Fashion Director Styles

According to our dear Coco Chanel, a women “should always be two things::: classy and fabulous.”

We “should never leave the house without fixing ourselves up a little – if only out of politeness.” Our mentor would add that “you never know, maybe that's the day we have a date with destiny. And it's best to be as pretty as possible for destiny.”
 

Ms Chanel would have probably been shocked if she had met this crew of housewives gathering on a regular basis at the supermarket next door to my place with their glamorous slippers/sweat pants attire exquisitely accessorized with some pink rollers on the head.

For sure, these don’t expect anything anymore from destiny and certainly not a date…

On the other hand, the Lady would have probably given her blessing to those three fashion directors for their politeness and faultless style:::
 

Emmanuelle Alt, Fashion Director, Vogue Paris
 

Giovanna Battaglia, Fashion Director, Vogue Italia

Alexa Chung, Fashion Director, Channel 4, London

We love especially::: 

Emmanuelle Alt’s always chic and effortless style and perfect shoes’ pick!!! And no, it’s not me being chauvinistic because she’s French!

Black Friday Mission::: The Denim Shirt Dress

I am in New-York for the week-end and of course my plan for today is shopping, shopping, shopping… come rain or shine, wind or snow! 

And I have a specific shopping target: the denim shirt dress that is on my To Buy list for now more than one month and that I can not find… 

Investigation report:::

I identified one that met my style specification in a little boutique on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, in early October while I was there for business. But, I did not really have time this day and I thought: I work in fashion, I know my market, I can find it again easily… Right… The rest of the story have proved me wrong so far…

So I wrote a note with the label of the dress and added it to the long list of the same kind I have in my cell. Back home in Miami, doing my homework, I found out that this brand was from Israel and basically that was all I could find out because every website that referred to it was in Hebrew only…

Nevermind, I was not going to give up, for sure I could find a similar style somewhere else. But since then, I have been investigating in the magazines, online, in the stores and I could not find one that I really like. 

Trails:::

I already picture myself matching my denim shirt dress with an utilitarian look...

... or with a wild west style

... So will be working in the field this afternoon.

Scallops and Shellfish

According to our friend Ken Downing, Neiman Marcus’s fashion director, “in the past few years, the resort collections have become very directional; there is a lot of message”.

So, what does Resort 2011 say?!!!

To me, one of the message is very clear::: Go fishing!!!

Fashion can be very surprising…

While reading the magazines of this end of year, we can almost smell the breeze from the port of St Tropez and see B. Bardot’s silhouette at the end of the pier (back in her glorious days…)

Advised background music ::: La Madrague - Brigitte Bardot  
Click ! I swear you believe you are there…

Calanques of Marseille & old port of St-Tropez

So, in this general Scallop and Shellfish trend, we can identify at least three main streams:

• the sailor stripe, of course,
• the scalloped hem with a touch of fifties nostalgia,
• and the coral tones.

The Mc Cartney family clearly chose their side and it’s the Navy!!!

 Sailor Stripe

1. French Connection, $118; 2. Blu, $4; 3. DVF, $345; 4. Milly, available in dec.; 5. Christian Dior, Resort 2011; 

6. Whistles, $232;7. Milly, available in dec.; 8. Aldo, $45; 9. Daniblack, $130; 10. Manoush, $268; 

11. French Connection, $60

The advantage of this sailor trend is that we all have in our wardrobes some stripes and accessories with an offshore look.

It was the perfect opportunity for me to dress Sue Ellen (this woman with no head that lives in the middle of our living-room) on the Cruising theme, with recycled pieces from previous seasons. Now she is ready for a yacht trip…

Hermes scarf (shopped in mum's closet); Zara jacket; Beija top; Loft Design jean; Daniblack ballerina

 Scalloped Hem 

1. Valention, Resort 2011; 2. Chanel, Resort 2011; 3. Marc Jacobs, Resort 2011; 4. Christian Dior, Resort 2011; 5. Asos, $129; 6. Warehouse, $97; 7. Rachel Gilbert, $685 $206 (theoutnet.com); 8. Warehouse, $113  

Coral Tones

1. Christian Dior, Resort 2011; 2. Christian Dior, Resort 2011; 3. Erin Fetherston, Resort 2011; 

4. Asos, $69; 5. Manoush, $191; 6. Beija, available in Feb. 2011

Conclusion::: Now, we just need to pick a Caribbean island and eventually find the yacht to match this perfect offshore style...