Bleu Shoes & Macaroons

Even though it has been a while since my last blog post, I thought I'd pick up where I left off with a Fashion Week mini series. Each post will put the spotlight on a lesser-known designer from each city's Fashion Week. Sometimes the underdog creates a more impactful collection than the European hot shot brands. This week, we will be focusing on New York Fashion Week and in my opinion, one of the best collections by an up and coming designer, Hellessy. Brief history: Hellessy was founded in 2012 by French-born designer Sylvie Millstein. She studied fashion in Paris before becoming senior merchant for Givenchy, Harrods and Chanel. It was then she moved to NYC to settle down, have a family and cultivate her youngest baby, Hellessy.
What I really enjoyed about the collection was beyond the clean lines and tailoring, but the wearability. While the lookbook's pairings may seem a little overwhelming, each piece on it own can be extremely versatile. The coats and oversized sweaters would be best paired with black skinnies for an everyday look. While palazzo pants paired with a button down can be an essential look for a day in the office. Regardless of your preference, Hellessy is a great discovery amongst an abundance of big names in NYFW.

 True minimalism at its finest! Rodriguez proved that minimalism does not need to be boring with structure, clean lines and perfect tailoring. A very wearable collection that I think is a perfect direction for contemporary RTW.

With New York Fashion Week landing in the city next week, many are wondering what's in store for Fall/Winter 2014. While scrolling my Facebook newsfeed this morning, I came across a post from forecasting giant, The Doneger Group stating "Atletic influences are cementing style direction." Sportswear! Of course! Today more than ever, the world is intrigued by the health movement. From the American  Heart Association's RED products to Diabetes awareness to the trendiness of stores such as Whole Foods and Lululemon, it seems people are hooked on healthy! It only makes sense that this trend is transcending into fashion and now sportswear is seen primarily in many prefall collections. What can we expect from this trend? Think 1980s Jane Fonda aerobics trend meets the modern working woman. Lots of primary colors in boxy athletic shapes! Lightweight fabrics and comfortable linens. It's all about comfort and versatility! I think this is a trend we'll see heavily translated in the NYFW FW14 collections. We have a week to wait and see how designers will incorporate these ideas but in the meantime let's get physical!

The Winter vortex in New York City right now has got me daydreaming of golden sand and margaritas at my desk for weeks now. It seems you can't go anywhere without feeling like you've stepped out into an arctic blizzard. Yet, the recent unveiling of pre-fall collections have got me excited for next Fall/Winter, especially that of Balenciaga! Alexander Wang has been at Balenciaga for over a year now and after seeing his pre-fall collection, I believe he is at his best. The new gravity-defying shapes and silhouettes tell a significant story about the future of fashion! The collection is chock-full of some new daring ideas, which I think is going to inspire other designers to take more risks in moving fashion forward. Since the millenium, we've been seeing lots of nostalgia on the runways and I believe Wang's new ideas could be a step in the right direction to get fashion moving again! I can't wait to give an update after the Main FW14 show!

Crystal, Maybach, Tigers on a gold leash. Scandanavian singer Lorde pokes fun at hip hop culture in her platinum hit, "Royals." The opulence of hip hop culture has come under fire in the 2000s, spurring hip hop to be the target of jokes and criticism. But recently, a deeper appreciation of hip hop fashion of the past has been fondly welcomed in street style in New York and around the world. Fashion bloggers and icons alike are embracing trends inspired by hip hop culture nostalgia.
        In the early 1970s as hip hop music emerged, hip hop artists latched onto sportswear trends and adapted them into their unique style. Sneakers, baseball caps, and sports attire comprised the original uniform for hip hop culture. Today, we are seeing style relate back to this simplistic approach. High tops, snapbacks, jerseys, and varsity jackets appear on the pages of nearly every fashion blog, magazine, and LIM student. The trend, adapted for today's fashionista, demonstrates society's desire to relate back to a more simplistic time, where getting dressed in the morning didn't have to require so much thought.
          In early 90s hip hop culture, artists embraced a silhouette far from that's of the 2000s. Oversized clothing captivated nearly everyone, much unlike the " so tight you can see my bones" trend of the Millennia. Girls swam in oversized track pants while men rocked three sizes too big jerseys. How can one forget the oversize low jeans men wore and how they basically begged us to hand them a belt? Today, harem pants and wide leg styles are taking the fashion world by storm. Gone are the days of too tight jeans and unbreathable tube tops. This dramatic turn means women are no longer drawn into such oversexualized images of how a woman should look, making a statement about how differently we wish to be viewed. 
            The nostalgia of hip hop fashion of the past is making waves in how we wish to dress today. Sportswear and sneakers beg us for more simplistic fashions while our technology-obsessed society is becoming more increasingly complicated. Oversized clothing ask that we begin to look at ourselves differently and question society's sexuality. Ultimately, hip hop trends today point out that opulence and audacity aren't the only option. 

 

Okay so I admit I haven't believed in Santa since probably the third grade. Ever since the magic was ruined for me, I haven't exactly been thrilled for Christmas. For me, Christmas comes in mid-August, amidst the arrival of Vogue's September Issue. Each year I become a hermit and don't leave my house for days while examining the issue that weights more than the free weights I lift at the gym. This year, of course was no different. With cover girl Jennifer Lawrence gracing the issue, I knew it had to be a good one (is there ever a bad one?). While scrambling through page after page of advertisements, I piece together the most commonly seen trends amongst the issue and compile my own Fall forecast. I'm not claiming this is Vogue's opinion but 100% my own from what I have seen through the pages.

With success of music festivals such as Ultra, Electric Daisy Carnival, Camp Bisco and the upcoming Electric Zoo, music festivals seem to be popping up literally across the globe, with events such as Glastonbury in the UK and Tomorrowland in Germany. With such international popularity comes international inspired trends we call festivalwear. Festivalwear has become a predominant trend and has been incorporated into everyday style. Stores such as ASOS, Free People, and Topshop have devoted entire product lines to festival fashions. However, one may not need to look further than his or her parents' closet for some authentic festivalwear relics. 

So several weeks ago I had the amazing opportunity to spend an entire weekend in London, one of my favorite cities in the world! I had spent some time in London a few years ago and absolutely fell head over heels in love with not only London culture but London's infamously eccentric fashion!
So you bet I went in armed with a pen and paper this time around so that I could record every new trend and share them back in New York. So without further ado.. First off, I must say that Londoners are fearless! Not one bold color and crazy print could ever scare them. It's so easy to get lost in a sea of black little Gucci dresses in New York, so London felt like a breath of fresh air. Everything from polka dots, to tribal prints, camo, floral prints, stained glass and brightly colored denim flooded the streets of trendy Kensington. But the real diamond in the ruff is Camden Market, located in the SoHo trendy village of Camden Town. Here I went on to purchasing velvet pants, flower crowns, harem pants, vintage camoflauge, and more busy prints! Another peak of the trip was visiting the largest Topshop in the world! Bombers, disco leggings, structured handbags, printed tights, and flatform shoes were the biggest hits at the MASSIVE store. I swear I got lost a good five times, at least. Last but not least, in true British fashion, big, structured and some bizarre hats are always a hit in London whether for an afternoon tea time or a #royalbaby shower. Overall, my excursion to London opened my eyes to SO many new trends and really inspired me to push the envelope a bit with my fashion and be fearless! Love it or Let it be? Totally love it!

Every time award season comes around, my spider sense nags me to actually watch the award show this year. Every year. Not being a huge movie buff, though I am trying to work on that, I never seem to have particular interest in the Academy and certainly do not thank them. Last Sunday, I did as I do every year traditionally for the Oscars.. Countdown ferociously to the red carpet and once the award show begins, I press the power button on my remote. This year the Academy might as well have painted the carpet white to match the parade of white dresses we saw on Sunday. Both Charlize Theron and Jennifer Lawrence looked white hot in Christian Dior. Kristen Stewart and Anne Hathaway followed suit, both donning white gowns to the event (Though I do think Kristen looked a bit disheveled and Anne Hathaway’s Prada gown was not the best choice for obvious reasons.) Also looking like bridal beauties were Kim Kardashian (who looked better than she has in years, in my opinion), Kerry Washington, Emma Stone, and Queen Latifah. But where did all this white come from? For Summer 2013, fashion is steering away from the traditional black and becoming more open to color. For those not as daring to don new pastels, white offers them an option that looks classy without being too flashy. This summer, we are sure to see white everywhere. Whether you wear it as one piece or a whole outfit, this summer you better grab your sunglasses ‘cause it’s gonna be white hot!

Being the impulsive online shopper that I have become in recent months, I recently gave in to the galaxy trend. A few months ago, I began seeing onsight of leggings printed with images of the Milky Way and my closet nerd became very excited. In recent weeks, the trend has been growing exponentially, trending on websites such as Wanelo. So it had me intrigued, where in this world did this trend come from? Pun intended. So I began exploring recent new and realized this this trend is EVERYWHERE. Not just in fashion, but in the news, web, tv, etc. I first began my search on BBC where I found that nearly half of the most shared stories related to space exploration, NASA or the cosmos in general. Interest in astronomy has definitely been on the rise recently. I couldn't even avoid reading about it while at the DMV, with monitors playing recent news stories about the International Space Station. So I dug a little deeper and found that space exploration is exploding and even going mainstream within the next five years! That's right. If you don't know where to go on vacation in 2018, why not go to the moon? How cool! I have a feeling that with this new interest growing in space exploration, the sky is the limit for this trend. Sorry, I had to. But what does this mean for fashion? We've already seen the print appearing on leggings, sweatshirts, shoes and accessories already. But I think this trend is going to EXPLODE. Even for those of you not bold enough to don the cosmo print, I believe metallics as well as cobalt blues, pinks and violets are definitely going to accompany this trend. So even those not so interested in looking like a solar system can participate in the trend. I think we can see this style become a bit more adaptable by summer 2013 in more mainstream stores but in the meantime, online retailers are exploding with new galaxy items. So, why not? Skys the limit!