The line previewed at Bates College last week before anyone else got a chance to see it and it’s slated to get reviewed at five other colleges w/students as its brand ambassadors. (sunjournal 3/11)

If the university crowd is your target market, then this is a great way to reach them: on their turf and exclusively. This is really one of those counter trends in response to the overwhelming churn of social media. How better to get someone’s attention and to put them in the mood than to first pick a spot that conveys the mood of the line (a coffee shop in a New England college….)
and make it a trunk show!

Trunk shows have been being done since the beginning of the fashion industry but to an audience who was loaded and generally something on the level of a socialite. Bates College, et al, doesn’t exactly meet the usual trunk show crowd definition but I give it an A+ for the times we are living in. Set’s the tone, the mood, the buzz….will the line stand up to the hype?

It’s open for all to view and buy at it’s website, LL Bean Signature.com, so you can form your own opinion. But I’d suggest you hit the men’s site first and go for the Mariner’s tee (that’ll last you well into the next decade), and then onto the shoes. I already own one of the Ranger moc’s from back in the 80′s (were they even called that then?) and I’ll tell you, it’s a great shoe. I want it in the darker color now. My daughter saw me wearing it the other day and I thought they were gonna be snapped off my feet.

Then there is the L.L. Bean classic hunting boot that has been modernized. Again I own that hunting boot from the 80′s and that’s probably the best boot made on earth. It will last me into the next century (in other words, longer than I will live) but I’d buy the more modern version, the Waxed Canvas Maine Hunting Shoe, cause it’s cool…that one I could wear into any restaurant and not feel over booted. (watch the vid while you’re at the site, I am a sucker for nostalgia, and it’s Americana personified, A++)

Yeah. There are some pretty cool updated Bean classics that the well heeled college crowd will love and adore. I might work a little on the women’s line but they’ve got some great sweaters, and again, shoes, ooh and totes.

Well on it’s way to becoming a classic, L.L. Bean’s Signature Line is worth the hype. But don’t take my word for it….

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Alexander McQueen delivered his SS 2010 collection today with evolution as its theme and he picked snakes to get his point across. I don’t have the full inside scoop on that particular detail, but he certainly represented fashion, snakes and the process of evolution flawlessly.

And if that weren’t enough, he really made (air) waves by going direct to the cyberspace fashion collective by tweeting about his video of the collection done in conjunction with fashion photog Nick Knight. Just prior to the runway show, Nick Knight did an up close interview with McQueen sitting at a kitchen table drinking from a very proper cup of tea and truly I felt as if I were right there, sitting with Mr. McQueen himself listening to him explain some of his thinking behind fashion, the internet, and his own visions.

Marvelous, marvelous, marvelous stuff. If you ever wanted to know the definition of engagement (that thing all marketers are looking for when they combine mediums to reach their targets), this would be it.

The only hitch was that they had so many visitors to the site, (Lady Gaga tweeted the event) not everyone got on, and so were left disappointed. No worries…bright minds like that leave it on line for everyone who didn’t get to see it the first time. Check here at ShowStudio Alexander McQueen SS2010 Live.

Today marked a shift in fashion history by Alexander McQueen creating a presentation for the world direct to them, not just for that select group of editors and buyers and celebs. Not only was there an evolution in Mr. McQueen’s work, there was an evolution in how a luxury fashion designer presents his runway collection to market.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens after this.

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As soon as I knew the dress was made by Isabel Toledo it had my vote. Seconds before I knew who the designer was though, I was puzzled. Mainly because Michelle Obama has been more contemporary in dress choice for the most part than this silhouette seemed to be, but this was a special day so it called for another kind of statement and fashionista per se wasn’t one, nor was being Jackie O the Second. She set herself apart for sure, from everyone without alienating anyone (unlike the election night red and black dress which created a real uproar both pro and con).

So, mission accomplished. Isabel Toledo understands women and their moments so I wholeheartedly signed on for the choice.
That said, the color, while both a brilliant and unusual choice, is also the kind of color that gives photographers and printers headaches and nightmares.

AP Images notes in their image base that the color of Michelle Obama’s dress seemed to change during the day making it difficult to know what to call the color. After doing searches on the web to see what others were saying, I also understood the variations on how it looked based on how it got printed. I’d say not only did people not know what to call the color but they didn’t know what the color was. This was a good day to snag a swatch to go with the dress.

When I saw the St. Louis Post Dispatch cover, I was impressed. By Doug Mills, I thought the image captured the relationship of President and Mrs. Obama well, their genuine look of happiness, and the essence of Michelle’s dress: sunny, different, and comfortable though chic. She appeared confident which made it all the better. But I don’t know that the dress fared that well under all paper or magazine printings.

AP Photo/Elise Amendola

It was a toughie to be sure to reproduce correctly and the color of the gloves and shoes didn’t help. Where to set the dials and for what to begin the print? The greens (of the dress, the shoes and the gloves) were each a different color and not necessarily in the same family. Then there was the lighting and whether or not the shot bleached out the color of the dress or darkened the gloves so much you couldn’t tell what color they were.

And I haven’t even begun to cover what different computers do to color. So, bottom line, it was a color that did her justice…and set her apart. Albeit a printer’s nightmare.

So next time do you pick something that is easier to photograph but still does the same thing, sets one apart, makes a specific mood statement as Isabel Toledo said her choice of color for the dress was meant to do which was to create a sort of sunny attitude…bright and hopeful (our futures?) or not consider the uniformity of color printing and let variations come through that weren’t the real color, thus not the real message being sent out?

I’d have the designer working directly with Michelle Obama instead of through this shop Ikram Goldram in Chicago because I think designers know a thing or two about what they are doing and they know how to work with a subject especially the kind of designers Michelle Obama is using. They may not have had household recognition until now, but they are certainly capable and talented designers who if they had a visit directly with Michelle, may have been better able to anticipate some of the issues that come up in the process of wearing clothing for certain events.

Disclaimer: the above top Associated Press Image is by Jae Hong, which was closest to the Doug Mills image I found on the St. Louis Dispatch cover edition…..the St. Louis Post Dispatch is selling packages of their covers so the image is not available to me for reproducing.

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I didn’t post soon enough my warning about being influenced by the Beijing colors. But in truth Nike has used the colors sparingly thus well. Their LunaRacer (pictured) are found exclusively in Nike’s new 21 Mercer Street store in New York’s Soho district which opened August 22.

Given these shoes were originally intended for the Olympic athletes, it’s fitting they used the Olympic colorways. And to Nike’s credit, these are also limited edition.

So I won’t despair too much. If you have to use the colors, this is one way to do it so one is not blinded by it. Also shown are jackets with the colorways….for further information on the shoes, Nike’s store opening, and other product found there visit Coolhunter.

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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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So, we were just talking about the great blue shoes Katie Holmes wore with her red Armani gown to the Met’s Superheroes Fashion and Fantasy exhibit at the Costume Institute and I couldn’t get over the color….of blue, then along comes Oscar De La Renta’s resort 09 collection suggesting he’s taken a fancy to that color too….yes, and yummy!

Mind you, he had lots of other color options and styles to choose from (like this great print…he’s so on with his ethnic prints right now), but his solo blue confections or blue mixed with red just seemed really masterful to me, and so well accessorized.

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