What It Seams To Me: A Fashion Blog

As stores and boutiques slowly prepare to rid this summer’s styles off their racks in exchange for fall’s must-haves (which means that the end-of-the-season clearance will be a-knockin’ on our doors soon!), the fashion media prepares to do their part by focusing in on les regards nouveaux for Spring 2009 at the upcoming Mercedes Benz’s New York Fashion Week, located in Bryant Park.

In current time, two familiar names in the modern art of clothing have been buzzing about in many fashion blogs and magazines alike. In comparison to the high-fashion designers and prices, which a good chunk of America can bare to afford (unless they choose to starve until receiving their next paycheck), their services openly approach even a size 0 wallet with a gentle kiss and an additional wink for its owner’s chic indulgence – at a great deal!

For those who haven’t recently dabbled in any medium of fashion media, drink up what I’ve had brewing in my cauldron for some time: In five days, Target launches yet another Go International line designed by fashion’s newly celebrated Asian designer, Richard Chai. In the midst of fall, SIr Phillip Green will launch his Topshop store in NYC, as its flagship in the United States.

Target announced the news of selecting Richard Chai earlier this month, while its online store contained

The man, the myth, the legend... Richard Chai.

marked-off remnants from Go International’s previous client, Rogan Gregory, a New-York based designer who was the go-to man for Bono and his wife, Ali Hewson when they launched their 2005 eco-conscious line, Edun. Other predecessors include London’s queen of modern alternative, Luella Bartley, and Erin Fetherston.

Chai’s breakthrough occurred when aiding the launch of Marc by Marc Jacobs with the designer himself back in 2001. When he shifted to creative director for TSE, he was applauded for extending its fashion house outside of the basic cardigan. In 2004, he launched his own line which showcased his penchant for fabrics and intricate details. He has been referred as one of the “New Asian” influence of haute couture, according to his bio on Nymag.com.

May I stylishly help you?

However, Nylon succeeded a first look into this highly anticipated collection back in June. They’ve carefully crafted 8 outfits which, as stated in their news release, could achieve for just $80. What’s behind this mysterious door was, unfortunately, a physical reminder of what has been seen before and could be easily confused as something bought from Forever 21: wacky graphic tees, modest ruffles, the staple blazers, stylistic pleats on has-been-done areas, and the granny cardigan.

If you’re the type who loves to diversify your wardrobe with designer names regardless of style, and have been dying to welcome a Richard Chai piece into its colony, then mark your calender for August 3. Otherwise, you can scrape through the clearance racks for similar styles at an even cheaper price, even though the line itself is moderately affordable.

Not to say that I am damning the whole collection, but I wasn’t completely knocked out of my seat upon witnessing it – as I hoped to expect because I am a fan of his higher-end pieces. However, I would like to comment that I absolutely love the casual two tone empire dress with the back tie stunningly placed in the front! I’d put up a fight to have that dress in my own hands – and on my body of course.

Sir Philip Green and Kate Moss, and excellent duo.

In other amazing news, I’m still shrieking to the top of my lungs over the announcement of Topshop’s sail overseas to establish a flagship store in the United States. This will be the first of several stores that will station Topshop’s “global invasion”, which will include India, China and many more.

Without paying more than we should on international shipping, NYC residents and visitors can easily click-clank out of their pads with the authentic London look. This store will resemble its Oxford Street location, at least in services, which includes a nail bar, one hour tailoring service, delivery of purchases in under an hour, hair salon, and personal style consultant.

Among the range of clothes is an almost infinite amount of styles includes lines by Kate Moss, Unique, and Danielle Scutt. Other brands will be showcased in this store, and owner Sir Phillip Green hopes to create smaller stores for up-and-coming, promising designers who are unable to afford the high rent within Manhattan. These stores will serve as “an incubator… where we incubate some of these young designers, initially with a view to help get these people early. And once we’ve got them working, move them along.”

It alarms me slightly that Topshop will become a global sensation, because I wonder if the company will be able to maintain its London charm and stray away from the possibility of being watered down and cheapened. At the same time, it seems like Sir Phillip Green has found his million dollar formula that would prevent that from occuring. Another issue that circulates my mind is the translation in prices, since the current dollar is so frail in comparison to this store’s birth town.

Topshop is set to open its tall doors October 10, 2008.

Sources: nylon.com, nymag.com, target.com, treehugger.com
Images from nylon.com, poshbot.com, elleuk.com

Clicking and clanking down the sea blue patent runway for John Galliano’s “fresh couture – restrained and refined” is a cocktail of fluff, bounce, and gravity defying architectural compositions which are showcased by flawlessly sleek models whose countenance looks almost artificial. Spectators, including myself, are raising heads and dropping their jaws over his refreshingly timely, yet sultry (and revealing below the waist) feminine masterpieces designed for Dior.

As the already dwindling economy continues to step down its ladder, those who could once freely indulge in couture in exchange for a couple thousand dollars now face a restricting budget. Thus, now is not the time to aim for a piece that’s excessively flamboyant because the consequence of owning a one hit wonder is a wound, too brutal to quickly heal, on your bank account. History repeats itself, especially the history of trends in fashion. Novelty trends are deeply buried in the forgotten soils of fashion’s past (and unfortunate amounts of money wasted in the consumption of these horrors), but the highly respected and beauty-inducing styles often resurrect decades after its prime – fresh outside of one’s predecessor’s closet.

Thankfully, these designs reminisce and modernly reconstruct the top styles of each decade from the twentieth century: ball gowns layered and wrapped in tulle, wasp waist, not-so-flapping flapper dress(which seem to be lacking the usual bead count), thigh high tiers, scalp sleek hairdos, glossy stockings, and countless adaptations of the hourglass silhouettes. The wasp waist in particular has recently exploded in the return of high waisted pencil jeans and 50s inspired, skin tight one-piece bathing suits, which Galliano used as a foundation to his revealing dresses. Though one would comment that a bathing suit veiled with a layer or two of tulle would be a lousy excuse for anything formal, Galliano’s couture proves that there are miracles. A hybrid between the 1920s spiral train and the flair of the Little Mermaid’s tail, the waist down portion of one particular dress swishes in a mesmerizing fashion. So mesmerizing, it’s a device that conjures onlookers to unconsciously swing their heads like a pendulum, observing the fine floral details in the free-flowing excess of the skirt and the complex pleats only a perfectionist could master. This dress reveals a super power of its own: its talent to unsuspectingly trance the eyes it captures and fixating their mind into complete admiration over its potentially reached sophistication.

If anything, the outlines of many of these pieces brings my mind back to the scene in My Fair Lady where at the Ascot Racecourse, Eliza Dolittle congregates with an elite bunch of elegantly dressed women in white, decked out in the most luxurious and feminine fabrics and cuts one could possibly think of – especially the asymmetrical lace tiers lightly sitting on its mummy-tight dress.

Many of these tiers look similar to an inverted flower, spilling out additional – transparent – lengths to prevent the outfit from looking scandalous. Some redefine the look of a modern, working women. One piece, plastered in black, binds the arm and chest with nothing but ruffles in the front, bundled up in what I assume will be the contemporary girdle which consists of not only the actual body-alterator itself, but thick petals shooting out of each possible side and redefining the way we look at a female’s hips.

To see all this is refreshing to me, as I fear the thought of quickly jumping into a pair of crotch-dropped pants, unfitting for my petite figure. I admire the most sophisticated styles of the past, and Galliano implants this sudden nostalgia back into me. With styles like these slowly dominating the streets, as well as the sudden wave of conservative sophistication, the future looks bright as the designer’s of tomorrow are driven towards the mission to bring out all the beauty a women could extract.

To see more images from the slideshow, click here.

Images by: allesandro Lucione for Style.com
Source: style.com