SS06 Dress Trends I: Printed Silk

The spring collections are in their full form. Out shopping this weekend, I was in awe of all the delicious offerings of this spring, trying to take it all in at once.

In particular, I was very inspired by the dresses at Marc by Marc Jacobs. Especially the printed silk ones, like this one shown above. It is just sooo beautiful, with the shiny slinky material and the vibrant bold prints!

Kay Unger New York also has a rather stunning dress, which is just as shiny and colorful, with a more fitted design.

This floral printed dress from Celine is all you need for a hot summer day.

The colors are not just limited to the blue/green palette either. This red printed paisley (i think?) silk dress from Shoshanna does the trick just as well!

Other similar dresses can be found at Anthropologie, like this one here, designed by Anna Sui. Yet another designer design at an affordable price-well relatively anyway. But I definitely love this dress more than any offered at Target by Luella.

This blue dress from Top Shop is not made of silk, but it looks very vibrant and shiny-in a crinkly way.

And lastly there is this silk floral dress from Free People. But please-not with those boots.

Milan Fall / Winter 2006 Wrapup V

The week sure flew by. I can't believe there's only Paris Fashion Week left, and only two weeks of school left before Easter holidays. Anyways...

Versace Dontella continues her sucess at the SS06's shows by showing another strong collection. This collection's clothes were not only about glitzy nor slutty. Instead, most garments were mono-colored, beautifully cut clothes, and still retaining the glamour of course. The colors revolved around navy, purple, green and black and many fabrics used were shiny (such as silk and patent leather). The collection basically consisted of coats, and lots and lots of dresses. And speaking of dresses, they are SO gorgeous, and obvious glam in an elegant way. You take one glance at the collection and you'll know FW06's Versace women is all about strength.

Fendi
I'm sure everyone knows about the photographers' stage accident before the show, which could explain why the Fendi runway photos look rather sh*tty. But anyhow, let's focus back on the clothes. Hmm, on the first glance, I really didn't like this collection, thinking it was awkward and dull. And on second glance, I still didn't like the collection. The clothes had an interesting concept behind the design but I can't totally get into the mood of the collection. There was also a seriously overwhelming selection of fur coats. While some is great luxury, this was just too much:

However, I did notice an interesting similarity between this collection and the Dolce & Gabbbana collection -both have the military and princess look from the respective inspired eras. Take a look of the transfomation from military to royalty at Fendi FW06:

In the Napolean themed Dolce & Gabanna FW06 show, again notice the military and princess contrast:

Carnivale of the Couture VII Round Two

"Surprise darling! You have just won the lottery! How will you, the super fabulous fashionable blogger, spend your US$10m winnings? Tell us all about your money-spending plan!"

I admit, this is a question I have spent many a lecture pondering. Especially ever since my econ teacher told us the interesting fact that most lottery winners actually end up bankrupt a few years after they win the lottery. I would like to think that should I ever DO win the lottery, I will be more intelligent than that. So just in case I win, here is what I am going to do with it: a nice apartment in HK for my parents and me (2-3M), a nice pad in NYC for me to launch whatever career I want (1.5M?), pay my parents back for college and more (1M), leave some aside for grad school (0.5M?), invest 4M diversly and smartly (once I learn) so I can live relatively comfortably off the interest for the rest of my life, for once set myself free and go on a shopping spree without thought to the cost, versatility and durability (although I'm not sure I can actually do that), buy iamfashion.com and rent a club in NYC and throw myself a fabulous 21st birthday party, flying all my friends, family and fellow fashion bloggers over for the event. Yeah. I know, not very practical when u take tax into account.

Lets see what the rest of our fellow fashionista's came up with:

Darling Andrea from Papier Doll spent it all in a record 30 minutes! Fully into the fantasy of it all, she will be hiring all the rejected models/designers from Project Runway and ANTM for her own catwalk line and pampering herself from head to toe in the best NY has to offer in prep for the celebrity spotlight.

I am humbled by the generosity of the very-stylish-lawyer-to-be's over at Shangrilaw. La Retrosessuale will donate to her favourite animal charities because animals is peoples, too. only better. After going on holiday and replacing the creativty law school has sapped from her, La Zapatotista will then devote the rest to beautifying the minds and body of the yale population. La Dulcinea will give to charities ran by friends-esp the Bolivian Street Children Project, which she will be doing life fulfilling work for. La Quesadilla will be eating shrimps while undertaking worthy public interest work and giving to UNICEF and Zisize. La Arrabiata will invest and give to her parents, relatives, village and non profit charitable organizations- provided that 10m is not enough to buy Jon Stewart for her own amusement & delight.

After giving to her family, the Catwalk Queen, she is going on a superfabulous trip to Vegas, where she will be living at the Venetian and indulging in many frivolous shopping sprees with the likes of manolos, jimmy's, louboutin, chloe, fendi, DvF etc. before settling down and writing a book.

The ladies at Pursed Lips will be starting their own dream handbag lines. Designer Ella has a detailed plan for her 3 lines at the ready and Mallory will make nothing but the best.

At Katy's Theme Party, she will be getting into shape with her personal trainer/chef and driving a mini cooper from her london/italy pad to the magazine office she opened in her Chanel suits.

Bibi at Red Apple will take a plane without baggage for Polynesia, where she will begin her round the world trip buying everything she needs on the way!

Bagsnob, even in the sickbed from the flu, managed to find time to do some spending. After getting all the birkins, kellys and 'trend bags' etc, she will fly off to her suites on an oceanliner, where she will be getting Le Prairie spa treatments from head to toe.

Here, we would like to thank everyone for contributing to the carnivale of the couture VII, your response has been overwhelming and it was our pleasure to read all about how you will spend your lottery winnings. And last but not least, we would like to thank the Manolo, for making this all happen, you are indeed superfantastic.

Milan Fall / Winter 2006 Wrapup IV

Yes I know, this is very late and doesn't even qualify as friday anymore. But in my defense, I was busy downtown swiping up this cute white down jacket 70% off from $290 and this gorgeous white party top 50% off. Its was an unresistible bargain. After this, I swear I will stop shopping even if they happen to be a total bargain. . . until spring break at least. By then, all the spring wear will probably be out and there won't be anything on sale, which will deter me from purchasing anything and I will be safe. Anyway, enough of my little declaration, lets get back to Milan!

Alessandro Dell'Acqua
I admit. I was going to be lazy and not write about Dell'Acqua. But then, I caught sight of his coats and just couldn't resist! The subtle embroidery at the bottom of the first coat and the cute cutting of the second coat-exquisite! And the oversized cardigan actually looked good cinched at the waist with the belt-instead of the oversized granny cardigan it could potentially be.

Moschino
The Moschino collection was basically a more subdued and scottish version of their Cheap & Chic collection. Lots of bows, prints and cuteness-just with more subdued colors, subtle scottish and dotty prints, slouchy stockings and smoother, less sharp cuttings. I love how the prints are so subtle instead of being all out there, I think it adds a touch of elegance. I can totally seeing myself in the cute embroidered jacket in the second pic. And the oriental buttoned jacket combined with the subtle scottish print, creates an intriguing international flair to the look.

Dolce and Gabanna

I haven't read any reviews or such on the Dolce and Gabanna runway, but looking at the pictures, here is what comes to mind: military/sailor with a luxurious twist. The multilayered jacket illusion created in the first picture is just genius, when its actually just a coat, over a vest and pocketed pants.The gold coils and rich blue velvet-why it is actually simple! And the gold dress is just divine.

Burberry Prorsum
Christopher Bailey has truly outdone himself this time. Just when we were getting bored of the classic trench, he goes and revamps it in such a way that all I can think about is just how very much I want one of these!! The classic burberry quilted pattern and prints were given a twist, and the fur was added just perfectly that it is not too overpowering or old. Love all the trench coats, especially the white trench coat with the subtle burberry print on it. That is just beautiful!! Apart from the trench coats, asymmetrically layered tiered skirts (no, not the gypsy kind), like in the last pic, was very prominent as well. I'm still not too sure about them, they don't look too flattering. Oh and Chris Bailey is CUTE!

Milan Fall / Winter 2006 Wrapup III

Gucci
Glam. Frida Giannini's latest offering was most definitely that. Unlike her last collection-which was rigid and really not that flattering-composed of strong powerful colors of red hot, electric purple and gold, loose and cinched at all the right places, this collection was out there, sexy, provocative and damn hot! Here are just a few of my favourite pieces, its definitely worth checking out the whole collection.

Moschino Cheap & Chic

A brand that I've only recently come to love, Moschino Cheap & Chic just like it was last season, was flirty, fun and chic. Its interesting how it is cute and just a little bit slutty at the same time. This season, lots of patterns were used, from the flowery(?) pattern on the skirt of the first pic, to dots, leopards and what I suspect is newspaper print. All were incorporate together very cutely with lots and lots of bows everywhere from the neckline, bags to shoes. Also note the scrunched up stocking trend also prevailing over this runway. And I don't know if its just me, but does the purple leopard print skirt not look slutty to anyone else?

Pollini

What can I say? Prints catch my eye. Rifat Ozbeck's collection for Pollini definitely has a lot of that. And I actually like these pretty geometric patterns, because it somehow reminds me of the persians and luxurious things. Of course, only Lily Cole will look good drenched head to toe in it. But taking these pieces one by one, it could be just the thing to spice up the otherwise neutral palette of your F/W05-06 wardrobe. The third dress looks very intriguing. Huge circular eyewear was also very prominent on this runway. Thats cool. But I just wonder if she can see through the white closed eyed contraption covering her eyes. . .

Milan Fall / Winter 2006 Wrapup II

Prada
Prada is one of the few shows that I really anticipate each season, and that is because to us normal civilians, Prada is the 'expect the unexpected' show. We, well at least I, can never guess which direction Miuccia will be heading next. And it was certainly a suprise of the sudden change in direction -right into the jungles. I usually hate loud, jungle-influenced clothes, but good thing Miuccia is the queen of the subtle luxuries. She somehow manages to mix jungle influences, such as wild-looking fur and leopard prints onto garments without being overbearing or slutty. Although there was one exception: a particularly ugly coat with fur only on the sleeves, (I didn't post it because I didn't like it.) Who would ever have thought the words jungle and IQ can be in the same picutre?
But what I love most the most about this Prada collection (and Prada in general) is the collaboration of style and intelligence. This collection is not only for looking sexy, pretty nor rich, but as Miuccia calls it 'go back to strength and the sober side.'
The color palette is in every sense sober -black, grey, dark green and navy. To liven up the collection a bit, there were a few dark, metallic pieves. Prada nylon raincoats and sportswear were reworked and now even more stylish. And instead of mono-fabric, each coat had isolated patches of fur, such as the collars, the sleeves and even the back. Many tops were corset-like, or had a exterior bra on them -perhaps the sign of smart, feminine couture?
As for accessories, belts are still a must-have. The bags continue to big like last season, except next season with even more luxurious material such as fur and exotic skins. Many models walked out carrying books by her side, but take a closer look and you will also see shiny and studded clutches. The oh-so-lovely Prada shoes were platform high mary-janes -some of plain leather, some with studs, and some with detailed prints.
And finally, how to look stylishly smart next season? A clean face with plum-stained lips.

Emilio Pucci

Suddenly we are all more aware of Pucci than before -thanks to its new creative director Mathew Williamson. Apart from vague impressions of mulit-color prints, I really have no idea what Pucci's typical style is. And this collection while I don't completely feel the Pucci 'feel', there are a lot of pretty, individual pieces. The whole collection felt like a whirlwind of purple, grey, black and white, changing back and forth from a mono-color outfit to another pschodelico-printed dress and then to pretty, girly dresses. I loved the dresses -so wearable and can be both casual or dressy. And look at those little fur collar scarves and ribbons around the waists -totally adorable!

Marni

Marni this season is very... Marni -beautiful and elegant in an artistic, imperfect way. Blue and grey were the dominant colors, with frequent spots of dusty pink, ivory-peach, red and brown. There were too many simple, gorgeous tops and skirts to list here, and sometimes they look ordinary in photos, but you will fall in love with them when you see them in stores. The white belt and black elbow-length gloves are the must-own accessories for the Marni woman next season.