Marc Jacob’s 2012 spring collection shown at New York fashion week is cohesive and polished.  Plastic skirts are paired with button ups and cropped jackets to make an odd mix-match that seems to come together so well.  Things to take from this collection: layering, try mixing styles and pieces you wouldn’t think would pair together (such as a latex or pvc piece with cotton, satin, linen, or a sweater), and a beautiful grey muted color palette with iridescents and shine.

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The kitschy, youthful dresses of Rodarte’s 2012 spring collection shown at New York fashion week were part prom dress, part fairy princess, with van Gogh thrown in.  There were a handful of dresses that would make great statement dresses, that would make you the instant center of attention when you walked into a party.  There are some cues to be taken from this collection.  I enjoyed the styling, simple hair and pretty simple makeup (great eyes, love the shape of the black shadow) that really let the dresses do the talking, and being so loud, I think it’s the only way to pull them off.

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The first thing I thought when I saw Rag & Bone’s spring 2012 collection which was shown at New York fashion week was 90s raver fashion is back!  Then I began to wonder if I liked this collection, it seemed a bit ugly at times, but then something caught my eye… so many pieces reminding me of old Illig styles!  Then I was excited. Ruched skirts, netting sweaters, and that white crisscrossing strap skirt!  I think with some careful selection these pieces and 90s raver, streetwear cyber could be incorporated into your spring and summer 2012 wardrobe.  Follow the cues of this collection to bring the style up to date, lots of layers, a sharp color palette, adding floral prints, and retro plastic sunglasses worn like cyber goggles.  I’m digging those old Illig favorites I couldn’t stand to part with out of my closet and seeing what I can do!

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For Anna Sui’s spring 2012 collection shown at New York fashion week, she drew inspiration from Paris nightclubs of the 70s, particularly Club Sept which she  visited in her youth.  I love her source of inspiration for this collection.  Isn’t that what we all love to do?  Draw on the club experiences of our youth, when we were awe-struck and fell in love with alternative culture.  A growing trend right now is the revival of batcave (both a London and NYC club) style.

Anna Sui is able to find the perfect aesthetic in a sea of busyness, retro, and patterns.  Sui does the bohemian print just right, by making is dark and sultry but at the same time youthful and avant-garde.  I must find a way to incorporate bodysuites, jumpers, more pattern, and wide-brimmed hats into my 2012 spring and summer wardrobe.  Sui’s collections make me want to push the boundaries of my personal style and sport things I never thought I liked.

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The inspiration for Betsey Johnson’s spring 2012 collection shown at New York fashion week was burlesque.  And while this might seem to say the show was about sexiness, aside from the peeking out push-ups bras throughout the collection to me it was nothing more sexy than norm for Johnson.  All of these pieces could be a bit more discreet when taken off the runway, with bra and breasts a bit more hidden (or who cares show them off!, I loved the look).  But my viewpoint might be that a bit of lingerie and burlesque influence doesn’t mean overtly sexy to me, and my focus was fully on the great pieces, bold colors, and fun looks.  I loved the mixing of 80s with the hair a fashion-conscious update of the side ponytail and glam rock lightening bolt earrings, with Victorian-esque styles, and some punk rock with studs, spikes, and skulls.

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Rodarte showed their fall 2011 collection at NY fashion week.  You have to love the length, I have been waiting for the opportunity to dress like a Jane Austen novel heroine for years and finally my time has come. The cool thing about this modern Victorian peasant look is the clean updates to long dresses, skirts, and jackets. Rodarte uses beautiful modern geometric fabric lines, and ditsy prints broken up by beautiful neutrals and contrasting fabrics like chiffon and heavy wools.

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At NY fashion week, with so many casual ready-to-wear collections this season I feel as though it was tough for many designers to really shine through, I saw a lot of repeats in trends and mediocre collections. I understand that this is not couture week, but Marchesa’s fall 2011 collection certainly is and far outshines most of what I saw on the runways. The perfect embroidery paired with meticulous draping has always been their signature and was no less in this collection, but what was more was a new perspective on Victorian. Marchesa is very good at showing modern elegance but to blend modern with the kind of nostalgic beauty of the 19^th century is a new endeavor well achieved.

The helpless romantic in me always tends towards nostalgia; Marchesa’s new couture dress collection epitomizes romanticism through what they call “Decaying Opulence”.  The design duo displayed an intuition into how women want to see themselves as beautiful. It takes a certain kind of confidence and personal identity to wear a Marchesa dress, and this collection embodies an alter ego that many women feel akin to but it is at risk to portray.

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Diesel’s Black Gold fall 2011 collection shown at NY fashion week, was nice and dark and gritty.  Layers, leather, textures, and laced-up.  There are some hints at a steampunk aesthetic here.  But I’d rather see it as vagabond troubled artist strolling the streets of a dirty crumbling city or militaristic survivalist cowboy making it in a post-apocalyptic scared world.  At first I wasn’t sure on all the lacing, but once I saw the asymmetrical laced-up leather vest I was sold.  I’m loving the color pallet of black, navy, slate blue, brown, mauve, olive, and ivory.  Maybe it’s because I just rewatched the Matrix after a few years, but I had forgotten the nice styling details in that movie, and this collection is right in tune with that (yet nicely updated), right down to the men’s flapping leather trench coat and the women’s tight long black leather ensemble.

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It’s easy to look at Anna Sui’s fall 2011 collection shown at NY fashion week or Anna Sui’s designs in general and get overwhelmed by all the bold colored bohemian 60s prints.  But there is a ton going on in this collection and in her design style in general that is worth taking cues from.  As I see it Sui is inspired by a whole many decades, periods, and subcultural styles and it’s just a matter of picking the pieces where she blends the styles you enjoy together.  And sometimes discovering you enjoy periods or styles you didn’t think you did.

There are many 60s/bohemian prints and cuts in this collection that I just can’t get into.  But there are some cases where the color and prints come together in a way that catches my eye.  Side stepping this look that was the meat of the collection, there were four main aspects I enjoyed in this collection.  First, animal cosplay hats and designer fashion, perfect!  Cosplay hats have been popping up all over for the past couple years, but this is one of the best ways I’ve seen them done.  Second, glasses on the runway.  There were a few bookworm inspired outfits pushed further in that direction with a pair of frames, very cute.  Mainly, were the all black ensembles pulling from many decades to create a dark, lush, and just plain beautiful effect.  Sui can do sweet and super chic all black ensembles drawing from Victorian, flapper, mod, goth, and boho all at once amazingly.  And lastly, she does this look in all white and I am inspired!

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At NY fashion week, Betsey Johnson showed two fall 2011 collections.  First was her Black Tag line which was full of velvet, black, flowers, and animal prints.  There were many dark, goth and punk style ensembles but all with a Betsey feel.  Each model was wearing an animal print pantyhose bodysuit, which is questionable in general but in some outfits works surprisingly well, and a ruffle neck-corset-esque choker, which I have seen all over the place lately from “alternative” designers, an interesting trend for Johnson to pick up.  I love the exaggerated shoulder coats and the huge floral attachments on just one shoulder of many of the pieces.

In addition to her Black Tag collection, Betsey Johnson revealed her new Pink Patch line.  The models for this collection were Betsey Johnson employees and friends all in matching blonde wigs.  It’s refreshing and fun to see regular sized and shaped women on the runway at something like NY fashion week.  Instead of going to big-box stores to create a lower price point line, Johnson did it herself and created a line full of her signature looks, poofy party dresses to kitschy and floral bold prints, with all items priced at under $100.  I love this because it means it will be easier to get some Betsey items into your wardrobe but everything from this runway show that I am truly lusting after is from the Black Tag collection.

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