Topshop Unique

It's official - the first show of the season that has left me scheming on ways to make it all mine. Topshop Unique tends to be a little too much for me generally, but this collection, which screams of the wilderness and eccentric rusticity (with a lil' bit of military) is just right. I've mentioned my strange affectation for 'The Country' before, and with all the thick knits over diaphanous dresses, woodland creature prints and furry outerwear...sigh.

It's actually all the coats that have got me counting pennies. All that fur (a bit Opening Ceremony x Where the Wild Things Are collab, no?) and shearling (I'm still pining over my mother's real one) are now permanently inked in my mind. I cannot wait until September to consume unabashedly...

Well, clearly I can and will wait, and hopefully my consumption will be mild and reasonable but a girl can hyperbolize can't she?

A snippet of nyfw: rag & bone

(click to enlarge, if you wish)

I haven't really been paying much attention to New York Fashion Week, mostly because I've attempted to ban myself from superfluous browsing of the internet while writing a hefty slew of papers. This morning, I was feeling a bit ill, and so spent a good part of the morning in bed, checking out New York Magazine and Style.com's coverage to see what's what.

While I enjoyed the ones I usually enjoy (Marc Jacobs, Peter Jensen, Karen Walker, Rachel Comey to name a few), I was particularly taken with rag & bone. They aren't a brand I am really familiar with nor generally interested in, but I was quite intrigued with their show. I'm not sure if it is the clothing themselves or rather the styling that won me over. I liked all the grays, olives, and fairisle knits, but what I really adored was all that layering. The only reason I don't mind winter is that I get to layer clothes upon clothes, which automatically gives me warm feelings of comfort and generally happy fuzziness.

The show was styled by Vanessa Reid, who also styled the Missoni aw09 show and an editorial I'd earmarked in the fall 2009 issue of POP - both were favorites last year precisely because of their layering wonderfulness. I only wish I could be as proficient at piling it on.

Notes on New York

(Rachel Comey SS10)
(Clockwise from top left: Karen Walker, DvF, Chris Benz, Julian Louie)
(Clockwise from top left: Rodarte, Erin Wasson x RVCA, Proenza Schouler, Ralph Lauren)

I've had so many random thoughts about New York Fashion week floating about my head for the past week, but never worked up the effort to get them out on paper/screen. I blame it on having to wake up at 5:45 everyday for five days and then having to go to work on Saturday as well. Makes me a deadbeat.

Anyway, here are my scribbles on what I loved from the past week...

• The colours, the layering, belted dresses and of course, the shoes by Rachel Comey. Oh, and her backpacks...my shoulders are still in dire need of one.
• Rodarte's burned, post-apocalyptic tribal woman -- while the aesthetic did not veer greatly from what they've done in the past, my god, they still are such artists with fabric and design.
• All the little details at Diane Von Furstenburg: clash of prints, belts and leaves in the hair.
  
• The boots at Erin Wasson v RVCA - don't know if they are actually part of the collection, but they were certainly the thing I coveted.
• The peach palette at Julian Louie.
• The twee, dainty dresses juxtaposed with the 3-piece suits at Ralph Lauren.
  
• Proenza Schouler's amazing tie-dyed dresses derived from scuba gear.
  
• The psychedelic/nautical mix that was Karen Walker's show.
• The fun, flirty rainbow at Chris Benz.

Overall, I was just happy to see less of the bad-ass and more fun injected into fashion week. There were more things that I want to try and translate into my own wardrobe for spring. Though I feel weird thinking about spring when fall has barely begun. Very confusing.

(All photos from style.com; click to enlarge)

Charles Anastase

(a mélange of his ss09 and aw09 collections ... click to enlarge)

Charles Anastase is definitely one of my favorite designers at the moment. I think it is because his particular brand is a perfect mix between the whimsical and the feminine and something darker and grungier. I adore his use of layering and the balance between romanticism and edge, so that everything is sweet without being saccharine. He appeals to my own competing tendencies in dressing, where I am drawn to the dainty and sweet and yet prefer (and often end up looking) a little bit scruffy and never too pristine.

PIG magazine recently visited him at his Shoreditch studio and interviewed him (which you can read on their site, either in Italian or with Google Translate). All I can say is (a) I can't wait to see what he dreams up next and (b) I want his sweater.



(photos via pigmag.com)

5 Favorites- New York Fashion Week

Ok, so I am slightly behind, but here were my five favorites from New York Fashion Week. They all have the same elements that I am always drawn to, despite the current trends: layering, mixing prints and that "geek-chic" (I wish there were a better term for that...) look.

1) Boy by Band of Outsiders presentation: Inspired by the French students/revolutionaries in Godard's La Chinoise, nuff said


2) Marc by Marc Jacobs: I'm not sure why this got mixed reviews, I thought it was cozy with its layered look and hiking-chic aesthetic. I especially loved some of the men's looks of layered plaids and tweeds. Just say no to furry boots though, please.

3) United Bamboo: The prints and styling! There was a bit of a school girl feel which appeals to me as, well, a school girl.

4) Rachel Comey: I love the way she mixes prints in such a beautiful way


5) It's a tie between Anna Sui (left) and Diane Von Furstenburg (right): both for their use of colour, DvF for layering & general feelgoodness (pompom hats!) and Sui for that 70s vibe I love so much.