Posts filed under 'Runway to Reality'
Runway to Reality: Missoni Dolce Bustier Dress
Missoni Dolce Bustier Dress $1705.
Multicolored strapless zigzag print knitted mini dress with ruffle front and back. Missoni dress has an elasticated bust and simply slips on.
-
Available at http://www.net-a-porter.com/.
Add comment March 22, 2008
Runway to Reality: Jonathan Saunders Brent Color Block Mini Dress
Jonathan Saunders Brent Color Block Mini Dress
Multi-colored organza tired mini dress with pleated block color tiers. Jonathan Saunders dress has a silk satin bust, a high neck and covered button fastenings along shoulder. WAS: $1,635.00 NOW: $1,144.50. Available at www.net-a-porter.com.
Multi-colored organza tired mini dress with pleated block color tiers. Jonathan Saunders dress has a silk satin bust, a high neck and covered button fastenings along shoulder. WAS: $1,635.00 NOW: $1,144.50. Available at www.net-a-porter.com.
Have a Fashionable Day,
Apresenta
1 comment March 13, 2008
Runway to Reality: DKNY Leaf Print Shirt Dress
As seen on the runway. This season, a refined shirt dress is pivotal in any luxe daywear wardrobe. The beauty of this style is found in the eye-catching monochrome print, so wear as a foundation piece and experiement with colorful statement accessories for a graphic spin on a classic look. Black-and-white silk blend leaf print shirt dress with striped self-tie obi belt. DKNY dress has long balloon sleeves, a solid trim border and button fastenings on front. Shown here with a Zoe & Morgan necklace, Fendi shoes and a Marc Jacobs bag. 92% silk, 8% elastane. Dry clean. US sizing. $295.
Images and descriptions from http://www.net-a-porter.com/
1 comment March 8, 2008
New York Fashion Week: Backstage at Marc by Marc Jacobs Fall 2008 Show
NEW YORK, February 5, 2008 – Marc by Marc Jacobs usually follows the designer’s main show by about 18 hours. But with his signature collection scheduled for the last day of New York fashion week, looking at his diffusion line this season felt a bit like reading tea leaves. Does the eighties-ish new-wave vibe of the clothes on today’s runway in any way predict what we’ll see come Friday?A blue tweed shift with a stand-up collar and a drop waist, accessorized to the hilt with shades, beret, and checked bag, kicked things off. Following that, Jacobs showed a few pairs of pants, slouchy and full through the upper legs. But this was a girly collection, long on dresses and skirts. The former came in podlike shapes (a supersized green and black houndstooth) or nipped at the waist above flaring hoop skirts (a witty fishnet print), while the latter appeared as bubbles, cheerleader minis, and lamp shades. Also in the mix was some great outerwear—everything from a belted, boxy man’s single-breasted jacket to a black trapeze coat with a checkerboard of patent leather below the waist. We’ll have to wait a few days for the big reveal, but there was plenty in this bright, playful lineup to keep Jacobs’ fans happy in the meantime.– Nicole Phelps
Add comment February 13, 2008
Ready To Wear: Cental Park Meets Colorado at Ralph Lauren Fall 2008 Collection
NEW YORK, February 8, 2008 – The antler chandeliers spray-painted gold were the first clue that we were in for a change of scenery. After throwing what will go down in fashion history as one of its grandest parties ever for his 40th anniversary last September, Ralph Lauren swapped Central Park for Colorado. His Western family retreat, the Double RL Ranch, has provided inspiration for many of his famous signatures, and he reprised several of them today with superb results.Lauren opened with a series of city dresses and suits in cashmere herringbone and black double face cut close to the body. But he didn’t linger long in this urban terrain (smart thing; the leopard-print pieces weren’t a good fit with the rest of the collection). Soon we were heading West to the land of green border-stripe swing jackets, red-and-black buffalo plaid suits, and cozy blanket coats. He worked these Ralph-isms with customary expertise, coming up with unexpected combinations like a fitted plaid hunting jacket with a spry little mini in a buffalo check, or a cashmere plaid shirt unbuttoned to reveal a glam necklace (Lauren lined up a stunning list of jewelers for the show, including the Gem Palace) and tucked into a sassy tulle skirt covered in beads and feathers. Of course, many of these outfits will look just as at home in Manhattan as on the range.The plaids lingered after dark—some, like a winning high-necked gown that fanned out below the knees, more successfully than others. But his evening wasn’t one-note. He showed supple draped velvets, two of the prettiest in a deep hunter green and a garnet decorated with beads. And for something more dramatic, there was a black tulle gown with a cutaway back. Lauren knows that wherever his ladies take themselves, country or city, they always pack a party dress.– Nicole Phelps
Add comment February 12, 2008
Ready To Wear: Everything’s coming Up Dresses at BCBG MaxAzria Fall 2008 Runway Show!
NEW YORK, February 1, 2008 – What a difference a year makes. In 12 little months, BCBG Max Azria has blossomed from a girl into a woman, with a Fall collection of elegant jersey dancer dresses and (admittedly, a bit more awkward) Katharine Hepburn-style tailoring—all in a restrained, dare we say sober, palette. “BCBG has evolved so many times,” says creative director Lubov Azria backstage. “This is a direction that feels wearable and clean.” All of New York seems to be growing up this season, actually, as—at least judging from the early shows—body-conscious sophistication is finally toppling the cult of the sack. Here, every look was cinched at the waist with a rugged leather and wool belt, which also added a needed edge to soigné silhouettes. Details like trapunto seaming, cartridge pleats, and sexy flashes of skin did the same. As the show progressed, the girlishness that is still a necessary component of a contemporary line finally reared its pretty little head in minidresses of colored satin and pleated silk crepe short enough to qualify for the “Dress or blouse?” guessing game. Just the dose of fun the doctor ordered.– Meenal Mistry
—————–
Apresenta Concept fashion consultation services. Visit us today at http://www.apresentaconcept.com/. Now booking April and May 2008.
Add comment February 11, 2008
New York Fashion Week: Backstage at Badgley Mishka Fall 2008 Show
NEW YORK, February 5, 2008 – Mark Badgley and James Mischka said Bianca Jagger was their woman for Fall. Clues that the seventies were the duo’s starting point included a brick-red crinkled leather jacket worn with a matching, flared above-the-knee skirt; and an apricot turtleneck and boot-cut glen plaid pants worn with a little broadtail-and-fox vest.They aren’t the kind of designers to launch themselves willy-nilly into a theme. So worked in among the floral shirtwaists, floppy felt hats, and high suede boots were the kind of reliable, timeless clothes that the ladies-who-lunch live for: a pencil skirtsuit in a buff tweed shot through with metallic thread, or wool-crepe tuxedo pants worn with a chiffon blouse and a little silk-faille jacket with short mink sleeves.Badgley Mischka’s daywear is always sensible enough, and this season is no different. But anyone with a Bergdorf’s charge card knows that their raison d’être is eveningwear. Two of the best gala looks were an amethyst organza creation hand-painted with impressionistic flowers, and a strapless bustier style with a lace overlay studded with crystals. The spare elegance of these looks made you wish the boys had left the silver and gold sequins, splashed liberally on other big-night dresses, back at the disco.– Nicole Phelps
Apresenta Concept fashion consultation services. Visit us today at http://www.apresentaconcept.com/. Now booking April and May 2008.
1 comment February 6, 2008
Runway to Reality: Bridging the Gap – Gap’s Fresh Fall 2008 Line
Classics Studies
Patrick Robinson Gives the Gap a Welcome New Edge
February 3, 2008 – “Taking classics and messing with them until they become fashion.” It sounds easy enough, but the Gap’s recent history suggests otherwise. It’s well-known that the brand has been struggling to stay pertinent in a retail market that’s become saturated with high-low fast-fashion labels. Enter Patrick Robinson, the man responsible for the above quote. The former Perry Ellis designer was the center of attention today at a one-hour presentation of the company’s new Fall lineup. Surrounded by reporters, he explained how he and his creative team plan to turn around the fortunes of the huge brand, one pair of jeans at a time.”The big message in all this is about taking American sportswear and making it relevant,” he said. “That translates into cutting women’s jeans with a really wide leg, giving a mackintosh the right oversize proportions, and slimming down and cropping cargo pants so they’re fitted.” Beyond fit, it also means elevating the color palette (Fall’s is long on dusty plaids and many shades of gray) and the fabric quality, and making sure down the line that the company’s women’s, men’s, kids’, maternity, and body lines all look connected.That’s a lot to bite off, but Robinson and co. made a confident start today. It was the kind of collection where editors mentally tick off all the pieces they want to add to their wardrobes. The outerwear looked particularly strong—from a boxy, boy-cut peacoat to wool flannel puffer jackets and vests to shearlings in both black and a natural tan. Pants, be they trouser-cut or cropped and cuffed, looked smart enough to carry off as designer. And there were scads of layerable knits, thin and chunky. Pierre Hardy’s shoes for the brand also helped kick things up a notch.Right now, the Gap has several points working in its favor when it comes to getting customers into its stores. The imminent recession we’ve all been hearing about, not to mention the ever-higher prices being asked of European imports, are keeping women from buying big-ticket items. The deciding factor, though, may be how good these clothes look. –Nicole Phelps
Add comment February 3, 2008
Runway to Reality: Georgia O’Keefe meets Cold Mountain Rachel Roy’s Fall 2008 Collection
NEW YORK, January 31, 2008 – Georgia O’Keeffe meets Cold Mountain for the Park Avenue set? That would be one way to describe Rachel Roy’s Fall collection. Before her show, the designer said she was interested in the intersection between Native American and Colonial styles, but brought up-to-date for the women of today. It was a tricky proposition, though for the most part Roy pulled it off. If the geometric black-on-gray jacquard used for a tulip skirt and a belted blanket cardigan that topped a tuxedo shirt came off somewhat heavy-handed, there were plenty of other pieces that finessed the conceit in a more subtle way. Take, for instance, a black wool suit with an extra-long jacket worn with a flounced white silk blouse, or a pumpkin silk sleeveless dress with a bow at the waist and a statement necklace of feathers and beads. Here Roy caught that mix of rawness and polish she was looking for.– Nicole Phelps
Images and descriptions courtesy of www.style.com.
Add comment January 31, 2008
From Runway to Reality: Russian Fetish Maison Martin Margiela Now Available Online
Runway Review:
PARIS, October 1, 2007 – Something sexy this way comes: bodies, bandeau tubes, tight graphic stripes. As a take on body-con and the smooth, attenuated silhouette, Margiela’s was one of the sharpest and least retro versions on offer. His revisionist working of the possibilities of cling-fit stretch created a whole new look, but how to describe it? Put together from abbreviated, horizontally banded beige and black body pieces, it was part swim, part foundation garment, with matched armbands and the occasional trompe l’oeil bicolored stocking-legging added to give total coverage.Later on, Margiela introduced a clever way of layering fluidity into the picture, making flyaway, cutaway pieces to shrug over shoulders, or skirts that were short in front and long in back (or vice versa)—a modernist underground alternative to the floaty chiffonery that’s surfaced in the mainstream. That segued into a passage of “vestigial” accessories—a couple of dresses with shoulder bags hilariously implanted at the armpit, and 3-D fabric buckles standing in place of belts. That train of thought—the “ghosts” of garments—also led Margiela to shred denim to become fringed pelmets or ultra-tattered jeans under jackets with vast, pointy shoulders. Was this a convergence with the rising interest in Americana that’s bubbling up in so many other collections? Probably, yes: For evening, there were reinterpretations of a “found” fantasy Western photo-print T-shirt, made into bustier dresses. In all, there was plenty to think about from one of the most innovative designers in Paris.– Sarah Mower
PARIS, October 1, 2007 – Something sexy this way comes: bodies, bandeau tubes, tight graphic stripes. As a take on body-con and the smooth, attenuated silhouette, Margiela’s was one of the sharpest and least retro versions on offer. His revisionist working of the possibilities of cling-fit stretch created a whole new look, but how to describe it? Put together from abbreviated, horizontally banded beige and black body pieces, it was part swim, part foundation garment, with matched armbands and the occasional trompe l’oeil bicolored stocking-legging added to give total coverage.Later on, Margiela introduced a clever way of layering fluidity into the picture, making flyaway, cutaway pieces to shrug over shoulders, or skirts that were short in front and long in back (or vice versa)—a modernist underground alternative to the floaty chiffonery that’s surfaced in the mainstream. That segued into a passage of “vestigial” accessories—a couple of dresses with shoulder bags hilariously implanted at the armpit, and 3-D fabric buckles standing in place of belts. That train of thought—the “ghosts” of garments—also led Margiela to shred denim to become fringed pelmets or ultra-tattered jeans under jackets with vast, pointy shoulders. Was this a convergence with the rising interest in Americana that’s bubbling up in so many other collections? Probably, yes: For evening, there were reinterpretations of a “found” fantasy Western photo-print T-shirt, made into bustier dresses. In all, there was plenty to think about from one of the most innovative designers in Paris.– Sarah Mower
Maison Martin Margiela goodies now available at www.eluxury.com
Add comment January 13, 2008
