US Vogue January 2014 Part 2

Cate Blanchett suits the golden theme very well.

These dresses would match the Oscar statue as well.

Hint hint...

If you look close, you see this dress is quite risque for Armani.

But she pulls it off without looking slutty.

The Nina Ricci tweed suit is nice but somehow seems a bit of 

a wasted opportunity not to wear a statement dress 

because this doesn't have any visual impact.

Vogue always likes to introduce to the audience at large someone who might be better known on the New York Social Diary.

But Vogue needs to come up with a new photographic formula rather than the becoming ever so mundane combo of doing a sporty or quotidian activity in a formal dress with carefully choreographed children and dog strewn everywhere. 

Very tastefully decorated home in peaceful palettes.

Vogue did some really choppy fashion editorials.

 One editorial seemed to be no relation to the other than the presence of Prada everywhere.

 
 It was picturesque and very Gaugin-esque. 
But I am afraid the clothes got drowned by the lighting and 
the beauty of the surroundings.

Is it me or do Conde Nast need to have an overhaul meeting?

This "Tinsel Town" spread made me feel like 

I was reading Vanity Fair or In Style.

I love forecasting and betting on the next new young bright star as much as the next person but I don't think Vogue is the place for it. 

 

Love the Chanel clobber this starlet is wearing though.

 

This "More is More" was probably the most disjointed and non consistent fashion spread that Vogue has done in a long time.

Nothing flowed.

If you are trying to flog a sweatshirt with beaded handiwork for $2390 then at least show me someone who is having fun wearing rather than someone who is experiencing buyer's remorse.

I understand the more is more thing but looking like a model out of work / mid-class hooker is neither here nor there.

Where did these two models come from? 

It doesn't even look like the same fashion story.

That Prada patchwork coat is so DIY.

Gosh, I miss Prada in the 90's hey day.

 

So now the photographer decided to go outdoors and 

shoot black and white.

Looks like a Goth reunion.

 

So unoriginal - shooting Chanel in the way Karl does in the ads.

 

This is sticking to the more is more memo but so out of context.

I do like these two pictures with the 1970's style bright sofa.

It fits the theme and is graphic.

There is nothing wrong with the two dresses below. 

Lovely in fact. 

But is this a reject photo from another shoot 

they just pasted together?

Disappointing Anna.

That's right, I'm talking to you.

I don't mind a collaboration.

I don't mind a union of the different arts but half the time it looks like the model has been photo-bombed.

I love Chanel, I really do.

You can ebb and flow with the 2.55 bag but how many other bags besides the Kelly bag can be coveted for that length of time.

 
 But this bag is for the hardest core of brand whores.

Have a great weekend!

US Vogue January 2014 Review Part 1

Cate Blanchett's publicity team is orchestrating all 

the right moves for an Oscar win.

Good timing although a February cover would have been better.

The cover is not too smug nor theatrical and 

she has a nice neutral thespian at rest expression.

No prizes for guessing that Kaiser Karl has been flicking through 

his Frida Kahlo coffee table books.

Not sure that the mustache trend will gain any momentum.

Donatella must love this!
(Of course she did - she probably came up with the idea.)

She looks like her younger sister.

Although Versace on Lady Gaga looks so demure.

I know Marc is a diffusion line but still...

This reminds of when Dolly Parton said -

 it costs a lot of money to look this cheap.

Linda still looks amazing.

She doesn't need the money though I still think she got a terrible deal with the whole paternity lawsuit.

I know she gets a lot of money per month but it is all relative and 

I have completely lost respect for Pinault.

I think this is the supermodel way of being back on the pull.

Do an ad.

Have you heard that Christian Dior is funding a 5 year restoration of the  Marie Antoinette's fake village at Versailles Palace?

Dior have come up with a special collection to commemorate this.

I just love this dress on this actress.

I wish Vogue would do more pretty and wearable dresses like this.

I gotta say nothing really made me look twice here.

I don't know if the Mayr clinic needs to be afraid but apparently this is the new detox vacation.

But its location in Bolivia despite its beauty might not be

 the easy pop over jaunt.

It's not a good sign when a Vogue editorial

 is almost funny is it?

"Razor's edge" is quite suited to this fashion spread.

It looks like she is deranged and 

cut her own hair in an episode of hysteria.

 Also, that pose is just so riduculous.

The crazy person's thinking pose a la Rodin.

She sure is crazy because she is tying a sweater over her coat but pairing it with no matter how much Vogue tries and 

convince us we will not be wearing those sandals even if they are 90% off on Net a Porter.

"Hey doctor, I only took of your white coat because 

I think it looks better on me."

Yep, the Prozac is kicking in!

I still don't like those sandals but I do like that Burberry coat a lot.

Not as trendy as a pink coat but 

a cheerful dose of color in the winter.

Part 2 tomorrow folks.

Blue Jasmine, her wardrobe, and the power of a Chanel Jacket

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I adore Cate Blanchett and so I went to go and see the movie,
Blue Jasmine.

 I was excited when Jill from Everything Just So did a post on the movie and posed an interesting question about its theme.

Now before I start, let me preface this post by saying that my experience with this discussion regarding clothes is entirely my own. I have for the most part lived in large cities but I have also spent some time in medium sized cities and I think that clothes have a different significance depending on geography.

Suzie Bezinger, wardrobe stylist for Blue Jasmine
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I thought the wardrobe stylist Suzie Bezinger for the most part 
did a great job portraying a certain type of 
wealthy and urban woman.  

The only outfit where I thought she over pitched it was when she put a Chanel jacket with an Hermes belt at the same time. 

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 That was bordering on WAG and Real Housewives territory.

But then I realized that Jasmine was wearing this combo after she lost her financial and social status so perhaps it was based 

on a woman putting all her fashion armour and artillery 

to "face the world"?

Via Everything Just So

I also agreed with Jill that the Birkin bag was not used as a shield as the wardrobe stylist stated. Plus I think she erred a little in the way Cate was sometimes made to carry the Birkin was the way a very new purchaser of the bag might hold it which is with the flap over and/or the leather straps fastened.

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It is customarily worn loose and open.

If not, it's silent code for nouveau nouveau or WAG.

(PS I am just the messenger, 

I am not the one who makes these rules.)

Looking amazing in that Carolina Herrera dress
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But otherwise Suzie Bezinger got the uniform of a well to do and urban socialite down pat.  Carolina Herrera, Fendi, and Alberta Ferretti were the main staples of Jasmine's wardrobe.

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This is the sort of wardrobe that goes into future fashion anthologies.

 

We all have a uniform even if we are not in the military.

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It's like Emmanuelle Alt's "uniform" I discussed here.

But this movie awakened in me the power of clothes.

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Jasmine may have been broke; 

financially needy enough to take a job as a shoe salesman in Manhattan risking bumping into her former social circle.  

But she understood the silent power and masonic entry into a niche in society gained by wearing a Chanel jacket and a Hermes bag. 

Wearing a Chanel jacket seems to convey the following:

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I am elegant.

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I want to be portrayed as elegant.

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I am a good girl.

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Forget the past, I am a good girl now.

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You may be as wealthy as me but I take myself seriously unlike 

you wearing, hmm, what is the name for them again?

Ah yes, jeans...

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I really want to marry your son and 
will be a good future daughter in law. 
I promise.

Via Ingredients of Style
I do have a great sense of humour but 
I will not be the one cracking the jokes.

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I can't be bothered to think about what to wear at lunch so
 let me just put that Chanel jacket on. 

But I must say that this movie is a must see for not only the clothes but the acting is superb all around and 

I do think Cate Blanchett will win the Oscar!