marc jacobs fall 08 ny, ny……………..diane von furstenberg

You probably didn’t think Marc Jacobs and Miuccia Prada could be uttered in the same thought breath….and both might be insulted or flattered depending upon the day if you did, but both managed to bring that infamous liberated Charlie Girl from the 70’s right smack dab into the 21st century (both shown below). In Jacobs case liberating her from constricting perfect cut and hard to wear much less live up to clothing while Prada lets us wear our more sensual sides on our sleeves so to speak without screaming we have one. Praise the fashion Gods, the Woman, I say, W-O-M-A-N, has arrived…..Lucee, let me ’splain.
To begin, the fall shows themselves have put us sideliners, insiders, sidewinders and editors on a roller coaster of thought waves and patterns while being taken from the ridiculous to the sublime in a matter of weeks; but that’s been, strangely, half the fun. With a decided lack of direction from our fashion bellwethers for fall, nothing took shape quite literally until now. Thankfully there is light at the end of this tunnel we call runway fashion, and surprisingly for me it took Marc Jacobs to drill the first hole to the surface.
DVF Fall 08

I’ll admit Diane von Furstenburg’s collection held sway over me and thus emitted a ray of hope (sticking with the metaphor) because of it’s ability to allow us to mix and match our wardrobes…..a lovely and fun thing to do and, given the times, economically sound too. Then Marc Jacobs really gave our sportswear image in the states a lift by plopping us squarely (again, almost literally) into the 21st century. Slouchy comfortable and sleekly streamlined (all in one outfit?)…isn’t that something our lives call for as we multitask our way to the top and back and up and back again to the kitchen?
Then along comes Polly….
well not exactly, it was actually Raf Simons at Jil Sanders, but no less upsetting (as the likeable and messy Polly that Jennifer Anniston played was to the uptight and o.c.d. character Ben Stiller played in the movie with the same name) to the most sensibly stylish of us. Simons expertly created evening wear without one ounce of bling; he may have considered origami, but only for a second before he and his patternmakers-cum-designers created sculpted looks only an imperfect lady (named Charlie I think) could wear, simultaneously turning the season and dressing up, upside down–pleated tweeds, whoever has heard of this much less done it, worked it…had it work. I’m at a loss for words to describe what he’s managed to pull off.
And once that had sort of sunk in, oh heavens forbid (and how they’ve tried), here comes Miuccia Prada, telling us to “take it off, take it off, take it allll off.” But, you know Prada, not in such direct terms. No, being direct is not in Prada’s oeuvre ….everything was done with subtlety and care and with a process that brings the more shy-lings among us along and then, plop! puts us once again, squarely into the 21st century face to face with ourselves.
It’s been a complicated and messy affair this Fall ‘08 runway biz for many reasons too many financial to speak of but luckily for us, salvaged. And we still have Paris! So, since pictures are worth a thousand words and I think I’ve gone over the limit, let me show you what I’m going on about while we let fall ‘08 on the Paris runways begin.
Orange, You Burnt or just Red?
ohne titel……………………..halston………………………bottega veneta



Who’s That Girl? Charrrrlie. (marc jacobs)


Jil Sander


Prada, Prada, Prada.





