Archive for 2012
Kate Lanphear, Elle’s Senior Style Director, looking killer as always. I’m not a huge fan of Christian Louboutins anymore but these knee-high boots are fantastic. I had a conversation with a friend of mine the other day about the “hookerish-ness” of Louboutins… the ridiculous platforms and the general lack of taste in his trendy designs. A searing indictment, I know, especially considering the first pair of designer shoes I ever bought for myself were his Simple 85 pumps during college. The red lacquer sole combined with the showgirl vibe of many Louboutins is just too much for me although I still adore the classic round-toe pumps. The older I get the more I find myself lusting after classic heels with a quirky touch. Tabitha Simmons’ more understated shoes are at the top of my wish list these days.
But goddammit these might be the finest pair of femme fatale heels to hit the sidewalks since the Nicholas Kirkwood bondage boots for Rodarte a few seasons ago.
I have such a huge girl-crush on Shala Monroque. She’s always well put together without looking overdone. I love that she wears such a small amount of make-up, if any at all. Nothing she does is ever cliche, she adds her own twist to even the most classic looks, whether it’s an evening gown or a suit. This is all well and good, of course, but it’s her intelligence that really hooked me. A brilliant woman who’s madly in love with fashion! Who’d have thunk it?! I feel like contemporary American culture demeans fashion, as it’s constantly portrayed as being the realm of ditzy girls and superficial bitches in the mainstream media and Hollywood movies. Fashion fanatics are rarely depicted as strong, intelligent woman; which is a shame, because that’s who they really are. The movers and shakers who are leading the world in a variety of fields, from finance to art, are fashion’s real luminaries. I’m ecstatic to see these women being recognized more, whether it’s in publications like Gentlewoman or by retailers like NET-A-PORTER.
Have you ever seen a more perfect fall look built on color-blocking? Ece Sukan, an editor at Vogue Turkey, had a preternatural preference for the “IT” shade of Fall 2012. Her rich raspberry pants, pumpkin orange overcoat, deep burgundy blazer, and saturated oxblood top combine to create a magical symphony of autumnal color. These colors look simply sublime next to one another, and yet the risk of clashing is so great. When Don Draper tells Peggy Olson in Mad Men that good ideas and bad ideas for an advertising campaign are extremely close the same concept applies to fashion. The term “fashion risk” refers to bringing one’s look right up to that demarcation; the edge is where style is born. This woman (who has been identified by a lovely reader as Ece Sukan) knew exactly how to mix these jewel tones in daring yet wholly sophisticated manner. The neutral accessories – black ankle boots, sumptuous leather gloves, a fur collar and taupe purse – help ground this look, as does the tailoring and solid emphasis on colorblocking. A print would have surely been far too much energy on top of these competing hues.
Rodarte and Alexander Wang both featured entire looks composed of oxblood.
Images via Style.com
Ironically enough, I photographed this woman wearing hues of oxblood the day before a Wall Street Journal article by Christina Binkley declared this deep shade of red to be “THE” color for Fall 2012. Oxblood was seen on the Rodarte, Narcisco Rodriguez, Jason Wu, Derek Lam, Costello Tagliapietra, Alexander Wang, and 3.1 Phillip Lim runways, where it was poured over evening dresses and saturated through cable knit sweaters. The anonymous woman on the streets of New York is clearly ahead of the ball on the oxblood trend. But hey, what else do you expect from New York fashion week street-style?
