now is then

I was determined to post the Paris Fashion Week menswear highlights tonight but alas my stomach's state of emptiness prevents me from refocusing my attention from food and onto blogging. Instead, you will find this shorter post about one of the aspects that I found more fascinating about the FW10 Dries Van Noten show. I couldn't get the FW07 Balenciaga collection out of my head while looking at these pictures. Coming from Dries, however, I took this obvious reference as a genius twist on Nicolas Ghesquière's FW07 collection rather than as plagiarism —a generosity gesture so men can wear DVN and feel like wearing vintage Balenciaga. All at once. Behold.

[Picture credit: Style.com & GQ.com]

I'm off.

anyone up for a BREAK?

I have never been able to begin to understand why most people hate Winter, and let alone their ridiculous obsession with the sticky warmth of the Summer. For me, the cold season is not only a time of "bad" weather, but the time to experiment with the enless posibilities of winter-wear. However, Cruise collections tend to leave me in a state similar to that of a little kid in a candy shop.

Out of all these collections, there has been one which I found particularly espectacular, that's because of it's simple way of reinterpreting the brand's winter view and being able to turn it into a perfectly viable look for an escape to an island.

If Frida Giannini's view for the F/W 2007 collection was a mountain getaway for rockstars, this is no different, except for the scenery. Black and white are, again, the clear dominant colours; they get mixed with glimpses of citrus brights and the most beautiful red.

The full skirts, fitted tops and leather biker jackets make the retro inspiration in the sixties undeniable and the driving gloves in leather are the perfect touch to culminate the looks.

The most beautiful feature of the collection is also the most innovative made in Gucci. Graphic bamboo and coral prints dance with the richest embroidery and make the catwalk show an unforgettable celebration of the best italian design.

[Pictures credit: style.com]

Click here to see the entire collection.

I'm off.

DECK yourself with glamy goodies

December has already joined the party and that means that the Holidays —my favourite ones, I must say— are getting closer. Endless events and get-togethers will take place then, and why not using them to show off your beloved accessories of the season? In addition to a time of joy and lack of work activities, this must be the moment to get on those trendy pumps you've barely used so far or to dress your neck with the ridiculously expensive necklace you couldn't help buying.

I have put together a list of my preferred items for this time of the year. Christmas is a different moment and, therefore, it deserves special accessorizing.

For me, there is no elegant event without some Armani around. Girogio Armani has the richest shoes, clutches and jewlery.

Your feet deserve a treat, and what other could that be besides Christian Louboutin?

Gucci masters black and has a bit of an Italian-casual breeze of air that always matches your dresses.

If you prefer to be the most fashion-daring of the party, go McQueen. It screams rich, daring and confident.

Try out some Salvatore Ferragamo with those jeans you reserve for comfortable special occasions.

There is a reason you always have some Ralph Lauren in your wardrobe, now is the time to show them around.

Balenciaga shouldn't miss a party, it's the protagonist of the season!

There's never a party without a glimpse of Chanel, they're broad accessory selection makes it just right for tonight's gathering.

You have Marc Jacobs in your heart, why not on yourself too?

Go beyond and wear Burberry Prorsum's item of the season.

For a bit quieter selection of items take a look at these:

Stella McCartney

Oscar de la Renta

Bottega Veneta

Giuseppe Zanotti

Tod's

Roberto Cavalli

[Credit Photos: style.com, eluxury.com and designer's webpages]

I'm off.

remember, remember the 8th of NOVEMBER

Roberto Cavalli's collection for H&M was, by far, the biggest disappointment out of all the designer collaborations with the Swedish company.
It was 8th of November in London —grey and rainy— and I decided, quite late though, that a visit to H&M was the right thing to do since Cavalli's collection was premiering that day. When I finally got to the other side of Oxford Street from the underground exit I had very mistakenly chosen, the adventure begun. Loads of hysterical women elbowed and look-killed each other to grab the leftovers of the catastrophe the collection was. The men line was even worse, white and black leopard prints on the sides of shirts and prices that were not worth it. Only a few pieces from the womens wear were actually good; my favourite, the mini zebra-print dress.
If this was not enough for my poor stomach to take, today I find in style.com's main page a video from the NYC premiere of the collection in one of H&M's biggest stores. And everything was self-explained. Roberto Cavalli has deteriorated ot the point of looking like a drunken Italian rich pimp with touches of tackiness and a frightening orange-ish tan. Can't even talk about the cigar.

Odes shall be written about this tragedy.

I'm off.

the big EVENT

Alexander McQueen is one of those very celebrated personalities who does not like to find himself out there too much in terms of his own life and walk-abouts. He is, however, one of the most inspiring, creative and successful fashion designers of the century. He could simply outshine most other creators with just a snap of his fingers, but he always chooses not to coming up with a magnificent collection in response who will leave the audience speechless. And he did it once more, with feeling.


Womenswear is quite the representation of the wonderful and yet a bit frightening beings that are found in the forest. His creations have that too, a feeling of uncertainty about whether to absolutely fall for it or be afraid of the mix of beauty and mistery.



Black and brown are —as usual— a constant all through the collection, but this time they act as the background of the play. Those extremely carefully designed sceneries full of exquisite atrezzo and yet indispensable. The richness of materials —fur and leather— characteristic of this season makes a special appereance at McQueen’s show to empower the idea of dark fairies and other gods of the forest, that is with tree-green and gold and blue and maroon.
In addition to the forest Olympus inspiration, it’s most suprising the way religion is included in the collection as well. Crucifixes show up as ornaments in dresses which look like might have been extracted from Salem and squeezed into Mr. Alexander’s compilation of art. This is not, however, an unordinary inspirational matter as Mr. Marc Jacobs himself or Giambattista Valli also took advantage of it, showing the late interest designers seem to have for the past and all that went on through the previous times to ours.




Ethereality is everywhere as armours —in gold— and green dresses with loads of plisées are included to support that idea of the strength and fragility at a time that gods and goddesses in all history have always been attached with. Also, the british designer turns back time —again— returning to the time when adoration to the moon, the sun and the stars used to take place. Dresses richly decorated with embroidered gauze or full of lines of black sequins are “living” proof of that together with the undescribably amazing make-up and hairstyle all models had at the show.



Menswear, on the other hand, shows the same plasticity but stands in the absolute opposite position to womenswear. The Fall/Winter 2007 man is really unnatural, almost made in a factory so no one notices the slightest different from the previous one. Personally, I don’t even know if this should be considered a statement regarding the lack of personality of nowadays or the fact that people want to be so different from each other that they end up looking the same. Whichever it is, the result is the same.



McQueen seems to have unwrapped hundreds of Ken dolls (Mattel’s Barbie bf) and turned them into the models to walk his outfits along the catwalk. This therefore should be a subject of congratulation to those make-up and hair artists who managed to achieve this.
The fashions for men are quite interesting. The fact that it all looks rather similar puts the designer in the challenge of creating innovative and wearable pieces without jeopardicing his ideals as an artist. See-thru plastics in watery hues cover shiny suits impecably cut contribuiting to that so-mentioned plasticity. Speaking of shiny, it could very well be the most descriptive word for this collection. Everything from coats to suits seems to shine under the spotlights but even those garments not made from light-reflecting fabrics have an unexplainable light.




Simplicity could be the companion of shiny. The range of colors is narrowed down to brown, black and blue in diverse shades. It should make it more difficult for McQueen, but it does not. On the contrary, simplicity is the perfect excuse to reach exquisiteness in the most outstanding way as to leave all viewers stoned. And that’s what happened.

[Photos credit: Marcio Madeira, style.com/men.style.com]


Keep checking back for more updates on Winter’s fashion from your coolness source.
I’m off.



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