From Runway to Realway - Is It A Steal?

Since I'm on the topic of red carpet looks this week,
I thought that this video was interesting.


Do you think that legislation should be passed to allow fashion designer's runway and red carpet looks to not be copied for 3 years?
Is is true that allowing for these iconic looks to be reproduced for the hoi polloi is causing a dearth of fashion innovation?
Does the design for a wrap dress constitute intellectual property?
And honestly, is anything that you see on the runway really new?

Don't get me wrong. 
I'm against all brand counterfeiting from fake Hermes Birkins to fake VCA Alhambras.
But if Verdura created the curb chain bracelet for Greta Garbo in 1939, does that mean that I can never wear a curb chain bracelet by any other designer or by no designer at all?
Especially given that the look is now generic.

And what constitutes a true original design in fashion?
We've seen trains and veils and mermaid hems, bustles and bows, long and short, structured and unstructured...ad infinitum. I just don't know where you draw the line at original.

And did the Diva of the wrapdress, Diane von Furstenberg, help herself to an iconic design by Claire McCardell.
I don't know the answer to any of this, but I'm not sure that new legislation is needed.

What do you think?

Paris 2010 - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

New York Magazine has compiled the 17 Best Looks from Paris Fashion Week
So we have the good such as this Betty Page style 1940's glamour girl look by Dior
I always appreciate Galiano's historical references and his fashion in jokes
and the dress is actually wearable

And the bias cut beaded 1920s Flapper Style dress by Louis Vuitton was fun too

But what was going on at Chanel and how did these outfits come off as being in the Best list?
If they aren't bad then I'm blind

And I'm also not too impressed with Pilati's pieces for YSL

But getting to the downright ugly we've got Lanvin

OK, the navy blue dress on the left is totally minimalist chic and I would wear it any day (if I could afford it)
But what is going on with that outfit on the right, I can't even figure out what the material is
It is as though Lanvin's 'art project' jewelry from a few seasons ago has been morphed into 'art project' clothes
And this look is supposed to be one of the best of the Paris 2010 season?

Prada Spring 2011 - Sending Out The Stripes

Photo from The Sartorialist

Is there anyone besides me who is totally confused by this collection.

I like color and I like stripes but this Prada Spring 2011 collection is just all over the place.

Would you buy these clothes?

Vanity Fair - The International Best Dressed List

Well, I finally received my copy of the September issue...no, not Vogue but Vanity Fair with the 2010 International Best Dressed List
While as usual I didn't agree with all of the choices on their list I couldn't argue with

Princess Mary of Denmark

Jay Penske

Ed Burns and Christy Turlington

I would have liked to have seen Victoria Beckham, Tilda Swinton, blogger Metscan, Nick Cannon and blogger James Andrew.
Who would you have added to the list?

Milan's Master Hatter

From the WSJ an interesting article on the demise of craftsmanship

Milan's master hat maker Lorenzo Borghi tells his tale; a slowly dying art

Today, Mr. Borghi is 70 years old, but he can still be found working in the shop from dawn to dusk at least six days a week.

He mostly works alone, relying on his wife and a friend for help when the orders pile up. He has no apprentice, and past attempts to teach younger generations have proved unsuccessful. "The first thing they ask is 'How much are you gonna pay me?'" says Mr. Borghi. "Then they ask 'Do I have to work weekends, too?'"

He doesn't say it, but the contempt is clear in his voice and expression. While it is tempting to dismiss Mr. Borghi's critiques as simple intergenerational mistrust, it is equally difficult to imagine the young, iPhone-equipped Italians lounging around in the piazza nearby spending their days as the septuagenarian maestro does, hunched over an ancient wooden desk, struggling to get this fold just right or adjust that feather to the correct height. "The hardest part is finding talented hands," he says. "I could teach the rest."

I find it interesting that in a high fashion city like Milan, a master craftsman can't find good help.  Aren't there fashion students who want to learn the skill of bespoke hat making and maybe be the next Philip Treacy?

Luckily, his and other Italian master craftsman's skills are being documented on film.

Recently an Italian company called Valore Italiano, or "Italian Quality," began filming Mr. Borghi and other artisans like him as part of an initiative to create a visual documentary of their skills that can be used to teach future generations. "These master craftsmen are national treasures," says Mario Pirolli, president of Valore Italiano and artificer of the initiative. "We have to try and salvage what we can before their knowledge and experience are lost for good."

Excellent, because fashion wouldn't be as much fun without great hats

Don't you agree?

Lusting After Lower Heels

From the Wall Street Journal

Stilettos—So Two Years Ago
The return of the 'kitten' coincides with shaky economic times

so do serious times call for serious shoes?

That leads some to speculate whether there's a relationship between a sinking heel and the stock market. Gary Loveman, CEO of Harrah's Entertainment Inc., was reported saying earlier this year that he likes seeing women wearing stilettos in his casinos because he believes it means guests are more likely to spend more.

on the other hand

But not everyone thinks the kitten heel means bad times. Shorter shoes might be "an indication of the recession we've just been through," suggests Jeffrey Hirsch, editor of the Stock Trader's Almanac, adding that such correlations have "not so much" validity anymore.

Good market, bad market, I don't care. But enough already with the 6 inch stilettos.

Sophia Lauren - She's Too Sexy For Her Skirt

I love the fact that Sophia Lauren is still showing the goods at age 75...and god knows that I only wish that I could look that good at her age. But I'm not so sure about how I feel about her wearing a thigh high skirt
or getting a little to close to showing her ladyparts
in a Sharon Stone "Basic Instinct" style leg crossing.

What do you think?

Akris Accessories - Do We Need Them?

Do you ever get to the point where you just think that there is too much product out there?
Really, how many brands of handbags do we need?

From the WSJ
Akris Debuts Its Accessories Line
Albert Kriemler is known for delivering elegant vertical, architectural lines in his clothes, making them of the most expensive fabrics possible in Switzerland, and selling them like crazy. Family-owned Akris’s clothes, which he designs, outsell Armani at many department stores.

So it will be very, very interesting to see how his handbags, belts and shoes sell. In a surprise decision several months ago, Akris announced that it will produce accessories. Last fall, Kriemler insisted to me that he had no plans for accessories — despite the allure of their higher profit margins. Then he caved.

Accessories, make-up and perfume...for the sellers it's all about margins
for the buyers it's all about getting a piece of the brand for less money
You can't afford Dior couture?
No problem, just spritz yourself with Dior perfume and feel the Diorescenceness of it all

Akris is a great line, probably because the designs are tasteful and more importantly wearable, if you can afford a couple of thousand for a dress, but did they need to create yet another line of overpriced handbags.

Would you buy an Akris bag over a Balenciaga bag?

The Ultimate Accessory - The Boucheron Bag

While not being a bag snob who would drop bundles on a Birkin,
there is just one bag that I consider to be the ultimate accessory

The 18K gold bag with diamond clasp by uber French jeweler Boucheron

Elegant yet simple design

Handcrafted with a built in mirror and attached gold backed comb

The perfect size for a credit card, cash, cell phone and a condom

What more does a woman need?

Dictator Chic - All About Asma

Well, the Huffington Post has it right with these remarks about Asma Al-Assad

A couple weeks ago headlines were made when Syrian First Lady, Asma Al Assad invited the Obamas to Damascus. HuffPost readers ended up commenting more on Asma's beauty and less on what an Obama/Assad meeting would mean for the Middle East. And we couldn't help but notice the Syrian beauty either. In a region where the women love to cake on their make-up, it is very refreshing to see the wife of President Bashar al-Assad with very little on. (See the post "Less Is The New More: The Case For Taking Off Your Make-Up.")
We also noticed her love for Christian Louboutin platforms, sunglasses, and her signature wavy hair. From her natural look to her classic style, we picked some of our favorite Asma looks below.

Madame Assad is seriously beautiful and certainly way chic
from her statement jewelry to her louboutin shoes

Now, that the London born and educated, ex merchant banker is changing the way that the world sees her country, hopefully she can use her influence on her husband, and eventually do something about

Syria’s clandestine North Korean-abetted nuclear reactor project; support for the terrorists of Hezbollah and Hamas; fingerprints on the murder of Lebanon’s former prime minister; corrupt dealings with Saddam Hussein followed by support for terrorist attacks inside Iraq; horrific prisons; jailing and torture of dissidents, and whatnot

Much can change in the Middle East with influential women like Queen Rania of Jordon and Madame Al-Assad.

Fall 2009 RTW - Lanvin - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Overall, I think that Alber Elbaz scored big with his Fall 2009 Ready To Wear Collection
for Lanvin with
structured draping and

luxurious fabrics

And as with any collection

there were a few looks that I thought were unflattering

And others that were downright ugly

Thankfully he mostly stayed away from that 1980s Disco Days theme with over the top shoulders.

Elbaz's collection has a wearable Michael Kors look to it, don't you think?

From Style.com

"People keep trying to divide designers into optimists and pessimists, but me—I'm a realist," declared Alber Elbaz. "I thought with my heart about what women need from fashion—dresses, suits, blouses, coats. Life isn't just parties and lunches." With this empathetic orientation, Lanvin for Fall added another dimension to the revival of Parisian values that are turning out to be the distinguishing feature of the best of this season's collections.

Life isn't just parties and lunches...

who knew?

Playing With Polyvore - Pink and Green and Beladora Bling!

Dr. Helen - On The Down Low

Around the fashion blogosphere there's plenty of posting and commentary back and forth about everything from vintage ossie clark (wendy b) to brand new balenciaga (style spy) to the greenness of vintage (zuburbia) to scarves by hermes (une femme) to strappy shoes (miss cavendish) to looks of the day (stella's roar) to all around style (of a certain age). Jump out of this little group of bloggers and we've got the brilliant bag snob girls, second city style, the coveted, the glam media girls, the daily candy girls and last but not least the incomparable fug girls.
I peruse all these blogs regularly, including the comments, and while I do see disagreement over fashion and trends, and some gentle ribbing, I never see anything truly nasty.

Dr. Helen, wife of uber blogger Glenn Reynolds asked in a post today
Low-rise pants: What's the verdict?

Since Dr. Helen mostly writes about men's rights, it doesn't surprise me that most of her commenters are men....But what does surprise is how the low rise debate quickly morphed into a discussion on women's tattoos, including the famous "tramp stamp".

Here's one comment

Women are attracted to tattoos the same way they are attracted to anything that is effortless and has zero imagination. Anyone can with 50.00 and poor judgement can get a tattoo.

What takes effort is character, humor, wit, charm, ethics, and accountability. Men find all of these traits very attractive in women, but as in all other areas of life, women want an effortless, consequence free lifestyle, thus all the sour women with no corresponding intelligence to the world they live in we see today with the personality traits of cardboard living utterly empty, fruitless, soul dead lives.

And ladies, you can cut the crap with the fake front of how your lives are so 'fulfulling' and that you're just so 'happy.' That may work on other women, but we as men can spot that snowjob a mile away. And a tattoo only gives an early warning before you open your mouth. I suppose tattoos are significant after all.. they symbolize an empty, meaningless life going nowhere because of bad genetics. It's like letting the world know up front, "Hey, I make a lot of bad choices."

Now I don't have any tattoos, and I don't particularly like them
but whoa dude...take it down a notch.

What's your opinion on low rise jeans....has the trend finally run its course?
and
What do you think about tattoos....would you get a tattoo?

Quote of the Day - "Women Get So Ripped Off!"

Burberry Prorsum Dress at Net a Porter $2995

Yesterday, I was surfing the shopping sites with my main man...

no not my bf...the estate jewelry buyer extraordinaire that I learned all my tricks from.

He and I were checking out what was available online in terms of designer fashions and

we came upon this dress.

His comment "Three Thousand Dollars....Sheesh, women get so ripped off!"

I'd have to say that most of the men that I know would have said the exact same thing.

What do you think. Is this dress...at this price...a ripoff or not?

What would your main man say about this dress?

Would he think that $3000 was a reasonable price?

Going Gray The Daphne Guinness Way

I happen to be one of those people that has hair that grows rather quickly.
On one hand it's a good thing if you have long hair like I do. On the other hand it is a disaster when you start to go gray.
I didn't go gray until about 3 years ago and at that time I made the decision to go blond.
God knows you can't go gray in this town....you might as well commit social hari kari.
OK, so being blond isn't such a bad thing except that about every 3 weeks or so I find myself at the hairdresser...and seriously, I hate it. Not only is it frigging expensive..it takes hours of my time...which I hate to waste.

So here's a picture of me blondish from last summer in Spain with my younger brother and my mother.
(yeah, I'm the one in black)

My brothers both started to go gray in their mid thirties...and luckily I didn't. So by now they both have salt and pepper hair...and are even more handsome... or should I say distinguished....because of it.

I, on the other hand, wouldn't want to go gray unless I could do it the Daphne Guinness way.

Well, she's not exactly gray...it's more of a black and white Cruella de Ville kind of look and she rocks!

Daphne Guinness is my fashion icon.

Nobody pulls off extreme chic the way that she does.

Check out the signature black and white wardrobe.

And the serious estate jewelry

And the skunk hair

I love it.

Now...if only I was an heiress to the world's most famous brewing fortune, the ex wife of a Greek shipping tycoon, and 100 pounds...I would rock this look too.