Reinventing the Basics

What's great about women's fashion is how diverse it is and how it is continually evolving. There is not one set style or piece of clothing that stays the same. Designers are always challenging the form and function of clothes, transforming the simple, the utilitarian, the nondescript into something unique, artful and interesting. The basics of clothing -- pants, tops, skirts, dresses -- are rarely created equally. The art of fashion design forces one to reinvent what has already been done a million times before, and that seem to me to be the most difficult thing for any kind of artist to accomplish.  Yet every year designers get to showcase that talent and allow the public to be entranced by their cleverness and their inventiveness. And just like most art, it is subjective. One person's love for a designer could be another person's aversion. The hope is that one can appreciate the effort and skill put into the design, whether it is personally liked or disliked. And so, to that end, here are my subjective picks of what I consider to be my designer winners of this year's Fall RTW lines.

All photos from style.com

 3.1 Phillip Lim                                                            L.A.M.B

   Marc by Marc Jacobs                                                       Bill Blass               

What I love about these looks: L-o-v-e the bright, bold green pants from Phillip Lim; enjoying the ethnic-preppy look from L.A.M.B; adore the fresh colored plaid suit with pops of color from Marc Jacobs; and drooling over the classic and sophisticated styling of Bill Blass.

 Monique Lhuillier                                                    Oscar de la Renta

 Alice + Olive

What I love about these looks: Dying for what looks like a silk quilted, black-tie cinched jacket and velvet pencil skirt by Monique Lhuillier (How decadent can you get?!); can't get enough of the eggplant, form-fitting and Mad-Men inspiring shift from Oscar de la Renta; and obsessing over the fur-trimmed, opulent and slightly over-the-top look from Alice + Olive.

 Jason Wu                                                                 Anna Sui

 Donna Karen                                                                  Jill Stuart

What I love about these looks: Wishing I was the first lady so I could wear this Jason Wu design fit for a classy lady at a classy event; feeling a little wild looking at the seductive and intriguing patterns of Anna Sui's dress; going ga-ga over Donna Karen's monochromatic and beautifully draped dress; and channeling that flirty and chic vibe from Jill Stuart's colorful and multi-dimension fabrics and patterns.

Fashion Dreams

When I was young, I wanted to be a model. I'm not sure why, except that maybe it came from watching the model competition on Star Search. Or maybe it was my infatuation with the models in the JcPenny's catalog, or the young girls in my favorite teen magazines. Perhaps it goes as far back as my first and only runway show at Sax Fifth Avenue at the ripe old age of seven.

(That's me in the middle, wearing the purple outfit. Apparently it was too preppy for me at the time, since when asked if I wanted to keep it, I stubbornly said, "No.")

What I do know is that for as long as I can remember I loved fashion, dressing up, and strutting my stuff. But, when I realized that my small 5' 4 1/2" frame would keep me from walking down the runway, I figured instead I could design the clothes that walked down the runway . I tried my hand at fashion design, drawing what I thought were pretty unique clothes. Unfortunately, all they were were drawings. I didn't quite know how to execute them -- aka, I didn't know how to sew. But coming up with the ideas were fun, and it got my creative juices flowing.

 

 

(My attempts at fashion design.)

But, life goes on, and childhood dreams tend to go to the wayside for more practical ones. As an adult now, I unfortunately don't work in fashion, but my love of fashion is always evolving, and I'm glad I have the outlet of this blog to share my ideas.

And, so, this post is dedicated to my dream of working in the fashion biz. Although I never could have been a model and didn't really have the skills to be a fashion designer, what would have been awesome is to be a stylist like Rachel Zoe. It seems like that would be so much fun -- going to fashion shows looking at beautiful clothes, making friends with the designers and then playing dress up with the rich and famous.

So, in honor of my fashion dreams, and the upcoming dress-up dream called the Oscars, here are my picks for the gowns that I would love to see grace the red carpet. These are all from last week's Fall 2011 RTW fashion week in NYC. (All photos are from style.com.)

 Badgley Mischka                                     Christian Siriano

    Jason Wu                                               Monique Lhuillier

 Isaac Mizrahi                                      Carolina Herrera

 Badgley Mischka                                         Jason Wu

Pump Up the Volume

Black and brown pumps are soooo boring, and I have way too many of them -- low heel, mid heel, high heel, patent leather, suede, tassels, open-toe, closed-toe, slingback, t-strap. All the variations you could ever want in a heel, but no pizazz in the color department. I don't want to be boring pump girl anymore. I want to, instead, be outrageous, whimsical, colorful pump girl. (Okay, this is sounding a little dirty.) It's time for me to step outside the neutral nothingness of my black and brown pumps, and seek out some new colors to amp up my style. And these might just do the trick for getting me out of this colorless rut.

 Franco Sarto Grand Palmetto Suede, Lori's Shoes, $72

 

 Jessica Simpson Kally Pump, Endless.com, $59.96; Nine West Audrey Pump, Endless.com, $56.02

 

Nine West Madeulook Pump, Endless.com, $56.02