Fall 09 Fashion Week - Isaac Mizrahi

Isaac Mizrahi's Fall '09 collection can hardly be called "coherent." He mixes fun, colorful looks with things that are more mainstream, and tosses in a few that are, to borrow a word from a former PR designer, "wackadoodle."

Click images to enlarge

So here we have some of the more fun things - lots of bright color, interesting texture and patterns.

Then we venture into somber for a brief moment with these slightly more conservative looks. But check out the handbag hat on the second model, and the bedroom slippers on the first.

This looks like a Project Runway challenge: use luxe fabrics to create a modern-day Cinderella look - before she meets her fairy godmother.

Then back to more conservative, with these relatively "normal" long dresses.

Can you believe these are all part of the same collection?

Oscar Fashion 2009

Evan Rachel Wood wears Elie Saab and far far too much makeup for such a young girl. The dress is lovely on her; however, I think a slightly darker shade of apricot would be better against her pale skin.

Kate Winslet wore Yves Saint Laurent. I've seen lots of compliments on this, but frankly, I'm not feeling it. Her makeup and hair are gorgeous, but the black lace on the dress is a bit matronly.

Marisa Tomei went a little overboard with Versace. Too much dress, too little girl.

Tilda Swinton is a Lanvin gal. She looks a bit less-freaky than she has in the past, but I'm not loving the gather on the blouse paired with a ruffle on the skirt. One is fine, but not both.

Meryl Streep is flawless in Alberta Feretti. I love everything about this - the color, her hair, her makeup.

Sarah Jessica Parker is wearing Dior couture and a super-duper push-up bra. While I love the bodice on this dress, and the color, I'm thinking the tulle is a bit much. And please, Jessica - keep the brunette hair. It is so flattering on you.

Ms Loren needs to start toning it down a bit and leaving the 70s dresses in the closet. Yeah, I know she's an icon and all that, but she looks like a bag of Ruffles potato chips.

Melissa Leo dressed as a girl! Whoda thunk? The gown is tragic, however. The color is not working on her, and the dropped waist makes her look dumpy.

Angelia Jolie is wearing Elie Saab, very quiet and understated. Her choice of bold emerald jewelry (115 carats on the ears, 65 in the ring) by Lorraine Schwartz was perfection - still simple, but adding a much-needed splash of color.

Anne Hathaway is wearing a lovely Armani Privé covered with graduated sizes of pailettes. It looks like it weighs more than her (and probably does). While the gown is gorgeous, it's a bit too pale in color for her porcelain skin.

Miley Cyrus looks ridiculous in an over-embellished Zuhair Murad. She looks like she has scales. Ugh.

Penelope Cruz in a gorgeous vintage Balmain. She seldom goes wrong and she's definitely in the right here. But...I think the bodice is a little snug.

I hate Marion Cotillard's Dior Couture dress.

Jessica Biel is wearing Prada. And ugly black clunky shoes (mercifully hidden). I don't love the dress with its sloppy tucked-in-dinner-napkin look, but I do love that she's wearing lipstick with color. So many big-lipped gals try to hide their assets with a beige lip that just makes them look washed out.

Beyoncé is wearing a truly monstrous House of Derriere Dereon. She looks like a giant sofa cushion. (Money, she has plenty of. Taste, not so much.)

I can't help but think "Spiderman" when I see Amy Adams' Carolina Herrera gown. And part of me loves the bejeweled Fred Leighton collar (with 630 carats of rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and diamonds), but most of me hates it. I think it is completely mismatched with the dress. She looks like she belongs under a Christmas tree.

Fall '09 Fashion Week - Christian Siriano

I didn't get into Christian Siriano's show at Bryant Park last week (nor was I able to sneak into his after party) but I'm not bitter - no! lol :)  I'm happy to see the little munchkin's style evolve.

If you want to get a better idea of how these pieces move, some can be seen in the video here.

The collection (accessorized by items from his new line for Payless) goes from the sublime....

To the ridiculous.  The sleeves I mean.

This one is pure Christian.

As is this one, and a little over-the-top.

He also showed several coats/jackets; this one is my favorite.

This is a blue version of the red dress Valerie Bertinelli wore in the Heart Truth show.  I prefer it in blue.

For more, go check out that video. :)

Who the Hell is Julie Henderson?

I got an unsolicited e-mail from her publicist today, which read:

Hello, as Julie Henderson’s publicist, I've read some unflattering blogs calling her a "high fallutin' call girl" and a "golddigger." Let's set the record straight. Julie Henderson comes from a good family. Her grandfather Samuel Henderson invented the Henderson grapefruit in the 1960’s and built an empire in Texas. She has been modeling for the past 7 years and is an accomplished Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue favorite appearing in the issue 3 years in a row. 

So let me get this straight - those are grapefruits, not implants?  

And...why would anyone think that a 23-year-old model who shows up at Academy Award events on the arm of a very wealthy 52-year-old music industry bigwig is a golddigger?  I can't even imagine....

Considering that if NY Mag has no clue what this is all about, I think this smells of a publicity stunt.

Leanne Marshall at Fashion Week

Last Thursday night, Project Runway season five winner Leanne Marshall showed her latest collection, and I managed to sneak in as a guest of my fabulous friends at Blogging Project Runway.

Who did I spot playing mannequin for Leanne?  Why, the lovely Karalyn West....

...and the fabulous Amanda Fields.

I think the dresses these two lovelies wore, solid colored and simple with well-placed drapes, were my favorite in the collection.



Also posing was Jerell's model, Nicole (at left).

I don't think this collection was as strong as the one Leanne showed in the PR finale.  I wasn't all that hot on her choice of fabrics, particularly the gray and metallic combo on Nicole.

The crowd was a veritable who's who of season 4 and 5 designers: Korto, Suede, Jennifer Diederich, Kevin Christiana, Jack Mackenroth, Jerrell, Stella, Steven Rosenberg, Kit Pistol.  I am not a schmoozer, but I had fun people-watching.

Fall '09 Fashion Week - Ports 1961

I was in NY for Fashion Week on Thursday the 19th and attended the Ports 1961 show. Tia Cibani drew her inspiration from India this season. According to the press packet I received:

In particular Tia turns to an empress of Persian descent, the legendary beauty, Nur Jahan, known as much for her poetry and artistic sophistication as for her political power.

Drawing inspiration from this rich heritage, Tia explores a multitude of paths. Masculine tailoring with ornate detail yields a look that is romantic, yet sharply defined. Asymmetric yoke closures draw attention to the fitted bodices. Narrow waistlines swell into feminine fullness at the hems, which accentuate the idealized form of Mughal grace, and echo the contemporary trend of fit and flared staples.

That pretty much says it.  For the most part, I liked the collection, apart from the rather tacky lamé looks.  Loved the fuchsia, the brogues worn with some looks, and the tapered waist/flared skirt looks.

Fall 09 Fashion Week - Project Runway

The lawsuit our beloved Project Runway is currently embroiled in has so far prevented season six from being aired on either Bravo or Lifetime. Rather than leave the designers in complete limbo, in a great example of "the show must go on" (even if the show is not going on) there was a Project Runway show at Mercedes-Benz Fall 2009 Fashion Week. I was lucky enough to attend and got to sit next to the lovely and talented David Dust. He got some photos of the event, but I couldn't get my camera to work properly....

I did get a snap of this freak though, after the show.  It's season four designer Carmen (like the opera) Webber (like the grill).  The only way the poor thing can get attention is to look like a freak.  As if the tacky sequined lamé zebra print leggings weren't hideous enough, she wore some sort of penis-head-shaped head covering with a little red hat on top of that. She's actually a beautiful girl. Why that wasn't good enough (and attention-getting enough) is beyond me.

Anyway, I digress.  How was the show?  Well, it was interesting.  And completely anonymous. There were three collections, so no decoys, and we did not get to see or learn the names of the three who presented.  I thought that was kinda brilliant, since it really doesn't ruin the season for us, if and when it does air. Of course, the third collection has a definite aesthetic that we'll certainly be looking for when we watch.  That designer will probably be fairly easy to identify.  Of course, I could be wrong - Santino Rice played it completely safe when he got to Bryant Park and it was impossible to predict that after seeing the ridiculousness that he put out during the season.

Want to see the designs?  Ok - keep reading!

Fall 09 Fashion Week - Project Runway Designer One