Is Your Bed Made? Is Your Sweater On?

The SAG awards were last night and while I didn't catch the actual show I did get a chance to oogle at some of the dresses. Nothing as dazzling as the Globes or the Oscars, but certainly some fun dresses. My favorite, of course:

It was so refreshing to see Hailee Steinfeld, the fourteen-year-old star of True Grit, in a fun, fresh Prada dress that was entirely appropriate for her age. As a teenager I'm actually really tired of girls trying to look so much older than they are, and I hope Hailee continues to look sweet and age-appropriate.

This Is Ivy League

Maybe I just have college on the brain right now, but Ivy League Prep classics seem to be rocking the runways right now. It began last fall with the emergence of the Letterman jacket as a fashionable outerwear choice, and now designers have extracted trends from every corner of the ivy-covered walls of the country's most prestigious colleges. The reality is that most people do not dress in plaid and polos as much as I would like to think, but a girl can dream. When I get to college, they better watch out.

Here's my magical inspiration collage of all things preppy and scholastic.

 Clockwise from top left: The boys of Vampire Weekend; Harvard in the old days; Spring looks from Phillip Lim, Lacoste, and Tommy Hilfiger; Pre-Fall looks from Bally and Celine; Blair Waldorf in one of her classic school girl looks

The Big Time (Part One)

   
Sometimes couture can be disappointing -the expectations are set so high and sometimes designers cannot compare to the things they did last season. This spring, however, I feel that most designers surpassed my expectations. Let's look at some of the highlights:

Armani Prive

When I saw the Armani collection I felt like I had walked onto some strange, ultra-fashionable, ultra-mod alien planet from the future. The neon colors and the fabrics used made everything look so sleek and futuristic, and I especially adored the final dress with the silver and red looked like a walking disco ball, but in a cool way, not a cheesy middle school dance way. I really can't wait to see who is daring enough to try out some of these ensembles in the coming months. Some of the dresses with that awkward skinny waist/big hips combo might not translate well to real life, but some of the other outfits might be really cool on a fashionable person.

Chanel

Chanel stayed true to its roots this season and stuck with feminine boxy skirt suits, pastels, and plenty of little details that make the clothes so much more special. And, of course, I loved every moment of it. The first half of the collection was a little unconventional, as the outfits seemed a little too generic and just kind of boring, but once you got toward the end all the big skirts and sequins start to give that twinkle in your eye (or at least my eye). If I could wear one collection for my entire life, this may just be it.

Christian Dior

Now that I know how much fabric and time it takes to make an ultra-full skirt, I have a new-found appreciation for Dior and all the gigantic skirts they do. I just love the vintage 50s look combined with these fantastical, dreamlike qualities. John Galliano knows how to combine both feminine, form-fitting outfits with ridiculous over-the-top accents that, when combined, make a magical series of outfits. Modern-day Disney princesses would totally go for these dresses.

Fruity Tooty

Mother always said to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.

Now, if I don't feel like eating them, I can wear them!
 

A cornucopia of fruits at Stella McCartney

It's bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S! at Prada

Cherry-licious dresses at Wunderkind

Pineapple print at Suno

Purple plums at Rochas

Pear-fect skirt at Moschino Cheap & Chic

Miu Miu knows an apple a day keeps the doctors away

Is Anything Original?

History repeats itself.

What a shockingly true statement. We would like to think that our times are original, unique, breathtakingly creative, but alas, nothing is as original as it seems. There are trends that transcend eras, ideas that will always prevail. And apparently, the same repetitiveness shines through in fashion. Of course, instead of mistakenly falling upon the same mistakes as our ancestors, designers take inspiration from the past and silhouettes from bygone times.

Stripes and pencil skirts at Prada in more colorful hues

Turbans prevail at Jean Paul Gaultier

 

Blue tweed skirt suits get a streamlined effect at Oscar de la Renta

 Kimonos make a comeback at Louis Vuitton

 The girl suit gets an all-white touch at Stella McCartney

 Leopard print is always the cat's meow, like at Giambattista Valli

 The rebellious daddy's girl is always around, just more neon at Proenza Schouler 

(images from myvintagevogue.com and elle.com)

One of my favorite collections this spring was the Meadham Kirchhoff one. Here's my favorite look and the drawing I did of it on my brand new drawing tablet! (So cool!)

Good Girls Go Bad (Or is it Bad Girls Go Good?)

In the February issue of Elle Joe Zee talks about the appeal of the bad girl and her man-stealing, cat-fight-starting ways. He even gives some tips on how to emulate the bad girl look by showing some choice ensembles on the queen of reality TV villains herself, Kristin Cavallari.

But Joe Zee, what about us girls who are perfectly content drawing daisies in the margins of our notebooks and idolizing Blair Waldorf's wardrobe but not her attitude? We don't want to be bad girls! That would mean being mean to people, and it's something we just aren't capable of doing. Leather is for bags and shoes, not dresses and pants, and a hem that comes above the fingertips is far too short. And boys!? Good girls do not wear provocative clothing or. god forbid, push up bras to attract attention from the opposite sex. Besides, any boy sleazy enough to go for that kind of thing isn't a respectable boy to be hanging around.

So here's to the good girls and their grandmother's pearls and white lace dresses. You may not be as popular as the infamous bad girl, but in my personal opinion, you are way cooler.

And now, a tribute to all things goody-two-shoes.

 Cacharel knows how to stay poised with this A-line ensemble and plenty of pink

The wizarding version of the good girl

Tea and crumpets at Twinkle by Wenlan are the perfect good girl afternoon activity

Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz was such a goody-two-shoes, her actual two shoes sparkled

Karen Walker knows that a loose top and a full skirt is the perfect good girl ensemble

Sandy (pre-"tell me about it, stud"), the epitome of the fifties good girl image

Argyle- the ultimate good girl print, as evidenced by Christopher Kane

Glee's Rachel Berry is such a prissy perfectionist, sometimes it's annoying

A good girl loves her floral print, especially when done by D&G

Charlotte York, the optimistic voice of reason among the Sex and the City girls

Lyn Devon shows that a good girl likes it simple- clean cuts and minimal makeup are perfect

 So, are you a good girl, or a bad girl?

Um...Narciso...

So I was checking out what was new at Net-A-Porter when I noticed this Narciso Rodriguez dress among the new arrivals.

But Narciso, didn't you see I did that look like last year?

The dress I made for my homecoming dance last November

Some designers are just so behind on the times...