if you ever needed another reason to go

topshop's american flagship store opens on broadway and broome st. in about 2 and a half days! if being the first to nab clothing from one of the greatest stores on the high streets overseas isn't enough incentive for you new yorkers, here are a few more reasons to stop by on opening day:

-The opening is doing double time as the launch of several capsule collections, including Jonathan Saunders, Preen and Richard Nicoll.

Also:

- Scones and jam
- Competitions with free t-shirts
- a “Style Studio” and style advisers
- and all the rest you already knew (live music including the MisShapes, a shoe salon, etc)

fuck me for not being there on the very day, but i'll luckily be there this weekend and (hopefully) score myself some excellent leftovers. let's hope topshop restocks just for stragglers like me!

maghagging: that wasn't there before!

some designers have finally decided to jump on the advertising bandwagon, and here are previews of the ads from once-adless designers who have gone the way of their predecessors and peers:

rodarte:

fall 2008, anthem


spring 2009, bazaar

i'm so pleased to see the mulleavy sisters attempting to market their clothing through advertising. really, though, it's not necessary - the clothing speaks for itself.

zac posen:

spring 2009, fanzine137

i thought it'd be a cold day in hell when zac posen started to advertise his collection in a magazine. although, there are explanations for everything: technically it's spring, but still feels like winter, and our economic climate is basically hell (or headed in that direction). so, never mind, i guess it all makes sense, doesn't it?

celebritease: dita was once braless!

sometimes, dita von teese directly bypasses "elegant dressing" for "gaudy burlesque eccentricity", but when she gets things right, she looks flawless. now, dita tells us about her first bra experience, which seems so completely contrary to the point she's at right now.

"My first bra was not very exciting. I was a late bloomer — the last of my girlfriends to get one. It was this horrible training bra-type thing, but it prompted me to save my money and buy my own darn bra. My mom was like, ‘You can’t have the black lace one.’ And I was like, ‘Why not?’ I’ve never equated beautiful lingerie with seduction or sex. It’s not about trying to get a man. Not at all. It’s about surrounding myself with beauty in my everyday life — whether it’s a bra or a notebook. I want everything around me to be attractive because I look at it every day."

i admit that i have a hard time believing she doesn't connect foxy lingerie to seduction and sex, since seduction and sexuality is essentially her bread and butter. but i still enjoy her positive outlook.

maghagging: rick owens in details

the lovely, honest and extremely built rick owens recently talked to details magazine about his love affair with black, the gym and style extremities. reading this article, i find him to be incredibly charming, but not in a way that makes your stomach churn. maybe it's because all of his "rules of style" make so much sense to me, but this guy seems like someone to be revered and respected.

1. I'm not good at subtlety. If you're not going to be discreet and quiet, then just go all the way and have the balls to shave off your eyebrows, bleach your hair, and put on some big bracelets.

2. Working out is modern couture. No outfit is going to make you look or feel as good as having a fit body. Buy less clothing and go to the gym instead.

3. I've lived in Paris for six years, and I'm sorry to say that the Ugly American syndrome still exists. Sometimes you just want to say "Stop destroying the landscape with your outfit." Still, from a design standpoint, I'm tempted to redo the fanny pack. I look at it as a challenge—it's something to react against.

4. When a suit gets middle-of-the-road it kind of loses me—it has to be sharp and classic and almost forties.

5. Hair and shoes say it all. Everything in between is forgivable as long as you keep it simple. Trying to talk with your clothes is passive-aggressive.

6. There's something a little too chatterboxy about color. Right now I want black, for its sharpness and punctuation.

7. Jean-Michel Frank, the thirties interior and furniture designer, supposedly had 40 identical double-breasted gray flannel suits. He knew himself and is a wonderful example of restraint and extravagance.

8. I hate rings and bracelets on men. I'm not a fan of man bags, or girl bags either—or even sunglasses. I don't like fussy accessories. Isn't it more chic to be free? Every jacket I make has interior pockets big enough to store a book and a sandwich and a passport.

9. With layering, sometimes the more the better. When you layer a lot of black you're like a walking Louise Nevelson sculpture, and that's pretty attractive. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable is also one of the most attractive things you can do.

10. It's funny—whenever someone talks about rules, I just want to break them. I recoil from the whole idea of rules.

this interview gives excellent insight into the personal connection owens has with his collections. masculinity reigns supreme once more!

celebritease: somebody please tell me...

...what is the appeal of london designer jenny packham?

i think these are just hideous. orange is never a flattering color, and those embellishments give me a headache. dior does it so much better, anyway.

an interesting observation

rock the trend noticed the 3 big magazine editors in brand new items from the fall collections:

carine roitfield, french vogue, in a/w 09 balenciaga.

anna wintour, american vogue, in a/w 09 prada

katie grand, love magazine, in a/w 09 dolce and gabanna.

to reiterate, spring has barely even sprung and these editors are rocking brand spanking new (as in not even widely manufactured) autumn/winter styles. life is cruel and unfair.

shepard fairey's saks shopping bags

street artist shepard fairey, best known for his instantly recognizable obama posters with words like "change" and "hope" at the bottom, has brought himself to design something a bit more commercial (as if it were even possible): the new saks bags!

the soviet union's old propoganda campaigns and posters were inspiration for the designs, and of course, america's 3 favorite colors red, white and blue were the color palette.

this is kind of awesome, kind of bizarre and all kinds of ridiculous.

$$$hopping: some sites worth seeing

lanvin tee-shirt, €515; comme des garçons for speedo swimsuit, €75; at colette.


remind me to re-visit these sites when i'm filthy rich and have nothing to spend all my millions on:

luisaviaroma.com: i find this site to be much nicer and easier to navigate than net-à-porter. it also sells balmain - isn't that nuts? also look at their selection of ann demeulemeester, chloé, givenchy, rick owens and sonia rykiel for inspiration at a high price.

lagarconne.com: basically, the one site where i want absolutely everything. it's like this strange utopia on the internet that i can flock to when i'm feeling upset, and automatically love myself again. really, there's nothing like relying on a website as your source for zen, right? a great place to go for fun european brans like vivienne westwood's "anglomania" line, a.p.c., united bamboo, zero + maria cornejo (a mobama favorite) and vanessa bruno.

oaknyc.com: pleasure principle, pour la victoire, fifth avenue shoe repair, and alexander wang's new diffusion line "t by alexander wang" are all mid-range luxury items available at oak, and i cannot wait to go to their manhattan store this weekend!

sevennewyork.com: i love this site so fucking much, but it has one fatal flaw: any items that are sold out still remain on the site, but have a little "sold out" logo in the corner of each thumbnail. seriously, do you have to rub it in? still, if you're looking for crazy shit like gareth pugh, nicholas kirkwood shoes, jeremy scott, jean-charles de castelbajac, house of holland and cassette playa, here's your hub.

colette.fr: this is a no-brainer, but colette has some pretty fabulous shit in their e-shop right now. lutz and patmos, valentino, current/elliot, rodarte jewelry (gasp!) and even erin wasson's line of clothing are all there.

maghagging: speaking of karl lagerfeld...

...his interview in march's bazaar came off as atrociously self-aggrandizing.

in the interview, random and seemingly non-existent women write in with their fashion dilemmas, and karl, being all-knowing and, consequently, the only person who can really understand you, answers their question.

here are some of my absolute favorites:

HB: With distressed elbows, white T-shirts, and acid-washed jeans all the rage, I am paranoid that my friends will think I have gone to the poorhouse. What impression will I make? Will my friends judge me?

KL: The T-shirt can be impeccable, and the jeans, too. (The body has to be impeccable as well — that helps a lot.) If it's not, buy small sizes and less food. Acid-washed jeans are not new — they existed at the same time as wild shopping did. To reinvent a newly impeccable you in the most modest of outfits, don't skip on makeup, and be sure to have flawless skin and hair. That will have more impact than expensive clothes. And, by the way, what kind of friends do you have? Dress for yourself and the man you love (if there is one). Women dressing to impress other women — forget about that. It's a very bad way of thinking.

as if dressing for other women is wildly inappropriate compared to dressing for some guy your sleeping around with (because i have a hard time believing his definition of "love" is what it should be). dressing for yourself will always make you feel better about yourself hands-down than any half-assed validation from a clueless significant other.

HB: I would love to sport a pair of extra-high sandals to a party, but will I be able to walk in them after a couple of drinks? Some of the models on the runways couldn't stay on their feet!

KL: Please, your question is childish. Don't drink when you wear stilettos. I can't advise you to get drunk at home to find out if you would be able to walk in them at a party. Plus, you aren't on the runway. Life should not be a fashion show. Only the girls in the shows have to wear unfinished prototypes.

oh karl, why so defensive? why produce heels in the first place if you can't wear them to a party that you will inevitably get trashed at? this question may be a little immature, but your answer was just plain hypocritical.

HB: In the '80s, I could pull off a micro-miniskirt, sheer hose, and shoulder pads without a worry. Now that the silhouette is back, I am compulsive about getting my figure flawless once again. Is this look a fleeting trend or is it here to stay?

KL: This look is not back for people who wore it when it was new. And why did you let your "flawless figure" go? Good excuse, but it explains your need to hide behind shopping trophies. Get that famous figure back, but forget about looks from 25 years ago. Don't touch them — there are enough new and different looks in fashion for your "flawless figure" when it returns, and I hope it's soon. These are fleeting trends, like all retro looks. Explore what's next in fashion.

first of all, he used to be a bit of a chubbster himself. i don't blame him, when you get older, it's difficult to maintain a good physique. so why the rudeness? and also, how does being large at all coincide with a need to mindlessly follow trends? if anything, a larger person who knows how to dress will go for more classic fits, like the a-line or a belted trench coat. come on now!

don't get me wrong, not everything he says is vile. he gives some pretty good advice (as he should!) but says it in a way that is so unbelievably elitist it gives me a headache. then again, mr. lagerfeld has never professed to be a man for the bourgeoisie.

read the rest of the mess here.

economizer: a quick report on luxury

the luxury industry seems to be doing poorly, with saks' sales down by a whopping $99 million, neiman marcus down an even more astonishing $509 million, barney's holding all orders for spring collections until their finances are sorted out, and tiffany's eliminating their pearl jewelry in stores.

lvmh and hermes, however, seem to be faring much better: both report higher sales this season. so how do they do it? according to marketwatch, handbags are still on-trend for the masses (even though most fashionistas confirm that the it-bag is no longer fashionable, and i agree). it's a bad time to be in retail.

i say this, yet the wsj declares that my beloved zara seems to doing juuust fine, reporting improved sales amongst young shoppers, and challenging the gap as a top retailer in the states. cheap and chic is in, and even tha kaiser agrees (to a point). more on him next.

the gap's charitable, apparently

remember these philip lim designs for gap? i miss them.

i wouldn't say gap stores are my ultimate go-to for basic threads. why would i when h&m and zara are basically 5 blocks away from my apartment and carry a more varied and well-designed stock of items? well, after making an of-the-whim contribution to CARE, inc. on the street, they provided me with a magazine on their causes and the benefits of donations. interesting read, but one article particularly caught my eye, titled "Gap Inc.: Sustaining a Commitment".

in the article, discussed is the beneficial garment trade between bangladesh and north america/europe under the terms of the multi-fiber agreement, and how, when the bill expired, bangladesh suffered a huge loss of jobs and revenue, as well as a dramatic decrease of exports to larger countries (like china and india) with less rigorous quotas on labor laws and limits on exported products.

because of this loss, gap inc. is "committed to maintaining a presence in bangladesh, and working with vendors to reinvest in infrastructure and community investment [there]". alongside CARE, gap is insistent on "reducing the vulnerability of of workers who are at risk to become unemployed within and beyond the garment industry".

although, in my opinion, outsourcing garment production is never as beneficial to our country as producing the garments here in the US, because of the high cost of production here, i understand the need. i'm very pleased to see a large company like gap aid in sustaining commerce and community in a struggling nation like bangladesh, and will probably feel more obliged to shop there. let's hope the employees manufacturing these clothes have a better quality of life because of this.

marc and lorenzo sitting in a tree

katie grand's love magazine just released these screenshot from a video of marc jacobs and lorenzo martone in rio de janeiro to celebrate marc's much-awaited break from his busy schedule and their recently announced engagement. tres bien, so adorable!

maghagging: v spring 2009

here are some highlights from the incredible (and incredibly thick) v magazine spring 2009 issue. great photographers (mario testino, sølve sundsbø, richard avedon), models (natalia vodianova makes a resurgence!) and designers (icluding the iconographic ad campaign by comme des garçons in the 80's). i'm pretty sure this issue's 80's-conscious theme is intended to coincide with all the 80's madness we saw on the runway this spring, which translated into fall quite seamlessly, as marc jacobs and alexander mcqueen have proven to us.

pick it up on newsstands, it's worth the $8.50, or just see the whole thing online for zilch.

a small timeline of timeless and avant-garde lbd's.

new designers to watch (you can view some of their collections on this very blog).

celebritease: good god, GOOPeth is designing clothes now?

gwyneth paltrow, are you serious right now? the creator of the site nobody reads with advice on a lifestyle that nobody can afford, goop.com, is launching a capsule collection for french label ZOEtee's, called (creatively) ZOEtee's Loves Gwenyth. she claims the collection will consist of jersey basics that focus on a 70's aesthetic, with masculine tailoring. seriously, could you pick two influences that are more dynamically opposed? honestly, how can jersey basics encompass masculine tailoring? tailored = structured, and generally, jersey knits = loose-fitting and draped. i'm confused, i confess, but there's a sun on the horizon: apparently, all the proceeds will help fund gwynnie's favorite charity, the london kid's company. 100% of the profits? seems like a fruitless enterprise. i can't imagine why she'd do that, besides, perhaps, an attempt at self-promotion.

olivier theyskens officially let go at nina ricci

despite his adamantly praised fall collection shown in paris 2 weeks ago, olivier theyskens, previous head designer and creative director at nina ricci, was finally let go, after much creative dissention between the designer and ricci's owner, puig group. anna wintour, an ardent fan, was absolutely stunned and suggests he branch out on his own. honestly? theyskens revamped a previously dated-looking label whilst maintaining his gothic aesthetic: bitch needs his own label at this point! i can't wait to see what the future holds for him.

gown report: christian dior

the christian dior a/w 2009 was beautiful in design and oriental in theme, but the gowns of the collection particularly stood out this season. never have i seen a confabulation of swarovski crystals, ruched chiffon and (gasp) jewel tones executed so effectively. according to style.com, house designer john galliano was apparently "lightly based on the orientalism of Paul Poiret, an artistic Parisian craze dating back almost a century". poiret's designs were sensational in the 20's and 30's, and his contributions are compared by european vogue editor-at-large hamish bowles to the contributions picasso made to 20th century art. needless to say, galliano is certainly a century-defining designer in his own right, as evidenced below.

view the rest here!

the best of the rest of paris a/w 09

this is gonna be a long post, since i've been neglectful of runway reporting. i have been springbreaking for a while and haven't been able to make time for blogging, as opposed to consuming absurd amounts of cheez-its and catching up on skins (officially the most melodramatic teen dramedy series to hit television), which have been of the utmost priority.

the autumn/winter shows are over! designers seemed to wether the economic climate like champions, and there are still a few loose ends to tie up in le Paris.

sonia rykiel
the breakdown: classic french style, loose fit, embellishment.

(more)

maison martin margiela
the breakdown: plastic shoulderpads, body-con, fabulously conceptual (as usual)

(more)

jean-charles de castelbajac
the breakdown: everyone knows jc/dc is undefinable, but tongue-in-cheek would be a decent description.

(more)

chloe
the breakdown: breezy fabrics interchanged with well-fitted silhouettes, effortless design.

(more)

ann valerie hash
the breakdown: pants, suits, and a modern take on neutrals

(more)

betty jackson
the breakdown: demure coats and skirts, pastels and ladylike silhouettes.

(more)

elie saab
the breakdown: reinterpritations of the "it" dress, body-con and glamazon.

(more)

comme des garcons
breakdown: a perfect combination of schoolgirl, bridesmaid and coocooned caterpillar in an optimistic color palette.

(more)

rue du mail
breakdown: lovely colors, hoods (!!) and classic parisian flair.

(more)

miu miu
breakdown: minimalistic silhouettes, the new austerity, with a flash of leg, of course.

(more)