cheers!

I've always thought it was very, very important to wear something good on New Year's Eve. How else to set the bar for the following year?

This year, I will be ringing in the New Year in this lovely little DvF number:


I'm a sucker for a simple strapless dress, but there's a pretty awesome sliver exposed zipper down the side that jazzes it up a bit. I plan on wearing it with these purple tights:



And, if all goes to plan (read: if I can rearrange my bank accounts to accommodate them), these little Stella McCartney beauties will be on my feet:

A good way to start 2008, I'd say. Happy New Year!

sweet.

Read this: Stefano Tonchi's assistant shares an awkward moment.

(Miuccia may be the center of our world, but she's certainly not the center of everyone's.

Which is refreshing.)



P.S. Today, C'est La Mode is 6 months old! Happy Birthday to me! Thanks for sticking around, loves...

pradapivovarova

Sometimes, I think that Miuccia Prada is just messing with us all. Sometime, months ago, she was trying to decide how to trick all the little fashion lemmings into drooling over something ridiculous, so she made her collection full of fairies, fake watches, and tiny Lisa Frank-esque bags.

But it worked. She tricked me, and all of us, because we're all still drooling:


Or maybe we're drooling over Sasha?

(So she's been Miss Prada for ages, so what? I'm sorry, I was not a fan of the perpetually surly Megan Collision - on the far left.)

ha.

Has anyone ever noticed how Heidi Klum's jewelry looks like Van Cleef and Arpel's jewelry?

Well, Van Cleef and Arpels just noticed, too.




Can you guess whose is whose?

rachel roy pre-fall

It's time for another game of "Where Have We Seen That Before?"

Rachel Roy's pre-fall collection had sort of a gilded-safari theme - which is pretty much exactly what Proenza Schouler did for Spring 2008 - with a touch of Lanvin belted goddess gown, Balenciaga fringe, and YSL sleeveless blazer thrown in:


Above left: Rachel Roy pre-fall 2008. Above right: Proenza Schouler spring 2008.

Above left: Rachel Roy pre-fall 2008. Above right: Proenza Schouler spring 2008.

Above left: Rachel Roy pre-fall 2008. Above right: Lanvin spring 2008.

Above left: Rachel Roy pre-fall 2008. Above right: Balenciaga fall 2007.

joyeux noel

Merry Christmas from C'est La Mode! My gift to you:

The lovely Penelope Cruz in lovely Dior Couture. Very festive, non?

i'm dying

Over this ad.

elle's 25

Elle.com just revealed their list of the 25 Best Dressed Women of 2007 -- aside from the obvious ones, like Cate Blanchett, Thandie Newton, and Jennifer Connelly, there were a few pleasant surprises, like Leslie Fiest, Michelle Williams, and Clemence Posey.

There were also a few head-scratchers: Carrie Underwood? Rihanna? The inclusion of Victoria Beckham and Kate Moss made me particularly upset. Sick.

Also, what was the deal with Anja Rubik making the list? Sure, she's adorable, but if there's only one model spot on the list, I'm surprised it didn't go to Agyness. Or Irina. Or even Stam -- as much as I wish that girl would just open her eyes, you do have to give her props for that amazing backless Dior Couture number at the Costume Institute Gala...

one last pre-fall note...

And then I swear I'm done with all that.

Ah, Missoni. I have mixed feelings about Missoni, only because I think they bank on the fact that people love totally identifiable high fashion (hey zigzags!) and I'm not really down with that. However, I do appreciate that they've been branching out a bit more recently -- and I did like their pre-fall, I will confess.

I'm easy to win over, though. Give me some minis with opaque black tights and I am so on board:


Above: Cute cute cute outfit, though I'm ambivalent about these gloves.

Above: Yes. Classic Missoni need not be boring and obvious.

Above: I think in real life, the trickle down effect has something to do with economics -- but in the fashion world, my theory is that everything Miuccia Prada makes trickles down into something else. Like this.

Above: A good shape, a great color, a cool bag -- and a look that doesn't scream Missoni. I like.

blog.mode

This one's a bit trickier than, say, the Poiret show.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's latest Costume Institute exhibit not only is a show of beautiful clothes, but an experiment in tying said beautiful clothes into technology. The show, called blog.mode (I'm going to refrain here from making the obvious but totally inaccurate claim that the Met stole my blog's name), is made up of about 40 pieces, from an Olivier Theyskens for Nina Ricci dress from 2007 to 18th century costumes.

Here's the twist: in addition to the clothes being on display at the Met, there's an actual blog about each piece (giving information and history, as well as the opportunity for readers to contribute and comment), "designed to promote critical and creative dialogues about fashion."

I like the idea of dialogues about fashion, obviously. And it's certainly an interesting idea, making a museum exhibit into a blog, or a blog into a museum exhibit. But maybe this is just a bit too postmodern for me... can't we just talk about it instead?

steven is totally the love child of emmett mccarthy and andre

Just in time for tomorrow's Project Runway: Mr. Jay McCarroll's hysterical commentary.

a question:

Question: How many eco-friendly fashionistas with eco-friendly canvas totes does it take to save the ozone layer?

(Above: Kate Spade.)

Answer: I'M SO TIRED OF TALKING ABOUT GREEN THINGS.

Done and done.

hot mess at the chloe party.

Ok, so there was this lovely, fabulous, Chloe/Guggenheim/Ryan McGinley party on Thursday night, and everyone came and looked so nice -- and then Erin Wasson showed up:

Listen, Erin.

I know you're just too cool for school and all, back on the runways and styling Alexander Wang shows and everything. I also understand that the weather was awful. But maybe you could have brought a bag with you -- not only could it have held a backup pair of shoes, but it also would have been a great place to stash your Parliaments before the party, because I'm pretty sure you can't smoke in the Guggenheim.

You want to be cool and different, and I get that. You didn't want to wear the waterfall dress, I get that too. But I really think you could have pulled something together that wasn't a pair of leggings and a beanie.

Think about it.

Sincerely,
Emily

ok i'm NOT saying that i'm ok with pre-fall now...

But Peter Som's collection for Bill Blass was GOOD.

merry christmas from graydon carter.

Yep, that's Vanity Fair's editor-in-chief, looking just like Mr. Claus himself and posing with Bono (What? Why? Well, it creates the opportunity for a really bad pun, which I always love).

I wonder if Anna Wintour will come up with her own card -- maybe she will be Mrs. Claus? Rudolph? Frosty? Oooh, Frosty...

narciso and the new kid

I've figured out what my beef is with pre-fall, and Narciso Rodriguez is the one who has helped me come to this realization.

We all love clothes -- this much is obvious. But one of my favorite aspects of spring and fall fashion weeks is the story. Roll your eyes if you want, but most (good) collections have an idea, even a narrative. There's a direction, a theme... like dark pixies in the forest. Putting your underwear on over your pants. Futuristic floral armor, or even something about the Amish (yes Zac Posen, I'm still making fun of you). Et cetera.

This brings me to my beef with pre-fall -- there's no story!

Case in point: Narciso Rodriguez.


Above: I AM BORED TO TEARS.

Pre-fall, I have concluded, is something to fill the racks at Bergdorf while everyone waits for the interesting, actual-fall pieces. I am against this.

---

Considering my newfound aversion to pre-fall collections, I shouldn't comment on any of the other collections -- but I do feel like I should mention former Gucci designer Alessandra Facchinetti's first collection as the new boss lady of Valentino.

Facchinetti succeeded in avoiding both her sex-bomb Gucci girl and the ladylike (stuffy?) Valentino woman, but the collection was neither here nor there. It was chic, sure, but it bothered me a bit that I couldn't see either her past or Valentino's past in it. I can appreciate that she's maybe trying to evolve the brand -- but the collection, though beautiful, was just not very notable.

Above: I do like this cropped, skinny, pleated pant -- but I can guarantee that it will look terrible on anyone who's not a model. Even the thought of being able to use the words "pegged" and "pleated" to describe a pair of pants should strike fear into the hearts of fashionistas everywhere.

Above: Again, I'll give her the "evolving the brand" benefit of the doubt. But my question is: are we evolving the brand towards Helmut Lang?

Above: I don't want you to think I'm picking on you, Alessandra -- this is a gorgeous dress.

What do you guys think of the first collection from the new kid on the block?

shopshopSALEshop.

I know, I know, we're supposed to be shopping for other people this time of year, but here's a hint:

If you can get past the horrible music and even more horrible Kenneth Jay Lane jewelry, go to Intermix -- insane amounts of designer merchandise is getting marked down. In the next few days, I will be purchasing this Stella McCartney dress (marked down from $875 to $259):



and my aforementioned, heart-stoppingly wonderful Chloe poncho sweater (from $800 to $249).

I also will have my eyes on these weirdly awesome Stella pumps, in case they get marked down again (and I'm sure they will);

click HERE.

#1. More inspired commentary from Jay McCarroll re: the last episode of Project Runway. My favorite part?

"4 teams:

christian, jack and kit (fag, fag and hag) chris, steven and sweet p (fag, fag, and hag) ricky, victorya and elisa (fag, hag and huh...what? where? dragon tooth? unicorn horn?) rami, jillian and kevin angel fatone (fag, hag and former member of boyband)"

#2. Victory! Fashionista.com reports that those thieves who stole the goods from Sonia, Marc, Christopher Kane, etc have been caught!

i am so boring.

I really would like this dress:


A confession: sometimes I worry that, despite the fact that I spend about 80% of every day thinking about fashion, I can't possibly be that into it because I really just want this boring old strapless colorblock DvF dress -- this is such an Emily dress. I mean, Diane von Furstenberg is a relatively respected designer, sure, but she's admittedly not doing anything envelope-pushing or groundbreaking.

Do I need to start wearing kabuki makeup a la Diana Vreeland or crazy hats a la Isabella Blow?

a question, chanel, and a contest!

Have pre-fall shows been going on forever and I've just never heard of it, or is this a relatively new development?

I don't think I like the idea very much. Spring, Fall, definitely. Couture and resort are pretty specific, so I'll give them that. But if pre-fall's going to start blowing up and Mr. Lagerfeld and Mr. de la Renta are going to do 60+ look pre-fall collections... I don't know, maybe I'm just sentimental and want to preserve the sanctity of Spring and Fall fashion weeks. Psh.

Anyway....

---

... Chanel's pre-fall collection!

Above: Love Agyness (I know, I know). Love the bowler hat. Hate bubble hems. Go to H&M if you want this skirt.

Above: Oh no! Lindsay Ellington, you forgot your pants! But really - this is an awesome coat.

Above: Very cool-classic-Chanel but a little bit goth also. And with Amy Winehouse-esque bouffant and cat-eyes. Maybe a bit too much going on here, now that I think of it.

Above: Now this is cool. This I can get behind, though I can't quite figure out if that's a skirt or pants (I guess I should just be happy that they didn't put Freja in something short, because her legs are so skinny they make me a little uncomfortable).

Above: Who knew Devon Aoki was still modeling? Who cares, really-- this dress is perfect.

Above: Does this remind anyone else of Prada's spring collection? A little? Maybe?

PLUS: A special C'est La Mode contest! Whoever can figure out who's singing in the background of all these pictures wins one million brownie points. Want a hint?










... It's Irina Lazareanu. Sorry, I'm not good with secrets. But cool, right?

thank god, no more wheat!

Pre-fall 2008 collections were unveiled today on Style.com!

Zac Posen redeemed himself from his ridiculous Amish-themed spring collection with some lovely (and more restrained) looks:


Above: These two have the classic Zac structure, but are young and cute. Gorgeous, and gorgeous.


Above: The 20's look I've been LONGING for. I wish it wasn't baby pink, but the dress itself is perfect. Maybe in a pretty dove gray?

Above: It wouldn't be a Zac Posen collection without a dress like this.

---

Dolce and Gabbana? Eh. I don't really care.

---

Oscar de la Renta's pre-fall collection was, for me, like that memory game when you were little where you would flip over one card at a time and try to remember where the other matching card was hiding - remember that one? My sister and I had one with animals and baby animals. If I could make an Oscar de la Renta edition, these are the pictures I'd use:

That camel color, that structured blazer, those big pleates. Above left: Oscar de la Renta pre-fall 2008. Above right: Miu Miu fall 2007.


Chanel's hardly got a trademark on a tweed skirtsuit, but that flower detail is just a little too familiar to me. Above left: Oscar de la Renta pre-fall 2008. Above right: Chanel from whenever.


Billowing, lighter-than-air kelly green creations. Above left: Oscar de la Renta pre-fall 2008. Above right: Lanvin spring 2008.


Jackson Pollack-esque splatters on otherwise sweet dresses. Above left: Oscar de la Renta pre-fall 2008. Above right: Yves Saint Laurent resort 2008.

everyone's talking about....

The new Vogue Italia spread by Steven Meisel:


Lara Stone's got the cover, and it's all a big mash-up of prints and patterns and textures and tattoos. It's totally fresh and, I think, very cool.

michael. nina. tiki tiki tembo no sa rembo. judge.

READ THIS.
(It's Jay McCarroll's Project Runway blog.)

Make sure you read the whole thing.

I don't even need to watch the show anymore, I just want to read this.

are we pro or con doc martens here?

Everyone's favorite Sartorialist posted this shot a few days ago:


Scrolling down, she's so chic; I love the cloche hat, that fur collar, the double breasted jacket. Then, I get to the Docs. Sure, it's that "tough girl" thing we've been talking about all fall -- I blame Chloe's Paolo Melim Andersson, who's responsible for this:


Maybe I'm just destined for the boring life of ballet flats, but I think I'm okay with that.