i don't know much about menswear

But I know a babe when I see one. Happy menswear! Here are a few of my favorites:

Above: Viktor and Rolf, spring 2009.

Above: Kris van Assche, spring 2009.

Above: Givenchy, spring 2009.

Above: Yves Saint Laurent, spring 2009.

And, courtesy of our favorite fashion dreamboat, Scott "The Sartorialist" Schuman, comes this cute boy from the streets of Milan:



Be still, my heart.

happy birthday to meeee

C'est La Mode is one year old today!!


Thanks for reading, darlings!
xxoo,
emily

lanvin resort

I know. It's very, very unsurprising and even predictable for me to fawn all over Alber Elbaz's collections. I can't help it. Just look at resort:

Elbaz used themes from his heartbreakingly chic fall collection, and lightened them up with goofy little touches, like cartoonish prints and graphics, amazing color combinations, and haphazard, Miss Havisham-esque styling. It's as though he took his seriously sophisticated fall looks and modified them for the Lanvin girl's kid sister. Somehow, it's wonderful.

Above: Everyone knows I'm a sucker for a good strapless dress. I feel like an idiot saying the word "whimsical," but there you go. It's adorable.

Above: Colors! I love it!

Above: So I just made this whole big deal about how resort moved away from fall's more somber sophistication, but this dress is incredibly sophisticated. But it's also absolutely stunning, so I'll let it slide.

Above: This dress, with all its pleating, reminds me a lot of the fall collection, but instead of fall's nearly all black and navy palette, this is perfect for spring. Er, sorry, pre-spring.

Above: Everybody also know that I never match my clothes, but after seeing this, I'm going one step further: clash. Seriously. This is genius. Reminds me a bit a Chris Benz color-scheme, which is pretty much the greatest compliment anyone could ever give Chris Benz.

photos: Don Ashby/firstVIEW

pajama party

Generally, resort collections are directed primarily toward the jet-set crowd that vacations in St. Bart's, Mustique, [insert fabulous tropical destination here] in January.

This resort season, the clothes look like they're for a woman who's going straight to bed. No, not straight to the bedroom - I'm not talking about sexy lingerie-inspired looks - but straight to bed. As in, to sleep. In decidedly un-sexy pajamas.

Above: Lanvin, resort 2009. I feel bad getting on Lanvin's case, because Elbaz's collection was my favorite resort collection yet, but I don't even think Cate Blanchett could pull this off unless she was retiring for the night.

Above: Vena Cava, resort 2009.

Above, Diane von Furstenberg, resort 2009.

Above: Ralph Lauren, resort 2009.

photos: firstVIEW

OH MY GOD

First of all, I'm back! I am bronzed and beautiful and relaxed and happy.

Second of all, OH MY GOD:

Heidi Montag (who, for whatever reason, still thinks that she is a singer), has just released a single called "Fashion." A prime selection of lyrical genius: "I need some new stilettos/Can't walk down the street in those/You are what you wear, it's true/A girl's just as hot as the shoes she choose."

I think I'm going to throw up. I think I need to quit the fashion industry just because of any possible association it might have with this song.

Listen to it here, if you're a sadist.

p.s.

Pages from the much-anticipated July Italian Vogue (you know, the one with only black models) have leaked!

c'est la mode goes to hawaii!

[First of all, the only reason I am inside blogging and not outside lying on the beach is that I am a tiny tiny bit sunburned today. By tomorrow, and certainly by the time I come back to New York on Tuesday, I will be bronzed and beautiful.]

Really, I'm just popping in to say aloha, and if you miss me (as I'm sure you do), you lovelies can pass the time watching this video of my latest girl-crush, Zooey Deschanel, talking about dresses:




I'm in the middle of the treacherous process of growing out my bangs, but she makes me want to cut them again. Also, if you haven't heard She & Him (which is Miss Deschanel singing with M. Ward), please download the song "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here" and then you'll love her even more.

Back to my palm trees and mai tais! Be back Tuesday!

christian siriano comes face to face with a hot tranny

Check it out here.

He also reveals that he'll be selling tees on his websites with all his catchphrases - so if you've want a shirt that says "Fierce Fabulous and Flawless," look no further.

I love Christian, but there's something very "cash-in-on-my-character" about that. I, for one, do not need a shirt that says "Kind of a big deal" (and um, isn't that from Anchorman first anyway?).

john galliano shot with arrows, karl multiplies, paul smith dives into tomato soup.

Confused? Read this for the explanation, plus the chance to see Christopher Bailey posing with a pig and Donatella as an angel (I know, what?).

i need a vacation

It has been sweltering in the city for the past few days, and I've just been sitting in my underwear in front of my air conditioner, looking at resort collections and wishing I was relaxing in, say, Hawaii, where it would be 72 and sunny with a pleasant breeze. Also, I would be wearing one of the below outfits:

Above: Brian Reyes, resort 2009.

Above: Jason Wu, resort 2009.

Above: Doo.Ri, resort 2009.

Above: Jonathan Saunders, resort 2009.

I guess this would be a good time to let you all know that I'm going to Hawaii. Seriously. I'll be back in a week and a half!

photos: style.com

i don't want to like jenni kayne

Because she's from LA (and I hate LA) and her name is spelled with an "i," which is kind of annoying...





But her 2009 resort collection is right up my alley. All I need now is some white shorts so I can recreate this last look and wear it every day this summer.

photos: style.com

now i'm hungry

"Acid peach, Nile blue, Creamsicle, and citrus—Mizrahi's were the sort of irresistible hues found in a box of Ladurée macaroons."
-Laird Borelli-Persson for Style.com

Above: Isaac Miizrahi, resort 2009.

i used to really like erin fetherston

But I am really, really tired of things like this:

Above: Erin Fetherston, resort 2009.

night and day

Look, I understand a little about marketing, and I know that a newsstand cover of a magazine has to be accessible and totally un-scary so that your average Jane will not be intimidated by Mary-Kate Olsen in crazy glasses or spiked Louboutins and buy July's ELLE.

But honestly. How do you go from this:


to this?


You'd think that for someone who's come to be revered for her fashion eccentricities, someone might have said "Guys, think we're dumbing-down this cover maybe a little too much?"

ysl resort

I know no one much cares about Stefano Pilati's YSL at the moment, but I for one thought his resort collection was lovely:





Who'd have thought that a bustier-topped jumpsuit could be so chic over a collared shirt? Not me. I am immediately going to attempt to recreate this with one of my myriad strapless dresses and thousands of men's button-downs.

peter som is funny!

"Isn’t the CFDA really some secret designers’ cabal?
It’s sort of like Hogwarts. There’s some floating candles and we all spin the magic fashion dreidel and then talk to the talking hat, the talking Philip Treacy hat.

Like the one Sarah Jessica Parker wore to the London SATC premiere?
That was the one! I can’t believe she wore it. That acorn talks! So bold. So audacious. "

- Peter Som, to New York Magazine's The Cut

next up for target:

Sigerson Morrison and Anya Hindmarch will be designing lines for Target this fall.

Not so psyched about this one, pals. Maybe it's because it's WAY harder to make cheap bags and shoes look, well, not cheap (anyone else totally disappointed in Loeffler Randall and Gryson for Target?), and maybe it's just that my closest Target is such a trek away that I don't care to make the hajj over there (unless Barney's feels like picking it up again...).

One thought, though: Wouldn't it be hysterical if Hindmarch knocks off her own "I"m not a plastic bag" bag?

seriously?

I had been avoiding talking about the whole hockey-star-Sean-Avery-interning-at-Vogue situation, mostly because I just thought it was ridiculous.

But then I read that Calvin Klein's director of celebrity services Lauryn Flynn just left CK and now intends on starting some unspecified fashion company -- with Avery.

Damn - this guy's serious!

RAQUEL

Remember that awesome shot of Raquel in Tom Ford for the CFDA lookbook I posted the other day?

Well, here's the behind-the-scenes video of the whole shoot.



It is so awesome. Ok.

i'll say it one more time

THESE PANTS DO NOT LOOK GOOD ON PEOPLE.

My hope is that we'll all be so tired of them by the time fall comes around that we'll just sort of bypass the whole trend, but I fear that harem pants (hammer pants, drop-crotch trousers, whatever you want to call them) may stick for at least as long as, say, bubble hems did. Resort has been crawling with them:

Above: Stella McCartney resort 2009.

Above: Marc Jacobs resort 2009.

Above: Proenza Schouler resort 2009.

Above: Versace resort 2009.


Call me crazy, call me boring or close-minded or not fashion forward, but I don't want to wear those. I want to wear these:

Above: Chris Benz resort 2009. Chris Benz, you're so good to me.

more words of wisdom from mr. lagerfeld

"I want to know everything. I want to see everything, and this curiosity helps me to find inspiration in the most unconnected of strange situations. But there is no rule—or only one: Keep the eyes open and do it your way."

- Karl Lagerfeld, in New York Look

CFDA awards!

So, Tory Burch won the CFDA Award for Accessory designer of the year last night, which is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Tom Ford won for menswear, and Calvin Klein won for womenswear - now these two I can get behind.

For the Swarovski awards, the Rodarte girls took home the womenswear award (woohoo!), Scott Sternberg won for menswear (yeahhh!), and Phillip Crangi won for accessories (I'll be honest - I'm just glad it didn't go to Joy Gryson, for although I love my Gryson bag dearly, every piece of hardware on it has broken).

As for my predictions? Well, 2 out of 6 (Rodarte and Band of Outsiders) ain't bad...

Above: The CFDA's Steven Kolb and Diane von Furstenberg - paying tribute to the recently deceased Yves Saint Laurent in a vintage YSL pantsuit.

Above: Alexander Wang and Erin Wasson. These two annoy me more and more every day.

Above: Naomi Campbell and Andre Leon Talley. These are harem pants done poorly.

Above: My latest girl-crush, Ashley Olsen, in Calvin Klein. These are harem pants done right.

Above: Maggie Gyllenhaal in Proenza Schouler. These are harem pants done poorly. (Note: did the invitation say "Please wear your harem pants"?? I don't understand.) (Another note: "Maggie Gyllenhaal wore a see-through green patterned Proenza Schouler top, looking like a turtle in pajamas." - Eric Wilson, the New York Times. Hahahahah).

Above: Chanel Iman with Calvin Klein Menswear's Italo Zucchelli. I love navy.

Above: Scott Sternberg with his award. Don't you just want to pinch his cheeks!? He's so cute!

R.I.P.

Yves Saint Laurent died Sunday night in his apartment in Paris.

It goes without saying that his influence on the entire fashion industry will be greatly missed.

spotted:

Obviously, Karen Elson would be at the Raconteurs show last night at Terminal 5 in New York (her hubby, Jack White, is the lead singer). BUT I'm nearly positive the darling designer Erin Fetherston was sitting right up on the balcony next to her. That super-blonde haircut is pretty distinctive...

a 'sex' scandal

Top: Lauren Santo Domingo in Nina Ricci, at the Met Ball. Bottom: Sarah Jessica Parker in Nina Ricci, at the Sex and the City premiere.

'“Look, my affection for the dress hasn’t changed,” [Sarah Jessica Parker] said, “but what they did was so short-sighted. It’s just unethical and disappointing that they would allow the dress to be worn again.”

Parker says she remarked to Theyskens during the fitting that she was surprised the dress hadn’t been worn before. He assured her it hadn’t.

“He didn’t say, ‘Well, actually I just escorted Lauren down the red carpet at the Met.’ ” said Parker, adding, “I just wish it had been handled differently and they had been straight about it.”'

- From Cathy Horyn's blog