New York SS08 Fashion Week Wrapup IV

I've always thought that SS08 was a loooooong time away. And yet, here I am writing about the ins and outs of SS08 fashion already. YIKES! That means graduation and the real world cannot be far behind! On the bright side, I guess I can start getting some ideas on the oh-so-important question of what to wear to graduation... Anyway, back to the fashion shows:

Zac Posen
I can't BEGIN to comprehend what dear Zac meant by "Days of Heaven, the Shakers, and the wheat fields of the Great Plains," but the "wheat field" and "great plains" does pop out at me and strikes me as interesting, as I'd never dream of using those words to describe Zac.
First impression upon seeing the opening look (far left) was.... uh, the musketeers? The outfit that resembled Orli's costume in Pirates of the Caribbean (center) did not endear me to the collection much more, as much as I love Orli. And finding the dress (though nicely shaped, right) which looked like he stuck a model into a bundle of hay, did not help....
But for the most part it was actually a very soft, breezy and elegant collection. These outfits makes me want to go to a wheat field and spin around under a cloudless sky and just enjoy nature. And trust me, that is no easy feat.
My absolute favourite part of the collection was of course the dresses. I especially love the soft grey dress (right), with the elegant draping and the gently swaying skirt.
Then there were these dresses that are sharp in color but soft and romantic in cutting that is destined to grace the red carpet.
He ended with a series of dresses in this silky, textured blue/green material. Besides the one dress on (left) that looked like she was wearing a very stormy cloud on her shoulder (maybe a little cinching at the waist there?), I rather liked these dresses, especially the last one (right). It looked like they were nymphs walking out of the stormy sea.

Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren's 40th Anniversay collection reminded me why I loved RL so much (I remember thinking the last (or last last) collection boring). This collection embodied everything we love about RL with a sprinkle of new elements.
It started off with classic black/white pieces that were elegant, well tailored, ladylike with just the right hint of fun. The floral printed dress (center) reminded me of Chanel back in the 20s, elegant, fun and flirty. And I loved the simple but elegant style of the black dress (right) so much that I picked the white version of it and another similarly styled black dress when I was picking pictures to blog about before realizing how repetitive that would be. The cutting is just so modest yet sexy. Oh and don't you just LOVE those hats straight from the romantic movies back in the days?
The name of the look that involves top hats, polka dots, sharp cutting and black and white colors escapes me right now (magician like? tux?), but I liked it. Very clean but fun. And I thought the striped jacket over the floral dress with the hat (far right) was just genius. Print mixing for me never works out well.
Then there were some fun pieces: floral printed dresses (though not my favourites), equestrian inspired looks with a spice of neon colors and pretty sharply colored pieces.
Absolutely adore these classic RL dresses. Simple and clean cut. And that purple is both SO RL (the purple label....) and this season. And that sharp striped jacket over the soft ruffles of white dress is just the perfect contrast.
Gorgeous gorgeous dresses......

Image Source: Elle.com