ADVENT: THE FASHION FAIRYTALE OF AW12

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Each catwalk season, post shows the FashEd and I absorb ourselves in teasing out every trend, theme and nuance from what we've seen. For AW12, it was all about a fairytale. Looks jumped out at us like characters off a picture book page, scary and sweet in equal measures. While it may be the case that the Autumn/ Winter collections are an almost a disappearing memory, with the start of the sales and the arrival of Resort collections in shops, it actually only just feels like the right time to be really getting excited about these looks; the opulent decorations, the sumptuous velvets and ostentatious embellishments are properly about Winter luxury and legend. So for FEAL's Advent contribution, we will be revisiting an AW12 look every few days along with allusions to the myths and folklore which they seem to allude to, before they vanish forever into a fairy dust haze of Spring/ Summer graphics and brights. We hope you enjoy them and have a very merry festive season.

Love,

Bethan and Melanie xx

Gucci's Swashbuckling Musketeer

“My son, be worthy of your noble name, worthily borne by your ancestors for over five hundred years. Remember it’s by courage, and courage alone, that a nobleman makes his way nowadays. Don’t be afraid of opportunities, and seek out adventures. My son, all I have to give you is fifteen ecus, my horse, and the advice you’ve just heard. Make the most of these gifts, and have a long, happy life.” 

From Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers

NEW SEASON SHOPPING: GET TO BICESTER VILLAGE

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

You've all heard about Bicester Village, right? The place where loads of big designer names have outlet shops where you can pick up proper (I mean stuff you see on the catwalks, not naff logo t-shirts) designer pieces at a fraction of the usual price. What I hadn't quite grasped until I visited Bicester on Monday is how relevant the stock is- I had been expecting to find things to buy now and stow away for next Summer, basically I thought everything might be a bit behind the usual retail calendar. It may be August and time for holidays but the savviest shoppers are beginning to put together their Autumn wardrobes. I've been thinking about mine since February, such is the life of a Fashion Journalist. So contrary to expectations, the shops of Bicester have plenty of stock which feels just right for now- there were military coats, boots galore, graphic kaleidoscope prints, puffa jackets and many more of the key catwalk pieces for the coming season. It's a little bit like a giant sample sale but more civilised, with fewer elbows, items discounted at a time when you still want to wear them and a few lovely restaurants a stone's throw away to dive into between browses.

I have a bit of a thing for shoes so I seemed to zone in one them during my Bicester visit. I could have bought up the entire Rupert Sanderson shop which was stocked with pieces I remember seeing at their press day in March. There were lots of the brand's signature elegant heels but also a good smattering of bang-on-trend pieces like the red and black houndstooth boots. Add to that tassel slippers in lots of colours and the kind of winter boots which will last years, but with those thoughtful design details like the ankle cuff on this riding style.

Rupert Sanderson boots: Were £788 Now £310 at Bicester Village 

Rupert Sanderson tassel slippers: Were £525 Now £350

Rupert Sanderson riding boots: Were £725 Now £480

Another Bicester must-visit is the Marni shop which is full of clothes and accessories which are properly on brand and definitely don't feel like end-of-line rejects. My favourite spy was these bright spotty heels. What with the Vuitton/ Kusama collab and their appearance in lots of key Resort collections, I would say dots are one of the safest graphics to invest in right now. There were also lots of pieces which played into the AW12 trend for chunky gem embellishment, as seen on the Marni catwalk of course. It doesn't get more bling than the clutch I found, but there were plenty more items which would have ensnared a magpie or two. 

Spotty heels in Marni, Bicester Village: Were £370 Now £127.50

Marni clutch at Bicester: Was £765 Now £470

It's not just high-end designer at Bicester. I would definitely recommend you go into stores you might not usually think of. On my last trip, I bought two pairs of shoes in Hobbs which I get compliments on all the time and in Jigsaw there were lots of good jumpers and cardigans as well as great penny loafers which I would have bought had they had my size. And if you have a breton top addiction like myself then stock up in Aubin and Wills, the chicer older sibling of Jack Wills (which also has a Bicester outlet if you're that way inclined). 

So, if you are starting to think about building up your Autumn/ Winter wardrobe or fancy escaping Olympic London for a day (or even an evening- it's open until 9pm) then you get yourself to Bicester Village. 

P.S There's an upgraded train service which now takes you from London Marylebone to Bicester North in 42 minutes- easy peasy. 

*Sponsored Post*

WILL YOU WEAR THE 'BLOGGER' TREND?

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Yes you read right, we have identified a season defying trend quite simply called "blogger". Gone are the days when just having a blog was trendy enough, now it's all about getting the look of a blogger. That is, piled high with as many designer pieces- preferably borrowed from the catwalk collection- as is physically possible. Where once, one stand-out item would have done, it's now time to adopt the mantra, 'Why wear one, when you can wear five?'. Where a few years ago Kate, Sienna et al made it fashionable to look like you hadn't actually tried too hard, that you'd sort of just thrown on skinny jeans and ballet shoes and made them look stylish, now it's all about being high maintenance, blatant and unashamedly fashion mad.

Susie Bubble with her clashing patterns and cute accessories (image from style.com by Tommy Ton)

Bryanboy with brilliant trousers, shoes, clutch, sunglasses (image from www.bryanboy.com)

There are three solid examples from across the fashion industry which confirm to us that the blogger look is proving to be just as influential as catwalk shows when it comes to setting trends. In fact the blogger look is a new way of dressing, a whole attitude change.

CASE IN POINT #1: River Island's Blogger trend for AW12

River Island held their press day last week. At these events, we're told what the store will be doing for coming season. Alongside the big, to-be-expected trends inspired by the catwalk shows (e.g. Baroque and Futuristic Goth) was another called, quite simply "Blogger". The press release describes this look as 'organised chaos' and 'freestyle'. The words 'exaggerated', 'fun' and 'clashing' all feature- 'it's disorganised but carefully put together'

Pile it on was the message at River Island

Of course, these boots must be worn with above cap if you're to work the blogger trend in the right way

By pointedly using this as a seasonal mood, is River Island saying this is a moment for the so-called blogger- I prefer 'street style star' but it's not so catchy- look? Or is it here to stay as a code we use to style ourselves?

CASE IN POINT #2: Vogue loves bloggers

When one of the world's most authoritative fashion magazines commissions a shoot on a trend, we know it's important.

I am  a camera... from British Vogue, February 2012 (image from thebostonbazaar.wordpress.com)

British Vogue's February issue (image from thelicenciate.com)

(image from thebostonbazaar.wordpress.com)

CASE IN POINT #3: Anna Dello Russo designs for H&M

ADR works her version of 'blogger' (image from guardian.co.uk)

Until now, H&M has collaborated with some of the most influential designers in the world-Versace, Stella McCartney, Lanvin.... So the fact that their latest project is not with a designer but a person, Anna Dello Russo, really means something. It's a sure sign that H&M believe that the Vogue Nippon Fashion Director, blogger and street style favourite has the same wide ranging appeal as a big designer label as well as the look that everyone wants to get. It's interesting that what Dello Russo wears has become so attached to her rather than the labels she wears. It's how she wears it which H & M are packaging and selling as a commercial product. It's also highly astute from a business perspective because in order to get the Anna look, customers will have to buy several pieces. ADR seems to be acutely aware of what's going on, she said last week, "this is the sign of an important evolution in fashion and I am both thrilled and humbled to be the one chosen to lead it".

Some of the items which will form  the collection (image from telegraph.co.uk)

Anna models her designs (image from telegraph.co.uk)

Do you agree that this is really how bloggers dress? Will you be wearing "blogger"?

ALL ABOUT JOSEPH ALTUZARRA & HIS TOP FIVE FALL/AUTUMN PIECES

Posted by Melanie Fashion Editor at Large

I had the pleasure of meeting up with the NewYork based designer Joseph Altuzarra this afternoon at Browns where he was doing a trunk show and meeting customers and members of the press. 

                             

Me and Mr A

Still only 28 years old,  Joseph is currently on the kind of awesome - and it has to be said pretty mental - upward trajectory which only happens to one designer every few years. Joseph (never Joe) is the current recipient of the Vogue/CFDA Fashion Fund and won $300,000 last year to grow his four year old business. He is also, much to his chagrin, a bit of a fashion IT boy. Well, you've gotta love a designer who poses draped over a chair in one of his own snakeskin dresses, right?  

Hawt! Joseph Altuzarra shot for W Magazine

Don't let his chair work or penchant for wearing dresses give you the idea that he is a good time boy; Mr Altuzarra is certainly no intellectual lightweight and he is a worker, obsessed with his craft and constantly pushing personal boundaries with his work.  When I ask if he is happy being in the public eye, he admits "I don't want to be 'the hot designer' because that means one day the limelight will move onto someone else. I want a slow and steady progression. Look," he says leaning closer, "doing press is part of the job, but to be honest my favourite place to be is at home with my boyfriend [Seth a property dude)]and my [Schnauzer] dog Bean, watching TV.  Joseph used his prize money extremely wisely. Both his parents are investment bankers, so he knew exactly what to do, which was to move to larger offices and hire a production manager. Smart. 

That he spent the first 18 years of his life in Paris with his Chinese American mother and French father proved the starting point for today's conversation, which swiftly took us from French parochialism onto the inspiration behind his accomplished and trend-setting Autumn/Winter 2012 collection, one of my personal highlights of New York Fashion Week. 

Joseph Altuzarra Autumn Fall/Winter 2012 

One of the best everyday fashion looks for the forthcoming Autumn, hands down.

JOSEPH ON HIS FALL/WINTER 2012 COLLECTION + FRENCH PAROCHIALISM

"The starting point for me was looking at the way France is evolving as a nation. I think there are a lot of problems relating to national identity emerging as a result of the elections. French style, for example, is heavily influenced by North Africa and Asia, but actual French society is obstinately French. I guess they are focusing too much on immigration, instead of looking at integration. In the UK and USA I see 

integration. This whole idea of integration fascinated me, which reminded me of a cartoon character from my childhood called Corto Maltese. He is an iconic figure in French culture, a quintessentially French sailor who travels the world to brings back new ideas." 

As you can see Corto Maltese also likes a pea-coat, which happens to be one of the key motifs of Altuzarra's new collection. 

Corto Maltese 

ALTUZARRA ON HIS DESIGN PROCESS 

"When I am designing I try to take the best of the European and American sensibilities. There are great ideas on both sides of the pond. The design process for me involves pushing ideas through to their ultimate conclusion. Pushing the fashion hard, you know?  I guess, though, ultimately I always start with the idea of desirability. The idea of 'If I were a woman what would I want to wear right now?'   

JOSEPH ALTUZARRA'S "IF I WERE A WOMAN" PERSONAL TOP FIVE FROM HIS FALL/WINTER 2012 

"A pea coat, buttoned up and looking strict"

"Cargo pants tucked into a knee boot."

"I loved the white sweater with the fringing and coins"

"The Indian tiered dress. This a good example of taking it to the max. We pushed it with the cut and controlled drape of this dress, then just kept pushing it further and further. We pushed shape, fabric, embroidery and print. We got there. That's where the opulence in my collection came from. I've pushed things before like our cone breast cups, and these did not work at retail, but have been popular with the press. So in the end it became a strong brand statement. You've got to push, even if you end up at a dead end. " 

"My cheongsam inspired dress with the white cravat and thigh split; I love the controlled elegance of it."

With that, the IT designer whose greatest fear is being an IT designer, leaps up to meet two customers who have booked in to see him. Tonight he is off out for dinner with his good friend and London based designer Erdem.

WHAT TO BUY FROM JOSEPH ALTUZARRA NOW: all from Browns 

 Jersey panelled skater Dress £895

Chunky cotton knit lime Jumper £540

Techno Nylon jacket £1515 

All from BrownsFashion.com

With thanks to Zoe and Sarah at Zoe Communications & Browns  

COLOUR.... MY EYES ARE DANCING

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Bright eyes... Meadham Kirchhoff beauty looks from AW12 (image from www.lloyd-evans.com)

Maybe it's the sudden turn in the weather from bright to dismal, or perhaps it's the amount of time the FashEd and I spend looking at the specifics of colour in our consultancy projects, or it could be that walking into most stores at the moment involves being confronted with such powerful, undiluted palettes. Whatever it is, my eyes have become addicted to complete overdoses of rich and saturated tones, whether it is the tangerine neon of the jumper I bought the other day, or the bloody rich maroon in J.W Anderson's AW12 collection, the picture of which I just cannot stop looking at. I feel like the pastel trend which so dominated the SS12 catwalks hasn't quite hit my consciousness yet. In fact, in a few weeks time these could become a diluted antidote to the intensity which is pervasive in my mind right now.

My colour obsession... JW Anderson AW12 (image from catwalking.com)

The road to York through Sledmere by David Hockney 1997 (from www.hockneypictures.com)

It was on a visit to the Royal Academy's David Hockney exhibition (a few days before it closed) a couple of weeks ago that I felt like my colour channel was  properly attuned. The only way I can even begin to describe the feeling of looking at a Hockney painting is that it makes your eyes dance, so vibrant are the colours and the ways they're combined. The images which I have included here do not even begin to visually describe the effect of seeing a Hockney original. I would love to know how he achieves this insanely concentrated bouncing-off-the-canvas-it's-so-bright effect.  His eye transforms the gentle browns greys and greens of the natural landscape into cyan blue leaves, lilac roads and pink skies. They're delicious and unexpected combinations.

More felled trees on Woldgate by David Hockney 2008 (from www.hockneypictures.com)

And the book I most want to read right now? A Pantone Colour Book. Odd, I know given 
that I'm more often found with my nose buried in classic literature but the thought of looking
 at that faded, brownish paper and uniform black type just makes my heart sink, especially
 when I could be poring over seven pages of 'pink' representations. 

I like to think that this new found colour obsession might be my version of patriotism, 
given the upcoming Jubilee, bear with me here. One of the highlights of this month's 
Vogue is the back page on which the magazine charts Her Majesty's colour choices 
over the course of a year. It looks to me like The Queen might also be a fan of the Pantone 
book, so considered are her head-to-toe choices of hue, from the palest of lemon curd 
yellows to the rubiest of Wizard of Oz reds she seems to have worked her way through 
them all. I can imagine her handing her circled colour choices to her dressmaker Angela 
Kelly as reference guide to her latest outfit creation.  

Devastatingly, I don't have my own Angela Kelly to rustle up something in my latest
 colour whim so I will amuse myself a while longer looking at my new favourite Tumblr,
 RAINBOW C-O-L-O-U-R-S

The Queen in colour (image from www.dailymail.co.uk)

THE RETURN OF BLING: FASHION GOES GEM-TASTIC

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

The most worn and blogged about fashion item of this Spring has been the Prada satin-collared bomber jacket covered with colourful chunky stones. During the catwalk shows I lost count of the number of people - both male and female - who owned one, and each individual jacket seemed unique to the wearer. That is the power of a gem; they become part of you. It is also the power of Prada. Every time I saw one on someone I become mesmerised to the point of childlike awe; I need one of these jackets in my life, as entertainment if nothing else.  

Miuccia Prada tends to roll out an influential corker for the summer season, and a more commercial collection for winter. This summer's Prada collection may have revved up the high street with its Vroom-Vroom car iconography but it also, it turns out, has influenced the most directional catwalk designers for Autumn from Lanvin to Vuitton, Nina Ricci to Versace, and we're not talking about the cars, but the hundredweight of bling.  Miu Miu and Prada carried on showering chunks of rock onto their clothes for Autumn.. but scroll down and you will see how the rest of the high fashion firmament lost themselves to the power of opening fire with equivalent of an AK 47 loaded with crystal ammo. 

This all marks the return of bling, something the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China  - who are all in the throes of a boom time, will love and indulge to the max. In the Western market partaking in this trend will be done with more than a sense of irony. 

THE PRADA JACKET 

Prada 

More Prada

Even more Prada 

You guessed it... 

Street style blogger Hanneli Mustaparta mixes Tom Binns bling with a varsity jacket

More Tom Binns.. (All the above photos by the inimitable Tommy Ton for Style.com)

AUTUMN/WINTER 2O12 GEM-TASTIC OFFERINGS

Prada AW12 (image from www.jasonlloyd-evans.com)

Dolca and Gabbana AW12

Lanvin AW12

Lanvin AW12

Marni AW12

Nina Ricci AW12 

Versace AW12

Louis Vuitton AW12 (all catwalk images from www.catwalking.com)

THINGS TO BUY NOW... 

Jewelled sandals £58 Topshop

Gem sandals £40 River Island