Three Makes it a Trend: Second Skin Boots

The message is clear for Fall 2013: keep the baby powder handy! 

Boots shown on the Fall runways of Paris are second skin close

First seen Sunday at Céline... 

the trend carried over in thigh high and chains at Chanel

and Lydia Maurer showed a cropped and tight style at Paco Rabanne 

But in a world of ever increasing obesity and global warming 

is this a climate controlled runway only fantasy? 

Housing Works Takes Fashion for Action

After last night's historical vote, it's time to think FORWARD. Housing Works annual fashion charity extravaganza begins tonight and it's a great opportunity to give to the community while adding a little something something to your closet

(Ohh like a smoking hot 'Carine' shoulder bag from Tom Ford?)

Hosted by co-chairs designer Thom Browne (for the third year in a row), actress Patricia Clarkson, model Dree Hemingway and TV personality Cat Greenleaf, the Fashion for Action 2012 opening party tonite from 6-9pm at the Altman Building is worth braving the snow since it's always a star studded fashion romp (all remaining pieces will be available to the public Thursday-Sunday at the 17th street Housing Works store)

(A bounty of Thom Browne designed Black Fleece menswear and womenswear)

Fabulous finds from Chanel, Christian Louboutin, Dior, Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs, Tory Burch and many more designer pieces will be up for major discounts off retail with 80% of the selling price going to people living with AIDS and a special 20% goes towards Hurricane Sandy relief

Let 


Tory


Tempt


You













Plus this year, Housing Works if following the retail trend of 'shops in shops' with 
mini-boutiques of tightly edited pieces from Diane Von Furstenberg, BCBG and more 

So what are you doing tonight?

Blake Lively's Gucci Ad Mirrors Something....

Leaked images of the presumed Blake Lively "Premiere" Gucci perfume ad look sorta like something I've seen before...

What could it be??? 

I'm Glad I Kept This Phillip Lim Jacket

My jacket I was gonna sell but decided to keep

Chanel Resort 2013

Linda Evangelista Eyes a New Chanel Campaign

She's the (never aging) face of the new Chanel eyewear campaign shot by Karl himself 

Just take in her utterly effortless amazingness in this behind the scenes shot

Linda, I will always love you. You and Jason Vorhees. That's my childhood right there, honey! 

It's Crystal Karl...

Chanel is NOT for Me

I'm sorry but I'm with Robin Givhan on this one.

What is the cult of Chanel all about?

  These clothes be UG! 

What Will be the Color for Fall 2012?

                              (Rich orange tone reds at Chloe)



(Greens graphics at Fendi)



Based on looks from the designer collections for Pre-Fall, can we make an educated guess on the 'it' color that will emerge over the next few weeks?


Yellow has proven a strong trend leader for Spring 2012, will its dominance carry over?

(Luscious lemon at Louis Vuitton) 

Perhaps we'll crave for gemtone swatches of amethyst and sapphire when the temps finally dip this year (clearly Winter has gracefully bowed out for now, so for us cold weather lovers our eyes already turn to the far off bookend of hope)

(Balmain)

(Chanel)

(McQueen)

Or will the upset be that after a Spring awash in the color spiked punch of pastels and vibrant hues, Fall will revert back to bleak black and boring beige? 

We shall see starting today, but for the money I'm putting my green on ... green

(Going green, also LV)

It's been slowly eeking its way into a borderline neutral shade for a few seasons now and has proven strong on red carpets and editorials, perhaps green will have its red moment and cross over to the closets of the color-phobic. 

Belle & Clive Deliver with Vintage Chanel and Louis Vuitton

Bluefly's flash site launch, Belle & Clive launched today and starting things off with a bang: Vintage Chanel and Louis Vuitton!

Go. Now. http://www.belleandclive.com/browse/sales/details.jsp?categoryId=cat1350056

Chanel Does Not Own the Rights to Every C

(When I first saw these pics, I thought isn't this a Spring show?)

Much has been made of Chanel's Spring 2012 "Under the Sea" affair, but like the many prom committees  before him, Karl didn't have to look too far for this idea. Many other designers were inspired by the ocean real and mythical this Spring season

Christian Siriano created fantastic diaphanous gowns made of sea foam like yards of silk and draped cocktail dresses like shells in brilliant corals.

Dries Van Noten favored dark waters with jagged rocks and city light nights. It was all very gothic and strong. A sense of literally getting swept away in the power of the ocean. 

And as always London Fashion Week designers turned ideas on their head

(Danielle Scutt)                                                                                                                  (Holly Fulton)

I loved British designer Danielle Scutt's netting as an over layer and fellow UK-er Holly Fulton went for graphic corals reinterpreted as landscapes and fringe. 

So while Karl's got Florence Welch in a clam shell

(Oh this pic says so much)

He does not have exclusivity to this sea. 

Thanks for the Ad: Drew Barrymore for Neiman Marcus

In every department store across this great land of ours all signs point to Fall (even some boutiques have made the switch). On Neiman Marcus website they went the extra step to differentiate themselves and step up their Fall game. 

A list star shot by a world renown photog in a full on Fall fashion editorial? This is more like your favorite magazine's September issue

And that, of course, is the point. Pull in the customer, give them something to connect with and take away so they remember N.M. when its time to spend those Fall clothing dollars

Neiman's did a pretty great job here. Some of the clothes I'm not sure about on Drew bu the above pic with her tousling her hair is my favorite: dramatic yet relatable and somehow still about the clothes (that's some Neiman's exclusive Chanel there, darlin'!)

And ending this series is the editorially essential "bring out the fan" shot. Cuz my chiffon billows like that wherever I go. Doesn't yours? 

Jokes aside, this is a great way to pull in established customers as well as newer and younger. drew has a keen way of maturing while holding on to that youthful demographic (hence her omnipresent Cover Girl ads during Top Model). Kudos to you, Neiman's. I think you've definitely got a leg up on your other e-commerce competitors. Now bring on the chill in the air! 

Chanel-tropolis

Karl Lagerfeld claims the inspiration for his Fall 2011 Chanel Haute Couture show is Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" 

It should come as no surprise that it's evil Maria that served as the Kaiser's muse

RESORT to This: Hello Yellow

Here's lemon in your eye!

(Chris Benz keeps it cool as a tall glass of lemonade)

Resort collections have been bursting with juicy citrus and sweet buttery yellows and I couldn't be happier (personal bias since yellow's my favorite color)

(Two trends at once: Lemon chiffon and a bright over-sized tote at Bottega Veneta)

Over the past month (Resort is a leisurely affair with designers presenting their collections over a much wider window of time than the 2 big Weeks) everyone from classic labels like Chanel and Giambattista Valli...

(Chanel, why must you remind me that I could be eating cake right now?!)

to youthful downtown designers like Proenza Schouler and Chris Benz have displayed the myriad of ways yellow is a fresh, modern color that looks good on everyone

(Color blocking lemon yellow with black white and a darker goldenrod, Proenza Schouler keep with their tribal and 70's influences) 

(Preppy 50's sweater girl style at Lela Rose)

(Asian influenced silk and prints at Preen in a rich topaz-y yellow)

(This mixed media paneled dress/coat was a personal fave from a strong show by Giambattista Valli)

(Yellow's for the dudes too as shown at Burberry)

If you're worried of looking jaundicey, perhaps the most efficacious way to utilize yellow is as an accent

(Versace's yellow purse pops against a graphic black and white sports-influenced look)