New York Fashion Week Spring 2011, Day One

DAHLINGS -

So, yesterday was the first day of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week* in its new location at Lincoln Center. In the service of the God of Retail, most of the trees in Damrosch Park were chopped down, lest someone important in peeptoe platform boots trip over a root or something.

In any event, the main impression the central gives is HEIGHT. There is no central organizing entity, such as the Bryant Park fountain. So the room sprawls quite a bit. But it's a comfortable, well-lit sprawl. Your faithful correspondent was suitably impressed.

AND THEY HAVE FINALLY ENTERED THE COMPUTER AGE! NO MORE AGONIZING WAITS WHILE SOME POOR INTERN THUMBS THROUGH PAPER SHEETS TO FIND YOUR NAME! Some may think that barcodes render the event less human. Dahlings, it cuts down the amount of time and pretentiousness ("Don't you know who I am? I'm on the list!") by at least half.

The first day, I was more interested in exploring than in attending the shows. However, the Christian Siriano show was a MADHOUSE! I couldn't even locate my BFF, Tim Gunn! Some of it must have been spillover from the Project Runway show earlier.

The Project Runway show, for the record, showed TEN designers! That means TEN runway shows, and ONE HUNDRED LOOKS! I think I would have crawled out on my Max Azria clad knees, babbling incoherently.

In any event, after the spectacular show Christian put on last year, this one was a slight disappointment. From a young new designer, one hopes for a new young point of view. But this collection was rather safe, playing to well-worn fashion tropes and sillouhettes.


For instance, this lovely evening gown bears an eerie resemblance to the evening gowns he has done before, both on the runway and the red carpet.




This white dress is pretty, but a tad ho-hum.




However, I did rather like this suit. But if you look past the material, the construction is quite conventional.




It is this writer's guess that the reason Christian's clothes are so popular is that they are so wearable. For this collection, what it lacked in inspiration it more than made up for in "hanger appeal."


Speaking of Project Runway:


I CANNOT BELIEVE THEY GOT RID OF CASANOVA! I HAD FINALLY BEGUN TO STAND HIM!

Why not that annoying, bossy little Ivy?


And I cannot remember who won; only that it wasn't Andy or Valerie, who should have.


Until tomorrow,

Ciao,
Elisa & Bucky the Wonderdog


* If they hear you calling it New York Fashion Week, you are severely punished.

Photos courtesy of Getty Images

Fashion's Night Out! Watch It HERE Tonight!

DAHLINGS -

The good folk at Conde' Nast were good enough to send me this press release. AND you can watch part of Fashion's Night Out right here on my blog!

CBS Live Stream of FNO: The Show
CBS.com’s Live Webcast of Fashion’s Night Out: The Show, hosted by Andre Leon Talley (my former BFF) and Hanneli Mustaparta, is embedded on this site, so all of my wonderful readers can watch it right here! The player will go live tonight (Tuesday, Sept 7th) at 5pm ET/ 2pm PT. From 5-7pm teaser clips from CBS Special on Fashion’s Night Out will run. Show begins at 7pm. Please see below for the embed code.

#FNO
If you are Tweeting about the show tonight (and FNO in general!), they would love it if you would please use the official hashtag – #FNO. Their ID is @FNONYC if you would like to follow us – they shall be live Tweeting from the show and on the 10th.


LIVE WEBCAST (one hopes)




That's all for now. I am frantically trying to get ready for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week and all of its ancillary events.

ciao,
Elisa & Bucky the Wonderdog

The Emmy's Worst Dressed!

DAHLINGS -

Due to a recurring illness, it has taken me a few days (cough) to get to this entry. However, how could I keep my beloved readers from missing this, no matter how great the sacrifice??

As in the Best Dressed, the Worst Dressed had an embarrassment of riches. And I do mean embarrassment.

WHY DIDN'T SOMEBODY TELL ME THIS WAS A RED CARPET AWARD SHOW?

Lauren Bosworth apparently thought her invitation read "Daughters of the American Revolution Afternoon Tea--no Democrats, please."

Stephanie Pratt gave new meaning to "she looked like she just rolled out of bed." When she awoke, the limo had been parked outside for more than an hour. Oh, well, everything looks dressy with heels, even a cheap Fredericks of Hollywood nightie! Doesn't it? Doesn't it? And thank you so much for the abundance of crotch shots!

Apparently Heidi Klum thought she was showing up for a taping of the runway segment of Project Runway. What else explains this dress? As she likes it on the show, too short, too tight, too shiny. Or is that what she doesn't like? So confusing!

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

This category is for the dresses that leave one's guests looking at each other in bewilderment. Yes, Alexander McQueen is dead and we should all be respectful of his memory...but Anna Paquin's gown looks like she is starring in a bad fantasy film as "Rodarah, Queen of the Unalasians."

There is so much wrong with Saturday Night Live's Kristin Wiig's dress one hardly knows where to start. The shoulder pom-poms? The cheap-looking print fabric? The sloppy, floppy black belt?

I am usually a champion of the unusual, but Lauren Graham's gown is definitely a head-scratcher. Is the white bib to protect her dress from stray tomato sauce when the waiters are serving the pre-show cocktail nibbles? Is she afraid Lindsay Lohan is going to vomit on her? Or does she actually think it looks good? Your faithful correspondent is at a loss. There have been no photographs of the back that one can find, but perhaps that is a blessing in disguise.

And I am almost always a champion of larger lovelies, but KayCee Stroh's gown...what look is she going for, precisely? Goth 60s hippie? Two unmatching gowns worn at once? And that pattern--I'M BLIND! I'M BLIND!

Remember when Jewel was a waify litle folk singer? Neither do I. In keeping with her recent glamorous image makeover ("I'm still relevant!), she is sporting a Carolina Herrera pink wedding cake dress. This photo does not show how perilously close the dress was to sliding off her body, which made for more entertainment than the actual show.

Why on earth did Glenn Close think this ill fitting green paper bag would be a good red carpet choice? Is it because the huge baggy hem is supposed to complement her broad shoulders?

FOLIE AU DRESS

This might be called a "catch-all" category, for all of those gowns that don't fit easily into slots. First we have the Look At Me Dammit! awards.

This award is handily won by Eva La Rue. Even her name sounds like a burlesque dancer. Here, she manages to make virginal white look like ít's been around the block a few too many times.

Speaking of white vulgarity, I know that this Kardashian (I can never tell them apart) made quite a few Best Dressed Lists, but this looked trashy, as did she.

What can one say? This Narciso Rodriguez dress would be a complete snore if it weren't for the cheesy mesh insert at the waist, worn by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The actress looks as if she divides her time between the gym and the plastic surgeon.

Now we have the general Oh, Dear category.

(I have no clue as to who this poor woman is. But the photo speaks for itself.)

Poor Toni Collette. On her way to the red carpet, her gown trailed through the mud. Perhaps that explains her displeased facial expression.

Cheryl Hines's dress reminds one of a tree that's been "toilet-papered" at Halloween. Not that your faithful correspondent would ever participate in something so common.

Elizabeth Moss's gown, like Anna Paquin's and Kristin Wiig's gowns, has a bad case of "shoulder strangeness." In this case, a large wad of fabric adorns a bunched up, badly-draped dress. The dull color doesn't do her delicate complexion any favors, either.

To finish, Keri Russell's Pepto-Bismol pink dress wasn't exactly a "pop of color" on the runway, rather a splashed bucket. The top was far too large; every time Ms. Russell moved, the breeze threatened to expose one of her pretty little breasts. Because a dress is vintage, that does not necessarily mean it is a good fit.

So, those are my choices. Please feel free to respond in the comments. But remember, I am always right.

Ciao,
Elisa & Bucky the Wonderdog