in it to win it

The Olympics begin tomorrow so what better time to write a Fashion blog post! I know that I love to bitch about sports, and how I am basically indifferent to all things athletic.
Well I love me some Olympics!
They come around just often enough for me to get excited.

By now everyone has heard about the scandal of the US team uniforms, designed by Ralph Lauren, being manufactured in China. I think that the bigger scandal is that the uniforms make the athletes look like Parisian flight attendants.
There are other great American designers out there. Oh, who you ask? Well I've just so happened to have rounded up some of my top picks for who could have designed uniforms that wouldn't have our athletes confused with Madeline. 

Alexander Wang. 

Alexander Wang is the Sporty Spice of Fashion. His collections have an inherent athleticism, as if they aren't meant just to look pretty but to be filled with movement and energy. They give of the impression that the body underneath the clothes has to be in peak physical condition, and that the wearer is not someone to be crossed.

Marc Jacobs. 

Or more specifically Marc by Marc Jacobs. What the most intimidating way to look cool and laid back? MarcXMarc can give you all of that and more. Americans already think that they are the fly-est competitors in the world. Why not give them the clothes to match?

   

Prabal Gurung.

Not the most obvious choice but I would love to see some kaleidoscopic red, white, and blue prints make their way through the Parade of Nations. 

   

Jason Wu. 

This guy has a bit of experience when it comes to dressing important Americans.

   

Zac Posen.
OK hear me out. I don't suggest that the Olympics are a place to pull out all the stops, glamor wise. But no one understands how to make tailoring more interesting and beautiful than Zac Posen. I'm not quite sure how he would do with mens wear but I would put my faith in him.

 

Note how I did not include the Michael Kors. I'm always keeping you guessing.

just stop.

Today I was browsing the "What's New" section on Net-A-Porter and was overwhelmed with angst, envy, and greed. Actually let's replace angst with wrath and throw in lust, now I'm rocking over 50% of the 7 deadly sins. It's a cruel joke really, me looking at all of the clothes that I will never own. It's my own personal form of masochism, step aside 50 Shades of Grey.

But lo and behold sitting right next to each other in my digital widow shopping, two perfect pieces that would make up the most epic outfit to encompass my personal style! 

A Lanvin dress and Valentino shoes to make up the most "Emily Foley" ensemble of all time. Throw in a Miu Miu clutch and some of this season's Pucci jewelry, this is the outfit I want to be married/buried in.  It's sick how much time I will spend fantasizing about myself in this outfit. 


Add vanity to my sins. 

23 flawless pieces of Couture

Fall 2012 Couture has come and gone. With only 18 shows total it's easy to take in all of the looks and really pick them apart. I watched and re-watch every show and I came across 23 looks that, to me, were just flawless. At first I planned to make it a nice round number but I couldn't part ways with any of these pieces and didn't want to add any that I found sub-par. 
Some shows dominated, shout out to Chanel, and some fell short, I'm looking at you Maison Martin Margiela. So I give you...the 23 most beautiful and perfect pieces of Fashion from the past season.

From left to right - Jean Paul Gaultier, Ulyana Sergeenko, Elie Saab, Chanel, Ulyana Sergeenko, Armani Prive, Chanel, Chanel, Chanel, Dior, Givenchy, Versace, Elie Saab, Valentino, Jean Paul Gaultier, Giambattista Valli, Valentino, Armani Prive, Dior, Giambattista Valli, Valentino, Giambattista Valli, Giambattista Valli, and the black Elie Saab again for symmetry and because it's that awesome.

Blame archetypal storytelling or my insistence on couture transcending traditional wear but I feel that the Fashion that I am most attracted to would be worn by a daydreaming princess locked in a tower or more often by the evil queen by whom she was banished. 

Here's to a great season!

the trouble with it all

I'm at odds. This whole Fashion thing, I'm learning more and more how much being involved from behind a computer screen doesn't truly cut it. One of my most simple pleasures is awaiting a new show and scrolling through image after image of fresh Fashion. But this is all wrong. No one meant for it to be that way. It was meant to be experienced live, 3D, from all angles, in motion. A still photograph of the front of one look can not suffice. If this were the case designers wouldn't bother with shows. 
After this season's couture shows wrapped up (obviously opinions to follow) I had the very familiar feeling of surprise. As more and more backstage and alternate images were released from collections it was as if I was seeing the collections anew. In some ways this is a great excuse to keep the excitement of the collection alive. It almost matures as it slowly begins to reveal its entirety, dimension by dimension. But in another, very frustrating, way the impact of fresh, fully formed looks, styled with meticulous detail are reserved for the seldom few invited to a live showing. We lay people are left to wonder things as important and complex as silhouette and material. 
These feelings came about when I stumbled upon this image from the Gimbatista Valli show:

I was so in love with the styling that I saw when first reviewing photos from the show. I thought that the few models that had butterfly lips were so beautiful and unexpected. I remember wishing that the butterfly would have a larger presence in the show, feeling that the clothes evoked A Midsummer's Nights Dream fairy-esque personality. But little did I know that just beyond my point of view butterflies by the dozen were making their way down the runway. 

So what's a girl to do? I guess the burden falls to me now. To work endlessly until I can secure one of the most coveted and guarded tickets in all of Fashion. Until I can sit in Paris at a Couture show I'll be left alone with my photos and my rants.