A place to find about styles of vintage clothing from the 1940's to the ‘80's and ethnic and art-to-wear fashion. Enjoy the aura that dressing in vintage clothing and jewelry will create.

Monday, February 13, 2012

A look at the Runway through the eye of Vintage Diva

The runway shows are being presented for our favor. 

The folks in the audience are not generally the average American woman that does the average American things such as being a parent and holding down a fulltime job, young women with limited funds, an woman of a certain age,  women of a healthy  not a  size zero, or a woman that does not have unlimited funds to dress in designer clothes very day.  

There are the young women who have the street style that Vogue and the New York times are fond of capturing on film. These women of style that  use designer pieces, vintage pieces and something that they caught on sale at the local discount emporium. These creatures are usually in large cities. The rest of the world  work live in small to medium size towns and cities. Vogue is the wish book for many like the Sear Roebuck catalog was for their grandparents. Vogue is my peek into the future of what will be the next great thing in vintage.

I am a woman of a certain age(the new euphemism of late middle age) and my size 1 shape disappeared when my grey hair started to arrive in mass. I always like to see what is coming up on the fashion horizon even though I will not be wearing it. Since I like vintage clothes too  then I can predict for myself what will be the  new vintage in twenty years.

I looked at color, wear ability, style and the messages that the woman may send out when she wears that style.

The music that is running through all collections reviewed so far is black is the color, slacks are usually set up for high water,  military tone, boots over the knee to booties. The designs of most designers are for the young women in their 20s and 30s. The ladies in their 40’s and beyond hopefully will have good sense in selecting their garments from this year’s RTW collections. So here is the Vintage Diva's opinion for this year’s designs. You may agree or disagree but here goes.....

Zac Posen   An updated the 1930s to 1940s feel to the dresses and suits. There is an real elegance to his designs and there are good color choices. This is a collection for a women that knows who she is.  http://www.vogue.com/collections/fall-2012-rtw/zac-posen/review/#/collection/runway/fall-2012-rtw/zac-posen
Diane Von Furstenberg  Her collection is wearable with good colors and Strong patterns with a little tongue in cheek humor in some her garments.  http://www.vogue.com/collections/fall-2012-rtw/diane-von-furstenberg/review/
DKNY  The standard DK colors. Finally a design who does not send our her models bare legged on to the runway. The  black hosiery tied the garment to the shoes making a smart presentation. This is a great collection for  working women and the designer stay true to her vision. http://www.vogue.com/collections/fall-2012-rtw/dkny/review/

Jason Wu  The touches of orient and military in  designs were great. A very wearable collection with an interesting and  attractive look. http://www.vogue.com/collections/fall-2012-rtw/jason-wu/review/
Prabal Garung   Black, Black…hated the visor headpiece. The clothes were interesting and the white evening gown with feathers from knee to ground was beautiful. http://www.vogue.com/collections/fall-2012-rtw/prabal-gurung/review/
Rag & Bone   Nice suits and slacks. Lots of black. The collection is good for woman in their 20s to 30s in an cosmopolitan area. http://www.vogue.com/collections/fall-2012-rtw/rag-bone/review/
Tharoon  Most of the collection is wearable 1980’s style with smaller shoulder pads lots of black but with spots of color.

Sumo   The clothing was nice but not as the models were dressed. It a good separate collection.
Tommy Hilfiger    Black and white are his colors for fall with strokes of color. Red and yellow vinyl looking leather shows in coats, slacks, and skirts. I think that the whole collections has the innocence of a school girl look with a shot of military feel. Not a good look for the more mature women 30+ and not a good look for the young women in the business world. Naïve is a negative in the work place.
Alexander Wang   Black and white are his colors for fall. I can say ditto for Alexander and Tommy’s collections. http://www.vogue.com/collections/fall-2012-rtw/alexander-wang/review/
Derek Lam    Small prints, black, white and red colors this collection with lots of ankle length slacks with booties. Great for the 30’s something woman who does not have the standard type office job. http://www.vogue.com/collections/fall-2012-rtw/mdlam/review/


Philip Lim  A tone of super hero cartoons in his work. His slacks are okay  but the skirts and dresses are dowdy. http://www.vogue.com/collections/fall-2012-rtw/mdlam/review/
Band of Outsiders      The prairie look needs to shade into the sunset. The black  evening dresses are grand  and the coats are wearable. http://www.vogue.com/collections/fall-2012-rtw/band-of-outsiders/review/
BCBG Max Azria  The collection has a boxy, geometric feel to the clothes using browns and oranges. There is an edge to the clothes that may not work for the average women. Even if a women lives in a box, she certainly does not want to have her sharp edges showing. http://www.vogue.com/collections/fall-2012-rtw/mbcbg/review/

Peter Som   Not wearable for the regular woman…too much volume in shoulders. http://www.vogue.com/collections/fall-2012-rtw/peter-som/review/
Altuzarra  Black material and small prints and the garments Are “ what every femme fatale in the spy game wants to wear during the cold war!” http://www.vogue.com/collections/fall-2012-rtw/altuzarra/review/
Victoria Beckham   This is a drab collection with a housewifey feel . http://www.vogue.com/collections/fall-2012-rtw/victoria-beckham/review/
Lacoste    The designer is true to past collections. On the clothing my question is—Where the alligator? Thank God for him that it’s an Olympic year! http://www.vogue.com/collections/fall-2012-rtw/lacoste/review/
Creature of the Wind    A great collection for your teenager.
Organic By John Patrick   Why??? It is a depressing look. http://www.vogue.com/collections/fall-2012-rtw/organic-by-john-patrick/review/
My vote is in for the vintage prospects for these designers… Diane Von Furstenberg and Zac Posen.  What are your guesses for future vintage?   

Vintage Love,

Vintage Diva

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