Today’s photos are for an overseas reader who wanted to see how the William Rast for Target jackets fit before she ordered them online. So here some photos of how the XS fits me:
I’m more comfortable with it unzipped:
And here’s the ruched twill one–this one doesn’t feel as tight when zipped, and I think it looks better zipped anyway…
Now, you all probably think I’ve given up on my trophy wife jacket, but I haven’t. I’ve just not had enough time to find the one key item I want to wear with it yet. But I’ll give you a preview of the Gucci runway shoes I’m dying to feature with it…
I know I can’t wear those shoes except while in my closet, leaning on furniture in there for support. But what can I say, it makes sense to wear trophy shoes with a trophy jacket, right? 
Tags: Gucci, Target, William Rast
You didn’t think I was going to report about the trunk show without a single mention of the clothes, did you? Well, you know all that money I’m going to save by passing on the Spring bags? It’s going straight into the money pit better known as Chanel RTW.
The first photo here is actually of the ribbon wool from my Fall 2010 coat. It has a cool shredded, yarnlike effect that’s hard to explain until you touch it or see it in person. Both as a segue and continuation into Spring, the similarly tactile ribbon tweeds are carried over into the Spring 2011 collection and are nothing short of a fabric fantasy for me. I wept over every single ensemble the house models tried on–not only because they were all young and tall and thin on my I’m feeling very bloated day, but because the whimsical tweeds blended with soft, feminine colors for Spring made for concoctions too beautiful to process unemotionally. Fantasy overload.
There were beautiful short jackets with short (wah!) pleated skirts and nubby sweater-knit dresses, skirts, and cardigans…
See those gold link chains? It’s a common theme on several sweaters and they have clasps at both ends so that once attached, you could swing the cardigan across the body like a messenger bag. I wish I had been able to take a picture of it worn like that on the glamazon models so you can see how adorable that was…on us mere mortals, maybe not so cute. But I love the knits nevertheless. Wonderful, flattering colors.
This sweater knit is definitely a recurring theme in terms of fabrication in addition to the ribbon tweeds…here it is on a sweater jacket embellished with a chain zipper…
and how it looks on me in one size too big–I think there were lion heads on the silver buttons, too:
But let’s talk about the ribbon tweed again, shall we? I know it will snag like insane but it’s this kind of material that sets Chanel apart from all other competitors. Sorry my spy pics are so blurry–the hands must have been shaking from too much excitement. Here are two color schemes for an otherwise simple jacket cut in that iconic style:
Probably not the most practical thing in the world to collect jackets with ribbon tweeds, but to be fair, there are also very practical, wearable separates from this collection:
(See the gold link chains again on this burnt orange cardi below? I suppose they also double as sweater jewelry!)
I can’t wait to see all the pieces the other boutiques are bringing in. This was only a tiny glimpse of all the looks available for the US market. But from what I’ve seen so far, I know it’s going to be a stellar season!
Tags: Chanel, Fall 2010, RTW, Spring 2011
I know it’s still below freezing for some of you, but all the stores are in full Spring mode these days. In fact, I sneaked out for a bit to view the Chanel 2011 Printemps trunk show today and thought I’d blog about it while the images are still fresh in my mind. Now, I have to say I’ve been dying to see the flap bags with the lion clasps in person after having seen a few photos on the Internet. And sure enough, there was a medium black chevron flap with the silver lion today. You didn’t see me write medium black chevron flap with the silver lion like that or in all caps because I was, well, a bit underwhelmed (next four photos courtesy of a sales associate)…
It didn’t look like a wow bag. I adored how the turnlock was inside the lion’s mouth, but the lion itself didn’t seem to be as sturdy or well made as the one on my flaps from a few seasons before. Sigh. Plus this store only bought the leo flaps in black. Double sigh. The evening flat clutch version, which was done in the classic diamond quilting and not chevron…
was even more hohum. Make that a triple sigh.
I saw the caviar flaps and reissues in various colors. The pale gold (matte metallic) lambskin jumbo was a bit yummy but not delicious enough to get on my buy list:
And I don’t know what was wrong but I did not love the leather on the new 2.55 (reissue) flaps. And that highly anticipated Chain Me collection that’s supposed to seduce us after the very popular Chain Around collection? Loved the design, but hated the leather…the leather looked like vinyl. Was it vinyl??
Everything was just…eh.
But then I turned around and saw this bag locked inside the glass case:
I swear to you I’m not smoking anything funny for recreational or medical purposes, but I thought this bag sprouted arms that reached out for my embrace. Take me home, now! So I had to take a closer look…
which revealed that it will retail for $7800. Ouch. Those imaginary arms? I’m going to need the extra hands that come with them to rob a bank to fund this little number! But holy Chanel, Batman, it’s an extraordinary bag. White lambskin–can we please get any more high maintenance?–with black lace/paillettes embroidered in a garden pattern. Remember that crazy expensive black dress I contemplated a few blog entries ago? Wouldn’t it look fab with this purse? I could pay for one year of your kid’s private tuition with that combo! I’ll definitely have to be smoking something to justify buying this bag.
Anyway, so basically the bags from the trunk show left me deflated. I can honestly say only that garden bag and the electric blue messenger bag (with a cool adjustable chain) in my first photo made any kind of impression on me. I’m happy to have the bags in my current collection and don’t see adding on to it with anything from the spring collection.
That’s what I told myself anyway, until I walked over to another store’s Chanel boutique and ran into the silver version of the clutch…
Hello, Leo! How you doin’!
Tags: Chanel, Spring trunk show
Remember the rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot of the “Baby Got Back” fame? Well, if I were his female counterpart in the fashion world, my moniker would be Lady Match-a-Lot.
Case in point, the first thing I do upon bringing home a new bag is not immediately wearing it but rather digging through my stashes to see what shoes I can match with the bag. I know, that’s soo old school, but it’s the same thrill as finding the Cinderella who fits the glass slipper…
or putting in the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle…
It takes a few tries until you find the right match:
Do you enjoy the eye candy as much as I do? How ’bout a couple more just for fun?
Tags: Chanel, Sir Mix-a-Lot
I know practically everything (and soon everyone) is made in or owned by China, but some of us Asians follow our own lunar new year, as opposed to the Chinese New Year. And that can get a little confusing sometimes, especially this year, when we recognize two totally different animals. To the Chinese, this marks the year of the rabbit. For those of us who are celebrating Tết Tân Mão, however, it is all about the cat!
Happy meow year, cung chúc tân xuân, everyone and may the cat watch over you kindly this year!
Tags: Chinese New Year, cung chúc tân xuân, lunar new year, Tết Tân Mão
