Chic Italian Style

I been praying to the fashion gods
could it be that they've heard me?
I'm not seeing the evidence of the answers to my fashion prayers on the runway yet
but these three women in Milan

photographed by The Sartorialist

are proudly wearing

knee length skirts!!!

I haven't seen evidence of a trend towards longer hem lengths,

except in a few of the Fall Collections.

But could this chic street look eventually influence what we see on the runways?

I certainly hope so.

Chic Italian Style

I been praying to the fashion gods
could it be that they've heard me?
I'm not seeing the evidence of the answers to my fashion prayers on the runway yet
but these three women in Milan

photographed by The Sartorialist

are proudly wearing

knee length skirts!!!

I haven't seen evidence of a trend towards longer hem lengths,

except in a few of the Fall Collections.

But could this chic street look eventually influence what we see on the runways?

I certainly hope so.

Fräulein Fashion For Fall

On the topic of October, the month of both Oktoberfest and Halloween, I'm going to come out right now and admit that I love trachten. Trachten of course is the traditional dress of Austria and Bavaria.
I saw bits and pieces of tracht on Alpine vacations in Switzerland, but it took an excursion to attend Wagner's Ring Cycle in Munich to see serious trachten in action.  Each night at the opera the local grande dames would wear formal floor length dirndl gowns.  It was quite a sight.

Now, according to the Wall Street Journal, we have a trachten to do taking place in Munich where traditional trachten, in which each detail signifies which village the wearer is from, has been infiltrated by designer trachten. Trachten with a twist if you will.
Not being Austrian or Bavarian, I'm not tied to the traditional and I rather like the tracht with a twist.

I love the over the top mix of turquoise and purple in this dress.

And the rich colors in the farmer's daughter's version

And of course, you never know when you will need to don a dirndl for little ride through the meadow.
These fräuleins are wearing dirndls created by Lola Paltinger.
Public enemy No. 1 for this group is Lola Paltinger, a Munich transplant who grew up well outside Germany's tracht belt in the western German city of Mannheim. Ms. Paltinger creates dirndls from unorthodox fabrics such as leather that are sometimes cut shorter than the standard knee-to-ankle range. 
The designer says her dirndls are inspired by "a carefree joie de vivre, a playful romanticism and a touch of humorously delirious drama."
I don't think that the designer dirndl is going to become an international fashion trend and at $4000 per dress, they aren't easy to buy.  
But I still want one.

Fall Fashion 2010 - Not Feeling The Faux

I just received the new designer collection catalog from Nordstrom and I wanted to ask when did reliable, affordable and yes, slightly boring Nordstrom turn into Bergdorf Goodman?
I thought that Nordstorm was where you went to shop for Tahari and Calvin Klein not Proenza Schouler and Balmain.
Well anyhoo the new designer catalog is out there and I don't mean in terms of design.
Take this Chanel coat, for example

Tweed coat with faux-fur trim, acrylic/cotton $8,555
OK, so add sales tax and you are north of $9,000 for a faux-fur coat
and let's not forget the matching bag

Faux-fur clutch with tweed detail, wool/acrylic/calfskin $2,795
Once again, add sales tax and this faux-fur clutch is north of $3,000
Who would pay these prices...no really I want to know....who?

My world is all about intrinsic value not ephemeral fashion meaning I break things down into the cost of the materials, how much did it cost to manufacture, etc.
and let's just say that I don't see $9,000 worth of intrinsic value in this coat.
Do you?

Vanity Fair- The September Issue

OK, I admit that I just wasn't all that interested in the Lady Gaga cover story but the photography by Nick Knight was stunning

and every other article in the September issue was stellar.

If you aren't a subscriber, go out and buy the magazine today.  No really, it has everything you want in summer magazine reading

from a profile of the exquisite Jacqueline de Ribes, the last queen of Paris

Here's a photo of Countess de Ribes looking a-ma-zing

to a story on the messy family fight over the estate of socialite/designer/playboy/licensor extraordinaire, Oleg Cassini, who bagged all the babes from Gene Tierney to Grace Kelly to Anita Ekberg

yet kept his 30 year marriage to Marianne Nestor a secret.

Here's Oleg with his "Top Girl" first wife, Gene Tierney.

to an article on sleazy Kenneth Starr and how he bilked his society and entertainment clients out of millions.  How did this man ever get his hands on Bunny Mellon's money?  I just love this quote "When your business manager marries a stripper" says one ruefull client, "that's a tell." Ya think?

Here's a photo of the fraudulent financial advisor and his fourth wife, stripper Diane Passage.

There's lots of other great stuff too including the the international best dressed list which I previously posted about, the preppy handbook rebooted, and Fall Fashion must haves with suggestions from fashion bloggers including The Trad.  (Admittedly I'm a little confused on why they didn't contact me for my opinion on jewelry trends...maybe next year. Sam, you know how to reach me)

Even the ads are awesome with fabulous Fall clothes.

Vanity Fair, job well done

Is This The End Of The 'It' Bag?

Loewe's Papelle Bage $1045

Perhaps my prediction two years ago of the end of the 'It' bag was premature, but at least one Luxe house is moving in that direction.

From the WSJ

The Anti 'It' Handbag

From 2005 to 2007, Stuart Vevers was known for creating showy studded and tasseled "it" handbags, transforming staid British brand Mulberry into a hot contemporary label.

Now he's headed in the opposite direction.

Well this sounds promising

To do that, he's been leaning toward simplicity over bling, functionality over flash. One of his newest creations: a leather version of an ordinary brown paper grocery bag for about $1,045. He's making a point of using the same bag shapes season after season—the opposite of "it" bags' short fashion cycle. And he's made sure that Loewe bags are lightweight, under two pounds. "It's kind of taking the bag back to its purest functionality," Mr. Vevers says.

I appreciate the end of the wasteful and over consumptionist (is that a word?) habits encouraged by the purposefully designed short fashion cycle,

but isn't this just the same marketing strategy of Hermes with their Birkin and Kelly bags?

I can only hope that Mr, Vevers will be as successful with his anti "It" bag designs for venerable Spanish luxe brand Loewe, now owned by LVMH, as Hermes was with the Birkin design

but can he please come up with something better than a $1000 grocery bag look alike.

Fall 2010 Trend Report - Bring On The Boots

Here in Los Angeles, it has been the season of the lost summer, where temperatures have been more January than July.  It it gray, damp and cold outside this morning, as it has been every morning for the last few months.
So sitting at my computer in sweat pants, a t-shirt and a fleece jacket... just to stay warm, the idea of thinking about cool weather clothes doesn't seem so odd in early August.
and what better place to start than the Neiman Marcus Trend Report
I can skip the pantsuits and the feathers
Ah....but a wardrobe of boots....that's one trend I could go for
and I'd start with these boots

Valentino Bow Topped Boots $1595 from Neiman Marcus

Prada Fur Cuff Boots $1350 from Neiman Marcus

and 

Manolo Blahnik Buckle Boots $1650 from Neiman Marcus

What trend are you looking forward to this Fall?

Twisted Prep or How to Wear Your Hilfiger Duck Boots

Tommy Hilfiger's tailgating ad campaign is continuing to get play in the blogosphere, with Look Muffy An Ad Campaign For Us! at Habitually Chic.  Perhaps for me there is more nostalgia for the vintage 1980's Jeep Wagoneer than excitement about the actual clothes themselves.  Still, now that I see Hilfiger's OTK duck boots in action in this photo, I'm becoming more partial to them.

Craving The Collection

I know that everybody is raving about Phoebe Philo's Fall collection for Celine
but I'm totally enamored with Marc Jacobs Fall RTW collection for Louis Vuitton.
If I buy anything new and wonderful this year it will be from this collection.



Here's the link to the video from NY Magazine if the video can be embedded here

Banned By Balenciaga

So much silliness coming from from the fashion world in France this week

First we had La Bruni going bra less
in a Roland Mouret backless dress at a State dinner
Personally, I have no problem with it, after all it is her job to show off French fashion
and god knows she's got the body to do it
But I wonder, would that look work for Michelle Obama?

and then we had Carine Roitfeld and her French Vogue entourage
getting banned by Balenciaga

From the looks of what showed up on the runway

at the Balenciaga 2010 Fall RTW show

Madame Roitfeld and her readers weren't missing out on much

Savvy Shopping - Ferragamo For Fall

This year I've totally missed the NY fashion week...there's so many shows that it's hard to keep up. OK, I admit it's not really hard, I've just got fashion fatigue.
But, I just perused the Ferragamo Fall-Winter 2010 show and loved these bronzy-brown evening gowns by Ferragamo. I was less impressed with the entire Ferragamo collection which had beautiful fabrics, leathers and suedes in rich earth colors of chocolate, cognac, olive, slate and bronze,
but way too many shorts suits. Seriously, how many pieces in a Fall-Winter collection should be shorts?

You can see the Ferragamo Fall Collection here
Aren't these lovely?

and here is the estate jewelry that I would wear with them

Antique Victorian Old Mine Cut Diamond Ring in Rose Gold

Atelier Marisa Chocolate South Sea Pearl "Orbit" Earrings in Rose Gold

Also lovely, non?