Tuleh

The Fashion Statement: Brides, 2010!

In India, the color is red. In the West, the hue is white (off-white back in the day, if you were considered less than virginal). Even black is making a comeback. When it comes to bridal gowns these days, anything goes.

Historically, designers have created wedding gowns -- usually making their debut in the finale of their shows -- that are reflective of the cultural norms and political messages of the day. Coco Chanel caused a stir in the roaring '20s when she introduced a knee-length dress with a long veil, a look vastly different from the house's current collection (pictured above).

In 1968, Yves Saint Lauren sent brides down the catwalk in bikinis made of actual flowers to celebrate the sexual revolution (the look resurfaced again in the '90s as a nod to history). Remember Sharon Tate's mini dress that same year in the much published photo with Roman Polanski? In 1969, Yoko Ono sported the same short hemline as she walked down the aisle with John Lennon. In the '70s, pantsuits had a moment, no doubt because it represented the day's feminist ideal.

So what's the message in 2010? It seems everything old is new again. Vivienne Westwood has picked up where YSL left off with a two-piece, toga-like number. Azzaro gives us plenty of short minis à la Tate and Ono. And Tuleh makes the statement that shorts are perfectly okay on the aisle as are corsets. Reem Acra and Donna Karan are all about elegance, draping and Greek goddesses while Charles Anastase has raised the empire waist to a new level, sitting just above the breast line.

Gallery: The Fashion Statement: Bridal Wars

Tags: Azzaro, Bibhu Mohapatra, BibhuMohapatra, Bridal fashion 2010, Bridal gown, Bridal springsummer 2010, BridalFashion2010, BridalGown, BridalSpringsummer2010, Chanel, Charles Anastase, CharlesAnastase, Donna Karan, DonnaKaran, House of Holland, HouseOfHolland, Marchesa, Reem Acra, ReemAcra, Tuleh, Vivienne Westwood, VivienneWestwood, YSL

Continue reading “The Fashion Statement: Brides, 2010!”

The Fashion Statement: Shop Like Europeans

by Kristin Young (RSS feed) —

Filed under: The Fashion Statement

At New York fashion week, you have access to throngs of fashion journalists, stylists, celebrity stylists and buyers. I was dying to ask these stylish people how they have navigated shopping in a downturn. Are they shopping? Are they cutting back? Have their buying habits changed?

Yes, yes and yes (except one self-proclaimed shopaholic who said if she allowed herself to buy one thing, she'd fall off the wagon).

Answers like this came back unanimously: "I used to buy cheap and volume and now I buy fewer things that are better quality and I take care of them."

Timeless pieces top people's lists for fall. A midnight wool coat. A pair of black pumps. The perfect white shirt. An LBD, of course. And all are planning to make these purchases from well-established designers.

There's little talk of wear-'em-once pieces like plaid trousers, It handbags or look-at-me shoes. If buying more of a statement piece, like the one pictured above from Tuleh (Spring, 2010), they'll wear it a million different ways. In other words, they're shopping like Europeans, not Americans.

"I'm focusing in on what I need and I need a black dress. " said Jennifer Lee Rosth, a fashion editor based in Austin, Texas. "I've been shopping my closet for two years. I was so glad that I had been an American before because I had 15 black dresses. But, now, I'll be more choosy."

Tags: Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Mercedes-benzFashionWeek, New York Fashion Week, NewYorkFashionWeek, timeless pieces, TimelessPieces, Tuleh