Recent Spring Trends

 

Beige, Beige, Beige!

Beige will bring out your complexion- no matter if you have fair or dark skin! It’s the new chic color to wear! (Orange is as well)

 

 

 

 

 

Crafty Jewery.

Put on a big, bold, beautiful necklace to make yourself look and feel great!

 

 

 

 

Fringe. Or ruffles. Both are great to wear on a shirt or even a dress. It adds texture and more interest in your outfit.

 

Modern-Prairie Look. Marc Jacobs has created a collection that combines the prairie look of yesterday with the sleek, modern look of today.

Chloé Spring 2009 Runway

Chloé’s spring 2009 Ready to Wear show was out of this world! The garment’s scallop-edge coats, rounded-shoulder blouses, and high-waisted flared shorts, interspersed with ruffle-necklined dresses and jumpsuits with an eighties kind of gathered swell in the thigh region, certainly had an air of summery freshness about them. The contrasts of chartreuse, beige, cream, bluebell, green, and a particular apricot (the exact shade that appears on Chloé packaging) were rinsed of any print and shorn of the embroidery that is a usual feature of the chic brand.

 Here are a few of my favorites:

 

Hats, Hats, and More Hats!

People have covered their heads since the beginning of time. Initially, hats offered protection from injury of falling rocks, weapons or masonry. Later, head coverings became symbols of status of authority. Soon after, hats progressed to become not only a uniform, but also an art form. In fashion terms, hats are a very noticeable accessory because the on-looker’s attention is first drawn to the face. A hat is the most noticeable item that anyone can wear. Here are a few interesting hats that you might find fun to look at. 

More About the New Famous Designer: Jason Wu

Minutes before Jason Wu was to become famous as the 26-year-old designer of Michelle Obama’s inaugural gown, he ordered a pepperoni and mushroom pizza from Domino’s at his apartment in Midtown, then sat down with his boyfriend and a neighbor to watch the festivities on television.

Like the rest of the world, Mr. Wu had no idea what the new first lady would wear on Tuesday night. He had never met her, nor did he know that the design he had submitted to Mrs. Obama, last November, was being seriously considered. At first he wasn’t even positive that the white chiffon dress she wore, which went by in a blur, was his until the phone began ringing and ringing and ringing.

“It’s difficult to describe,” Mr. Wu said the next afternoon, after appearing on the morning shows and talking endlessly about the symbolism of the dress, the color and the selection of a designer barely known outside the fashion beltway. “I was over the moon. I know I am an unusual choice for a first lady. I didn’t think it was my turn yet.”

In his small studio on West 37th Street, Mr. Wu, with close-cropped hair and a lineless face, wore a cardigan and a necktie and looked like a truant from boarding school. His work space is spotless, with a big rustic slab of wood as a table, which is precisely where the thousands of organza flowers and crystals had been hand-sewn to Mrs. Obama’s dress over many late nights by Mr. Wu and his staff of four.

Between interviews, Mr. Wu was working on samples for his fall collection, which will be shown next month.

Although he was already something of a “fashion darling” — Anna Wintour attended his last show, when he was a finalist for Vogue’s annual prizes for emerging designers — he is expecting a crush of new attention. On Wednesday, Diane Von Furstenberg sent him a congratulatory note, and Parsons the New School for Design issued a press release boasting that Mr. Wu, Isabel Toledo and Narciso Rodriguez, all designers of clothes worn by Mrs. Obama last week, had once studied there (though it did not note that none of them graduated).

“No doubt, this is going to give the business a boost,” he said.

Mr. Wu started the label in 2006 with money from his family and his savings from a job he has held since he was 16, as a freelance designer, and now creative director, for a line of designer dolls called Fashion Royalty and manufactured by Integrity Toys in Chesapeake City, Md. His dolls ($70 to $400) are sold at F. A. O. Schwarz. His evening dresses ($2,990 to $4,700) are sold at Bergdorf Goodman. The word “prodigy” comes to mind when Mr. Wu mentions that his collection is expected to have sales of $4 million this year.

Even when he was 5, growing up in Taipei, Taiwan, his parents, who operate an import-export business, recognized his creative ambitions. His mother sometimes drove him to bridal stores so he could make sketches of the gowns in the windows. When he was 9, the family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where, like many future designers, he began experimenting with fashion by using dolls as mannequins.

He carried on with his hobby as a student at Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, Mass., and at the prep school Loomis Chaffee in Windsor, Conn., during a senior year in France and then for three-and-a-half years at Parsons until he left to intern for Mr. Rodriguez.

Mr. Wu’s clothes are most often described as ladylike and seem to belong to an earlier era, meaning polished jackets, flower prints and dresses with nipped waists and teacup skirts. He spends a lot of time at stores around the country, at Satine in Los Angeles, Jeffrey in Atlanta and Ikram in Chicago, developing ideas for specific customers and climates.

It was Ikram Goldman, who has played a behind-the-scenes role in connecting designers with the first lady, who introduced Mr. Wu’s designs to Mrs. Obama. (She had previously worn one of his dresses for an interview with Barbara Walters; she bought it at cost — for a little less than $1,000 — through Ikram, he said.) After the election, Mr. Wu immediately sent sketches to Ms. Goldman.

Two days later, Mr. Wu recalled, Ms. Goldman asked him to make the white dress. It was ready by Thanksgiving, when Mr. Wu, who is 5-foot-7, flew to Chicago, carrying the floor-length gown in a garment bag on his lap and hand-delivered it to Ms. Goldman. He was not paid for that dress or two more colorful designs he submitted later, he said, but made them with the understanding that if Mrs. Obama should end up wearing one, the dress would be donated to the Smithsonian Institution.

“It’s priceless to be a part of history,” Mr. Wu said.

The symbolism of Mrs. Obama’s choice of such a young American designer is invigorating for the fashion industry, especially at a moment when new companies are facing tight odds of survival.

A Little Bit About…Tory Burch

While living in New York city, It-Girl, Tory Burch, has maintained personal relationships with a series of extremely wealthy men. With the financial savvy of her former second husband, she began a fashion label in February 2004 in New York City. It was an immediate success and was even endorsed by Oprah Winfrey the following year. Her label has opened stores in several large American cities and has lines that are sold in several upscale specialty department stores.

She is most famous for her affordable, modernized classics, from trademark patterns to easy-chic flats topped with her graphic hardware logo. For an overnight sensation, Burch’s formula for success is as close to home as it comes. She draws inspiration from American icons of the sixties and seventies, including her fashionable mom—but ultimately, she is her own best muse. Tory Burch has won many fashion awards for her designs, and she continues to be involved in high profile personal relationships within the social elite of New York City.

Dress Patriotic This Week

The ‘We Are One’ concert held on Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial was a star-studded event to kick off a weeklong celebration of Obama’s Inauguration on Tuesday, Jan. 20^th. Thousands upon thousands of concert-goers braved the cold to see the biggest names in music and entertainment including performances from Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, U2 and Mary J. Blige; as well as speeches from Martin Luther King III, and actors Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks. In celebration of the inauguration week, we should all wear a little red, white and blue! Patriotism is defined as love of and devotion to one’s country.

Ralph Lauren has created many beautiful collections with patriotic colors taking over.

 

Chanel has an overindulgence of patriotic shoes. If you go for this look, please lose the ankle purse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even celebrites are going for a patriotic look!

What is Haute Couture?

The term “haute couture” is French. Haute means “high” or “elegant”. Couture literally means “sewing”, but has come to indicate the business of designing, creating, and selling custom-made, high fashion women’s clothes. Made from scratch for each customer, haute couture clothing typically requires three fittings. It usually takes from 100 to 400 hours to make one dress, costing from $26,000 to over $100,000. A tailored suit starts at $16,000, an evening gown at $60,000.

During fashion’s “golden age,” after World War II, some 15,000 women wore couture. Socialites such as the Duchess of Windsor would order whole collections at a time. Despite the small market, designers maintain haute couture operations partly because the prestige helps sell other products, such as perfume, cosmetics, and their ready-to-wear lines available in stores.

Today only 2,000 women in the world buy couture clothes; 60% are American. Only 200 are regular customers. Often, designers will loan clothes to movie stars or other public figures for publicity.

A Little Bit About…Vera Wang

Vera Wang, age 59, is an American fashion designer based in New York. She is known for her wedding gown collection, among other specialties. Vera Wang has not always been the successful bridal designer like she is today.

As a girl, Wang trained as a figure skater, and competed at the 1968 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. She was actually featured in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd in the January 8, 1968 issue. When she failed to make the U.S. Olympic team, she entered the fashion industry.

Wang was a senior fashion editor for Vogue for sixteen years. In 1985, she left Vogue after being turned down for the editor-in-chief position currently filled by Anna Wintour and joined Ralph Lauren as a design director for two years. In 1990, she opened her own design salon in the Carlyle Hotel in New York which featured her trademark bridal gowns. She has designed costumes for figure skaters, including Nancy Kerrigan and Michelle Kwan. She also has made wedding gowns for Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson, Avril Lavigne, Victoria Beckham, Jennifer Garner, and Sharon Stone among others.

Vera Wang has expanded her brand name through her fragrance, jewelry, eyeware, shoe and houseware collections. She also wrote the book Vera Wang on Weddings which was released by Harper Collins in October, 2001. On May 27, 2006, Wang was awarded the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award from the Savannah College of Art and Design. In the Sex and the City movie, Vera Wang was featured amongst the many bridal gowns Carrie Bradshaw wore in a Vogue photo shoot.

Today, Vera Wang is one of the most prominent fashion designers in New York City.

Fashion Forward Accessories

When going to runway shows, people often just look at the beautifully created dresses and outfits. Rarely do people grovel over the astonishing accessories: from the extraordinary shoes to the unusual hats.

 

 

Hats are created and worn for a more dramatic effect on the runway.

 

Of course, Sarah Jessica Parker was spotted wearing this extravagant hat to the Sex and the City primere.

These shoes designed by Marc Jacobs are called the “Inverted Heel” with the heel under the arch of your foot, instead of on the actual heel.

 

WOW. This is a definitely a big difference to what we are used to seeing. British Designer Antonio Beradi designed these sky-high heels without any heel! It’s 5 1/2 inches off the ground…talk about scary! 

Fashion Difference in Just 9 Years

I researched back to the Fashion Week in 2000 and couldn’t believe what I found. In just about 9 years, the fashion has already changed dramatically.

Fashion Week in 2000

A model wears a beaded camisole and flannel pants at a showing of the Ralph Lauren Fall 2000 line in New York. 

 

 

 

 

 A black beaded tie-back fringed top is modeled over black taffeta pants during the showing of Nicole Miller’s Fall 2000 collection in New York on Feb. 8, 2000.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fashion Week in 2008

 

This model is wearing a black Reem Acra cocktail dress with a jewel-encrusted (This year’s trend!) collar for New York Fall Fashion Week 2008.

This beautiful white Chanel coat is being shown by a model at the New York City Fall Fashion show in 2008.