What? You weren't at the Paris Couture shows last week? Well, of course, neither was the DCGF. You see, haute couture is really only for a tiny portion of the population who are themselves quite tiny, from what I can tell of the clothes. Sure, the tailoring is impeccable, the fabrics to die for, but it's so very unapproachable for the average human being, I almost find myself turned off by the whole thing. Almost.What's amazing is that new designers are dropping their hats into the ring of this rarefied world. Alexis Mabille, previously known best for his bowties (including those gorgeous little sequined ditties at right) has now shown his second collection during couture week. What I find appealing about his collection for Fall 2008 is the amount of men's clothing, something one usually doesn't see much of in couture.
Now certainly there was a spectrum of wearability in the looks for men. For example, I love the suit on the left, below. The narrow cut of the jacket is perfectly offset by the fullness of the trousers. And the navy and white tuxedo stripe down the side is just fantastic. The yellow look on the right, however, leaves...um...er...something to be desired. I mean, it's the exact same model wearing both outfits, be he seems a bit broken in the second one, don't you think? I'll say this much: I like his gold shoes.
Speaking of shoes, there were some great ones on the runways. Chanel's signature tweed was transformed into a chic pump with a Lucite degrade heel by Karl Lagerfeld, Jean Paul Gaultier made the most of the monochromatic pairing of patent leather shoes and opaque hosiery, Christian Lacroix showed sumptuous satin shoes with an exaggeratedly wide heel, Givenchy had some seriously fierce striped boots that flared toward the ankle as they reached up to the knee. They're hard to describe, I guess, but probably even much harder to wear.
My favorite footwear by far, though, was at the Christian Dior show. Check out those magenta chain-mail platform beauties at right! Probably I won't be snagging a pair in a size 42 any time soon, but a girl can dream, right?All of the shoes shown in John Galliano's collection for Dior were kind of like Dyeables on steroids: they matched perfectly the dresses on display and were aggressively high with lots of metal hardware. If I ever have to be a bridesmaid, I want to wear a pair of these.
But I don't want to wear any of the headgear on display at any of the shows. Tweed exoskeletons, leather trigonometry, and Seussian curlicues adorned the noggins of otherwise beautiful women. One's bangs should frame the face...not an actual frame. At least that's the opinion of this fashionista.
One designer left the head alone for the most part, opting for a disheveled Gibson Girl look that altogether complimented his gorgeous gowns. Elie Saab's collection was nothing short of breathtaking in the best way possible. I could barely choose just one gown to show you, dear readers. I settled on the strapless one at left for a couple of reasons.First, the color and ombre pattern still seem very fresh to me, although the trend has been around for a minute now. Eggplant is not a color one sees much on the couture runways, but there was a lot of color in this show, which was really exciting. Second, I love the length. Most of Saab's gowns in this collection are very long - which is great and they're beautiful - but this length is for a modern woman who doesn't have the time or ability to run around in a floor-grazing gown. Yeah, this dress costs more than my annual rent, but at least there's the perception that it might have a practical application to my life.
And maybe that's what haute couture is about. The vast majority of us will never even see this clothing, let alone wear or own it. But maybe, just maybe one day we'll by chance stumble upon a piece at a resale or consignment store. Then it won't be so unattainable after all...
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