The Style Critic

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…about experimental hosierty, this lady should change your mind. Thanks to sharp eye of Facehunter on the streets of Gothenburg (no I don’t know either), I present an exemplary piece of styling. Colour-bleed tights and a fitted black ballerina dress that strays from girly to gothic and those shoes, those unbeatable shoes… Perfect. What a doll.

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Straddling the autumn/winter divide in transitional clothing like cardi-coats is one thing, but the night-time/bedtime divide surely demands no such hybrid.  As much as a silk nightie could double up as a slip dress, most would go for Prada over La Perla to be on the safe side.  Coco Sumner at the Zadig & Voltaire launch party shows us there’s no such thing as safe – that to have one foot in party mode and the other in the land of nod is much more 2008. Hers is a sartorial expression of many a party girl’s innermost wishes: for sleep rather than schlep, cocoa rather than champers, and pyjamas rather than a blinged-up dress. But before we embrace this look as a kind of ‘we’re tired already’ Christmas protest, Coco ensures that nothing nearly as jaded was going through her head.

“It’s my best friend’s sister’s!” she told Grazia. “It’s not a fashion statement. I just saw it as I was leaving and thought it looked really comfy. And it is – plus I can put my Blackberry in the pocket!”

And if that is a squillion pound Balmain dress peeking out from under that pyjama set, so much the better. Mix n’ match is as much about metaphors as it is about designer n’ high street, so if hot chocolate is more appealing than umpteen vodka shots, you may as well take ‘after-party’ to heart and wear the teddies on your sleeve. 

Image Credit: dailymail.co.uk

The Alexa Chungs of this world are a rarity. Poised, confident, clever and not afraid to be left-of-centre. How is it possible to be so self-assured at 24? I can only put it down to her country upbringing and too much fresh air. It’s no wonder that Elle Magazine put her on the cover of the October edition. 

‘Refreshingly down-to-earth’ might be as clichéd as ‘a breath of fresh air’ but that is what Alexa is. She puts her fashion success down to her normality. She doesn’t so much style herself as just get dressed to go out, and her very lack of image consciousness has become her signature look.

“What is attractive or alluring is not necessarily how much flesh you bare, but how good your brain is, or how much charm you have” says the TV presenter. 

The fact is that Alexa isn’t afraid to bare some skin. Her legs are model great and she knows it. But she is adept at proportion and balance: teeny shorts downplayed with androgynous lace-ups, a leather satchel, a cropped tuxedo jacket, minimal make-up and definitely no cleavage. (“I want to be on Radio 4 when I’m older talking about books, and I think if I get my tits out now I won’t be able to do that later.”)

Here’s a girl who contains the attention she gets through controlled dressing. She’ll mix up her references, never quite falling into type.  A self-confessed tomboy and lover of all things French, the sex appeal is there, but the blatant va-va-voom she keeps under wraps.

“I think it’s more exciting to reveal less. Maybe wear layers of smocks and then have super-sexy underwear on. Dress like a pilgrim outside and a whore underneath.”

Please would someone at Radio 4 at least make Alexa the fashion correspondent? 

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Why am I writing about Victoria Beckham again? Why do I submit to her endless bids for attention? I write up her Collection, I comment on her hair. It’s not even a love-hate relationship. But I have to give it to her: she knows how to draw a crowd.

The latest? The Beckhams attend the launch of their new fragrance at Maceys in New York and Victoria is wearing a pair of five and half inch heel-less latex boots, made to order from Antonio Berardi priced at £3,300. For you or me, that’s some expensive attention. For the Beckhams, not so much. The Beckham’s fragrance business alone is now worth £109million at retail, and they haven’t yet penetrated the US market. Not bad for a girl who admits that she “..was on the dole once.” Well – grunge was all the rage in the early 90s. 

Now about these attention grabbers. No not the Beckhams, I mean the boots. A feat of engineering, the platform base is weighted, forcing the foot downwards and forwards so you can’t fall backwards. Dr Simon Floreani from the Chiropractors’ Association of Australia observes that: “They are probably a fad that won’t last long. In reality, they’re a 15 minute wear. You can only walk around on your tip toes for about 15 minutes.”  Which, as Andy Warhol famously predicted, is as long as it takes to be famous anyway.

I’m dedicating whole other posts to Rodarte (pr.”Ro-dar-tay”) because Kate and Laura Mulleavy deserve their own limelight. Despite no formal training in fashion design, these sisters’ handmade dresses are skilful works of artistry, and I love the ethereal feel that underpins their work. They’ve only been going since 2005 but the formal dress in silk tulle is already the label’s signature. Theirs is an ultra feminine, delicate aesthetic and it’s no wonder they count Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley as A List patrons. 

But what do we think of this piece of Rodarte on Keira at the premiere of Atonement? Although she’s classical beauty, as is the dress, it was a risqué choice. Would that she could be sculpted in marble and set in a palazzo in Florence, then this dress would work. Or she could audition for Clash of the Titans, the 1981 Grecian epic adventure film. In spite of her boniness – in fact because of her boniness – I’m not digging this Rodarte gown on Keira. She needs to be rescued by Perseus on his unicorn and taken to an Italian restaurant for a big bowl of spaghetti carbonara. 

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There comes a time in every A-list ingénue’s life that she has to make a decision about what to wear on the red carpet. How to look grown up but not middle aged. How to be sexy but not inappropriately so. Boy am I glad I was never a teenage film star. I would’ve just copied Angelina Jolie and had fourteen tattoos and six kids by now. There’s no way to get it right unless you have a) a very good stylist or b) a doting mother who was a model in the 60s. Too many young actresses try and be glamorous for these occasions. Urgh. To be glamorous and young is to have aged before your time, and to have a sense of occasion, to be detached enough from your image to gauge its impact on others takes years of being yourself – not playing a part. 

Even so, when your detractors are razor-tongued critics and not your mates in the common room, the pressure’s kind of on. It does help to be the face of Chanel; Karl on speed-dial must be reassuring if the Alexander McQueen empire line goddess dress falls through at the last minute.

Which luckily it didn’t because here it is in its perfectly bejewelled glory. It reminds me of a dripping candle from which the flame of youth burns bright…

The face of Chanel at 18. I don’t think I’d bother with my 20s if I was Emma…

Image Credit: elle.com

Alexa Chung in Luella at the ELLE style awards

If I say ‘tiers’ and you think of wedding cake or Swan Lake and nought in between, hopefully these party dresses will spark your imagination. A black tiered dress is more or less a sexy senorita’s flamenco uniform, is it not, and this Freemans £60 bargain makes me want to salsa all the way to my savings account. But don’t be restricted to black. Jewel colours make a bijou statement this season, so swish those tiers to full effect. This Temperley dress (below) is the height of grown-up dressing, but the belt keeps the look young and hip. Alice Temperely, like Luella, is clearly a dress girl – they understand how to make women feel utterly pretty. The fabrics are key: satins and silks reflect the light and show movement, think how leaden and flat velvet tiers would look.

That Luella dress on Alexa Chung at the Elle style awards couldn’t have been more right, and regardless of her loveliness you can see there’s a model working that dress to the max. Pink and black? Agent Provocateur couldn’t have done it better themselves. The golden limbs, the flushed cheeks, the frou-frou chic reined in by that belt. And the pièce de résistance – the Alexa touch – the patent shoe boots (out of view) which take girlie down a notch or ten. And I’m sure if Alexa had her way she’d accessorize with a beaten up old satchel rather than a clutch.

Tiers before bedtime? Only if you miss out on this unique vintage 80s dress from Rockit online, which is SO now I’m really quite chuffed with myself for finding it. At £50 it’s full lined and the bodice is boned, plus there is an oversized bow on the black, and a black netted underskirt.  

Image Credit: style.com

Image Credit: rockit.co.uk

Image Credit: freemans.com

Image Credit: freemans.com

When Gwynnie stepped out onto the red carpet for the UK premiere of Iron Man in April 2008 she didn’t need to announce to the world that she was out of mommy hibernation. Her Balmain dress did the talking. That – and the legs – said loud and clear that ‘the husband’s on tour and the kids are in bed.’ If it wasn’t for the artfully casual tux jacket and mussed-up hair, we’d have wondered if Gwynnie wasn’t a bit too close to Soho, if you know what I mean. Even if she was in Leicester Square.

Lace has that effect on the consciousness. Until this season, that is, when Miuccia Prada paraded the most beautiful collection of couture lace made in Switzerland specially, and showed us how lace could be anything but slutty or grannyish. Whip-fierce shoes and blade-like necklaces cut through any hint of twee.

Luella’s spin on the fabric was more punk witch, and Stella McCarney’s more traditional Victoriana, but no question this was going to be a big trend for this season. This translation has been a challenge for the high street, and you only have to examine a piece of antique lace next to an Ann Summers basque to see why. But there is so much of it about you can afford to pick and choose, and it’s the spin on the trend that you’re going for, rather than the full Mrs Havisham.

PS. If you’re itching to ditch the look altogether, give a thought to lace tights by Wolford or Jonathan Aston.

Image Credit: style.com

Miuccia makes it happen: the cutting edge of demure for Prada A/W ‘08, and not a mothball in sight.

Image Credit: Metro.co.uk

Image Credit: marksandspencer.com

OK so most of the time I look at Posh and I feel for the woman. I put myself in her shoes and I’m tottering on the verge of a high fashion breakdown. I long since made a pact with the world that I would eschew papparazi intrusion in exchange for more sleep, less frequent applications of make-up and a husband who recognised me in the morning. Posh, on the other hand, takes ‘on duty’ more seriously than a sergeant major, and she’s raised her bar so high that anything but the sharpest of cut and the highest of heel make her look scruffy. So whenever I see a nod to mufti day or even a hint of let up or playfulness in Victoria’s outfits, I undo the top button of my jeans in celebration.

Now perhaps it’s the hearts but I just want to hug Victoria in this dress. I can see her at Glastonbury festival in this sort of thing, it’s as close to hippie as she’ll get until Hermes makes a patchwork Birkin. I’m guessing it’s Marc Jacobs but I’m hoping, I’m dreaming that she found it in a thrift shop in downtown LA and just had to have it. 

PS. I dig that the purple grape hearts exactly match the purple grape Ostrich Hermes Birkin, and I’m guessing that Louboutin doesn’t do a stiletto in purple grape otherwise the feet would follow; but red heart shaped sunglasses? Such an omission.

Image Credit: dailymail.co.uk