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subscribe to style file blog via RSSWho Are You Tricking Yourself Out As?
October 26, 2010 11:24 am
Anything goes when it comes to dressing up on Halloween. That’s why it’s the fashion flock’s favorite holiday—well, that, and the once-a-year guilt-free opportunity to eat as much candy as possible. If we’ve seen a few too many Karl Lagerfelds and Donatella Versaces on the costume party circuit in recent years, the Spring runways and front rows were rife with alternative possibilities. Anybody dare to imitate the self-proclaimed Lady Gaga of fashion, Anna Dello Russo? Or a certain mutton-chopped, plaid shirt-favoring photographer? Or perhaps Louis Vuitton zebra paint is more your thing?
Click here for a slideshow of suggestions and helpful hints, and let us know what you’ll be wearing.
tags: Halloween, Rick Owens, Style Hunter
Why Wouldn’t You Wear White After Labor Day?
August 27, 2010 6:51 am
Once, only the brave wore white after the first weekend in September (and by brave we mean French and/or those in possession of a generous dry-cleaning budget). But that old edict hasn’t really applied for a while, and judging by Fall collections from the likes of Thakoon Panichgul and Gucci’s Frida Giannini, a pair of white pants is now a winter wardrobe essential. According to Jill Stuart, though, the shade’s prominence has less to do with breaking rules than harmonizing palettes. “Loden green and camel are big this season, and white freshens those darker shades up,” she pointed out to us. “A creamy color makes everything brighter.” That was certainly the case at Reed Krakoff, where full, ivory trousers were paired with a swaggering navy coat and charcoal sweater. And, of course, white jeans, like the cropped ones we’re coveting from Isabel Marant, can freshen up any outfit. Just remember to factor your cleaning bills into the purchase price.
Click here for a slideshow, and let us know if white’s all right for fall.
tags: Frida Giannini, Gucci, Isabel Marant, Reed Krakoff, Style Hunter, Thakoon Panichgul, White Pants
Are You With The Band?
August 20, 2010 7:39 am
Exposed lingerie was a big story on the Spring runways. At the recent Resort collections, designers tweaked the trend, swapping bras for bandeaux. Echoing the 1940’s by way of the seventies, Yves Saint Laurent’s Stefano Pilati paired his with turbans and high-waisted skirts that left the models’ toned midriffs exposed. Others took a more covered-up approach, pairing theirs with a tweedy skirtsuit (Marc Jacobs) or a sporty leather bomber and shorts (Bottega Veneta’s Tomas Maier). Maria Cornejo told Style.com, “I really like the clean line of a bandeau. It’s low-cut, flattering, and more interesting than a bra.” But not exactly sidewalk-ready when worn on its own—so she suggests layering one underneath a dress or jumpsuit for a playful look.
Click here for a slideshow and let us know if you’ll brave the bandeau trend.
tags: bandeaux, Bottega Veneta, Marc Jacobs, Maria Cornejo, Style Hunter, YSL
Do You Dress To Frill?
August 13, 2010 10:00 am
Erdem Moralioglu is on the phone from London to talk lace, a fabric he’s used season in and season out for years. “I’m obsessed with it!” the designer says with a laugh. “I’ve always been into it, exploring it and experimenting with it.”
A quick rummage through the archive confirms his assertion. (That’s a look from his Resort collection, left.) But this year, the designer isn’t alone in his appreciation for the fabric. Designers all over (and their oft-photographed patrons and muses) have embraced the feminine charms of lace, which has shed its occasionally matronly air and feels sexy and chic (Miuccia Prada, as usual, may have got there first—her Fall 2008 collection famously explored the fabric’s erotic undertones). Now there are evening-ready gowns for Resort at Alexander McQueen and Carolina Herrera, along with sportier, even boyish pieces at Giambattista Valli. (And don’t even get us started on lace-accented accessories and cosmetics, like Cesare Paciotti’s new lace-print soles and Dolce & Gabbana’s new Sicilian Lace makeup collection.)
So what’s the appeal? “I think people are searching for things that have quite a human hand to them,” Moralioglu says. “It has such a handmade feel. There’s an attraction to owning something one of a kind—I think, as a fabric, lace has that.”
Click here for our slideshow of some of the lacy looks, and let us know whether you’ll be playing peekaboo, too, this fall.
tags: Alexander McQueen, Carolina Herrera, Cesare Paciotti, Dolce and Gabbana, Erdem, lace, Miuccia Prada, Prada, Style Hunter
Prints, Charming?
August 6, 2010 7:45 am
The explosion of prints over the past few months has infiltrated every area of the stylish woman’s wardrobe, from accessories to tops, shoes, and even—that last frontier—pants. Ask Suno’s Erin Beatty, whose African-inspired collections pile print on print, and the explanation’s obvious: It’s an antidote to all the dull stuff out there.
“I think that every time the economy goes sour, what people try to do is go back to basics,” Beatty told Style.com. “It’s because that’s safe and they know it’s going to sell and yada yada yada. But I don’t think that’s necessarily what people want, or how people truly want to express themselves, regardless of the economy. So many people turned back to basics that prints started to feel new and fresh again. That’s what we saw—working with these African fabrics, everything felt so new and original. And that’s exactly how women want to portray themselves.”
It’s certainly how designers from Dries Van Noten to Isabel Marant have been portraying the women on their runways. They’ve styled bold, brilliant pants with sheer tops, slick moto jackets, eye-popping lamé blazers, and, yes, even more prints. Cuts range from cropped, peg-legged jeans to billowing, carrot-shaped harem pants, but whatever the shape, the style isn’t for the shrinking violet. “Printed pants, especially, are so confident,” Beatty continued. “I think the reason printed pants are scary is that women are always very protective of the way our legs look—it’s the ongoing lifetime search, finding the perfect pant. But the printed pant that actually fits well and flatters your figure can even enhance your figure.”
Do you agree? Click here for a slideshow of some of our favorite options from the runways (and a few stylish girls trying the trend), and let us know if you’ll be rocking the look this fall.
tags: Dries Van Noten, Erin Beatty, Isabel Marant, Suno
Waist Not, Want Not?
May 27, 2010 6:41 am
Is the high rise era over? For several seasons, designers have focused on the natural waist. Some incarnations, like dresses cinched to create hourglass shapes, were figure-flattering; others, not so much (see: high-waisted skinny jeans, Mischa Barton). Enter the new-again drop-waist silhouette. Miu Miu’s flippy miniskirts and a clean Celine shirtdress had a touch of the sixties. At Marc by Marc Jacobs and Stella McCartney, meanwhile, romantic frocks with relaxed waists evoked the twenties. Thakoon Panichgul (left) cited a new focus on ease and nonchalance as a reason for the down shift. “For me, it’s the attitude,” he told Style.com. “The drop waist has a laid-back jeans-and-T-shirt feel to it, so you’re able to get a mix of casual and dressy.” Who can resist a two-for-one deal these days?
Click here to see the slideshow, and let us know if you’ll be trading high for low.
tags: Celine, Drop Waist, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu, Stella McCartney, Style Hunter, Thakoon
Who Made Your Cannes Best-Dressed List?
May 21, 2010 5:10 am
The Oscars are blink-and-you’ll-miss-it compared to the twelve-day marathon that is the Cannes Film Festival; the Croisette won’t clear until Sunday. This year’s big red-carpet stories? The splashy debut of a new line—Gucci’s couture collection, Premiere—which turned up on Salma Hayek Pinault and Naomi Watts, and the emergence of Emilio Pucci as the go-to brand for something short and super-sexy (see: Evangeline Lilly). Also noteworthy was the high-profile rejection of gowns: Marion Cotillard and Juliette Binoche both stepped out in—gasp—pants.
Click here for the slideshow, and let us know if we missed any of your favorite looks.
tags: Cannes, Cannes Film Festival, Diane Kruger, Emilio Pucci, Juliette Binoche, Marion Cotillard, Naomi Watts, Salma Hayek
Caught By The Fuzz?
May 14, 2010 8:46 am
If you’re planning on investing in some shearling come fall, you won’t be alone. Countless designers turned out fuzzy jackets on the runways, and top models were snapped donning covetable vintage versions backstage—all but guaranteeing the material will be a must-have when the temperatures near freezing again. Should you prefer not to wait that long, we suggest exploring the trend as an accent piece, à la Prada’s detachable collar or Pringle’s trimmed sweater, which designer Clare Waight Keller liked for its “rugged appeal.” At Hermès (left) and Trussardi 1911, shearling lent ladylike totes a similar outdoorsy vibe, even if the only air they’ll likely be exposed to is the kind between town car and town house.
Click here for the slideshow, and let us know how you plan to wear shearling this fall.
tags: Hermes, Prada, Pringle of Scotland, Shearling, Style Hunter, Trussardi 1911
Do You Dare To Go Spare?
May 7, 2010 8:03 am
Of the hundreds of gowns at this week’s Met ball, the most striking were also the most restrained. Zoe Saldana and Diane Kruger looked chic in unadorned Calvin Klein Collection gowns; ditto Jessica Stam in long-sleeved Rachel Roy. Plenty of minimal eveningwear could be found on the Fall runways, too. “Less is more these days,” Yigal Azrouël told us. “People are tired of all the froufrou and are just craving simplicity.” The designer turned out long, sleek dresses notable for how covered up they were, as did Antonio Berardi and Andrew Gn. At Stella McCartney and The Row, meanwhile, hemlines were raised, but the silhouettes were just as streamlined.
Click to see the slideshow, and let us know what you think of fashion’s new minimalist streak.
tags: Andrew Gn, Antonio Berardi, Calvin Klein Collection, Diane Kruger, Jessica Stam, Rachel Roy, Stella McCartney, Style Hunter, The Row, Yigal Azrouel, Zoe Saldana
Are You A Maxi-nista?
May 30, 2010 9:17 am
The popularity of floor-length skirts on the Fall runways suggests that the hemline index theory just might hold true, but Adam Lippes isn’t buying it. “Supposedly everything traces back to the economy these days, or Michelle Obama, but I think it’s just a reaction to all the hard looks we’ve been seeing for the past two or three years,” the ADAM designer told us. “It’s a shift to an easier way of dressing.” Lippes paired his billowy maxi dresses with chunky sweaters and slouchy boots, as did Richard Chai. Similarly, shoe-grazing slim knit skirts turned up at Michael Kors and Sonia Rykiel. And off the runway, meanwhile, photographers snapped girls toeing the line between winter and spring in long, bright numbers worn with cropped leather jackets.
Click to see the slideshow, and let us know what lengths you’ll be going to.
tags: ADAM, Maxi Skirt, Michael Kors, Richard Chai, Sonia Rykiel, Style Hunter
