These Lips Might Sink Ships...: January 2011

Friday, January 28, 2011

"About that McQueen Dress"

Here is a necessary and intelligent word or two from the irreplaceable Cathy Horyn regarding Mrs. Obama wearing McQueen Resort 2011 to the State Dinner, honoring the Chinese President.

huffingtonpost

Personally, I am a fan of the dress, not simply because it's McQueen, but because it's a stunner. That strong, saturated red against the relatively delicate print is a striking contrast. Is the First Lady completely barred from taking a risk? I should hope not.

Givenchy

Japan and the late Kazuo Ohno were inspirations for Riccardo Tisci's latest haute couture collection for Givenchy. Tisici has bid farewell to the haunting, skeletal beauty of his last haute couture collection, for something a little less dark. Ohno is something of a legend, known for his extensive contribution to Butoh dance form. Tisci told style.com that the dancer "provided the romance, the melancholy, and the palette (the color of dried flowers)." Melancholy it is, but it is also quite optimistic in feeling, despite the source of inspiration. The inclusion of bright colors and robotic shapes takes me to Tokyo, a place of endlessly joyful stimulation overload—at least, that is my interpretation,which is highly influenced by Sofia Coppola's. A full cast of Asian models completed the Far Eastern theme. Cartoonish, over-the-top samurai headgear created by Philip Treacy additionally fuels the feverish jubilee. A beautiful crane motif, plenty of sheer fabric, and endless feathers anchor the more flamboyant elements. The collection provides for a wonderful dialogue between tender and aggressive, soft and in-your-face. Also notable is the style.com photos of the collection. Thankfully, the back of each garment was captured as well as the front. Too often they are either unseen or partially caught in runway video. Here it serves to show a more complete beauty of a fantastic couture collection.

Shu Pei Qin

Ming Xi

Tao Okamoto

Hye Park

Fei Fei Sun

Liu Wen

Jiang Xao Yi

Ai Tominaga

So Young Kang

Du Juan

Photos via style.com

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Christian Dior

The first few looks that came out for the Christian Dior haute couture show made heavy use of blood red, which was only heightened by the flood of matching red light. It seemed that John Galliano's latest collection would showcase his darker, moody side, but in fact it rapidly evolved into something more soft and light. After what looked like Little Red Riding Hood strutted by, pastels eventually surfaced with darker colors appearing here and there. The show was an ode to René Gruau, the illustrator whose work of the forties and fifties was truly magnificent. Oh how lovely to be acquiring an education via google image search. Unsurprisingly, the New Look was in full force, perhaps all the more due to the time period in which Gruau worked. Galliano, who studied as a fashion illustrator himself, incorporated the art of drawing into the clothes, imitating ink streaks with beading and experimenting with shading, among other things. Even the Stephen Jones millinery bore a resemblance to brushstrokes. Dior couture shows always seem to be a time travel experience, to when haute couture was at its most serious and rigorous level of design. The clothes always look appropriately nostalgic—how many young ladies do you know that can afford couture?— but have the proper dash of Galliano. Even the posing harks back long before Galliano, but he seems to absolutely live for it. With his enthusiasm and sheer talent, it's a trip I'm more than willing to accompany him on.

Karlie Kloss

Olga Sherer

Melissa Tammerijn

Nimue Smit

Laura Blokhina

Liu Wen

Iekeliene Stange

Julia Saner

Martha Streck

Joan Smalls

Caroline Brasch Nielsen

Frida Gustavsson

Yulia Kharlaponova

Magdalena Frackowiak

Georgina Stojilkovic

Photos via style.com

I can't sleep now...

Whether or not that has anything to do with those nightmares is unclear at this point... In any case, enjoy Miss Emmanuelle Alt.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Spring Couture 2011: Armani Privé

Mr. Armani put forth his taste for shine and space in his most recent haute couture collection. The imposing presence of jewel tones and a futuristic theme is quite the departure for the designer. It almost seems that he's taking cues from a relatively recently established client, Lady GaGa. Silky, reflective fabrics can be seen throughout the collection, appearing to be near-liquid, ready to melt off the models. Challenging shapes were abundant as well, sometimes completely disappearing to allow a stripe of more body-conscious fabric to emerge. On top of it all, saucer-shaped hats by Phillip Treacy decorated the heads of nearly every girl who walked. I will have to admit, I'm having trouble taking in the show. Besides the fact that Armani has completely flipped my vocabulary of the "Armani Woman," I've taken issue with some of the shapes, the fit, fabrics, and even colors. If I'm being completely honest, I even thought to myself (mostly in reference to this look), "How can something so labor-intensive and utterly expensive look so cheap?" Perhaps the view from my computer screen does not have the power to translate the beauty and movement of the clothes. My top picks are some of the most streamlined looks in the entire collection. I'm always up for excessive volume or odd proportions, but for some reason this show hasn't yet clicked. To be fair, I love the looks below, but I don't feel that way about the entire collection. I'll probably have nightmares about my various fashion industry heroes staring me in the face with crazy eyes and demanding me to be burned at the stake for my published criticism of an absolute genius. I suppose my blog is called These Lips Might Sink Ships... Never do I want to become a Cathy Horyn, a could-be enemy of designers, ready to criticize their work at a moment's notice. I want to help create a world of fantasy. I want to help write the story. Tonight I'm leaning towards being instinctual. Sigh. Now for the less serious part:

Bianca Balti