« August 2006 | Main | October 2006 »
Gucci was certainly colourful, but it was when the collection was steered in a more subtle direction that it appealed most.
Substitute “animal” for “colourful” and the same could be said for the Alessandro Dell’Acqua collection.
Alberta Ferretti’s collection was exceptionally pretty.
Apologies for the delay in the diversion back from Milan to Melbourne, but here are the highs and lows of the Brownlow Medal red carpet. In my moderately humble opinion, of course.
In a night that lacked a knock out outfit in terms of booby tackiness, there was still plenty to like and plenty to laugh at.
Winners:
Mara Rotheraine, wearing fabulous red and nicely matched to partner, and Medal winner, Adam Goodes’ club tie.
Jess Hants in what I think was my favourite dress of the night.
Carla McGuire in classy blue strapless.
Megan Akermanis in black velvet.
Rebecca Twigley in a charming princess dress.
Heavily pregnant Tania Buckley in a flattering halter-necked gown that might make one forget her rhinestone g-string and bubble gum pink outfit of a few years ago if it weren’t so much fun to remember it.
Symone Demetriou in white.
And Tiffany Cherry in cream.
The Losers:
Jo Bailey overdoes a theme.
Cassie Lane mixes about five different styles that clearly are not meant to go together.
Rachael Tredrea takes a dress that could have been classic and wears he bodice several sizes too small.
Stephanie McIntosh wears a dress that inexplicably makes her look like the side of barn.
ETA: By request, Amy Pollard. I really can't decide if I like this dress - it just seems to have far too much going on in one gown.
Time for Milan.
Burberry Prorsum was not stunningly innovative, but in its cool neutral tones there was much stylish wearability.
At Prada tops were shown without bottoms (or with them, I guess, depending on how you look at it) and a number of them were pretty especially in bright jewelled tones. However, it was the more complete outfits that appealed to me.
Bottega Veneta’s muted tones – mainly beige and pink – were so lovely and simple I had a hard time narrowing down my favourites.
Etro’s signature prints are sometimes crazy and sometimes charming:
The presence of leggings in the Marni collection naturally distressed me, but looking past them – which it was thankfully easy to do – there were some lovely pieces in the usual earthy tones.
Moshino for me always brings a great mix of quirk and womanly wearability.
There was much that was appealing in Ralph Lauren’s black, white and silver collection from daytime tuxedo shirts to silver gowns.
Doo.Ri’s signature draping was far more appealing to me this season than in the last few.
It didn’t seem fair that Gwen Stefani looked better in L.A.M.B. at the end of the show than the models did during it.
Matthew Williamson collections are usually too garish for me, and some parts of this collection were no exception. However, some of the toned down pieces appealed. Amidst the blank t-shirt dresses of so many of the other collections this season, Williamson’s had just the right amount of texture.
In contrast to his usual all-American jet-set style, I found Michael Kors’s monochromatic dancers collection strangely alluring.
In Badgley Mishka’s toned down colour scheme, I thought the whites came off infinitely better than the blacks.
As has become par for the pretty course, J. Mendel turned out some divine evening dresses, even if I wasn’t particularly taken by the day-wear.
I was thoroughly disappointed by the collection at Calvin Klein and thrown by the disproportionate and entirely unflattering proportions at Vera Wang, however I was quite impressed with a few pieces at Zac Posen even if the collection was all over the map.
Behnaz Sarafpour’s collection was a charming combination of smooth mod lines and femininity.
A typical Bill Blass collection skews older than me when it comes to its target market, especially for day-wear, and this was no exception, however any collection that features raspberry, especially in such a simple classic form, is a winner for me.
I feel like I shouldn’t, though I can’t pinpoint why, but I loved virtually everything about Derek Lam’s largely monochrome collection. The evening gowns were a departure from the rest of collection, and spectacular, but I loved the rest as well. Favourite collection to date.
For the first time in living memory, I preferred the Marc by Marc Jacobs collection to the main line, and that’s not just because I can afford one and not the other. It had a lot more to do with the absence of harem pants and knickerbockers, plus a less overtly styled presentation than usual.
The floral influence on the Marchesa collection was a bit to literal for my taste. When the ladies toned it down it became more appealing for me.
A Narciso Rodriguez collection is generally all simplicity and smooth lines, and when done well it can be sublime. A few pieces here were, though the majority with the splashes of odd colour and pattern and even more cling that usual, were not. The dresses didn’t appeal, though some of the jackets did.
It’s only Marc Jacobs that could almost (almost) make me like knickerbockers and side split pants. Almost.
Willow showed some great dresses.
Overall, Carolina Herrera’s collection was a bit busy for me, but she brought out that delightful rose colour that’s been appearing in a few places, and I loved this jacket:
Luca Luca showed too many pockets. Pockets in everything including some slimline gowns that would have done so much better without. I did like this departure however:
Proenza Schouler went all Herve Leger with bandage dressing which did appear to be a natural progression from their trade mark gladiator/corset bodices even if it may prove ridiculously unwearable. I did however like this coat (and the cropped jacket version of the same):
Finally, Oscar de la Renta also showed many pockets and too many bubble skirts, but in between were some great dresses for day and evening and all ages.
Just the other day I talked myself out of buying a sweet 3.1 Phillip Lim skirt, and while white is not my thing, his new collection turned out many, many more sweet things to talk ourselves out of. Including some floaty dresses that I can appreciate as lovely in theory though probably not in practice, and some dainty tops that would work for almost all.
Usually for me a Diane Von Furstenberg collection succeeds or fails based on whether I like the prevailing patterns. This season I did not. I did, however, like this black evening gown.
The DKNY collection came off mainly “brightly coloured university campus” and was over-run, particularly early, with shapeless tent dresses. The short trenches were cute though.
Luella Bartley’s mainly black and white collection had enough pattern to give me eye strain, however I did love this silver coat.
Sari Gueron is fast becoming a favourite of mine, and while she too showed loose shapes, her dresses looking comfortable and wearable as opposed to swamping and tent-like.
Thakoon’s floral inspiration may have been a little too literal in parts, but it certainly was a sweet shade of pink. And there were some attractive jackets too.
After all the sporty looks and relaxed flowing gowns, the more dressed up look of the Tuleh collection (again, much black and white) was something of a refreshing change. I tend to ignore the Fall collections from the label because of its fondness for fur which I don’t share (and which did appear to make it into even this collection), but Spring presented me with several things to like.
White, pearled silver, tent dresses, athletic looks and menswear-inspired short/shirt combinations seem the dominant themes so far. Hemlines are either super-high or super-low, and shorts continue to reign.
The season is upon us again, and after the first couple of days boring me – lots of menswear inspired looks, and plenty of shorts – things have started to look up.
Yellow and pearly silver have started to emerge as themes, a few dresses have started to appear.
Josh Goot, one of many Aussies showing this year – Toni Maticesvski has also joined regulars Sass & Bide and Willow – turned out some figure-hugged numbers, plus a few more forgiving pieces that had a wider appeal.
Ruffian, the butt of my jokes last year for their 70s librarian collection, turned out some pieces with actual style.
And Jenni Kayne brought some Californian light and air to proceedings.
