10: end of the semester!

This semester flew by!  It's crunch time with finals, studying, projects, and assignments, but for some reason I am not too stressed.  Creative Fashion Presentations has been such a fun and interesting class, and I am so glad it turned out to be everything I expected.  I really learned a lot from my super awesome professor, and now I'm sure that I definitely want to focus my career on Visual Merchandising and the mmore creative side of the fashion industry.

My group's final project for the semester is a fashion video on fashion through the decades that we named Back to the Future.  We all worked really hard on this and I think it came out perfect!  My group (Lizzie, Liz, Diane, and Krissia) deserve a huge shout out for working so well together to get this done!

This was shot at Beacon's Closet in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with our model Liz traveling through the decades to get back to the present.  Everyone should go check out Beacon's Closet!!! (We are in no way connected to them or working for them, btw)  Hope everyone enjoys the final product!

xoxo

9: new fashion show formats

Get on your 3-D glasses!  Designers are taking their shows to the next level.  Typical catwalks are not good enough anymore as the fashion world goes into the future.  3-D videos can be seen in stores, as the background for catwalks, or on websites for different designers.  Norma Kamali, one of the designers who has started using 3-D shows said that you can show of the clothes in more depth.  Designers like Custo Barcelona even incorporated a 3-D pattern into one of their designs, but a lot of this technology still needs to be developed.  Brands like Gucci and Calvin Klein are lending their names to designer 3-D glasses so you can watch these shows in style instead of wearing the white paper glasses movie theaters used to give out.  Even though a 3-D fashion show seems like the way our industry is heading, not every designer is going to jump on the bandwagon right away and a lot of spectators are still a little skeptical.  I think it's a cool idea, but even though a 3-D show gives the clothes more depth, it takes away from the mood and creativity of a show that people look forward to each season.

Check out this video from normakamali3d.com...make sure you have on your 3-D glasses!

8: video lookbooks

Video Lookbooks are a great way for designers to show of their collections in a fun way.  Everyone anticipates each season's runway shows to see new and exciting looks, but runway shows can become a little boring and restrictive.  Putting together a video lookbook lets the designer have complete creative freedom that creates a mood and tells a story.  These videos give the viewers a better feeling of the clothes and showcase them in a way that is realistic because you can see movement, but they also have an air of fantasy because they are like mini-movies.

The first video I found is from one of my favorite designers Stacy Bendet for Alice + Olivia.  Her clothes are always so playful, feminine, and flirty, with a vintage flair and the Alice + Olivia video lookbook portrays the brand perfectly.

I also really love this video lookbook from Aldo shoes.  Their video, like the Alice + Olivia one, is very playful and fun.  It shows off the shoes but doesn't just focus on them like a runway show would just focus on specific garments.  The video gets you in the mood for summer with a fitting title Life's A Beach.

And I cannot do a blog post about awesome video lookbooks without including this one from Lanvin.  I am so in love with this video because Lanvin is a very chic and high end label and models are usually supposed to give off stoic emotion, but the video is completely opposite.  I think it is so unexpected, especially with the music choice and dance moves, and it shows that Alber Elbaz has a sense of humor and doesn't take fashion so seriously.  It is hilarious to me to see models in beautiful, sophisticated clothing dancing to club music in a formal parlor.  Perfection.

7: trunk shows

You're invited!

If only it were that easy!  Trunk shows are such a unique way of displaying and selling garments in a collection because it is a more intimate way for the customers and the designers or label representatives to connect.  After researching trunk shows, I found that the most common or popular are Bridal Trunk Shows.  Most trunk shows are invitation only, and once at the show, the brides have an exclusive look at a whole collection of dresses that normally wouldn't be displayed in stores.  Appointments must be made, space is limited, and space goes fast!  Vera Wang held two Spring 2012 Bridal Collection Trunk Shows - one at her store in NYC on Madison Avenue and the other at her West Hollywood location.  

After viewing the collection, guests can place their orders with the designer or representative.  Trunk shows are a lot different from sample sales which are really popular in the bridal world because at trunk shows, prices are not discounted.  Many boutiques and bridal salons hold their own trunk shows, and they all usually last only a few days.  Considering how crazy brides can get over what they are going to wear on the big day, it is a great opportunity for any bride to have such an intimate experience.  I found a Monique Lhuillier Bridal trunk show that will be taking place at Kleinfeld's in NYC during the second week of November and when I went to make an "appointment", only one day was left and there were only 2 time slots open!  It is definitely worth it to plan ahead when it comes to wedding dresses!!

6: spring 2012 fashion videos

After following New York, Milan, and Paris Fashion Weeks and seeing all of the beautiful garments going down the runway, I fell in love with Paris.  Each Fashion Week was unique to their city, and I think all of the designers embraced "the city of love".  I found this video on style.com that recaps Paris fashion week and highlights some of the trends and major influences.  I saw beautiful pieces in so many collections, but I particularly loved Chanel and Alexander McQueen, who along with several other designers had an underwater inspiration.  

The beginning of the video starts with Tim Blanks, the narrator of the video, describing the story in Paris this season as "pretty women in a drowned world" and I think this perfectly describes Karl Lagerfeld and Sarah Burton's collections for Chanel and McQueen.  They both have an ethereal fantasy about them, with feminine and seductive yet modest silhouettes.  Simply perfection. 

I think it is so interesting how Karl Lagerfeld said in this video that "the oldest things can be the most modern", referring to the inspiration he took from the bottom of the ocean floor which has been around forever.  He took his collection a step further as he always does and created a magical underwater environment at his runway show with giant coral in an all-white palette.  The collection wasn't typical "Chanel", but each piece was still as beautiful as the next.

In a description of Burton's Spring 2012 collection for McQueen on style.com, Tim Blanks describes Lagerfeld's models as nymphs and Burton's as goddesses...all of the pieces giving off a vibe of fish in the sea - with movement, soft colors, romance, and ultimate femininity.

5: fall 2011 color trends

As the cold weather creeps up on us, everyone is starting to wear their cozy sweaters, boots, and patterned scarves.  Living in New York and walking through the city every day, the common color palette is always black, but this season I've been seeing a lot of people exploring with more earthy tones as neutrals instead of simply black.  After looking through Fall 2011 color trends on fashionsnoops.com, The Fifties really caught my eye because it includes the ever popular black while showing "creams and mustards" as alternate neutrals.  I've also been seeing pinks and reds a lot, everywhere from jeans to handbags, and especially lips. (All runway looks from style.com)

Fall 2011 Runway Looks

Alice + Olivia               Donna Karan               Lanvin               Michael Kors

more loveliness from spring 2012

Elie Saab

Louis Vuitton

Alexander McQueen

Miu Miu 

4: nyc street style

It's not Summer anymore but Fall weather really hasn't hit us full-blast, so...what are we supposed to wear?!?  I commute to school and over the past two weeks have been tearing my closet apart each morning to find an outfit that will work in the cold morning weather when I leave my house and also not make me sweat during a 3pm heatwave.  There's no better place than FIT to see where the season's trends are headed and to see how people are dressing in these weird transitional times.  Some girls at FIT dress like they're walking down a runway on a daily basis, but the majority of us find a way to dress stylish and practical for going to school and running around the city.

Everyone's digging their boots and jackets out from the back of their closets so they're prepared for this bipolar weather.  I've noticed printed scarves are a big Fall trend right now, and a lot of people are trying to wear their shorts as long as they can by pairing them with tights and a sweater or blazer.  One of the great things about being a New Yorker and traveling in the city every day is that I don't need Vogue or Marie Claire to tell me what's hot and what is sooo last season.

3: get excited about fashion!

It's always interesting to hear different perspectives on the new season's fashions because what one person loves another can hate.  Cathy Horyn is one of the New York Times' top fashion journalists and I always like to read her runway reviews because she tells it like it is.  In her article "Yelling 'Fire' on a Crowded Runway", Horyn says that designers should be more daring on the runway to really "wow" the crowd and use their influence in a more powerful way...I agree with her 100%.  People should always be excited about fashion.  Having a runway show has evolved so much over the years, and more designers should follow Ms. Prada's lead by building expectations into each show.  Her collection this season was a little crazy with car details and influences, but like Cathy Horyn said in her article there is reason and "psychology" behind Ms. Prada's designs - which makes the fashion show seem more like a story being told then just models walking a runway. 

I love how she describes the garments as having a "lush late 1950's innocence that verged to a slutty small-townness."  It's not proper industry terms, but you get exactly what she's trying to say and how Ms. Prada doesn't try to "purify the sweetness out of feminist disgust or commercial needs."  All of the pieces in their Spring 2012 collection are so different than what Prada usually does, but they answer the question Cathy Horyn proposed in the beginning of the article which was
"What makes something MODERN?"

Horyn also comments on some other Spring 2011 collections from Milan fashion week including Gucci, Fendi, Etro, and MaxMara.  A big trend she mentions for the upcoming season is the flapper look and emphasis on femininity.  I definetely recommend reading her whole article and any other of her articles, especially about the Spring 2011 collections - she always finds a way to put the designer's visions into perfectly, beautifully, and sometimes sarcastic worded desctiptions that always make me smile :)

(All pictures from nymag.com)

emmy style winners

Watching celebrities on the red carpet is like a sport to me...Every time an award show is on I make sure I have my TV tuned into E! two hours early so I can see who wore what and who's going to be on the "Best Dressed" or "Worst Dressed" lists the next day.  Red was a huge color on the carpet at this year's Emmys and the more daring fashionistas sported thigh-high slits to pump up the drama.  These are some of my favorite looks from the night, and some of my fave celebs, too!  It's hard to pick a clear winner for Best Dressed.  Julia Stiles' dress is so gorgeous, but I think Minka Kelly has my heart (not just because she plays the amazing Lyla Garrety on my FAVE show Friday Night Lights with Connie Britton) but because she looks so glamorous and classic.

Connie Britton in Maria Lucia Hohan          Martha Plimpton in Elie Saab 

Nina Dobrev in Donna Karan          Sofia Vergara in Vera Wang

Minka Kelly in Dior         Evan Rachel Wood in Elie Saab          Gwyneth Paltrow in Emilio Pucci  

 Julia Stiles in Georges Hobeika            Anna Faris in Reem Acra          Jennifer Carpenter in Tony Ward


(All pictures from style.com, eonline.com, and zimbio.com)