Gilded and guilty

As I spend hours perusing all of the fall 2010 runway collections I must admit that more often than not I shake my head in disappointment at safe and typical collections that each designer seemed to settle for this season. Balenciaga elicited yawns from me, Nina Ricci failed to make me smile. Something obviously was wrong.

The exception this time is Balmain. Oh Balmain! Balmain evoked the devilish adolescent inside of me and made me want to immediately act out in immature and rebellious ways. While most designers appealed to an older age group with more office-appropriate garb, Balmain made his statement clear. What's the point of being young and fabulous if you're going to wear a butter yellow pinstripe skirt with a white skirt? There isn't one.

Balmain captures the grandeur of 17th century French royalty while maintaining relevance in today's society. The gold dresses were (of course) my personal favorites. If you're going to rebel and do crazy things because you can you might as well look as great as possible. And if you do decide to drain yourself of all that teenage angst you may need a little help from Balmain.

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

Louise Gray's debut collection was amazing. In fact, the Scottish designer who I had never heard of before a couple of days ago put together an astounding collection (note the shoes and eye make-up). Here are a few little ditties to go along with this wonderfully eccentric collection.

revolver- madonna (ft. lil wayne)

all is love- karen o and the kids

relator- pete yorn & scarlett johansson

furr- blitzen trapper

hang you from the heavens- the dead weather

dying is fine- ra ra riot

sleepyhead- passion pit

blame it on the girls- mika

little bit- lykke li

kids- mgmt

ob-la-di, ob-la-da- the beatles

up, up, and away- kid cudi

daylight- matt and kim

Dear Mr. Lagerfeld,

I am perpetually in awe of both your work and your being. You always seem to be able to capture the most authentic version of both culture and youth in your clothes and to say that I am envious would be an understatement. Your most current collection from Paris for Spring 2010 is, in my humble opinion, your best work yet. While at a first glance the collection may seem to be a visionary minimalistic approach to spring fashion, a second glance betrays that first assumption because this collection is all about the details. These details are in fact extraordinary metal details that denote the heavy metal images you evoked with your fashion week invitation. I hope that I am not alone when I say that your fashion genius is unmatched in the business.

Sincerely,
the girl you sent spinning into dreams of heavy metal and tangerine colored jumpsuits

Is Karl referencing American history?

While the clothes themselves did not impress me that much, the entire Chanel 2009-10 resort show did. After watching the first minute of the show on youtube I was a bit puzzled to say the least. The show begins with a model in a black cape and baroque-style cap running onto the runway. This image struck me as an odd homage to Paul Revere and the way that he warned people that something grand and big and massive was coming. Was the model giving the audience the same warning? So I don't exactly have Karl on speed dial to ask him about his intentions for the opening of his show, but I do think he might have just made some American history buffs like me very happy indeed.

Jack and Lazaro do Resort.

And they do it well. Previously, I thought that the Proenza Schouler aesthetic wouldn't translate well for a resort collection, yet obviously I have been proven very very wrong (see evidence below). I have posted my six favorite looks from the collection and the place I would want to wear each one. It's like a combination of Vogue and Travel + Leisure!

Very surfer, a little dark: Tofino, Canada

Beachy and fabric with Asian vibes: Koh Phi Phi Island, Thailand

The villa is all that is missing: Lake Como, Italy

Urban and modern: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Sophisticated with some Spanish subtleties: Barcelona, Spain

Hip, young, too cool to be bothered: Mailbu, California

Most definitely Scandinavian: Inari Lake, Finland