The book is mainly about what it says on the cover: Karl Lagerfeld, Yves Saint Laurent and 'glorious excess in 1970s Paris', but it's also a lot more. The book goes through fashion from the 50s through Yves and Karl's journey, to changes in the fashion world in the 80s and 90s. It details the people who they hung out with, their career and the atmosphere of the fashion world in that period. As someone who hasn't studied fashion and knew nothing about its history, this book really brought me a glimpse of what the fashion world was like back then: Back in the 70s, before fashion was strictly a business and creativity was important. And as someone who grew up knowing YSL only as an established brand name and from Stefano Pilati's designs, the book really drew out the genius and significance of Yves back in the 60s and 70s. He was THE designer who all women looked upon and relied on for fashion back then. Karl Lagerfeld on the other hand, was a freelance designer for a long time, designing from unknown brands to Fendi and Chloe, and eventually shot to fame in the 90s after Chanel hired him. He is amazing at adopting current trends with a brand's heritage and always learning new things.
The great thing about this book is that the author did not favour either one of the designers and showed the genius and disadvantages of both the designers. And while it was great to read about Yves and Karl, the best thing about this book is that you see how the fashion business has changed throughout the 60s to the 90s, mainly the Paris scene but also the international scene in general. So if you're interested in a bit of modern fashion history, give the book a try!
One brand which is doing these tops is Zucca.
These (Zucca) tops are so casual and easy to wear. Just throw them on with jeans or denim shorts.
Another brand which is doing this is Vanessa Bruno. The VB ones are of course, more elegant and feminine and less of the jeans-and-t-shirt look than Zucca's. Love the dress on the right.
I think this is the top that got me into this look. Don't the 'sleeves' look like wings? It's style can be casual or smart -makes it kind of suitable for different looks.
Daryl K's Doctored Dress is more of 'hole-in-the-sleeves' dress. I think the black and orange dress (right) is sort of cool, but I've tried it on and the dress is hard to pull off. (That's when I realised I should stop obsessing over this type of tops.)
Now this Ann Demeulemeester tunic is just simple and cool. It has a very effortless vibe. A similar top is the one on the right by Maria Bonita. It feels younger than the Demeulemeester tunic but just not as chic.
And here is how real life people (as opposed to mannequins) wear these tops. Isn't it so cute? And see what I mean by the sleeves dangling down?
Nicole Richie looking very casual chic in one of these tops and shorts. Loves it!
Luckily on a shopping trip, my mum noticed this cool pair of sneakers and told me to try them on (mums seem to spot pretty things that we don't.) Tada... I finally found a new pair of sneakers! I love how they're sneakers with cool details and a bit of edge, (although I won't be wearing them in the rain until the novelty wears off!) I was slightly surprised because this pair is by Alexander McQueen for Puma and when the AMQ for Puma line first came out a season or two ago, I thought they were ugly.
OK, so ugly isn't the right word. It's just that the last few collections seemed a bit alien-ish. They had funny toe bits (as shown in the picture), which I'm sure is supposed to be avant-garde and all, but it just looked weird to me. Plus I didn't like the colours. (All the pictures in this post is from the SS07 collection.)
I don't like the toe bit here but leather sneakers are way cool and useful.
For those who understand this, McQueen's inspiration quoted from the site: 'For Spring/Summer 2007, the study of anatomy continues through the exploration of body ornamentation with references to the Masai tribe culture.'
This pair is quite pretty, and not as 'designed'-looking as the others too. 