it's the styling, stupid

lots has been said over the past week, since marc jacobs showed the collection for his main line at new york fashion week.

as is usually the case, most people were shouting from the rooftops how much they loved it. but a number were not so sure.

i thought that alexandra suhner isenberg made a good point in her blog, searching for style- that there were many nice pieces on that runway, but that the horrible hats & shoes (my god, particularly the shoes!), as well as other accessories like scarves & shawls totally obfuscated anything interesting, or exciting....

i had a similar feeling myself, and was looking forward to seeing the individual pieces in editorial coverage, and then in stores, to see what i really thought.

fortunately, i didn't have to wait too long. below are the runway shots (via style.com), paired with shots of just the clothing itself (via moda operandi), without all that awful styling:

look! this is actually a totally cute jacket and skirt combo, not a bulky, ugly dress to be worn with oliver-twist style fingerless gloves!

obviously, the blouse underneath is imminently wearable. i want.

the leather and printed lamé combo looks pretty interesting too. i'd love to see this off-the shoulder dress on its own, showing off the collar bones & arms.

ok, i had a funny feeling that i was going to be pretty excited about this dress, even when i saw it on the runway, with the dr seuss hat & pirate of penzance shoes....

turns out that i was right- a floral, sculptural dress done in magenta holographic sequins is just too great to totally obscure.

but, man oh man.... those shoes! they are just too awful. i thought about cropping them from all of these photos, but thought you should see them, as the designer intended.

do you really think that we'll see girls wearing these, come october & november? i really hope that someone proves me wrong, and wears them in a way that is totally awesome.

i'm not holding my breath.

--------

i've been thinking & wondering about what marc jacobs might have been trying to achieve through this ridiculous styling.....

and i think i may have hit on something - maybe it's a little bit of secrecy? 

 i'm wondering if he's thinking about tom ford's no-photos-allowed shows, and feeling a bit jealous? it is such a brilliant idea- actually keeping the collections a secret from the public until the pieces are actually available for sale... maybe jacobs has presented his own version of this approach.

it's a self-imposed bit of confidentiality- intentionally obscuring the collection from the hoi polloi, while knowing the the important buyers will be able to see each piece, up close and personal, when they have their buying meetings.....

yet, still playing the game of putting on a runway show, and taking advantage of all of the pr, and the buzz and the chatter of a super strangely presented show....

considering this possibility makes me think much, much more about the show..... mr jacobs certainly has a pretty clever brain for pr stunts and tongue in cheek ideas....

and whether or not this was his actual intention, i love that i'm thinking and talking about it more & more....

certainly, that was not an accident on the part of monsieur jacobs!

what do you think about the show, and his intentions??

style in the suburbs

so, i was only supposed to be here in the boston burbs for about two weeks.

but, the design process is taking a little longer than expected, and i'm back here for the next few days. i got a much smaller car, which feels a lot more comfy... and i got a two bedroom suite, which is ridiculous.

one thing that i've learned here in the suburbs is the propensity to shop online. i never really thought about the fact that in most american towns, the boutiques are closed by the time work is over. so..... no shopping after work.

this offends my new york sensibilities.

so, i've joined the club, and started shopping online. here are a couple of the things i'm looking forward to unpacking, once i get home on wednesday:

(skirt only. from my favorite online vintage store. nope, not telling.)

(vivienne westwood skyscraper seditionary boots from zappos. an amazing deal. definitely sharing.)

i didn't plan it, but i guess i have been inspired by the marc jacobs and louis vuitton fall shows.

so sue me. i'm in a fashion wasteland, here!

i can't get down with this

i think a lot of you know that i'm a shoe designer, as my "day job".

i'll just mention it again now, as an excuse for why i have such strong feelings about footwear.

and here's my latest vent- sneakers with hidden wedges...

isabel marant has been doing these for a number of seasons, and they must be selling like hotcakes for her to still be doing new versions of them:

(however, i've only seen them on the street once.)

the fashion crowd seems to love the "leg lengthening" aspects of these shoes, which may or may not be real. however, i just can't stand the proportions of them. it's a bit hard to describe, but i having that wedge in there just changes the way that it seems like your foot is shaped inside.

it makes the foot look shorter (in length) and smaller than the actual size of the wearer's foot, and really exaggerates the top of the arch. it sort of almost reminds me of foot binding.

you can kind of see it in this photo:

obviously i'm in the minority of not liking these. as i've said, they've been embraced by fashion editors and bloggers the world over.

and now, marc jacobs has gotten into the act. he showed a few colors of these shoes for spring 12:

the proportions here are even worse. i hate the slight bump at the toe that remind me of the stride rite sneakers that i wore as a kid. these shoes really look like a brick at the bottom of the leg.

i really think it's a shame, because i love sneakers. and i love high-end sneakers even more. but i just can't get down with this trend.

what do y'all think? do you like them? it's ok if you think i'm crazy.....

wanna know which sneakers i'd buy if i were planning on dropping a few hundred dollars? (and which ones i recommend to you, dear reader, as an alternative to the cement shoes above?)

pierre hardy.

toujours:

fno journey

as most of you know, yesterday was the "global" celebration of..... fashion retail.

it's called fashion's night out, and it's quite funny, because it's really just a big party with very little retail action at all.

this was the first year that i went, and i was pleasantly surprised. it was definitely a bit overwhelming, with long long lines to get into a lot of the stores, but it was great people watching...

winding up at bird in brooklyn was definitely the highlight. it was a much nicer scene of friendly folks, and not quite as many police barriers as in soho.

see for yourself, in my fno journey from soho to williamsburg:

i caught the tail end of the spring presentation from tse, at their boutique on wooster street...

armen and linda (of tse) kick off the official beginning of fno...

 

this is us...

 a cute dancing pair....

free minx manicures at the new mulberry store...

where face painting was also on the bill...

the streets were completely packed. some appeared to be closed to traffic....

i think this was outside of rag & bone, which was invite only....

no invites needed for phillip lim, but the line was about a block long...

the footwear company seychelles sent out a troupe of cute girls with shoe-box-headwear that included flashing lights....

there was a "cigarette" girl at miu miu, whose wares were actually sunglasses....

amazingly enough, the camper store won the award for loudest music.... maybe it was because of all the cute teenagers inside?

camper also had a really enthusiastic giver-outer of their freebies....

 but as far as soho was concerned, the marc jacobs store on mercer was definitely the best blend of room the breathe, best drinks and a little paparazzi-worthy eye candy....

(this is probably the best single image to represent the social scene at fno soho, collectively)

by the time we headed to the subway to make our way to williamsburg, brooklyn, the streets were in full-on party mode:

and then it was on to williamsburg:

where the vibe was much more that of a neighborhood party hosted by bird, rather than an all-out free for all....

with some exclusive pieces, and discounts to be had, folks here were actually shopping....

but there was plenty of party to be had, as well....

we met up with our friend vanessa....

and after a few drinks, we found maria as well....

who introduced us to her friend, lee......

thank god, after all of those drinks, there were some delicious grilled sandwiches to be munched upon...

and friendly and lovely revelers, all around...

the forecasted rain held off, and allowed for the party to spill out onto the street....

and i met this lovely girl, who's name i didn't get, unfortunately.....

but her hat was so pretty on her, that i think i complimented her on it about three times!

although i'm generally not a fan of huge crowds, and media events,  i had a quite fun time last night, and will look forward to future fno's.

i'm not sure it drums up a whole lot of business for the industry, but it's sure a nice celebration!

happy fashion week!