Friday, 5 October 2007

Paris Fashion Week SS08 Wrapup II

Ah Paris. I usually adore it. But somehow this season, it seems that both of my favourite fashion houses has managed to disappoint me :(

Chloe
Maybe its because I've never really been much of a fan of Marni even at its height, and thus I fail to appreciate Paulo Melim's efforts over at Chloe. I can see a shadow of the effortlessly chic Chloe girl who was, but its like she has been buried in too much unneccesary drapings and graphics. The effect takes away the "effortless" and as for chic, well, that is debateable.
I mean, it doesn't look too bad. These dresses here are like a softer and more feminine version of Marni designs and thats pretty.
And these are ok (well, maybe not that graphic purple dress), but they just don't inspire me to jump up and rush to the store and get something similar you know.
I actually like the feel of the far left and far right dress here. Probably because they resemble some of Philo's last collection except in different prints. Though these graphics don't quite have the glam factors that its predecessors had, these are more youthful, too youthful. I just kind of expected more from Chloe, my favourite brand.

Chanel
Titled Nuits d'Été, this collection was another case of, what was Karl thinking?
I never thought I'd say this, but I thought a lot of the pieces looked trashy. What an oxymoron for Chanel. First of all, I cannot imagine how light colored denim can look good as a bathing suit. I don't even like the color as jeans/jackets that much. I hope that color is not making a come back. And no matter what Karl says, dressing up like an American flag is not classy, not even on 4th of July. Come to think of it, Karl's not even American.....
The dress (left) had potential to be ok, but paired with those boots, ugh. The middle outfit, another ugh. And the model looks like she's wearing an oversized version of little kid's clothing in that colorful dress with the matching socks (right).
Grommet dresses should not be paired with such boots. And admittedly the middle/right dress is not that bad, the middle one even carries a gothic flair thats kind of romantic, its not really to my taste.
Luckily in this 71 piece collection, Karl managed to squeeze in a few more elegant, simple and classic pieces for me. Maybe this makes me boring for being unreceptive to his more adventurous pieces, but THIS for me, is the Chanel style.
And I ADORE these evening pieces as well. They are innovation yet still aesthetically pleasing, flattering to the figure and classy.
Oh and besides those thigh high boots, love the shoes in this collection. Especially LOVE these three pairs shown above. They are works of art!

Image Source: Elle.com

Thursday, 4 October 2007

Paris Fashion Week SS08 Wrapup I

Paris! Exciting week this is. I know some of you aren't fans of fashion shows (or the posts) but I really do need to blog about the shows to let my brain sort out what trends will be coming up. Besides, sometimes it's nice to just stare at pretty clothes...
Balenciaga
Ah, the show we've all been waiting for. This season is all about the flower prints on Balenciaga's bold silhouette. Truth is, when you first look at them, you're going to think that Ghesquière simply draped old, colourful curtain cloth onto the models to form that Balenciaga silhouette.
Gosh, everything is so luxurious. Look at the bold prints and colours, and that amazing silk!
SO pretty. Obviously I have no plans to wear huge shoulder tops/ dresses come spring, and yes, they are not your everyday silhouette, but the more I see this collection the more I love it!
The show ended with some plainer, but no less structured and brilliant clothes.
Karl Lagerfeld
I'm usually so-and-so on Karl Lagerfeld's collections, but I really like this one.
These clothes are young, edgy with a hint of elegance.
I love how sweet yet edgy Vlada (left) looks in the black and white outfit. And I really want the white outfit in the middle. I still can't tell if it's a dress or a top plus skirt. The oufit is so simple, yet with subtle details. Notice that there is more than one material used (esp the top part.) These clothes have motivated me to check out Karl's collection next time I'm in a high-end department store.
Valentino
This Valentino show made all the headlines because it's the Valentino's final ready-to-wear show.
The show was filled with his signature elegant dresses.
Such pretty black and white dresses. Can you imagine, you can buy one of these and still wear them every year onwards and they'll not go out of style.
In the usual Valentino fashion, the last few dramatic dresses had lot of frills and layers. The next thing everyone would be intersted in is what direction Valentino's sucessor's would take the House to.
Image credit: http://www.style.com/

Wednesday, 3 October 2007

Hair Serum

Shiny smooth hair. The best accessorie a girl can have. How do we achieve it? Well, we've been told (and I'm sure all of you have too) that hair serum does the trick by adding shine and de-frizzing, to create a shiny sheen of hair. But how many of you have actually achieved the perfectly shiny and smooth hair look simply by applying hair serum to damp hair and letting it air dry? I know I haven't. Hair serum just takes you half way and for the full effect a team of professionals and weeks of intense hair treatment are probably needed. Nevertheless, to make sure that we DO get half way and not have hair that resembles dry hay, a good hair serum is essential. Here are a few that I've tried.
On recommendation from HG and a friend, I tried the Kerastase Vernis Nutri Sculpt this summer. But while it did deliver shine and made my hair feel soft, it also seem to make my hair feel more heavy. So I'm not a great fan of it now, perhaps I should save it for the winter months when my hair will need maximum protection from the heaters.....Currently I am using the Biosilk Silk Therapy Serum, which I've heard many swear by. It indeed defrizzes and softens.... but I personally don't find it as spectacular as the talk made it sound like. Especially for that price, I'd rather get my old one...
....which was the Bain de Terre Recovery Complex, Silky Shine Serum. Similar effect with a marginally lower price tag, I liked this one better because I felt like the texture had more consistency. Once I forgot to shake the Biosilk before I used it and a whole load of liquid came pouring out, catching me completely off guard.

So here is my tidbit on hair serum, from my very limited experience. What does everyone else use in an attempt to achieve the shiny smooth hair?

Ps. A neat trick to defrizzing (for me anyway), is to put almost dried hair (+serum) in a bum and just leave it to dry that way. Once released, you'll get a nice wave and minimal poofiness.

Image Source: Bain de Terre, Kerastase and Biosilk

Monday, 1 October 2007

Milan Fashion Week SS08 Wrapup III

Phew, I'm tired. I spent the whole day shopping on Michigan Avenue today and ended with a Ruth Chris' dinner -lots of fun! Anyways, last post about this round of Milan shows...

Gucci
For me, this season's Gucci was a mix of hits and misses. Some outfits were really sleek and gorgeous, while others were just terrible. If there is anything we should learn from this show, it is the makeup -Check out those very cool smokey eyes and shiny hair!

These are some cute, sexy daywear. This collection's main colours were white, black, bright pink and yellow.

Unfortunately, even sticking to such few colours didn't help save the unflattering shapes of these clothes. What is with all those checkers (middle photo?)

One thing one could count on modern Gucci for are cocktail/ formal dresses. Under Frida Giannini's hand, the dresses are usually very in-fashion, sexy and feminine.

This collection showed how the silhouette of the dress really makes or breaks the dress. I personally don't like this print a whole lot, especially where it's used for a huge, formal dress. But surprisingly, the print looks nice enough on the dress on Lily Donaldson (right.) Or it could simply be Lily Donaldson's amazing ability to make all dresses look gorgeous...

Fendi
I've said this so many times, but I'm still constantly impressed by how Karl Lagerfeld comes up with modern, in-style and relavent-to-the-brand designs.
Fendi continues with the block-colour accessories. (Fendi has some colour block clutches.)
OK, Fendi's not really my style but you can tell that if you saw these dresses in real life, you'll think they're really pretty and great for its clientel.
Dolce & Gabanna
I didn't like a lot of the beginning of the collection. But when the dresses started to come out, the artsy dresses totally captured my attention.
Sigh, just imagine going to a nice restuarant or classy cocktail in one of these gorgeous dresses... They're pretty, girly yet sexy and sophisticated.
The last few dresses are like the kind of dresses I would imagine on art school runways -they look like collages of material with paint splatters. Total eye-candy!
Keep checking into the online sites like style.com and elle.com for the new runway photos -it's Paris' round!
Image credit: www.style.com
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