Stragglers

How has pre-fall rolled around so quickly? Sorry, not just rolled around, but already almost over? I'm still working through Spring/Summer! I really do think we need to de-clutter the fashion schedule, if only so I have enough time to make my mind up about things. And so, as a final adieu to posts on Spring/Summer 2013, these are those last scraggly looks, those wonderful looks that come from collections that, as a whole, I did not deem worth writing about. Or that didn't quite fit into the reviews I wrote at the time.

First here are two looks from Chloé, which I usually yawn at, but the genius of an eruption of baby pink chiffon in the direction of your face cannot be denied. In fact, since this look specifically was dissed by a few critics, my fervor for it has grown.

I want to wear these stripes, but I also want them on my couch and on my curtains and on my sheets and everywhere. 

It's a cliche, but 'as sharp as a knife' really does seem to apply to this Lanvin look! Or the sure-to-be-future-cliché, as sharp as Karlie Kloss' hip bone. Who, by the way, would look great in this. Here it fits Julia Nobis so well it looks painted on, and is simply a pleasure to look at.

Well my love for this Altuzarra collection is well documented, but unfortunately one of my favourite looks from it didn't quite fit into my review. The detailing is a bit like the glitter detailing in Spring 2013 Dior. In both cases, this tiny element makes the whole look.

I love to hate Alexander Wang to some degree, and because of that I love it even more when he wins me over in spite of a personal grudge. Although it's funny, the reasons that most other people dislike him - "he ripped of those shoes!" "his ideas aren't new!" - don't bother me. It's comparable to critics of Daft Punk or Kanye West who say they have no ideas of their own, or are even plagiarists, after discovering the extent of their sampling. This kind of sampling and re-purposing is a rare skill in itself, and while you may think that West just stole that 20 second riff, he's actually transformed it, given it a completely different, second life. And that's how I think of Alexander Wang, a very savvy fashion version of Daft Punk. Having said all of that, I dug this ripped-off, unoriginal, whatever, ensemble!

Now that I'm looking at these looks all together, I can see that they're actually all quite similar. Hem length, heels, plunging necklines, monochrome, and general attitude are all aligned (that maverick, the explosion of pink, sits a part a bit more of course).

Runway images from vogue.com

Border detailing from, respectively, Soane Britain; Katie Ridder; Coralie Bickford-Smith; Hokusai and Ari Marcopoulos

Hate to Love #2

I find it very difficult figuring out what I think about Alexander Wang. I used to be very comfortable disliking him, and being judgmental about the girls that wore his clothes, and would smugly dismiss his collections for being style over substance gone mad. And I generally still do think that! Remember his homage to baseball? Yeah nice concept and the styling was kind of cool but pick the outfits apart there's not much to wear. Same thing with his witchy office workers - for a guy who supposedly creates clothes that 'real girls' wear, the collection was more costume than wearable.

But then he had to go and throw a spanner in the works for me with Autumn '11 because goddamit I really really liked it. I even have some shoes from it! It's super glossy and glam and over the top and the heavy use of pom poms and fur was very compelling (critics can talk all they want about how fluffy fur is an intellectual, ironic take on new luxury or whatever, but deep down everyone just gets gleeful over a good pom pom). But I think what was impressive about the show is that he finally got smart with proportions and tailoring. It's like with  previous collections he had all these great ideas but couldn't translate them 100% because of a lack of dressmaking skills. Reviews made a big deal about how this collection was "Wang grown up", which was mainly a response to the inclusion of 'luxury' elements like fur and satin and big coats, but I think it was just the first time the clothes looked like they fit right.

Of course this is all last season. You might have thought this was a heartwarming tale of the hate of a designer turned to love forever - but for Spring '12 he was right back to annoying me with a bunch of ugly Nascar outfits. Ah well, there's always February...

all images from vogue.com