Bottega Veneta Spring 09……………………………………………Dries VanNoten Spring 09

Many of the silhouettes for Menswear Spring 09 in Europe had that Great Gatsby era style to it, but more modern. One designer, Dries VanNoten, said, “I want him to be dapper, not dandy.” Mission accomplished.

Prada Spring 09…………………..Junya Watanabe Spring 09

At the same time, designers played with proportions in the length of the pant, the size of the jacket, additional volume mostly with the pants but also with some jackets, socks are an important accessory and up to the knees (as well as argyle), and then this year designers took a page out of women’s collections and gussied up the shoes to match the jacket, the shirt, or the sweater through all manner of technique.

John Galliano Spring 09

The sum total of it all for me was that men will, though serious as always, be letting their fun side show this spring.

Moschino Spring 09

I don’t know if this means designers are planning for the recession to be over or for men to be needing some other form of self expression because let’s face it, the world-wide economic situation will have taken its mighty toll by Spring 09. Perhaps it’s just that men will finally let their hair down, and wear their pants up, or something like that.

Whatever the case may be, it’s cool, man, real cool.

Bottega Veneta Spring 09…………Versace Spring 09

Denis Semachev Spring 09

all images Style.com except Denis Semachev, International Herald Tribute.

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Loved these shoes and had to post the image as well as reference you to the New York Times article, Smooth Translations, and their slide show on some of their yummy finds on the genre. Have you found any you’d like to share? I’d love to hear from you: send your image to me to post an I’ll be sure your name is listed with it and whatever the source of the image is.

Shoes, $350.00, from Opening Ceremony, NYC.

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According to New York Times fashion critic, Cathy Horyn, and “On the Runway” blog fame, Bill Blass once said you should dress for the room you will be in.

I’ve been pondering that sentiment for awhile now and finally needed to blog on it. Like what would the room look like that would match one of Balenciaga’s Spring 2008 pieces from the catwalks of Paris?

And I decided this room would work with that color composition. It had to be at the very least contemporary….and white.

But this room would work as well:

How about you? Do you wear clothes that match the rooms you’ll be in?

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Since it’s been the number one movie at least in America for some 3 weeks (for good reason), I am sure many of you have already seen the movie.

And since superheroes are a hot topic in fashion circles today because of the Met’s Costume Institute exhibition “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy,” I’ve got to talk about Paltrow’s fashion style in the movie as Ironman’s girl friday, Virginia Pepper.

She looked stunning and single handedly did more for both the corset top and ankle strapped high heels than any Victoria’s Secret model I can think of to date.

If you haven’t seen it, I strongly recommend it. Robert Downey Jr. is a perfect 21st century Ironman, both heroic and funnily sarcastic, and Gwyneth Paltrow takes no prisoners as his Ironman’s Girl…Friday. I’d call them the Dynamic Duo.

P.S. We also loved her handbag in the scene where she downloads the goods from Stark Industries (I won’t give the storyline away), but don’t know whose bag it is. If anybody knows, please let me know. It’ll be first on my list of things to buy after the recession!

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I confess I am not a huge fan of Louis Vuitton, nor do I like a monotone style of an electric color for an outfit, but somehow this all together just works (including that 3 legged chair the model is leaning on). I wonder what he would look like walking down the streets of New York….hmmmmm, in my visualization it doesn’t work as well.

How about the streets of Sao Paulo Brazil? That works. Probably works in Europe too, but I’d like to see it with either a white blazer or a grey one? You think?

The great touch on this? the blue sandals.

But my final word, it explains the blue hair Marc Jacobs was donning for awhile.

Image from Surface Magazine’s “Getting Mono” by photographer Paul Cruz, styling by Bernardo Siaotong.
Chair is molded aluminum tripod by Poul Kjaerholm; part of a limited edition of 25 in blue for R20th Century and Sean Kelly Gallery.

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