Elie Saab Fall 2011 Couture

Elie Saab has clearly established itself as a red carpet label, which means that every season, you can be sure to see gorgeous gown after gorgeous gown.  However, when it comes down to it, that's really all Elie Saab is: gorgeous gown after gorgeous gown.  It can become, quite honestly, boring and uninspiring.  The world has enough red carpet events, and in the end, the runway is for fashion.  I initially loved Elie Saab for its gowns, but after several seasons, I felt like I was watching Elie Saab shows on repeat.  So Elie Saab's Fall 2011 couture collection was like a breath of fresh air.  Icy cold fresh air, to be exact.  It was red carpet ready, yes; but there was just enough lightness, a sense of creativity, and a mastery of embellishment to satisfy the fashion crowd.  Saab first started with beautiful icy blue, with crystalline sparkle to match:

Then, with Karlie Kloss sauntering out in a whisper-thin cape, thus began the procession of virginal white gowns, some embellished within an inch of their life.

As evening rolls around, the colour darkens to tan, then to brown.  Despite the heavy embellishment, the dresses are surprisingly light and diaphanous.

Finally, at nightfall, dresses turn navy blue, with the very last dress a stunning wedding gown in arctic blue.  It was so delicately dusted with crystals, that it looked as if the crystals were cascading down the dress.

I've wanted to review Elie Saab collections in the past, but I never felt that any of the past collections were as special as this one.  This collection is the best of both worlds: merging red carpet desires with fashion expertise.

Watch the entire show here.

Image Source: Style.com

Chanel Resort 2012

As fashion prepares for it's Spring 2012 collections, Resort 2012 is already old news.  However, it's hard for me to refrain from sharing all the little fashion ideas/discoveries/rants that I have in my head.  But to spare you the nuisance of reading something that is so last month, I'll skip my review of Chanel Resort 2012, and instead, get straight to the good stuff.  Can I just say how amazing the black and white beach ensembles were?  Simple, strict, but oh-so-luxurious.

When Kristen McMenamy came out, it was definitely one of those "wow" moments.  Her look remains my favourite look from the collection...although those fabulously plush-looking Chanel blankets are vying for my attention.

Image Source: Style.com

Looking Smart

I'm ten days into my summer, but I've already started preparing for my first year of university.  As I will be moving away for university, one of the things I needed to do was get a spare pair of glasses, in case anything happens to the pair I have now.  Currently, I own a pair of black Dolce & Gabbana glasses:

After years and years of wearing glasses, I've come to realize that a more rectangular frame seems to complement my face shape.  I can somewhat pull off coloured frames, but they tend to look a bit severe, so I prefer black.  However, despite these two guidelines that narrow down the selection significantly, finding the perfect pair of glasses is still no easy feat.  Going into the eyewear store, I was definitely dreading searching through rows and rows of glasses, and being forced to find one that I would be willing to spend hundreds on.  Amazingly, I found The One in less than half an hour.  It was a pair of black and blue Tiffany & Co. glasses:

What attracted me to this pair was the pure simplicity of the side.  I find that glasses nowadays are much too heavily decorated on the sides, drawing attention towards the glasses themselves, and away from the face.  This pair of Tiffany's boasts a sophisticated, slim side, with a small, engraved heart near the temple.  I instantly loved how unfussy it was, and how it was fun, but sleek.  The colour too, is worth loving.  The inside of the frame is made in Tiffany's signature baby blue, with just a hint of the blue peeking out at the temple, making it quirkier than an all-black pair of glasses.  With a slight turn of the head, the elegant side of this is revealed, making me look smart, but stylishly so.

Image Source: D&G, Tiffany

Christian Dior Fall 2011 Couture

As I sat down to begin my review of Christian Dior Fall 2011 Couture, I couldn't help but think back to when I was writing my Spring 2011 Couture review.  On that day, I was elated that couture week was starting, and I was eager to let John Galliano take me on another sensational couture experience.  The images of the re-imagined New Look are still vividly embedded in my mind in what I described in my review as "haute couture at its absolute finest".  In fact, I remember every Dior couture show I have ever seen, and even after all this time, they still manage to take my breath away.

This Dior show, however, is different.  Bill Gaytten, who has taken control of the collection, gave us a fun collection, but it unfortunately went astray.  Although it's difficult to pinpoint, the theme of the collection seemed to be a Dior circus/disco party.  As theatrical as Dior couture shows can get, taking inspiration from a circus is something extremely difficult to pull off, and better left undone.  It all started off with cotton candy colours and geometric shapes that were interestingly similar to either patterns found on a clown suit, or pieces of candy.  All this was plastered onto the classic Dior silhouette of a cinched waist, and it just seemed a bit crazy.

Then came probably the most well executed part of the collection.  There were floaty wisps of feminine charm, glamorized with paillettes and strokes of shine.  It may not have entirely hit the mark, but it was a fairly good try.

But the show then veered off-course into a seventies throwback.  There were maxi dresses and wide, cape-like bell sleeves in a melange of gorgeous colours, but when shown right in the middle of a couture show, it can look extremely tacky.

And, as any couture show, out came the gowns.  Initially, the gowns would have gotten my approval, if it were not for the bizarre styling.  There was a touch of astronomy in shooting stars and moon headpieces, a hat reminiscent of Napoleon, and finally, to somewhat round it all off, a clown hat.

At the very end, Karlie Kloss (who didn't open the show this time), looked forlornly up towards the stars, quite possibly looking for the lost master of Dior.

Watch the entire show here.

Image Source: Style.com

I've got a secret

Due to the blogging break that I took for my exams, I have a long list of posts lined up that are a bit out of date.  Biggest event that happened during my exams was the opening of a Victoria's Secret, which caused a frenzy of excitement.  I was lucky enough to score a $100 gift card to Victoria's Secret as they were being passed out just outside my school one day.  So needless to say, I was extremely excited to get shopping!

What follows is going to be a frank talk about lingerie, and so if you're a guy, this might not interest you.  The moment I walked into the store, I had one goal in mind: to get as many bras in my size as possible.  Being very small (32A), it's difficult enough to find well-fitting bras, but I was also mainly looking for nude bras as those are the most versatile, which narrowed down the selection even more.  I ended up going into the change room with around 11 bras, and came out with only one that fit me well.  It was a cotton push-up bra that, to my luck, was also the cheapest bra out of the eleven.  With $100, I was able to buy four bras - one nude, one white, and two others for my mom.

When you go Victoria's Secret, you might as well go push-up.  But as I was trying on all 11 bras, I realized something about push-up bras: You still need something to push up.  It's not a miracle bra; it simply enhances what you already have.  Since I don't have much to push up, with the majority of push-up bras that I tried on, it ended up being a ridiculously padded bra that left inches of hollow space at the top.  And while one push-up bra did somewhat fit me, it made me look like I was going to tip over.  The cotton one that I bought has a subtle push-up that gives a little oomph, but still manages to look natural, and that's key.  Now if anyone asks, my secret is Victoria's Secret.

Image Source: Victoria's Secret