FW06 Trend: Plaid on the Streets

Now we move on from the runway to the actual wearing of the plaid. This whole post may be an eye soar with its overload of plaids, but just remember to match them with simple and elegant clothing (read simple styles and plain colors) in real life.

Starting with the basics, we have the plaid dress shirt. To make sure you don’t look like a cowboy, this season they’ve added more feminine touches to them. At See by Chloe (left), they rounded the collar and at Top Shop (right), they added a girly ribbon belt. Then there are cool short plaid jackets that’ll look great for everyday wear with skinny jeans. These two are from Urban Outfitters (left) and Juicy Couture (right). Also from Urban Outfitters we have this cute plaid trench coat and tunic shirt. And is it just me or does the model on the right look like Rory from Gilmore Girls.
Next we have this plaid blazer and pencil skirt set from Top Shop. But please, do not wear them together, you’d look like a walking table cloth. Wear them separately, the blazer with jeans and shirt and the pencil skirt with a dressy white top for the hot office look.

For pants, we have something bold from Anthropologie. More from Anthropologie, we have this plaid trench, which is understated and stylish and this adorable shift dress. I recently bought sometime very similar shift dress from Zara, green with subtle black plaid lines, which I match with my footless stockings and platforms.On the other side of the ocean, we have these more ladylike offerings from Top Shop. I can’t decide which kind of coat I like most! I also rather like the simple design of the dress with the belt, it is very elegant. Unfortunately, I tried it on at the store the last time I went to London and the fit wasn’t that good. But maybe it is just me?For more fun casual dresses, I am loving these styles from Forever 21. Take a book from Amanda from Ugly Betty and wear it with dress shirts and black turtlenecks to keep you warm and stylish!

British Vogue Dec 2006: Happy 90th Birthday!

British Vogue is celebrating its 90th anniversary this month with an absolutely fabulous issue. This issue is no normal Vogue -it's more like a little history viewbook of the important things at Vogue from the 30s to now, including past...

• Major contributors
• Iconic models
• Current events that Vogue reported on
• Beauty style
• Perfume

Dubbed 'Covers of Covers', this cover opens up to be a four page spread of past covers. With no sub-headings (what's in the magazine) or a clear cover shot, it certainly is one of the most daring mass market magazine covers I have seen in a long time. To find out which year each little cover is from, go check out vouge.co.uk.

One of the things I loved about this issue is the art. It had elements of the old Vogue, such as illustrations (as the one seen above), and the modern Vogue. Even though I usually hate historical-looking things, the 'historical' things in this issue, such as reprinting pages from past issues of Vogue and an editorial comparing how the old and current editors dress, are so charming and interesting to read about.

For this fashion shoot, Vogue borrowed beautiful Vintage pieces:

In this photo, Gemma is wearing a tulip dress by Christian Dior By Yves Saint Laurent 1958, a skull sweater by Vivienne Westwood/ Malcolm McLauren 1975 and an Eighties heart-print top by Rachel Auburn.

And in this photo, Gemma is wearing a Givenchy 1963 gown (which is identical to one that Audery Hepburn wore), a jacket by Christian Lacroix 1988 and shoes by Manolo Blahnik 1994.

And since this is such an iconic issue of Vogue, of course there was a photo editorial with Kate Moss modelling. The theme of this editorial is 'The Clothes That Changed Our Lives', basically, the basics of our wardrobes.

Fashion companies congratulated Vogue by putting in a more-than-usual number of advertisements. Anyways, my point is, this issue is simply amazing and an obvious collector's item. If you're a true fashion lover, then you must own it!

FW06 Trend: Plaid on the Runway

Once a Scottish pattern used only by a few select fashion houses, this season plaids are all over the runway- and they're cooler than ever! Witness its transformation from boring old traditional pattern to fashion stardom this season:

First off, it was rocked up by Alexander McQueen on his runway, with clever draping, genius combos and rock on accessories. Of course, it also helped that Sarah Jessica Parker was seen wearing that dress (right) on the red carpet.Another fashion house that contributed greatly to the revival of the plaid is Balenciaga. The stark big plaid patterned combined with the strong silohuette of the collection is just genius, giving us a refreshing and sharp vision of plaid. I just LOVE this runway.

Even the traditional house of plaid, Burberry, gave us something different this season, combining these more typical plaid patterns into the Burberry look.

Another more funky and modern twist on the plaid by Luella. I love how she uses plaid for such unlikely designs and combinations and yet it still looks cool.

For something not quite so sharp and more casual and grungy, take a page from the Marc Jacobs runway. It looks so cool here on the runway. Although I cannot help but wonder if I'd be able to achieve the same effect with a table cloth and some expert knotting. . .

Personally though I am not much for all out plaids. I prefer something more subtle. Hence my love for these looks from the Moschino runway- the dark subtle plaids and the clever designs is genius. There are also lots of variations of it, so much that I couldn't decide which to put up- so I decided to put them all up! These two here represent the more casual looks. I know, the skirt on the right is not subtle, but I just wanted to let you see the variety on the catwalk.

These two are the more dressy looks. And my favourites!

THE image that stuck in my head after looking at the Ralph Lauren FW06 runway was this absolutely divine plaid dress (right). The use of this shiny material is just perfect, adding an extra touch of glam to the already elegant design. A little bit more casual (but still glam) there is this cute shiny plaid dress from Zac Posen (left).

This Week BG is Loving. . .

I admit, I've been slack in my skin care regime recently, since due to my luggage limit I'd decided to go without any masks or scrubs for ten weeks. That in addition to the change of weather however has made my skin unforgiveably dry. And so this week I finally gave in and bought the Caudalie Moisturizing Cream-Mask in an emergency attempt to put moisture back into my skin.
So far after one try, its been pretty good. My skin is somewhat restored to its usual state- must be all the grape seed polyphenols (although it may also be because I've been holed up in my room all day writing my paper- again!). The thing I love most about it though is how versatile it is. It can be used as a mask for the eye area as well- most cannot. And, it can be used as a more intensive moisturizer. Definitely something worth trying!

The British Fashion Awards 2006

Last night was the British Fashion Awards, which is a big thing in the UK. (Unfortunately, not a lot of big names actually attend British events -it's really more of a British fashion insiders' thing.)

Laura Bailey looking like her normal gorgeous self in Burberry.

Erin O'Conner -No idea why she was nominated for the Model of the Year Award, since I can't remember her in much shoots this year, but she does look great in the simple but funky dress.

Daphne Guinness in a Chanel dress and Christian Lacroix coat.

Vivienne Westwood, who won the Accessory Designer award, dressed up... different from the others as usual.

Kate Moss not surprisingly, won the Model of the Year Award. I know a lot of people are complaining about how it's not right for a highly-publicised drug-user to get the award, but honestly, compared to the other two nominees (Alex Wek and Erin O-Conner), Kate Moss has obviously worked a lot more and achieved more success. Anyways, see my old post on Kate Moss's ads this season.

(Left) Giles Deacon, Designer of the Year winner. (Right) Eugene Soulieman, Fashion Creator winner.

Since Giles isn't a well-known international brand, I thought I might remind you of the clothes. Above is a snapshot of the Giles FW06 collection.

BG's Paris Diary Week 5

Wow it feels like the weekends- besides that tiny little thing I have tomorrow that involves getting up at 7.30am in the morning called class. Anyways, so this week I went to two places I normally wouldn't go if I were here as a tourist.

This weekend, I went to the Salon du Chocolat, which is basically the chocolate exhibition where chocolate houses all around the world gather in one big room with little booths and give out samples. It was awesome. We just walked around for 2 hours and stuffed ourselves full with samples. My favourite one was a booth near the front called De Chocolat Neuville (shown above center). It was delicious. Apart from the sampling, there were also lots of demonstrations of people carving chocolate (above right), making brownies and shaping chocolates.

Then there was the show. According to the schedule it is suppose to be a chocolate fashion show, but since I had no idea what the mc was saying in French, it could also very well be the ms chocolat contest I was trying to watch. I didn't get a really good look at the clothes because it was so crowded that I could barely see the stage. But judging from the pictures, the clothes don't look like chocolate. . . . so I don't know. But anyway, it was still a great experience and I highly recommend it to everyone who happens to be around the city the chocolate show is going to be at. Their next stop I believe is New York!

Then on Wednesday the French holiday, we took a 1.5hour train ride to the town (or is it a city?) of Reims, Champagne. We visited the absolutely amazing Cathedrale Notre Dame de Reims- this picture does not do it justice. At the height of gothic architecture, it is fabulously intricate and elongated. I just studied this cathedral last year in class, so it was even more cool seeing it in real life.

And of course, one cannot go to the Champagne region and not drink champagne right? We visited the Piper Heidsieck Champagne House (it was the closes on the map!) and went on their tour + wine tasting package for only 8euros. The tour was interesting. . it involved us sitting in an automatic car touring the underground cellar where they explained the process of champagne making with demonstrated by cement grapes, hands and people on the way, which was kind of freaky. That place would make the perfect setting of a horror movie. Afterwards we sat in the bar area and had our champagne though, which was nice. So yes, this is a must go if you're ever have the time.

To end with a piece of random knowledge, did you know that champagne cannot be called champagne unless it is made in the Champagne region of France? Any other champagne made in the world can only be called sparkling wine!

Splashes of Red

If you are like me and simply cannot Glam it out in Red, then you might want to use splashes of red to light up your AW06 wardrobe instead.

Starting with the basic accessories, spice up your outfit and keep warm at the same time with red scarves and boots. I especially LOVE how they matched the snowflake patterned red scarf with white and denim in the D&G runway (left), and the Moschino Cheap & Chic on the right is just so cute!

Or you can take a tip from the Givenchy (left) and D Squared (right) runway and get red belts! Pair a simple and neat one for a sophisticated chic look. Or a funky bow one for a more casual outfit.

Then of course there are the red bags as in the Diane von Furstenburg and Vuitton runway.

For something more interesting, take a page from the Givenchy and Marc by Marc Jacobs runway and have red gloves or red sleeves sticking out for layers!

To achieve the D&G look, pair your cutest white and denim winter outfits with these adorable scarves from American Eagle (left) and Urban Outfitters (right).

Also available at Urban Outfitters are these fabulous boots and skimmers. I especially adore these slouchy platform boots. And those skimmers are just perfect for everyday wear on campus under jeans and skirts.

Is it just me, or are big red bags just everywhere? I know at least 3 people with big red bags. These two are from Shop Intuition (left) and Levi’s (right). The Shop Intuition one reminds me very much of this black one they have at Chanel.

Belt-wise, check out these ones from Urban Outfitters (left) and Elegantly Waisted from Shopbop (right). The one from Shopbop is definitely “elegantly waisted” although it can be pretty hard to carry off correctly, even the model doesn’t look that perfect in the picture.

For something simpler to wear, there is this adorable headband from Marc by Marc Jacobs (left) and this plastic bangles by Kenneth Jay Lane from Shopbop (right).