A Lack of Black

What are the hits from Couture this season? It was an average season in my opinion, dominated by pastelles and the lack of black. Chanel/Lagerfeld had the theme of "Neon Baroque" and a complete absence of black....while Dior/Galliano did have some black features - such as all important accessories like gloves, whips and hats - but also favoured the delicate 20s creamy hues.

Especially Galliano was criticized for his long lasting embrace with fashions of the distant past, but strangely enough, the more current mood at Givenchy (goth, feathers, liliac) were a bit of a let down, a comfusing mix between fluffy hippie style and a messy goth punk rocker. For me, the romantic beauty of Dior and Chanel were preferable to the goth mess of Givenchy and, quite surprisingly, Valentino.

Frida Gustafsson at Dior



The most prettiest shoes.



Olga Sherer at Dior



Detail at Dior



Out of focus lovely shot of Chanel Iman.




Snejana Onopka at Chanel

Heavenly

On the 29th of January 1960, Gia Carangi was born. These two shots are from the beginning and peak of her success, respectively.

Laidback Grace

Graceful can be combined with a laid back attitude...sometimes like Garbo and sometimes like the images from fashion magazines from the summer of 1972.

Not much, can of course, be more graceful than Nureyev at the peak of his success - the guipure of his outfit is astonishing, I never thought of masculinity in terms of embroidery.

Minimalism 60s style, precursor of the 90s...

Obviously, after many years of decadence it's time for a brand of minimalism - but with some strong patterns. As the 90s is now the second to last decade, it's inevitably becoming a large influence on current fashions. For these reasons, I believe in a come-back for some of the trends of the 60s that are certainly not in the common perception of the flower-power era - the grungy minimalism with geometric, but constrained, patterns. Here is a sample of later 60s images showing some of these trends. Most of it is sensible, sportswear, casual...This trend was also very important in the early 70s and I will soon post some of those references as well.


1968


1968, Donna Mitchell in a characteristically minimalistic soft mood.


1967


1967, same editorial.


1968, Ingrid Boulting

Season predictions

There have been some hints of what the upcoming season has to offer - here are some of my guesses of the most important inspirations...

The two most promising new models

The two most interesting new models for the upcoming season - Miriam who looks just like Ingrid Boulting and Tatyana.

From fashiondoesitbetter

The power of Two

Hailed as fresh, inspiring and beautiful by some and tired and contrived by others, this month's issue of Italian Vogue was - to my taste - a beautiful runway parody...particularly wonderful because within the editorial, that featured a multitude of models, hid gems from Lara and Snejana.

All images from Dica of tfs.

Some things never go out of style

So far, except for Italian Vogue, the best cover has come from a surprising source - Swedish magazine Plaza. This cover features Georgia Frost. Looks a little like the Classic Gia Carangi cover from 1979.

Scanned by me, the Gia image was tweaked for better comparison.

And the cold goes on

Ing-Marie Lamy for an Italian fashion publication in 1972.



Incidentally, from the same fashion magazine....although it's just a guess, it certainly looks like Ing-Marie served as an inspiration for this batty ad. Some must wear coats while others must wear almost nothing at all?

This is how cold it is...

Marie Helvin all bundled up for a fashion publication in 1971.

Cold, colder....

...and suddenly, you've got this - nature made giant snowballs washing up on shore.




image taken from smhi.se

Nothing says January like....

...selecting your next vacation spot. How about Bali - some vulcanic island beach and a crazy 60s Sloat dress?

We call it rough chic

A new year - a new schitick - I will show you, for educational purposes of course, one image per day from my vintage fashion magazine collection.

First off, this month, 42 years ago, this ad appeared in American fashion magazines - Catalina.

Best covers of 2000-2009

1. Vogue Italia August 2005 - Snejana Onopka by Steven Meisel

The best model and photographer of the decade predictably made the best cover together. Aptly adorned with the tag "Original", this issue is probably the one I most sorely miss in my collection, at least from the 00s. Also, despite what Linda Evangelista once said, August issues are ALWAYS the best.



2. Vogue Italia March 2004 - Lisa Cant by Steven Meisel

A sourceress of fashion. Perfect composition, subliminal messages (the stones in the background read love, dream, inspire).



3. Vogue Italia May 2006 - Heather Bratton by Steven Meisel

Heather Bratton had two covers for Italian Vogue before her tragic death later in the year. This cover, curled up dreading summer with a glum look on her face, really sums up the glam-goth vibe in a less predictable way than say, Burbridge's nonetheless lovely i-D Horror cover, featuring Snejana Onopka.



4. Vogue Paris September 2008 - Anna S by Mert and Marcus

This pair of photographers are responsible for some of the best fashion photography of the previous decade, as all fashion photography enthusiasts know, but this is the peak of their talent to me. The stern constricted pupil gaze and slightly pursed lips. The purple and blue contrast. Color wise, perhaps the best one of the decade.



5. Vogue Paris April 2007 - Lara Stone by Terry Richardson

As the mid 00s wore on, the skinny chic had reached such proportions there would have to be a change. That change came in the form of Lara Stone as the whistle blower. This cover was the moment that the tide turned toward another figure than the size 0 standard.




6. i-D June 2006 - Snejana Onopka by Richard Burbridge

The F/W collections were topped, by many people's accounts, by the PaP Dior collection - where the glam-goth rocker ruled the day. The magazine that best saw through that beautiful runway moment was i-D who fearlessly brought out the real zombie in the form of Snejana just in time for the summer issues - it's all about looking fresh for summer!




7. Vogue Paris December/January 2001/2 - Kate Moss by Mario Testino

Kate Moss may have most of her best covers in the 90s, but she had a lot of them in the 00s too and this model as a christmas tree cum Egyptian goddess takes the prize.



8. Numero November 2009 - Toni Garn by Greg Kadel

Much to my surprise, at the end of the decade came one of the most magical covers I've seen from Numero. Though the magazine has produced many fine covers (Rianne as Mick Jagger for instance), this one with its pure beauty is the very best one in my opinion. The silky, fine hair, wide open gaze, sensuous lips could have been so boring, if it had not been for that dark brooding mood that comes with the apparent lack of a neck. It's so clean and yet emotional, photoshop at its best.



9. Citizen K Fall/Winter 2001/2 - Hannelore Knuts by Mark Alesky

This was the first fashion magazine that I bought. Club kid meets the 60s and goes to Russia. The hat and Hannelore's demeanor speak for themselves I should think.



10. Italian Vogue May 2001 - Amanda Moore by Steven Meisel

When the decade was a mere babe, there was a creature called Amanda Moore who snazzed up many editorials and this cover. For some reason she didn't really stick around in the modeling business. As for edge and attitude, only Lara Stone can compete.

The best fashion advertisement campaigns of 2000-2009

The last decade saw a lot of great advertisement especially at the end. Here's my top ten list.

All the images have been taken from thefashionspot.com

1. Lanvin S/S 2009 - Olga Sherer by Steven Meisel

Hands down the best campaign of the decade. Olga as a desert ghost, exquisite colors and no overdone photoshop. The flame like quality of the dress. The contrast between the lion yellow with the deep purple hints around. The way she seems to trip like an unusually thin predator. It's a work of art.



2. Dolce & Gabbana S/S 2006 - Caroline Trentini, Snejana Onopka, Jeisa Chiminazzo, Gemma Ward and Raquel Zimmermann by Steven Meisel

Never seen such an aesthetically pleasing roll in the hay. I'm partial to this campaign because of the warm light, the presence of my two favourite models (Snej and Jeisa) play a part as well.




3. Prada S/S 2005 - Karen Elson and Elise Crombez by Steven Meisel

The muted colors with some bright notes of yellow and red - stern minimalism with a distinct peacock flavor perfectly presented.



4. Lanvin F/W 2009 - Kristen McNenamy by Steven Meisel

Enough to want to go psychotic, isn't it? Lanvin has had the best streak of campaigns during this decade in my opinion.



5. Moschino Cheap & Chic S/S 2005 - Vlada and others by ?

An understated and beautiful campaign, particularly gorgeous because of Vlada's presence.





6. Rimmel 2000-2008 - Kate Moss by ?

This beautiful series of Kate Moss ads ran for at least 5 years, probably longer. Most of them lovely indeed.



7. Yves Saint Laurent S/S 2006 - Snejana Onopka by Jurgen Teller

Not much of a fan of Teller in general, but I have to say he struck gold with the best model of the decade - Snejana Onopka.



8. Yves Saint Laurent S/S 2005 - Karen Elson by Jurgen Teller

Karen Elson has that ability of making everything look interesting, elegant and sort of how you imagine Elizabeth I.




9. Louis Vuitton F/W 2004 - Natasha Poly by ?

Honestly, I will be looking up the name of this photographer, the lighting is perfect...



10. Gianfranco Ferre F/W 2003 - Maria Carla Boscono by ?

Never have I seen such a wonderful fashion impersonation of a cute baby seal. The focus and color are really beauteous.