Closet Confessions: Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2012

Crisis Averted

I can’t say Spring/Summer is one of my favourite fashion seasons. I envy all those light airy people cycling the seawall, playing volleyball at the beach, and sauntering down sideways in light tee’s and cut off shorts–WTF. I am hot, I hate everything in my closet, and I can’t wear layers, I am in consent denial.

Rick Owens: Spring/Summer 2012
Rick Owens: Spring/Summer 2012

In my Givenchy post, last week, I hinted that sometimes I feel lost in my clothing decisions. I felt in a bit of a crisis, as I am watching all these great colourful clothes for Spring. What the hell I am going to wear. Givenchy had some nice ideas, and I have become a great fan. However in my denial of Spring, and of course always shopping a season ahead, boots for Fall entered my mind all weekend.

Rick Owens: Spring/Summer 2012
Rick Owens: Spring/Summer 2012
Rick Owens: Spring/Summer 2012
Rick Owens: Spring/Summer 2012

Therefore, like any fashionista, I was up till 5am scouting every website to find a good pre-season deal. I didn’t find any boots, but what I did run across was some amazing stuff from Rick Owens Spring/Summer 2012. My friend in NY is always wearing his clothes, but I never felt compelled to wear Rick Owens myself. My friend is super creative and works magic with a make-up brush, so I leave creative identity to him. However, Rick has won me over.

Rick Owens: Spring/Summer 2012
Rick Owens: Spring/Summer 2012
Rick Owens: Spring/Summer 2012
Rick Owens: Spring/Summer 2012

These gender bending creations summed a time of breakout expression. Leading my critical thought, Madonna “What it feels like for a Girl.” The concept of men in female garments, has been done to death in the nineties, but Owens has made if feel masculine and contemporary. The looks are strong and confident with no apology–I like that.

Rick Owens: Spring/Summer 2012
Rick Owens: Spring/Summer 2012
lenny-kravitz-rick-owens-high-heels-boots-dress
lenny-kravitz-rick-owens-high-heels-boots-dress

Fashion’s new direction of deconstructing rules, has built a new construction of male identity. As to not make my post so designer driven, I am posting some street style photos to bridge fashion creativity and street reality, based on Rick Owens Spring/Summer 2012 collection.

rick-owens-by-hanneli-mustaparta2
rick-owens-by-hanneli-mustaparta2
Street Style: Rick Owens
Street Style: Rick Owens
Street Style: Rick Owens
Street Style: Rick Owens
Daine-Walker-Wooster-St-An-Unknown-Quantity-Street-Style-Blog2: Interview with this blogger to come...
Daine-Walker-Wooster-St-An-Unknown-Quantity-Street-Style-Blog2: Interview with this blogger to come...
Wong Faye: Rick Owens Shoes
Wong Faye: Rick Owens Shoes

*side note: please click LIKE on my Facebook link, if you like, and follow on twitter for updates.

Muse Closet.

Muse Closet: Shop Talk

WoolRich

WoolRich Fall/Winter 2011--Black Label
WoolRich Fall/Winter 2011--Black Label

It’s always fun to watch theatrical fashion in magazine editorials and Gaga videos, however the rest of us live in the real world. One of the most wearable collections I saw during New York Fashion week was WoolRich Fall/Winter 2011. Designer, Paula Gerbase, who was born in Brazil and graduated from esteemed fashion school, Central Saint Martin, has blended her topical roots with British functionality. Fall/Winter 2011 WoolRich Black Label collection borrowed from men’s tailoring techniques to produce feminine shapes with soft fabrication.

WoolRich Fall/Winter 2011--Black Label
WoolRich Fall/Winter 2011--Black Label

Why I am discussing Fall/Winter 2011 fashion when spring is around the corner, simple fact: “sale time people!” Now is the time to grab fall pieces that will carryover to spring, while still picking up some cute warm pieces before New Year’s countdown. Winter can drag itself out, so you still want to look your best.

WoolRich Fall/Winter 2011--Black Label
WoolRich Fall/Winter 2011--Black Label

Spring/Summer 2012 Collections are full of masculine tailoring with feminine shapes, so you will be on point with your fall/winter carryover. My favorite would be WoolRich Fall/Winter 2011 navy faded print silk Georgette oversized t-shirt dress. This dress is a smart carryover as its timeless and elegant. For spring a great colored belt to cinch the waist for shape is perfect.

WoolRich Fall/Winter 2011--Black Label
WoolRich Fall/Winter 2011--Black Label

For Christmas dressing, take inspiration from WoolRich’s navy silk twill draped dress, I love the faux fur scarf for style detail. I did this look myself for a red carpet this fall—minus the dress.

WoolRich Fall/Winter 2011--Black Label
WoolRich Fall/Winter 2011--Black Label
Me with fur collar--Red Carpet

Here are some other great looks from WoolRich fall/winter 2011 collection you will want to check for inspiration.

WoolRich Fall/Winter 2011--Black Label
WoolRich Fall/Winter 2011--Black Label
WoolRich Fall/Winter 2011--Black Label
WoolRich Fall/Winter 2011--Black Label
WoolRich Fall/Winter 2011--Black Label
WoolRich Fall/Winter 2011--Black Label
Platform Boot
Platform Boot

Here is a behind the scene studio interview with Designer Paula Gerbase.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSpwSD6DNG4&w=640&h=480

Muse Closet: Rebel in Black–Fall 2011

Rebel in Black

Neo-Goth
Neo-Goth

As leaves fall and glisten in the final moments of the summer sun. Color blocking has spun editors into a tizzy of wild passion. However, while magazine editors and fashion bloggers have pushed every Crayola hue, New York’s indie designers  have given us Neo-Goth for fall/winter 2011; utilitarian clothes made for the city that go against the mainstream fashion set by only showing black.

Neo-Goth is not scary Marilyn Manson Goth, and is more wearable than Haute Goth designers such as Rick Owens, Olivier Theysken, and Yohji Yamamoto whose influences hail from the Victorian era. A new crop of designers seem to be rebelling against the status quo, which has not been seen since the early Punk days of Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, and Vivienne Westwood. Neo-Goth idealism is a new standard for fashionistas who want something beyond label branded marketed clothes. Rad by Rad Hourani was my Neo-Goth highlight, Rad’s collection has taken dark Gothic emotions and twisted them into wearable standards for today’s fashion savvy: black legging, fitted coats, and platform shoes were interchangeable on boys and girls. Rad morphed angular shapes, multiply zippers, and androgyny into sheer street style.

Accessories
Accessories

Rad’s collection is a step towards a future of blurred lines between male and female identification through iconography. Yes, in the nineties Jean Paul Gaultier and Calvin Klein used female and male attire on gender-bending models to generate runway news, but Rad’s collection is what a real men and women will be wearing in reality. Neo-Goth is a way for individuals to take their personal style beyond traditional clothing rules by creating new codes in dress for male and female attire—all you have to do is bring your attitude!

Muse Closet

Runway footage: [wpvideo 06kBhdXE]