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She told me to walk this way…
Letters from the Avant-Garden
It seems a few designers took a page from this book when it came to inspiration, this season.
Prabal Gurung's avant-garden dress was one of my faves this season.
Loved the graphic print and the ribbon of red.
I am really loving the angles of Kallol Dutta's perspective lately, too.
Berardi is no stranger to bold - and impeccable tailoring.
Urvashi Kaur had soft asymmetry all tied up.
Images: Vogue.com, Elle.com and WLIFW.
Piping In
Oh look, there is someone else piping in on the piped trench I love so much.
So lovely in midnight blue, too.
Burberry's take on the crisp trench: belted, piped, trimmed...sold.
Image courtesy of Burberry.
A Cuff’s Enough
It doesn’t take a grand ball gown to impress me.
Life is all about the perfect little moments – in between the fancy parties.
It’s about the enjoyment of the daily pleasures – like the length of the perfect cuff.
Sometimes, my dears, that’s simply enough.
Paul Smith knows not to mess with knuckle-length shirt cuffs.
Image: Elle.com.
Métiers de Mumbai?
The House of Chanel releases a Métiers d’Art collection annually to highlight the fine work of the seven Paris couture ateliers which Chanel owns. And each year, Uncle Karl gives us a dream – whether it’s the perfect marriage of Paris and London, a journey through time to the Byzantine age, or an ode To Russia, With Love.
For me, these Métiers d’Art collections from Chanel often resonate the most. These are the ones that remain in my visual memory.
Well now, my darling Uncle has decided to take a trip to my Motherland. The Paris-Bombay collection, to be shown on December 6th at the Grand Palais in Paris, will be an ode to Mumbai.
Given Chanel’s rich history in couture craft and India’s equally embellished passion for ornamenting the ordinary, I cannot wait to see the collection.
After all, Karl is the West’s answer to the mac daddy Maharaja, is he not?
The modern maharaja of mode?
The mac daddy Maharaja, Sir Bhupinder Singh of Patiala.
Images: Karl from Getty Images; Bhupinder Singh image courtesy of AGO.
Fashion Set Fêtes Filmmaker
Pedro Almodóvar loves strong women.
Woman on the verge, Rosie de Palma, looking beautiful amongst the blooms.
Well, many a fashion femme fatale showed up at the MoMA last night to fête the famous filmmaker at the Museum’s fourth annual Film Benefit – A Tribute to Pedro Almodóvar.
Wendi Murdoch, with Tamara Mellon who looks deep in thought - about her rumoured lifestyle brand launch, no doubt.
Grace, aglow in red.
Ms. von Furstenberg.
The perfect backdrop for colourful, John Waters.
Uncle Karl and Uncle Pedro - two uncles every woman needs.
I am not a party girl, but this is one I wouldn’t have minded being an extra in, if only to be photographed in a glorious dress against a backdrop of roses.
No small entrance - model Joan Smalls in a drop-dead-in-front-of-red, Tom Ford dress.
The scent of those blooms must have lingered, like the scenes from his films in one’s memory…
Rachel Roy looking chic. I am still craving the burgundy version of these Celine shoes.
Images: Grace, DVF, Karl/Pedro photos from Vogue.com. All others by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images.
No Reason or Rhyme
Sometimes, it’s Paris – and sometimes, it’s Harris that you want.
Many a mood can be tailored by mode.
Auntie Viv's Harris Tweed will smarten you up, Scottish style.
Image: Liberty.
Apply Two Coats
I’m having trouble deciding which Theyskens’ Theory cover up I like better.
The flat lapel makes this manteau so manageable.
Love this one, aussi, for those days with no wind.
Best to apply two coats, in this case.
Images: Vogue.com.
RAmpal.One
You know, it’s true what your mother told you…
It’s not the clothes, but what’s underneath that counts.
My dears, I give you Mr. Rampal - in character for Ra.One – the Bolly sci-fi action/adventure flick in theatres now.
Mamma mia. One for the scrapbook, ya?
I'm gonna walk down to Electric Avenue...
Clothes do not make the man, after all.
WhileRampal has always been buff (he’s a former model), this is a whole new level of lean and mean. The buzz cut also has social media circles a-buzz.
Images courtesy of the man himself, @rampalarjun.
Hot Pursuit
I put on one of my favourite suit jackets, this morning – a charcoal, alpaca and wool blend, waist-length, fitted number with a high collar, wide belt, balloon sleeves and Victorian button-closure, by Antonio Berardi.
This couture suit by Bouchra Jarrar has the same romantic vibe that drew me to the Berardi suit (which is completed by the best fitted and flared trousers in my closet).
I am adoring this return to ladylike luxe, lately.
Lady over lazy, my dears – embrace the return of the softer suit!
This return suits me just fine - Bouchra Jarrar Fall 2011 Couture.
Image: Vogue.com.
Déjà Vu: Mythological Margiela
Artemis, Hellenic goddess of the hunt.
Maison Martin Margiela, the hunted – and the haunting.
The Artemis of draping at Margiela, for FW11.
Margiela's modern take on the goddess du jour, perhaps?
Grecian, Roman and urban chic, all at once.
Image sources: Artemis courtesy of University of Victoria; all others from Vogue.com.
Anamika, Ole!
My sole/soul sister, Anamika Khanna is just that for a reason. She has a unique take on Indian fashion – which to me, isn’t really Indian fashion per se, but offers a keen view of the world from her home base, which just happens to be in India.
Her Spring/Resort 2011 collection at Lakme Fashion Week in March, 2011 (I’ve been collecting and saving these images for a while), told a few different stories. One tale that I read from the “Indian Androgyny” collection told of India’s regals.
Another in the library of this collection seemed to come from the colour and spirit of Spain. I loved Ms. Khanna’s take on toreador threads and her matador muses.
A Spanish jacket, by an Indian designer, using a Persian embroidery technique: zardozi.
Two matadors get ready for the ring.
Matador mama.
A matador, in perfect attire.
Easy, breezy, fitted, flared.
Leave a trail for others to follow.
Christian Courreges took some wonderful black and whites of toreadors.
There is drama in simplicity, too.
Toreador by Christian Courreges.
Cropped, yet topped.
Tweedy toreador.
I love the idea of layering an intricate vest over simple black and white.
Investment dressing, indeed.
Toreador by Christian Courreges.
Elena of Spain.
A lainga, the colour of a bullfighter's cape.
The piercing colours of a matador's profession.
The lainga, simplified. This is why I love Ms. Khanna's designs. She takes the fuss out of Indian dressing.
Matador magenta.
Look at that fit!
It moves like the matador's cape - with yards of fabric.
Spanish bullfighter Rivera, in a costume by Giorgio Armani.
A dupatta that doubles as a bull detector?
While bullfighting may cross a moral line for many in the modern world, its uniform can serve as inspiration for modern mode.
She may be a quiet one, but her clothes are the work of a master storyteller.
Image sources: 2, 17, 19. via Wikipedia; 4. via Ian Macky; 7, 9, 14. Photos by Christian Courreges; 15. via RoyalDish.com; 22. via Spain Society Fashion; all others are Anamika Khanna runway shots via Lakme Fashion Week, rediff.com, bharatstudent.com, indianfashionpolice.com.
Just Boo-tiful
Keeping with the gothentic theme this week, the Alexander McQueen brand released a new collection of skull scarves. Not only are the scarves a refined version of the bones that the House was built on (it is a McQueen piece that is generally more accessible and has sold consistently well since it was introduced), but the campaign that accompanies the new collection is equally beautiful.
It has a haunting quality, which at McQueen has never scared me away. I always find it serene. Reminds me of Kate’s hologram moment.
Images courtesy of Alexander McQueen.
Everyday is Halloween
“Any place, anywhere that I go all the
People seem to stop and stare they say‘why are you dressed like it’s Halloween?
You look so absurd, you look so obscene’
O, why can’t I live a life for me?
Why should I take the abuse that’s served?
Why can’t they see they’re just like me it’s
The same, it’s the same in the whole wide worldWell I let their teeny minds think that they’re
Dealing with someone who is over the brink and
I dress this way just to keep them at bay
Cos Halloween is everyday it’s everyday o…”Everyday is Halloween
-Ministry
I loved these FW11 menswear pieces from Julius, a label by Japanese designer Tatsuro Horikawa.
Menswear, unwrapped at Julius FW11.
We've seen men in skirts before, but not this sheer.
Loved the ease of this jacket. If the whole look is too theatrical for you, this piece, alone can change your wardrobe for the better.
In another time, in another place.
This, for me, has traces of the past - I see Tibetan monks and shadows of ancient kurtas, here.
It takes a certain kind of man to pull off frou.
Fairytale-esque, no?
Layered to perfection. I want to wear this on a cold winter's day.
An Indian groom ready to make his rounds?
There is something about this multi-level layering that gets me every time I see it. Every. Time.
Sheen without show. Metallic-ah.
Stark white can be just as gothentic as noir from head to toe.
This may be menswear, but I’d love a few layers of it for myself.
Shun the critics. Be who you are. Every day.
Original images from Fashionising.com, modified by moi.
Japanese Tartan
Life is all about the mix.
It’s about venturing out on familiar paths to new and unfound places.
It’s taking one’s history on a journey of further exploration.
It’s about seeing the traditional in an untraditional way.
Take, for some wonderful examples, these pieces from the Y’s collection from Yohji Yamamoto.
Each fabric that you touch in any Yohji collection will be dreamy - like his creations.
Borrowed from tartan tradition – one that includes Scots and punks, alike – and layered with military memory, they echo a past we recognize.
Mr. Yamamoto first showed his Y's collection in the '70s. It was a collection for women, based on men's garments.
What’s gone, however, is the bleeding edge of military, and the in-your-face, face-off of the striking tartan colour contrast. It’s softened with a smudged, black print that adds a poetic verse to the clothes.
Even with hard edges like metal zippers and studs, the effect is soft.
Tartan has gotten tarty lately, but this is how it should be worn. Choose arty over tarty, by all means.
It isn’t heavy, as it is serene.
Life is all about the layers, after all.
So Y’s.
All are available at the Conduit Street Yohji store in London.
Images courtesy of Yohji Yamamoto.
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