15.2.12

Victoria and Cynthia

Victoria Beckham and Cynthia Rowley both showed excellent collections which were beautiful and wearable and, in their own ways, seemed to embody what is good and great about New York fashion. Ultimately it's an attitude thing, more laid-back than Paris, less wacky than London and, well, not Italian.

Victoria
You may have raised an eyebrow when I included Victoria Beckham with 'laid-back', but for all the collared necks, nipped waists and laser sharp necklines, there was something practical about the whole collection. Which is also a key difference between New York and all the other cities! When I look at a NY collection, more often than not I actually think about wearing the clothes. I think Beckham would be pleased with that because she is oft quoted saying she wants to wear all of her clothes herself.
As for the clothes themselves, Beckham cutely drew inspiration from her man and her children's football uniforms. Although she referenced them quite literally with necks and short sleeves all collared up, and with horizontal stripes, there was nothing boring about the interpretation. The stripes, placed sparingly and carefully were very flattering, and while they exaggerated the models' tiny waists too much, on the average woman this would be a welcome detail. The contrasting collars were oh-so-crisp, and talking about crispness, how about those v-necks! As Rachel Zoe would say, I die.


As always the coats were great, and the short, flippy skirt looks were a nice nod to a younger audience and have made me want to buy biker boots - in fact the shoes and socks have to be mentioned because they were unexpected and completely perfect. They remind me of Marc Jacobs' A/W'06, but like they have grown up and become more sophisticated. Rounding it all off the hair and makeup was fantastic - people need to start realising just how practical tucking your hair behind your ears is (take that Julia Roberts).
Many critics noted that she had no evening looks which was a shame because of the Oscars coming up, and while I guess having a dress at the Oscars is a good business move I feel like, whatever, because this collection served its purpose well.





























Cynthia
With Cynthia Rowley, for the first time in a while I started calculating when these clothes would hit stores and for how long would I need to save for that coat etc. etc. Which in a completely non-intellectual way means the show was a success! If you want something deeper we can go into inspiration from mechanics overalls but who needs that when all you want are sweater embellishments. And curly hair.





































Victoria Beckham images from vogue.com
Cynthia Rowley images from style.com

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