He may of retired , but this collection still screams Valentino

Valentino

Valentinos new head designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccio have come under a lot of pressure since Valentino retired in 2008, for not maintaining the look and very Italian feel to the company. However this year the elegance, shape and colour palette all make for a fabulous, and very Valentino, collection . As well as having all the features of a classic Valentino show the collection had a bit of a younger feel I think this was due to the shorter hem lines and shiny smooth dresses. Also the lace and small details fitted with the current trend of modern romantics . All in all it was a very girly, feminine collection there were bows, lots of layers and voluminous ruffles in very thin luxurious fabrics as well as re-invented little black dresses to create a very svelte womanly silhouette.

1920's meets cruella de vil and burlesque

Jean Paul Gaultier

Full marks go to Jean Paul Gaultier , for using the widest variety of fabrics at Couture fashion week. He had Fur wraps, Leather suits, Velvet skirts, Silk capes, Lace corsets and Rubber ?!?

The rubber looked slightly less out of place when Dita Von Teese appeared as a model in the show, as probably the most famous burlesque dancer in the world , she is known for her quirky/sexy look, and she suited Gaultier's theme of french woman and french chic with her pale skin and vibrant make-up.In the show she wore a very elegant black sophia loren style dress, with beautiful draping on the hips, before completely stripping off into an iconic Gaultier corset encased in what looked like a black Swarovski crystal rib cage paired with seamed stockings. I have no idea how, but amazingly Dita Von Teese managed to make the outfit look classy at the same time as being sexy and very burlesque.
My favourite garment of the Gaultier show was the 1920's inspired flapper-esque dress/corset, the era was one of my favourites for fashion anyway but paired with the lingerie look and Gaultiers classic tights fits the garment was truly beautiful.
The strangest theme I got from the show was the Disney character Cruella De Vil, in the Disney non animated versions of the film the wardrobe for Cruella is very structured tailored or draped dresses in rich fabrics, strange head pieces and she ALWAYS had the long cigarette holder and little black heels .... as well as the obvious FUR.

Sabrina re-vamp ?

Alexis Mabille

Alexis Mabille is a designer that I had not really heard of before seeing the last spring summer range, however this year when scrolling through the couture shows, a dress captured my eye as it very strongly reminded me off the white a black Givenchy dress that Audrey Hepburn wore as Sabrina to attend the Larrabee ball. Sabrina is one of my favourite films ( being a sucker for a bit of Black & white movie time) and I 100% loved the Givenchy/Hepburn partnership for the wardrobe design . This dress is probably my favourite Givenchy ever.The Mabille dress although not a mirror image of the Givenchy dress definitely had similar aspect the colors were the same however reversed. and also the volume of the skirt however the shape was slightly different. They both also have tiny cinched in waists and very simple strapless bodices. Although Mabille's dress uses a floral lace the Givenchy dress still holds floral embroidery and I would love to think that Alexis Mabille took inspiration from the stunning Hubert de Givenchy dress.

Floorlength and Fabulous

Giorgio Armani Prive

The amazing little Italian orange man is back ! and the dresses are as beautiful as ever .

Amazing tailoring was a huge aspect of this collection , military/riding and evening jackets were all made in subtle neutral minks and camels to accompany slim fitting pencil skirts or well cut trousers to make very casual but chic suits. some trouser/skirt suits were also paired with long swing coats that flowed gracefully down the catwalk in charcoal greys and brilliant white.

After a couple of dozen tailored wonders down the catwalk came the first set of floor length dresses , these were fantastic ball gown- esque dresses with tightly snug bodices which then went into wide flowing a-line/gathered skirts. These were also kept in the soft mink colours as well as a slightly darker chocolate colour all in materials such as duchess satin and silk crepe and tweed.

My Favourite set of dresses were the final 8 dresses, as they still had my favourite mink and chocolate colours but also brought in texture, embellishment and metallic sparkle , this group of dresses came to me straight away as Christmas party gowns ... if I was at Elton John's for Christmas dinner ! But in every aspect the slim fit floor length dresses were fabulous and has been my favourite Armani Prive collection for along time .

Beautifully random !

Frank Sorbier

The strangest show I looked at over Couture week was the Frank Sorbier show. All the pieces were beautiful: well cut, fabulous fabrics and great colours , but not one piece seemed to link , there were fantastic tailored suits huge ballerina skirt dresses and printed capes ranging from blacks to pastel pinks. As well as floor length sweeping dresses.

I have only come across Sorbier from the past few seasons and I think my favourite element from this show was how corsets had been added to the dresses but highly embellished to make them look very thick and also royal looking .

I was also really impressed how the stage was set , a lot of the dresses featured a quite autumnal colour palette and this was mirrored by the catwalk being scattered with crunchy autumn leaves which were swept along with the dresses and the autumn theme continued by fog machines immersing the floor.

My Favourite piece was a floor length gown , the bottom of which was a simple black skirt , paired with a corset bodice made entirely of sweet wrapper all in bright colours giving a slightly retro look .

I found my future wedding dress !!!! or one of them ;-)

Elie Saab
I have loved Elie Saab dresses ever since I came across them in 2004 when Victoria Beckham wore a beautiful lime green glittery dress with thin organza/chiffon fin's coming from V's at the back, the way the dress fell and moved looked incredibly elegant and ever since seeing that dress I followed Saab's collections to find more and more elegant dresses every year.


This years collection also looked fantastically elegant and I particularly liked how Saab stuck to a very subtle neutral colour palette but then using a bright red crimson colour on a dozen dresses to break up the collection slightly and show the designs still worked both in bold and dull colours.


I was also amazed to see Saab use pattern this season as the garment usually focus on embellishment or shape and texture . However the trio of patterned dresses not only ticked all these boxes but used a gorgeous almost blood stain affect but that looked like it had been (very skillfully) thrown over the gown to create a messy look but then the cut and style of the dress clashed with this by being very flowing and elegant all in all making a very unique look.

And Finally ... THE DRESS
I have not fallen in love with a dress this much since the Vivienne Westwood wedding dress in Sex and the city, as soon as I saw it I could not believe how beautiful it was. The colour, the shape, the fabric is all just perfect and a dress I dream my wedding dress to look something like ... so when Hugh Grant's ready with my Tiffany ring , give us a call :)

What would Coco say !!!!!

From the shock of liking Galliano to the shock of disliking Lagerfeld !!!
I never thought I'd say it but the Chanel Fall 2010 couture show was a complete and utter let down, every year there has been a reinvention of the LBD and Lagerfeld has always stuck to the flirty but very chic look that Coco brought to Chanel herself. It is also a very Parisian look which is obviously another huge concept of Chanel.


This year I saw the main influence coming from Russian historical garments , for example fur cuffs and fur trims, royal blues, Burgundy reds, big shoulders and rich gold embroidery.
I made this link while watching Anastasia with my sister which is about a Russian princess and as soon as I saw the collection I instantly thought of the film.


Also some of the stiff tailoring and thick fabrics remind be of outfits worn by Russian Kozak dancers and officers as they wore very similar jackets which sometimes also included fur or gold embroidery .
There was the odd dress or jacket that hinted at more classical Chanel like the tweed jackets and a slightly disappointing attempt at the LBD from Lagerfeld . But all in all I don't think the fall show was a patch on the spring couture but I'm sure this wont stop me popping into Chanel on my next trip to Sloane street .

Diors Couture Magic

Last week was Paris Couture fashion week. For me this is the most exciting time in the fashion calendar as it shows the creme of the fashion crop at their very best !

Usually I am the first to complain at a Galliano R-T-W collection as he never matches the effortless style that Christian Dior brought in the 40's-50's. However when it comes to couture Galliano is one of the most outrageous , shocking and purely brilliant designers there is.


This year Galliano has taken florals to a new level ... instead of looking at the patterns and prints of flowers Galliano has used the shape, texture and extreme colours to create pieces to actually mirror both exotic and traditional flowers. Even the catwalk was decorated with huge plastic parrot tulips to create a tropical paradise.

textured dip dyed maxi

The collections used a beautiful colour palette of violet and pink, orange and black, indigo and lime , rich royal blue and scarlet red. Fabrics to mirror the texture of flower petals such as chiffons, tulles and mohair were used in layers to create bustles and volume. Fabrics were also dip dyed and stained to get the effect of veins within flower stems.

Petal detail dress

My main reason for being so amazed by this collection is because to me John Galliano had taken away the femininity from Dior however with the volumed skirts and nipped in waists it was as though the 1950's Dior was slowly making its appearance once again. I can only hope next year that we see, huge A-line skirts , tiny tiny waists and delicate Mary Jane shoes .... of course with the beautiful hats !

Dior 2010
dior 1950