Did I Really Just Get A Fashion Week Presentation? For A Burqa-Inspired Collection

I don't wanna put anyone on blast, but I actually just received an invitation to a fashion week presentation for a collection inspired by burqas. The designer is Urbana Chappa who's part Persian.

Now, I'm not Muslim (at least not that I'm aware of?), so who am I to criticize the practice... except someone who received an unsolicited invite for a show inspired by the following designer's statement:

"I'm fascinated by the way women in burqas can express so much through their eyes. It's both sexy and mysterious."

Part of me (wait, that's a lie -- all of me) wonders why a designer wants to glorify the subjugation of women who are reverse-objectified and, in many cases, have to veil and mask themselves until they're just a pair of anonymous eyes. Can we stop fetishizing women who are being forced into subservience? Really? We're not there yet? Y'all are wearing an ass-backwards pair of wack pants. On the other hand, this is Amurica, COT DAMN IT, and many women choose to cover their heads, and that's certainly a personal choice I can respect when made freely. But also, really? Sexy burqas? I'll sit this one -- and any potential pole-dancing-in-yarmulkes parties or other opportunities to shoehorn sexuality into religion -- out.

By the way, I CANNOT FUCKING BELIEVE I'm pointing to a Fox News piece, but they do have an interesting, well-written article on designer burqas.

DISCUSS!

Fall 2012 New York Fashion Week Fall 2012 Trends According To... Me

New York Fashion Week has come and gone faster than that time scrunchies almost happened again (and thank Wang they didn't). Now everyone can stop being like "OMG I'M SOOOOOO STRESSSSSEEEED OUT ABOUT FASSSSSSSIHON WEEK" and get back to being like "OMG I'M SOOOOOO STRESSSSSEEEED OUT ABOUT FASSSSSSSIHON." Oh... sweet, sweet first world privilege! Some people have no filtered water or iodine, others simply have no time to get down to Milk and back to Lincoln Center! THE HORROR.

Anyway, a lovely young journalist at Columbia University's Uptown Radio program asked me to do some guest commentary about the top trends and themes at New York Fashion Week this season. (Here's where you can listen to my fashion week commentary.) So, here's a slightly more in-depth look at all of the cool shit that headed down the runways and will be eventually making its way into magazine spreads and, in a more pedestrian way, onto the racks and backs of regular, garden-variety scrubs like you and definitely like me.

+ MENSWEAR: Overall, there was very little cutesy or stock sexiness going on at fashion week. Sure, it's fall, but everyone was uniformly either very covered up, very buttoned up, and very tailored. Basically, we're becoming a nation of austere puritans where women dress like men but also get to be vixen-ish femme fatales at the same time, like at Jason Wu, St. John, Donna Karan, Michael Kors, and Vivienne Tam. Menswear in all of its various gender-bending iterations was all over that runway in a very '40s way with peplum kicks or noir-ish baggy, louche silhouettes.

Jason Wu, Donna Karan, Vivienne Tam

+ METALLICS: Stunning metallics, especially at Badgley Mishcka, where they did '20s-inspired'80s metallics SO so right. Alexandre Herchcovitch's golds glowed. And that luminous, Chrysler Building-inspired silver Michael Kors gown!!

Prubul Gurung, Badgley Mischka, Michael Kors

+ CRAZY COLLARS: Marc Jacobs, Catherine Malandrino, Vivienne Tam, Ohne Titel, Altuzarra, Rachel Roy, Reed Krakoff, Thom Browne and Badgley Mischka all popped crazy collars, from mysterious, exaggerated turtlenecks that impeded models' eyesight, to creations fashioned out of former furry creatures to Anne Boleyn-chic Baroque collars. And speaking of Baroque, that leads me to...

Rachel Roy, Ohne Titel, Vivenne Tam, Reed Krakoff

+ CRAZY COSTUMES: Dramatic, nostalgia costumes ruled at Marc Jacobs (the most dramatic, fanciful show of the season), Norma Kamali, and OH Marchesa!

+ COLOR TRENDS: Elie Tahari's blues are definitely the new black. Ravishing reds ruled at Zac Posen, Thakoon, Charlotte Ronson, Norma Kamali, Monique Lhuillier, Sophie Theallet, Gary Graham, Chris Benz, Donna Karan, L'Wren Scott and Michael Kors. (Guess I'm gonna have to figure out how to wear red. I'm thinking I need red jeans to pair with a peach top.)

Michael Kors, Creatures of the Wind, Monique Lhullier, Norma Kamali

Rachel Roy's Fashion Week Presentation Totally Eclipsed By Kim Kardashian

I took some time out of my busy week of not really going to fashion week by going to fashion week and checking out Rachel Roy's Spring Summer 2012 presentation on the promenade of Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The promenade is basically an outdoor balcony where you can smoke before going inside to try to pretend you know what opera actually means. But this morning it was the neutral-hued backdrop of the human stick figure diorama that was Rachel Roy's presentation. (Just kidding, the models were just "regular-skinny," and they were a far more diversely cast group than some of the other shows I've seen this fashion week.)

Soooo, Rachel Roy's presentation was lovely! Themed "romantic minimalism," the collection was an exercise in hushed louche walking pants, slouchy blazers and the occasional Mandarin collar. Very Charlie Girl meets "The Joy Luck Club" meets for Sunday brunch near Central Park. Oh, and Bobbi Brown pulled off some of the best beauty I've seen since this whole fashion week situation happened. The perfect "I'm-not-wearing-any-makeup" makeup. But that's because she's Bobbi Brown and knows what the eff she's doing.

 + Read more about Rachel Roy's S/S 2012 presentation after the jump!

Milla Jovovich Continues To Win At Being Beautiful

Milla Jovovich, seen here at the Schumacher show at Berlin Fashion Week, continues to own being beautiful. I need to unlock the secret to having the kinda wet-look bun that falls halfway between tousled and "done." Oh wait. The secret is having a beauty team. Sigh.

I hereby dedicate DJ Khaled's screamo-Tuned "All I Do Is Win (Remix)" (also my current theme song/ motto) to Milla's perpetual win.

Newsflash: MODELS ARE WAY TOO FUCKING SKINNY.

These photos Life Mag just posted of models at Fashion Week make me want to vomit. Fitting, no? Thin is always going to be in. I can deal with that. But your spine shouldn't be visible from the outside of your body. In any other universe, people who look like this "naturally" (and very few of these girls look like this naturally -- girls starving themselves in the modeling industry is an open secret) would be trying to GAIN weight. It's depressing and horrible that girls are celebrated for looking like they were just released from a prison camp.

Life kept it classy, by the way, shooting models "eating," but "just not a lot."

No wonder models have been fainting on the job.

I'm confident no designers actually read this blog, but just in case...

THE AVERAGE AMERICAN WOMAN WEIGHS AROUND 140 POUNDS. MOST OF THE WOMEN WILL BUY YOUR CLOTHES ARE NOT SAMPLE SIZES. STOP DESIGNING CLOTHING FOR SKELETONS AND REINFORCING THE IDEA THAT REAL WOMEN ARE SUPPOSED TO LOOK HOLLOWED-EYED BAGS OF BONES.

Fashion Week One-Post Report: Marc By Marc Jacobs Leopard Shirt Is Unfortunately Not A LOLCat Shirt!

Ohai. Here's ALL of my EXCLUSIVE, BREATHLESS coverage of Fashion Week. Ready?

MARC JACOBS SENT A CAT T-SHIRT DOWN THE RUNWAY!

Okay. So technically it's a leopard shirt, but when I first saw it I was SO excited because I thought it was an "I Can Has" LOLcat/ cheeseburger style shirt. Curses. Foiled again.

Another Marc By Marc Jacobs look I love:
I NEED that heart-print bag.

Okay. Clearly you're not coming here for Serious Fashion Week Coverage. Please. Style.com, Racked, The Cut, Refinery29. (And some of the excellent bloggers/ Friends of Binge you seen on the blog roll here.) Fashion Week is cool, but it's often an excuse for reality show stars to make a million photo opps in seven different outfits a day. It's a lot of money for not a ton of results. People love to bitch about how hard it is, but a lot of time those people are just siphoning off the teet of Free Parties. Which are fun. I go to them once in a while. But be appreciative and don't bitch about them and act like Fashion Week took so much out of you, as if you were up all night sewing like Cinderella's little mice and tailoring things until the sun came up. The people manning and womaning the chaos behind the scenes, and the writers and bloggers covering tons of shows for pay or for passion are the real worker bees.

Anyway, as much as I like to see what influences the stuff I can afford, FashionBinge is about the stuff I (pretty much) can afford. Which is why you'll only see one Fashion Week post. (That and I've been working like a crazy person.)

Oh yeah, and blue is huge. Nite!

Muppet Mania! Jean-Charles de Castelbajac's Full-Frontal Frog Fashions At Paris Fashion Week

Jean-Charles de Castelbajac's Paris Fashion Week show was inspired by Andy Warhol and ended up being a salute to the late, great Jim Henson. I mean, you hardly even notice this chick's not wearing a shirt under her collection of dead Kermit the Frogs!

Avant-garde pop art designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, also known as JC/ DC, designed the teddy bear coat Madonna wore in the '80s, back when she was still fun, he designed Eddie Murphy's costumes in Coming to America, and Katy Perry's wore his fun cartoon eye dress to the 2008 MTV Europe Awards.

Sorry, but if you don't see the humor in Jean-Charles de Castelbajac's designs, then hold a mirror up to your mouth and check to make sure you're breathing.

Images via WWD.

(Image via: Redcarpetfashionawards.com)

Skittles Jacket: Taste The... Bad Taste

($129, HollywoodMegaStore.com)

I actually saw someone wearing this Skittles jacket today. It's available in up to size 6X Large. Taste the depression.

Ridiculous but fun food-inspired fashion by Agatha Ruiz De La Prada:

(Via EatMeDaily)

+ More photos of Agatha Ruiz De La Prada's Fall 2009 fashion show at Coutorture.

Awesome Fashion Week Spotting: Tarina Tarantino At Richie Rich!

I went to the Richie Rich show tonight -- beyond fun, duh -- and among the celebs and drag kings (Murray Hill!) and queens (Lady Bunny! Amanda Lepore! Pam Anderson!) there, I spotted Tarina Tarantino -- the bright-pink hair tipped me off.

Because starfucking is really sorta unbecoming and offputting, I'm usually not the first person to run up to someone. But I do think it's important to support the people whose work you truly admire (especially when it's someone who's made a name for themselves but isn't on a Marc Jacobs/ mob scene level or something), and I sorta suspected she'd be cool... and... SHE TOTALLY was. (Always a relief when that happens, and as a result, I'm smiling like a fangirl in the pic! Oh well.) I told her about FashionBinge and how I was a huge fan of her jewelry, and she told me how much she loves bloggers and all of their support, and -- then I nearly crapped -- she complimented me on my outfit and jewelry and was like "I love everything you have going on here" but in SUCH not a B.S.y sceney "HollywoodLABLAHBLAHFashionWeekloveyoumeanitnotreally" way. Tarina -- thanks for being you (read: awes!) and for making adorbsly fun jewelry that I always want all of.

(Case you were wondering -- I was wearing my Tuleste Market necklace, a black plastic heart strand necklace that I got at H&M a billion years ago, and a very '80s diamond-shaped mirrored purple gem brooch that I made -- it COMPLETELY looks like Marc By Marc Jacobs, except it cost me like 14 cents. Hee!)

Live From The Vivienne Tam Preso!

Hi y'all! I'm at the Vivienne Tam preso -- they have blogging stations set up! -- trying to figure out a way to get out of here with the green leather laser-cut dress with peek-a-boo fuschia-ness underneath -- that'll be difficult because it's on a live model, but I'm crafty. Will update pix in a hot min, when I get a hot min. Get ready to WEEP over all this red and purple smartness, and a red-orange tweed suit befitting Michelle O, 'kay? Kay!


On a related note: "She's Crafty," by the Beastie Boys!

Rebecca Minkoff Fall 2009 Apparel & Handbag Preview!

Just got back from preview of Rebecca Minkoff's Fall 2009 apparel relaunch. Lots of black skinny jeans, porkpie hats, bright red-orange lips, and old-school Wayfarers reminiscent of 1960s Dylan. It all had a bit of a Cali vibe but more Silverlake than Venice Beach, you know? Definitely a cool, subtle femmey takes on menswear with a little '80s mixed in. Check out some of the pix I took (but do forgive my horrendo photog skills which I wouldn't call skills actually) -- my favorite is the asymmetrical leather zipper skirt, which I'd wear in a hot second.
Oh yeah, don't forget to check out the Rebecca Minkoff trunk show at Bendels.

(Some dudeface's arm got in the way. Sorry!)

PS: Check out the INCREYIBLAY Neon Morning After Bag I'm borrowing for Fashion Week:

Want it? (Me too!) It's $635 at Lunaboston.com.

Mackage And Housing Works Want You To Donate Your Coat During Fashion Week!

Outwear brand Mackage -- think slim but warm jackets that evoke European ambiance and post-Soviet pathos, if jackets are capable of doing that; Jessica Biel, Eva Mendes, Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Halle Berry, Hilary Duff, and Penn Badgley are fans -- is not only the sole outerwear brand to show at Fashion Week, but they've also partnered up with Housing Works to accept your gently loved coats.

Donate your coats between February 13 and February 22 at any of the following Housing Works:
143 West 17th Street
157 East 23rd Street
306 Columbus Avenue
1730 Second Avenue
245 West 10th Street
202 East 77th Street
122 Montague Street, Brooklyn

Additional Drop-Off Locations:
Warren-Tricomi Salon @ The Plaza Retail Collection – 1 West 58th Street, 2nd Floor
Algonquin Hotel – 59 West 44th Street
Joe’s Pub Public Theater – 425 Lafayette Street
Zampa Wine Bar + Kitchen – 306 West 13th Street
5 Ninth Restaurant/Bar – 5 Ninth Avenue

And, should you feel like it, you can bid on one (or all) of three Mackage coats donated by Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard and Lindsay Price. The coats will be auctioned online at Shophousingworks.com until February 19th at 7:00pm. You can check out the coats in the windows of the Housing Works at 17thStreet.

And, by the way, not only are the Housing Works thrift stores some of the best thrift stores in New York, but their proceeds benefit homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV and AIDS. Housing Works is also the largest community-based AIDS service organization in the United States, and the country's largest minority-controlled AIDS service organization.

Bruno Strikes Again!

(Credit: Popeater)

Speaking of Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week got a little more fabulous, chocolate and brunch lovers/ Will & Grace fans! Check out photos of Sasha Baron Cohen as Bruno crashing the runway in Milan, and then check out video footage of the stunt.

Fashion Week Color Palette!

The stylish smartypants over at Refinery29 did a de-gorgeous jobber culling together some of the most lovely color trends seen on the runways during New York, London and Milan's Fashion Weeks. Here are a few of my favorites: mustard, plum, and red (like the wine), respectively.




+ Plus: check out Refinery29's Fashion Week trend report.

Post-Fashion Week Weekend Round-Up

Taking a cue from other most fabbers floggers like Trendinista and Threadtrend (seriously, if you're not familiar with them, stop doing whatever it is you're doing to waste your life and get on this train!), here's a round-up of stuff you indulge in, 'Bingers:

+ Trendinista is tangled up in the blue of Fall 2008 and considers a Smurfier world, then brilliantly outs London Fashion Week's secret French Victorian past.
+ Threadtrend doses on orange (both orange and Threadtrend = FB faves!) and Prada at Milan Fashion Week.
+ Catwalk Queen doses on Carine Roitfeld's love of pilly pill pills!
+ A Cup of Jo's Joanna Goddard has a breathtaking aesthetic, a classy-sounding last name, and wrote a great piece in NY Mag on monochromatic dressers.
+ Schmashion breaks self-imposed sanctions against Style.com to confirm that these subdued floral-print garden party dresses (like the one above) are in fact Roberto Cavalli and not an unslutty imposter.

... And finally...

+ JC Report has London Fashion Week highlights, including Danielle Scutt. This yellow and purple Erdem dress simultaneously gives me the vapors and the chills = the chapers!

Nautica's Log Cabin Republican Look!

(Photo: JD Ferguson, V Magazine)

Poor Garrett Neff. The face of CK, seen usually in not much of much, was sent down the Nautica men's runway looking like a buffer Prince William dressed as an ice-fishing lumberjack superhero on his way to Bang Bang.


It-guy Simon Nessman (at Perry Ellis) and more hot dudes who don't look like even the hottest real-life guy I know, here:

(Photo: JD Ferguson, V Magazine)