Chopped.

Before / After

Apparently I'm behind the times, since she looked like this in some Spring 2011 shows I missed, but I am SO LOVING Carmen Kass's new cut right now.

I struck me while perusing pics of the Michael Kors show from the Fall 2011 shows. I love my long wavy locks, and I can't imagine cutting them this short ever, but I just had to point out that she looks soooooooooo cool. Maybe it's the smirk, maybe it's her general confidence. Somehow, the shaggy, effortless, pieciness of her look is just the pinnacle of cool to me. A big Bravo to her stylists.

Sara, I think you could definitely rock this look. Thoughts??

Michael Kors, Fall 2011.

All photos from Style.com

Rant: Dumbing it Down

As a continuation of my rant about "celebrity fashion lines" (see below), I would like to briefly mention how enraged I become at the sight of designer lines at Kohl's, Target, and H&M.

The best way I can describe my feelings are as follows: It's like Beethoven writing a jingle for toothpaste. Yes, it allows everyone to enjoy his music, but it's not really his music anymore. What made it beautiful and exceptional and unique was its opulence.

To me, Kate and Laura Mulleavy making shitty clothes for Target and calling them "Rodarte" is the same. Yes, it means that lower income (hell, average income people) can afford to wear Mulleavy designs. But in this case, what it really means is that you get a poorly sewn, shapeless dress made out of some of the most uncomfortable and unflattering fabric available. This is not Rodarte. Rodarte is magic. It is innovative and fresh. It involves strangely flattering cuts and perfectly draped fabrics. It is not a boxy dress made out of frizzy mesh. To me, it is a tragedy for these women to take their incredible talents and dumb them down, settling for imperfections in the name of accessibility.

I don't mean to harp on the Rodarte girls alone. Anyone who has tried on anything from Vera Wang's collection for Kohl's knows what I'm talking about. Roberto Cavalli did some pretty awful things for H&M too. Shame on you all.

That said, it's not all bad. I would like to give a big shout out to Zac Posen, who made some amazingly well-fitting dresses out of an affordable and comfortable jersey fabric for Target - one of which I happily purchased and flaunt in the summer. And from what I saw of Elber Albaz's Lanvin collection for H&M, he did his line and his talents justice. [Disclaimer: I didn't get to the store in time to sample the clothes myself before they sold out, so this opinion is solely based on a lookbook found on Fashionista. But man those clothes looked pretty!]

Thoughts? Have you ever bought a designer look for less and loved it?

Want.

So according to Fashionista, Lauren Conrad (despite the catastrophic failure and harsh criticism of her previous fashion adventures) is coming out with a new clothing line called Paper Crown.

Now I loved Laguna Beach and The Hills as much as any other fashion/reality tv-obsessed girl, but I am perpetually skeptical of fashion lines started by "celebrities" instead of actual, trained designers. Being fabulously stylish in real life does not make you a designer - in my mind they require very different skill sets. See: "Dear" by Amanda Bynes, Lindsay Lohan's "6126", and Madonna's "Material Girl".


At any rate, morbid curiosity / my love of criticizing people who are cooler than me prompted me to peruse the look book available on Fashionista here, and I concede that it's a really cute collection. In fact, I WANT EVERYTHING. Seriously, I would wear every single outfit. I would be happy if they were the only pieces in my closet and I was a walking Paper Crown mannequin. Shocking, truly. But delightfully shocking!

Can't wait to see where it's available and if I can afford it!

Really liked this... thought I would share...

Wear what you LIKE  - the rebuttal to Michelle Obama's choice to wear Alexander McQueen for the sate dinner with China.

The fabulosity of flares

Things have been a bit grey and gloomy here in Chicago, so naturally I'm dreaming of Spring and a new wardrobe. I'm sick and tired of wearing the same bulky black snow boots with every single outfit I wear in public because I can't tromp through the snow and ice in anything less. I feel frumpy and creatively stifled. So to remedy my mid-winter fashion blues, I've started surfing fashion blogs with renewed zeal. (note: the fact that my final semester of law school is full of classes such as "The Law of Social Networking" is certainly helping)

Of the many new trends I've noticed from ravenous blog surfing, I've been particularly excited about the growing prevalence of slim and sexy '70s style flared jeans. First I saw them on Scott Schuman's The Sartorialist (below left), and then on Rumi Neely of fashiontoast (below right).

Goodness knows I've enjoyed the chic look of my skinnies for the last four years, but I really miss the incredibly flattering look of a great-fitting pair of flares. They make your thighs look slimmer, your butt look juicier, and create this great shape that accents whatever fabulous pair of shoes you have peeking out from underneath.

As much as I wish I could break out the flares I wore with love in high school, I have a sneaking suspicion they probably won't fit anymore... So here's to a fresh new look for spring, courtesy of a fresh new shopping spree! (as soon as my loan money comes in...) Who's with me?

CoonHound

This post today is inspired by someone who I didn't know of until she became the girl with the 'Coon eyes.

While I agree with the general public/fashion police that Taylor Momsens's attempt to pull of the look is classified as 'fail', I am highly in favor of the idea itself. This comes at an especially exciting time after shows have been a lot more focused on a fresh face with pared down makeup. I am a big fan of smokey eyes, and I think her fault was not in the goth look, but that ever important factor of location. She goes too far down on the bottom lash, yet doesn't use the full space she has to her eyebrow, which I think for her face is fair game. There's also the factor of gradient, which she could have taken advantage of instead of the solid black color, because it didn't give her depth or do her blue eyes any favors.

I'm also a firm believer that makeup is one of the most essential styling tricks and accessories that we have to work with, and I don't think that this makeup was appropriate for her getup. It became too costumey. One could also mention her obvious roots as a faux pas, but I like the look- it reminds me of Shakira and her Dirty Laundry days, but I digress...
  As Glamour magazine would say, Taylor Momsen's eye makeup is a DON'T, so let's take a look at a DO...especially now that it's the festive month of Halloween, in which it is necessary to take risks, go bold, and embrace your inner emo! Even if it's just for one night.

The DO is one that I've just happened upon, and that's at the Chanel Spring 2011 RTW. I love the clothes, but the beauty and accessories take the lead in this show for me. Check it out. What is not to love?? This girl (above) is beautiful and she utilizes both methods that Ms. Momsen did not: location and gradient. This model has a little bit more space than Taylor between her eye and eyebrow, but still works the shading all the way up to the brow effectively because she kept it most dramatic at the lash line. Like Taylor, she has light eyes, and the greater emphasis at the lash line is a lot more flattering. I also love, love, LOVE the earrings. I would wear these to work, seriously. This other model here (left) makes me want to chop off all my hair and bleach it blonde- something that doesn't happen often. I love her look, and the finishing touch of the black line on the part is great- and is almost a nod to those with black roots. The other ways that make the dark eyes work are that this bold angry eye is paired with feminine threads that have color. In each of the models, you can also see a hint of emerald, azure, and silver blended into the black smokey shadows.

I think this is a look that can be pulled of during the day (carefully) or a night out. Toning it down a little does help- like this

There's also the ability to take advantage of the 'new' neutrals of fall to use as a smokey eye, to mix with or use in place of black. Navy and cocoa are great alternatives. I've definitely done the navy on many nights out. A deep purple is also fun to do.  Now to figure out how to wear black lipstick...

Spring's favorite girl you've never heard of

Balmain Spring 2011 (style.com)

Freja Beha Erichsen  has a unique look that has definitely got me to take notice. I'm just surprised how she is not yet at 'Tao' (as in Okomoto) status. As I was going through the Spring 2011 RTW collections, I first thought, 'have I seen this girl before?', and then it evolved into 'there she is again!' until after the zilliionth time that I saw her, I finally made note of her name. Although I don't believe she's had the honor of opening any shows this season (maybe I'm wrong), she apparently opened for Miu Miu in the fall of 2005. This spring show you can find her walking the walk for Stella McCartney, Celine, Lanvin, Balenciaga, Balmain, Bottega Venetta, Versace, Prada, and Gucci among many others. See? It's no joke; this girl is everywhere. So what is it about this Dane that makes her so desirable in spite of her normal, wispy brown hair? (remember, high fashion and silly hair are nearly synonymous.) First of all, I think her look is defined by her jaw line. She has a very masculine
/androgynous lower jaw bone that creates a lovely little shadow while she's on the catwalk. Her look is very easily rough and calls to mind a late 80's/early 90's rocker chick- which isn't a huge leap considering her 16 tattoos and counting. She also looks like a model version of Sigourney Weaver, and anyone who's seen Alien knows she's badass.

At the same time, Freja can look very sleek and ladylike. Lastly, she's quite versatile: depending on the show, I'd guess she was Russian, Mongolian, Argentine or American. Either way, I think she is one of those 'acquired tastes' kinds that I was at first slightly annoyed by, like Georgina Stojilkovic, but one that I have grown to look forward to seeing in each show that comes out. One of these days I'll do a post of the models I think should be the it girls, which will definitely include Heloise Guerin and Tayane Leão.

Freja in Michael Kors and Diesel in Spring2011 (photos: style.com)