Dsquared2

So! What does a girl wear when she’s being admitted into an insane asylum? Dsquared2 of course! That is, if she wants to be the hottest chick in the psych ward, apparently! The collection was shown with a “Girl, Interrupted” theme complete with immaculately dressed attendants to make sure the mad mavens behaved even though a few patients did go off of the deep end – they “escaped” by walking off of the runway. The line was mostly 60’s chic, with uber short skirts; delightfully luxurious textiles; and that funky Dsquared2 style that I have come to adore. The pieces were fun, girly, and edgy all at once. The show can be seen on the Dsquared2 website and the photos can be seen on style.com.

Gucci

Gucci went retro with a cool, 60’s vibe and I loved it – and not just because I had an almost religious experience at the Gucci Museum in Florence just a few weeks ago!  I like the very simple looks and the breezy, cool, pastel color palette that was used to ease us into the fall season.  That is just probably just what we will need after all of the polar vortex business this year - we are going to want summer to last as long as possible!  See the full collection at style.com.

London Fashion Week

I have had a hard time finding things to rave about on last week’s London runways.  The British; although I adore their accents - have always stricken me as odd in just about every other way. I guess this also holds true for the British fashion scene for me!  There were a few collections I checked out and below, a summary of my favorites.

Temperley London showed a couple of cute maxi dresses that I liked, because I'll always be a sucker for a maxi dress!

I was excited about Topshop because I really like the things I’ve seen since they started selling pieces in Nordstrom in the states so I looked through their collection about three times.  They seemed to be aiming for “effortlessly chic” this is what I kind of liked…

So!  Yep!  That’s all I’ve got!  Better luck in September, London!

Tom Ford

When fashion and music intersect, I am in my own personal heaven.  Sometimes, I learn about great new bands like St. Vincent at the DVF show and then sometimes a legendary music artist collides with a legendary fashion artist and it’s so much fun to see for me.  That being said, I am a huge hip hop fan because hip hop is the soundtrack to my adolescent years!  When Jay Z released “Magna Carta, Holy Grail” back in the summer and I first heard “Tom Ford”, I first had to make myself stop walking around saying, “I don’t pop molly, I rock Tom Ford” because that’s a little bit inappropriate in the regular world.  Then, I immediately wondered in my head if and how Tom Ford would incorporate the song in his next collection.  I was not disappointed! On the runway was a blinged out dress interpretation of the shirt Jay Z has worn in his concerts.  What a super cool shout out to Jay Z!  If I were a teenager, I would totally sell my soul to get one or make my own knock off!  Jay Z’s shirt can be acquired for about $65, Tom Ford’s “knock off” will set you back about $6500!

Encircled around the Jay Z hype was also a fantastic runway collection.  With pieces done in mostly black, white, and brown, the Tom Ford show was sleek and sexy with a nod the ‘60’s and the celebration of beautiful simplicity.  The girl is wearing the clothes – just as she should.  See the whole collection here.

...grrrrr.....

Burberry Prorsum

Prints! New, fresh prints with a hand painted Native American flare are what were presented on the Burberry Prorsum runway in London.  While the scarves, trench coats, and signature plaid were present; they were accompanied by big, bold prints in warm, fall hues.  The looks were mash ups of uncoordinated prints that were intriguing and pleasing to the eye.  The collection overall was a pleasant and unexpected surprise.  It was fun, flirty, and definitely a trend that will be recreated in street style this fall.

View the complete show here!

Ralph Lauren

Ethereal, delicate, graceful, exquisite, elegant…

These are the words that describe the Ralph Lauren Fall 2014 Ready to Wear collection. In a sharp contrast to the fun, youthful, daytime looks in the Polo collection shown right before this one, all of these pieces were done using soft, monochrome palettes in shades of pink, white and grey and are grown up attire perfect for glamorous evening events or a really lavish, elegant lunch rendezvous .  It was a beautiful and relaxing collection to view with its gorgeous coats and dramatic capes all softened and yet made more dramatic by the heavenly hues chosen for the garments.

There was quite a bit of fur flying (I’m hoping it is faux because I would totally wear it if I could) along with some ruffles to complement the luxurious textiles giving an angelic flow of the skirts and capes.  The collection was feminine, sexy, and everything a Ralph Lauren fan would expect to see. Style.com has the full collection.  It is also available at Ralph Lauren!  My picks?  look below…

My favorite...

Polo Ralph Lauren

I was once asked who I would choose if I had to pick just one designer to wear for the rest of my life.  Without hesitation, I said Ralph Lauren because he covers everything – casual, business, sport, evening, and even underwear.  He is also one of my favorite designers and I thought I knew everything about him! 

Well!  Ralph Lauren showed two collections in one show.  For the first time, he showed a Polo collection for women.  I could not believe that he had never done this but as I went through my closet looking for Ralph Lauren pieces that said Polo, I don’t have any.  They all say Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Black, even Rugby but no Polo - not even my Olympic and Pink Pony t-shirts.  Then, I went to the website and pulled up the women’s Polo shirts since I don’t own any– they are Ralph Lauren Blue Label!  I cannot believe I never knew this but you learn something new every day and I found this piece of fashion trivia completely fascinating!

The collection was youthful and sporty.  Some looks had a black base with the occasional splash of color; while others had the RL countryside vibe.  It was the quintessential Ralph Lauren style that many of us know and love with a fresh, new twist.  The full collection can be seen on style.com and a couple of my favorite picks are below!

Pamella Roland

Pamella Roland landed on my radar the night of the Grammys when Miranda Lambert wore a sexy red number by the designer and I am so glad she did.  There was not one piece in her show that I did not absolutely love!  Pamella Roland has been doing shows that have been on style.com since Spring 2013 – I will definitely be exploring those previous collections later.  This collection is glitzy; full of sequins, metallics, beads, and more sequins.  It is my personal opinion that there is no such thing as too much bling so the sparkly goodness was right up my alley!  The use of glitz was tastefully done, though, so for you boring, stuffy folks who don’t like lots of sparkle, there’s something here for you to love, too.  This presentation was done in a palette of black with shades of grey (I think the designers are getting ready for that movie coming out soon!), with some blue undertones and the occasional pop of deep red; one fantastic ombre gown in orange; and another ombre gown in purple.  There were also very small appearances of gold and flesh tones.

I tried to limit my favorites to 8 but that did not happen because I really like every look that came down the runway! View the whole collection here. My top picks are below…