Leandra Medine's Blog, page 608

September 14, 2015

A Day in the Life During NYFW

7:52 a.m.: Rise and shine and give god your glory, glory. Rise and shine, and give god your glory, glo–shit salad, I have to write yesterday’s review before it’s today. Okay, Leandra. Buckle down. Buckle. Down.


8:20 a.m.: In case you’re wondering, yes I meditated, no I did not have a chance to brush my teeth and yes again, I am contemplating wearing a fitness outfit to fashion week today. Sorry I just called it that, like it’s one unified location. I think I’ve been spending too much time with Amelia. I’m getting a coffee at Think even though I don’t actually like their coffee and an almond butter and honey sandwich because I like that combo platter very much.


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Never mind. I think I’ll have some GREEN MILK AND GRANOLA.


9:24 a.m.: Jason Wu, Rosie Assoulin, Givenchy reviewed. Finished. Done. Boom. Now, if I were me, which I am, what would I wear? This Thakoon jacket as a dress? Is it going to rain today? Sun looks like it’s out right now. I’d really like to wear those weird blue-lens sunglasses. I think I ate too much last night. Have you ever tried a teff flour cookie? Last night I tried eight. White jeans, white t-shirt, suspenders. Done. Shoes?


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No. They don’t look right. Sandals? Sandals. Okay.


11:01 a.m.: I have just arrived at Milk Studios, where Australian designer Dion Lee is going to show. Shiona Turini (you remember that time she tried to turn me into a “sexy” dresser, right?) says she loves this show because they’re not afraid to show naked ladies. Amelia says she’s going to write a story about bringing sexy back, I tell her Justin Timberlake already did that.


I look like Gloria Steinem btw.


1:00 p.m.: In the two hours that have passed since we last spoke, I saw Rebecca Minkoff, where a key variable missing in full through the course of this season — the 70s — are on display. Now I’m with Amelia and Yasmin Sewell, going to get a sandwich to eat (as opposed to wear or play hockey with) and fine, full disclosure, we are also stopping at the recently opened Totokaelo in Soho because I want to see if they have this one pair of Dries Van Noten boots that I srsly, srsly want.


1:09 p.m.: No such luck. Come at me, sandwich.


2:20 p.m.: I’m seated at Tibi and just saw a pair of sequined walking shorts that make me feel like the entire life I have lived until this point is a lie. There are also these tea-length dresses (nothing is mini anymore! Thigh haters unite!) with straps hanging down their backside. It’s a microtrend, yes, but that shit was happening at Rosie yesterday and Derek Lam tomorrow (I can see the future), too. All I want to do is throw a pair of jeans under one of these sequined pink dresses and call myself ready for the theater.


3:00 p.m.: My leg fell asleep. I’m limping.


3:00:56 p.m.: It’s awake!


3:58 p.m.: We saw Isa Arfen, or the rising Miuccia, and now I’m backstage at Christian Siriano, which I styled this season. I love this guy because he’s the only recorded designer who actually makes plus size fashion. The collect is an homage to the middle east and we worked out a narrative where it starts with a naked dress a la Carrie Bradshaw at JFK and ends on the way home from Saudi Arabia in a yellow gown + head covering. Ching ching.


4:53 p.m.: Sorry for the affected calling of the following — but here is where we “mad-dash” to Spring Studios to see Altuzarra, who consistently breathes life into the lungs of New York Fashion Week. The show always feels so grown up. Kind of makes you want to go home and change. Or at least stop wearing ripped pants.


5:22 p.m.: TIE DYE T-SHIRT. CROC-DYE A-LINE SKIRT. Altuzarra is like a sandwich, man. Is it just me or is there an awesome Perry Ellis ca. Marc Jacobs 90s supermodel thing happening right now? Pleated! Low slung! Knee-length! Skirts!


6:01 p.m.: I’m now back at Milk Studios, where if you remember CORRECTLY I started the day to watch Baja East. I love the fuckers who design this collection and it’s so cool to watch the attendees at the show get fancier with each season. Hi Cathy Horyn! Hi Hamish Bowles. Hi…Miguel!? I’m texting Amelia sign-off approval on today’s newsletter which is essentially a series of five bullet points wherein she makes fun of me. Yesterday, for example, I walked around all day, button fly open, out, and vag to walls.



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6:48 p.m.: Don’t forget to stop, smell the flowers and appreciate your life.



7:24 p.m.: I meet Abie (parter-in-sex among other things) for dinner at a bomb ass restaurant in the West Village called Bar Bolonat. Alexander Wang is in an hour and a half. I cannot wait to eat this cumin-seasoned edamame. Have you ever tried a lamb ball? Me neither.


7:29 p.m.: Abie tried to make a joke. It does not land.


7:41 p.m.: Second attempt at joke (referring to an empty plate, he tells our gracious waiter, “We hated the meal!”) — again, it does not land.


8:02 p.m.: We’re done. I’m going to kill myself if I don’t get ice cream.


8:09 p.m.: We’re getting ice cream. Hehe.


8:22 p.m.: Leonardo DiCaprio is here! At Snow Days! Eating shaved ice! I have to go to Wang, huh.


9:08 p.m.: There are two instances wherein I am reminded of how uncool I am. The first is while I’m doing dance cardio. The second is while I’m in the presence of Alexander Wang and his legion of models. He’s celebrating his 10th anniversary and this place is bleeding cool beans. (Not literally, that would be so weird, no?)


10:40 p.m.: I do not stay for the afterparty. I am, in fact, now home and in bed and watching Defiance. I have still not brushed my teeth, and Abie says hi.


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Published on September 14, 2015 06:00

A Day in The Life During NYFW

7:52 a.m.: Rise and shine and give god your glory, glory. Rise and shine, and give god your glory, glo–shit salad, I have to write yesterday’s review before it’s today. Okay, Leandra. Buckle down. Buckle. Down.


8:20 a.m.: In case you’re wondering, yes I meditated, no I did not have a chance to brush my teeth and yes again, I am contemplating wearing a fitness outfit to fashion week today. Sorry I just called it that, like it’s one unified location. I think I’ve been spending too much time with Amelia. I’m getting a coffee at Think even though I don’t actually like their coffee and an almond butter and honey sandwich because I like that combo platter very much.


day-in-the-life-during-nyfw


Never mind. I think I’ll have some GREEN MILK AND GRANOLA.


9:24 a.m.: Jason Wu, Rosie Assoulin, Givenchy reviewed. Finished. Done. Boom. Now, if I were me, which I am, what would I wear? This Thakoon jacket as a dress? Is it going to rain today? Sun looks like it’s out right now. I’d really like to wear those weird blue-lens sunglasses. I think I ate too much last night. Have you ever tried a teff flour cookie? Last night I tried eight. White jeans, white t-shirt, suspenders. Done. Shoes?


unnamed-1


No. They don’t look right. Sandals? Sandals. Okay.


11:01 a.m.: I have just arrived at Milk Studios, where Australian designer Dion Lee is going to show. Shiona Turini (you remember that time she tried to turn me into a “sexy” dresser, right?) says she loves this show because they’re not afraid to show naked ladies. Amelia says she’s going to write a story about bringing sexy back, I tell her Justin Timberlake already did that.


I look like Gloria Steinem btw.


1:00 p.m.: In the two hours that have passed since we last spoke, I saw Rebecca Minkoff, where a key variable missing in full through the course of this season — the 70s — are on display. Now I’m with Amelia and Yasmin Sewell, going to get a sandwich to eat (as opposed to wear or play hockey with) and fine, full disclosure, we are also stopping at the recently opened Totokaelo in Soho because I want to see if they have this one pair of Dries Van Noten boots that I srsly, srsly want.


1:09 p.m.: No such luck. Come at me, sandwich.


2:20 p.m.: I’m seated at Tibi and just saw a pair of sequined walking shorts that make me feel like the entire life I have lived until this point is a lie. There are also these tea-length dresses (nothing is mini anymore! Thigh haters unite!) with straps hanging down their backside. It’s a microtrend, yes, but that shit was happening at Rosie yesterday and Derek Lam tomorrow (I can see the future), too. All I want to do is throw a pair of jeans under one of these sequined pink dresses and call myself ready for the theater.


3:00 p.m.: My leg fell asleep. I’m limping.


3:00:56 p.m.: It’s awake!


3:58 p.m.: We saw Isa Arfen, or the rising Miuccia, and now I’m backstage at Christian Siriano, which I styled this season. I love this guy because he’s the only recorded designer who actually makes plus size fashion. The collect is an homage to the middle east and we worked out a narrative where it starts with a naked dress a la Carrie Bradshaw at JFK and ends on the way home from Saudi Arabia in a yellow gown + head covering. Ching ching.


4:53 p.m.: Sorry for the affected calling of the following — but here is where we “mad-dash” to Spring Studios to see Altuzarra, who consistently breathes life into the lungs of New York Fashion Week. The show always feels so grown up. Kind of makes you want to go home and change. Or at least stop wearing ripped pants.


5:22 p.m.: TIE DYE T-SHIRT. CROC-DYE A-LINE SKIRT. Altuzarra is like a sandwich, man. Is it just me or is there an awesome Perry Ellis ca. Marc Jacobs 90s supermodel thing happening right now? Pleated! Low slung! Knee-length! Skirts!


6:01 p.m.: I’m now back at Milk Studios, where if you remember CORRECTLY I started the day to watch Baja East. I love the fuckers who design this collection and it’s so cool to watch the attendees at the show get fancier with each season. Hi Cathy Horyn! Hi Hamish Bowles. Hi…Miguel!? I’m texting Amelia sign-off approval on today’s newsletter which is essentially a series of five bullet points wherein she makes fun of me. Yesterday, for example, I walked around all day, button fly open, out, and vag to walls.



Are you liking our daily digests? Tell me everything.


6:48 p.m.: Don’t forget to stop, smell the flowers and appreciate your life.



7:24 p.m.: I meet Abie (parter-in-sex among other things) for dinner at a bomb ass restaurant in the West Village called Bar Bolonat. Alexander Wang is in an hour and a half. I cannot wait to eat this cumin-seasoned edamame. Have you ever tried a lamb ball? Me neither.


7:29 p.m.: Abie tried to make a joke. It does not land.


7:41 p.m.: Second attempt at joke (referring to an empty plate, he tells our gracious waiter, “We hated the meal!”) — again, it does not land.


8:02 p.m.: We’re done. I’m going to kill myself if I don’t get ice cream.


8:09 p.m.: We’re getting ice cream. Hehe.


8:22 p.m.: Leonardo DiCaprio is here! At Snow Days! Eating shaved ice! I have to go to Wang, huh.


9:08 p.m.: There are two instances wherein I am reminded of how uncool I am. The first is while I’m doing dance cardio. The second is while I’m in the presence of Alexander Wang and his legion of models. He’s celebrating his 10th anniversary and this place is bleeding cool beans. (Not literally, that would be so weird, no?)


10:40 p.m.: I do not stay for the afterparty. I am, in fact, now home and in bed and watching Defiance. I have still not brushed my teeth, and Abie says hi.


fashion-week-ss-16


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Published on September 14, 2015 06:00

September 13, 2015

Sunday School: the Victoria Beckham Uniform, the Public School Look

Know exactly what goes on between the shows by reading Leandra and Amelia’s text convos. Get help filling awkward small talk during the shows here and catch up on shows from last night here.


If you’re thinking about flimsy tweed and wish that it was plaid, if you hate your loafers because they give you blisters and wear the backs folded down, and if you’re tired of a bunch of t-shirts in your closet and want to make them feel new again with bright suede harness/dickie hybrid shirts, Victoria Beckham either heard your inner monologue, or without even knowing, you modified it to fit her spring collection.


Doesn’t resonate? Okay, this will.


Public School fans, proud owners of commodified cool, unite! In a palette comprised primarily of white, dove gray, black and navy, with silhouettes ranging a fantastic span replete with a sort of Dries-ian salute to airy, striped wide leg pants and flimsy robe-style jackets, new-age tennis sets and two instances of big trends that keep coming up: vertically sliced hemlines and relaxed knit bottoms, Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow have proven themselves as way more than a pair of fashion darlings with a great idea (to make clothes that are cool); they’re a centerpiece inside Great American Fashion.


And if you’re wondering whether Derek Lam still makes you want to go home and change and whether Thakoon may (!!!) or may not have experienced a reawakening (terry robes and v-shorts that will make you feel like a dandelion on the coast of a Grecian island), I defer to Amelia, who will be your resident fashion-caster until Tuesday at sundown.


Now I wish you, whether initiated or not, a happy Jewish new year. L’haim!


Photographs via Vogue Runway


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Published on September 13, 2015 13:35

The Number One Question at NYFW

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Playing NYFW catch up? Check our first batch of street style, a recap of Altuzarra, Baja East and Wang, four styling tips from the runway thus far and don’t forget: we want you to write your own fashion week review


Stressful’s Law proves when two people are looking for one another at the same time in the same venue they will pass one another in a perpendicular manner for eternity with zero intersection unless one person stays put. It’s why your mother told you to stand still as your personal emergency plan should you ever get lost in the supermarket.


But fashion week ain’t our momma. As such, it’s a continual texting game of “Where are you?”; a finger-fury of schedule alignments, 160-character show reviews, shoe stalking, missed connections and the odd call to action: I’m hungry, let’s eat. What exactly does that look or read like? Check the convo between you and your friend at opposite ends of the bar last night — probably pretty similar. Or, read the fashion week equivalent between Leandra and Amelia below.


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Published on September 13, 2015 10:00

We’re Just Doing Us: Altuzarra, Baja East and Alexander Wang

In New York, you’re not supposed to feel the same sort of gravity you do when you’re looking at a collection in Paris, or even in Milan. Likewise, when compared to London, we’re not quite a shining example of the wackiness archetypically on display there. The past several seasons have struggled to find its place on the scale between too serious and too silly but the spring/summer 2016 season is shaping up to look a lot like an indication that we’re getting back to the root of our identity. Which is, of course, a contemporary market with sprinklings of profound high fashion that don’t need to command a conversation and yet, do. Is this because the clothes are telling us to take it easy?


At Altuzarra, woven belts fastened at the waist of a crinkled linen pencil skirt replete with a thigh slit and button down blouse that could have, in a line up, been identified from a mile away. The collection often feels like a tender sandwich because it doesn’t matter what’s put into it: whether you’re vegetarian or passionate about ground beef, you always know, from whichever vantage point, that a sandwich is a sandwich. No ear went un-ringed with a pair of leather tags. There were sprinklings of tie dye set on a blouse and some dresses — one of which featured toggle buttons, coming up in several places this season — and sequins and beadwork that complimented the espadrille heels and an overall affection towards the supermodel of the 90s with pleats on facile a-line silhouettes that seemed to want to invite you in for some lemonade.


If ever there was a moment for a brand that has built itself on the basic tenets of creating cool, unisex clothes that make you feel like while you’re wearing them, you should be waxing a surfboard, it’s now. Living on the west coast, it seems, can be a state of mind — and this is precisely what makes Baja East an exciting moment on the fashion week calendar. Designers Scott Studenberg and John Tarragon do what they want. That was evidenced last night by embellished neo-saris and flimsy but larger-than-life tie dye pants. You get the sense while you’re looking at this show that both Tarragon and Studenberg are having fun and want to rope us into it. There’s a tactical craft — a laid back energy that is countered by technical ability, but the point seems to be that we’re not in it for the fashion, that’s just a positive side effect.


Last night was a significant moment in Wang history. This month marks the 10th anniversary of Alexander Wang’s launch and what a decade it has been. His tenure at Balenciaga is coming to a close and last night, as evidenced with striped pants and structural jackets, crop tops, denim boxer shorts and fishnet shirts, lacework and precisely the ilk of nonsensical combinations that quite frankly change the way you interact with your wardrobe, like New York, he’s convicted — and succeeding — to bring what’s great about his stuff back to their roots.


Photographs via Vogue Runway and NowFashion.com


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Published on September 13, 2015 06:30

September 12, 2015

NYFW Street Style: Back to School Fashion

We’re three days in to New York Fashion Week and visually, a lot has happened on the runway. Creatures of the Wind, Tome and Rodebjer removed the “ath” from leisure and showed us how to relax in beautiful clothes. Scratch that and add two more — BCBG and Creatures of Comfort had a similar idea in mind, too. Golden boys Adam Selman and Wes Gordon increased their already growing fan-base, high-hipped swimsuits may take over for your regular bodysuit come next spring and the whole thing has, for the most part, occurred “downtown.”


Of course, you and I both know that when it comes to downtown, fashion isn’t just happening on the runway. It’s in the streets. For safety matters it really should be on the sidewalk but everyone is pretty good about looking both ways so, streets it is.


Here’s where we’d usually start identifying the pedestrian trends: “It’s all about shoes!” “Everyone is wearing underwear this season!” “Shirts, in general, are having a moment!” But wouldn’t it be more fun if you pointed out the street style trends? Of what you’d like to see more of, what’s exciting you, what’s confusing you but that you find intriguing at the same time? Uh, yea it would be.


So click through the slideshow as shot by our own woman-on-the-streets with excellent traffic awareness, Krista Anna Lewis, and below in the comments section, add every single one of your thoughts.


Or questions! Don’t forget: we’re answering them on Snapchat.


Photographed by Krista Anna Lewis


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Published on September 12, 2015 09:30

From Jason Wu, Rosie Assoulin and Givenchy

How could a collection devoid of color say so much? On Friday, Jason Wu, Rosie Assoulin and Givenchy commanded the loudest conversation. While Assoulin shied not away from abundant color — feeding into the summer hangover with a ginger tonic that peps you right back up and makes you wonder how the hell she does it, Jason Wu stuck to a quiet palette with takes of deep dark green and a copper weave while Givenchy abandoned color altogether.


At Wu, the hair was slicked back tight, the lips were so deeply red they almost looked like velvet and the clothes — traditionally buttoned up and form flattering and made for a woman-in-control — featured an almost-girly playfulness with a series of elaborate ruffles that danced across thighs and shoulders and backs. If by day two, the season of New York was being told to throw its schedule by the wayside in order to relax, Jason Wu held on with aplomb. Not to control, not to defy but rather because she-who-wears-the-clothes concedes at her own pace. And though she, too, has loosening up on the mind (the slides! Gowns worn with flats! The flimsy slip dresses and pure, stark white), she’s seemingly got an East Hampton dinner party to host.


And if I’m invited, I’m wearing Rosie — who has proven herself to be an expert in taking a theme (the beach), providing context (all hail the new bikini) and without literalizing that theme (they’re not actually bikinis; they’re knits, they’re dresses, they’re everyday blouses), or making it seem like an impossibility to achieve, she invites everyone to participate at their behest. Isn’t that something? A brand that has achieved enough acclaim to feel so exclusive and yet endeavors to include us all by, for example, calling a look set in kermit green and a very bright orange, “peas and carrots.” To appreciate Rosie, you don’t have to be anything. Except for maybe enthusiastic.


Then there was Givenchy. The show was hosted at Pier 26, overlooking One World Trade Center on the golden evening of the anniversary of September 11th. The venue was enormous. The celebrities were plenty and the art installation that’s become inherent to Riccardo Tisci’s DNA with the help of Marina Abramovic was set on display above large wood blocks with men and women dressed in white shirts and black pants. As attendees and the general public waited upward of an hour for the sun to set and the models to walk, we marveled in the moment. And once they started, there it was: a profoundly soft collection — negligees and slip dresses, robes and no doubt some reprised couture — absent of color but brimming with ideas that without trivializing the gravity and in fact only further propelling it, gave power to an important night in New York.


Runway Photographs via Vogue Runway and NowFashion.com

Rosie Assoulin Photographed by Krista Anna Lewis


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Published on September 12, 2015 07:00

September 11, 2015

Four Fashion Week Styling Tips From Friday

Fancy alliteration, huh? Here we go:


1. At CG, designer Chris Gelinas showed one hell of a beautiful garden party collection with one split paneled skirt in particular and a dress with second-sleeve straps that drooped on purpose, both of which made us reconsider ye old shrub sheers of yesteryear’s chores.


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To do: Find the once-loved A-line skirt that now bores you to death plus anything with short sleeves and have at it (carefully) with a pair of scissors. Waiting for your tailor to open is no excuse to not execute this. Your closet, I promise, will thank you.


2. The Victorian Era was alive and well at Zimmermann — frilly and lacey as ever but somehow immediately easy to picture on the coolest of laid back girls.


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To do: Take the wild-collared blouse you made (yes, made!) and then tuck it into the highest pair of skirted shorts you can find or own. For extra ruffles under your party pants, make like Creatures of Comfort and put on wide-legged shorts over that mini peasant skirt I know you still own from your past Abercrombie & Fitch days et voila: instant bloomers.


3. Keep your eyes on designer Sally LaPointe, whose collections not only get stronger and stronger but whose pieces are making spectators reconsider the basics, like a slip dress under a trench coat. Like Leandra wrote on Instagram: so simple, but somehow so new.


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To do: Mix equal parts slip dress with trench coat, then exit house. For extra flavor put on high, high heels. If you like to burn the shit out of your mouth, then make the trench coat red.


4. In the absolute best way possible, Cushnie Et Ochs was Cushnie Et Ochs. Rather than bend to trends they face forward and march (stomp/werq) with the kind of command that two woman with a dedicated fan base and tenure in the industry are wont to do. If you had on one of those sexy, slinky no bullshit Cushnie dresses, wouldn’t you?


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You would, so to do: Find a one-piece swimsuit with high-cut hip holes (check the 80s) and pair with lowwww-slung trousers.


Reasons to look forward to next spring? Check, check, check and check.


Images via Vogue RunwayNowFashion.com, and Instagram


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Published on September 11, 2015 14:00

Golden Boys: Adam Selman, Wes Gordon

I’ve never met the guy, but the people love Adam Selman. Rihanna loves Adam Selman, too, even if she wasn’t in the crowd of those who whooped and hollered as Selman took his “Thanks for coming!” wave. The buzz that he’s something special, however — someone the industry and media-declared fashion icon Rihanna view as one to watch (with fervant attention, with shoulders swaying to the music, with enunciated nods and loud dad-claps at almost-9 p.m.) — that was present.


His style takes a moment to ease into, like a cold shower or a too-hot bath. Sesame Street’s “Sunny days” intro played quietly as we shifted in our seats and waited for the spectacle to begin. I say spectacle because last February, his models were more like actresses in a Bye Bye Birdie meets an Amy Winehouse tribute/live-art instillation. It was fun and entertaining and the little sweaters, you later realized, were wearable.


This Spring 16 runway situation felt more like a show. For sure, his models walked with attitude, both of the swagger and moody-teen variety. They had to in order to support that which teetered on childlike, as suburban-90s-kid hair (you know: a half-pony connected to a bottom-pony, both with their own ribbons), clown-like sneakers and satin-trimmed frills dared reviewers to reference “a modern Lolita.” But you wouldn’t, because while it was youthful, it wasn’t young.


In fact, this collection felt a bit grown up. Just a little bit!  The lines were precise. The denim was pressed. The straps on one dress made up entirely of floral embroidery (the same kind that made appearances on the bottom of split-bells and a few tops) was as thin as a spider’s web. Amid the color white — in iterations both innocent and sporty, there was red. Red is never not sexy.  The collection was overall playful, yes; I think Adam Selman is a flirt. And the collection was weird. Weird in a good way. But nothing about this was child’s play. The applause confirmed it: fun and wearable.


Also wearable (but never not), also a young dude designer The People-plus-style star (in this case, Solange) have endorsed by sitting front row as “one to watch” is Wes Gordon. Unlike Selman, though, his designs can almost be exclusively described as “pretty.” They are intended to be delicate and lovely and wearable, like his drop waist dresses and bits of lace here and there.


For a show that opened in white and khaki with intermissions of orange and plaid and leather — pause: let me tell you about this sleeveless leather vest with deep-diving armpit darts: it was perfect,  concluded with white (sort of) evening wear and had droop-beaded deco pieces (a top, a skirt, a dress) throughout, it could have almost been Ralph Lauren if put into a blender with Calvin Klein. Almost. Wes has his own vision and his fans see it loud and clear. He’s all-American without any patriotic kitsch — just classic pieces; each one want-to-wear-able.


Images via Vogue Runway and NowFashion.com


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Published on September 11, 2015 10:00

New York Fashion Week Says Relax

Loosening up is the new aspirational.


It’s not usually easy to determine where a season will take you after a single day of shows, especially when that follows the end of a summer, which according to Instagram, was the best one ever. Still, the Thursday forecast at New York Fashion Week echoed the predictable small talk with clothes that said: summer was great; let’s keep relaxing.


At Creatures of the Wind, the esoteric design duo Christopher Peters and Shane Gabier accumulated a collection that was delicately busting with conflicting ideas. Were we at an homage show to Ziggy Stardust with its combovers, metallic wingtips and asymmetrical jewelry, or were we heading on Chevy Chase’s next installment on the family vacation road map with the Hawaiian prints (technically stunning) on chiffon short sleeve shirts, screen printed and embroidered florals (impossible replicate) and the huge fish nets (for catching, of course!)?


There were hints of 90s grunge, like in a short sleeve t-shirt worn under a slip dress and the endemic 70s flair, which has come to define the identity of the house. And yet through the different narratives popping up like fighting thought bubbles, together, the collection looked deliberate. Explicit. Made to complement itself and underscore a shift in fashion heralded last March in Paris by Nicolas Ghesquiere that said it’s okay (even tasteful) to be a little tacky. Just do it with ease.


Tome got that memo too, with slicked-back hair and long fish-scale earrings, pairing colors like bright pink and neon yellow. The ease-clause was further developed: shirts were intentionally hanging off the shoulders in some instances and there was a deluge of utilitarian fabric on display on otherwise dramatic and glamourous silhouettes, like a full flare skirt or a dramatic bustle, or gown belt (essentially a long skirt with slits that show off a pair of pants being worn under the “belt”). The digestibly-wearable materials made the clothes feel easy to approximate. You got the sense that buttoning up just felt dated. Like being the only sober person at the party made you a liability.


This was also true of Swedish brand Rodebjer’s show. Its comfortable and commercially-lucrative silhouettes (cropped pants that are not culottes but don’t stray too far from the trend and dresses shown over them that will surely go well with buyers as stand-alones) rendered in various patches of denim, silk and this stand-out fringe-fabric didn’t so much attempt to say anything as they did just come over you, like a thought mid-meditation.


Images via Vogue Runway and NowFashion.com


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The post New York Fashion Week Says Relax appeared first on Man Repeller.

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Published on September 11, 2015 08:00

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