BLAZ'D AND CONFUS'D

TOP-10 RESORT COUNTDOWN (#1)

2010-07-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

With fear of the recession wobbling on its sides like a top tired from spinning, designers are losing the drive to WOW its customers. It could be that the "new" customer understands design and quality, and is no longer distracted by the bells and whistles of a runway presentation. The "new" customer is shopping smarter, looking for designers to convince them from concept to completion.

Nevertheless there were still some resort collections to note. Here's my #1 pick

Lanvin

Alber Elbaz has an uncanny knack for making his interpretation of basics yours (even though they happen to be the most luxuriously left-field interpretations of "wardrobe essentials" on the market). If there's one thing that draws people to Lanvin it's the surprises--in construction, pattern, fit, fabric. It's never as it seems with Elbaz, and resort 2010 was no exception.

TOP-10 RESORT COUNTDOWN (#2)

2010-07-04T20:31:00.000-07:00

With fear of the recession wobbling on its sides like a top tired from spinning, designers are losing the drive to WOW its customers. It could be that the "new" customer understands design and quality, and is no longer distracted by the bells and whistles of a runway presentation. The "new" customer is shopping smarter, looking for designers to convince them from concept to completion.

Nevertheless there were still some resort collections to note. Here's my #2 pick

Givenchy

Ricardo Tisci is moving cult-ward. With an increasing following and an even greater depth of voice in mass-retail inspiration, Tisci has achieved a status that many designers will never see. Much similar to Heidi Slimane's hold on menswear at the turn of the century, Tisci and his direction at Givenchy has turned heads, attracting us all to a silhouette and lifestyle previously off our radar. For resort he kept the look minimal, forward and strong.

TOP-10 RESORT COUNTDOWN (#3)

2010-07-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

With fear of the recession wobbling on its sides like a top tired from spinning, designers are losing the drive to WOW its customers. It could be that the "new" customer understands design and quality, and is no longer distracted by the bells and whistles of a runway presentation. The "new" customer is shopping smarter, looking for designers to convince them from concept to completion.

Nevertheless there were still some resort collections to note. Here's my #3 pick

Proenza Schouler

Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough took their hip-chic (who always seems to resemble Wednesday Adams as an heiress whose hobbies include traveling, Bergdorf and brunch)to India. If Marc Jacobs captured the heart of NYC in the 80s and 90s, Jack and Lazaro's brand is the definitive voice of modern, edgy American sportswear. Dare I not mention the insane primary colored PS1s!!!

TOP-10 RESORT COUNTDOWN (#4)

2010-07-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

With fear of the recession wobbling on its sides like a top tired from spinning, designers are losing the drive to WOW its customers. It could be that the "new" customer understands design and quality, and is no longer distracted by the bells and whistles of a runway presentation. The "new" customer is shopping smarter, looking for designers to convince them from concept to completion.

Nevertheless there were still some resort collections to note. Here's my #4 pick

Alexander McQueen

Since his unexpected suicide in February the fashion crowd has been full of questions regarding the design house that revolutionized the way the western world saw fashion. Most of these questions were left unasked for fear of assuming that grief has a time line. No one wanted to ask "Too Soon?"

Sarah Burton, his longtime right hand woman and director of the house, stayed true to McQueen's drama. It'll take time for Burton to find her way.

TOP-10 RESORT COUNTDOWN (#5)

2010-07-01T23:36:00.000-07:00

With fear of the recession wobbling on its sides like a top tired from spinning, designers are losing the drive to WOW its customers. It could be that the "new" customer understands design and quality, and is no longer distracted by the bells and whistles of a runway presentation. The "new" customer is shopping smarter, looking for designers to convince them from concept to completion.

Nevertheless there were still some resort collections to note. Here's my #5 pick

Prada

No list of top collections is complete without two sense from Miuccia Prada. If there's anything she does well it's setting the tone for an industry. Prada knows that fashion has its ear plugged into her pulse, so in an elegant nonchalance the bitch went casual: denim, socks and sandals, the good life and leisure.

TOP-10 RESORT COUNTDOWN (#6)

2010-07-01T23:14:00.000-07:00

With fear of the recession wobbling on its sides like a top tired from spinning, designers are losing the drive to WOW its customers. It could be that the "new" customer understands design and quality, and is no longer distracted by the bells and whistles of a runway presentation. The "new" customer is shopping smarter, looking for designers to convince them from concept to completion.

Nevertheless there were still some resort collections to note. Here's my #6 pick

Helmut Lang

I've always seen Helmut Lang as a commercial extension of high-modernity that came from the leading voices of 90s design (Margiela, Kawakubo, McQueen). It's commercial success is no surprise because the structure of the house is solid. For resort Helmut Lang continued moving forward in shape and construction with a lightness and sophistication that was just aggressive enough.

GAGA RA RA RICHARDSON

2010-07-01T22:25:00.000-07:00

Lady GaGa by Terry Richardson for Rolling Stone. Amazing.

TOP-10 RESORT COUNTDOWN (#7)

2010-07-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

With fear of the recession wobbling on its sides like a top tired from spinning, designers are losing the drive to WOW its customers. It could be that the "new" customer understands design and quality, and is no longer distracted by the bells and whistles of a runway presentation. The "new" customer is shopping smarter, looking for designers to convince them from concept to completion.

Nevertheless there were still some resort collections to note. Here's my #7 pick

Celine

Taking minimalism a step farther, Phoebe Philo of Celine is pushing the Celine woman to a new realm of understated bliss. Ready for the ride? It's sure to be smooth, clean, exciting.

TOP-10 RESORT COUNTDOWN (#8)

2010-07-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

With fear of the recession wobbling on its sides like a top tired from spinning, designers are losing the drive to WOW its customers. It could be that the "new" customer understands design and quality, and is no longer distracted by the bells and whistles of a runway presentation. The "new" customer is shopping smarter, looking for designers to convince them from concept to completion.

Nevertheless there were still some resort collections to note. Here's my #8 pick

TSE (pronounced "say")

A veteran on the scene, TSE is primarily known for their unbelievably luxurious knits. The resort collection was fresh and young, a great follow-up to the fall capsule collection by Jason Wu.

TOP-10 RESORT COUNTDOWN (#9)

2010-07-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

MUST READ -- SONNY PHOTOS

2010-07-01T19:51:00.000-07:00

A must read for all those who want to know about all the fun (and none of the madness) backstage and off the runway.

SONNY PHOTOS

TOP-10 RESORT COUNTDOWN (#10)

2010-07-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

KARLIE, SPREAD 'EM!

2010-07-01T18:53:00.000-07:00

Dior F/W 2010

LES FILLEN EN VOGUE

2010-06-22T03:19:00.000-07:00

Sessilee Lopez in 25 Magazine

This is simply major.

"Les Filles en Vogue" is a 52 min. documentary, directed by Clarissa Verrier, that gives the public an in-depth look at the real lives of top models Sasha Pivovarova, Freja Beha, Natasha Poly, Constance Jablonski and Sessilee Lopez. It's the ultimate indulgence for fashion-masochists who can't help but be concerned with the effortless lives of the rich, famous and famously beautiful even though it leaves us/them green, mossed over, almost to the point of festering.

The sensation much larger than a truly delicious prick to the finger, this documentary gives you the blood sugar and pulse (some of the alcoholism, none of the coke) of the people whose pictures and personalities have come to epitomize the fashion industry.

THEYSKENS IS BACK

2010-05-27T03:20:00.000-07:00

Olivier Theyskens, French Vogue 2007

After a rather abrupt exit from fashion’s center stage, Olivier Theyskens is returning to the workroom accepting an offer to design a capsule collection for Theory. The collection is set to hit stores in spring/summer 2011.

Theyskens--whose name is synonymous with forward, poetic design--has been the artistic director for both Rochas and Nina Ricci. The collection for Theory will be the first public presentation Olivier Theyskens has made since he ended his tenure at Nina Ricci after a captivating fall 2009 collection.

Nina Ricci fall 2009

It'll be interesting to see how Theory, a mid-tier contemporary brand, will accommodate the vision of a designer coming from stints at some of fashion's most prestigious ready-to-wear houses.

Harper’s Bazaar 2007

MUST HAVE: Olivier Theyskens: The Other Side of the Picture .

The book offers a behind-the-scenes look at Theyskens’ career filled with 150 illustrations and images–shot by French photographer Julien Claessens–and written with Vogue’s Sally Singer.

REMEMORIZED

2010-05-26T06:36:00.000-07:00

Vogue Italia, March 2010

With the lights off and
Fingers arced like the backs of caterpillars
I put back a panting memory,
Fallen.

Its futile flops made splashing sounds
And sticky places on the floor
Llike mâché spilled on protective plastic

Two fingers pleading peace split the lips
And then thrust it under the paperclips
Attached to the folds inside
Where dried low tack make
Like holding blades
To the corners of the mouth

Another falls
And the sound perturbs.
I repeat the process
Maniacally stapling leaves to trees
Hoping to hold back the progression of the seasons.

A. MCQUEEN BY DANNY ROBERTS

2010-05-26T05:57:00.001-07:00

LET'S PLAY HOUSE

2010-05-26T05:48:00.000-07:00

LOHAN OUT, GILES IN

2010-05-26T04:20:00.000-07:00

Giles pre-fall 2010

Giles Deacon, a leading voice in the London design new-wave, has just confirmed his position as creative director for Emanuel Ungaro. The house of Ungaro has received much attention recently for its too-rapid turnover of creative directors.

The last, pop-fuck up Lindsay Lohan nearly ruined the house's reputation with her lack of experience. Now that she's dropped the ball at Ungaro, after having dropped all the coke on her feet, investors are looking to London for a fresh take to revive the house.

Lohan in coke-pumps

After the fall of punk and grunge London's hand moved further into fashion's periphery. Until very recently, that is, where a new school of young talent is producing conceptual design that is moving the London fashion scene forward and making its designers undeniably strong competitors in the market. Gareth Pugh, Christopher Kane (who was recently brought on to design for Versus) and Giles Deacon are just a few examples of this new direction.

Deacon's first collection for Ungaro will be presented in October in Paris. "She's a super sexy," said Deacon in an interview with Vogue UK about the new Ungaro girl.

"Very French, sophisticated, slightly cheeky and playful woman, all the things we think of when we think of Parisian women. With Ungaro we'll be working with lace, a whole different colour palette, differing prints, interesting cuts - it's difficult to describe the differences from my own line verbally but they'll be obviously different aesthetics when you see the collections."

Critics will be paying much attention to Ungaro come fall.

STAND OUT

2010-05-26T04:14:00.000-07:00

PRADA SPRING 2010

2010-05-26T04:09:00.000-07:00

OH SASHA P, I LOVE THEE

2010-05-21T22:45:00.000-07:00

W Magazine June 2010

Marc Jacobs fall 2010

FRANCE...ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS

2010-05-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

DAVID LYNCH -- DIOR "LADY BLUE SHANGHAI

2010-05-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

TITUS ANDRONICUS -- A MORE PERFECT UNION

2010-05-17T11:09:00.000-07:00

Love the song. I just think it's weird seeing them in a music video. Stay tuned for pictures from from their concert at La Fleche D'or

"I am in earnest; I will not equivocate; I will not excuse; I will not retreat a single inch; and I will be heard." William Lloyd Garrison

BROCANTE -- MA PETITE PUCE (PORTE DE CLIGNANCOURT)

2010-05-17T05:23:00.000-07:00

Brocante is one of the many names given to flea markets here in France. I love them.

Although most of the brocantes in Paris are for the "one man's trash, another man's treasure" crowd, Porte de Clignancourt is not the case.

Pass through the men selling Santos de Cartier knock-offs and hash, and you're at a flea market for collectors.

ANNA + OLIVIER

2010-05-15T10:18:00.002-07:00

GIGGLES

2010-05-15T10:18:00.001-07:00

OLD NEWS-- VIELLES NOUVELLES

2010-05-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

"WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME?" BEYONCE

2010-05-10T04:53:00.000-07:00

SEAN O' ON THE VIDEO PHONE

2010-05-10T03:38:00.001-07:00

These videos are a little too much like Zoolander-model caricature (esp the first directed by Dean Isidro for GQ China ), but they feature Sean O'Pry...and I want to go to his 21st birthday party this summer on July 5th.

GIVENCHY FALL 2010 + SCHUBERT'S AVE MARIA

2010-05-10T03:33:00.000-07:00

KELIS KELIS KELIS

2010-05-10T02:30:00.000-07:00

I DID NOT RETOUCH THIS PIC...IT WAS JUST SERENDIPITY + THE UNADULTERATED PASSION OF A TRUE ARTIST

Although she made me wait over 2 hours for a 30min mini-concert, I think it's safe to say Kelis is back, not exactly bossy-back or I-hate-you-so-much-right-now back definitely making some club-heavy music.

I saw her at La Fleche D’or a week ago and the short show was well worth the wait.

FUR + INVITE

2010-05-08T13:20:00.000-07:00

QUELLE BAGUE

2010-05-08T13:19:00.000-07:00

BAG ENVY

2010-05-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

GIVENCHY FALL 2010 CAMPAIGN

2010-05-07T10:56:00.000-07:00

Riccardo Tisci, creative director of Givenchy, is the bronze and brains of the new generation of forward-thinking designers. Brought on to breath life into a decaying couture house in 2005, Tisci is long done with the defribulator and is on to turning Givenchy into a strong competitor in a race more crowed with celebrity than the conceptual.

If Alexander Wang makes the look that young women want and the Olsens make pieces women need, Riccardo Tisci designs the clothes women dare to wear--not to mention his widely celebrated line of menswear that, like Slimane's reign at Dior Homme, pulls the stubborn mule of the men's market forward.

I do all this to say that the fall 2010 campaign for Givenchy is INCREDIBLE. It features Lea T, Tisci's longtime personal assistant, former fit model and a woman of Brazilian decent who has long denouced her previous reality; a Brazilian man by the name of Leo.

The campaign was styled by Carine Roitfeld and shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. CLICK for the WWD article where Tisci gives his two cents on the campaign

NOW LISTENING: BRAZILIAN GIRLS

2010-05-07T04:25:00.000-07:00

Grace à Garrido, I've been really into the trippy, indie-pop group Brazilian Girls--a group in which none of the member from Brazil and only one of the members is a girl.

Here's Wiki's say (feel free to click as you please, you never know what you'll learn from good ol' Wiki):

Brazilian Girls is a band from New York City known for their eclectic blend of electronic dance music with musical styles as diverse as tango, chanson, house, reggae and lounge.^[1] None of the members are actually from Brazil and the only female in the band is lead singer Sabina Sciubba^[2]. Other members include keyboardist Didi Gutman, drummer Aaron Johnston and former bassist Jesse Murphy.^[1]

The band has released three studio albums up to date: Their self titled debut album in 2005; their second album, entitled Talk to La Bomb, released in September 2006; and third album New York City, released on August 5, 2008.

THIS REMIX IS SOOOOOO SICK

PARIS- MENSWEAR .NEUF

2010-05-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

Although it's still "okay" for guys to take the simple road, a little effort goes a LONG way. Check out these guys taking the road less traveled:

Tommy Ton of Jak & Jil

Tommy Ton's shoes

PARIS --BIBLIOTHÈQUE F. MITTERAND

2010-05-06T08:17:00.001-07:00

Interview Magazine March 2010

She's a member of the Wang Gang:

TENNIS GRIEVANCES

2010-03-16T19:55:00.000-07:00

SHOOT ME THIS WAY, IT'S MY GOOD SIDE

2010-02-19T11:23:00.000-08:00

We need to all get in to the side view of Mary-Kate at Proenza Schouler

BEHIND THE LENS: TOMMY TON

2010-02-19T11:12:00.001-08:00

The new Sartorialist on the block is undeniably Tommy Ton.

Replacing the original streetstyle-documenting legend on both Style.com and GQ.com, Tommy Ton has a eye for real fashion; the fashion that lives, moves and is, as much as some might argue against it's existence, functionally fabulous.

Here a look at the man behind the lens sitting front-row at Calvin Klein:

OF MODELS, AND SUCH

2010-02-15T12:05:00.000-08:00

Karlie Kloss, Spring 2010 Couture Jean Paul Gaultier

“What happens when these girls develop and turn into women?” Mr. Scully asked. “What’s going to happen to Karlie Kloss,” he added, referring to the teenager discovered at a charity benefit fashion show in her native St. Louis and now one of the most desirable models in the business, “when she develops breasts?”

ARTICLE "A Model’s Prospects: Slim and None"

GIANT STEPS

2010-02-15T09:15:00.001-08:00

Truly a classic. Each note that Coltrane plays is shown on a digital score throughout the video.

I don't play the sax, but this is awesome:

WHERE IS ERYKAH BADU AT?

2010-02-15T08:50:00.001-08:00

Little Wayne asked, now he's featured on her newest single and video, "Jump Up In The Air (Stay There)":

KATE MOSS IN LOVE MAGAZINE

2010-02-15T08:34:00.000-08:00

3.1 PHILLIP LIM MENSWEAR FALL 2010

2010-02-15T01:35:00.000-08:00

I've always had a soft spot for Phillip Lim, largely because I was lucky enough to sit second row, behind Suzy Menkes, for his spring 2009 show in New York.

It was the collection that saw the premier of Lim's Louboutin collaboration, featuring studded slip-ons for men and ruffled platforms and gladiators for women. Both styles were unabashedly copied by mass-producing competitors.

Anyway, since that show I've watched Lim's vision develop. He makes great clothes, young clothes, at a competitive price-point. It's no surprise that he's staying afloat in this economy, where most people are gasping for air.

If surviving during a time of marginalized luxury means making great clothes that people are willing to pay for, I don't know what variable is hardest to solve; does Lim have superior taste or is he offering something more than just great clothes? There has to be a reason why many designers are sinking.

Unlike Paris, New York designers--save for Marc Jacobs, Chado Ralph Rucci and Proenza Schouler--are less concerned with concepts and more concerned with making alluring clothes.

Now that most people are ashamed of impulse shopping, the post-recession customer is more clever. They're asking more of designers, asking for more technique, better cut and fit. Most of all they're asking for clothes that make them think.

Maybe that's the changing climate of the New York design scene that Suzy Menkes is talking about. Designers are having to think harder than ever before. Actually become artists instead of celebrities.

Phillip Lim's menswear collection was impressive, the tailoring spot-on. He, like many other forward-thinking menswear designers, is challenging men to think differently. Leather jodhpurs with a matching peter pan-collard oxford shirt? Why Not?

The collection was well done because he showed a level of restraint. While reinterpreting classic menswear silhouettes he kept the color palette simple, as if to say, "These clothes are for making you think, not for causing confusion."

HIGH MARKS: PETER SOM FALL 2010

2010-02-14T10:20:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock., Peter Som showed that he knows how to make luxurious clothes for the girl who just wants to have fun.

For fall 2010 his uptown girl got a hit of acid and a bold lip, that's in addition to a sick wardrobe.

Unlike Jason Wu who took to fabrics with the grace of Augustus Gloop, look after look was a testament to Som's ability to take risks without sacrificing a refined taste:

LOOKING UP

2010-02-14T09:58:00.000-08:00

ADAM fall 2010

I enjoyed ADAM's fall 2010 collection, especially after being in Paris for about two weeks.

Paris has truly made me appreciate minimalistic living and dressing. No distractions; ideas only in things (Thanks, Williams Carlos Williams).

This look from ADAM had to be my favorite from the collection. The top, which looks like an elegant rendition of 80s workout garb, is beautifully embellished.

But what I love most are the lines--clean, simple and all pointing upward.

An optimistic collection, for sure.

On and on - Erykah Badu (Acapella)

2010-02-11T10:15:00.000-08:00

R.I.P ALEXANDER MCQUEEN

2010-02-11T08:45:00.000-08:00

Alexander McQueen with Naomi Campbell (forgive the craziness) and Kate Moss in 2004.

Just yesterday I was checking to see if the press information for Paris Fashion Week had been released, and of course, rolling through the names of designers that make fashion, I began to ponder what McQueen would be doing for his fall 2010 collection.

For fall McQueen usually takes a break from his Rorschach prints, and hits us with his classics--Victorian-inspired silhouettes, nods to the British monarch (always with a twist).

To say that his death came as a surprise to me means nothing, I didn't know the man outside a delicious profile written by Queen Horyn in an issue of T not too long ago.

There's nothing to say that Eric Wilson of The New York Times has not already said, but I do wonder what Paris Fashion Week will be like without its headlining performance.

IF YOU THOUGHT MCQUEEN COULDN'T GET ANY BETTER

2010-01-22T13:28:00.001-08:00

Raquel Zimmerman...McQueen spring 2010

YSL - - Ain't Nothin' Like The Real Thing

2010-01-22T13:27:00.001-08:00

-Bruce Weber Short Film Fall/Winter 2010-11

YSL - Fall/Winter 2010-11 Collection Homme Fashion Show

I NEED

2010-01-21T08:48:00.001-08:00

THANKS TOMMY TON

2010-01-18T11:23:00.001-08:00

Tommy Ton snaps Sean O on the exhale

For more looks at the scene in and around the shows CLICK

LATEST PURCHASES

2010-01-18T11:15:00.000-08:00

Vintage Bill Blass aviators:

JIL SANDER FALL 2010

2010-01-17T02:43:00.000-08:00

I'll never be able to understand how Raf Simons, creative director of Jil Sander, has made a business out of making the ridiculous shockingly sophisticated and appropriate. Unlike younger designers, he's not screaming with megaphones and tweets that he's an artist. For Simons his craft dictates his skill and not the quality of his PR.

When watching his shows there isn't even a face connected with the designs as with collections by Marc Jacobs, Miuccia Prada or any one of Karl Lagerfeld's many design endeavors. Unlike these designers, you aren't expecting a jolly trot, finale curtain peek-a-boo or a dramatic bow and exeunt from Raf Simons. But you know, undeniably, that you're seeing art made functional without the nutty, sometimes superfluous, cliches.

For fall 2010 Simons played with dimension-- a very relevant issue with the media and, apparently, fashion.

Unlike over at Halston, the industry has yet to grow tired of Raf Simon's revisions of the ultra-minimalist aesthetic Jil Sander popularized in the 80s and 90s--we're talking about an industry that imagines, creates and mass produces trends around the clock. By the look of his most recent collections for Jil Sander we won't be getting bored anytime soon:

THANKS TOMMY TON

2010-01-17T02:25:00.000-08:00

No one covers tented and tentless runways like style.com and the new GQ.com. They're both great sites, that's understood.

Their new venture--one that entails hiring the blogosphere's top street style photographers--has been has proven that fashion's attention span is not that long. We're no longer satisfied by the presentation of ideas. Now everyone keeps their eyes on the trends on the runway and off the front row. It's become apart of the complete package.

But

This picture was extra delicious, and made me yearn more fervently for the future seasons where i will be, legitimately and unabashedly, running shit:

You don even need to see his face to know that he means business.

One day...

CHARLES GUISLAIN

2010-01-15T11:47:00.000-08:00

What was I doing when I was 16?

Check out Charles Guilain's YOUTUBE CHANNEL

NEW RODARTE AT OPENING CEREMONY

2010-01-14T10:34:00.000-08:00

Rodarte fall 08

If you thought the Pasadenian Mulleavy sisters of Rodarte were geniuses before--it was their Edgar Degas horror ballerinas that got me hooked--you ain't seen nothing yet!

Three words: Rodarte for men

@Opening Ceremony (click pics to see more product shots)

VAMPIRE WEEKEND'S "CONTRA"

2010-01-14T10:21:00.000-08:00

SKINS SKINS SKINS

2010-01-14T08:50:00.000-08:00

If you haven't heard of Skins--the exquisite, artsy, Degrassi for the Brits--you must get in!

Here's the Skins youtube channel: CLICK (open this link in a new tab/window)

TOP-5 PRE-FALL 2010

2010-01-14T06:54:00.000-08:00

It's always refreshing when designers let you know--with shape, cut, color, showing rather than speaking--that they are more than tailors and seamstresses.

Sophisticated designers have moved pasted molding fabric to the body. The good ones, the ones worth our attention, are more concerned with molding the fabric around their distinct aesthetic, their concepts.

It was a truly amazing seeing designers take risks with their pre-fall collections, a season traditionally reserved for fill-ins, basics and filling re-orders. Of the collections here are my top-5 in no particular order but the right one:

Missoni-
The Look: Beatnik Barbey goes to Russia. Then Paris to drink coffee for an hour.
The Trends: Textured leggings, prints, indefinite layering

Proenza Schouler-
The Look: Modern schoolboy drag king knows how to par-tay
The Trends: short-shorts, proportion play, the drop-waist, true-waist

Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough will introduce a 25-piece capsule collection of lower-priced items

Balenciaga-
The Look: Space girl office-type paints part-time, and takes psychedelics
The Trends: Primary color tights, kaleidoscope silhouettes, Hermann Rorschach prints

Yes, the hosiery will be for sale, and for a very nice, under-$100 price.
Platforms inspired by the French industrial designer Charlotte Perriand

Givenchy-
The Look: Dramatic jetsetter of no particular age (only that she's less that 40 or has the best surgeon in Europe)
The Trends: Soft embellishments, DRAMA, muted color palette

The brand's über-popular Nightingale bag now comes as a trolley carry-on.
Riccardo Tisci was inspired by 1974 film Emmanuelle

Burberry Prorsum
The Look: The Roitfelds do it up, not too big, just enough
The Trends: Lean lines, belts, minimal outerwear

Christopher Bailey was inspired by World War I uniforms

BEST VERSION COMMON FT. PHARRELL - U.M.C.

2010-01-12T07:58:00.000-08:00

MATT & KIM YEA YEAH FLOSSTRADAMUS REMIX

2010-01-12T07:40:00.000-08:00

MUST READ

2009-12-22T15:00:00.000-08:00

README

I FOUND YOU LYNN

2009-12-22T14:28:00.000-08:00

Mickey Boardman, Paper, and Lynn Yaeger at Charlotte Ronson

Ever since Lynn Yaeger got her not-so-cute pink slip from the Village Voice the fashion-publication world has never been the same. It seems like her dismissal was all the evidence we needed to prove that we were in deep shit.

BUT

There's no need to fear, the Yaeger-meister is a contributor to Sundance Channel's Full Frontal Fashion blog...

Check her out!

WITHOUT A DOPE BEAT TO STEP TO

2009-12-22T11:13:00.001-08:00

YOU CAN TURN YOUR BACK ON A BITTER WORL

2009-12-21T03:24:00.000-08:00

R.I.P BRITTANY MURPHY

2009-12-20T18:22:00.001-08:00

NOSTALGIA

2009-12-20T13:36:00.000-08:00

nostalgia.

Like it?

Here's the link to part two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN7hrnlhxxI

OPENING CEREMONY'S TOP COLLABOS

2009-12-19T18:58:00.001-08:00

My love for Opening Ceremony was solidified when I saw the Olsen Twins at their party in Japan wearing Prada and LV bunny ears.

I'm always surprised by their presentation. How they succeed at competing with the Bergdorfs and Barneys is beyond me. They sell some of the BIG names that are in fashion's most luxurious department stores, but the Opening Ceremony co-founders Carol Lim and Humberto Leon manage to keep it fresh and ultra-modern.

Well, without further ado, here are my favorite OC collaborations (in no particular order, I don't discriminate). Click images to be linked to more!:

OC x Where The Wild Things Are

OC x Billykirk

OC x Pendleton

OC x Timex

OC x Chloë Sevigny

OC x Keds

PENELOPE ON SNL

2009-12-19T17:33:00.000-08:00

Penelope: I have. I used this recipe before so, just used that recipe before, so my mom used to make that kind of brownie, so I grew up with that kinda brownie soo their not new to me soo just make them all the time so made them before.

Penelope: Yeah I live in 1c, so just one more floor closer to the ground, so in case theirs a fire, I'd probably get out a lot easier than a lot of people, so just safer soo I just like it.

Penelope: Yeah I'm going to italy too soo going to fly first class or something soo you know.

Penelope: I'm going to go for four months soo, twice as long then he's going soo just a little bit longer sooo

Penelope: My cat passed away tooo sooo his name was whiskers magee the first sooo, he was 17 years old so just a little bit older than her cat soo it died a few minutes ago too sooo just effects me more soo.

Penelope: my cat was my child I was pregnant with my cat... I gave birth to it sooo I had my cat baby in the hospital and I had my cat baby shower soo a lot of people there soo.

THINKING ALLIE B.

2009-12-19T17:23:00.000-08:00

Silence & Noise Lace Unitard

Kimchi Blue Lace Bodysuit

SASHA + MUSIC + VOGUE

2009-12-19T10:53:00.001-08:00

Sasha Pivovarova and Badwan from The Horrors

Sasha Pivovarova and Mika

Sasha Pivovarova and MGMT

Sasha Pivovarova and The Horrors

Sasha Pivovarova and Vampire Weekend

Sasha Pivovarova and Adam Green

Sasha Pivovarova and Golden Silvers

Sasha Pivovarova and Chester French

RODARTE FOR TARGET HITS SUNDAY

2009-12-19T08:47:00.001-08:00

Rodarte + Target collaboration hits stores and online this Sunday and will remain available through January 31.

Images: Fashionologie

GQ TOP MALE MODELS

2009-12-19T08:41:00.001-08:00

O, SEAN O

2009-12-19T08:34:00.000-08:00

HEDI HEDI HEDI

2009-12-19T08:25:00.001-08:00

I just checked my email and got on of the best season's greetings messages from V Magazine:

It's a short video by photographer/menswear innovator Hedi Slimane staring Oscar Nilsson from the Royal Danish Ballet Theater.

Enjoy

FLASHY PYTHON

2009-12-18T12:32:00.001-08:00

I saw these guys open for Dr. Dog in Philly. Enjoy.

WOOD-INDUCING OUTERWEAR

2009-12-18T12:23:00.000-08:00

Just had to share:

MCQ Black Leather Jacket @ SSENSE

MCQ Cropped Navy Peacoat @ SSENSE

STEALING

2009-12-18T12:19:00.000-08:00

LARA STONE TELLS ALL

2009-12-18T12:04:00.000-08:00

CLICK PIC FOR THE ARTICLE

When you’re a model, nobody calls you fat. “What they say is ‘curvy,’ but you know they mean fat,” says Lara Stone, who is Dutch and so soft-spoken, you have to lean forward to hear what she’s saying. However, she enunciates that word—fat—clearly and forcefully, as if it were caught at the back of her throat. The word hovers over the din of the hotel lobby where we are seated in downtown Manhattan, laced with irony and just a tinge of bitterness. After all, there is nothing remotely fat about supermodel Stone, who stands five feet ten and wears a size 4. As Karl Lagerfeld, a fan, says, “Lara Stone has a gorgeous woman’s body.”

IVY YOUTUBE CHANNELS

2009-12-18T10:03:00.000-08:00

YALE

PRINCETON

HARVARD

MI LORD

2009-12-18T09:47:00.000-08:00

No one has loved prostitutes like Edith Piaf. Some love their sex, but Piaf loved their strength and hearts:

If you want a good read about the personality of prostitution, Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye has an amazing cameo of whores with outlandish laughs and pasts:

"Three merry gargoyles. Three merry

harridans. Amused by a long ago time of ignorance. They did not

belong to those generations of prostitutes created in novels,

with great and generous hearts, dedicated, because of the horror

of circumstance, to ameliorating, the luckless, barren life of

men, taking money incidentally and humbly for their

"understanding." Nor were they from that sensitive breed of young

girl, gone wrong at the hands of fate, forced to cultivate an

outward brittleness in order to protect her springtime from

further shock, but knowing full well she was cut out for better

things, and could make the right man happy. Neither were they the

sloppy, inadequate whores who, unable to make a living at it

alone, turn to drug consumption and traffic or pimps to help

complete their scheme of self-destruction, avoiding suicide only

to punish the memory of some absent father or to sustain the

misery of some silent mother. Except for Marie's fabled love for

Dewey Prince, these women hated men, all men, without

shame, apology, or discrimination. They abused their visitors

with a scorn grown mechanical from use. Black men, white men,

Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Jews, Poles, whatever--all were

inadequate and weak, all came under their jaundiced eyes and were

the recipients of their disinterested wrath. They took delight in

cheating them. On one occasion the town well knew, they lured a

Jew up the stairs, pounced on him, all three, held him up by the

heels, shook everything out of his pants pockets, and threw him

out of the window. Neither did they have respect for women, who,

although not their colleagues, so to speak, nevertheless deceived

their husbands--regularly or irregularly, it made no difference.

"Sugar-coated whores," they called them, and did not yearn to be

in their shoes. Their only respect was for what they would have

described as "good Christian colored women." The woman whose

reputation was spotless, and who tended to her family, who didn't

drink or smoke or run around. These women had their undying, if

covert, affection. They would sleep with their husbands, and take

their money, but always with a vengeance. Nor were they

protective and solicitous of youthful innocence. They looked back

on their own youth as a period of ignorance, and regretted that

they had not made more of it. They were not young girls in

whores' clothing, or whores regretting their loss of innocence.

They were whores in whores' clothing, whores who had never been

young and had no word for innocence."

I do all of this to say I love the tribute to les filles de la nuit in the December issue of Vogue España.

The chronicles the glamorous career of a high-priced whore. I love it. Love. Love.

APRIL IS..

2009-12-15T13:16:00.000-08:00

You have to love his accent!

WO WEILEST DU?

2009-12-15T13:13:00.000-08:00

Chanel Iman for December issue of Vogue Germany

A NO-BRAINER

2009-12-15T11:24:00.001-08:00

MJ Spring 2010 campaign

I love shopping at Marc Jacobs.

Not just because he's amazing, but because he always holds true to his high-low philosophy. So you can go in his garage store-front and pick up a 4-figure pair of cashmere pants, and a cute 2-figure trinket, or a single-figure patch.

This time around, MJ has it down. For only $13 you can get a Marc by Marc Zip Necklace. It's too cute:

Zip Necklace, $13 at Marc by Marc Jacobs Accessories, 385 Bleecker St., nr. Perry St.; 212-924-6126.

FLASHY PYTHON

2009-12-13T11:29:00.001-08:00

DON'T BE CONFUSED

2009-12-13T11:24:00.000-08:00

CLOCKS SLAY TIME

2009-12-13T11:11:00.000-08:00

la mer gunmetal silver square chain wrap

How dope is this?

THE 6TH SCENTS

2009-12-13T09:48:00.000-08:00

OAK NYC has long been one of my favorite specialty boutiques. I love their selection of both well-known and underground collections, and their commitment to their unique buying aesthetic, instead of the rampant label infatuation that plagues boutiques of their size.

Unlike Lady GaGa, they actually have that intuition; they know what's coming next:

Check out OAK's latest venture, where they've collaborated with fashion's young design scene and parfumeurs to come up with a series of scent stories that convey each of their chosen young designer's aesthetic.

For $95 you can get your hands on a signature scent inspired by your favorite designers (and if you know me, I've been in the market for a new fragrance):

series two #1 3.1 phillip lim & natalie gracia-cetto: collage

series two #2 damir doma & yann vasnier: ende/anfang

series two #3 henrik vibskov & louise turner: solar donkey power

series two #4 henry holland & stephen nilsen: smell

series two #5 richard nicoll & rodrigo flores-roux: nicoll 17

series two #6 toga & alexandra kosinski: whiskey caramelise

BUMP IT: BALKAN BEATBOX

2009-12-13T09:45:00.000-08:00

LET'S TALK CREEP CHIC

2009-12-13T09:23:00.000-08:00

Per Zennström for Feld Hommes

Cast: Robert, Jean Luc, Vincent, Felix Bayertz (Viva Berlin), Max (Seeds) and Tom

Styled by Feld Hommes fashion editor Isabelle Thiry

JUST HAD TO SHARE

2009-12-13T09:04:00.000-08:00

DE BAS EN HAUT

2009-12-13T09:01:00.001-08:00

THE FAME MONSTER ?

2009-12-13T08:50:00.000-08:00

I love GaGa, probably because she talks about her music as if there's a dire need to unpack all of the deep, philosophical symbols embedded in her lyrics.

But I live for delusion as much as the next person.

Anyway, my baby Cuban cigar gave me an amazing lesson in GaGa-nomics. This chapter's primary point of discussion was "GaGa for the Holidays."

Just watch, it's going to be okay, da du du:

INTENSITY

2009-11-20T14:38:00.000-08:00

Please, this video will take your breath away.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

2009-11-20T14:31:00.001-08:00

''nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.''

KATE MOSS

MUST READ THE ARTICLE