Shameless self promotion

Check out my article on The Fashion Spot:
http://www.thefashionspot.com/featured-stories/news/22450-the-reality-of-being-a-fashion-intern

As If I Need to Fall In Love With Another Foreign Magazine

From July 2009's Australian Vogue.

Sheer beauty. From the concept to the colours (I love shift from black and white as one looks further down the image), to her hair.

(Photo from foto decadent)

Can we just discuss...

The misuse of the term "couture." Seriously, this is my biggest pet peeve ever. Couture does not mean "relating to fashion" or "a pretty dress". You cannot refer to something as being so couture, and while some ready to wear garments are very expensive, they are not couture.

Please do not refer to something as couture unless it is custom made with painstaking attention to detail. I just think that it's really insulting to all of the artistry and effort that goes into creating couture pieces.

This, while beautiful, is not couture.

(Elie Saab Ready-To-Wear, Spring 2010, photo from style.com)

This, my dears, is couture.

(Christian Lacroix Couture, Fall 2009, photo from style.com)

I just read an interview on an otherwise fantastic fashion website wherein the interviewer misused the word couture several times, as in, "What's it like attending all of the most couture fashion shows, like Margiela?"

Please friends, let's correct this.

The 5 Best and 5 Worst Celebrity Fashion Lines

The fashion world has been up in arms since it was announced that Lindsay Lohan has joined Ungaro as the line's "artistic advisor". While expecting the perma-legginged starlet to play any kind of direct role at a historic french fashion house is alarming, celebrities dabbling in design is nothing new (Lohan herself launched 6126 last year).

While some celebrity lines have been utter disasters, others have managed to make a name for themselves in design. Here are my favorite celebrity labels, and the ones that give me nightmares.

The Five Best (Yes, Two of These are Helmed by the Olsen Twins)

1. Elizabeth and James (by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen)

(photo from net-a-porter.com)

Named after the Olsens' younger siblings, Elizabeth and James provides young, fun fashion that is on trend but not gimmicky. The collection is full of slim-fitting pants, boyfriend blazers, and 90's inspired pieces, that are wearable but apt to turn heads. As a bonus, one gets the sense that the Olsens are among the most directly involved in the design process of the legions of celebrity "designers".

2. William Rast (by Justin Timberlake)

(photo from style.com)

No one expected Justin Timberlake's label to be this good. Face it, the crooner is known more for his hit songs and famous girlfriends than any sort of sartorial sensability. Yet the denim-saturated William Rast line contains lots of cool over-sized tees and skinny jeans, for an effortlessly cool look.

3. Victoria Beckham (by Victoria Beckham)

(photo from style.com)

Victoria Beckham is unfortunately a bit of a laughing stock in the fashion community. From her spray tan to her augmented chest, she is a bit hard to take seriously. However, while her tastes may differ from those of fashion darlings like Erin Wasson or Anna Wintour, her line is full of red-carpet ready dresses that toy with shape and proportion, and are a perfect match for the sky-high heels Beckham wears 24/7.

4. L.A.M.B. (by Gwen Stefani)

(photo from style.com)

After several successful seasons, Stefani has proven herself as a designer. Seamlessly blending trends with Stefani's personal style, L.A.M.B. is chic with rocker sensibilities.

5. The Row (by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen)

(photo from mkashley.com)

Still known primarily for the boho-chic style they rocked at the beginning of the decade, one might not expect many basics in a line designed by the Olsen twins. But simplicity is the watchword when it comes to The Row, which aims to provide basics at their best. Full of well-cut blazers and little black dresses, The Row is more focused on providing quality than following trends.

The Five Worst:

1. Lauren Conrad Collection (by Lauren Conrad)

(photo from amazon.com)

Until recently, Lauren Conrad starred on The Hills, a show about her life working in the fashion industry. One can see the irony in this upon seeing her (no longer in production) fashion line. Jersey dresses similar in quality to American Apparel's but sold for hundreds of dollars more do not a fashion icon make. It's not that Lauren Conrad Collection was terrible, but it lacked personality. As a member of Team LC (as opposed to Team Heidi or Team Kristen), I think that she could do better.

2. Heidiwood (by Heidi Montag)

(photo from mtv.com)

Another Hills star, another terrible label. While Montag dissed her co-star for setting such a high price point for her clothes, her own line looked cheap, in all senses of the word. Equal parts skanky and Forever 21 clearance rack, Montag's line was tragic. Happily, she has since stuck to what she does best: reality TV and staged paparazzi shots.

3. Abbey Dawn (by Avril Lavigne)

(photo from kohls.com)

Lavigne described her clothing line to USA Today as "[a] lot of hot pinks and blacks and stars and purple and zebra. Basically, everything I wear." I don't think that I have to elaborate.

4. Paris Hilton (by Paris Hilton)

(photo from parishiltonsite.net)

Let's face it. It's hardly surprising that the bulk of this collection consisted of T-shirts with Paris's face on them (which she proudly wore, of course). What was surprising were the numerous ugly items that even Hilton wouldn't be caught dead in, including a cheap looking turtleneck sweater dress and what can best be described as a sleeveless mom-blouse with an attached tie.

5. Ashlee Simpson for Wet Seal (by Ashlee Simpson)

(photo from blog.buffalostate.edu)

Combining the worst of Abbey Dawn and Paris Hilton, Simpson's collection featured T-shirts with her face on them and items bearing a neon animal print motif.

Note: Miley and Max is only excluded from this list because:

a) I respect Max Azria and hope that one day he will come to regret this trainwreck of a line.


and


b) It is so terribly mundane that I tend to forget it exists

Party Photo Land: Buggy

Time to check in with what the hipsters are wearing:

From The Cobra Snake: I'm pretty sure that this is the dress I've been obsessing over every time I've gone into Zara recently. I love the early 90's vibe of the florals. I also love the carpet bag style purse in the bottom left corner.
From Last Night's Party:

Scarfs tied in this turban style always seem to make the wearer look effortlessly chic. Not that this girl needs much help in that department. The clean lines of her dress (shirt?) and the stack of gold bangles are a refreshing departure from the sloppy layers look so often seen on party photo websites.

I really just picked this picture because I love the bug ring.

Cool Link: A Kishi Quiz

I admittedly have a slight obsession with Baby-Sitters Club character Claudia Kishi's style. She was just so cool and creative. So I was thrilled when I checked out Mental Floss today, and discovered their Kishi Creation or Fashionista Flop quiz. Each question describes an outfit and the reader must identify whether it's a Kishi original or something worn by a celebrity. I got 88%. Et toi?

I love this tee.

That is all.

Nautical Nonsense

Yes, every fashion magazine in the world recommends the nautical look come summer, but it doesn't have to be cheesy. Try unexpected combos like an anchor on a neon dress or trading in boat shoes for white and blue peep toe heels.

Stand-Out Show: Chanel Resort 2010

One could be forgiven if "blah" is the word they first associate with resort collections. After all, they often leave viewers decidedly underwhelmed. But leave it to La Lagerfeld to spice things up a bit. Chanel's Resort 2010 collection hit it out of the park (to borrow an expression from some of my future-sportswriter journalism classmates).

I love, love, love the lace overlay here. And the combination of the vintage-inspired dress and the futuristic boots is awesome. Incidently, doesn't the combination of her red hair and the pretty dress remind you a little of Rose in Titanic?

This is like, The Matrix meets the Hamptons.

The jacket is classically Chanel, but the military inspired buttons modernize it in the best of ways.

I generally don't take literal inspiration from the runways, but I have a pair of red tights and have been struggling when it comes to how to wear them. Paired with a classic black dress, they seem a bit too punky, but anything else is a bit busy. However, they are perfection with a vintagey patterned dress in a neutral colour.

This is just the most adorable outfit ever.

This is how we know The Hills is staged

If the stilted conversations, abundant editing, and fake boyfriends didn't tip you off...




There is no way the person above works in the fashion industry.

(Picture of Stephanie Pratt from The Daily Mail)