Thursday 29 July 2010

--BEING PICKY--

I'm usually not that bothered with new ad campaigns. Some bloggers get really excited and post pre-pre-preview sneak peaks, and bandy around rumours about which models various fashion houses are employing for next season's campaign; personally I just come across them in magazines and notice them if the photography's particularly interesting. Occasionally there are whole campaigns which are really imaginative and/or beautiful, which I do form an attachment to and indeed feel quite sad when they are eventually replaced by their newer versions. (I can't for the life of me think of any examples right now though!). But generally I have only a vague interest.

However. That doesn't rob me of the right to be really pedantic when I feel like it. There are two current ads which have popped up in various magazines which I brought on holiday that I feel obliged to discuss.




First is Burberry. Generally I am a big fan of Burberry, firstly because it's English (sorry, that should be British-bah to political correctness) , and secondly because Christopher Bailey seems to me like the kind of lovable OCD freak I would get along with. (Just to clarify-I don't actually have OCD, but some things must be right. Like, I had to write all my GCSE revision notes with the same brand of biro, to retain continuity. It nearly killed me when I had to switch from non-margined to margined paper halfway through. Kind of like how Bailey insisted on redesigning the new Burbery Beauty customer chairs 3 times to ensure they were just right-this is according to Vogue.) ANYWAY, as I was saying, I'm keen on Burberry (oh yes, also because they used Emma Watson, and more than once) but I'm not quite sure why they needed to airbrush the advert to the extent that the models look like Sims/aliens? Kind of creepy. It slightly put me off Lily and Rosie (and that third model, whose name I don't know and who it took me a long time to decide was in fact a woman, not a man).

Second is Prada. I actually like this campaign a lot, but I suddenly realised today that it looks like Angela Lindvall's left leg is missing! It must be hidden by the couple to the right, but now whenever I see the advert I think of Angela Lindvall as some weird female Long John Silver, which distracts me a bit from the clothes. And, typically, I'm now going to see it every single time I look at this photo...
(makeupforlife.net; fashiongonerogue.com)

--COUTURE FALL '10: JEAN PAUL GAULTIER--

I'm not keen on this collection. I don't know what it is exactly that puts me off, but it feels like there are a few looks I picked out which I liked, as opposed to selecting the best from a range of beautiful ones. It seemed to lack a certain cohesiveness.

However I did like the Hollywood-esque film star theme (long cigarette holders etc.) which was very appropriate after watching Casablanca the other night, and as for the fiddle-playing finale, I would have loved to see that! Wasn't it at a Gaultier show where Coco Rocha did an Irish jig on the runway? I think it's great when designers deviate from the norm and throw a little originality into the mix.











(style.com)

--CASABLANCA--

Last night I watched Casablanca, an film made during WWII starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. I'm not one of those people who watches loads of old black and white films and know the life histories of their stars (one of my aims for the summer is to watch Breakfast at Tiffany's for the first time) but this was a really great film. Briefly, it's about the underground movement in Casablanca, Africa during the Second World War, but of course there's a love story tied up in there as well...a love triangle, in fact. (See first photo).

The thing I love about old films such as this is comparing it to modern films. Apart from the obvious absence of colour, there's a host of other differences: very little background music, lots of long static sections of dialogue without much action a limited set. And I love how, whenever they do close-ups, they do it the proper way, with a gazillion lights all focused on the actor's face. Ingrid Bergman looks even more unfairly beautiful when her face is illuminated and softened and all silvery.

And, of course, even though this is wartime Africa, she still manages to waltz around in fabulous clothes!




(google.com)

Tuesday 27 July 2010

--BFFS 4 LYF--

For those of you who are perhaps a little slow in the mornings, please note the sarcastic title. Right, embarrassment averted.

But anyway, what I meant to say was, I love backstage photos. Partly because you get to see that models are actually real people; they interact and have friends. (Does that sound a little harsh? Well, on the runway a lot of them look like they're about to kill someone-fair enough, I doubt I would be a bundle of sunshine if I had to walk down a massive sheet of plastic wearing 6 inch heels-so perhaps not). But it's also because you get a tiny sense of what it would be like backstage at a couture show (free food anyone?) which, as we've discussed previously, is one of my little daydreams. Mmmm...

I loved the hair/make up at Chanel. I need to get me some red lipstick pronto.




This photo genuinely made me lol. And I don't use that term in jest. Feels kind of sacreligious to laugh at anything related to Chanel, but...c'mon, it's a happy snap, no?
(style.com)

--COUTURE FALL '10: CHANEL--

I love love love the whole crop top thing going on here, only instead of pairing it with a bare midriff and hot pants, it goes with a nice demure high-waisted skirt in richest maroon. Mr L does it again. (And those body-con white dresses aren't half bad either).

I think I am in love with her fringe. How is it so perfect? That is what I would like to know.






HOW?!


(style.com)

Monday 26 July 2010

--COUTURE FALL '10: CHRISTIAN DIOR--

Dior is always the safe bet for floor-length extravaganzas, and Galliano delivered on that note this season as always. At first I was a bit taken aback by such wild use of colour (apparently the inspiration was flowers) but there is actually more black to this collection than many other recent ones, which subtly balances out the brighter hues. And, as always, there were some separates to counterbalance the final looks (which are actually the earlier looks in this post, because Blogger uploads photos backwards -.-), which were so loaded with multiple layers of tulle it's a wonder the models could even stand up straight, let alone walk without falling flat on their faces. A spectacle (in a good way) as always.










(style.com)

--BLOG AWARD--

Out of the blue, Fernanda Dauphine from Fashion Art Rocks gave me a blog award! N'aw, the blogging community is so cute, it made my day-thank you so much!



The thing to do is apparently:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award
2. Copy the award and put it on your blog
3. Pass the award on to 15 other blogs you've discovered
4. Let these 15 people know you've given them an award

So kinda like chain mail then, I guess, but a nice version...

Anyway I chose my 15-they're all blogs I follow (see the list at the side --->), and I tried to choose smaller ones where the award would actually mean something to the blog owner! Do take time to look at some of them, I wouldn't follow them if they weren't good would I...

1. Meine Herzallerliebsten
2. The Red Hiney
3. kthanksbye.
4. Ribka
5. Moe Gustafsson
6. Jenna For Jethro
7. Harper and Harley
8. Fallie's Scrapbook
9. Fashion By He
10. DisneyRollerGirl
11. Shine By Three
12. The Photodiarist
13. Young Shields
14. Discotheque Confusion
15. Just Jessica.

Sunday 25 July 2010

--COUTURE FALL '10: GIVENCHY--

Now this is what couture is about. The detail in these dresses is so phenomenal I can't say anything that'll come remotely close to describing their brilliance. Just...wow. (One thing-why can't style.com take photos of the backs of clothes as well as the front? Sometimes it's the back that holds all the interest. Anyone know a good site that shows photos from the front and back?).








(style.com)

--COUTURE FALL '10: BOUCHRA JARRAR--

I've got no idea who this new couturier is. Sadly I don't have time for my usual langorous internet searches, as the sun is beckoning from yonder window, but if anyone else has any knowledge please share it. Because, I don't know, it seems sort of like she's rocked up at the couture shows not knowing what couture is. Hypocritical much? Doubtless-I barely know one end of a needle from another. But to my mind, despite the recent return to minimalism etc., couture is meant to be a bit more than beautifully cut shift dresses or trouser suits. For the money couture costs, I'd expect a bit more bang for my buck than Jarrar is offering in this collection. Not that the shift dresses and trouser suits she presents aren't beautifully impeccable and aesthetically pleasing-it's just they seem more suited to RTW, no matter how many hours of painstaking handcrafting have gone into them.

(This dress is lovely though. But I would think that-it's floor length.)






(style.com)