Oscars and Gowns

Where Oscar de la Renta plays a bigger role than the winning role of the state of American decadence as Oscar Wilde pointed out*, the Oscar Awards march towads awarding the roles of cinema. I, for one, take the opportunity to enjoy some of the most spectacular gowns of the past decade and thank all three Oscars, whichever their proposition or position. In order of preference, none less...

Penelope Cruz in Versace


Julia Roberts in Vintage Valentino


Anne Hathaway in Armani Privé


Zoe Saldana in Givenchy Haute Couture by Riccardo Tisci


Kate Hudson in Versace


Penelope Cruz in custom made Chanel by Karl Lagerfeld


Hilary Swank in Guy Laroche

* Oscar Wilde quote - "America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between."

Trends and the Direction of Collective Creativity

When I was a kid and discovered the answer to philosophical questions I had never discussed with anyone or read about - merely by sitting and thinking on my own and thinking myself incredibly clever when partaking in sharing said knowledge only to discover in many cases that others had thought much the same centuries and centuries ago as well as that most "grown ups" already posessed the knowledge of said answer. The difference between them and me, I always thought, was that they were taught and told what I had discovered on my own - mere knowledge of something cannot equal the discovery of the same.

Unfortunately, the reality is different, and knowledge amounts to the same level of recognition as discovery - "That's what Aristoteles said" irks me when actually, it's what I discovered myself, no matter how many centuries later. Similarly, I'm sure, as is the case with many an argument I make, including, most likely, this very one you're reading.

When at the brink of completion of a few pieces for a collection finds me discovering other designers having gone in the same direction, I must humbly step aside and deal with the "that looks like something I saw before I saw yours" even if the creation of the latter was not in the knowledge of the former. As you may have noticed in the previous post, I have hinted on the comparisons between Lira Leirner pieces and recently strutted London Fashion Week runway pieces. I'm not going above my head and pretending my pieces are the same, but when you've researched and put into details, fabric, silhouettes and storylines into pieces still in development or almost finished and then see a painfully near enough version strutting down the catwalk in a higher finish, it stabs.

However, I cannot say I'm the only one. Copying is a fickle subject in fashion, where does "trend" go over to plain copying? Does following a feature even if started by a certain brand result in "trend" or "copying" despite differentiating interpretations?

For instance, this season I've seen the thin yet sturdy material version of last season's Miu Miu power dress feature across several collections.

Miu Miu dress with "that" bow on uncountable covers

Valentino Haute Couture Paris Spring 2011

Burberry Prorsum, Autumn/ Winter 2011/ 2012

Is this a trend? I personally think, in this instance, because there are many ways to tie a bow yet it is this particular way that I had not seen around last season apart from in "that" Miu Miu dress that any other designer that uses this way of tying a bow, a few seasons later, is copying. I will forever refer to this style of bow as the "Miu Miu power dress bow".

On the other hand, there are incidents which make me feel bad for the designer whose collection came after - because surely, being within the same season, copying could not have taken place but merely a kindred direction of creativity which I prefer to identify as a trend. For instance, I could recognize an affinity between the lopsided cowl necked gown with asymetric angular skirting of Christian Dior with Maria Grachvogel's black and simpler silhouette, both of which are cringely similar. Unlike with the Miu Mu Power Dress Bows, however, I can see that is merely a direction creativity, a conciousness of seasonal features shared that are identified as trends. Similarly, along the line of these thoughts, I excuse myself for having come up with features and ideas alongside those I've witnessed on the runway this season and wish that I will escape the fate of being accused of copying merely because my creativity is hindered by the costs of production and grand public awareness.

Christian Dior Paris Spring Haute Couture 2011

Maria Grachvogel London Fashion Week Autumn/ Winter 2011/ 2012

Welcome to the Accesserobe of the Portmanteau

Following my bid to create an online portfolio of my wardrobe for when I'm away so that I have somewhere to go when I miss it too much, I am looking at my "accesserobe" today although they don't include my proper hats. It starts with some of my sunglasses, I couldn't find all of them as they're still scattered throughout the house - I am always wearing them. Here you can see Aigner mainly, Nicole Farhi, Alessandro Dell'Acqua, Proenza Shouler, Calvin Klein, Cynthia Rowley, and a pair I love that I found in a pound shop.

It moves down to my silk scarves, first the chiffon long ones including Charlotte Taylor, Valentino, Kookai, Moschino, French Connection, and some vintage pieces then the square small ones including several Givenchy, several Moschino, the first silk scarf I owned when I swiftly wandered from my mum's closet into mine, the Christian Dior navy blue big square scarf, DKNY, several Oscar de la Renta, a few pieces from museum shops and the classic, 20 year old lumberjack squares. In between you can see some of my headbands of which I own a lot more that are also scattered across the house... I must take an hour out tomorrow just to find and collect them back to their original place, I think.

One down it starts with thick lambswool scarves by Enrico Coveri and goes onto check thinner and longer lambswool scarves then onto cashmere scarves, my favourites. Some dark knitted scarves including the brown Lira Leirner scarf, right next to my lovely gloves. I love gloves, my hands get cold quickly and I wear gloves until late into spring and start wearing them again late summer (it's London, after all). They are mainly nappa leather lined with cashmere, the only way to keep me warm really - a navy blue, a brown one, a beige one, a red one, a cream one and several black ones. I also have a pair of black biker gloves I love more than any - and some woolen ones although mittens make me nervous - I like knowing I can stretch my fingers out. One of my ticks, I guess. It moves onto my hats, mainly berets in every color and hand knitted hats by me and my great grandmother (who is still alive).

The shelf down has several layers (most of them invisible) of bigger scarves and pashminas, mainly silk or cashmere but some cotton as well - witness to my hippie years during high school. The level below is one of my favourites, that's where my fur and feather collars and hats are stored. It moves over some of my left over shoe boxes entailing fabric belts for dresses so they are all in one place (you may have noticed the rest of my stuff is in Prada and Miu Miu boxes as they are the ones I have most and are biggest/ sturdiest) and don't get lost on the floor of the wardrobe and wallets and clutches to my belts including Valentino and Next but most are vintage because I am not a big fan of the mid-riff belt that is common today - my mid-riff isn't long enough to pull that off and often disappears underneath, uh, two specific things.