Real Life vs. Fiction

[mood| busy]
[music| "Boys Boys Boys" - Lady Gaga]

Dear Karl Lagerfeld, a.k.a. The Kaiser,

I love you. I honestly do. You're just a bundle of fantastical, German, Chanel-designing awesomeness. While I sometimes question the choices you make when designing clothing for both the Chanel lines and your self-named line, I appreciate the attention to detail to use with all of your creations. Plus, you dress awesomely for a man your age. Not many men in their seventies can pull off the look that you've created for yourself, but you rock it like it's nobody's business. So, congrats.

Anyways, I decided to take a break from reading the April 2009 issue of Vanity Fair (kudos to Graydon Carter and everyone else at Vanity Fair for choosing the comedians that you did and photographing them the way that you did for this month's issue. My friends who don't normally read your magazine are now clamoring for a copy of their own) to head on over to Style.com for a look-see at the latest stuff from Paris. I've fallen behind a bit in keeping tabs on Fashion Week due to school and whatnot, hence the lack of fashion letters. I shall rectify this during my spring break next week, however. But, more to the point, I click on the link to watch the slideshow of your show for Fall/Winter 2009 Ready-to-Wear for your Karl Lagerfeld collection.

My thoughts proceed as follows: Ok. Some cool stuff here. A bit of biker chic, which I've come to expect considering how Karl Lagerfeld dresses. Fur encrusted, I guess, motorcycle helmets? Interesting. Earrings that look like those huge-ass headphones, only jewel-encrusted? Even more interesting. Hm, stuff that vaguely resembles something that Maison Martin Margiela produced a season ago. And LOTS OF FINGERLESS GLOVES.

Did you read that last part, Karl? LOTS OF FINGERLESS GLOVES. I understand that you have a penchant for wearing fingerless gloves and you know what? That's great. Like I said before, you have a style that doesn't work for a lot of people, but you work it like it's going out of style. "Going out of style" is how I feel about those fingerless gloves. And, again, I get the fact that your Karl Lagerfeld line is pretty much a translation of what you would wear if you were a woman, or if Hedi Slimane were a woman, but really? It's one thing to have fingerless gloves in the style that you're apt to wear, but it crosses a very thin line when you make FINGERLESS OPERA GLOVES. What woman in her right mind is going to show up to a formal/red carpet event rocking some bitchin' gown and FINGERLESS OPERA GLOVES? Unless it's someone like Mischa Barton or Lindsay Lohan, I HIGHLY doubt anyone would. But then again, Mischa and Lindsay aren't really in their right minds, are they? I might have a coronary if I see A.Dubs put them in the next issue of Vogue. Although Carine Roitfield might, if only to rub it in Anna Wintour's face how "daring and edgy" Vogue Paris is. (I love US Vogue, but let's face it: I see a lot of the same things from a lot of the same designers on the same models. And while they are usually both designers and models that I love, it gets kind of predicable after a while. Plus US Vogue needs some Tim Walker in its life.)

So. To end this, I would like to say that when you start creating your Karl Lagerfeld Ready-to-Wear collection for Spring/Summer 2010, design as though you have Tim Gunn near you saying wise words such as, "That's a whole lot of look," or, "Edit, edit, edit," or, my personal favorite, "DON'T BORE NINA".

With love,

Mia

[mood| jubilant]
[music| "Kill the Lights" - Britney Spears]

Dear Anna Sui,

Words cannot possibly describe how I felt about your show for F/W '09. I had to look at it a second time because, the first time around, I was too busy gaping (and gasping) at the models walking your show. I was in the middle of my Honors class stifling my awe as I fangirled in my chair, letting out inner squees of joy. I could only take so much as I flicked through the slideshow on Style.com as some of my favorite models walked down your runway, in this order: Agyness Deyn (Who not only opened, but closed the show as well. Her first appearance in NYC, thus far), Sasha Pivovarova, Natasha Poly, Lily Donaldson, Lara Stone, Snejana Onopka, and Vlada Roslyakova. Also in your show were some of my other favorites: Kinga Rajzak, Jourdan Dunn, Jessica Stam (!!), Liu Wen, Du Juan, and, on occasion, Katrin Thormann. Not to mention models that are quickly becoming popular on and off the runway: Hanne Gaby Odiele, Isabeli Fontana (well, she's been around, but she's starting to get work again since having a baby), Iris Strubegger, and Toni Garrn. It was as though you delivered a one, two punch to the part of my heart reserved for the fashion industry.

So now that my fangirlishness has subsided, let's talk about the clothes.

I love you, Anna; I really do. And your clothes are fabulous in all of their Victorian England-inspired ways. I almost bought one of your dresses a couple of seasons back for prom. It was either that or this AMA-zing black cocktail dress from Chloe with this lovely black bow that tied at the waist. I loved both of them on me. The dressing room girls at Nordstrom's loved both of them on me. I was gunning for a two-fer when my mom looked at the price tags and put her foot down, crushing both mine and the dressing room girls' dreams. Needless to say, I have moved on, though, both dresses have been imprinted in my memory.

Anyways, I'm starting to feel as though I'm seeing a lot of the same things. I understand that each designer has the special something about them, that signature bit that keeps customers season after season. For the boys of Proenza Schouler, it's the faux-corset/busier bodice. For Hussein Chalayan, it's the structural, almost other-worldly aesthetic that pushes the boundaries of what can be produced for the industry/what defines what is in "style". For you, dear Anna, it seems to be your penchant for lace and Victorian details. And again; I have no problems with that. In fact, I liked your line a lot this season. The boots were incredibly cute and looked, surprisingly, practical in comparison to some of the other offers I've seen thus far (Laura and Kate Mulleavy of Rodarte, I have a bone to pick with you. Great boots, but how the hell would you get those bad boys on?), and some of the details of the dresses were fun and flirty; something I've come to expect from you. I also enjoyed the dresses near the end with the moon-and-bling encrusted headbands and the little moon brooches on the dresses themselves.

But, like I said before, I feel like I've seen a lot of this before. All I ask is for a bit of a surprise the next time I see your line on the runways.

With love,

Mia

[mood| shocked]
[music| "Mr. Hurricane" - Beast]


So I'm walking through the Marshall Center with Rio maybe 30 minutes ago and this blonde girl walks by with one of the newest (or relatively new...) quilted Chanel bags. I was going to compliment her on her choice of a fabulous bag when I see that the signature white double C's on the bag have been BEDAZZLED. And not in a tastefully done way, either. These big chunks of faux gems were attached to that poor bag in an effort to make the bag look cooler/classier than it already is.

Chanel's classy enough.

Eugh. I was momentarily mortified by it.

Oh! And speaking of fashion, if anyone has any suggestions of really fantastic editorials/ads/pretty much anything that I might be able to purchase/print out, feel free to suggest away. Reason? I'm making this massive collage on one of the walls in my room when I get back from Thanksgiving break, that will be finished by the time I get back from winter break, filled with editorials, ads, and things I find off of the 'Net. If you find something online, bonus points if I can heart it onto my weheartit.com account. :D That way I just have easy access to it.