The Fall Issues

I’ve been seriously tardy with doing my fashion homework lately… Like school, I will go to class and do the assignments (the fashion equivalents being going shopping and putting together outfits), but I refuse to do the readings. I only buy fashion magazines once a year (the big Spring and Fall issues of Vogue and W), but I am terrible at actually getting around to reading them. And when I do read them all I do is look at the pictures…

For shame, I know.

Then again, fashion is all about the visuals – guilt be gone!

So to give myself a little motivation for actually doing my “homework” I went through Vogue and W and picked out a “best” and “worst” list for this little post. Ironically, once I was finished I didn’t even want to go through the effort of collecting images from the “worst” list, so you’re only getting the positive feedback! Things are are a-changin’ apparently…

The Fall Issues - Best by riella03 featuring Yves Saint Laurent leggings

Handbag: Dior

Normally I loathe the idea of a shoe-printed purse (and a curse upon all shoe-shaped purses), but this artful little sketch is perfection. It’s whimsical, yet classic, and all tied up in a useful accessory!

Dress: Dolce & Gabbana

Red and lace and sparkle and the models wearing crowns? Love it! Bring on the oppulence of the Italian aristocrats, I say!

Shoes: Chanel

Everyone should have a little Chanel in their closet, I always say, and these quilted leather riding boots with chain detailing are definitely worth swearing by (if Carrie Bradshaw is any kind of indication).

Coat: Versace

Something about a bright red maxi-coat just speaks to me right now. How odd, that two reds are on my list, when it’s normally a colour I avoid?

Pants: Saint Laurent

Putting aside my issues with their name-change, no one does chic trousers like YSL, and these leather beauties are no exception.

Makeup: Marc Jacobs Beauty

He had me at smokey rainbow-hued smudges.

Jewelry: Versace

Versace wins again, with punk-rock spikes and layered chains amping up their editorial edge.

Prints: Etro

This brand isnt normally on my radar, but they stepped it up this time around by pairing graphic and organic prints in a rather interesting way.

Male Model

Jeremy Irons for Berluti: Props to Irons for making his way in what is definitely a young man’s field and repping for Berluti. Pairing well-known male actors with fabulous fashion seems to have become a trend in the last year (Ewan MacGregor for Belstaff, etc) and I am definitely all for it!

Newcomer: Belstaff

They might have been around for ages, but the last year has seen this British brand break into the ranks of the major fashion contendors with their classic leather and knitwear lines. We’ll see if they manage to maintain their momentum, and whether they attempt to break out of their well-established mold.

Ad Campaign: Kenzo

It seems that the models have become the print in the latest editorial campaigns from Kenzo, and while I am not a big fan of bugs I find this juxtaposition quite amusing and visually pleasing. 

The (Fashion) Bible

Sometimes the stuff between the covers of Vogue is not to my taste, but I still consider it to be the most influential fashion tome in my magazine library. Unlike most of the other fashion magazines out there, Vogue actually has some artistry to their editorials, and it’s not just a catalogue of what’s in and what’s not. Obviously some issues are better than others (yay August, boo March), but I can generally find something that I adore.

As a way to combat basic fashion errors Vogue is a good place to start, so I urge anyone who is in doubt of the contents of their closets to go and pick up an issue of Vogue. You may not like everything in it, but I’m sure that you’ll find something that suits your tastes! Now is definitely the time to do it too, since the August issue is pretty good, and I bet that the September issue (hurry up and get here already!) is going to be even better!

photo from here

Forget Summer...

… I’m getting geared up for Autumn already! I can’t wait to wear all of my long-sleeved shirts, gorgeous jackets, and of course furry vests! That’s right, we’re trending fur this Autumn. Furry vests, furry boots, furry everything! We’ll maybe not furry shorts… that would just be weird…

I caught a fish! And it was THIIIIIIIIIS big!

In other news: I picked up the August issue of Vogue, and it’s so fabulous I can’t even comprehend. The colours are gorgeous, the trends are fabulous (and pretty much everything that I already have from years past haha), and of course Sarah Jessica Parker on the cover to make it the best issue in a long time! I can’t wait til the September issue, since it’s usually the huge fall one, and if the August one is THIS GOOD, then how good is the September issue going to be! 

The Return of Spring Colour

Once again I’m super late for my review of the latest Vogue, but I just did not have the time, and couldn’t quite be bothered to be prompt. But the review is finally here, and is ushering in another new blog regular. Every Friday will feature a review of some sort. Products, makeup, magazines, clothes, stores, blogs, whatever I feel like reviewing. The only category that will not be covered in this section is nail polish, for reasons which will become clear soon. This is going to be such a fun section because I love giving advice, and sharing my experiences with people so that they can make better informed decisions about things! So let the judgments begin (since judging is what I do best)!

Remember how disappointed I was in the March issue of Vogue? The lack of colours for the beginning of Spring issue was so dreary I didn’t even want to touch the April issue for fear of more monotony. But I sucked it up and bought the May issue, and thankfully it was worth it. Spring has sprung, and we’re back in full colour! We’re still seeing lots of neutrals, since that’s still a big trend for Spring, but colour is definitely back. Make-up ads are once again mimicking happy flowers, and the dominance of brightly hued summer wear has helped to fight off the last of the Winter blues. Everywhere you look in this issue it’s colour, colour, colour, from the cover to the very last pages. Having skipped right past the puddles of April into summer wear has definitely helped, since it’s ads for Havianas, sunglasses, and swimsuits that are the most eye catching. As much as I hate the heat, I am so glad that Summer is right around the corner!

Part of what makes this issue so appealing is the cover story about Reese Witherspoon. Her title of America’s Sweetheart is totally clichéd, but that’s why everyone loves her. Plus her movies are awesome. If you don’t like Legally Blonde then there is no place for you in my heart! I’m not planning on going to see her new film Water for Elephants, since it’s a little too mushy and melo-dramatic for my tastes, and I can’t stand her co-star (whose name I shant mention), but I still enjoyed reading about her time on the set. Especially the parts about the elephants. I love elephants! They’re just so huge and cute! It’s totally adorable how Vogue draws directly from Water for Elephants and uses Reese’s animal co-stars as her photoshoot companions instead of trying to sell us the romantic aspect of the film. Totally adore glamour of the photos; it’s Old Hollywood meets 1920s flapper meets circus sequins (and who can resist sequins).

I wasn’t all that impressed with the editorials again this month, and I’m starting to think that Vogue editorials are just not my style. I can always find some interesting items in them, but I find that there’s something missing from the Artistic Unity from each set. “Chateau California” had a storyline that I was quite impressed with, but I found that I wasn’t looking at the female models at all. The focus was totally on the guys in the shots! I found that Dave Franco (yes James Franco’s little brother), Max Irons, and Ethan Peck just did a better job than the women did. I’m not normally drawn to menswear, since I’m usually distracted by the shoes, but the guys just had more character and emotion, so they outshone the girls. It doesn’t help that they’re all totally adorable J

mmm boys :)

“Ready, Steady, Go” was even more disappointing. There wasn’t a cohesive plot to tie the photos together, the models were lackluster, and the clothes would have been better suited to a pre-fall editorial. The only things that I actually liked from this editorial was the over-abundance of stripes (even though they’re better suited to fall/winter wardrobes), and the fabulous almost-periwinkle blue colour that offset the black stripes.

Thank god for the focus on Alexander McQueen’s museum retrospective, since it was the only decent editorial, in my opinion. I’m never going to get tired of hearing about McQueen, and I’m never going to get tired of seeing the whimsical and strange pieces that he crafts. Seriously go and see some of the crazy stuff that was exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art. You will not be disappointed. My favourite piece that Vogue honoured in this issue was the extravagant flower-covered ballgown that he created in 2007. It’s not just fabric flowers (which would have been gorgeous by themselves), it’s actual fresh flowers as well. Obviously this is not a practical piece of clothing, and is meant purely as couture, but it’s hard not to fall in love with the intricacy of this gown. I can just see Spenser’s Faerie Queen wearing it through the woods!

don't you just LOVE the decadence?

We’re brought quickly back to reality with the harsh (read: dull) themes of “Championship Season.”  I’m not one for sportswear, and I don’t really consider it fashion. It’s practical, sure, but it’s meant for lounging around the house or for actually doing physical activities, not the runways or the pages of a fashion magazine. Give me more crazy couture any day! At least the shoes featured in it were pretty…

Last Look: Chanel and Blake Lively team up to bring us feminine pretty with a twist. 

Photos courtesy of Vogue

Just Vogue!

Yes, I know I’m late, but I figured that a good way to end out the month would be to do a review of the March issue of American Vogue (aka the Power Issue). Next month I swear I’ll get around to a magazine review earlier, but this month was just so hectic, and I had other things to write about! So, without further ado, on to the glossy pages!

We’ll start with the cover, which features the strangest queen of pop to dominate the charts since Madonna. She’s known not only for her awesome dance music, and prowess as a songwriter, she’s also rather famous for her outlandish wardrobe. If you’re not living under a rock, you know I’m speaking about Lady Gaga. Her cover shot was not really what I expected from her (with the exception of the pink bob), but it actually fits the colour theme of the issue quite well (which is why I presume they chose it). I’ll talk more about how much I despise the neutrals that dominate the editorials later, so we’ll skip right on to the article about Lady Gaga. No one really cares about the articles in fashion magazines, since obviously it’s all about the fashion spreads, but I actually found this article to be rather enjoyable. It wasn’t really anything new, we can wiki Lady Gaga and find out about her past, and there are a million interviews with her out there, but it was well written, and the contrast between the description of the chaos backstage at the Monster Ball, and the following lady-like demeanor of Gaga during a sit-down interview was charming without being too clichéd. If you’re so inclined, go ahead and read the entire article here. The fashion that was featured in the article I found intriguing, but a little bit one-sided. The three major outfits (two ball gowns, and one suit) were all by the late Alexander McQueen. Not that I’m complaining, since I j’adore McQueen, but I would have expected a bit more variety. It seems a bit overdone to focus on one designer, especially considering that Gaga is known for her outlandish fashion statements. Were there no other crazy outfits hanging in the Vogue wardrobe at the time? I find that hard to believe, considering that it’s Vogue!

The single-sided nature of the Gaga shoot is also reflected in the monotonous colour theme of the entire March issue. It seems that the hot colours for Spring are anything but; in fact they’re barely warm, since they’re all either pale brown neutrals, or very muted pastel shades of pink and peach, with a dash of ever-cool navy. How dull! For spring I fully expected splashes of brights that reflected the emerging colours of Spring flowers! I know it’s cliché to want bright flowers for Spring, but neutrals belong to Fall and Winter damnit! I’m so disgusted with this colour palette that I’m not going to talk about it anymore, and I hope that it goes away more quickly than the last spots of Winter snow.

Even though neutrals dominated the editorials in this issue of Vogue (just take a look at the stats below…) there were some that were still gorgeous. I’ve always loved the black and white editorials from Dolce and Gabbana, and the latest set doesn’t disappoint. The overabundance of embroidered finery and multitude of beadwork on their creations adds a much-needed texture to the simple black and white colour scheme. I would love to get my hands on the tiny jacket (far right), and any of the beautifully worked skirts!

The other ad that I was drawn to was from Burberry Prorsum. Not surprising, since I love the classic, yet modern look that the brand always produces, but the new ads took my love to a totally new level of adoration. Burberry is known for simple lines, and classic plaid prints, but the new Spring line is anything but traditional; instead of focusing on a classic look, they went with a very punk, street look, which for someone like me, who likes everything with a bit of rock n’ roll, it was love at first sight. Obviously the punk look has been around for ages, but I’m glad to see Burberry branching out into new areas, since it must be a bit shocking for their clientele.

The fabulousness of the new Spring looks from Burberry is reflected in the first editorial spread in the magazine, entitled “Punk’d.” Try not to think of the lame Ashton Kutcher show by the same name, since the spread is anything but comic. I would buy almost all of the pieces featured in this editorial, but thankfully I already have some gorgeous leatherwear in my wardrobe so my wallet doesn’t have to be gouged! The only criticism that I have of this spread is that Vogue might have used an actual male model, instead of relying on the androgyny of the women in the shoot.

I was less impressed by the other three editorial spreads in this issue, as they were all lacking something key. “Lady be Good” had some beautiful colours, and the concept was cute (if a bit trite), but the photo quality was horrible. I know they were going for a retro feel, but I just can’t stand that texture in film. It makes my eyes feel all scratchy…

“Enchanted Garden” was even more disappointing, since by the title I expected something whimsical and nature-inspired, but instead I got a dash of safari, and a lot of random. There wasn’t really a cohesive theme in the clothing or accessories, and the shoot relies way too much on the setting for artistic unity. I am intrigued by the sparkling silver jacket in the first shot though.

“Rebel, Rebel” was also rather uninspiring. It was meant to show how to dress interestingly for formal affairs, but not many of the outfits were actually interesting! More neutrals, more clean lines, and very little glamour left me wanting to scoff at their lack of creativity. I didn’t mind the red leather jacket that was shown, but a more version of a red leather jacket with more personality was also shown in the “Punk’d” spread. Seriously guys, you must have been overwhelmed by the February blues when you were creating this entire issue…

from "Punk'd"

from "Rebel, Rebel"

Stats:

Neutral Editorials: 69

Colourful Editorials: 36

Car Ads: 3

Hair Product Ads: 6

Make-up/Skin Care Ads: 25

Perfume Ads: 6

Jewelry Ads: 8

Retailers: 9 (K-mart? Really?!)

Misc. Ads: 3

Last Look: Best ad in the whole magazine for me was from Christian Louboutin, of course :) Simple and gorgeous!