Posts for September 29th 2008

Peut-être Prosaic at Dior?
Christian Dior

Peut-être Prosaic at Dior?

It is a curious feeling to have so strongly weighed in on both the accessories and the beauty of a show and yet have so little to say about the actual clothing, but  that is the predicament we are in for Christian Dior's Spring 2009 collection.
by coutorture

It is a curious feeling to have so strongly weighed in on both the accessories and the beauty of a show and yet have so little to say about the actual clothing, but  that is the predicament we are in for Christian Dior's Spring 2009 collection. We have long been aggravated by John Galliano's half baked attempts at intellectualizing his inspirations when clearly the mish mash of ideas that combines to create his genius final product has very little to do with any concrete or linear thought process. Literalism has never been his strong suit.

So the vague inklings of tribalism that found their way into the accessories is only the barest hint at a coherent theme for us. Aside from the bizarrely impractical 80s sheer throwbacks, the collection was largely cinched waist dresses, halter top minis, and select wild prints, indeed they were garments that never went over the edge. In fact, if we hadn't had the distraction of the hair and accessories we might not have noticed that this collection was fairly prosaic. And that is an adjective we haven't associated with John Galliano in a long time.

Martin Margiela Looks Back over Twenty Maison Years for Spring 2009
Paris Fashion Week

Martin Margiela Looks Back over Twenty Maison Years for Spring 2009

>> In what could very well be his last collection, given all the rumors about his exit, Martin Margiela went the retrospective route for his twentieth anniversary collection — it would be a very fitting end, no?  All of the models were faceless — a nod to the designer's obsession with anonymity — and the house uniform, a white lab coat, came out in various forms, including during the final bow, when the entire staff emerged on the runway rather than Margiela himself.  A hit parade of plastic bags, disco balls, bustier catsuits, Barbie clothes, and AIDS T-shirts led into the final look: a giant silk birthday cake, with two pairs of legs underneath.  Was it Margiela's final look ever?*image: source
by

>> In what could very well be his last collection, given all the rumors about his exit, Martin Margiela went the retrospective route for his twentieth anniversary collection — it would be a very fitting end, no?  All of the models were faceless — a nod to the designer's obsession with anonymity — and the house uniform, a white lab coat, came out in various forms, including during the final bow, when the entire staff emerged on the runway rather than Margiela himself.  A hit parade of plastic bags, disco balls, bustier catsuits, Barbie clothes, and AIDS T-shirts led into the final look: a giant silk birthday cake, with two pairs of legs underneath.  Was it Margiela's final look ever?
*image: source

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Coutorture Community Must Reads 9/29
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Coutorture Community Must Reads 9/29

We are living in a state of almost complete panic what with the bailout going haywire and the DOW dropping 700 points so we are doing our best to keep ourselves distracted in our state of incomprehension with a happy grab bag of style blog posts.
by coutorture

We are living in a state of almost complete panic what with the bailout going haywire and the DOW dropping 700 points so we are doing our best to keep ourselves distracted in our state of incomprehension with a happy grab bag of style blog posts. Maybe Henry Paulson would feel better too if he spent some time reading blogs as well. Well, maybe just the fashion and beauty ones!

The Fashionable Housewife, hopefully not worrying about variable rate mortages, has suggestions on skinny jeans for all bodies even those that have endured childbirth.

Fassonaburu has some truly confusing lace arm warmers. We think they might itch. But then we don't understand a lot of things these days, like say how people tasked with risk management didn't run worst case scenario forecasts!

Ma Petite Chou needs some tough girl shoes. We think Nancy Pelosi could use a few pairs for the next set of bailout negotiations.

Shoe Blog has another emergency. A shoe emergency at a discounter footwear emporium. With conditions like this we are doomed even with cut rate shoe shopping.

And finally The Tastemakers Society has found an umbrella that just about sums up how we are feeling about all of this insanity.

Balenciaga

Under him, the company invested cannily in young designers, including Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga, Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen.
by Under him, the company invested cannily in young designers, including Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga, Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen. Though Ford insists he takes "absolutely no credit" for the success those three have had since, Ghesquière nearly welled up when I asked about Ford and said the designer "taught me everything".
Paris Fashion Week

>> THE MODELIZER —Iselin Steiro hasn't walked in any major shows since Balenciaga Fall 2007, but this season may change that all — the still very in-demand model, who has in the meantime been in school, was spotted in Paris this morning, "obviously in town for shows .
by

>> THE MODELIZER —Iselin Steiro hasn't walked in any major shows since Balenciaga Fall 2007, but this season may change that all — the still very in-demand model, who has in the meantime been in school, was spotted in Paris this morning, "obviously in town for shows . . . or is that A SHOW." [Of the Minute]