Couture Fall 2011 - Shoes!

I know I'm a little behind on the Fall 2011 Couture showcoverage, but gosh there are some breathtaking pieces. I thought styles in general were quite pared back this time, which is perhaps more a reflection of the world economy, but I loved how wearable the collections were. Might be more to do with the dismissal of John Galliano, but even Dior was less frou frou OTT than normal. I know it got some bad reviews in the media, but I still thought it was a beautiful collection with some standout pieces.

But more importantly, there were some fantastic shoes on offer! These are some of my faves:

Giambattista Valli

I thought the Giambattista show was fabulous, but the shoes were also so wearable, chic and pretty! This would be a perfect wedding shoe.

The Christian Dior sandal above looks so 'simple' front on, but then the side-on silhouette is funky and fun at the same time. Loving the lilac! I would never wear a shoe like this, but it just suited the collection.

Jean Paul Gaultier

The 'enfant-terrible' himself, Jean Paul Gaultier, has been my all-time favourite designer for years now and the collection didn't disappoint. It was so elegant but unique at the same time. I have a soft spot for the ballet inspired shoe above - when I was 15 and had my first school formal, I wore a DIY replication of the criss-crossed ballet ribbons on a pair of simple black pumps.

How can you not love the two shots below?

And then there is the perennial favourite, Valentino, with classic timeless beauty.

What shoes did you love from the Couture collections?

Images thanks to style.com and vogue.com.au

RAFW 2011

So another Rosemount Australian Fashion Week is over and as usual, I haven't had the time to follow all the showcoverage as much as I would have liked. In years gone-by I would sit at home eagerly awaiting the coverage of all the shows, but I no longer enjoy the luxury of being a university student with much more free time!

Luckily I have a friend who attended the shows and kept me updated with what she liked and didn't, but for now just from my early browsing I've seen some stuff I'm excited about. I was particularly excited to hear about the return of Toni Maticevski and Alice McCall - I still regularly wear Alice McCall and even 2-3 years later many of the items get comments.

Anyway, to the looks I loved.

Carl Kapp - loved his use of bold pop colours in flowing breeze off your body silks. I like the sophisticated draping in this look (though the colour isn't as 'wow' as some of the other items)

Alice McCall - love these grown up looks with the geometrically inspired sheer overlay pieces. She does cute everyday wearable clothes so well and as a Uni student I loved wearing those items, but I love how these items are still wearable for me now as a working girl. I loved so many of the other cute flirty dresses, but they are definitely 'weekend' outfits for me now so less practical.

Toni Maticevski - I love these items for their bold simplicity with a point of difference. There were of course the frou frou items which were amazing for their creative genius, but not for everyday wear (see below). I remember when I worked at Myer in the International Designer fashion section, the head of the department would see his amazing sculptured pieces looking sad and unwanted on the 75% off sale racks and encourage me to try them on. Once on, the pure corsetry and magnificence just made you feel like you were transforming into a red carpet star. I feel like these items would do the same!

Toni Maticevski

Lover - Liked a lot of the Lover collection actually, but a lot of the lace pieces seemed remiscent of past seasons. I love the pants/blouse combo for it's Parisian chic feel.

camilla and marc - Finally, camilla and marc delivered with a directional collection that felt polished and 'designed'. I say that because as much as I loved a lot of their past collections, they always felt overly borrowed or inspired by international designers. This collection feels very Miu Miu-esque (which is probably why I liked it), but I really liked the block colour shift dress in that first pic particularly.

Rachel Gilbert - Can't get past the silhouette of this ball gown. I'm not usually a big fan of Rachel Gilbert, but this is exquisite.

There were so many other great pieces too, but I'm sure a lot of them we'll just have to wait and see what they look like in real life and on the rack. 

Marc Jacobs A/W 2011/12

With New York Fashion Week now come and gone, I thought I'd spend some time doing a quick flick through some of the showcoverage photos. I'm the first to admit that I'm ridiculously time poor and so I don't keep up with the international showcoverage as much as I wish I could. Half the time RAFW rolls past and I barely get the chance to look at our Australian Designer's new collections (yes, I hang my head in shame). But after hearing rave reviews about MJ yet again, I had to take a look for myself. Year after year, collection after collection he delivers, whether that be for his own brand or Louis Vuitton. I may be somewhat biased, I mean in my eyes the man can do no wrong, but I especially liked the following looks.

Love the billowing chiffon sleeves with the delicate cream satin trim



I love what he does with accessories - the hats in this collection were a stand-out for me. They were 'just right' for each look and made for a polished lady-like feel but still maintaining an edge of cool. Seems like lady-like is here to stay (which is fine by me!)

And because I love MJ so much, here are some pics of the cute Marc by Marc Jacobs necklace my friend gave to me as a present. She bought it from HK and it's just so kitschy and adorable (and who doesn't love that retro packaging it comes in?).

Photos all thanks to www.vogue.com.au showcoverage