Resort 2013

DKNY

I feel very mixed about this collection. A lot of the individual pieces were great, especially the maroon blazer on the far left, the leather jacket in the third look above (leather is hard for me to ignore), and the contrast leather sleeve trench (again, leather is everything to me). My main problem with this collection is the styling. Much of it is fine, but many of the looks are styled so that there are several visible hemlines of shirts and tops. Like, lets tuck some shirts in! And black tights just feel too UES for the look of the clothes. But, that being said, the maroon that was central to many looks is just great.

Erdem

You're going to have to excuse me for a hot second, I'm currently dying over these patterns! It's like Erdem put the best prints from the fall collections on crack and acid. Every looks is overwhelming in the best possible way. I cannot wait to see what the shoes look like up close. Both Erdem and DKNY continued the fall trend of bright colors in cooler, darker hues.

Just Cavalli

This collection was kind of a hot mess. It was a mix of some pieces that I loved with a bunch of pieces I hated and lots of pieces that felt too familiar to other collections. Lets start with the pieces I loved. The white leather jacket killed me, as did the white crocodile-skin pieces (jacket and pants shown above) in the collection. The floral blazer shows on the right is also so good. It’s hard for me not to fall in love with a fun printed blazer. A large amount of the collection reminded me too much of other designer’s work though, especially the look on the left above (Versace, particularly their collection for H&M) and the looks with symmetrical floral patterns (Givenchy). All in all, I wasn’t the biggest fan of this collection, though some pieces stood out from the rest.

Oscar de la Renta

What to even say? This was Resort perfection. Amazing colors, amazing patterns, amazing textures, amazing Oscar. The collection moved from black and white to a parade of colors. Most dresses featured either a floral pattern or texture or a checked pattern like gingham. The way Oscar translated floral patterns into textures on the dresses was unreal. Then the green dress that looks like a flower itself…What even? The dresses shown in this collection show that floral can and should be taken to new dimensions. Hopefully we will see more of this in the spring shows. 

My Love/Hate Relationship With Mint Pants

Mint is, well, everywhere this season, and I kind of really love it. I mean, how can you not love such a fun and flattering color? I cannot wait until I get my tan on and really take advantage of my own mint pieces. Pastels, especially mint, became the colors of the season during the spring shows, below: (Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Yves Saint Laurent. Photos from Style.com)

Then, Lady Gaga named Mint as the color of the season in her "Marry The Night" music video, and, since what the Queen says goes, it became ubiquitous. As I'm sure you've noticed, mint is everywhere now: dresses, tops, pants, shorts, skirts, mani-pedis... At first, it was my minty-dream-come-true. I absolutely loved it.

But heres the thing: mint pants are out of control. Not in the good way. I was so excited for everyone to be wearing mint pants - they're something totally new and unexpected that came out of this season. They give an outfit a fun pop of color while remaining totally classy.
Everyone took that "fun and unexpected" part and turned them into the most overdone piece I have seen in a while. It's like no one is able to come up with an original outfit. The number of girls I have seen wearing mint pants with a simple white blouse was unreal.

While this is such a cute outfit, it already feels old

I have never gotten over a look so quickly as I did with this. By the end of that first nice day I was disappointed and over it. Heres the thing though: it's not like a white blouse is the only thing that would go well with mint pants, there are so many things that go with mint and would pair with mint pants soo well - whyy can't people wear them? Heres a short list:

Black (Maybe throw on a blazer or leather jacket)
Cream (trench coat, anyone...?
Navy (or really just any blue)
Patterns
More pastels
Light and dark shades of red

And I'm sure you can come up with more. There are *a lot* of options that aren't white; please choose them. Mint looks modern, but the mint pants/white blouse look has already been done to death and you won't look as trendy as you hope to.


Just to clear something up. I'm not breaking up with the Mint pants/white blouse look. But we're definitely on a ross/rachel break.

Gaga's Best Fashion Moments

In honor of the one year anniversary of Born This Way's release, I've decided to look back at some of Lady Gaga's best fashion moments. 

She wore this out of control Armani gown to the Grammys in 2009. The pieces spinning around the whole dress, the insane platform heels, the glitter sleeves, the bright yellow wig, and of course the star she held all come together in a perfect way to show everyone that she was the real star of the night.

This, the 2010 VMA Awards, was the same night she wore the meat dress, but her Alexander McQueen arrival gown vastly overshadowed that in my eyes. She flawlessly wore his “Armadillo Heels” and walked in with several servicemen and women who had been discharged under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell – making a statement in the most beautiful way.

I have always been a fan of houndstooth so this Salvatore Ferragamo look is kind of major. Of course she took it several steps past what it was on the runway – adding a houndstooth hat, sunglasses, and the pattern on her leg itself. Of course this dress was seen on several other celebrities, but who wore it best isn’t even a question.

Custom Chanel by Karl Lagerfeld is something that every girl wants, and Gaga got it for the opening of Gaga’s Workshop at Barneys last November. She looked like a caricature of a Chanel gown in the best way. The massive skirt and the sheer amount of pearls were absurd but she worked it and it came off as fun and somehow glamorous. And of course she wore fingerless gloves to show off her nails (claws?) along with it.

Last year, Donatella opened up the Versace Archives for Gaga and Versace became the only thing she wore for a month or so. Being Versace's biggest fan, I was dying. This yellow snakeskin pattern dress killed it. Gaga toned it down with simple black Louboutin pumps and a studded belt and sunglasses. Class. Act. (Obviously Gaga’s “toned down” is most people's “too much” but whatever).

Continuing with her Versace moment, Gaga wore only vintage Versace in her simple “Edge of Glory” video. Leather, leather, and gold…perfection. She has never been scared of some S&M influence on her style and this vest/necklace/straps look screams someone who is unafraid to take fashion risks. I hope Donatella and Gaga continue their friendship and can one day create something beyond beautiful together.

Summer Beach Totes

So summer is my favorite season. There is literally nothing bad about it. Even when your car is too hot and you have to wait outside of it for a bit before you can get in without melting has a certain charm to it. I. Love. Summer.
Obviously one of the best aspects of summer is lazy beach days. Getting up early to head there with your friends. Laying on the sand with Vogue. Running into the ocean. Regretting not using enough sunscreen and dealing with your burn for the next couple days. (I'm currently going through that last part).
So of course you have to look amazing for the most quintessential part of summer! And a cute beach tote is absolutely necessary.

TopShop & J.Crew

These two bags are perfect ways to throw some neon into your beach trip. The TopShop tote blends the old-style woven bag with modern neon green handles. Mixing traditional with modern is one of my favorite things in fashion so this bag is kinda perfect. The stripes and rope handle on the J.Crew tote bring in a east-coast nautical twist to the bag. Tell me you don't like stripes and I'll tell you that you're a liar. This bag is also water resistant so don't worry about getting too close to the waves with it.

Marc by Marc Jacobs & Kate Spade

The fashion world is having a major moment with prints, and of course Marc Jacobs is having fun with it. Ever since I saw his sunglasses print I've been obsessed with it. It's literally perfect for summer. This one is also big enough to hold your stuff for an overnight (beach house, anyone?) Kate Spade brings some tropical fun to the beach with this embroidered tote. I guarantee you'll be the only one on the beach with amazing cockatoos on your bag.

Marni & Lanvin

If you're the type of person who can spend $1000 on a beach bag (No judgement, just some jealousy), then these are the bags for you. The orange and pink blocks of color exude fun in the classiest way. Stripes and color blocks? Yes please! Then Lanvin combines woven straw and python printed leather? Like, shut up this is too good. I honestly don't know what else to say. Alber Elbaz is a genius.

Resort 2013

All Photos from Style.com

Bottega Veneta
This is how women everywhere should dress on vacation. Colors. Patterns. Light and tailored. Giant coats over swimsuits. Need I say more?
Seriously though, I cannot get enough of this collection. The monochrome suits (including the yellow jumpsuit/coat combo above) show the next logical step for fashion to take after all this colorblocking -- a hint of whats to come with spring 13? Then all the pencil skirts! I'm dying.
The bags! Lets talk about the bags for a hot second. Usually I'm not the biggest fan of big, slouchy bags, but I'll make an exception for Bottega. Some of the bags border on being called enormous and you could probably fit your entire vacay inside them. (Letsbehonest thats not gonna happen. You need several options for what to wear every day! Several suitcases are absolutely necessary for any trip).

I'm obsessed with the blue floral dress. The way the neckline connects with the skirt is too good. The collection is full of nods to the 50s with pencil skirts or cap-sleeves, and pastels. Then came the sleek, edgy last looks. The colors became darker and instead of cute pumps, models wore black strappy, sexy sandals. A great shoe for a night out, and clothes to match.
Women everywhere: Base your next vacation wardrobe after this collection. It'll take you from a day at the beach to a fancy dinner to a night out.

Chanel
Karl Lagerfeld's Resort 2013 line really caught me off-guard. Resort is usually much more wearable than Fall and Spring, yet, in terms of wearability, this felt more like a Spring collection. My favorite pieces, shown above and below, are some of the more wearable looks.
That said, the clothes were stunning. Karl beautifully combined eighteenth-century details with modern silhouettes, fabrics, and colors. The colors and shapes of the clothes referred back to the Spring show - my favorite Chanel show in a while - so I could not be happier about that. And I love it when Karl Lagerfeld works with color (The almost tye-dye dress below -- Dying over it).

My one problem is the inclusion of creepers throughout the whole collection. Maybe it's because I'm a firm believer that every woman looks better with 5-7 inches of height, but I feel like the looks would have been better suited with a heel or espadrille. Oh well, they were still amazing.
These last two looks I picked out though. Absolutely flawless. The floral skirt with gold and a frilly top? Blue baroque embroidered designs on an exaggerated shape dress? Unreal. I just cannot even with how Karl Lagerfeld is able to seamlessly combine eighteenth-century and modern fashions.