I totally agree with Sara. Her post immediately flashed me back to the May (or June?) 2009 issue of Vogue where they did a feature on Iris Strubegger. Hardly anyone had heard of her until she cut off all her hair and dyed it bright red. Now she's one of the hottest runway models, she's in almost every Vogue editorial, and she landed a huge campaign for Valentino last season.

BEFORE
theSartorialist.com


AFTER
Vogue.com

Maybe the girls on ANTM should listen up and stop crying every Makeover episode when Jay and Tyra make them cut off their hair. (Sara, do you suppose they're reading this?) Even if they do look like awkward 12-year-old boys. Most of them have bodies to match anyway!

I’ve been a big fan of ANTM (America’s Next Top Model, for the non-superfans). I admire the judges’ ability to see beauty in a variety of looks. Now it seems like lately they are hard-pressed to find quality new girls with unique looks. Watching ANTM winners and seeing the darlings of the runway who land the highly-coveted shows makes me wonder: what makes an it-girl in the fashion world? Thanks to Kate Moss, I know for sure that it’s not always about being as tall as an NBA player. But seeing some of these favorites really makes me wonder more than ever. And at the moment, I am almost certain that
the fashion industry loves stupid haircuts. And ANTM knows it (Poor Salicia).

Agyness Deyn rocks the 10-year-old-boy-with-bedhead look. I'm still on the fence about whether or not it's a step up from the private school girl look she used to have.

Tao Okamoto is a beautiful girl, and whoever told her to cut her hair like that clearly knew how to propel her into the spotlight, because that seems to have been the trigger. But you can no longer see half her face behind that bowl-cut. Her look has gone from refined to vacuous.

Anyone know who Ranya Mordanova is? Not YET. But she’s got haunting eyes, an incredible pout, and if she maintains the same boy crop, she can ride it all the way to the top.

My AW10 RTW Loves

I love fashion for two reasons: either (1) it's beautiful or (2) it's the way I want to look. I was going to make a post of all my favorite looks and shows from the AW2010 season, but it ended up being like 70 images and several pages of gushing long since Fashion Month is over and I have way too many designers choose from. Instead, here is a sampling of my favorite looks that fall into either category 1 or 2 (or both if I'm feeling really brave).

Marc Jacobs - perfectly refined, absolutely beautiful work clothes


Louis Vuitton - femininity at its best


Chanel - god I love sweater dresses, leggings, and boots


Marchesa - frothy deliciousness. this is what i would wear to prom as a very rich 16-year-old.



Alexander McQueen - hands-down my favorite designer of all time. this is art.


various beautiful gowns (Valentino, Versace, Andrew Gn)


Burberry Prorsum - i. love. boots. especially thigh-high ones paired with military jackets.



Christian Dior - oh so romantic.


And a very honorable mention to Andrew Gn. I honestly would buy every single piece he showed - from belted LBDs to evening gowns in midnight hues. But I think my internet will crash if I try to add any more photos to this post. You can check him out for yourself at style.com.

It's for real. Her name is Tavi Gevinson and she lives in a Chicago suburb (holla!). She started the blog when she was 11 and sat front row at Dior this year, wearing this hat. She also is BFFs with the Mulleavy sisters and collaborated with them on their Rodarte for Target line. She's quirky and weird, and often makes dresses out of skirts she finds in the bottom of her mother's closet. She is one of the most creative people I've seen in the industry.

i love all the new links!
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is the stylerookie really truly a blogging 12/13 year old who writes intelligently and has a fashion sense beyond the mall? There's just no way. No 13 year old would remember Daria with that kind of passion, OR use the word 'deadpan', right? Is it some woman blogging what she lives vicariously through her daughter? Someone explain.

I just found this on fashionologie.com. Because Anna and I are BFFs, I'm not all that surprised that her statements exactly mirror my recent thoughts regarding scary-thin models on the runways and the absence of supermodels a la Cindy, Christy, Linda, Naomi. I was actually freaked out by the skeleton thighs I saw in so many Style.com photos from AW2010 shows. More on this later, but my absolute favorite show from AW2010 was Marc Jacobs' Louis Vuitton show. Let's bring the boobs back into fashion!

Blame Super Skinny Models


Sigrid Agren in Prada AW 2010: Where are her thighs?



The Supers in a Versace ad from 1994. Sexy, goofy, DIVINE.

I've been watching a lot of 30-Rock lately, thanks to Netflix's instant streaming, and I've become pretty close to obsessed with Liz Lemon's necklaces. I now see those pretty and simple gold charms on short chains ev-er-y-where. Apparently. Lemon's is a Helen Ficalora (the web universe claims she said it in an interview that I never personally read), but I've found some pretty identical ones on Etsy- a magical site which I only recently discovered existed when I went to some nighttime art fair in Oakland. Etsy is the answer to all of those like me who really want to like Urban Outfitters' jewelry, but believe it's an incredible sin to hawk over 20-30 bucks for something that feels so cheap. Exhibit A......Exhibit B:

So style.com gives its top 10 collections for Fall2010, and I have to say I'm surprised I at least don't disagree with most of their picks, but I think there were some overrated shows and some that were unfairly panned.

The Prada show had some great lady styles with incredible detail on the cocktail dresses, but that bulky knitwear gives me nightmarish flashbacks of Midwestern winters: that awful feeling of the crotch of my wool tights sinking lower and lower with each step, or feeling my socks droop to my ankles and getting soaked with snow. Chalk that up as another handy use for duct tape.

Speaking of staying warm, is there some larger meaning to the Chanel show that I just don't get? The models looked like they hunted and killed an Aqua Net wielding Yeti. I also shun this concept because translated into the real world, it would go a little something like this:

My Top 5
1. Cacharel: Because mixing that many colors, patterns, and textures AND pulling it off in a cohesive way is extremely impressive
2. Anne Valerie Hash: I'm not a fan of the pushed-up 80s style jacket sleeves, but this collection was masculine, feminine, and sexy all at once. These clothes are for going commando.
3. Michael Kors: Edgy all-American urban safari. And reminiscent of my favorite Ralph Lauren looks.
4. Burberry: coats! coats! coats! I'm pretty sure my mouth began to water the instant I saw that cerulean military jacket.
5. Salvatore Ferragamo: mmm knits I can get on board with and good-girl leather. I'm really into oxfords right now, too.

Post #2: I also systematically disdain people who tweet seven times a day and feel the need to maintain blogs broadcasting their self-important thoughts. That said, almost all of my Facebook posts end up being about fashion, so I figured I might as well legitimize myself. I'm currently going to graduate school for a real career (which will remain a mystery for the purposes of this blog so that I may actually obtain said career in the near future), but I dream in slouchy silk chiffon and black patent booties. I live for costumes, music, and my family. I'll be posting anything divine or dreadful I run across while reading other fashionista's blogs.

So here's post number 1...I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm a recent crossover from the blogger-haters. Well, I guess I'm a hater of those who think blogging (or tweeting?) about what they ate for lunch is important.
Anyway, so I guess a little about me? At the moment I'd consider myself a waste of society- one of those lost recent grads who find themselves floating in the abyss of X, question mark, chaos, unemployment. I've got my fingers crossed that it will change soon, but what wont change is my love of art in all forms. And yes, I do think fashion is art.

I wanted this blog as an informal platform to talk and argue and bash on the latest thing strutting off the runway, in the spotlight or not. I'm no expert, but I'm real, and I know what I like!