The New Shoulders & Balmain Resurrected

Lately, fashion is starting to re-imagine the 1980's.  So far it hasn't been a wonderful thing.  The 1980's were not kind to fashion.  It was a fugly explosion of neon, rhinestones and shoulder pads.  Ick.  And, not the least flattering.

Balmain has just released a blouse with re-imagined 1980's shoulder pads.  For some reason, in the 1980's shoulder pads were somehow conflated with "power".  Heaven help as to why that could ever be.  But, in the reimagining of these power shoulders, Balmain has turned the power from corporate power to super hero power!

The shoulders on this blouse look like they would be more appropriate on a female superhero!  It is surprisingly fun!  Sure, this blouse is not practical in the least.  It is very high fashion.  But, somewhere there are women who have somewhere to wear this.  And, it is fun to see designers take old trends and revise them into something that kinda pokes fun at itself and is pop culturally relevant.  After all, with all of the super hero movies around why not dress like one?!

Picture from net-a-porter.com

A New Way to Stand

There are only so many ways to create and decorate a moderately wearable shoe.  But, some of the best designers are finding cool new ways to decorate them!

The FW09 Dries van Noten show was pretty blah.  It looked like poorly reworked several seasons old Marni.  Not awful, but nothing that will make me lay awake at night dreaming of it.  Far and away, the best part of the show was the shoes.

What really made the shoes cool was the creative decoration of the bottom arches of the shoes.  In the one pictured, it is done in matching python!  Generally, that is the most neglected part of the shoe, normally just plain leather except in a very few other designer's work.  It is cool to see Dries thinking of new ways to rethink fashion items!  Now, if only the rest of the collection was as exciting...

Picture from style.com

All Wrapped Up

There was some talk a season or two ago that the Wrap Dress is out.  DvF, the fairy godmother of the Wrap even basically stopped making them.  Some blogs were calling them "frumpy" and that they made women look like sad middle-aged housewives.

Happy to see that the WRAP IS BACK!!  DvF even put out a whole slew of them this season!  They come in almost every style and print imaginable!  What makes the wrap so flattering on most women is that it gives a very defined waist, creating a top, middle and bottom of the figure.  

The dresses pictured is a personal favorite.  They style name is "Jenny" in "vintage patch" print.  The print seems to be a collage of previous DvF prints!  The dress is cut beautifully and the print is unquestionably DvF.  So perfect for spring!

Picture from saks.com

Blazing Ahead

The blazer is one of those garments that has the ability to hide all flaws and do wonders or to make the wearer look like a sad, frumpy box.  It all depends on the designer's skill at designing something that will compliment the human shape.

Haider Ackermann is one of the top indie European designers!  And, with good reason.  As the blazer pictured shows, he can transform grey fabric into a blazer that is interesting, wearable, flattering and edgy.  The front stance is so unusual yet flattering!  It is nice to see that great design is still being made!  This would look perfect with a suit or with jeans--so versatile.  Huzzah for Haider!

Picture from yoox.com

Falling for Draped

There are some designers that just do some things beautifully.  One of those is Zero + Maria Cornejo.  As I've previously blogged about, Maria Cornejo is a master at draping.  She manages to turn fabric into a beautiful masterpiece.

Her FW09 collection did not disappoint--she still has her touch!  There were plenty of draped dresses, blouses and skirts to keep every draping-junkie happy.  Not only that, but she also ventured into using some print!  It is so great to see such a master designer take risks and carry their talents to a new level!

The dress pictured is this season's version of a dress that she does every season--a draped sack dress.  But, the dress is not just any sack, it is something more.  What that something more is stylish and flattering--even though it is a sack it doesn't look unfortunate, instead it looks fashion forward.  And, it looks wearable by a woman of any age.  It is just spectacular!

Picture from style.com

Rose Wonder

Tomas Maier is a spectacular designer!  He is one of the few designers that can pull off a wonderful collection without prints and only with a handful of colors.  

Not only does Tomas design under his down name, but he is also the lead designer for Bottega Veneta.  This most recent collection for FW09 is so...relaxing!  The color scheme is black, beige and a lovely dusty rose.  The rose color is the perfect shade--it flatters most skin tones and doesn't look like it is from some bad shabby chic display.  

The FW09 collection not only centered around some classic colors, but also some wonderful shapes!  The whole thing looked like what Grace Kelly in her prime would wear if she were alive today.  Oh, just delicious and flattering!  Here's to hoping that more designers follow suit!

Picture from style.com

Something To Clutch On To

The Milan fall shows are going on right now--horray!!  Of course, because they are fall/winter they can be pretty drab.  Mostly colors of black, grey and brown and heavy.  Nothing wrong with that, but I'm a spring person!

The Fendi fall show had the standard fall colors--grey and black.  But, it also had the most magnificent splashes of color!  Lime, teal and pink!  Hopefully that means this fall is going to be littered with happy colors--we have enough drab things going on in the world without having to only wear black.

The splashes of color in the Fendi show were in the accessories, and primarily in the bags.  The bags were like little square birds of a paradise in their colors!  The pink one pictured is heavenly!  It is whimsical and the perfect size for a clutch.  And, the color is one of those classic colors that is predictably always wearable.  Hopefully it goes into production!

Picture from style.com