- 677 days ago by Ashley Cardiff
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“Don’t you hate pants?” More
Topic: Spring 2011 Couture
- 817 days ago by Ashley Cardiff
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Boring or beautiful? More
- 826 days ago by Ashley Cardiff
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Ha! Hautest. And now, to the voting booth. More
- 844 days ago by Ashley Cardiff
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It’s not that feathery headdress… More
- 844 days ago by Ashley Cardiff
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The team behind Valentino–Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri–inspired a whole lot of questions by explaining their Spring 2011 couture collection with a statement like “Elegance is subversive… The real subversion is culture.” Although I’m not entirely convinced that means anything, it rang oddly true when viewing the clothes: a strange and compelling mix of classic femininity (butterflies, flowers, neutrals in romantic pinks and pales) and something more off-putting (cut-outs, sheer panels, those same butterflies as weirdly constricting chokers). The collection–with its admirably coherent narrative–actually did an excellent job of realizing this play on virginal prettiness and something legitimately subversive… while keeping things subtle and wearable all the time. I’m officially excited to see where they’re going with Valentino. More
- 845 days ago by Ashley Cardiff
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I am a Jean Paul Gaultier fangirl. Still, I wasn’t completely sold on the idea of “punk” (mohawks, tartan, fishnets) meets “can-can” (full skirts and ruffles galore!), as was Gaultier’s description of his idea for Spring 2011 couture. At first glance, the collection struck me as a little too much in a few too many places, but if you squint past the crazy couture-spectacle details (that are part of the fun anyway) you can spot Gaultier’s bread and butter: razor sharp lines, immaculate tailoring, and a whole lot of good humor. More
- 846 days ago by Ashley Cardiff
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I’m a fan of Chanel. But with respect to Karl Lagerfeld’s Chanel couture collection which showed today, I am not a fan. The looks were dizzying in their incoherence: spider veins coming down jackets transitioned into sequined trousers, which in turn transitioned into 80′s proportions and skirt after skirt worn over pant after pant. It’s quite possible I just missed the point Mr. Lagerfeld was trying to make, but it’s also quite possible he tried to make way too many and lost his focus. More
- 847 days ago by Ashley Cardiff
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It’s day one of the Spring 2011 couture shows and John Galliano mined the house of Dior’s history for ladylike shapes inspired by the illustrations of legendary artist-in-residence René Gruau. The clothes (the gorgeous, gorgeous clothes) were meant to be like “an unfinished symphony,” WWD reports, with vivid reds fading to inky blacks and blush to pale blue, for a remarkable dégradé effect. The shapes were elegant, the colors rich, with all the opulent details we’d expect from Dior, and especially Mr. Galliano. More
