Vogue. Vogue. Vogue… What are you doing?

Posted on September 24, 2012 Posted in condenast, couture, fashion commentary, keira knightly, vogueLeave a comment

A formidable opponent to say the least, the power house in publishing and the Bible for those who are in fashion… Vogue. Condenast’s publication just celebrated 120 years of fashion this past September, heralding the largest monthly publication ever. Backed by the notorious Anna Wintour, it seems as if Vogue is once again preparing for something bigger… But, for those of us who have flipped through the pages of Vogue since we were young, and started reading Vogue cover to cover as we aged we have realized two things.

The first is that Vogue is actually losing content. The photographers, the models and the clothes are becoming redundant and what was once the source of all inspiration to the fashion world is now becoming obsolete. Newer, younger, edgier magazines are making their way onto the stands and are catering to what fashionistas live for, not just the upper east side women. Secondly, it appears that Vogue’s massive budget is heading into their Fendi wallets, and Prada bags. Vogue spends thousands upon thousands of dollars to produce photo shoots that are lack luster, uninspiring and mediocre. (The only thing we envy is their retouching department, they do have the best of the best.) Other than that this September was a let down for most readers, and after the anticipated October Issue, well… It was uninspiring.

Keira Knightly no doubt is Vogue cover worthy. She is talented, she is beautiful, and like the standard that Anna pushes the most, she is thin and fits into couture like a dream. It was nice to see behind the scene shots of the Vogue photo shoots, and Annie’s little spread on Tim Tebow was clever, and composited. It shows her shooting on a white backdrop and the actual photos published are scenic escapes. Vogue’s article on adoption, and smaller articles on family life were charming. It was nice to see ballet in the pages this month, in fact it was nicer not to see a NYCB super star, but a rising star from SAB… Silas Farley.

The redundancy of Karli Kloss is becoming irritating. In the past three issues she has held the main fashion spread, now her face and body proportions seem to be the notorious look for Vogue. If this is the standard that Vogue is only going to publish, it will be impossible to replace Karli…

With all this being said, it makes me wonder why so many still think of Vogue as the bible, versus an icon. Fashion is drastically changing, and it is constantly changing, but it seems that the only people who aren’t paying attention are the editors at Vogue.

Yellow Like Asian…

Posted on August 5, 2012 Posted in couture, fashion, gay, gaysian, yellow like asianLeave a comment

I am just really excited… I am extremely inspired…

that’s all.

Couture Part 3: THE NEW KING OF TEXTURE

Posted on January 27, 2012 Posted in couture, elie Saab, jean paul gaultier, karlie kloss, Maxine Simoens, runway, spring 2012, Valentino CoutureLeave a comment

Couture’s Final Shows….

Not really that impressed with Valentino.

Overall- it was okay, I just feel that since Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri took on Valentino. It just hasn’t been the same.

Maxine Simoens gave her best shot, and it just kind of looked trashy, very Versace-esque and nothing inspiring. She showed a lot of looks that looked ready to wear, and the collection itself wasn’t really cohesive or themed like most couture shows are. But she gave it her best shot.

JEAN PAUL GAULTIER

THANK THE LORD SOMEONE’S COUTURE SHOW WAS BRILLIANT. It was a tribute to Amy Winehouse and it totally captured the late singers persona. The collection was classic rock meets edgy punk with that marilyn sophistication. Bravo.

So impressed. Karli Kloss for Jean Paul Gaultier Couture Spring 2012

ELIE SAAB: THE KING OF TEXTURE

As you people know I adore texture… And Elie Saab blows it out of the park every time. This had to have been the best couture collection this season, and he is making such a name for himself. The dressed are always elegant with a touch of sexy. They seem effortless and take on a shape of their own. The color palette was kind of boring, but Elie Saab always has these structured blocks to his runway shows… Here is a set of one color, and now here is a set of another color, and so on. But what is great is that every color is just not a color, it is a texture, a chic sense of provocative sex appeal, but wearable.

I LOOOVED all of the cupcake cocktail silhouette dresses. These muted colors were a great follow up after the bright bold colors he just showed prior. I also feel that whenever he does neutrals, they look so expensive, and so glamourous.

Hello ballet at the Met.

CLASSIC

Beautifully done classic’s with a twist. Love it all. Elie Saab can do no wrong, and not only is he the king of texture, he might just be the new Valentino… We just need Christian Siriano to hurry his “fierce” ass up and take over Dior and then I think I will have my faith restored in Couture.

Couture Part 2…

Posted on January 25, 2012 Posted in armani prive, beauty, chanel couture 2012, couture, couture 2012, givenchy, givenchy coutureLeave a comment

I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up…

After last night’s disasters, I thought- prayed that Armani Prive would restore my faith back into the idea of “haute couture.” I was wrong. What is usually glamourous, delicate and effortless has turned into forced, “trying to be edgy”, and most of all kind of tacky. The greens didn’t bother me, nor the prints, nor this idea of an electric reptile of some sorts… My biggest problem with Armani Prive was the lack of beauty.

These were my three favorite looks from Armani Prive’s SPRING 2012 Couture Collection.

GIVENCHY… They really are always quite on it.

Their S&M meets sexual bull pen, meets divine goddess screamed couture.

It was lavish and well made, and the models looked perfect. What i love about Givenchy’s couture collections:

1. THey are always photographed front and back

and… my favorite: They are always photographed as a group.

GIVENCHY SPRING 2012 COUTURE

PS. Love the basketball + hoop

And then there was Chanel… Think Pan Am meets Jungle Frenzy Frump…

Let down. again. The blacks, the whites, the baby blues, it was just all kind of ugly.

This Couture Season has been awful.

The first look I posted, I did love. I thought that it was kind of amazing, and I needed one- like yesterday, as for the rest, it was all just kind of mediocre and not really thought out. The embellished wide hems I thought were just too much, and it made the girls look bottom heavy, and wide.

I PRAY TO GOOD ELIE SAAB’S SHOW IS BEAUTIFUL- IT USUALLY IS…. LETS PRAY.

Couture Season: Lets Break It Down…

Posted on January 24, 2012 Posted in alexis mabille, arizona muse, christian dior couture, couture, fashion, Giambattista Valli, liu wen, versace coutureLeave a comment

This time of year, like most fashion followers, we are overwhelmed with fashion show after fashion show. What starts the Spring social season is none other than fashion week. Fashion week world wide seems to be nothing short of 3 months. From Pre Fall, Fall, Mens and Couture, getting ready for Resort season Fashion seems to be never ending…

BUUUT THIS WEEK… is the week of all weeks… COUTURE SEASON.

The word couture itself is overused.

By Definition:

couture |koōˈtoŏ(ə)r; -ˈt y r|

nounthe design and manufacture of fashionable clothes to a client’s specific requirements and measurements
What people are actually dying for is:
haute couture |ˌōt ˌkoōˈtoŏr|nounthe designing and making of high-quality fashionable clothes by leading fashion houses, esp. to order.

But- none the less people overuse the word and it takes away from… well almost everything that is so beautiful and brilliant about couture… Or so I thought…After seeing this seasons start of Couture season… to quote Project Runway, “I’m Underwhelmed.”
Here is the brutal and honest breakdown from my point of view… (Fashion Editor)
CHRISTIAN DIOR (AKA MY IDOL)
The second reason I got into fashion was seeing Dior’s couture shows from John Galliano (see my rants about that scandalous nazi lover), and after researching Christian Dior himself I fell in love… Lately, since John galliano’s well deserved firing— well dior hasn’t been the same and what I thought was going to recover this couture season… well it was kind of awful… There was nothing really amazing about it.

Everything was safe, and had a lot of sheers… The skirt… really? That is couture?

Oh well… The majority of the looks were awful and the amount of black white and red… well reminded me of a 50’s soda shop. The last five looks were amazing, but kind of reminded me of the black and white collection that Marchesa did a few seasons back…

ALEXIS MABILLEI’m A Fan… Until Now…
Who usually stuns me in menswear and who makes me oogle of women’s wear… well going over the top is a good thing, compared to dior’s let down… his was well a bit too much. He took monochromatic to the next level by painting the model’s faces to match… kind of ridiculous and not really innovative, but hey he is allowed to do whatever right?

VERSACE

“God I miss Gianni”

Donatella, you astound me that you can produce that much trash for the past decade. It never ceases to amaze me on how tacky and awful your collections get.

(and how you make Arizona Muse look like that… I have no clue… How sad.)

Bouchra Jarrar … I’m not even going to post pictures of because it was a waste- it had nothing to do with couture…

THE BIG SURPRISE!!

I was actually very impressed by Giambattista Valli’s collection.It looked refined, it was couture, it was beautiful- I got bored after a while and I didn’t understand his final look, but I loved the colors… His collection was extremely thought out and I appreciated it. I can’t wait to see what else is in store for him. Though, Dior’s sheers and exposed construction definitely out beat his, but then again the team at Dior has it down to perfection… (see I did say something nice about dior.)