Camille Belle in Marie Claire's October Issue

The latest issue of Marie Claire featured a fashion spread that was love at first sight. The spread featured the lovely Camille Belle styled by none other than Marie Claire's Nina Garcia, with the intention of showing the timeless Christian Dior Bar Jacket, which has transcended the generations and become iconic within the fashion realm.
The fashion spread stood out to me because the classic feminine looks were portrayed in the style of a World War Two post-era, when Dior aimed to re-establish glamour and femininity in a time of hardships and "drabness".
The pictures, photographed by Matt Jones, capture an effortless elegance that emanates from Camille on each page of the spread and brings the clothing to life.
Personally, I have always missed the simplicity of girly gloves, flirtatious hats, and feminine sillouhettes that were so prominent in past decades.

I praise Marie Claire for this beautiful spread that is a treat to the eyes and -in one word- classic.

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The Recession Inspires a New Approach to Make Up

Recession. The words itself may have seemed to make the fashion world quiver in their Louboutins; on the contrary though, the old adage of "when the going gets tough, the tough gets going" has never been more true as fashion rises to the occasion in a time of economic hardship.

In Vogue's September 2009 issue an article written by the talented Sarah Mower explores how make up is fashion's new frontier during this recession. In the past, such as in the tough times between 1929 and 1933, red lipstick was the "last ditch luxury" for women of the day, but today's trying times are pushing the envelope of self expression and allowing it to extend beyond our clothing choices and to our faces and hair. As noted in Mower's article, the eighties have been showing in the latest fashions, but now is beginning to show in the make up choices that top designers have been using for their latest runway shows.

So fashionistas, the point of this is that forget the rule of only having bold lips or bold eyes! Lose inhibitions and pretenses and explore your color palette and make up choices: bold eyes, bright colors, whatever is your fancy is now the latest trend, as Francois Nars puts it, "when everything is pretty down, its a moment to have fun with make up."

Project Runway Recap: Avant-Garde Challenge

If you are as addicted to Twitter as I am then you will have seen the Project Runway tweet frenzies over last night's swimwear/avant-garde elimination challenge. I was excited that this week's challenge was avant-garde and allowed the designers to flex their creative muscles and wow the judges (and of course the viewers) with their creations. Most of the competitors worked with their chosen teammates well and revealed an outfit that shined on the runway; but unfortunately there were some (ahem..Mitchell we're looking at you) that failed to impress. Mitchell was sent home last night for opting to leave the sewing needle untouched and simply let his fellow team leader, Ra'mon, do all the work. Mitchell's lack of effort sent him packing, but Ra'mon walked away as winner of last night's challenge and with immunity from elimination in next week's show. Of all the models to strut down the runway, it was Shirin's team that showed the outfit that I most enjoyed: the floor length beautiful, blue satin dress. Irina's team was one of the teams to make it in the top three with their avant-garde creation that was a brown dress with a large shoulder bow that nearly eclipsed the model; however, the dress had an intricately woven bodice that displayed excellent craftsmanship. Logan and Christopher's creation took a step outside of the box and gave a bizarre look that resembled a gothic, futuristic ballgown that had a sleeveless zippered top that melted into an abundance of black and yellow taffeta.

Overall the looks were fabulous and kudos to the designers for taking risks in their designs!

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What we mean by Fashion Forward

It has come to my attention that we use the term "fashion forward" frequently on this blog and that there may be some confusion about what exactly constitutes being fashion forward. So fashionistas, here is our definition:

to be fashion forward is both a mentality and a style. When one is fashion forward they are experimental in their apparel choices, combining trends and looks that result in an eye catching ensemble that we love. Being fashion forward does not only apply to one's courageous fashion sense but also to their love of everything fashion related. The desire for people to know what are the latest trends and to stay updated on fashion news earns the title of fashion forward too!

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high fashion picture by Karl Lagerfeld

Styles from the Streets

These two off-the-street people managed to make me glance twice and even whip out my blackberry for a snapshot of their outfits, here's why:

This man's outfit caught my attention today by how he was able to incorporate various styles and throw them together effortlessly to make a relatively fashion forward outfit. He wore a navy blue prep blazer decorated with random pins of his choosing with a crisp white shirt emphasized by a striped tie. On the bottom he wore linen shorts with a forest green hue that matched that of his "New York cab driver" hat, while his shoes (which unfortunately do not show in this picture) were worn in black cowboy boots. The overall appearance was preppy, laid back, and managed to combine many trends I have been seeing.

The woman pictured to the right reminded me of Gossip Girl's Serena, whose style is so easily thrown together and friendly that you cannot help but like her instantaneously. This woman wore a white shirt with a beautiful, beaded vest, a red patent leather handbag, a bright yellow skirt, flats, and a strawberry bandana that tied together the red bag and black vest.

My cellphone shots do not serve these outfits justice, but suffice to say the colors, accessories, and random pieces used by these two were worth noting.

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