American Fashion's New Guard - Favorite Fall Look

Great Photo of Fashion's New Guard

From Vanity Fair's September Style Issue

Favorite Fall Look

Doo-Ri Chang

Sculpted banded jersey dress

Brian Reyes

Electric-blue moire skirt, black and white taffeta blouse and black georgette blazer

Sari Gureon

Long black tulle tiered skirt with sleeveless silk embroidered top

Peter Som

The plum colored off the shoulder gown with layered organza

Alexander Wang

Black mesh tank with baggy wool pants

Georgina Chapman

Black lace high neck column dress with organza flower detail

Chris Benz

Three piece mauve Prince of Wales flannel suit and crumpled

Erin Featherston

A gown that's short in front and trains in the back with a vibrant photo real floral collage print

Richard Chai

Forest shearling cropped jacket with embroidered paillete waistcoat, winter white silk jacquard flared shirt and ebony brocade slouchy skinny trouser

Philip Lim

Longer length layering and the overall idea of covering up - it's more impactful

Zac Posen

That's like asking someone to choose amongst their children but I must say that Karen Elson's gown was delicious

Kate and Laura Mulleavy

Read and black mohair fringed jacket and skirt with hand knit shell and red and black silk tulle horror dress

Thakoon Panichgul

The sequined floral scarf tie dress

Lias Mayock and Sophie Buhai

Pistachio oil spill knotted tunic with gray suede riding pants

Savvy Shopping - More on Sale From Yoox

Here's another idea for next fall from the sale pages at Yoox.com. A great dress from Victor & Rolf ($248) topped with a classic black coat from Boule de Neige ($329) and sexy T-strap shoes from Dolce & Gabbana ($105!!!). I like this outfit with claret colored vintage garnet jewelry. Here's the link to the vintage garnet jewelry from Beladora2.com.

Prada 2007 Net Profits up 65.8%

I don't know but I just don't get it... Prada's net profits were up 65.8% for 2007 as reported by WWD.

Apparently everyone else in the world is buying these products in order for the Italian Mega Design House to have such strong profits. And how very important these numbers are with an IPO scheduled for this year.

Sometimes I love the line, but this shapeless dress ($730) and "Virginia Woolf on an Acid Trip" fantasy shoes, both with a bit of a 1920's aesthetic from Neiman Marcus just aren't on my list of must haves.

Of course there are other brands that contribute to the huge profits; Church's Shoes and Miu Miu which I find to be a just little trop precieux.

Neo Neo-Classicism from Nina Ricci

In the spirit of renewed focus on late 18th Century history as we've seen with the John Adams biopic on HBO, we've got a hint of NeoClasissical design coming off the runway from Nina Ricci.

Hey, it worked for Madame Recamier and it damn well works for me.

Here's an authentic Georgian Parure about 200 years old that would be perfect with this Nina Ricci dress... from Beladora.com, naturally.

Vintage Value Venture - Amethyst for Spring

Since the color of the season seems to be purple...I've got some new Vintage Value Ventures for you. From the incredible Vintage Skins website I'm so loving this J. Renee snakeskin bag at $225 with some incredible amethyst jewelry from Beladora2.com the value priced vintage jewelry website and this Prada shoe from Bluefly.com. (Please note that while I adore the shoes at $448.00, the Amethyst earrings at $535 will outlast the shoes.)

I just want to say something more here about value, which I'm all about. Look at what a mediocre handbag costs at Saks, Neimans or wherever. Now compare that to a lizard skin bag from Vintage skins which would be hundreds of dollars less, and will last forever.

This is also why I only invest in fine jewelry (at discount prices of course) because it doesn't degrade and it will last long enough for you to leave to your grand daughter. Costume or as they call it now "fashion" jewelry falls apart and then what do you have...nothing. A gold ring can be sized smaller or larger.

A beautiful brooch can be made into a pendant, to suit your taste and current fashion...and then it can be converted back into a brooch. I love Georgian and Victorian jewelry, and classic signed pieces by Webb, Van Cleef and Cartier and the other great jewelers. It stands the test of time and justifies your investment in terms of a cost per wear value.

This is what this blog is all about. I'm not pro consumption for the sake of consumption. I am pro Value in terms of how you spend your hard earned money.

Lanvin and Galliano bring on the Big Jewelry

La Petite Blog, if you haven't already added it to your daily fashion reads, you should. It is a great resource for glimpse into the latest runway looks. I found it through Chic in Paris, another one of my favorite fashion blogs.

La Petite shows more of the ginormous jewelry that's being shown in the Paris collections. Lanvin and Galliano have joined YSL in the big jewelry trend.

But from the runway to real life...who's going to wear accessories this large?

Jewelry Trends Paris 2008

Leslie Scott at Fashiontribes has the weekly wrap up in fashion and trends.

One unfortunate trend that she points out is oversize jewelry that's being used on the Paris runways for the fall collections. While some would find this style playful, I find it so tacky and I'm surprised to see it coming from one of my favorites, Marni. Seriously, who would pay for this wood, metal and plastic necklace from Marni?

Gold hits Record High of $1000

There has been an steady increase in investment in gold over the last few years and now it has finally reached a record high of $1000.

While some gold investors might prefer to hold their gold in bars socked away in vaults, I prefer to wear my investment.

So, here's how I'd hold my precious metal investment....around my neck and on my wrist with this totally non flashy Bvlgari two tone burnished gold necklace paired with two tone gold link bracelet both from my favorite vintage estate jewelry dealer Beladora.com.