Resort 2014: Cavalli, Tahari and Burch

As I have said before, I view fashion mostly from a 'Would I wear it?' 'Do I want it?' perspective, and resort collections are of course fabulous for this. I love the following three collections and had to restrain myself from posting more pieces, especially Roberto Cavalli and Elie Tahari oh lovely.

Cavalli: Love the mix of prints extending to the shoes, with the lovely jacket.

And the layering of patterned dress, statement blazer, coloured pant, and statement shoe - that is pretty crazy and amazing. Love the styling of the model too. The simple hair and 'makeup-free' look to avoid looking clownish :) I almost never wear makeup and can barely find time to do much with my hair so this is all me (this is where the importance of an excellent and maintained haircut and skincare regime, combined with a fabulous wardrobe, come in - one of my mantras entering my 30's.)

This dress is so easy and glamorous and the colours of the print remind me of a lovely garden in the sunshine.

I really like the sweater/t-shirt maxi skirt trend, the necklace can really elevate the look as well.

And for Tahari... I want this suit. 

This dress, simple, loose, interesting print - it's like a long t-shirt and that's great.

This dress is so pretty and the shape would be flattering on so many women. His clothes are so great for so many body shapes and I love that!

I want this shirt-dress so bad, and with the jacket, so effortless and chic.

Lastly for this post, Tory Burch had, as usual, an excellent use of prints. Here is a maxi skirt with t-shirt look I love... don't need a necklace here since there is so much going on, especially with the tiered skirt, which is so lovely.

And this trench cut off at the waist is amazing. 

Resort 2014: Dior and Chanel

I love resort collections. I'm going to start my favourite picks with Dior and Chanel, two of the pillars always for me. I'm loving the neutral palettes combined with elegant and intriguing details in both collections.

Raf Simons had some lovely pieces for Dior. I particularly love all the dainty and prettily-coloured heels, which add a pop of colour and personality.

This dress is so awesome. That zipper, the hemline, the flow, yum. And the shoes...

Not a big fan of the neckline detail being so strangulating, but I love this colour combo especially the pop of aqua in the heels.

I want this bodysuit (with bottoms to be added, perhaps patterned shorts, or a maxi skirt, maybe with a high-low hemline in a sheer, see gown below.) 

This gown is so sublime. Excellent bridesmaid dress.

I also think this dress is pretty rockin'.

Karl Lagerfeld... continues to be such a fountain of inspiration, it is incredible. I love way too many looks from the Chanel collection. It is pretty orgasmic, and so chic. My dream is to own Chanel pieces one day, as it so far has not been achievable in my life.

This suit I prefer in the black variation over the two whites that came down the runway first, it has a lovely easiness to it.

This whole look in white, with the form-fitting vest, the grey coat, the necklace.... Want.

And this look is soooo sexy.

Want these amazing pants. 

Same with the sweater and skirt. Love these proportions, have been dressing like this myself.

These pants again, I want them so bad.

Now, if you are blessed with the body of Cara and 10% body fat... But love the shorts. 

The layering in this look is pretty intriguing. I can't tell if those are pants or a skirt, but I think I will play around with the short sweater or blazer over the belted tunic/dress look. Over a maxi skirt, with heels. 

This little lace suit is so lovely.

The following two beach looks are so classic and hot. A woman could wear these from 18 to 108 and be appropriate and glamourous.

I especially love this look, that cream overcoat looks sooo divine.

The details and the quality of this fabric remind me of dresses at the beginning of the twentieth century. Very pretty.

The hemline is so interesting, combined with the dropped hemline, a 1920's sort of feeling. Many of his other looks' strands of pearls echoed that era as well.

The ethereal detailing on this dress...

And this would make a lovely bride's outfit.

Interesting how punk-y the styling was in contrast to the old-world flavour of the clothing itself, a way to modernize it and also make so many clever references, I love it.

Oh so many more sublime collections, more to come.

J. Crew Love

This is a very competitive world - for a year I have been looking for work and although I have lots of qualifications (master of arts, honours undergrad cum laude, years of varied experience, four languages...) I never seem to be the best candidate... I have done a lot of soul searching as to why this is. I have realized that the only way to excel truly in this world, and not waste your life as a drone, is to strive to be your personal best in what you love to do. When you love it, it is... not easy, but easily committed to? Follow your heart and success hopefully will follow, as the universe supports you in your purpose. So I am trying to find my purpose, especially important when you have a daughter to support and a partner who loves what he does (I am jealous, a little.)

To that purposeful end, I have enrolled in the first step in a journey towards a career in fashion and art. I pray the universe backs me on this one. I have a lot of ideas and a fire within me.

Part of me was inspired by the J. Crew website (massive sale right now), clothing which is always inspirational; I don't think there is anything they sell I don't like at least a little, or love a lot. And Jenna Lyons is the absolute bomb (cool little day in the life of in Harper's Bazaar's recent fashion issue).

I digress - they are doing capsule collections in collaboration with CFDA designers such as Greg Chait of The Elder Statesman, super soft cashmere in unique but wearable lovely pieces. J. Crew highlights his workroom, his process, and has a quote about him collecting blankets for years before he started making them. Lightbulb!

Some pieces I love from J. Crew... I love the loose and easy but still stylish vibe, what I pretty much strive for every day.

And the following sweater and tank by The Elder Statesman

Punk Lovin' Met Gala faves

The Met gala happened Monday, and I have been sitting on this post a couple of days. The theme was punk, and what a DREAM. It's funny to see starlets with no punk in them do a terrible job of trying to interpret it (Jessica Biel's fake septum ring...?)

I think Anna Wintour could have made more of an effort, as co-chair of the event and she wore a short-sleeved long flower-print dress. Punk? Direct quote: "The curator of the exhibition told me that the colour of punk is pink so I'm in pink by Chanel." Really? One of the most undisputed directors of the world of style had so little opinion on what constitutes punk? And she said on the red carpet of The Great Gatsby that everyone intimidates her. She is actually a vulnerable girl playing a part sometimes methinks.... Enough of that, some people really killed it. Here are some of my faves.

Tommy and Dee Hilfiger with Marky Ramone! Yah yah. Dee got it. Debbie Harry also wore Tommy and rocked it.

This is a starlet example. Punk, or glam rock? I envy their legs though and they look fantastic in Atelier Versace and Balmain. 

Allison Williams in Altuzarra with Joseph Altuzarra the designer. Wish her hair were more severe and daring but the dress is perfect.

Kristen Stewart and Stella McCartney in same. Pantsuit, attitude, looking slightly stoned. Yes these girls are definitely punk. Stella's simple black and mussed-up hair is way more punk than many who tried too hard and failed.

Lily Cole gives chills. In Vivienne Westwood. Whoa. 

Love Dakota Fanning's Rodarte dress but if she had put her hair up and applied some super dark eyes or lipstick  (or both) she would've nailed it.

Taylor Swift in J. Mendel went for a similar gown and went for it more with the eyes makeup and crimped hair.

Ginnifer Goodwin's makeup and hair kills, but the dress is not punk. If only you could mix and match.

Rosie Huntington-Whitely actually channelled punk/dark rebel to me. Her breasts are not well-featured in this Gucci number but other than that she does the goth-y thing well.

This is so punk to me. Joshua Jackson in this Dior suit reminds me of the SLC punk scene where they say the straight-laced looking nerdy punks are the most hardcore of all, and that's what I get from this. And Diane Kruger in this Chanel, with the sheer almost choking her, is awesome. I love the pink tips of her hair that you can't see in this picture unfortunately.

I feature Gisele in this Anthony Vaccarello because when I first saw this collection I remember thinking I loved the edge, and with the carpet awash in Givenchy I was happy to see this designer there. And short which is a great statement. She shoulda gone more dramatic with updo and makeup however her locks are glorious...

And I've just found that Anja Rubik wore him too, figures only supermodels... And she channels punk much better.

I was waiting for someone to use an elaborate headdress to suggest a mohawk, and am not at all disappointed it was SJP. Hat Philip Treacy, dress Giles Deacon. Too bad she revealed some very lacy black underwear along with the over-the-knee plaid, but on second thought that is pretty punk of her. Don't listen to the haters, you commit and I love you for it!

Paloma Faith in Michael Cinco also committed, and love her pigeon tats (paloma=pigeon)

Lily Collins in Moschino. Like that she went for it with the makeup and hair, and the mix of studded leather jacket and that skirt is very dressed-up punk. Win.

Gwen Stefani in Maison Martin Margiela. I love that this top is risqué, as well as looks like a very elegant version of a scrap tied across her torso with ends going opposite ways. She again channels old Hollywood starlet in a new, sexy, dare I say slightly punky way. She looks great. 

The real coup was the fact that she changed into a more literal punky Atelier Versace gown with the same colour scheme. And Gavin Rossdale wore a Vivienne Westwood plaid suit and his hair in a hot bun and their combined look: WIN.

Madonna is 54. Enough said. Way to take a risk, and be yourself, and do the pantsless thing (in Givenchy) a million times better than Ke$ha or Christina Aguilera could hope to.

Ivanka Trump really surprised me here. She's a sexy mother (she is pregnant here), businesswoman, and just stunning woman. And she pulled her polished punk out, in Juan Carlos Obando, which is really weird to see but looks fab.

I am half in love with two Victoria's Secret alum and moms - Karolina Kurkova and Miranda Kerr.

Here is the former in Mary Katrantzou, and it works. So hot, she smoulders. And it's sorta rough and edgy and punky. 

And I will include the latter, in Michael Kors, but am disappointed - clear example of added spikes just cause you feel you should. I thought she would dirty herself up more. Different jewellery, makeup and hair would have really done the trick. We all know you are perfectly beautiful, time to add dimension Miranda!

Minka Kelly in Carolina Herrera. I am feeling this look and the shoulders.

Similar vibe with Florence Welch in Givenchy. Wish these women had tried harder with their hair!

These shoulders rock pretty hard too. Excellent use of spikes, which many others seemed to add just cause they felt they had to. Taylor Tomasi Hill with designer Thom Browne.

Done for now! I wish I could dress up like this...