SS08: The "IT" Shoes

The other day when I was at the hair salon flicking through Vogue, I came across what they claimed to be the new "it" shoe this season- these Etro sandals below.
The term "it" shoes is apt. Cousin IT shoes that is. First Prada had these fringe things all over the place SS07, and now these shoes. Gladiator sandals with fringe piled on, I really don't see the attraction. They kind of look like sandals pretending to be boots or the other way around. Just not quite right.
No matter how they matched it on the Etro runway, there MUST be other better footwear out there to match these cute printed outfits. More simpler sandals perhaps? Heels? Barefoot??? Just when I thought perhaps it was just a one off random thing, I see the exact likeness on the Zara display window. For a moment I worried that this will become a prominent feature in daily fashion (it IS Zara after all). However, HG has convinced me that this is just one of those fashion items that are picked to featured to look cool (I don't know where they get these ideas from) but not really meant for mass consumption- or so I hope. Fingers crossed!

I mean, would YOU wear this????

Image Source: Elle.com

How Not To Wear Colour Leggings

First off I must confess I haven't worn colour leggings myself before. I am simply not creative or bothered enough to actually buy them and do the whole mixing and matching thing with the rest of the outfit. Hypothetically, if I were to wear colour leggings, I would probably just do it the boring and simple way: colour leggings with a casual black dress like in the picture above. And yes, I know it's spring now and leggings is more of a F/W thing, but I thought I would share some of my observations here.

As the title suggests, these are my observations of how not to wear colour leggings/tights. A few weeks ago, I saw someone on the streets wearing something like this:

A bright yellow tee (way brighter than the tee in this image,) a green, half-length trenchcoat, a flowery skirt (very popular in UK highstreet stores this season) and bright, solid red leggings. OK, so obviously I am not a colourful dresser, but I'm usually pretty open minded about style. Now I'm not criticising this girl's outfit exactly (-I'm all for personal style), but I do think that she went overboard with the colours. Wearing solid green on the top (the coat) and solid red at the bottom (the leggings) just does not look cool, arguably except for Christmas day. If you wear colour leggings, please refrain from wearing ten million other colours. Really, colour leggings are colourful themselves already.

And just yesterday, I saw a women who looked at least 45 yrs old wearing shorts and bright red leggings. I'm not actually sure of her age, but she certainly didn't look that young from afar. Sure, colour leggings are fun, but isn't it something that is more for younger women? Is it wrong for me to think the maximum age that anyone should wear these colour leggings is 30? And I don't mean to discriminate against age, but I just really believe in dressing suitably for one's age.

There you go: just a bit of how not to on colour leggings. What are your thoughts on my two points?

Image source: www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk, www.topshop.com

Toywatch

Now I'm not one for watches really. In fact, I haven't worn one since I grew out of Swatch and cannot quite afford a Cartier yet. Also I secretly think that I might have been so spoilt by the digital clock on my mobile that I now find it hard to read analogs. But I'm not quite ready to admit that to myself yet. But anyway, despite all that, my interest was peaked the other day when my cousin mentioned that he wanted to get a Toywatch- especially when I found out that it can be found within the stylish walls of Lane Crawford. So I decided to take a look.
For those unfamiliar, Toywatch are known for their lightweight, over sized plastic watches. I was pleasantly surprised by the designs. They are simple and elegant, with just the right amount of fun in the colors and the clear plastic material. I love the colors and designs of the two above. Priced at around $200USD each, they are great a great accessory to match your outfits with. If I was the watch wearing type and had resources to spare (one can always dream), I'd totally get a few!
Besides those fun ones, they also have ones that kind of resemble more classic designs. Like this white plastic one (left) from the Plasteramic collection, which is designed to look like those oh-so-sought-after ceramic watches but is not. And the one on the right looks remarkably like all those watches that I would describe as "elegant, feminine and delicate" from various luxury watch brands.
Naturally, in this day of super luxing everything, even a brand called Toywatch has a super luxe line. They have it in the form of this black ceramic collection (left). Now this is actually ceramic and not plastic pretending to be ceramic. The design is very elegant and sleek looking. Priced at $1500, its not bad for a ceramic watch- if only it didn't so resemble the J12 Chanel watches (right), which are priced at 5 times that price. Now it just looks like a ceramic watch pretending to be a J12. Not that there is anything wrong with that, Zara does it all the time, but this one is not even cheap! Personally, if I was going to fork out $1500 for a ceramic watch, I'd rather save up longer and get the original one.

Image Source: ToyWatch and Chanel

Checking Out H&M Spring 2008

I've been seeing this H&M print ad everywhere I go, mainly on billboards and in magazines, in London and Hong Kong. I feel like I'm being chased after by this pretty yellow image of Raquel and a wall of flowers telling me that: a) it's Spring! b) Wear yellow! c) Go shop at H&M now! After stalking H&M's website for awhile, they've finally updated their website last week with some of their Spring's offering.

The instant I saw this colour-block, T-shirt dress in the campaign image (worn by Raquel -not this image but the same dress,) I thought, wow, I really want this! It's such an easy, summer casual dress. I love the colour blocks of black, pink and orange together. It's just the splash of colour that I've been wanting in my wardrobe, and since I'm not bothered or creative enough to actually buy seperate colourful pieces and match them together, it's so nice to have the crazy colours put together in one dress in a stylish, easy-to-wear way.

So the next day (last Thur,) I rushed to an H&M store to check out the dress and they only had one size left, and of course it wasn't my size. It is so hard for me to actually find something I want from H&M (or from any store) and it was sold out -I was SO disappointed! It was even sadder when I found out that the dress is seriously affordable -it costs only about 199HKD (=26USD.) I am a bit annoyed that the H&M store was displaying this dress at the display windows when they hardly had any sizes or stock left. I always thought H&M was all about the volume business so I just assumed they'd always have sizes available. Obviously I was wrong. Lesson of the day: Check out these stores more frequently!

The other thing I liked on the website was this bright pink, silk-material-looking dress. It looks perfect for a night out, and since it's not expensive, I wouldn't feel bad if someone spilled drinks on it or if the place was smoky. Alas, they were also out of my size.

As for this red and white flowery top, it's not that I particularly like or dislike it. I thought I would post it up here because I swear I keep seeing people on the streets wearing it! And when I was browsing through a few online stores, I saw something very similar by Marc by Marc Jacobs. So expect to see a lot of red and white flowery tops near you this summer!

Have you checked out H&M's Spring's clothes yet? What do you think of the clothes?

Image source: www.hm.com/gb (Note that the prices are in Pounds.)

Yet Another Black Blazer

Two years ago when I bought my fitted Juicy black blazer with velvet lapels, I thought I was done with this staple. One good quality one is all I thought I'd need. But then this other black blazer popped up on the rack and it had gorgeous silk mini ruffles on the neck collar and black subtle pinstripes AND it was 70% off. I couldn't resist. Then this summer, there was this super fitted dark gray (with a hint of sparkle), 3/4 sleeved blazer with this to die for fancy double layered collar thing also on sale- I had to have it. So really, one can reasonably conclude that I've reached my quota for black blazers. For the record, I have had great mileages for all of them- so they were all completely worth it. Unfortunately recently, I find my eyes wandering again in the black blazer arena.......
While I have enough sharply fitted blazers that stops flatteringly at the waist, I don't have any more loosely shaped blazers that stops at the lower waist. And thus I cannot achieve the totally casual chic look shown above by the Stella McCartney blazer (left) and the Paul & Joe blazer (right) with the sleeves scrunched up. Loosely fitted yet tailored they are the perfect compliment to the more loosely fitted styles that is the trend of late. I saw Heidi Klum wear such a blazer over a cute dress on Project Runway this season (or I thought I did, since I looked back and could not find it!), and thought, wow I need one of those! I was just facing such a dilemma the other day when I was wearing a dress and couldn't find an appropriate jacket to wear over it. All my other black blazers are simply too fitted and short that it makes the whole look too proper and put together, which totally defeats the current style of casual chic dresses. This more casually fitted blazer cutting neatly solves the problem. The above styles from Tucker (left) and Theory (right) demonstrates my point perfectly. Also note the yellow and gray color theme going on here with the Tucker blazer and the Paul & Joe blazer look.
This blazer also works for a more casual office chic look as seen above from the Zara catalog. They even have a sleeveless version for the summer! Sigh.... I think I've almost convinced myself that I need yet another black blazer with this post. It seems like such an investment staple! Or do I?

Image Source: Zara, Shopbop, Net a Porter and Elle

Fancy Hair Accessories

I used to wonder why accessories stores would sell these fancy hair accessories as if they were popular hair accessories because I had imagined that they were only suitable for fancy daytime events, like for a wedding in a garden or an old-fashioned Sunday brunch, which I supposed not many people attended these days (esp young people.)

But ever since Gossip Girl, I have started seeing hairbands and other similar hair accessories in a different light. (OK, so the huge red bow with Blair's school uniform is a bit over the top, but the others are usually cute.)
So when I went into Accessorize (the UK version of a much better Claire's) last week, as soon as I saw those fancy hair stuff, I rushed over. The first one I held this red rolled sinemay one against my hair. I LOVED it! It was unexpectedly pretty and just so different from what I usually see on myself. Believe me, I've always thought these things were fussy and old-fashioned but I just loved the way the material formed pretty loops on my head.

So I went back to check the hair accessories on Gossip Girl and apparently my preconception that these hair accessories were for brunches weren't completely off -Blair wore one to the grand brunch hosted by Chuck's dad in Episode 102. The one Blair is wearing is so pretty! It's a simple, classic design without being boring.

Here's a similar one to the one Blair is wearing. It's the black version of the red one I tried on. I didn't think the black one looked that great on me because my hair is black -the red one totally stood out more.

Maybe it's the pokka dots, but this one definitely gives off a more dressed-up vibe. It really looks like the ones one would wear to a garden wedding, (where older ladies would wear those fancy hats! Wait, or is it at funerals?)

I couldn't resist including this pink feathers with beads accessory -it's so girly in a non-cutsy way.

This silver sequin and feather accessory looks young and trendy. Perhaps one can even wear it on a fun night out (complete with a 20's styled outfit)?

So yes, maybe I have been brainwashed by Gossip Girl, but if I had a themed party to go to, I would totally try one of these out! Happy Easter holidays people!

Image Credits: http://www.youknowyouloveme.org/, http://www.accessorize.co.uk/

Sun Dresses For A Sunny Day Out

OK, so my title is misleading: obviously you can wear sun dresses on non-sunny days too, but it sounded catchy. Plus, in some ways it does make more sense to wear sun dresses on sunny days because the skirt of the dress is so full and volumous that you would probably get yourself (or at least the skirt bit) wet from the rain, since as well all know, umbrellas don't cover us up 100%. Oops, I'm rambling. Moving on...

Isn't this such a cute picture? I'm pretty indifferent to Sienna Miller (as an actress or suppsedly style icon,) but I can't help but think that while Sienna and her dog certainly look cute, her dress really makes the whole image even more pretty and complete. I mean, imagine her in skinny jeans -the picture wouldn't look as pretty right? Since I've seen this picture, I've started noticing sun dresses around. They just seem like a nice S/S08 staple to one's summer daywear selection. Check these out:

Sienna Miller is of course, the Miller sisters' fashion line, Twenty8Twelve's best PR + walking manequin. And since I'm mentioning this, it's only fair to show this pretty front frill dress by Twenty8Twelve.
But since I'm not willing to pay that much for a sun dress, I move onto high street stores. Top Shop's got this simple sun dress for 25 pounds. The bright blue is very 'in' for this season and perfect for those of you think a white sun dress is too basic. (Although note that Top Shop does make a white version.) I like the button details in the front because those little buttons just seem to make the sun dresses less cutsy.
And for those who don't want plain coloured dresses and want some details, the new Kate Moss Top Shop collection (-so new that it was just released today,) has these black or white lurex dresses available. To be honest, from my past experience of seeing the Kate Moss Top Shop stuff in the stores, the clothes tend to look a bit cheap -maybe not cheap looking but probably not worth the premium they added for Kate Moss' name.

Anyways, don't sun dresses just look so cheerful and perfect for a sunny day out? I blame the full and swirly skirt.

Image Credits: www.topshop.com, www.asos.com

Mobile Art Exhibit Hong Kong 2008

After much hype, I finally went to the Mobile Art exhibit early last week. I even picked an earlier time so then there'd be less people! Turns out I worried for nothing, because they limit the number of people in the exhibit and allow people in at 15 minute intervals. So if you are planning to go, go online to HK Ticketing and reserve a space, the reservation fee is 10HKD. Or you can try your luck and walk in, but then the time slot might be full.

Just in case you missed my previous babbling, this Mobile Art exhibit is the latest Chanel/Lagerfeld project, and is basically a traveling contemporary art container featuring the works of 20 international artists inspired by the Chanel 2.55 bag. It will be traveling around the world for two years, bringing the art to the people. Its first stop is Hong Kong. From there, it will be heading to Tokyo, New York, London, Moscow and finally Paris.

Onto the exhibit. Located on the top of a parking lot at the Star Ferry, it faces the dazzling harbor front and is surrounded by the tall bustling buildings of Central that makes up the business center of HK. Against such a backdrop, it truly felt like an UFO had landed.
The UFO, or more accurately the collapsible "art container" designed by Zaha Hadid is a stunning piece of modern architect in itself. It is like nothing I'd seen before in such a grand scale. It is curvy, sleek, white and elegant...I think I just described Chanel! Once I was inside, I further marveled at how the interior too was curvy, sleek, white and elegant- not a single flat wall in sight! I wonder how it stays up! You must go to the Mobile Art website to take a virtual tour. After checking in my purse, I was assisted to put on a Creative MP3 around my neck and headphones. Then I chose a language (they offer English, Cantonese, Chinese, Japanese, French and maybe some other) adjusted the volume, hit play- and the journey began.

They cleverly time it so that we all start our journey at different times, so it truly IS an individual experience- no mingling or pointing things out to one another. We were each in our own world listening and going at the pace of our own soundtrack. And I mean that literally. The little voice in our head sets the mood and guides us through the exhibit piece by piece, giving us time to appreciate in between before telling us to move on, go up the stairs or turn left. For those of you who have directional problems like me- don't worry, there are people around to point you in the right way. Now I've debated for a few days now the degree of detail I should blog about this, because the details of the exhibit have obviously not been publicized for a reason. It really is something that one has to experience for themselves to fully appreciate. So here I thought I will just highlight a few of my most vivid pieces to wet your appetite (I don't remember the exact names, but i will just give the best description I can):

• The reflection piece. Once you walk into the dark room, you are told to sit and in front of you, you will see a strip of water on the floor. And reflected in it, you will see the bustling activities of a row of Parisian houses going about their daily tasks. Through the windows you see people eating breakfast, preparing to leave for the evening, turning on/off the lights, the lighting showing the time of day, from night, dawn and sunset. In the background, you can hear the buzzing sounds coming from these houses. And then the voice says that everything looks more beautiful in reflection, but that he wanted to "be part of what is going to happen" and we moved on.....I thought that was very neat and I loved it
• As we exit the room we are lead to examine various pieces of work in front of us. One collection in particular, I really enjoyed. And it was the 6 carton boxes placed in two rows along the room. We are told to look inside the boxes and in it, you see a short little repeating skit projected from above, of naked women (and men) interacting with the 2.55 bag. Most memorably, I remember a naked woman lying belly down on top of the 2.55 swimming across the box and in another box, two women were fighting over the 2.55!
• Towards the end, you will see a gigantic 2.55 with the flap opened revealing an opened Chanel compact powder box inside. And in the mirror of that compact box is a video of models practicing shooting with 2.55 bags as the target! Something about the powder of the compact box resembling that of gunpowder. I've definitely not thought of it that way.
• And lastly, my favourite, was when we were at the wall where stripes of rice paper are found and was told to write down a wish on it and then hang it up on the tree next to the desk. I'm not sure that was even a piece of art, but I liked the idea of making a wish and leaving a mark at the exhibit. (Though I'm sure they have to stripe that tree everyday to accommodate all the wishes!)

Before you leave the exhibit, you are also handed this free booklet as a souvenir. Inside, is some quite comprehension information about this exhibit, interviews with Hadid, Lagerfeld and the other international artists and photographs of Hong Kong, Tokyo and a Chanel collection featuring Devon Aoki, along with some other things. It almost made up for the ban on photography inside the exhibit! Almost.

And that was only a small part of the exhibit! At the risk of sounding like I work on the marketing team of this project (which I unfortunately do not), you simply MUST go see it for yourselves!

Not that I am saying that it was a wonderful brilliant artistic and life altering experience and so you must go, because if I did, it would only be because its Chanel. As quite frankly, I cannot say that I understood much of the meaning behind most of the exhibits. I wandered through dazed trying to absorb everything. I came out still slightly dazed and confused, but one thing I DO know is that it was definitely a unique experience. Unique experiences do not occur frequently in this jaded world we live in and THAT is why I think everyone should go.

Always the economist, I wonder how this project is being funded. Everything from admission to the booklet was free. And the creation, maintainence and transportation of this project (its takes 51 tanks to transport this structure by boat!) is certainly not cheap!

Image Source: Chanel Mobile Art

My Day of Holding an Oversized Clutch

Oversized clutches are all the rage this season. If you haven't 'tried out' this trend yet, imagine holding onto a bag with your hands the whole time you're walking around and trying to rush to your next destination.

So last summer, I had plans to have lunch with a friend of my mum's at a fancy restaurant. It was a rare occassion for me since I usually don't spend more than a sandwich's worth of money on lunch, or actually get up early enough to have lunch out (-hey, it was the summer holidays!) The thought of a fancy lunch put me in a weird, cheerful mood, which prompted me to only carry a large clutch. I was probably imagining myself to be a Hollywood girl about to be photographed by the paparazzis. Like I said, my brain was clearly not awake yet. So I painfully transferred most things from my normal, larger hangbag into a smaller, oversized clutch. My clutch is basically a larger version of this Marni clutch. It's very simple and made of patent leather.

Here's how my day went: I felt very glamorous at first, clutching onto my shiny clutch and rushing to lunch. But as the day went on, I had to go to a few places to run errands and let me tell you, it is very inconvenient to have to hold onto a clutch while carrying other paperbags, listening to your iPod and trying to dig out your wallet for the underground ticket/card. The novelty quickly wore off. The said clutch is now more of a dinner-out-only clutch. As for daytime, I will stick to bags that have handles or straps attached.

Have you tried carrying an oversized clutch for daytime yet?

Image Credit: www.net-a-porter.com

S/S08 Trend: Jumpsuits Continued

Last June, I blogged about how I didn't particularly like jumpsuits. And after looking through the S/S08 collections on style.com, I thought jumpsuits have become a thing of 2007. But it seems like my brain was so desperate for this trend to be over that it just missed the jumpsuits in the S/S collections. Vogue.co.uk identifies them:

Stella McCartney designed a few printed, light-weight, long-sleeved jumpsuits. They look like they're for people who are bumming around the countryside, and the one in the middle looks like PJs.
Bottega Veneta and Moschino both had tailored, summery-looking jumpsuits.

Many highstreet retailers have jumped on board and are now selling them:
Urban Outfitters (US) has a few styles. These are very casual and relaxed looking. These are way too casual and PJ-looking for me, but believe me, the models in these jumpsuits look very cool in UO's Spring catalogue images!
Even Lacoste (left) came out with a preppy version of jumpsuit. And the blue jumpsuit on the left (from UO) looks very LA-style.
Jumpsuits like this red, camisole version by Top Shop is one big reason why I don't like this trend. Seriously, does anyone actually just wear this and walk around the streets? Talk about cheap-looking and skimpy!
Although to be fair, Top Shop is also selling these two cute versions. (To my horror,) I actually really like the flower-printed jumpsuit on the left. It probably wouldn't suit me and I certainly won't dish out 45 pounds for something I won't wear often, but I can image it would look cool on certain people (like the people in Nylon magazine and Top Shop ads.)

2 months back, Vogue UK had a page or two featuring around 4 people photographed in different style of jumpsuits. They all looked fantastic of course and there were quotes from them proclaiming their love for jumpsuits. In the following few weeks, a couple of UK newspapers' websites also sang their praises for jumpsuits. But at the end of day, I just don't 'get' jumpsuits. I really don't think jumpsuits are versatile at all. I mean, wouldn't having the pants/shorts and tees/tops seperate be much more versatile to mix-and-match? Oh well, I suspect I'm just very biased towards disliking the fashion from the time period when jumpsuits were popular (-the 80's right?) Let's hope we'll stop seeing jumpsuits around next S/S!

Image Credits: http://www.vogue.co.uk/, http://www.topshop.com/, http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/

An Invitation to meet Nina Garcia

Just when the finale of Project runway was airing last week, I received the following:And such a pretty invite too! How could I resist?!?
So today I went to Costa, the restaurant where this cocktail event was held, at IFC, a mall/office building next to the harbor (this is in Hong Kong fyi). The venue itself was quite small and could barely accommodate the crowd waiting to meet Nina. Luckily, they had a lovely balcony outside, facing the harbor where guests could mingle and breathe in some fresh air. Personally we spent quite a lot of time there drinking fresh orange/champagne and eating hors d'oeuvre (we were especially fond of the parma ham wrapped around the bread stick) and enjoying the view- I do have a penchant for staring into the sea.
But anyways, inside the venue, it was gorgeously decorated with little display sections each representing one of the chapters of Nina's book, The Little Black Book of Style, which is the reason for her presence and the purpose of the event- to promote it. I love the displays, they were so stylishly designed. This one (above), featuring those gorgeous nude Louboutins was my favourite. I especially love the quote from Louboutin himself (right). Haha.
When Nina arrived (around half an hour after the event started), there was immediately a crowd surrounding her, greeting her, getting her to sign their books and, in typical Asian fashion, taking lots of photos of her. I happily whipped out my camera and joined in. Soon, the event became an impromptu book signing and picture taking event and we all lined up for our turn. I daresay, the event was genius. Almost everyone there bought a book or two so they won't miss out on the fun. Naturally I fell in with the crowd, despite the niggling part of my mind telling me that this is all a marketing ploy and I that do I really need this book (especially since a week ago I had no intention of buying it!)??

As for the book itself, I skimmed through it tonight and it seems as good as any how-to-guide can be. It has practical advice, interesting anecdotes, inspiring quotes and gorgeous illustrations. I REALLY must stop buying staples and buy more drama pieces- like a colorful bold winter coat!
Dressed in this studded top and black skinny pants from Givenchy and Balenciaga, Nina looked great if a bit disheveled (either from the hoards of people crowding her or its part of the "imperfection" she mentions in her book). We only exchanged a few words, but she seemed nice (especially considering that she's been smiling and patiently signing books and posing for pictures all night) and was surprised when we asked her why they thought that Rami deserved second place instead of Jillian. Apparently the HK channels were not up to the finale yet.... whoops! And as for the answer to our question, she cleverly returned that it was a question best answered with all the judges present.

Image Source: Amazon

F/W07: Fur Coats

I've been meaning to write about this, oops I mean last season's (F/W07) white fur coat but I kept forgetting. This is probably a bit outdated now, but it's so cold (by that I mean windy and rainy) in London that it might as well still be F/W07. Anyways, I'm guessing the recent trend of white fur coat started with Kate Moss wearing it to an event, (which unfortunately I couldn't find a picture of, although there will be other pictures of her wearing the same fur coat more casually below.)

To be honest, I've always thought fur coat as something middle-aged and old people like. Maybe it's partly because real fur coats are so expensive and so older people are more likedly to wear them. My mum also claims that they are really warm, although my high school physics teacher once said that fur coats would probably be more effective in keeping us warm if the fur was inside instead of outside. Since I'm not an old rich lady, and nor do I frequent formal parties, I frankly never got the appeal of fur coats. Actually, I find the fur coats that look like they were literally ripped off an animal a bit vulgar.

I only started to understand the appeal of fur coats when last winter, Mary Kate wore a white fur coat with a black mini-skirt. This is probably not the best photo, but it started to make me think that even young people can make fur coats look chic and stylish without looking stuffy. The mini-dress makes the whole outfit look young and most importantly, modern and wearable, not too formal and easy to put together.

So I ended up buying the same white, faux fur coat by Top Shop. The best thing is, it took me so long to decide whether to buy it or not that it went on sale online (back in December)! Hong Kong is not a cold place to I really didn't have much use for it. In the end, I wore it on top of my purple dress for New Years Eve celebration. When I walked towards the bar, I felt like a gorilla lost in the city! My dad confirmed this before I left the house by laughing and said I looked like a gorilla from old movies. (Thankfully, I dress too much for myself to care what other people think.) But during the night, I loved the coat. It kept me warm and when I held in my arms, I felt like a Hollywood celeb holding her little dog! Definitely made the night more fun!

If you're not a going-out-in-a-dress type of girl, then wearing it with jeans is also glamorous.

Apparently the fur coat can look cool for daywear too: MK (left) and Kate Moss (right)

Here is an example of how not to wear fur: colour fur! Heidi reminds me of that blue character from Sesame Street!

Lastly, I just want to say that I am not supporting or objecting the use of real fur for fashion. I personally haven't thought this issue through and have no opinion. Anyways, like I said, this post is very late but since fur seemed to be abundant in the F/W08 shows, this 'trend' will probably continue into next F/W.

What do you think of the white fur coat and fur coats in general?

Image Credits: http://www.topshop.com/, http://www.thefasionspot.com/

Project Runway Cycle 4

Spoiler Alert: For those Project Runway fans who have still not watched the finale yet, STOP scrolling, because today I am going to ramble on and on about it. So don't say I didn't warn you!
I felt that the talent this season was definitely unprecedented. Most of the designers from the beginning have been good at what they do and stayed pretty consistent throughout. I bet the judges had a hard time each challenge trying to decide the winner- I know I did! The one little glitch for me was that the entertainment value this season was a bit low, a few times, I admit, I even dosed off while watching it on my bed. I think it is because the challenges are starting to get a bit dull and more importantly as Tim pointed out in an interview, the designers this season were all very focused with their work and had a healthy dose of respect for each other and therefore there was not a lot of drama. Oh well, put that way, I guess it cannot be helped.

And the winner this season is... Christian! No surprise there really. He's always been my favourite designer (and the audiences as well!). He consistently produced fierce outfits that were innovative, refreshing, stylish and very flattering to the body. Plus, he was the most vibrant, energetic and confident character in the show. His overconfidence and bitchy blunt comments actually endeared him to me more! Besides, underneath that facade, we can all see his fierce passion for fashion, which he obviously has a talent for. And isn't that what counts?

So, lets start the show!

Christian
Christian's collection was inspired by the romantic gothic. I thought the collection was chic, powerful, innovative and dramatic. Just what one would expect from Christian! Every piece was a very strong look. The dramatic overflowing top cinched at the wrists and waist, paired with skinny pants created a strong silhouette. The only thing was that I thought he repeated this silhouette a bit too much and it got slightly repetitive, especially with the monotonous black color scheme going on.

That is why it was good to see some beige here. It went really well with the look. And the beige overflowing neck piece Tim was worrying about before turned out great (right)!
I thought this outfit (left) looked exactly what I imagined the three musketeers would wear (down to the hat!). But I can appreciate the workmanship here. And the contrast created here (right) by pairing this soft flowing chiffon skirt with this structured (is it leather?) shirt is striking.

I love this two toned dress here (left). But I'm not so sure about this second piece..... she looks like a very elegantly shaped vulture......I guess feathers is an acquired taste.

All in all I thought Christian put on a great show. It had flare and drama, which I appreciated. Wearability-wise though, this collection is definitely not something that makes me want to reach into my screen and grab these outfits off the models for myself. As Victoria Beckham said, these clothes were very her. And I'm afraid that my taste of clothing does not run paraellel to her's.

Jillian
My taste definitely runs alongside Jillian's taste though. Besides a few pieces which I thought were a bit disjointed, I really liked her collection inspired by the Master of Argonauts. It was very detailed oriented, feminine and very wearable.
I wear these straight off the runway!

She just does trench coats SO well! And I love how she always puts a colorful lining inside.
And these dresses are just GORGEOUS. I want them! The blue velvet is elegant, slinky and sexy. And the black one is innovative, fun and flirty.

These two were the anomalies that I didn't like. Maybe if she took those gauzy sleeves from the gold dress.....But yes, if it was against last season's Jeffrey and Jillian, I think she'd definitely had won.

Personality wise, I thought Jillian was nice. Just that she seems to be in a cloud most of the time and it always came to the last minute. (Another point in favor of Christian- he was always quick AND good at his work).

Rami

Rami's collection was inspired by Joan of Arc and I thought it was very sophisticated and feminine. I was great to see him step out of his draping mode. I was getting bored of seeing Greek goddese after another.

But yes, I can see what the judges mean by color scheme.
Though I LOVED these two looks. Very power woman.

His evening dresses were just divine. Love the criss cross weaving detail. And you should see that dress (right), jacket off!

Genius!

Character-wise, I thought Rami was a really nice, wise and mature guy. He was very focused with his work and really listened to suggestions.

Overall looking at the final runway shows alone, I felt that the winner is still a tough call. All three shows blew me away, but in very different ways. And at the end of the day, I think it just depended on what taste one was looking for. If they wanted fierce, innovative designs: Christian is the obvious winner. But if they wanted details, femininity and something all girls would just love to wear right up: then Jillian is the winner. And if they wanted sophisticated and flattering on women: then Rami is the guy. --- I guess they were looking for someone fierce!

Random Thoughts I was surprised to see Victoria Beckham as the guest judge for the finale. For one thing, I wouldn't describe her as a Style & Pop icon. Pop icon yes, but style... I think it depends. She has a very unique taste that walks a thin line between a hit or miss. Also, I thought that for the finale, it was more appropriate to simply have the regular judges since they knew the contestants best (a la ANTM). Lucky for Christian though, the two of them definitely clicked!
Chris's final pieces was very dramatic and very Chris. I thought it was very clever of him to use human hair and made it not even LOOK like human hair. But at the end of the day.... that is just too creepy *shiver*!

I could not BELIEVE that Ricky and especially Sweet Pea lasted that long. With a few rare exceptions by Sweet Pea, they were both just consistently weak! There were so many more talented designers in the bunch that should've been there instead of them.

Like Victorya for example. She was brilliant and I totally thought that she'd make it to the final 3! I loved her sense of aesthetics. I'd have even bought that outfit she designed for Steve and Barry's (right) if it was not sold out so quickly! Just ONE small mistake with a denim trench coat......

Incidentally, according to an interview with Tim Gunn (which is very interesting and you should check it out), she was very sour and temperamental throughout the show. Once she even demanded that he count the money in each envelop he was giving out when they were buying fabric in Mood! Its interesting for someone to so publicly lash out at someone like that. Victorya even posted a reply to this where she said that she didn't feel that Tim was qualified to give all the suggestions that he did. *gasp* And we thought this was a drama-less season.....

Image Source: Bravo TV