Off Target

When I whine about fashion being disappointing and conciously not promoting ideas that move humanity forward, I am talking about dresses like this.  This is Hussein Chalayan for Vionnet.  I love both this designer and this fashion house.  Chalayan normally has ideas that are exciting and push bounderies and expand what we think about fashion.  Yet, this dress is "same old" with a teenager with an ombre target on her crotch.  In his statement about the line, that's supposed to represent a spiral staircase.  No matter.  Target on a teen's sexuality or a spiral staircase to her lady bits, it reduces her to what is between her legs.  The dress doesn't let your eye focus on the model herself for something interesting about the dress.  It focuses you on her crotch.  

The over-sexualization of teenage girls and women does nothing for the wearer of the dress or the society she lives in.  It brings us back to accepting girls as objects of sexual fantasy.  This is not ok.  I demand something more than a dress that tells those around me that my most important feature is to invite them to consider me for their sexual pleasure. 

We need to do better.  Sexual fantasies about children should not be sales ploys or high-fashion.  Fashion, you disappoint.

photo from style.com

Puffs of Doom

Of course, what goes around comes back around.  This is not always the best of things.  Sure, stuff like art-deco inspired applique, wrap dresses and the sweater suit are great even at the second time around.  But, there are some horrid things that have come back around.  

Puffed-sleeves seemed to have reared their obnoxious heads again.  Ugh.  In virtually all of the recent shows in France there have been puff sleeves.  I have no idea why.  They flatter nothing and look horrid on everyone who is above a size zero.  They add unnecessary volume to an outfit.  And, too much volume makes you look huge, and not in a good way.  Also, they aren't "classic" in the way that a pencil skirt is, so stuff with puff-sleeves tend to look horribly dated 2 weeks after they were made.  

Hopefully the unnecessarily large shoulders stay purely in the realm of couture shows this time around.  Other wise this fall may turn out to be even more depressing than normal!

Picture from style.com

Where's The Tweed?

It is the spring Couture time of year!  Yes, the time when models dressed like cracked out Cleopatras galavant down the runways.  It is fun, though!

The Chanel Spring 2009 Couture show seems to be widely loved by the critics.  Sure, it is wearable and looks chic and well-tailored.  And, it has the crazy paper head-dresses.  But, it is missing something.

Tweed.  The Chanel show seemed to be completely void of their most signature look of them all--the tweed blazer.  Sure, the nice white tailored blazer pictured is lovely.  But, it isn't the signature Chanel look that will never, ever go out of style.  It is so....weird.  Hopefully, at the ready to wear show, the tweed will make a reappearance.  Because, what is Chanel without tweed?

Picture from style.com

The Ghost Bride

The spring Couture shows are something of legend and I hope to attend one day!  What makes French Couture the special art that it is the level of skill, time and talent that it takes to pull off the shows.

Givenchy is a legendary French fashion house that has recently been trying to revive itself after falling into fashion disrepair.  Well, Tisci sure is trying his best.  The fact that the house was able to put together a Couture show for the Spring that was worthy of being photographed is certainly a victory. 

Tisci is definitely known for being gothic & dark, and even though the collection is primarily in white, it stays true to his over-arching signatures.  Quite frankly, it looks like something a ghostly bride would wear.  Not that it is bad, it actually is a wonderful take on this spring's white-based neutrals and art deco inspired cuts.  It will be interesting to see how the collection is interpreted into the ready to wear!

Picture from style.com