10/14/2008

Fashion Week SS09: Marc by Marc Jacobs

There were lots of playful daytime looks among the ranks of people attending the Marc by Marc Jacobs show.

Black and white cape and a modified cloche hat.


Her colorful necklaces were echoed by similar looks on the runway.

She wears black wayfarer-type sunglasses and a shorts suit; he wears a collegiate blazer with crest of arms.
White cotton dress for fall and a cardigan with skull detail.

Velvet bow tie.
A beautifully sophisticated look--black satin for day.

Joe Zee in a suit, Kate Lanphear in gray high-waisted trousers.

Purple is popping up everywhere now, but stick to a deep, royal purple like this one or you'll look like a purple people eater.

An elegant suit gets a little edge from sexy sandals.

Black and white.
Ken Downing of Neiman Marcus in a skinny tie. Let's assume he had nothing to do with that Dallas Cowboys "wow gift" in the Christmas Book.

These super skinny jeans are in, but they must be paired with booties or heels, not the flats of years past.

Fuchsia houndstooth dress.
Male models leaving the show.
THE SHOW

Marc by Marc Jacobs is another show to watch for very practical purposes--to see what we'll all be wearing next spring. Here Jacobs took the mismatchy looks of the designer collection and translated them into pale neutral stripes, plaids, and tribal prints for his contemporary line. The hook? There's always a little mischief in a Marc by Marc Jacobs line. In this case it was the ultra short swingy dresses and fanny packs as accessories.

Men's mismatching in gray.
Pale ecru colors offset with strands and strands of Caribbean-esque necklaces.

Full, high-waisted, belted shorts were a theme of the collection.

Note the washed-out denim, which should be everywhere come spring. Lace-up flat booties add a pop of color.

He takes a utility-belt approach to the fanny pack, actually making it look cool. You can attach several colorful purses to this one wide studded belt.

A cute one-shoulder jumpsuit that flirts with the idea of androgyny. Note the layered belts and accessories that characterized this collection.

Beautiful metallic trench for day.

Men's looks included a lot of rumpled trenches and roomy colorful pants like these.

View the whole collection on NYMag.com.

10/11/2008

The Neiman Marcus Christmas Book Is Here!

Let's see, what happened this week? The Dow lost about 1,500 points, The New York Sun and Cosmo Girl both folded, Iceland teetered on the verge of bankruptcy . . . and Neiman Marcus launched its Christmas Book catalog!


Now if you know Neiman Marcus' annual holiday catalog, you know this is the first place to go when you're wondering how to blow all that extra cash you have lying around. Past catalogs have included such necessities as a personal submarine and a his-and-hers chocolate portrait. And the "wow gifts" in this year's catalog do not disappoint, no matter what may be going on in the so-called news.


Bad day at work? No worries. Just blow out of the office on this $110K Limited Edition Fighter Motorcycle. What better way to say "I already made millions before the sh*t hit the fan"?

This football season, why enjoy the game on a regular old TV when you could get this Dallas Cowboys Texas Stadium End Zone package? For a mere $500K, you can go to the game in a luxury suite and get your photo taken with Jerry Jones and cheerleaders. The $500K goes to the Salvation Army, but obviously getting a Dallas Cowboys logo spray-painted on your lawn is a lot better than just giving the money to charity. (Installation costs not included.)


Remember those old records Dad had sitting in the basement? Turns out you should have kept them, because now this Thirty-Five Year Collection of Top 100 45 RPM Records is now worth $275K--probably not what Dad paid for them when he was walking to school in the snow uphill both ways.


You know that awful feeling you get in a museum when you just want to buy stuff but it's not for sale? Well now you can, because these Medieval and Renaissance Era Rings ($25K-35K) can finally be sitting pretty on your finger, not in some stupid glass case at the Met.


This. Costs. One-hundred thousand. Dollars.


Because it's not really art unless it's a portrait of you, acclaimed artist Nathan Sawaya will make these HIS & HERS: Life-Size Replica in LEGO Bricks just for you for $60K. Sure to terrify small children for years to come.


When even the most exclusive golf club is not exclusive enough, turn to Jack Nicklaus to design this Custom Backyard Course Package ($1M). Finally, you can play golf alone. (Construction costs not included.)

One of the best things about basketball is it costs little or no money to play--it requires just cement, a hoop, the ball, and you. Now if only your kid were a decent player. Get some skin in the game for real with an on-court experience with the Harlem Globetrotters ($110K), who won't bitch and moan if you ask for a "do-over."


You always told your kids that marriage was about a lot more than love, it's about money. Show Daddy's little girl how much she's really worth with this $1.3M Luxury Destination Wedding Package at The Resort at Pelican Hill. Guaranteed to make the groom feel inadequate and ruin the young couple's sex life forever.

Ever wake up with that groggy feeling of "how much did I spend at the bar last night"? Well now you'll really wonder what happened when you get this $250K tab for this Authentic Guinness® Home Pub. Drunk friends who run up your bill sold separately.

Don't worry about the kids' college funds--they'll be fine by 2010, right? And besides, you could really use that $160K for a new car.

You know nothing about horses. Or racing. But it would be cool to be that guy on TV whose horse just won that race, what's-it-called. Because when you buy this 10-million-dollar Three Chimneys Farm Thoroughbred Racing Stable Package, "as the owner, you get to name your stable and any unnamed horses, design your own silks, attend races, pose for pictures, give quotes to the media." Because isn't that what it's all about?

10/06/2008

Fashion Week SS09: Marc Jacobs

Once populated mainly by artsy, rumpled Parsons students, the Marc Jacobs show is now a celebrity magnet where SUV's pull up and dispense perfectly styled glamazons. The Parsons students are still there, but fewer and farther in between, and at least the celebs are giving them a run for their money, style-wise.

One thing that hasn't changed, however, is the pure electric thrill of a Marc Jacobs show. This is where fashion transcends the mundane and becomes something that continually surprises, inspires, and opens your eyes.

Jennifer Lopez and Victoria Beckham, up close and personal. Beckham's main fashion statement at this show was her new haircut, which looked great in this playful pixie-ish state.


Padma Lakshmi. Not sure about the white silk jumper, but it is interesting to see more winter white right now.

Lynn Yaeger donned a glamorous cape for the occasion and mixed it with some funky pink leggings and gold shoes.

Sofia Coppola, another style muse of Jacobs.

Black dress, red lipstick, and a flower in her hair. He turns an otherwise conservative outfit up a notch with a hot pink belt.

Tiny ruffles.

Kate Lanphear--yes, those are horses emerging from the clouds on her tee, a la Clash of the Titans, 1981. This gutsy outfit actually looked great, especially with the tough layered leather bracelets.

Hilary Alexander in a statement necklace.

Model on a cell phone.

THE SHOW

The collection, "The Americans," was a send-up to all things American, with references from the Victorian era, 1920s, and 1940s mashed together, with a few obi sashes thrown in for good measure. Set to Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" (Leonard Bernstein's performance?), the theme seems almost poignant in retrospect with everything that's happened in the U.S. in the few weeks since the show.

One signature trick of Marc Jacobs is taking street trends and incorporating them into his collections. This idea of mixing patterns--florals, stripes, tweeds, and plaids--was first seen on the street earlier this year.

If you were to buy one thing from the collection, this ruffled skirt might be it. It has a Victorian bustle in back and was a recurring theme in the show.

Jacobs jazzed up traditional stripes and tweed by injecting them with metallic thread.

He takes the obi sash theme a step further with this look and goes fully into Japanese territory with a beautiful butterfly print.

This dramatic striped dress got a great reaction from the crowd. But note that the majority of looks for this collection were not dresses but separates--mainly high-waisted, mid-calf skirts.

A beautiful, whimsical print that seems pure Marc Jacobs.

See Style.com for the entire show.

10/01/2008

Fashion Week SS09: Ports 1961

And, after a Time-Warner-Cable-induced delay, we return.

It's not truly Fashion Week unless you go to at least one pod people show--you know, the kind where the outfits are so out there that the models look like pod people. Ports 1961, the label by Canadian Tia Cibani, was one such show, with its motif of tree-inspired dresses, painterly colors, super-wide high boatneck collars, and hats worn like tribal masks, all drawn from the paintings of the Canadian artist Emily Carr (1871-1945). But during a fashion week where nearly everyone else was playing it safe, her unchecked creativity was a breath of fresh air.

The show attracted a similarly creative crowd.

Patrick McDonald in all black-and-white except for one yellow pocket square.

Love the surrealist detail on his hat--an eye in the middle of a spiderweb.

More black and white--the pants are Yoshi Yamamoto.

Beautifully abstract tie-dye transitions to fall.

Mickey Boardman and his signature necklaces.

Love her wry look. Look out for candy-colored wayfarers like these in the spring. They also made an appearance on the runway of the Walter show.

The dramatic look of a white fox stole.


THE SHOW

If you can get past the theatrics of some of the looks, you'll see that Cibani was one of the few designers during New York Fashion Week to anticipate what the Wizard of Oz herself, Miuccia Prada, would be unveiling a couple of weeks later in Milan. Ports 1961's subtle metallic poplins are an exciting step forward in the same direction.

A favorite look of the collection. This delicate yellow hue appeared several times throughout. Necklace made of bone?

The play of colors here is amazing--Cibani uses sheers and reflective fabrics that are constantly shifting colors as the model moves.

A transparent striped tunic, silk palazzo pants, and statement necklace made of yarn.

Crazy hat-mask.
Gorgeous brown shimmery dress.
Look at the similarity to the Prada dress that appeared a few weeks later, though in typical Prada brassier form.
But back at Ports 1961, just when you thought Cibani might be getting too commercial, she whips out a pod people look. Yay!


View the entire show on NYMag.com.