Spring 08 - Trench Coats are coming

Spring is around the corner and Trench Coats are propular. While surfing I found some I liked.


Dip Dye Trench Coats



Half-Past-Six Coat from Anthropologie $198

Early morning blushes upon Taikonhu's double-breasted twill overcoat
Cinched with removable buckle belts at the waist and 3/4 sleeves.
Front pockets
Button closure
Cotton; acetate lining
35.5"L


I also found this dip dye trench coat at Topshop but it wasn't my favorite:

or this color

Dip Dye Trench Coat from Topshop £65.00
Above the knee length dip dye skirted trench coat with higher empire waist belt and cuff tab detail 100% Cotton. Dry Clean Only.


Printed Trench Coats



Check Mate Trench Coat from Anthropologie $368
Large-scale houndstooth looks sharp, especially when strategically matched with double-breasted military buttons and a swingy shape. By Hayden-Harnett.
Patch pockets
Linen, viscose; polyester lining
Dry clean
34"L




April Showers Trench Coat from Anthropologie $228
The graphic dahlias of Anna Sui's sash-tied topper await splashes of color from your rainy day accompaniments: galoshes, an umbrella, perhaps a rain hat?
3/4 sleeves
Cotton; acetate lining
Dry clean
32.25"L








Nanette Lepore 'Racy' Croc Trench Coat from Nordstrom $525
Graphically arresting croc print patterns a crisp trench in a shorter length. Wide, bell-shaped three-quarter-length sleeves and a curvy notched collar round out the chic silhouette.
Double-breasted button closure.
Two front slant pockets.
Wide fabric tie at waist.
Back flap.
Approx. length from shoulder: 32".
Fully lined.
Cotton/silk; dry clean.
By Nanette Lepore; made in the USA of imported fabric.







Ramosport Printed Trench Coat from Nordstrom $695
All-weather trench with a punched-up print is fashioned with an asymmetrical front and pleated saddle shoulders that fall to wide, modern trumpet sleeves. A narrow belt cinches in the waist.
Hidden snap closure.
Approx. length from shoulder to hem: 39".
Unlined.
Cotton; dry clean.
By Ramosport; imported.



Solid Trench Coats

My Project Runway Team - Season 4

I love Project Runway! I'm a frustrated fashion designer at heart. By that I mean I would love to be one but I have neither the talent nor the creativity. But the next best thing is watching designers on Project Runway and critiquing their work (like I could do better WTH!).

Well I've been playing a fantasy game this season online at Fafarazzi. The rules where as follows:

Check out the Project Runway 4 profiles of each designer and pick your favorite 3 for your team. You'll want to pick characters that you think will be scoring a lot in the next episode. Points were giving for crying (Ricky), saying make it work (a la Tim Gunn), winning a challange and many other incidences. I wasn't very good at picking the right people to get the right points but I did pick the people who would eventually go to the final.

This has been my team for weeks:



I may not be able to design or win at this game but I did know who was most talented. Although this year I don't think it was as hard as some seasons past. I do have to note for the record though that Kevin got gypped. I think he got eliminated WAAAAYYY to soon.

I do think Christian will win. He is the most creative. Although his clothes are not as commercial as Rami (who I ADORE, he did seem to have the most range in his design aesthetic.

What do you think?

Oscar 2008 - Part 4 Makeup The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The makeup trends at the Oscars this year were mostly of two different kinds if you ask me. There were lots of heavily lined eyes and red lips but not together. There were pale lips if any lips at all (Yes Tilda I’m talking about you). Here are my views of the good and the bad.

Good


Overall Beautiful Makeup

As I've said in previous blogs I've said, I just adored Keisha Whitaker whole look. I loved her makeup her hair and her dress.




Heavily Lined Eyes with Nude Lips


Heidi Klum, Jennifer Gardner and Kristin Chenoweth all had heavily lined eyes with nude lips which I think were my favorite of the looks. Heidi is like Keisha at this award show to me. I adored her whole look, hair, makeup and dress.




Red Lips

Cody Diablo, Vanessa Paradis and Anne Hathway all rocked the red lip look. It was the main focus of their makeup look with all other features being muted. Although I'm brown skinned I never like red lipstick on myself (and believe me I've tried MANY shades and brands). So when I find a woman who pulls off the red lipstick look I'm a bit green with envy.




Bad


Red Lips

I liked Katherine's dress and her hair but her makeup ruined the whole look for me. I get that the strong lights wash a person out so many actors have to apply more makeup than they normally do. But Katherine Heigl has too much blush on and her lipstick looks so matt that it reads dry to me. I just want to put on a little gloss or maybe some chapstick.



No Makeup

In the no makeup look is only one woman Tilda Swinton. Could you just pick up a lip gloss or some blush Tilda! She looked like the walking dead bat woman……ugggghly. Sorry to rag on the woman. I saw the movie Michael Clayton and I liked it. I thought she did a great job in the role but as for her look on the red carpet I'd have to give it an F-.

Oscar 2008 - Part 5 Jewelry – Only the Good cause there was no Bad and the Ugly

If you’ve read any of my other blogs, you’ll know that I like jewelry that makes a statement. Something different. That sets you apart from the rest and helps enhance your outfit. There wasn’t that much attention paid to the jewelry this Oscar season as I’ve seen at other Oscars. There was definitely bling but only a few that stood out to me. No one wore jewelry I would categorize as bad so this is only the review of the good ones.

Good

Earrings

Miley Ray Cyrus' didn’t impress me with her overall look but I did like earrings.




Necklaces

As I said before I wasn’t thrilled with Julie Christi’s dress but I really liked her necklace.



I thought Keri Russell’s overall look was beautiful but her necklace was striking.




Bracelets

Once again Heidi Klum and Keisha Whitaker could do no wrong in my book at this award show. Their jewelry especially their bracelets added the right finish to an overall stunning look.

Oscar 2008 - Part 3 Hair The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

If you go by the hair trends shown at the 80th Oscars, I'd say a revival of the hairdos of 1940s & 50s is coming. Curls are in. We've moved away, almost in totality, from straight hair. Curls either in a chin/neck bob length or a side parted longer wavy Veronica Lake look were all the rage. These hair styles are the ones that caught my eye.

As I did with dresses, I breakdown my views on which hairdos I thought were good and which were bad and ugly.

Good

I adored Katherine Heigl, Keisha Whitaker, Julie Christi and Adams' hair. I’ve always been a fan of the look from the 40s and 50s and I think these styles look fresh.





Updos


Updos that have all the hairs in place or with hairs all over the place were a nice as well. I felt Heidi Klum's updo was stunning. While Jennifer Gardner's updo with loose pieces framing her face was beautiful in a more casual way then Heidi.





Hair Accessory

I thought Kristin Chenoweth hair accessory was attractive. As a woman with a lot of hair, I'm always looking for eye-catching hair accessories.



Hair Color

Ruby Dee’s Oscar look proved L’Oreal wrong. You don’t need all over hair color to look your best. I found her hair stunning. She proves that an older dog can teach a younger dog new tricks ;) When I go greyer, I'm totally gonna try this look.





Bad


I Hated Calista Flockhart's hair even Harrison Ford (her date) was looking at her hair with a face that said "WTH!"....LOL

Oscar 2008 - The Good, Bad and Ugly - Part 2 Color - The Bad & Ugly

The 80th Oscar awards have come and gone. I’m here to tell you the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. In Part 1 I wrote about the dresses I liked. Color was big at this years Oscars. Red, black and Metallic. But some of the celebrities made some bad choices.


The Bad & Ugly


Red

There were aspects of Julie Christie look that I did like but the short red dress was not one of them. She designed this dress along with her stylist/costume designer Tanya Gill.




Black

There was nothing about Tilda Swinton look that I liked. She arrived on the red carpet in a black washed silk draped evening gown by Alber Elbaz for Lanvin that was just bland and unoriginal. It looked like a piece of fabric thrown over her. No sewing. Just thrown…..ugggghhhly




Another woman whose look I didn't like was Daniel Day-Lewis' wife Rebecca Miller. There was just too much going on with the lace skirt & sleeves was attached to a black velvet bodice held up by red fabric on the shoulders!...Just TOO much. I also thought the fit in the skirt was poor. It seemed to hug her midsection too much accentuating her tummy.






Sequins

The last faux pas were the ladies who wore sequins. In part 1, I wrote about the women who wore sequins whose look I loved. These women's looks I did not like. Sequins are a hard thing to carry off. They should usually be used sparingly.

Faye Dunaway in a gold sequin long sleeve scoopneck sheath gown by Pamela Roland was an example of using too many sequins.



Also not to my liking was Adrienne Frantz, best known as a Soap Opera Actress, gold sequin mermaid dress. While she may have looked like a female oscar, it was just TOO many sequins for me.




Nancy O'Dell's dress while not as bad as the two ladies above still used a bland shade of silver with sequins on the front and on the high side slit. I just thought it looked tacky.




Just Bad

In the just bad category was Michael Moore's date/wife/mother dress looked like a prom dress or a bad sorbet southern belle bridesmaid dress.




Thanks goodness Katherine Heigl didn't have to wear this thing in the movie "27 Dresses."

Oscar 2008 - The Good, Bad and Ugly - Part 1 Color - The Good

The 80th Oscar awards have come and gone. I’m here to tell you the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. First I’ll start with the Color Trends and what I liked.

Good


Red

Everyone this morning is talking about the abundance of Red on the red carpet. Katherine Heigl, Heidi Klume. Helen Mirren, Ruby Dee, Miley Ray Cyrus. It really is a beautiful color and so many people wore it well. Catwalkqueen made a compilation picture of some of the best:



Rami from Project Runway would have adored Anne Hathaway's rosette-trimmed gown from Marchesa. Look at the detailing on the shoulder:



Katherine Heigl on the red carpet in a red silk Georgette Escada column gown with one-shoulder design and draped and pleated bodice.

My two favorite Red Dresses:

Helen Mirren's custom-made Georges Chakra garnet duchess satin gown accented with Swarovski crystal drop sleeves and back was especially designed for the event. It may have been my favorite dress of the evening.




Although Heidi Klum red silk taffeta bustier gown with drape detail by John Galliano Haute Couture was an AMAZING dress that probably only a supermodel could pull off. Look at the open back with the high neck. It was Fierce as Christian from Project Runway would say.




Black

Also represented in abundance was Black. Jennifer Gardner, Nicole Kidman and Hillary Swank all wore Black gowns. Catwalkqueen made a compilation picture of some of the best:




** NOTE: Penelope Cruz’s dress was very dark navy that read black in many pictures.

Nicole Kidman had a beautiful glow and a tiny baby bump to go with her Balenciaga dress accented with L'Wren Scott necklace.

Jennifer Garner looked beautiful in Oscar de la Renta.

My favorite Black Dress:

I was a HUGE fan of Hillary Swank's black Versace gown. She made a slight alteration to the Atelier Versace gown – making it a one-shouldered version.






Metallic

The one trend I noticed that no one talked about was Metallic. Either in the color of the dress or some sequins added.


Metallic Color

Renée Zellweger was lovely in a Caroline Herrera silver hand-embroidered lace gown with Cartier jewels.



My 3rd favorite metallic dress was worn by Keri Russell. It was a stunning a strapless champagne organza bustier evening dress by Nina Ricci.



And an unindentified woman on the red carpet with Wolfgang Puck was in a beautiful silver dress.



My Two favorite Metallic Dress:

Best Actress winner Marion Cotillard wore a Jean Paul Gaultier mermaid-inspired gown with Chopard jewelry, including a champagne necklace layered with brown diamond bead necklaces. It was really striking looking.



Keisha Whitaker was my 2nd favorite. I loved her dress and her hair and her makeup. The woman just knows how to look put together.

Sequins

Sequins also made a strong appearance last nite. Jennifer Hudson, Adrienne Frantz, Nancy O'Dell, Keisha Whitaker and Cate Blanchett all had sequins adorning their dresses. Some a little; some a LOT. Some I liked a lot. Some I liked a little (very little). So little you might equate it with serious dislike (look to part 2 for that review ;) )

Cate Blanchett Dries Van Noten dress on the red carpet was an example of a dress that used sequins to complement the dress.



But a better example of sequins and also my winner for most improved form last year was Jennifer Hudson. Her white Roberto Cavalli dress was sooo much better than her Oscar debacle from last year. You remember that Oscar de la Renta dress. Here are her 2008 and 2007 dresses side by side:



That 2007 dress just proves that even Andre Leon Tally, Vogue and fashion stylists can be wrong wrong wrong....Ouch

Here is a closer look at the details of her 2008 Roberto Cavalli dress:



Special Note

Of special note should be Cody Diablo in leopard print and sequins. Just the description sounds like it could have been a mess; But her Dior by John Galliano leopard print silk chiffon gown with jeweled detail wasn't as bad as the description makes it out to be. Not one of my top picks but I gotta give the girl kudos for an awesome script, original style and great spirit.