DKNY Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

For her winter collection Donna Karan dressed her models like college girls. Not your average ones, but well-dressed college girls from the sixties, complete with side-swept ponytail and mini skirts.

The great thing about the collection was the cohesiveness of it. Color-blocked outfits and autumn hues could be seen throughout the whole show. And Donna Karan had picked all the right colors to combine together.

Looking at the clothes we could only imagine how nice it would be to wear them. The woollen sweaters looked ultra-soft, the woollen coats seemed nice and warm and the pleated trousers appeared super comfy. Besides none of the clothes were too tight or revealed to much skin.

The layering looked just lovely and some sequins added a hint of glamor to a few outfits.

So, we fully embrace Donna Karan’s new collection, yet we have three remarks to make:

1. All models should have worn leggings or panties underneath their mini-skirts
2. The boyfriend blazer from the first look wasn’t very flattering
3. Those woollen hats…..

Tony Cohen Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

At the Salon in New York Dutch designer Tony Cohen showed he’s a true artist when it comes to making women look beautiful. He also proved he belongs at the New York Fashion Week as one of the few foreign fashion labels.

The models he sent out on the runway all looked very sophisticated and mysterious at the same time. Their hair and make-up and the dark shades (black, grey and Burdury red) they wore created that look. The use of luxurious silk, cashmere and wool added to that feeling.

Cohen’s well-known signature aspects – draping and asymmetry – again were the highlight of the collection. Yet Tony Cohen also introduced a third success item: hand crafted embroideries. He designed embroidered gloves, belts, shoulders and tops decorated with sequins. They made the models look even more elegant and will probably be the aspect of this show we remember the best.

A look from this collection we won’t soon forget either was a short black dress with extremely wide transparent draped sleeves. It really stood out and looked astonishing beautiful. Plus: many women would be able to wear it. And this brings us to the success aspect of the collection: every piece of it was wearable. And since many brands are experimenting with crazy shapes and fabrics we were happy to see some well-made, wearable fashion.

Y-3 by Yamamoto Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

On the most romantic day of the year, Valentine’s day, Yohji Yamamoto showed us a very dark side of love.

It all began so well with models handing out red roses to all people sitting front row. Yet after that it turned dark as the Prisoner of Love theme took over.

On his designs Yamamoto had written text like ’23 Years in prison – 20 = Y3′ and ‘Marriage – Love = Run’. Combined with Paul Simon’s track ’50 ways to leave your lover’ it all made up for a dejected vision of love.

Still, the dark side of love seemed to work for Yamamoto. His unexpected proportions, layering and mix and matching never looked this good. We liked his long coats, loose pants, asymmetric skirts and loose woolly capes. And through his use of black and gray the designer managed to add some refreshing bright red, orange, yellow and blue.

Lots of black and white stripes represented the Prisoner of Love theme and on some shoes, bags, hoodies and belts they stood for Adidas.

It appeared that after a miserable year in which Yamamoto almost went bankrupt the designer was able to show more of himself in the Y-3 collection for Adidas.

The collection appealed to us. Though it didn’t necessarily need the masks, bandit scarfs and the fight at the end in which Yamamoto punched a male model down and got punched by a female model himself.

Alexander Wang Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

It looked like Alexander Wang took the traditional banker’s uniform – the darkblue pinstriped suit – deconstructed it and put it together again. The result was sexy and dark, almost with a Belgian touch. But where designers like An Demeulemeester and the early Martin Margiela put a lot of effort in the making, the cut and the fit, it seemed Wang aimed more at the effect. Cropped blazers, tailcoats and vests exposed flashes of skin and were worn with thick thigh-high legwarmers and chunky heels. Layering also played a part in this collection, but was less relaxed. For evening and partywear Wang chose velvet and chenille.

Jason Wu Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

Everybody talked about Jason Wu’s inspiration, photographer Irving Penn, but you better ignore that. The designer just wanted to do something different than the princess-like clothes he’s famous for thanks to Michele Obama. So Wu took a good look at menswear – that’s where the personal style of Penn comes along – and morphed influences into pretty womenswear with a mannish touch. He presented short sleeved jackets, oversized cashmere coats,  mohair sweaters and fold-over pants. The overall look had an appealing, relaxed sensibility. Grey, black, white and blue were the main colors with splashes of mustard, orange, yellow, golden and green.

In the end Wu just couldn’t resist to design a few real princess-dresses, just for the fun of it. I’m sure a few of those will return sooner or later at the White House or some red-carpet event.

Goodiebag !? Jackie’s Best Dressed Award

Hey, we’re not finished yet. There are still a loooot of goodiebags to be rated, for us the season’s just started.  The Amsterdam Fashion Week was a good warming up, though. This time we examined the goodiebag we received at the Jackie Best Dressed Award 2010.

Does anyone knows a good recipe with hazelnut liqueur ?

Useful

3 pieces of candy in plastic seal – Papabubble

Magazine – Audi

Magazine – Jackie

Bottle of hazelnut liqueur – 35cl

Bottle of vitamin water – Sourcy – 50 cl

Shampoo – John Frieda

Heart bracelet + folder – I Love Fashion News

Parfum – Givenchy – 4 ml

Nail Polish – OPI

Spam

Free advice voucher – Ici Paris XL

Folder – Athena 7 minute lift

Card – Givenchy

Folder – Choices by DL

Card – Miljonair magazine

Estimated Value: €20,-

Rating: 7

Jackie’s Best Dressed Award

The sad news about Alexander McQueens death overshadowed the good news that Leontine Borsato won the Jackie Best Dressed Award 2010.

On the eve of 10 February many well-dressed women gathered at the Grand hotel in Amsterdam for this special event. As all magazines have their own award show nowadays, (fashion) magazine Jackie presented her Best Dressed Award.

Jackie formed a jury of four people, including stylist: Bastiaan van Schaik, stylist of the stars: Danie Bles, fashion director from Jackie: Renu Kashyap and the Best Dressed lady of last year: Sylvie van der Vaart.

This jury came up with a list of 25 well dressed Dutch ladies. Only the women in the top 5 of that list were in the running to become Jackie’s Best Dressed. Four of them attended the show, yet only one could win…

Leontine Borsato was chosen as the number one on Jackie’s Best Dressed List. She described her style as diverse and told us she likes to mix and match.

The comments of the jury were: ‘Whether Leontine is dropping of her kids at school or is attending a big premiere, she always looks stunning. She can work many different looks and styles’.

Of course some credits had to go to Leontine’s stylist Danie Bles wo dresses her for every big event.

One more time Alexander McQueen

No more dark, romantic fairytales.

No more beautiful tailored clothes.

No more amazing runway productions.

No more fighting for invitations.

No more stunning strong women on ultra high heels.

No more imagination without limits.

Alexander McQueen (1969-2010)

Ready to fish fashion show fw2010

On the afternoon of 9 February designer Ilja Visser presented her Ready to fish fall/winter collection for 2010/2011. For the fashion show a small fashion audience gathered at a location in the center of Amsterdam. The great building has since a few months become Ilja Visser’s office and within a month a Ilja Visser shop will be opened there too.

At the fashion show we met with Mrs. Forester, a nice well-dressed lady, who protects the forest. Mrs. Forester wears the prettiest clothes, takes care of the trees and the flowers and is always happy. For her the presentation of new collection, which was inspired by this lady, Ilja took us deep into the woods.

While a forest-inspired video was played at the back of the room Mrs. Forester was represented in many woolen outfits like a catsuit and a long buttoned cardigan. Heavy and light fabrics combined together in several outfits formed a great aspect of the collection.

Pants were pleated and draped. A few jackets had the shiny print of hanging leaves all over them. Other pants and tops had moss prints in different natural colors. The models carried clutches with them and wore large hats, which looked splendid.

Ilja held a great show. The materials looked amazing and the location made the show feel extra special. And we…we just got carried away by the whole forest-story.

Hair & Make-up suggestions for the Oscars

When going to the Oscars not only your dress has to look stunning. Your hair, as well as your make-up, has to be mind-blowing. Your overall look just need to be special and different from any other party or award show.

Thus, just letting your hair hang loose is not an option. It has to look like you put some effort into it. You’d have to pin it up, let it braid or let it curl.

The all-time favorite hairstyle at the Oscars seems to be a classical pinned up style. Perhaps finished with a nice hair accessory and eye-catching earrings. Yet while braids have got very popular last year we might see some of that at the Oscars as well.

At the haute couture shows in Paris the hair and make-up looked dramatically over the top. Big, old-fashioned hairstyles were presented and some of the make-up felt a bit drag queenish. Yet trends at fashion shows always get extremily magnified. So it’s good to get some inspiration from it and turn it into your own style.

Just always keep in mind that the Oscars deserve an ultra special look.

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