Roberto Cavalli

Although we are in the midst of fashion's best week, PFW, I'm going to back track to one last collection Milan that blew my socks off.

PETA advocates beware: the fashion you may see features an exuberant amount of furs and animal skin!

In times of such a financial contraction it's fun to be reminded of the luxurious things that no longer fit in our budgets. But I'm reminded of the saying "It's better to have loved and loss, than to have never loved at all. And that's how I feel about fashion, although it's not like I could once afford Roberto Cavalli and now I can't. Anyway...

If there's one thing thats great about Cavalli it's his passion for putting out fashion that's fun and if that meant it gets a little over-the-top, a little extravagant, and a tad bit excessive, than so be it.

This fall season he took to animals because if we know one thing its that Roberto Cavalli likes to release the animal within.  Weather you're a prowling feline, an audacious aligator, a slithering snake, a sly fox, or a mermaid (cue to that peplum dress with a mermaid tail made of sequins that mimic a fish scale) Cavalli has the look for you.

The "Luke I am Your Father" Hat

Spotted: Not one, but two people donning the Balenciaga oversized sun visor in Milan last week. Never could I have predicted that Balenciaga's 2012 runway hat would take to the streets. A functional accessory that blocks out all rays of sun, it seems it'd be the perfect utility for the most experienced sharecropper. That or for ridding the world of red necks. How bout it. Wear one of these and the backs of necks will no longer bear any exposure to the light, hence the elimination of the literal red neck.  But its not the functionality of this over-the-top sun visor that really has me excited. Its the obvious influence of Darth Vader. Come on, how can you overlook that! 

 As a Star Wars fanatic one would expect my exuberance over a Star Wars inspired accessory. And I am, but I think I'm still in shock after not expecting to see these take to the streets. Hopefully, the next the IT accessory will be Princess Leia's braided bun hair. Now that would be a sight to see!

One can only hope.  

So what's that proverb? Good always triumphs evil? Well it seems that the Dark Side has prevailed. 

Anna Dello Russo Smiles for the Cameras

I once saw and photographed Anna Dello Russo outside the Dior show during Paris Haute Couture Week when I was living there this summer, but bragging is not the objective of this post. It's more a post of utter jealousy for only a woman of such statute and fashion prestige can rock that Prada jacket from the Spring 2012 collection.

Also may I use this post to go on a little rant. Can someone please explain to me how in the dead of winter (it is February right?) that our fashion icons today have disregarded the season and prematurely started wearing next seasons clothing?

What happens when its actually summer and into September? Are we going to be wearing Spring 2013's collection? Can we get back on seasonal check here. I'm getting very confused.

And to continue complaining--I don't understand how in one month's time of award shows we've managed to see starts in two different season's worth of gowns. The Golden Globes was all about Spring 2012 and the Oscars was the race to get a Fall 2012 gown off the runway the fastest.

I digress.

Gucci

The design house known for being overtly sexy toned it down a notch by giving us a dark glamor-themed collection that was still whimsical and romantic. It seemed to celebrate the inner sexiness of a woman instead. With a color scheme of dark rich colors of plum, midnight green, and jet black and a collection of sheer dresses and evening gowns there was a further sense of hard-edge sexiness.  But it was that lush velvet that was incorporated into the majority of the look that was the real wow factor (well that and those last six dresses of the collection). The opening look, which is shown to the far left epitomized Frida Giannini's Fall Collection. The plushness of the full-length skirt with the masculinity of the over-sized military jacket just encapsulated the sexy confidence of the entire collection. And although the fashion reviews state that Giannini stayed away from Gucci's 1990s overt sex appeal, I think there is still an ode to the 1990s in that velvet full-length skirt. I can count on both my hands how many of velvet skirts I had in my closet. It seems that now, fifteen years later, the difference is that I want to wear a velvet skirt. 

On a side note: the make up was also phenomenal. Plum-stained lips and pale skin have me embracing my tan-less body in the dead of winter. And those circular sunglasses that the first model wore down the runway are officially on my wishlist for summer shades that I must own. 

And the shoes of look two are just what my closet use for next fall.

Riding Helmets

Yes, the all-American brand, Tommy Hilfiger, didn't surprise the fashion world when he put an equestrian-inspired collection down the runway for Fall 2012, but with American designer Tracy Reese and Italian designer Ermanno Scervino styling models in riding helmets, we've begun to see a trend. Although it seems like the most impractical hat to wear casually, well maybe second to Marc Jacob's furry oversized ridiculous hats, the riding hat connotes sophistication and an all around polished look.




Riding helmets aren't new to the runway. Balenciaga put similar hats down the runway six years earlier for his Fall 2006 collection.