Drawn Together

Artist Marlene McCarty has been using the effect of transparent clothing in her billboard-sized pen and pencil drawings for years. Mostly the sheerness has been a way for her to explore the burgeoning, taboo sexuality of her young female subjects--all of whom are notorious criminals. McCarty rips their stories from newspapers and court records and turns them into disturbing works of art, marked by enticing, pretty-girl portraits accompanied by detailed textual accounts of the subjects' vile crimes. For their latest issue, V Magazine presents works commissioned by curator Dominic Sidhu that marry McCarty's transparent style with Rodarte's sheer, webbed, layered dresses. The resulting drawings of a pair of Rodarte-decked women becoming one with each other and their dresses are at once unnerving and beautiful.

View the series in the latest issue of V Magazine on stands now (with Sasha Fierce on the cover!), or check them out on V's site.

Barely There is Everywhere

Ok, so the trend fairies have struck again. Once more I'm wondering where the secret hideout is. Where is it that all the designers show up and hash out the rules for the season? Who decided that every third look in every major collection has to be see-through? Galliano has definitely kept up his end of the trend pact. His Dior show was full of barely there offerings.

Now before you get tempted to rip the linings out of all of your old clothes from last Spring, please carefully consider the inherent obstacles in dressing for show. You must pay extra special attention to your undergarments. Do not throw on some Hanes and expect to look elegant, people. Success with this look will require your most careful consideration. I beg of you, think long and hard about everything beneath the surface.

As an aside, I have to compliment Mr. Galliano on his diva stance. Perfect form John!


Images: Vogue.fr

I Can See Right Through You

Nina Ricci's spring line designed by Olivier Theyskens showed some skin. No need for x-ray glasses here, just ogle with the naked eye. My goodness, this sheer trend is proliferating faster than generations of rabbits. When done right it looks classy and leaves as much to the imagination as it reveals but, I think Theyskens would have done well to add a bit more fabric to some of his dresses. Maybe the nakey looks were just PR bait, but it smacks of attention for all the wrong reasons. I don't know many women who get dressed to show some nipple. I don't want to either.

Perhaps Theyskens could have lent the leaner dresses above some fabric from the fussier gowns he sent down the runway.

Theyskens is responsible for my favorite Oscar gown from last year.

Reese Witherspoon's tiered dress in gradated shades of purple is just one of the many beautiful pieces he's created in the past, but this collection just felt imbalanced. There was too much or not enough.
images: Vogue.fr