The Meow Meow on Miu Miu Winter 2011-2012

Miu Miu Resort Collection for 2012 has a distinctively early 1940's look. This is an era which I have always liked. The overall silhouette is very flattering to women. Exaggerated shoulders were seen throughout the show and a nod to peplum detail was featured on many of the outfits. Fur, a through back to the glamour years, is added to many of the pieces. It is my wish that more designers would embrace the remarkable faux furs available for their shows, instead of using animal skins . Throughout Muiccia's collection, there were many frumpy design/balance issues. Below are photos I call "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." Click on photos to enlarge

Good Bad

The short coat on the left balances out the 3/4 sleeve and the large shoulders. The long version simply looks dumpy and the sleeves look out of proportion.

Good Bad

The red dress on the left is fun, vibrant, and fits well. It connects with the other pieces in the line keeping the 40's vibe. The cafe au lait colored dress on the right, a vaguely '20s almost 30's dress, does everything possible to come off as boring and shapeless. The finishing touch is uninspiring print.

Good Bad

Repeat what I said in the last paragraph-just insert the color change.

Good Bad and Ugly

The heavy wool works great if the design of the garment is structured, as the outfit on the left shows. The 40's theme remains in tack with the nice shoulder detail as well. However the photo on the right shows a bulky, shapeless, baseball-like shirt. Even the lowly sweatshirt is more figure flattering. The long skirt doesn't work with this blah blouson shape either. This collection gets a B - grade .

The story of the Bride

June is around the corner and with all the hype of royal wedding dress copies, I thought it would a nice diversion to share some original ideas for gowns. In my opinion, wedding dresses have become boring. There is no passion in the design and construction and this is reflected in the finished product.

When I personally design for an event, I like to bring a history and story to the finished piece. In the early conception , I will choose a combination of new and/ or vintage fabrics, lace, and beads that will then be the inspiration for the gown . This can only be done by hand. My feeling is the dress reflects who the bride is.

I found a wonderful example in New Zealand of a dress with a history and personality. The dress shown below was designed for a bride who is Samoan and Australian. The fabric is tapa cloth which is completely hand made from the inner bark of two year mulberry trees. This is truly a dress for a princess. The bride explained that the tapa cloth gave her a strong connection with the earth. The bead work is comprised of sea shells and the trim is braided jute. If you would like to hear more about this dress, here is a link -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quKUnWCl6FU

Some other examples of tapa cloth dresses can be seen below. All of these tapa dresses, above and below are in museums.

Below are wedding dresses from India, Thailand, Africa, as well as Native American wedding regalia. (Click photos below to enlarge.)

Symbols of Wealth and Fantasy

Considering the state of affairs around the world, I find it hard to believe there are people who still desire if not lust after the most expensive money can buy. Most importantly buying a designer label so famously expensive, everyone knows the cost. There is a psychology behind owning an item that displays a big ticket value. Purchasing "labels" fills a character void, that is psychologically well understood. Designer ads creates life and lifestyle association with their product. Consumers feel buying the label attached to that lifestyle will lift them to that level; or at the very at least, make them feel like they have been lifted to that level. That consumption fantasy is what corporations bank on.

Can you guess the $25,000.00 real Hermes Birkin bag from the $399.00 copy ?

Perhaps there is truth to that thought. Just recently there was an article about women who interview with designer handbags will be offered more money when negotiating. It makes me wonder however- does carrying a designer bag gives the owner more confidence, or per-chance is it possible a woman who can afford a designer handbag, won't be interviewing for the average job?

Just in case you didn't guess the bags are in the center side by side. The $25,000 bag is left center and $399. is right center. The other two bags are Hermes bags as well, both in the $10,000 range. If you want to try your hand and create your own Hermes purse, the company offers a pattern - http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Weekend/story?id=7488477&page=1

That old saying "you are what you wear" also applies to what you drive . According to Toyota, young children are being encouraged to embarrass their parents into buying a cooler and hipper car- Toyota's Highlander ad is has the most obvious- which in my opinion is really low end selling . The young actor Riley Thomas Stewart is pandering for Toyota :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80pNUxIczig

It's a corporate myth of a better life that has people selling their souls to own a label. Purchasing an expensive handbag, shoes, or a car has very short lasting gratification. Happiness isn't purchased. Martha Stewart still went to prison owning a Birkin bag and David Beckham cheated on Victoria and she owns several Birkins. As for the children, spare them the myth their life will be better with a label on their ass.

Disaster for Jeremy Scott Fall 2011

There is nothing like a disaster to kick off the Fall 2011 runway season . Jeremy Scott must have been trolling close out sales for anime dolls to come up with his Fall collection . It's easy to find this look on Hollywood Blvd. without the high end price tag. Great for the club, but on the runway, one would hope for fashion with a little more sustenance.

The fabric and colors are a cross between futuristic costumes and Easter candy . The pink "costume" group above looks like in my opinion, an anime burlesque show. Perhaps Jeremy was thinking of selling at Adult-Con ?

Where to wear these outfits maybe Coachella, EDF, or Bonnaroo ? But then I would hope those outfits would be original artist creations-not fresh off the runway.

Dear Jeremy,

Stop playing with your anime dolls . There is a reality out there.

Xoxo,

-G

Edward Gn Spring 2011

Edward Gn suit collection

Edward Gn's Spring 2011 reflected the 1930's, 1940's and 1970's. His inspiration for this collection was fashion designers Jean Muir and Ossie Clark. Gn's black and white eyelet suits, left and center and brown suit on the right were some of my favorite tailored pieces from his collection. Below is a glance at Gn's inspiration for his collection from Ossie Clark . His 1960's-70's-all have obvious 30's and early 40's silhouettes .

Ossie Clark collection from the 1970's

Ossie Clark played with color and pattern to emphasize the great details in his designs which clearly hold up today. Looking at the vintage patterns below it is easy to see Clark's inspiration. The 1930's depression and the 1940's WWII had much in common with the Vietnam war and recession of the late 1960's -early 1970's when Ossie Clark and Jean Muir were designing.

Vogue and Simplicity patterns from 1930's and '40's

Gn's Spring collection 2011 also finds a similar world : A massive recession and a long standing war in Afghanistan . His floor length dresses in muted colors have clear 1970's Jean Muir influences. What I like about Gn, is his ability to give a fresh modern look to a vintage silhouette .

Gn's long dresses Spring 2011

The clean lines of these Jean Muir dresses below from Vogue Couture patterns, hold the test of time. Easy to see why Gn was inspired by her designs.

Jean Muir 1970's Vogue patterns

Below, the jewel tone dresses from Gn's collection are classics updated with a nice twist of vibrant color. Feminine ruffles were popular with many Spring runway collections, a detail that is very reminiscent of the 1930's.

Gn shows ruffles and and jewel tones for spring

Using one of these vintage patterns below from the 1930's and '70's , one could easily create their own great look for Spring 2011 .

Patterns from 1930's and 1970's

Spring 2011 Overall Review

Gucci, Hermes ,Valentino -My favorite collections of this season.

The beauty of not being owned by a corporation is I can speak from the heart. I have no fear of loosing magazine ad sales from design houses who are angered by a scathing review of their latest collection.

After viewing Prada's Spring collection, I was convinced we were in for another dismal season of designers dropping to the lowest common denominator while desperately trying to find a trend that would stick with consumers. In 2010 many of the collections were senseless and lacked direction. They seemed to be a mirror image of the world economy.

After looking over twenty one collections (with a hundred plus still to look at), the majority were actually wearable. Many of the designers featured beautiful details. Of course there were still mediocre collections, but that is not unusual. The common ground I found throughout the Spring 2011 collections was a return to the earlier designs that made these fashion houses great in the first place. Yet there was a definite fresh look throughout. It is hard to understand why so many of these fashion houses had deviated from the silhouettes and cuts that made them famous in the first place. Gucci, Valentino, and Hermes get my vote as favorite collections, and Stella McCartney, Viktor and Rolf, and Hussein Chalayan my least favorite. Prada is still winning as the worst collection of the season for me.

Stella McCartney, Viktor&Rolf, Hussein Chalayan

-After Prada these are my least favorite collections for Spring 2011.

When money is tight most people look inward for comfort and safety. Classic design was key this season. Costume frivolity is not for recession times. It took a few years for many of these designers to get the clue. The big trend I would say is saturated colors coupled with barely there colors.

Ready to Wear means just that. Fortunately I'm happy to say that there should be some wonderful and interesting pieces coming to the stores for Spring.

Prada Spring 2011 Industrial Uniform meets Animation

Vibrant color is definitely on my radar for Spring 2011. The primetime show I design for, "The Defenders", is all about color and flash. I'm liberally using saturated colors on the characters, which is a big switch from the years of black and gray that has dominated TV dramas.

For inspiration, I was excited to see what was being shown for the Spring 2011 runway collections. Prada was on my radar as the first show of the season to blog about. Clearly Miuccia Prada forgot she was designing fashion for real people, not a Disney animation film or industrial uniforms. Her collection was a bold mess of nonsensical designs. The saturated colors, with bold stripes, and wallpaper prints, completed the animated look. In the real world, wearing any of these outfits, would dash all hopes of attracting a mate. Hard to imagine her inspiration for this collection was the sexy Josephine Baker .

Can you guess the Prada 2011 collection from the $39.99 catalogue uniform ?

What's adorable for animated characters doesn't translate to the runway-

Dinner ? Work? Clubbing? Sleeping? Working out? Out for Drinks? Lunch? Ok- scratch all of that. Let's try - Fly trap ? Bee attractant ? Wallpaper? Beauty and The Beast?

For that very important interview -would you wear a Power suit or Power sack?

Other than the hair do, I can't imagine Josephine Baker wearing any of these.

Thank you Prada for giving me the first humorous look of the Spring 2011 runway.