prints and pleats.

hit it.

knife pleated skirts and interesting florals at karen walker. what i like about this season thus far is that florals are still here in a big way, but they seem to be toned down; given a slight harsh or gothic edge, or distorted somehow. these muted photographic prints against a grey-beige background mean the froth-factor is turned right down. there's something really retro about them, but the cut and styling mean they don't look like vintage pieces. adore the colours too; lemon yellow and royal blue against grey marl is a wonderful combination.

the dresses at rodarte were a little /too/ 'little house on the prairie' for my taste (the gathered panels from the knee and ditsy prints are the culprit, i think, though the weird collar situation in #4 is cool), but the coats are all beautiful. i don't recall a previous outerwear-heavy rodarte collection, but there should have been one if these full length beauties with crossovers, cutouts and double collars are anything to go by.

and finally, this rachel roy look is adorable (and so me).

rodarte s/s11

11. 11! where does the time go?

two posts in one day; i do spoil you.

(still no postman.)

style.com finally updated yesterdays collections, and rodarte's was one of them. i am, indeed, one of those people who looks through every single look from every single collection - i am a fashion student after all, though i'm pretty sure very few people from my course share my slightly mental habit (it's very time consuming...)

i found it to be a bit of a departure for the mulleavy sisters - all the hallmarks of a rodarte collection are there, but something has changed; they've moved on a little, and i'm not sure i can quite put my finger on what...

imgs from style.com

...but i love it. i love this collection. or, i love this cross section of it.

and the thing about rodarte is, usually, i'm not a huge fan. their collections are often overly fussy for me, even though i'm anything but a minimalist. but here, there is a shift! it's probably as close to minimal as they'll ever get but it's my kind of minimal - check out the bottom 3 looks in particular. there's no fuss (see: 25 textures in one dress in their last collection), but there is structure, drape and amazing print, and then there are the printed minis and checked and dotted separates which are great together too (the 4th look! awesome.)

the best example of their move on would be the green ensemble in the middle - all pastel shades of one colour, with a hem line and shirt/collar detail that wouldn't look out of place in a celine or jil sander situation, but with this big drapey waist panel and shoulder detail. wonderful!

of course, there were pieces like the second one which were pure rodarte (though even this is cute and reined in from their usual look), and especially the last few looks of the collection, which lost it for me. and yet, i'm excited to see where they go next!

i will want for nothing more

aka a lazy Sunday ode to Joanna Newsom, whose new song '81 is below and you should listen to it lying in bed whilst eating breakfast/lunch/meal approps to time of day; definately.

Joanna is pretty frickin' amazing, as it goes. I first heard of/saw her on another lazy (and MOST EXCELLENT) Sunday, which was in fact, not so lazy at all - at Latitude festival in 2008, at midday. She forgot most of the words to Sawdust and Diamonds and I was immediately enamoured with her.

Course that day will always be remembered fondly. Later in the day was Blondie and then INTERPOL; YEAH BOIIIII.

*ahem*

But!

She is also awesome in the fashion blog sense, being a purveyor of folk-y vintage dresses and floaty, wispy, ethereal garb which fits just so alongside her out of the norm voice and unusual instrumentation (what, how many harps do you know of in popular music?).

Also, she's big on the Rodarte, AND the Comme.

images from zimbio, wikimedia, mistermort, last.fm and google images

&& that last one is off of aforementioned Latitude fest.

Her new triple album, Have One On Me, is out on Feb 23rd and you can pre-order it here, which is exciting.

W-elcome to the new year

I've given you a day off, a day to sit about and break your resolutions* and watch TV**, so now let's launch into 2010 - what better way than a look forward to Spring (WHICH IS LITERALLY AROUND THE CORNER! Ignore the snow outside, it is nearly spring, honest!).

US mag W done a spread; vidi:

Lemme see if I (and you...) can pick out some iconic pieces/favourites....

Prada perspex shoes, Chanel + clogs, Miu Miu animal print shoes, a lil' bit of Comme (i do love that sheer full length trench effort), a smidge of Burberry, some Rodarte, some Alexander Wang, some Balmain, ALEXANDER MCQUEEN FUCK YEAH!, the complete runway look off of Dries Van Noten that I absolutely adored. That skirt, man, I love the drape..., a bunch more Rodarte, and oh, I can't remember who done what. Due to laziness I'm not gonna go looking back for the lace ones, and the lace up skirt look I remember liking (middle look, last pic), nor the sparkley effort (Prada again? One of the Italian houses fersure.).

I'm not a very good fashion blogger, am I? Must remember which designer done what in future. Gah.

-----------

*other than my previously mentioned style resolutions, mine are to eat healthier and make the most of my time. Yesterday I ate a McDonalds, some christmas chocolates, some of Ana's birthday cake, some toast heaped in butter, and sausages and mash, in which the mash closely resembled Mt Everest, but covered in gravy.

Clearly, these were resolutions meant to be broken.

But New Year's Day doesn't count, right? It's from today, right? Yeah, I thought so.

**AHHH DOCTOR WHO ISN'T DAVID TENNANT ANYMORE, WAAAAAAAH ;___; ETC. Big Fat Quiz of the Year was ace, as usual. TV highlight of the year, every year, for me. Never as good as the year Russell Brand and Noel Fielding were on a team, but I will accept Russell and Jonathon Ross. Or David Mitchell and Charlie Brooker. Classic. Also Rob Brydon's 'man trapped in a box' impression; genius.

S/S 10, Part Due

The second portion of NYFW - the final installment shall occur tomorrow, then its on to London times!

Temperley

I enjoy the pearly queen vibe in the first look; as well as the monochromatic seaming vibes throughout, as seen in the second look.

This net/seam/cutout/almost tattoo-esque thing thats going around is pretty awesome. Am I right in thinking this is something that started with McQueen resort?? I know Drew Barrymore had been parading about in it lately, and looking fabulous....

Rodarte

I feel like Rodarte are a bit....love/hate. Only because this is another season with lots of deconstruction and fabric manipulation, and if you're not a fan of that then you're not a fan of Rodarte. Now, I am a fan of these elements of design, but I don't find myself in adoration of this collection or indeed Rodarte in general, and I can't put a finger on why that is.

I do, however, LOVE the birdcage-esque strapping on the second and third look, very reminiscent of the Beijing Olympic Stadium...

The tribal/tattoo styling is kinda awesome too.

Max Azria

If ever there was proof that the bloggers are influencing the fashion world, I think this is it...

Much has been written of etsy store Norwegian Wood of late, and if looks 3 and 4 here are anything to go by, it seems the cage skirt is making its way into the public eye in a bigger way...

This cage-y thing is happening at Phi, too, I notice...

Christian Costa

MASSIVE FAN of this collection! And yet again with the blogger influences - chain harnesses and such body jewellery are earning their internet inches all over, and were incorporated into the styling on some of the looks here.

But I'm a fan because of all the nudes! Greys and creams are a wonderful combination.

Also on show? Sheer floral playsuit of awesomeness; long sheer cardigan type affair; printed corset with white piping; yet more cutout/cobwebbing. Also, J'ADORE the ruching on the first skirt. J-ACTUAL-DORE.

--------------------------------------------------

I feel I should special mention the Anna Sui and Yigael Azrouel shows this season - my good friends/coursemates Clare and Emma (respectively) helped at these shows - apparantly Clare and Anna are like this now *crosses fingers* and one of her headbands was used in the show (I don't know which headband, if it indeed was used in the end. Don't recognise any. Shall enquire....)