One of the easiest ways to wear clothes is in block black, striking colours, or simple separates. An attention to detail always helps for the final coup de grace: make sure you have well made seams (keep an eye out for French or bound seams - designers love them), and the garment will be sure to hang itself off you almost as if you were a mannequin in a Chanel/Dior/Prada store window (delete as appropriate). However, one might want to go a little further by heading for a touch of embellishment, material pleats, or beading, et cetera. I chose the leading shot for this piece because of its wonderful intricacy (please don’t wear this down the King’s Road. It’s just for inspiration guys). We’re talking high class design, architectural splashes of inspiration, & the real way to flash a bit of clash without the trash.
At first this might seem a bit dauntingly expensive a pursuit. Beads, gems and handiwork labourers do not come cheap in this economic climate. But then there was vintage. Like the answer to many a fashionista’s sourcing query, vintage stores & sites enable us everyfolk to get our mitts on some pretty fabulous stuff. Check out these pics I took recently of a really cute dress hanging in an uber-trendy clothing store whilst in New York:
(fyi: lower east side, manhattan, near nyu. Unfortunately I forgot to take down the name of the shop, so anyone over on that side of the pond, well you’ll just have to get out those fashion antennae & do a bit of searching in the city...)
Below we have our beloved LC demonstrating a gorgeous Jenny Packham dress. What I love with this piece (& that makes it fit effortlessly into LA without being too high-glamour) are the jewel & coral tones: a reflection of the sand dunes & the sweet, sweet blue skies of Los Angeles but mixed up with the delicate beads & feathers of an artisan at her most inspirational. & fyi, this from a London-based designer.
The best of late, however, has to be Diane Kruger in Valentino. A breath of fresh air in canary yellow, she turned up in this in stunning ensemble but a few days ago & certainly wowed the crowds, as always. Speechless. What more can we say? C’est tout.
Liz Hurley (with Eva Herzigova) is a devoted fan of Jenny Packham. Don’t let this put you off. (Let’s face it, this dress would look one thousand times better on Kate Moss, or Eva, if you know what I mean):
Now these clearly weren’t created with a simple Singer machine & one pair of hands. Dior, Spring 2009:
Pleats & fringes, swings & roundabouts. Exciting ways to embellish:
Another of my pics from nyc, love this shop! Note to self: keep a pen & paper handy if you can’t be arsed to remember the name of an amazing little one-of-a-kind boutique in a fairyland store.
Picture Sources:
Leading pic: Chanel: http://farm4.static.flickr.com
Lauren Conrad: in Jenny Packham, http://thetrendsetter.files.wordpress.com
Liz Hurley in Jenny Packham, Diane Kruger in Valentino: www.instyle.com
Dior: http://images.teamsugar.com
Emma Watson & Natalia Vodianova: www.dailymail.co.uk (please do not be hatin’ on me for sourcing this pic from here, it was what Google images threw up!)
