The first ever “Strut: The Fashionable Mom Show”, took place at the city’s Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Centre and featured moms of all shapes and sizes working the runway with pregnant bellies and strollers, looking chic in ranges suitable for everything from date night to school drop offs.
The concept for the show was hatched by two of the moms, Melissa Gerstein and Denise Albert, after they got a gig on TV and found they had nothing to wear.
Some of the outfits included loose black slacks with a mustard top, a pair of white skinny jeans matched with a purple, tie-dyed T-shirt. Models included moms who were 37 weeks pregnant, pushing empty strollers down the runway, and in place of the vacant model stares, there were smiles and high fives from the real moms shared with Iman.
Iman, although a mother herself, didn’t walk the runway, but boasted a purple lace top and short, pleated skirt from Prabal Gurung, in the front row.
The clothing for the show came from top designers like Tory Burch, Chris Benz, Rachel Roy and Michael Kors, with maternity wear from Hatch and A Pea in the Pod.
There were blazers and jackets, bags and dresses looks on the runway were available immediately in stores ranging from Bloomingdale’s and T.J.Maxx.
The show was different to what fashion week is all about and showed the industry that mothers and pregnant women are no longer invisible and offer a market of their own.
The world of fashion is in mourning after New York socialite and fashion icon, Zelda Kaplan died after fainting in her front-row seat at a fashion show on February 15th 2012.
The drama surrounding the 95-year-old’s death seems to befit the style icon right up to her final moments. Ms Kaplan was known for regularly seen closing down popular nightclubs with socialites in their twenties.
Instantly recognisable at Joanna Mastroianni’s fashion show at the Lincoln Centre, Ms Kaplan was wearing a variation of her “uniform” with her trademark oversized glasses, distinctive bold prints and matching hat. She happily posed for photographers while waiting in her front row seat for the show to start and showed no signs of the trouble just minutes away.
Shortly after the show started, witnesses saw her slump forward. Ms Kaplan’s husband, Gideon Lewin was reportedly seated next to her in the front row when she fainted. He immediately notified the security, and she was escorted out of her seat by security guards.
Emergency medical technicians on the scene performed CPR on Ms Kaplan before transporting her to the Roosevelt Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Ms Kaplan held a colourful place in New York’s society and was known for her presence on the art scene and was always a strikingly dressed regular at parties and fashion shows with a lust for life that was well recognised and loved.
Exotic skins are well in evidence on the runways in 2012, from fur trimmings to ostrich feathers and exotic skin handbags as seen from Louwe and Roberto Cavalli and knee high gladiator sandals from Michael Kors.
Exotic decorative skins for handbags in all shapes and sizes are seen in neutrals and bight colours form the top designers including Bottega Veneta. From snakeskin clutches to ostrich leather totes, the runways for 2012 were packed with exotic skins in a range of colours from the more subdued neutrals from Cavalli for a timeless investment piece to the more colourful dyed skins as expressive personalised pieces.
New Jersey based designer Meca McKinney has also unveiled her exotic skin inspired collection for 2012, entitled “Urbane Jungle” which draws it’s inspiration from the intricate forms found in the wilderness.
Controversial furs are also making a mark on the catwalk trends for 2012, with many designers having fun with furs and expressing their inspiration with fur trimmings, fur coats and fur embellished sweaters and dresses as seen in the Gucci collection for 2012.
Designers like Rebecca Taylor and Gucci are having fun with the trend, with all types of fur – long, short, faux real has been used to trim collars and cuffs as well as sleeves and hems, and is not limited to natural colours this season, arriving in bold hues of purple, green and turquoise.
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The 2012 Design Indaba is once again bringing together the talents and creativity of designers in South Africa. The event will host all-day fashion shows at the DSTV event arena from 2 to 4 March, presented by the Cape Town Fashion Council and featuring some of the best designers in the country..
Designers Amanda Laird Cherry, Tart, Lunar, Magents, Coast & Koi, Good Clothing, Ministry4style, Silverspoon, Selfi and MosewaMosa have been hand picked by the Cape Town Fashion Council (CTFC) to be a part of their umbrella stand at the Design Indaba which will be held from 2nd March to 4th March 2012.
The CTFC has partnered with 36 Boutiques, Aidan Bennetts Designs, XANITA, A&I furniture, the CPUT Technology Station in Clothing and Textiles and BROTHER to undertake this initiative.
The CTFC space is exclusively designed by Aidan Bennetts Designs to create a space that encompasses a look and feel of industrial space meets fashion retail. Here designers will be showcasing and retailing their Spring/Summer collections as well as showcasing their Autumn/Winter collections via daily fashion shows in the events arena at the Expo.
The 2012 Design Indaba’s Simulcast is an opportunity for design enthusiasts in Johannesburg to experience the main Design Indaba conference through a live broadcast from 29 February to 2 March at the University of Johannesburg Arts Centre from 8am to 5pm.
Shades of burgundy and jade, skirts and hemlines inspired by the designs of the 1960’s were among the trends on display at New York’s Fashion week, in February.
Among over 300 designers showing their Fall/Winter 2012 collections to media, celebrities and buyers, Vivienne Tam, Tory Burch, Diane von Furstenberg and Michael Kors featured pencil skirts, some with matching jackets and touches of the 60’s and 70’s with a cosmopolitan, urban flair such as the longer hemlines seen in maxi, circle and pleated skirts.
With the influence of the global economy on impulse buying, many designers are paying attention to detail and tailoring to fulfil the new trend in conscious decision making when building a wardrobe. Navy replaced black in some collections, but jades, deep green, plum and burgundy in fabrics ranging from fur and leather to silk and satins were more common as seen in Diane Von Furstenberg’s pink and berry sleeveless crepe dresses, frosted lime jacquard coat and scarlet pencil skirt.
Other designers featuring these rich colours and decorative fabrics included Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Narciso Rodriguez. Marc Jacobs, Christian Siriano and Karen Walker chose to feature metallic shades of green, gold and silver on brocades and jaquards.
Many designers mixed fabrics like jacquards and brocades and leather and fur, in an eclectic mix of layers, fabrics and textures although tweed and oversized plaid continued to be popular, along with buffalo check and blanket stripes.
The trend is definitely focussed towards tight tailoring and sophisticated palettes and silhouettes across the board.
Afrocentric Influences
The plains of Africa are often an influence on the designers for their catwalk collections, and 2012 is no different. Traditional references continue to inspire with animal prints seen throughout the collections in flowing gowns and cocktail dresses. Big cat prints are the choice of the animal prints while tribal and traditional prints made the most impact on the runways.
Safari suiting is still a big appeal for designers. Balenicaga brought a modern sense to old designs with safari trousers with a glimmering sheen.
Ethnic and African prints are also making an appearance in the years’ trends with tribal sketches and ethnic beading melting into the modern designs combining ancient techniques and avant-garde ideas. The Edun Label, founded by U2”s Bono and his wife, delivered a Mali inspired collection with hand dying and African inspired prints.
Diane von Furstenberg’s collection focussed more on the core of Africa than the colonial or safari Africa, with fresh prints and funky monochromatic separates while Donna Karan’s models were decked out in full Tribal inspired garments and Proenza Schouler made use of graphic floral prints and clever colour blocking techniques.
Great Elegance portrayed in this outfit too
Now this is how a guy should dress.The elegance portrayed in the shot is amazing. Look at the texture of the jackets - the colour tone matches greatly in these two outfits.
Don’t you just love this girls style?
Classic!!
Women and men are different, we know that. We know too that their tastes and preferences are often at opposite sides of the coin. But when it comes to fashion, do men always like what women wear? A survey conducted by MSN saw some interesting differences of opinion between men and women on certain women’s fashions. Here’s a look.
Dungarees, Jumpsuits and Harem paints are considered a no-go area for men. Usually, men do not like baggy shapeless clothing and prefer women to have a shape of some kind. Dungarees and Jumpsuits are traditionally men’s work wear, and should be kept as such.
Leggings are also not top of the list on men’s preferred clothing – choosing rather stockings, preferably sheer and sexy and hopefully attached to a garter belt. And definitely no knee high socks!
Moving down the leg, Gladiator sandals and Ugg Boots sit at the bottom of the list of women’s fashions for men. In particular, furry Ugg boots are off putting and especially when worn with a little mini dress. These giant boots and overbearing sandals look too large for the legs, particularly on slender legs making the whole body seem bottom heavy.
Men are attracted to women a lot through their smiles and their eyes – and the large sunglasses have to go! They conceal the eyes and the smile and become a distraction for men. Jewellery can also be a distraction with lots of jingling and jangling pieces, while me prefer simple adornments that accentuate rather than hide.
Being plus size does not mean having to resort to beige bras and unattractive panties. There is as much on offer for plus size ladies as there is for petite ones as the lingerie market for curvy women has undergone a revolution in recent years.
Brands like Panache, Freya and Wacoal, have started to make sexy, flattering lace and silk garments that are sexy and elegant while still providing support. Hips and Curves are a site dedicated to offering intimate apparel and plus size lingerie in the newest styles which allow plus size women to celebrate and enhance their curves.
Plus size lingerie is specifically designed to accentuate the curve and hide the bulges and selecting the right lingerie can be a daunting experience. It is always advisable to visit a lingerie store for your first time to enable to sales consultant to do a fitting. You want to know what pieces work for your body type to make you look sexy while still providing the support you want.
Once you feel you know the right garments and sizes to make you feel comfortable you can now take advantage of the large range of online stores offering sexy, fashionable intimate apparel for the plus size lady.
One of the key tips to looking sexy is to feel sexy. So don’t choose something you are going to feel awkward and uncomfortable in. Choose something that allows you to feel feminine and sultry without feeling exposed.
