LOOKS LIKE...Elie Tahari came down with an incredible case of neutral nostalgia!

     Neutrality at its finest. These words burst into my head as soon as I saw how Elie Tahari's Fall 2011 collection has truly mastered the art of shades! The collection began with several all-black looks with sweeping capes ,deep, dark detailing, and empowering silhouettes. Call me a sickeningly obsessed black, gothic lover-child, but I cannot stop drooling over the wonders of black!

     The switch from all black to white began with a boot...well...two boots. Stark white, knee-high, leather boots worn with all black transitioned the collection from hell to heaven (or at least it looked like it to me!). Angelic ensembles came and went as Tahari decided to whip out some animal onto his runway. The deep reds soon followed as well as luscious beiges and tans. His luxurious fur designs made me wish that I, as a mere student, could ever have such an occasion to wear anything of the sort! 

     Elie Tahari has successfully completed the task of drawing drool from a young adult's mouth. As of now, I have metaphorically swallowed this collection and it has hit every single of one the taste zones in mouth. Though my strangeness may be frightening, this did in fact happen-it was incredible.

     Willing to try out these incredible neutrals? To pull it off like these ladies, try one shade all over and mix different textures and levels of color saturation to make one beautifully varied ensemble. 

Warning: mixing neutrals is amazing--BUT-your face must be at least partially plastered with complexion enhancing foundation, blush, and eye makeup. You may appear as though you trotted straight out of the forest if you do not take such precautions.  

LOOKS LIKE...Stella McCartney has taken to clothing her models in bags n' boxes!

     Mutant marshmallow. Shopping bag. Cardboard box. These are all terms that became assimilated in my mind as I was looking at Stella McCartney's Winter 2011 collection. What exactly does one think when creating such looks as these? I feel as though this is what I look like when I borrow my father's jacket (or spacesuit in the case of the gold one) at a night out to dinner to cover my shoulders. Clearly, his jacket was not made for me. Daddy probably didn't think these models would be borrowing his jackets either.

       Recently, I have begun to accept the ways of the one piece clothing unit (romper), until I saw this one. This particular one, in my opinion, might as well have been stolen straight out of McQueen's insane asylum collection. Anyone up for being zipped into a straight jacket? That's not really my game, but I supposed a crazy somebody will find it appealing!

     If you feel like trying out any of these looks, the plus side is that, in comparison, your face will look smaller (if anyone even goes for that look :)). Have fun playing "marshmallow/daddy's girl for a day" and let your peers know how it goes! 

    

LET YOUR...JAW? HANG LOW AFTER SEEING...Ruven Afanador's fashion photography!!!

     On the floor. This is exactly where my jaw was upon my viewing the breathtakingly extraordinary fashion shots in Ruven Afanador's online archives! His eerie twist coupled with an incredible use of lighting, color, geometry, and theatrics has automatically put him at about a 254.7 out of 10 on my "ga-ga meter." While many fashion photographers I have explored solely manipulated the subject of the photo while not having much in the background at all, I fond that Afanador manipulates almost everything in the photo to create a dream-like and slightly bewildering viewing experience. His unmatched spatial and depth perception allow him to manipulate a situation in order to create optical illusion-like situations for people to visually dissect. Afanador has shown me many photography feats that even my childhood dreams could never create.

     Props to Ruven? Of course. 

  

LOOKS I LOVE...Badgley Mischka's colored "Cinderella" gloves!

     Hellooo late blogging on New York Fashion Week. Better late than never, though! Anyways, as I was browsing through the Fashion Week website, I stumbled across something that had me popping up from my midday daze which, for me, is quite a difficult feat! Aside from me drooling over the actual clothing in this comparable-to-chocolate fall collection by Badgley Mischka, I also found myself drooling over these incredibly fantastic colored gloves! Yes, I do realize the last ones are black, but I do believe the sheer "awesome-ness" of this all black stunner will make you not really care about that diminutive detail.
     Let's think about all the times I've talked about pop colored accessories. If you would like to push "command, 'F'" on your computer to count the specific number, go ahead. My point is, if I had the opportunity to do so with these gloves, there would be a front-page story on a strange girl lounging onto the Badgley Mischka runway in attempt to tear gloves off of models.
     These gorgeously color-saturated, leather gloves are the perfect way to add some life to a mostly neutral fall palette. They allow the intricacy of the clothing designs to be displayed without overshadowing them, but can also make a few heads snap back when worn walking down the street! Long gloves slenderize the arm and add contour to a shape in need of definition. Who said the waist and bum were the only places that could be accented positively?? Try this trend out and have fun with the newly rising stream of colors for the fall season to come!

LOOKS LIKE...somebody's got a case of pink eye...literally!

     
     Diseased? Nah. This model's wearing the newest shadow shade hot off the Fashion Week catwalks. Though it appears to be a synthetic replication of a shade that is usually indicative of a developing infection, I kinda like it! This hot pop of color is a fresh departure from the usually burnt and deepened shades of red found in fall collections. 
     Nars makeup artist Diane Kendal created this new shade of red that appeared in New York Fashion Week this year by mixing several red, orange, and pink-toned products including lip pencil, blush and eyeshadow. Now I'm imagining this woman mashing immense quantities of makeup to make this one golden shade...I'll take the leftovers! 
     Want to make your own special shade? Try mixing a few different textures and similar shades of color together and see what beauty or brown mess comes out of it! Mix in a lotion to create an even texture to smooth onto any skin surface!

LOOKS LIKE...plaid has absolutely gone mad!

     Taste the rainbow. Though I am fine with Skittles urging us to do so, I am frankly not as fine when Oscar de la Renta seems to be doing the same. This plaid extravaganza includes literally every color in the rainbow. My multimedia design professor definitely told me that was a no-no as of last week when we were playing games with the color wheel!
     The sleek silhouette and flowy nature of this design are wonderful, but no matter how hard I try, I cannot force myself to think plaid on a dress (or on mostly anything) is even slightly acceptable. An asymmetrical gather on the left side offsets the one-shouldered twist...which i love and dream about every third day of the week...but even this feat cannot compensate for the unfortunately placed plaid.
     Thinking about trying out a peculiar print such as this? Slap on a crazy accessory and keep the rest simple. As much fun as it is to be a walking optical illusion, I'm sure many people would prefer that you refrained from burning out their corneas (including me).

LOOKS LIKE...the stars have not quite aligned!

                                                                                                                           

      Children: this was the very first word that came to mind while I was viewing this quite peculiar Fall 2011 collection by Dolce and Gabbana. From stars to fanny packs to socks with...everything, I felt like whipping out a bottle of warm milk and a binky! 

     Personally, I feel the star is a doomed shape that will forever look misplaced on high fashion designs. They look slightly ridiculous in black and white (though I have the utmost respect for Dolce and Gabbana), and exponentially more so in not one, but two colors. The model on the lower left does not seem to be too pleased to be drowning in a starry sky of many colors. The good news is, she is not wearing a fanny pack.

     Speaking of the little devils, fanny packs on the runway? What has fashion come to? I understand trends must be recycled after a season of many fresh innovations, but this? Not even in my sweating nightmares did I wake up startled from the sight of a fanny pack attached to the hip of a high fashion model.  

                                         If and when a celebrity struts down the street in one of these ensembles, please call my personal phone line immediately and take snapshots with any available media transmitting device so that the world may be exposed to such an awesome feat. 

     Warning: if anyone would like to try this bewildering look out, do not completely blind your peers with an overload of bedazzled stars and/or colors. You will put yourself at a large risk for losing multiple acquaintances in one outfit's time.