Best of Fashion Week: Fabulous Coats Edition

I, like my mother, have a thing for coats. I put so many coats into my “BEST” folder, where I’d been keeping links to every single thing I loved this week, that I decided they deserved a category of their own.

#5: Fall in London

Marc by Marc Jacobs Fall 2010

Simple but chic, feminine, and classic. This is what I imagine basically every wealthy London woman wearing around town, minus the hat.

#4: A Twist on a Preppy Classic

Tommy Hilfiger Fall 2010

I. Want. A. Sleeveless. Trench. What an absolutely fabulous concept.

#3: The Tahari Suit

 

Tahari is famous (in my family, anyway) for making incredible well-tailored and truly magnificent suits. But with the fur shawl and the belt, this becomes more of a coat than a suit jacket, as far as I’m concerned. But I could just sit and drool over this photo for hours.

#2: Casual in Eggplant

 

I generally prefer much more tailored, streamlined coats than this, but the casual slouch to this makes it that much more beautiful. And I also generally disapprove of belts outside of beltloops, but how can you not love that deep brownish burgundy belt with the sparkly buckle?

#1: A Vision in White

 

The collar, the belt, the cut, and the design on the right side – it’s all beautiful, modern, and unique. I’d also kill for those leopard-print stockings, but that’s irrelevant. Kudos to Vivienne Tam for knocking it out of the park, and winning out over quite a few much more high-profile designers (at least, according to this Diva).

Fashion Week: Predicting the 2010 Red Carpet

The Democracy Diva has the power to see the future. She, after looking at literally thousands of fresh-off-the-runway dresses, will predict who will wear what to this year’s red carpet events. And if she is wrong, it is only because celebrities too often listen to their stylists instead of the Democracy Diva. Shame on them.

Kate Hudson

Erin Featherston Fall 2010

I immediately thought of Kate Hudson when I saw this dress. She’s definitely worn a metallic dress with the same shape as the top of this dress, but that extra bow switches it up a bit. And she’s become more and more fond of flowy dresses at events over the last few years; I could certainly see her pairing her love of flowing skirts and her love of shiny objects together and rocking this dress at the Academy Awards.

For Cougars and Glamour Queens

Tadashi Shoji Fall 2010

This gown simply screams, Wear me to the Oscars! Actually, if I’m going to personify this gown, I should do it more properly. She’s holding a long cigarette, and in a sultry rasp, she purrs, “Darling, you’re not wearing me to the awards. I am the award.”

Regardless, I could easily see Kim Cattrall clinging to her youth for a few more milliseconds by wearing this to the Sex and the City 2 premiere in Los Angeles (it’s a much more L.A. dress than New York). Really, any cougar, or any aspiring cougars (like Hayden Panettiere, who inexplicably has been styled to look twice her age lately), could easily pull off this dress. I’d honestly be shocked if I didn’t see this shiny, Grecian look, or something intensely similar to it, at the Oscars in a few weeks.

Dressed to Win

J. Mendel Fall 2010

This is the kind of dress that you see on the red carpet and you think, Obviously, she knew she was going to win, if she wore that dress. Which is kind of problematic for this year’s Oscars, because Sandra Bullock knows she’s not glamorous or graceful enough to pull off this dress, and it’s not something Mo’Nique would wear either, and they’re both basically shoo-ins for the female acting awards.

But I could see several of the nominees rocking this gown. Maggie Gyllenhaal in particular would nail this; I personally would like to call her stylist and recommend it, because she epitomizes the intrigue and style that this dress conveys. Carey Mulligan’s boyish looks would go great with a look like this that’s feminine in shape but not overly girly. Penelope Cruz would wear this, but probably in red, black, or silver. She’s not exactly a woman who epitomizes subdued colors.

But most of all, I see this as Lea Michele’s next great wardrobe step. She’s got the makings of a style icon, and can rock high fashion without seeming like she’s trying to dress too maturely. She may be playing a sixteen-year-old, but she’s 23, and certainly old enough to glam it up instead of running around with no pants on like half of Young Hollywood seems to be doing lately.

Fit for The Queen

Oscar de la Renta Fall 2010

To me, if you take the neckline up just a bit, this dress is made for Helen Mirren. She has a knack for dressing better than most women half her age, and, most importantly, not trying to grasp onto her youth (that’s right, Jennifer Lopez, I’m talking to you). This is classy, but still fun and interesting and basically ageless. Just like Dame Helen Mirren. (I don’t think she’s technically a dame, but she is in my heart.)

Who is Divalicious enough for Christian Siriano?

Christian Siriano Fall 2010

This is a gown fit for a diva.

No matter how much I desperately wish that Beyoncé would, after a decade in the music business, finally learn how to dress herself (or hire people with the skill to do so), I know it’s a lost cause. But she would look phenomenal in this, with hair down and jewels blinging. Assuming she wore it in her actually size, instead of two sizes smaller, which is what she seems to do with her entire wardrobe.

It’d be a waste on Rihanna, who brings no grace to anything she wears. And it’s far too simple for my Lady Gaga. If Taylor Swift were two years older, she could nail it. And it’s a little too obvious for Pink. Because, you know, it’s pink.

But if Carrie Underwood ever gets out of her phase of wearing white/silver/ivory sparkly dresses (I almost wrote an entire blog post about it – I found literally 20 pictures wearing practically the same dress to almost every red carpet event of the last few years), I think she’s the lady for this dress. Young and hot enough to pull it off, and she’s got a sense of fun and light-heartedness about herself that would help nail down this look.


Check out The Democracy Diva later tonight and this week! We’ve got tons more to say about this fabulous week. And by we, I mean me.

New York Fashion Week’s Best Trend: The West

Welcome to the wild, wild west.

Farmers, cowboys, and Native Americans were the inspiration for many fabulous ensembles and even entire collections this season. Dozens of designers took the themes of the west to the runway this week, so I’d like to take a look at their different interpretations of the west.

The Cowboys
Some designers emphasized cowboy-style shirts, buttoned up to the neck, as an homage to the west.

Zac Posen Fall 2010

Posen went simple, elegant, and trendy with his satin urban cowgirl (and her particularly adorable shoes).

Alexandre Herchcovitch Fall 2010

Herchcovitch went more exaggerated and less wearable than Posen, but did a nice contrast of the hard studs with that beautiful purple print to nail the gritty-meets-pretty, cowgirl style.

The Period Pieces
Other designers weren’t afraid to go costumey, and dressed their models in full-on prairie girl and Native American garments.

Sophie Theallet Fall 2010

Theallet’s model is straight off of the Oregon Trail, just with more cleavage and less petticoats. Well done.

William Rast Fall 2010

I could do without the colored strings tied around her waist, but I love Rast’s indigenous feel, the beaded accessories, and their contrast to the combat-meets-couture boots.

Native Meets Modern

A few designers threw in just a little element of Native American style into an otherwise modern look.

Nanette Lepore Fall 2010

I doubt this lady had a curling iron and slim-fitting corduroys on the reservation in the 19th century, but the beaded top is simply beautiful.

Rodarte Fall 2010

This was certainly the most surprising and innovative use of the west; Rodarte went daring with a bright, traditionally western print in an otherwise soft and modern outfit.

A Class of Her Own

But nobody, and I mean nobody, did the west the way my girl Betsey did.

Betsey Johnson Fall 2010

She’s got Betsey’s interpretation of a cowboy hat, a gangster’s mask, a sherrif’s badge, and a toy gun. Leave it to Betsey to throw all those contradictions together and call it an outfit.

Fashion Week’s Worst Trend: Ugly Pants

I’ve spent all week viewing 150 runway shows from New York Fashion Week. Let the blogging begin.

THE DREADED JODHPURS

Dictionary.com defines jodhpurs as “riding breeches cut very full over the hips and tapering at the knees to become tightfitting from the knees to the ankles.” Put simply, they’re baggy at the thigh, and tight from the knee down. I like to think of them as the mullet of pants.

Pants inspired by jodhpurs made appearances at far too many runway shows this week, including Camilla Staerk, Malandrino, Alica + Olivia, Alexandre Herchcovitch, Twinkle by Wenlan, Suno, Andy & Debb, and many others. Let’s see who was able to sort of pull off such an awful trend, and who just embarrassed the glorious name of Pants everywhere.

The Good, The Bad, the Malandrino

Malandrino Fall 2010

These are minimally offensive. The structured fabric helps minimize the baggy effect at the thighs, and the plum-colored tweed print is lovely. The look aims for high fashion, so although it’s not very wearable, it’s not supposed to be. As far as jodhpurs go, you can’t do much better than this.

Malandrino Fall 2010

Same designer, same type of pant, and yet this is miles more disturbing than the previous look. It’s certainly not helped by the garish accessories and awkwardly draped shirt. But add these exaggerated jodhpurs to the mix, and she ends up looking like a transvestite pirate (and not in a good way).

Kudos, Alice + Olivia

Alice + Olivia Fall 2010

Well, not quite kudos, since you still fucking put jodhpurs on the runway, but at least you did it in a semi-wearable way. This may be more of a legwarmers-over-baggy-pants situation rather than jodhpurs, but the effect is the same. The chic blazer helps – clearly, the rule for passable jodhpurs is that they need to be paired with something more structured and stylish to minimize the disheveled-ness of the look. But I could certainly see a long-legged starlet wearing this out on the town and only being marginally mocked for it. On an unrelated note, doesn’t this model look remarkably like Calista Flockhart?

Alice + Olivia Fall 2010

Again, the jodhpurs are vastly improved by a sexy structured blazer. If it weren’t for the appearance of the world’s largest cameltoe that this photo conveys, this would be a pair of pants that I wouldn’t mock a stranger for wearing.

The Worst of the Worst

Alexandre Herchcovitch Fall 2010

I’m too nauseous to think of anything witty to say.

More fashion week updates to come!

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