It's Fashion Month And People Wear Clothes

Aw, man. Fashion month. Please tell me you didn't lose faith in me and thought I forgot about it. I might have the memory of a goldfish, and no offence to any goldfishes out there, but really. "Every year the women of New York leave the past behind and look forward to the future... this is known as Fashion Week." said the wise Carrie Bradshaw. Besides, I run a fashion blog. (Ha as if that make a difference. But just thought I should throw it out there. You know, like a fun fact. I don't even know how this is a fun fact but oh well. I bet no one actually is reading this introduction and just want to look at the pretty photographs). There are a lot of street style photographs that caught my eye this season, and being the OCD person I am, I categorized them all into categories. You know, just in case you still care about the street style scene at New York Fashion Week when London Fashion Week is already ending.

Excuse My J.W. Anderson

Actually, don't excuse it at all. Take it all at full force if you want to. J.W. Anderson's debut collection for Topshop is nothing short of fun, fun and fun. Get it yet? Fun. Think oversize shirts with blown-up prints, sweaters with ghosts and bats, loose plaid pants and prints on everything. Print-blocking overload, right there already. If I were to summarize all this in one sentence, I would say a Wednesday Addams-gone-preppy-and-grunge. Which is basically a description of me, myself and my whole aesthetic in general. Which basically explains why I'm jumping up and down and squealing with joy and begging my mum to help my buy one of those jumpers because I have school tomorrow. So, yeah. And hold onto your hats, because that's not all. This is only the first installment of the whole J.W. Anderson collaboration, and the second part is coming next season. So get your wallets out, shop til you drop. Hallelujah. God bless America.

I'm trying to do some Pop Art imagery collage in this post because I hate how the collages in the past posts have been looking. They are probably just as lackluster, but oh well. Whatever. I'm juggling an AP, honors class as well as studio classes, so by the time I get home at 5:19pm I'm already exhausted and out of creative juices. And running on caffeine. Back to the collection because you're probably not that interested in my life really — J.W. Anderson had really outdone himself in this collaboration. The lines are sharp and crisp, the silhouettes simple. You can basically slap any random pieces from the collection together and it'll still look amazing. Well, maybe not necessarily any, but you get my point. Along with the expected clothes and accessories, J.W. Anderson also designed a series of stationary to go with all this preppy vibe. Which is great news, because I really need a J.W. Anderson for Topshop notebook for chemistry already.

Since this is a fashion blog and all(and I love making references to show what a smart cookie I am!), let's look at J.W. Anderson's fall 2012 collection. The Anderson for Topshop girl sports clean silhouettes, and simple lines. She likes her paisley and checked prints to pop, but they are not necessarily bright and seeking for attention. See the subtle prints woven cleverly into the collab, as with the fall collection. The J.W. Anderson for Topshop girl (oh god I should stop) also has a penchant for preppy sweaters and collars, because Ivy League-chic is never quite passe. [9/13: there's a FIT exhibit to prove it]

Also loving the layering that's going on in the campaign/preview/whatever you want to call it. Promos? Yeah, that. A+ gold star sticker to the stylist, for taking some very different aesthetic elements and putting them together. I mean, sporty varsity jackets, pleated skirts and oversize plaid pants are just about the last thing you expect on anyone unless you're referring to hobos, but there it is. Anyway, I'll give anything just to get my hands on that shirt-dress, ghost jumper and quirky pinafore dress. One of those French maid dresses won't hurt either, because you never know when I'll feel like dressing up as Magenta from Rocky Horror Picture Show. I really don't know what else to say so I'm just going to leave you in an awkward note, with all these vibes and pop-arty collages and sadness that you can't buy this entire collection and just live off it.

SHOP THE J.W. ANDERSON FOR TOPSHOP COLLECTION HERE

These Dresses Cost More Than Your House

This post is brought to you by the ever-optimistic yours truly. No, really though. Perhaps I'm going through my own mid-life crisis except I'm not middle-age and this crisis doesn't have a lot of being angry or smashing plates bought from Ikea. However, it does have a lot of sobbing and holding onto my box of Kleenex for dear life. I'm looking over the new couture collections, and realizing that a shoe off those collections, not even a pair, probably costs more than my rent for a year. The thing is, I don't really think about how expensive haute couture are because I know I have no chance of getting any of these stuff as of right now. Just being overly emotional (and looking at this food blog. Maybe I should take up cooking).

"Save the best for the last," they say. "Shut up I didn't ask for you opinion," I reply. Okay, that doesn't make sense because I always choose to write about collections that I love and drawn to, as well as the ones that goes along with my aesthetics. I don't have any favourites because I love all my children equally. That's a lie, but whatever. Let's pretend Givenchy haute couture fall 2011 and Creatures of the Wind fall 2012 never happened. First up, we have Basil Soda. Although couture collections are generally feminine, this collection is defined by strong silhouettes. Three of the main silhouettes used are: 1)the empire-waist, 2)the clinging-onto-the-body-but-not-really(ya know, the kind that looks really sexy and fabulous and looks like what Morticia Addams would wear? Sorry I have no clue what I'm talking about Yah) and 3)the New Look populated by the late Christian Dior in the 50's. But it's still very feminine. Fabrics such as nylon/polyester(or is it? I can't tell but it's definitely not fur) made surprise appearances next to the usual couture bluff(satin, tulle, etc), but it works together. One of the main reasons I'm in love with this collection is how the colours progress, complimenting each other.The palette is beautiful, shifting from rich olive greens and blacks into whites embellished with golden accents, and eventually vibrant reds. Another thing worthy of note is that Soda managed to make the fabrics look weightless, almost like a second skin, even though all the embellishments must have weighted a lot.

Next up, Rami Al Ali (I hope you still remember that I'm no Cathy Horyn). One of the main things that sets haute couture apart from other collections is the strong emphasis on craftsmanship. I mean, a haute couture season rarely comes by without a designer doing embellishments or appliques. The thing that really makes this collection by Rami Al Ali stands out is that the embroidery(etc.) is not the center piece. It's used more as a detail to build on and woven into the collection accordingly as an accent. A variety of shift dresses stand aside with semi-dramatic, floor-length gowns. Although they are basically opposites, the different silhouettes really compliment each other. Along with different embellishments, sheer panels and lace accents build up the collection.The colour scheme is as simple as it gets, ranging from creams to greys to rich, violet purple.

Sometimes, I wonder why I even do couture roundups when Iris Van Herpen exists. IRIS VAN HERPEN IRIS VAN HERPEN IRIS VAN HERPEN. FLAWLESS FABULOUS GORGEOUS IMPECCABLE EXQUISITE. UNIQUE SHINY MATERIAL ALIEN SHAPES STRUCTURAL SILHOUETTES. Alright I'm done and you get my point, so let's move on.

I love how ethereal this collection by Yiqing Yin is. You know, ethereal as in light and airy and dreamy. So light and airy and dreamy you just want to reach out to the screen and stroke it. Egh, that's probably just me. No, it's definitely just me. (Egh why am I so morbidly awkward I hate myself whatever) As opposed to the other collection I had reviewed so far, this one doesn't have strong or structural silhouettes. In fact, this collection doesn't even look like clothes. The fabrics, pleated and wrinkled, hanged onto the models as if to engulf them. They wrapped around and engaged the body in such a way that they look more like a second skin. That is, if anyone has icy blue and grey and rosy skin. In some parts of the collection, Yin used this shiny, slightly opaque fabric that looks like, because I don't have any better words, liquid metal. There are also hints of this pattern that look like blood vessels and veins, which is a very cool concept. I can just ramble on and on about this collection(and its fabulous use of fabrics) for days and not get sick of it, that's just how perfect it is. If I died and didn't get bury in one of those magnificent Alexander McQueen fall 2008 capes, just put me in anything from this collection and I'll be a happy camper. Thanks, Internet. Now I'm sharing what I want to wear when I'm dead.

Dior, Dior, Dior. Raf Simons, Raf Simons, Raf Simons. Sorry, I love love love repeating repeating repeating stuff because it sounds more dramatic dramatic dramatic. See? Anyway, holy shit. This is Raf Simons's first collection for Dior, and to be honest it's fabulous. As if it can be anything else. And I'm not even biased. Maybe it's because I'm so sick of the shit that Bill Gaytten did. Sorry buddy, but at least you tried. Or maybe it's because it's a complete contrast to John Galliano's design. Or maybe it's just simply it's so refreshing and different from everything I've seen before.