THE NEW SKIRT FOR SPRING: THE DOUBLE DROP

Posted by Bethan Holt, Junior Fashion Editor at Large

Every season has its own skirt. It might be a very particular length, a new degree of fullness or a new kind of cut.

Here at FEAL, we have decided to christen this season's skirt The Double Drop. More often than not, the double drop is a tube skirt but it also has incarnations in girly prom skirt styles. The crucial thing about it is that it finishes in two places. Not like those slightly weird mullet skirts of last summer which stopped at the knee at the front and mid-calf at the back. No, the Double Drop is perfectly straight all the way round but has two layers. Generally, the underneath layer is opaque and finishes a good few inches above the top layer which is always sheer or see-through in some way. It is both a quite sexy mini skirt and a demure ladylike item, clever non?

Burberry AW13

The Double Drop seems to have started life as what we liked to call a Show Your Knickers skirt (all about the technical terms). The SYK skirts was most famously immortalised in Burberry's Resort '14 and SS14 collections in which models wore perfectly pretty lace pencil skirts which exposed their granny pants. In fact, the one SYK which appeared in the AW13 show came with heart printed pants which are still available to buy here (now half price, yay). For the total look, wear underneath a latex pencil.

Burberry SS14

The Double Drop came in many guises on the catwalks…

A high waisted and barely there voile at Balenciaga, the modernist way.

Balenciaga SS14

 Asymetric and pleated with art peeping through at Celine...

Celine SS14

Cleverly, with shirt tails as a base layer at Erdem…

Erdem SS14

And with a lovely decorative, collage-like under section at Giambattista Valli.

Giambattista Valli SS14

The high street has a brilliant selection of double drop skirts. 

This white Oasis one is pleasingly crisp…

Oasis SS14 (not available quite yet)

This pale blue by Warehouse is also a good not-too-girly version. Also very subtle should you be self conscious about knees/ lower thighs.

Warehouse skirt £50

New Look's floral embellished double drop is very dainty...

New Look £34.99 (coming soon)

 You can always trust Zara to pay "tribute". Here's their version of the Celine catwalk skirt. They've abandoned the double layer notion but stuck with the opaque meets sheer thing.

Zara 39.99

A surprisingly fashion-y interpretation from Next but in ever-practical, work appropriate black.

Next £48

 And finally, a very ethereal version from Topshop

Topshop £65

SCHIAPARELLI, ERDEM'S GEMS AND OTHER FASHION STORIES

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

In my relatively short time working in fashion, one thing (of the many things) I have learnt is that the industry can really pick its moments when it comes to potentially huge news stories. There's none of the bang-in-the-middle-of-the-working-day punctuality of, say, the Leveson report. Take the frenzied rumour that Christopher Kane would be moving to Balenciaga, that all kicked off bright and early on a  Saturday morning while confirmation of Raf Simons appointment to Dior was announced on a Bank Holiday Monday. I really wouldn't be surprised if some major development weren't revealed while we're sitting down for the Queen's Speech on Christmas Day. In fact in the time it has taken me to write that paragraph, it has been announced that J.W Anderson will be the first designer to work with Versus on their new approach of collaborating with young talent. Meanwhile, in the middle of last night, Cathy Horyn published a piece which suggested Alexander Wang is set to take over at Balenciaga when Nicolas Ghesquière leaves in a few days time. The FashEd's comment on that snippet is "So Alexander Wang would give up his own successful business in NYC to be a salaried employee of PPR in Paris to design Balenciaga?".

Schiaparelli pink (image from vogue.com)

Another ongoing fashion rumour is that LFW favourite Erdem Moralioglu might be getting ready to take up the reins at the newly revived Schiaparelli. Diego Della Valle, who owns the label, has pushed back the relaunch from January to June which means there are only a couple of months at the most before a designer needs to be appointed. Unlike Balenciaga, where whichever designer is chosen will have the immediate legacy of Ghesquière to contend with, as well as the codes of Cristóbal Balenciaga himself, Schiaparelli has been a dormant label since 1954. As well as creating madly fun and beautiful clothes, Elsa Schiaparelli employed her surrealist aesthetic with jewellery. Her Uncle was astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli and she would apparently sit with him and study the stars as a child, maybe looking at all those sparkles in the sky prompted her to branch into making shiny things of her own? Her pieces were kinds of sophisticated satire on conventional jewels, using the usual materials but crafting them into vaguely unnerving pieces. The bug necklace below, for example, was meant to create the illusion of the wearer being inundated by hundreds of insects.

Schiaparelli Lobster brooch (image via debutanteclothing.com)

Schiaparelli floating insect necklace (image from brooklynmuseum.org)

The lovely Erdem, perhaps in preparation for his Schiaparelli role if we allow ourselves to get utterly carried away with mere hearsay, has created a capsule accessories collection for online retailer MyTheresa. To be even more tenuous, the range includes chunky crystal earrings and necklaces not so very dissimilar to Schiaparelli's mid-century designs. Is it just me or do you see an element of bird in the earrings? The range only launched a couple of days ago and some pieces have sold out already. Whether you're into speculating on fashion comings and goings or not, there's no denying that a Christmas stocking full of Erdem x MyTheresa would go down a treat.

Bracelet £288

Crystal earrings £269

Lace shoes £486

Cocktail ring £225

ERDEM-ISING MY SKULLCANDYS

Posted by Kasia Hastings, Fashion Intern at Large

My complete look

Back in October as fashion month was coming to a close I ventured East, to Hoxton Art Gallery for my maiden solo mission and the chance to be one of the first to design my own pair of Skullcandy Aviator Edit Headphones. As someone whose look isn’t complete without the day’s appropriate soundtrack, it has been my own personal struggle to get my music to look as a good as it sounds. I have searched for headphones that deliver both on style and quality but to no avail. What is available seems to be either low quality, ugly or just LARGE and mainly directed at men, style vacant men at that. With headphones it seems quality and style are almost mutually exclusive- but why?  Could Skullcandy’s new Aviator Edit be the answer to my prayers? The creatives at Skullcandy have married their high quality headphones, iconic Aviator model and handed over the role of designer to us – YAY.

Music meets art at Hoxton Art Gallery

Firstly I was talked through what I can only describe as an art installation showcasing Skullcandy’s entire range of headphones. I was taken through the evolution of Skullcandy, from skater brand to design conscious market leader. The brand’s Aviator style are perfect for those who create music and dress creatively. The headphones are recording quality and industry standard, they shape up well against their competitors. For any techies out there, their specs include impedance of 33ohms, a sound pressure level of 102db (1mW/500Hz), low distortion (0.05%)and high output ensuring your music sounds great. Skullcandy’s Jay Stevenson explained that, ''Aviators are industry standard, unlike a lot of other headphones of a similar price in the market, Aviators are good enough to create music with''– style and substance sounds good to me.

The Skullcandy family

When it came to my design I reverted straight to my default minimalist black but it seemed a shame 
to waste the design power in my hands and entirely uncreative. So with my head very much still in the
catwalks of New York/London/Milan/Paris I decided to seek inspiration for my edit from one of my favourite
shows, Erdem. With a last minute waver to the gorgeous simplicity of SS13’s monochrome, I thought Erdem’s
dewy palette would make for much more interesting designing. As designer you are able to choose the colour
of the headband, frame, caps and cord of your headphones from Skullcandy’s well selected colour palette.
Channelling my inner reptilian 50s Erdem woman I opted for a white headband, chrome frame, teal- glossy
caps and a pink cord. Once you have finished your edit you are invited to take snap shots of your designs and
share them on Twitter. And what’s more, you can order caps and cords in other colours so you can constantly
update your edit. In 10 days I had my SS13 Erdem Edit Headphones and was ready to walk the streets scoffing
at anyone sporting those bulky plastic headphones of a certain doctor. Now just to get my hands on some
Erdem to complete my look. . . a girl can dream. 

Design your own Skullcandy Aviator Headphones here

My Erdem Edit.

SAMPLE SALES GALORE

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Yeh, yeh we should be spending money on socks for our Dads, nice smelling things for our Grannies etc. etc. but when they were scheduling Christmas, did no one ever think that this is the time of year when we want to be splashing our cash at designer sample sales? There are some real goodies on the horizon. Here are the details. Just don't blame us when you have nothing to put under the tree on Christmas day. At least you'll be wearing bargainous beautiful fashion...

ERDEM- Womenswear, Shoes and Accessories

Cash and Credit Card

Tuesday 4th December 8.30am – 8.00pm
Wednesday 5th December 8.30am – 5.00pm

The Future Gallery
5 Great Newport Street
London
WC2H 7HY

CHRISTOPHER KANE- Womenswear & Accessories from SS10 to SS12. Prices starting at £10.

Friday 30th November 12.30 – 8.00pm

The Mercer Street Studios
16 Mercer Street
WC2H 9QE

 J.W.ANDERSON- Womenswear, Menswear, Shoes & Accessories

Friday 30th November 4.00 – 8.00pm

37-75 Shacklewell Lane
Lighthouse Studios
Dalston
London
E8 2EB

PORT ELIOT: A FASHION DOLL'S TEA PARTY HOSTED BY SARAH MOWER

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Rare is the festival where there is a corner so civilised that it is worthy to play host to the treasured childhood dolls of fashion's great and good. Port Eliot house is nestled at the bottom of the valley where the festival takes place and is open throughout to offer festival goers an antedote to tent and field based activities.  Thus, its Dining Room was the ideal setting for an auspicious gathering of Barbies, Sindys, Kens and traditional dolls owned and much loved by the likes of Viktor&Rolf, Simone Rocha and Lady Amanda Harlech. There are few with the cachet to persuade designers and fashion luminaries to allow their treasured possessions to go on a little trip to the country but luckily Sarah Mower, who came up with the whole idea and is the festival's fashion curator, and LOVE magazine editor Alex Fury were on hand to prise the dolls from their owners' hands for a few days of tea partying. 

It seems almost obvious that a fashion designer might begin their career making clothes for dolls. After all, our childhood toys are what we use to act out our fantasies of adulthood, giving them the lives and looks which we on some level aspire to- I remember that I would ensure all my dolls had nicely plaited hair and pretty party dresses before lining them up in neat rows in my bed to be taught by me in the role of teacher or to go on imaginary trips to the zoo (my brother's farmyard animal collection) and model in fashion shows. For an aspiring designer, the doll is an ideal canvas to begin on- take Erdem Moralioglu who was "violently jealous" of his twin Sara's Skipper Barbie, which had "a flatter chest and bigger shoulders" than the Barbie Bride Sara previously had. Erdem kidnapped Skipper Barbie whilst his sister was at Brownies and "got hold of this cheap-y blue polyester , and fashioned a circle skirt from it and put it over her head", he then got his Mum to help him make a strapless bustier- "very Spring/Summer". Whether that has anything to do with the fact that he's now a very successful fashion designer is anyone's guess.

The" cheap polyester" dress which Erdem made when he was five, and a dress
 from his AW12 collection in Barbie size.  

Many of the stories which Sarah, Alex and their team of curators (Jess Dubeck and Ben Evans) unearthed as they collected designers' dolls were far more extraordinary than them simply being childhood toys. In fact, this tea party was such an insight that I reckon the V&A would be mad not to hound Sarah and Alex until they agreed to host the same tea party, or even an expanded version, as an exhibition in the capital so that even more people could realise that the power of the doll is far more than a mere plaything. These are some of my favourite stories....

CHRISTOPHER KANE

The line-up of Chris Kane Barbies is a mini retrospective of his work to date. That's because a member of Chris's team recreates a look from each season in Barbie form as a record of the collection. They do it rather speedily too because Resort '13 already has its own outfit (far left). 

ALBER ELBAZ

It was Alber Elbaz's story which sparked Sarah's idea to host a Fashion Doll's Tea party. And it doesn't even involve dolls but a distinct lack thereof. Elbaz's family were too poor to afford toys for him and so he took the ingenious approach of dressing the figures on the family's chess board. Elbaz describes how he would "use my Father's silver cigarette paper, and use flowers and sequins, and stick hair on their heads with a piece of chewing gum". Decades later, Elbaz has an endless supply of real-life dolls in the form of Lanvin customers and models but has also created the Miss Lanvin dolls which perhaps go some way to making up for his doll-free childhood. The chess set which appeared at the tea party is one he recreated especially for Port Eliot. The process made Elbaz reflect on his chess piece dressing and he remarks in the tea party notes "It made me think: maybe the best creativity comes out of lacking resources". I think it also shows that when something is innate- like his desire to dress and design- there will always be a way around it.

JASON WU

Jason Wu's doll connection is probably the strongest of them all and he probably wouldn't be where he is today if it weren't for his love of doll dressing. He describes how "at the age of sixteen, while at boarding school in Connecticut, I decided to call the president of Integrity toys offering them my sketches, astonishingly they offered me a job designing for their fashion dolls. A year later, I was named Creative Director, then partner. Both positions I still hold today and am extremely proud of". In fact, Wu has financed his label through the money he makes designing for Integrity, meaning that without dolly fashion, he may not be doing real lady fashion now. 

SARAH BURTON AT ALEXANDER MCQUEEN

A doll version of a piece from Lee McQueen's final, posthumous collection

The dolls sent by McQueen's Sarah Burton do not have so much of a childhood resonance but represent a key stage in house's design process which began with the Plato's Atlantis collection of SS10. Each season, McQueen's famously tailored and complex shapes are engineered in doll form before being scaled up when perfect to human size. This reminded of the way that Vionnet would do all her groundwork on mini mannequins. It's not a practise unique to Burton and her team, but the dolls looked like works of art in their own right, especially as the paper dresses they have were printed with the patterns which would eventually make up the final dress. 

Lulu Kennedy's rabbits, Paul and Amanda, would be entertained by Lulu and her little brother dressed as pirates or gypsies for hours on end.

Giles Deacon sent dolls he made, dressed in miniature versions of dresses from his AW12 collection...

Simone Rocha's doll attends the tea party, complete with scars from being thrown down banisters by her loving owner.

Tallulah Harlech's Barbie with her Mother Lady Amanda's dolls

Sarah Mower at one of the first doll's parties she curated 

With such a prestigious group of dollies in attendance, this had to be a truly spectacular party. So set designer Michael Howells, who also curated the flower show at the festival and has decorated the house's chandeliers with feathers and dried flowers, scattered sweeties amid sets of doll's china to create the perfect backdrop for proceedings. The pièce de résistance was the doll's house which Sarah Mower spotted in the window of the Trinity Hospice charity shop in Kensington.

Sarah sent us this photo of (left to right) Hannah Lambert (her assistant),
Jingle-Jangle James, Meggie and designer Louise Gray beside the main table at the tea party

And Sarah couldn't get away with not inviting her very own doll. She sits, dressed in a paisley dress and knitted knickers made by Sarah's fashion loving grandmother, Maisie- the doll is named after her.  Maisie sits centre stage with Tammy Kane's (sister and business partner of Christopher) doll who is called Toni Bonnie Bella- Tammy has recently had a baby called Bonnie, perhaps named after the doll?

SUMMER SAMPLE SALE EXCITEMENT!

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

OK, its hot and its payday week. What better reason do you need than to go buy some amazing summer fashion? I've got a reason: sample sales. The five best possible sample sales EVER in my humble opinion are on this week in London.

UPDATE:... TODAY 10am-7pm....Zadig and Voltaire at 182 Westbourne Grove, W11 2RH


Here they are:

MCQUEEN 

ALEXANDER MCQUEEN: Tues 29th May (12-9pm), 30th May (10am- 9pm), 31st May (10am-9pm) and 1st June (10am-8pm) at TheWestminster Rooms, The Old Sessions House, 22 Clerkenwell Green, EC1R 0NA

KANE 

CHRISTOPHER KANE: 31st May at The Mercer Street Studios, WC2E 9QE with prices starting at £5. 

ERDEM

ERDEM: Tues 29 May (9am-8pm) & Wed 30th May (9am-6pm) at Future Gallery, Covent Garden. AW11 & previous seasons + accessories

J.W 

J.W ANDERSON: June 1, 5-9pm, 73-75 Shacklewell Lane, Studio A007, E8. Cash only.

Oh and one for luck: 

JOSEPH: 

Tues 29th May (10am-9pm) and Weds 30th May (10am-8pm) at The Music Rooms 29, South Molton Lane- Alaia, Lanvin, Balenciaga, Givenchy, Celine and more at 80% off!!!! 

HAS THE HIGH STREET COPYING OF CATWALK DESIGNERS WORK GOT OUT OF HAND?

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

The latest press release email from Red Hot PR, representing Goddiva

Yesterday, a press release email pinged into the Fashion Editor at Large in-box. Its title? 'Gucci Copies.' Amazingly, the fashion company in question, Goddiva, has instructed its PR company to send out press releases promoting the fact it is copying dresses from the current Gucci collection; dresses that are in the shop right now. Goddiva even shares with us the catwalk shots of the dresses they are copying in the release!  Goddiva would do well to read up on how litigious Gucci is. Only this week it was awarded $4.7 million from Guess over infringement of its G and red/green stripe trademarks, and it is stepping up its brand protection around the world as a result.

This type of email - and I get a lot of them - makes my blood boil. Bethan, Fashion Junior at Large, has even seen me pick up the phone to some PR companies to question them for the sending out of such emails. I know it sounds a bit batty, but really - they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. It especially annoys me when the copying involves ripping-off young British and international designers who don't have the funds to hire a lawyer to defend their Intellectual Property rights.

What you see above is a blatant example of how rampant the copying of fashion designers work at high street level has become. Crazier still the brands doing it actually promote the fact. Copying is against the law. Fashion designers and brands can - and do as we see from Gucci's case this week- successfully sue for this kind of thing. Elsewhere on the high street designers' original work is being tacitly raped and pillaged and passed off as the work of the retailer - and to my mind it is getting worse by the week.

I do understand that the high street takes inspiration from catwalk and street trends for their fashion offerings, its the nature of the beast; everyone from Marc Jacobs to Nicolas Ghesquiere at Balenciaga takes inspiration from something, but really it has gone too far. Which is why I am glad the young law American law student Julie Zerbo of the fashion blog Fashion Law, which was recently covered by the Wall Street Journal, is succeeding in highlighting the problem. A few weeks ago Zerbo brought to attention a Chanel bangle, which looked very similar to one already on the record as being by young NYC based jeweller Pamela Love. After her post was picked up by Fashionista.com, Chanel withdrew the bracelet with immediate effect. It was an elegant way around a problem senior designers at Chanel  probably didn't even know they had. Chanel prides itself on originality.

Last week a friend of mine who is also an editor sent me a couple of Blackberry-Cam shots of items that looked very familiar...

Seen at Karen Millen

Have you met your twin? Erdem Resort 2012 on Net-a-Porter. In fact if you type "Erdem blue lace dress" into Google, the third thing that comes up is "Erdem blue lace dress copy" and the listing takes you to Kate Middleton related sites..

Seen at Marks and Spencer

Hmm..looks familiar. Jonathan Saunders SS12 collection (photo: Catwalking.com)

Have you seen any blatant copies out there? What do you think?

THE BEST DRESSED AT LAST NIGHTS MET BALL 2012 -

Posted by Melanie Rickey & Bethan Holt - team FEAL

There are more than enough red carpet events throughout the year to satisfy our need to award hits and misses to various celebrities' ultimate version of modern fantasy dressing. But the Met Ball is the fashion biggie. The outfits are not on the sideline here, but the the main attraction, and this is where we judge the actual FASHION not yet another interpretation of 'Hollywood Glamour' . Some choose to approach it exactly how they might the Oscars -  hello, Scarlett Johannsson dressed like an actual Oscar statuette. Others use it as an opportunity to try something a little edgier - I'm talking to you, yes you Coco Rocha in your on-trend trousers.

Last night's event launched the 'Prada and Schiaparelli: Impossible Conversations' show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this years successor to Savage Beauty/McQueen blockbuster of 2011, which will run throughout the Summer. There was plenty of Prada and a number of nods to Schiaparelli, and in some instances both - nice tcouch Anna Wintour. But also a variety of new riffs on the red carpet vibe. Diego Della Valle also chose yesterday to announce that he'll be reviving Schiaparelli although the rumours from a few months back that Galliano might be designing seem to have come to nothing. Though we are very much looking forward to what Diego does with the brand, as his revival of the house of Roger Vivier has been beautifully executed by his team and the brands Creative Director Ines de La Fressange.

Here are our picks of the looks which best represent how trends were worked into the looks of the night. This is a barometer for where red carpet fashion will be going in the coming months...it is also, in some cases, a barometer of where real fashion and trends are going. You will be appropriating some of this into your look someday soon.....

MELANIE'S HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Gwyneth Paltrow in Prada

A very grown up was to do pastels - more futuristic than sugar sweet.  And short! Also, excuse me, but how hot is her body? If that's what two hours a day with a Tracy Anderson trained PT can give you...

(image from Dailymail.co.uk)

2. Kate Bosworth in Prada

One of many to wear very dark lips- there was definitely a goth mood in the air but Kate's made it less severe with a shorter length dress, definitely looking fresh. expect to see LOTS of short in the next collections.

(image from Popsugar.com)

3. Lily Collins in Valentino

Lily and SJP (below) both look serenely beautiful in high-neckedVictoriana style, Valentino.There was barely an inch of flesh in sight and it made the women all the more alluring. This is something we're seeing a lot of now. Covered up is the new chic.

Image from dailymail.co.uk

4. Sarah Jessica Parker in Valentino

( image from www.popsugar.com)

5. Milla Jovovich in Prada Autumn/Fall Winter 2012

Image from dailymail.co.uk

6. Rooney Mara in Givenchy

Riccardo Tisci gave us two versions of his Gothic fashionista with his designs for Rooney Mara and Gisele. Pale-skinned Mara's gown combined lace and leather, and along with her dark burgundy lips she looked sensational, definitely where we will be taking our look this Autumn/Fall. With her athletic body, healthy glow and sequinned bling Gisele's play at the woman of darkness thing offered a more Hollywood interpretation. Both get the thumbs up from FEAL.

image from dailymail.co.uk

7. Gisele in Givenchy

image from dailymail.co.uk

8. Scarlett Johansson Dolce and Gabbana

Ms Johansson giving us a delicious taster of Dolce Gabbana's wonderful fairytale, baroque splendour which awaits us for Autumn. though we love this, it isn't quite as directional as it could have been, given the occasion.

image from popsugar.com

9. Jessica Alba in Michael Kors

Another sampler of Autumn/fall's forthcoming opulence-fest - it really is going to be special.

Image from www.ibtimes.com

10. Coco Rocha in Elizabeth Taylor's Givenchy trouser suit

By far the most INTERESTING and fabulous choice of the night. Rocha went completely against the tradition of having a custom dress and instead wore the outfit she'd bought at the auction of Elizabeth Taylor's wardrobe. I think both Mrs Prada and Mrs Schiaparellii would have approved. Coco's independence of spirit is admirable in the face of Vogue diktats and 'suggested' (aka subtly enforced) dress-codes.

Image from Popsugar.com

11. Miuccia Prada, the guest of honour

Here is Mrs Prada being brilliant in jacquard trousers and tunic and stomping big, gem heels.

image from vogue.com

FASHION JUNIOR'S HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Arizona Muse in Erdem

The evening's best look from a Brit designer, and Erdem is looking pretty hot too.

Arizona with Erdem (image from vogue.com)

2. Anna Wintour in Prada

I love how literal and diplomatic this is: a Prada dress with classic Schiaparelli lobster motif.

image from dailymail.co.uk

3. Lana del Rey in Altuzarra

Ok, so Lana does look a bit miserable but I don't know why because Jospeh Altuzarra's chainmail gown and long, black cape do that goth thing but with a glamorous, via-the-dancefloor sort of vibe, and capes and chainmail are so on-trend for Autumn/Fall. Game of Thrones lovers, take note!

image from stylelite.com

4. Solange Knowles in Rachel Roy

I have a huge style crush on Solange at the moment. The buttercup brightness and peplum detail look chic but not too serious plus that 'fro is the best accessory ever.

image from dailymail.co.uk

5. Marc Jacobs n Comme des Garcons

We can't leave without showing you Marc Jacobs in Comme des Garcons lace, boxers and buckled shoes from his women's mainline collection ... Yeah, baby.

image from graziadaily.co.uk