loveeeeeeeee that cape

altamira nyc

mk killing it

love the burberry look - the bracelets, the gloves, the amaaaaaaazing sunglasses, the ankle boots. star light, star bright, make me an olsen twin tonight.
tfs

a few highlights from london

i loved this look but really the entire collection was brilliant - so much texture, so much skilled layering, and so much black. definitely fantasy life, but with an element of the real life.
john rocha f/w 2010

i really love this jacket - the black on black embellishments are beautifully done. i'm imagining it on la lanphear over one of her basic outfits - thin black pants, white tee, perhaps a gray blazer layered underneath the black?
matthew williamson f/w 2010

i would really, really love to be badass enough to pull this dress off. but i'm not, so i'm going to sit in a corner and cry about it.
julien macdonald f/w 2010

coats like this almost make me wish i lived in a climate where i could wear one. not really, but i still covet really great coats. and i love pringle - when i was 16 i spent a summer in england, and was waiting at heathrow for my flight home totally exhausted, literally falling asleep in my chair when i saw the pringle store. something drew me in, and despite the fact that i was practically sleep-shopping, i managed to find and purchase a bag that i used for the next several years. still have it, but i never use it - alexander wang and i are exclusive on the handbag front.
pringle f/w 2010

can i have this look in all black, please? then add a few extra black layers, mary kate's black python ps1, some psycho jewelry, and walk around pretending i'm an olsen twin.
burberry prorsum f/w 2010

fantasy life: wear with messy hair and kate lanphear's jewelry for a picnic in griffith park.
real life: hang on wall and drool.
jenny packham f/w 2010

a note on christopher kane: i thought it was brilliant in theory and fell down in execution. it was all really well done, except for the embroidery. it was really well designed and the colors were good, but it was sad machine embroidery - which in a collection that so prominently featured embroidery was a major shortcoming. there's no substitute for hand work. obviously a rtw collection can't afford hand embroidery, but i thought that the difference in quality really detracted from what otherwise was a fantastic collection.

FREJA

god, i love her
tfs

mr. newton

this was featured a few days ago on refinery 29 and reposted today on mr. newton, and i still can't get over it. i want want want that jacket. it's gray and amazing.

tao okamoto

so in love with that trench and all the layered neutrals. perfection.

and she's totally gorgeous.
from altamira nyc

tommy ton for style.com

my favorite shots from tommy ton's nyfw photos - two completely different looks that i think perfectly capture my schzoid fashion personality.

the first: black on black, leather, layers, pony hair ankle boots. this is my everyday life, minus the heels (for the most part i am all about flats)

the second is a fantasy look - pink fur and rhinestones. totally wild - this is a look that i love to death and that lives entirely in my imagination. despite the fact that my closet contains only black, white, and gray, (literally. i gave up on wearing color last year and gave almost all my colored clothing to the goodwill. a few things i can't give up live in my storage closet, gathering dust) there is a side of me that loves rhinestones and glitter and hot pink. that side lives only in my studio, where i play with rhinestones and glitter and make dresses of the imagination. doesn't leave the house.

proenza schouler

MORE BLACK!
proenza schouler f/w 2010 from nymag

in looking at and posting about shows, i don't consider myself as reviewing the shows or the work of the designer (especially because i frequently don't comment past 'i dig this or that'). i am with anna della russo on this - i think that is largely the role of the professionals. in this interview she talks about the difference between having personal style and being a fashion professional, and i think a lot of what she has to say is really relevant in the blogging age:

"Your style is part of your imagination, but beyond your style has to be a deep experience also, a deep knowledge about fashion. Sometimes I notice no one remembers the last ten years of fashion. We can say it’s a young profession, but if we already have 50 years full of designer, full of history, no one remembers at least the last five years."

i agree with her completely. it's not that bloggers don't have anything to offer - as someone who keeps up a blog myself, obviously i think there's a point to it - but i think that what most bloggers contribute is on the level of personal imagination and personal style, and that's different from the role of a true professional who has been going to shows for years, in the business of fashion and with a deep knowledge of fashion, designers and their work, history, etc gained from being in the industry. i think that this is what troubles me most about tavi sitting front row - does tavi have something to offer? absolutely. but i'm not sure that she (or a celebrity, or a socialite) merits a place above (or rather, below) a senior editor or another seasoned industry professional. on this blog i'm not seeking to contribute beyond my imagination, my style, what i want to wear and what interests me visually. when i post pictures from shows, it's what i would see myself wearing in my life, or what i think is interesting or aesthetically appealing.

another reason why anna della russo rocks my world:
"Do you have a boyfriend?
Yes, but he doesn’t live with me. There is no space because of the clothes."

rock on, lady.
tfs

inspired by

from fashiontoast

i have admired/lusted after/generally wished to own rumi's soixante neuf ring for quite some time. it's amazing. and then today i was doing some errands on the westside, looked across the street, and saw planet blue. it felt like a message (in reality, i had just forgotten there was a second planet blue location) - so i dutifully listened to what the universe was telling me, walked in, and bought the ring. it did not disappoint - i can't take it off and i think it's going to be glued to my left index finger for quite some time.

right now i'm all about rings and bracelets - the daily dose of rings is pictured above. soixante neuf gold hammered ring, noir jewelry studded stack rings, noir jewelry porcupine ring, pamela love x opening ceremony ira scratch ring, eddie borgo bear trap ring

this picture of kate lanphear has been stuck in my brain ever since i first saw it. her collection varies slightly from day to day, but she's drawing on a same (fantastic) core group of pieces. i've been inspired by la lanphear's look a lot of late - probably responsible for my recent focus on wrists and fingers.
kate lanphear from jak&jil

behold, below, my pale imitation. it's a work in progress.
L: soixante neuf ring, noir studded stack rings, iosselliani bone bracelet, j. crew link bracelet
R: pamela love ring, eddie borgo ring, j.crew studded bangle, noir studded bangle, fallon spike and rhinestone bangles

mawi

as seen on a stylish londoner captured by vanessa jackman

i really dig the combination of heavy metal elements with the mixed rhinestones. i'm thinking it could make for an excellent diy with found jewelry pieces from the pasadena flea...

the row

slightly confused about flat open sandals for fall, but otherwise love this look
leather and layers = happiness
the row f/w 2010 from tfs

jewel box

kasia struss from 10th muse

when this photo popped up on my google reader this morning, i was squinting blearily at the fine print, trying to figure out who made those rings. luckily, i figured it out - the designer is solange azagury partridge. sadly for me, her jewelry is not within my budget, it's all fine jewelry with precious metals and real stones, but it is lovely to look at on a lazy morning sipping tea.

all jewelry images from solange azagury-partridge

love you gaga

i must have a lace mask after this.

tfs

helmut lang

just gorgeous. i would wear it all. wish the man himself was still behind the label, but this collection was really well done. it stands out from the rest because it's so brilliantly wearable.

dennis basso

the fur looks designers have been showing this season are amazing. the cuts and shapes are interesting, and what i really cannot get enough of is how it's being combined with other materials. here, with croc, at ralph rucci with sheer fabric, at jen kao and acne with leather.

dennis basso f/w 2010 from nymag

a note on fur: i hate animal cruelty. i know more than i want to about what is done to animals to produce these fur looks, and it's awful. but at the same time, it's an amazing material that designers do wonderful things with. and it is warm. really, really warm, and i am a complete wimp about the cold. i'm always cold and i would wrap just about anything around myself to keep warm in the nasty freezing snow. to sum up - i hate it in principle, but when it's before me in all that warm beautiful creative glory, i just can't help myself.
and i am an absolute fiend for leather. i don't think you can condemn fur and embrace leather - either you're for it or against it. i love cute little animals, but nothing is making me give up leather.

vera wang

so vera wang really isn't my thing most of the time. too girly. too many dresses. too much chiffon. but these three looks really appealed to me. i love the contrast between light and heavy fabrics, all the textural contrasts, the layering, and the sequins on sheer chiffon. Maybe not new or revolutionary ideas, but really well done. i wouldn't wear any of these looks off the runway (except maybe this first - but with black skinnies and heavy boots instead of tailored pants and heels), but i like what she's doing.

vera wang f/w 2010 from nymag

the super rad rad hourani

basically, I loved this show, but I'm not posting any more pictures because they just look like lumps of black at this size. black wool - happy times, not always so good in photographs.
rad hourani f/w 2010 from nymag

oh alexander wang

just when i think your f/w show is going to be a complete disaster, you go and give me a black velvet jacket-cape. well played, mr. wang. well played.
alexander wang f/w 2010 from nymag
p.s. i'll take this too.

they are!

platform ankle boots in black pony hair glory at cushnie et ochs. hooray!
from refinery29

i want this coat

preen f/w 2010 from nymag.com

this:

just made me wish for this:
mr. mcqueen, you are sorely missed.
rag and bone f/w 2010 from nymag.com/alexander mcqueen f/w 2006 from style.com