I have been thinking of doing a post titled "Never Buy A Boring Winter Coat", but I suppose if you carry this bag, you may benefit from a boring coat. I love these Fendi patchwork totes. They hint at the seventies trend so prevalent in shops this season, but the sharp lines and slick materials take it away from the houtje touwtje feeling of said decade (the rope and toggle of a toggle or montycoat).
Fendi has also been bringing baguette bags back into the mix... They remind me too much of Samantha from Sex in the City nowadays, but this Christmassy sample is rather cute and festive. Watch Samantha and her fake baguette get evicted from the Playboy Mansion HERE.
This is one of the most interesting bags of the season for me. From a design point of view it is brilliant how Thomas Maier makes Bottega's traditional woven leather look like exposed brick behind plaster. It reminds me instantly of a scene in the movie Wall Street, from 1987, in which Daryl Hannah gives Charlie Sheen's flat a make-over. That said, I am not sure if this bag will ever look nonchalant on anyone - when fashion gets too conceptual, it can lose its impact sometimes. When in doubt, I always wonder what Kate Moss would look like carrying it, as she is the master of looking great without trying too hard, and somehow I can't see her with this bag.
PS: If you have not seen Wall Street, then you must see it today. Watch the trailer HERE.
I really want this little purse desperately. It is so sweet, the perfect size, the shape of the handles is so beautiful, and I am a sucker for a red purse at Christmas. Santa baby, don't slip a sable under the tree for me, but I would love this happy little purse... (to get into the Christmas spirit listen to Eartha Kitt's Santa Baby HERE).
I have not been a fan of LV for a long time, feeling that Bernard Arnault turns all that is unique about the companies he buys into mass market sameness - but maybe I am wrong. Nicolas Ghesquiere's collections for Louis Vuitton have so far been exciting and different, and as far as I can tell the runway clothes are making it to stores without too much dumbing down.
Look at this LV dress for instance: it is absolutely fascinating to me. The zipper, the wide pointy collar and the shiny edging on what appears to be a rib-knit collar remind me of the winter jackets poor Eastern European immigrants wore after the iron curtain came down in the late 1980s (Miu Miu did those actual jackets this season, I swear Miuccia copied them straight from a vintage ski jacket - HERE).
And then the rest of the dress is made of something that looks like a rich woollen carpet, with curly tufts of wool laying thick on the surface.
Enlarge this picture by clicking on it to see the fabric more closely. How beautiful is that material? This is what makes me love fashion, this craftsmanship, these disparate materials coming together to make a very cool little dress. Would Kate Moss be able to carry this off? Yes, on a night out with patent booties she would look pretty great, but I don't think she would choose it?
This dress highlights the difference between fashion's effect, and fashion's intrinsic value. In this case the intrinsic value of this dress is not just about the edginess of its designer or its silhouette, but also about the special materials, the artistry of the designer and the craftsmanship necessary to produce it (notice the diagonal quilting on the skirt).
The effect is simply a sporty young little seventies dress - it is this effect that we will see replicated by the likes of (my also beloved) Zara very easily in a matter of weeks.
In my every day life, I totally dress for effect, possibly because I can't afford Louis Vuitton but more likely because delicate clothes like these don't necessarily fit in our busy daily lives. Even if you were only wearing this dress out at night you'd still possibly have to sit down on the greasy seats of a Hong Kong taxi. Then you'd have to find a dry-cleaner with a delicate hand in ironing the garment, so as not to flatten the lovely pile - that is if the grease on the taxi seat did not already turn the fabric into a felted mess before you got to your destination..
Not for every day life, but its existence on this earth so very much appreciated by I LOVE FASHION nonetheless.
The effect is simply a sporty young little seventies dress - it is this effect that we will see replicated by the likes of (my also beloved) Zara very easily in a matter of weeks.
In my every day life, I totally dress for effect, possibly because I can't afford Louis Vuitton but more likely because delicate clothes like these don't necessarily fit in our busy daily lives. Even if you were only wearing this dress out at night you'd still possibly have to sit down on the greasy seats of a Hong Kong taxi. Then you'd have to find a dry-cleaner with a delicate hand in ironing the garment, so as not to flatten the lovely pile - that is if the grease on the taxi seat did not already turn the fabric into a felted mess before you got to your destination..
Not for every day life, but its existence on this earth so very much appreciated by I LOVE FASHION nonetheless.
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