Sculpt Me A Little Something To Wear.

Fashion as sculpture at Gareth Pugh.

Gareth Pugh is exceedingly talented. His draping skills verge on sculpting. He backs leather with neoprene and makes it stiff enough to structure. The folds of his garments flow onto the body or move away from it with a grace that keeps its hard edge. Really, it's quite an accomplishment.

Wearability; Sweet, sweet wearability.

But, the reason why Pugh is poised to last lay beyond his fashion-as-fine-art skills. The man who made Sasha Fierce's stage costumes as pret-a-porter day wear has upped his wearability ante quite a bit this season. There are the garments that you will need a lot of panache to put on, but then there are also those that will let you wear them without your stage persona confidence. Pugh is one of the few this season who has successfully straddled that line of sellable and impressive. His clothes may do well on a retail floor, but they are still designed to be interesting.

Things You (Think) You Can Tell Just By Looking At Them.

"He looks quite nice." "He looks angry." "She'd make a good wife." The stories we build around flashes of the faces of others, and maybe a few articles of their clothing or their hairstyle, are fascinating autobiographies actually. This video piece by James Price reminded me again why how we get dressed intrigues me so much. When you choose a hairstyle, when you choose a shirt, you are starting a conversation and everyone who sees you is finishing it. What are you saying? What are they saying about you?

I wonder what it was like to see this video as a participant.

J'taime. J'adore. Mon Amour.

Viktor and Rolf style their show with snaps on their iPhone.

Let's get real for a second: New York is exciting because it kicks things off and has Rodarte. Milan goes the chic sweep route with Miuccia, and London is always where the cool kids are, but nothing--I mean nothing--compares to Oui Oui Paris (say that like "par-eee") during Fashion Month. The city of lights has the right ambiance, it just does. We in fashion fandom are getting ready for the big shows and the designers are too. WWD's got coverage of the final countdown. Here's a look at what the heavies are doing to get ready for you.

Rick Owens adjusts (l); some last minute observing at Dries Van Noten.


Gaultier gets a last look at a look.



Giles Deacon tweaks wires and a furry head??!! Bring it on.

Paris, I'm ready for you. Allons-y.

Color Me Happy.

Holi is the Holiday I'd most like to petition people to celebrate closer to home. It's a festival celebrated in parts of India and Sri Lanka marking the beginning of spring by knocking the grayscale of winter out with splashes and tosses of vibrant colors. People arm themselves with pigmented powders and dyed water and basically start a huge, neighborhood-wide, color-me-happy-war. I want that here.

Wait just a second! There will be a Holi celebration in Queens on March 7th. Go forth!

The Prettiest Nightmare I've Never Had.

Guinevere Van Seenus runs in Rodarte.

Wow. Rodarte's latest collaboration more than makes up for their lackluster show at the New York tents a couple of weeks ago. The video Todd Cole did featuring pieces from The Mulleavy Sisters' Spring 2010 collection is a mind warping romp through a rocket ship ghost yard. Shot on location at the now defunct space-tech field lab of Paypal co-founder Elon Musk, the video piece is chillingly sparse. It stars a lone supermodel, the excellent and underused Guinevere Van Seenus, who was a glossy page regular in the late '90s/early aughts. Her reemergence here is perfect for the strangeness of the video--where'd they find Guinevere? In that deserted spaceship hull?

Pretty/creepy.

Wherever she was, she's not happy about where she's wound up. Her pained expression and laborious running through the ghosted space spot are haunting to say the least. The eerily industrial soundtrack buzzes, hisses, and basses the perfect tone for all of the unsettling that unfolds. So, what's pretty about this nightmare of strain, strife, and space? The dresses! Rodarte's Spring collection was a collage of gorgeous fabrics that had gone through some really tough times--they were burned, stretched, dirtied, dunked, beat up--kind of like our seemingly tortured Guinevere. But they came out on the otherside knotted and resewn into some beatuiful pieces of work. Purgatory to the heavens. Watch the video, it makes a better case than I.

Click the above images to watch the full Todd Cole/Rodarte collabo.

Baby, You Still Look Good.

This morning my friend Sam and I sipped our Starbucks next to a little girl in a hot pink cape over a tutu and a tee that said "Drama Queen". Her brazen self-styled expression gave me a craving for another edition of Kids Who Dress Themselves. I'm a fan of the Flickr pool with the same name. There's something too fun about kids throwing together outfits. They love to mismatch their shoes and add head gear. It's great.

Layer, especially over striped shirts.


Who needs pants? Seriously, she's the next Gaga.


I love this pumpkin picking outfit.



Don't forget your mom's shades. She's an Olsen's bff.

The rules, besides that there are none, seem to be:

1) Something has to sparkle.
2) Layering is a must.
3) Birthday hats aren't just for birthdays.
4) Halloween costumes aren't just for Halloween.

Your bikini is perfect winter wear.

This girl knows how to make the best of her dance costumes and birthday hats.


Halloween is never over. Never.



The best accessories always sparkle, or taste like chocolate.

Is it wrong to have a kid just so I can let them dress themselves? Say no.

Um, I'm in love with Diane Keaton.

My newest imaginary friend Diane Keaton now and in college.

I've always known that Diane Keaton was cool for life, I mean the lady invented the Annie Hall look. If that's not an act that deserves a lifetime membership card for the cool club, I don't know what is. But, I didn't know that Diane also loves to decoupage (ah, be still my collage loving heart!), decorate homes, take photos, and has an endless appreciation for graphic design and art involving words. How did I find all of this out? T: The New York Times Style Magazine, does a regular feature called Profile in Style and it's an intriguing look at the details of a subject's taste. This edition dissects the visual loves of Ms. Keaton who until now I simply thought of as quirky and eccentric. Now she's my new imaginary friend. Here's a look at what she likes:

Cool pillows.

Collages that her mom made.

Her Annie Hall look. Classic, eternal cool.


A potato masher that states its purpose.


Graphic design, including the cover of Peggy Sirota's book and a b&w blanket.


A photobook of hers (who knew?).


Re-purposed barns and doors that speak.


Cool houses on stilts and in watercolor.

And, there you have it. Diane Keaton. Cool for life.

Body Required.

These clothes were meant for curves.

Mama Miuccia, I (and my hips, boobs, and belly) would personally like to thank you. You did something unprecedented today. Your whole entire collection was meant for a body like mine, one that curves and fills fabric and makes boys dream of milk maids. For the first time on any runway I've seen, the skinny models looked like bags of bones playing dress up while the ones with some body to them looked divine and luscious and ripe.

Stickly looked sickly on the Prada runway.

I'm proud of my curves (now) and I know this next statement might spark some fires, but here goes. While I've always championed the fuller figure, I've had to agree that the clothes most designers make look better on rail thin bodies. I've seen various designers dabble in sending a more voluptuous girl down their catwalk among the petite things, and they've looked out of place, and awkward. Not always, mind you, but most of the time. The difference in Prada's Fall 2010 show is that the skinny things look out of place and awkward, proving a long standing belief: It's in the cut of the clothes. Skinny doesn't automatically mean perfect for any outfit--quite the contrary. In these voluptuous pieces the too thin look deflated and lacking. Thick fabrics, belted, A-line silhouettes, and '50s/'60s shapes are meant for someone with a bit more to them, and it showed.

These thick knits would look better on a thick body...calling Ms. Hendricks!

I don't want to make naturally skinny girls feel badly about their bodies at all, but.... Yay! It just feels so good to have an entire show of victory for fullness. The truth is that most of the young things on the runway are skinny because they are 15, or they subsist on smoke and caffeine.

Be proud of your body. Dress it up pretty and proud. If you don't know how, Mama Miuccia will help you!

Are You Ready For Battle?

Christopher Bailey's brilliant, beautiful, big aviator jackets for Fall 2010 (look down there...see 'em?) usher in the full-on status of the nascent military trend that was budding last season. The jackets are pilot perfect and bomb dropping ready. It captures the mood of now quite succinctly--we're done sitting back, shocked that the bottom fell out of the economy, frozen in "what now?" and we are ready to do a bit of battle in our everyday life. Survival of the fiercest. The military trend is a natural sprout from those tougher-than-nails, spike/platform/pedestal heels everyone was obsessed with last season. Women need their fightin' gear, right?

Tommy Ton capttured some H-h-h-h-h-h-heeeelzzzz. OMG. Those are nuts and bolts.

Now, the truth is that the Bailey jackets cost...wait for it... upwards of $3,995.00. Some get up towards the $6,000.00 mark. That's not purchasing reality for most of us, but thanks to fast fashion the look will filter down quick enough to keep you in the mood. Also, if you want to get a head start, I suggest this charming grenade charm necklace from Etsy seller charms4you.

Sweet, subtle, explosive. Purrrrfect.