Archive for September, 2005
Key Takeaways: While Lam is considered one of fashion’s fastest-rising stars, we were disappointed with this boring collection. We expected to see something new and exciting, and what we got was a lot of childlike dresses in dowdy shapes.
Color Palette: Lam’s collection was focused on white, with black and neutrals as supporting colors.
Silhouettes: Babydoll dresses and shift dresses. We didn’t know what to think about the Overgrown-Easter-Sunday-Dress look.
Accessories Report: Our favorite accessory was the fresh-faced makeup seen on Lam’s runway models. They possessed a dewy, youthful look.
What’s Wearable: Lam’s fortuny pleasts–they were one of the few highlights of this collection.
What’s Not Wearable: Babydoll dresses. We don’t want to revisit the early nineties.
September 23rd, 2005
Key Takeaways: For his Emporio Armani collection, Giorgio moved into slightly feminine territory with gauzy scarves and see-through shirts, along with deep-v tunics and wrap shirts. Interesting on the runway, but these items feel more aesthetic than commercial.
Color Palette: Along with beige, white, brown, grey, and black, the collection featured a purple-tinged blue, purple-tinged grey, as well as bits of purple and orange.
Silhouettes: Loosely fitted shapes. Mostly straight-legged pants and shorts, with close-fitting tops. Jackets and blazers added to the slight looseness of fit.
Accessories Report: Skinny ties, gauzy scarves, sunglasses with a thick nose bridge, and dogtag-inspired necklaces. Right on trend, Armani played up the importance of the waist with belts and waistline detailing on pants.
What’s Wearable: Blazers with slightly more cropped sleeves, a nod to geek chic. Utility inspired jackets, drawstring pants, and the on-trend double-breasted jackets.
What’s Not Wearable: See-through shirts, wrap shirts, and unstructured, drapey pants (unless they’re for sleepwear).
September 23rd, 2005
Key Takeaways: Gucci went prep-school chic for Spring 2006. Cardigans, pullovers, and blazers, all far far away from the playboy image created by Tom Ford.
Color Palette: Black, white and cream dominated the collection. Shades of grey, beige, and touches of red accompanied these base neutrals.
Silhouettes: Tailored, fitted silhouettes. Layering played a key role in this collection, with multiple tops being layered over one another. Key items included pullovers, cardigans, double breasted blazers, sport shirts and drapey slacks.
Accessories Report: Attack of the Man Tote. Belts were also big with this collection, a nod to this season’s emphasis on the waistline. Suitcase trunks were reminiscent of old-school travel.
What’s Wearable: Just about everything. The preppy cardigans and pullovers from Fall 05 will still be stylish come spring, albeit in lighter colors.
What’s Not Wearable: The Man Tank Top (unless you’re an Italian gangster). The Man Tote was too feminine for the average male.
September 23rd, 2005
Key Takeaways: The flashy, luxury meets rebel collection could only have come from Dolce & Gabbana. Our take? One part Italian mobster, one part party animal. Key looks included skinny ties, screenprinted tees of vintage ads, and hardware detailing.
Color Palette: Dark, with black and grey dominating. Blue denim, white, crimson, olive, and beige lighten the palette.
Silhouettes: Skinny, fitted suits, hoodies layered under blazers, fitted motorcycle jackets, cardigans, drooping pants, knee-length cutoffs, and boxing shorts.
Accessories Report: Oversized sunglasses, dogtags, bucket hats, and beanies.
What’s Wearable: We like the hoodie-under blazer look, though it’s not new. We also love the cropped motorcycle jackets.
What’s Not Wearable: Floral patterns in a tough-guy look. Also, keep the boxing shorts in the ring.
September 22nd, 2005
Key Takeaways: Utility-inspired clothing fit for a jet-setting dandy. We loved the color combinations: mint green with saffron yellow, olive green with burnt orange, and a yellowed olive paired with salmon.
Color Palette: Neutrals and mainly pastels. Rose, mint, saffron, and burnt orange mixed with black, white, cream, and shades of beige and brown.
Silhouettes: Fitted silhouettes. Closely tailored button-down shirts, snug sweaters, and belted jackets topped straight-legged pants and shorts.
Accessories Report: Caps, scarves, weekender totes, over the shoulder sling bags, and skinny bags. For utility, we like the weekender totes. For style, we Adore the skinny bags.
What’s Wearable: Just about everything. We loved the belted trenchcoats, fitted tops and jackets, as well as the prep-school meets James Bond look.
What’s Not Wearable: Short shorts (but you knew that one already). The only other questionable theme was the patchwork look.
September 22nd, 2005
Key Takeaways: Classic sportswear pieces in mainly solid colors. Patterns added for visual interest included dots, plaids, and stripes.
Color Palette: Red, peach, blue, coral, turquoise and green added eye-catching color to a base of black, white, grey, and beige.
Silhouettes: Mainly fitted shapes and layered looks. Some pieces (like a cardigan) were purposely oversized.
Accessories Report: Knit caps, sport sneakers, and the Man Tote.
What’s Wearable: Most of the collection was comprised of wearable looks. In particular, we liked the ¾ length coats, jackets with slightly shrunken arms, tuxedo shirts, and the pants creased just so.
What’s Not Wearable: Vinyl clothing. It may be functional if it’s raining, but even then, just get an umbrella. Also, the man tote looked awfully feminine.
September 22nd, 2005
Key Takeaways: Dean and Dan Caten gave us their vision of an urban cowboy for their Spring 2006 collection. Mixing high and low elements, the twins adapted classic western wear for a more metropolitan environment.
Color Palette: Besides black and white, the Caten brothers focused on beige, browns, blues, yellows and reds.
Silhouettes: Close-fitting tops and bottoms. Straight legged pants, tailored suit jackets, body-hugging vests.
Accessories Report: Big belt buckles, bandanas, suspenders, skinny ties, shrunken ties, aprons, skinny belts, and the obligatory Cowboy hats.
What’s Wearable: Shrunken jackets, skinny ties and belts, suspenders, straight legged pants, and the combination of high and low elements (e.g. a tuxedo shirt with distressed jeans).
What’s Not Wearable: Tread cautiously with the bandanas and the shrunken ties. And leave the aprons at home. As for oversized belt buckles—if the buckle is larger than your wallet, it’s too big!
September 21st, 2005
Key Takeaways: Alexander McQueen’s collection started off as slightly subversive and preppy/nautical-inspired, but by the end of the show, McQueen had moved all the way over to the land of the avant garde, with sequins, feathers, and capes.
Color Palette: White, Beige, Grey, Gold, Red, Purple, Blue and Black.
Silhouettes: Three piece suits, turned up shirt cuffs, knee-length shorts, double breasted jackets, man boleros, capes. McQueen showed both fitted, tailored looks and slightly more blousy garments.
Accessories Report: Baseball caps, sailor hats, socks pulled up to the knee, untied ties as scarves, belts, ties as belts, rope belts, flip flops, short ties.
What’s Wearable: Turned up shirt cuffs, ¾ length jackets (almost universally flattering on men, especially when tailored thin), ties as belts (seen this one before, but it’s quirky yet wearable),untied ties as scarves, three piece suits.
What’s Not Wearable: The Man Bolero, Sequins and Feathers. Also stay away from capes unless you’re [insert the action hero of your choice here].
September 21st, 2005
Key Takeaways: Eclectic collection touching on a number of themes from past seasons: ethnic & embellishment, military, and nautical, to name a few.
Color Palette: Neutrals were accompanied by yellows, oranges, mint green, and forest green.
Silhouettes: The big story here was belted looks. Gwen Stefani showed a number of long straight skirts on dresses, shorts hitting at the knee.
Accessories Report: Belts were huge. Also important were slouchy boots, belted boots, knit caps, and fedoras.
What’s Wearable: We appreciated Stefani’s colorblocked drapey dresses in particular.
What’s Not Wearable: See through dresses (clearly). Or being covered in logos from head to toe. Stefani’s collection was styled theatrically for dramatic effect—if you try any of these outfits head to toe, you’ll likely come off looking more like a fashion victim than fashion forward.
September 20th, 2005
Key Takeaways: Faux formal collection mixing high and low elements. Perfect for the urban man with a bit of an edge.
Color Palette: Purely neutrals, and predominantly black, with touches of white, beige, and greys.
Silhouettes: Fitted silhouettes. Skinny, straight-legged pants and shorts paired with tailored jackets, shirts, and skinny ties.
Accessories Report: Boots!
What’s Wearable: Great detailing on the jackets, and they’re a natural addition to any stylish man’s closet. We also liked the double breasted cardigan sweater for an edgy take on prep school chic.
What’s Not Wearable: Jacket + Dress Shirt + Tie + Shorts. It’s a bit extreme for the normal man.
September 20th, 2005
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