Coming soon... to this 'abandoned' blog...

YES! I'm BACK! From what I like to call my, *ahem*, 'sabbatical'...
I will be posting A/W 11 Show reviews, my online clothes findings, personal style stuff and lots more! (Yes, I know you can read, I'm just verifying...) So please remember to follow so you guys know when these are posted! Also, if you have any suggestions for posts such as style advice, tags, etc., please let me know via the email address at the bottom of the page, which I will give to you know as in my preview it looks tiny - so here it is: theclothespress@googlemail.com
Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who left comments on my last post, even though I'm sure you could see I was on my 'sabbatical'. When I went on here they made me smile to see them, and I shall follow all those who suggested it in the comments!
Regards, The Clothes Press

Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us believe, a form of madness...

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! What we have here is a case of blog neglect!
I could write out why I have not posted for a while, but it may end up being a rather long boring list- so I think I'll probably just miss that bit out, hm?
Anyhow, I realise I have hardly written any SS11 catwalk reviews!! :O
So, I shall start with Prada...

From style.com

Miuccia described the collection as 'Brave, bold and obvious'- which it certainly was, with an element of insanity.  Naturally...it is Prada after all!

First off came the plain cotton suits and dresses, with boxy jackets and tight skirts in primary blue, green, or orange which bore resemblance to something you may find in a hospital, whilst the models carried dyed fur stoles and chunky bright handbags, wore Willy-Wonka-esq. sunglasses, and walked in chunky, stripy high soled shoes.

Then, THE STRIPES INVADED. Stripy dresses adorned with a swirly pattern of cerubs, pineapples, bananas and monkeys. Thick- striped boxy tops that looked like something out of 'Dennis the Menace'. Knee-length black and blue STRIPY skirts. Stripy sundresses with frilled hems. A lime green and black striped skirt... If you see many items of striped clothing in stores soon, I'm sure you'll realise this is why...

There was then a brief phase of black 'uniforms', however the stripes never left as they appeared on the fur stoles instead and on the towering rubber soles of the shoes.
And, soon enough came the banana-print filled skirts and shirts with raffia plaited shoes, orange, pink, and black printed sundresses, striped and pleated tops with 'ruff' collars, embroidered monkey and banana tops- all in the brightest hues.

Embroidered dresses were next to be seen, with colourful swirls, women balancing pineapples on their heads, and monkeys on them, with bright beads hanging off the hem.

More striped pieces ensued, with the addition of wide brimmed STRIPED sombreros. There was, too, another phase of black before the end of the show. When Miuccia Prada entered at the end, nobody could help but notice that... she was wearing banana earrings.

The Clothes Press
P.S. PLEASE look at this video (which you can also find on prada.com) for the advertising campaign video... I think you will find it most amusing. Especially the dancing. Need I say more?
P.P.S I forgot to say my 'The Clothes Press' banner above features an image from the Prada SS11 Ad. Campaign. :)

A Sea of Blue

Admittedly, SS11 did not have one colour to define the season. Some say it was fuchsia, others tangerine, and some white. But, for me, it was blue- beautiful intense blues, in long rippling fabrics. I will definitely be hoping to see some blues on the market soon- how about you?
Here are a few of my favourite examples:

Diane von Furstenburg

Yves Saint Laurent

Matthew Williamson

Matthew Williamson

Jason Wu

The Clothes Press

It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me...

Well, at least it is now, as we are now in 2011! Which means, of course, there will be more RTW, Couture, Resort and Pre-Fall collections to review, from designers such as Acne to Zac Posen.
However, before all that, I'd just like to reflect on some fashion moments from 2010...(In no particular order -i.e. whatever comes to mind first...)


1. Miu Miu Mania
When people went mad for the Miu Miu SS10 collection (including me!!). I have never seen so many DIYs for collars in my life...

My favourite SS10 show (image found here)

2. The Return of the Clog

Thought they were just for the Dutch? Well, you thought wrong. We saw many of these return to both catwalk and highstreet for Spring, having last been as popular in the seventies and eighties.

A Chanel take on the clog (image found here)

3. Death of Lee 'Alexander' McQueen

The fashion world was truly hit by the death of the genius designer, Lee McQueen (or Alexander McQueen).  And, although his last collection was incomplete-only fifteen pieces, and not shown with the usual theatricality and staging, it was beautiful to see, an exquisite and poignant tribute.

The Very Last (image found here)

4. THE Crop...
Having had to keep her hair the same since 2001 for playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, Emma Watson decided to have a change... Resulting in this, the much debated new hairstyle:

Like it or Hate it, it was certainly a change for Emma (image found here) 

5. Anna!
Who could say it wasn't the year of Anna Dello Russo?- Because it so obviously was.

Another of her amazing outfits (image found here) 

6. Lanvin
For H&M! Great collaboration, great pieces, and... you guessed it, great queues...

And it sold out in the London store within hours... (image found here)

7. The Woman's Back!
Curves and the 'fuller' woman was celebrated in autumn, down to Marc Jacobs at both Louis Vuitton and his own brand, and with models such as Lara Stone.

Laetitia Casta on the catwalk (image found here)

8. Camel
No, not the animal. Sorry for the disappointment. Anyway, camel was perfect for our capes and trousers in the Autumn.

Almost completely camel (image found here)

9. Minimalism
Phoebe Philo for Céline kick-started the trend,  then Stella and Hannah MacGibbon for Chloé  All perfectly simple collections with beautiful lines- just what we wanted. 

Minimalism Central (image found here)

10. In and Out
The return of Fashion's Night Out, and the first Fashion's Night In. Fashion's Night Out was busy and star-studded, and Fashion's Night In was online shopping galore, with countless special offers, prizes and fashion exclusives. So, all in all, LOTS OF SHOPPING.

A mega shopping-spree, really... (image found here)

11. A Good Year for Erdem
This year Erdem Moraigulu had a very good year with his brand Erdem. He won the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund Award in April, and had Anna Wintour to Samantha Cameron in his dresses. He also collaborated with Liberty and Smythson, AND made a scarf for the V&A.

Ms Wintour obviously approves (image found here)

12. The IT Bag
Named after one of our favourite fashion girls, and made by Mulberry, the Alexa bag has to have been the 'it' bag of 2010.

The Bag to bag (image found here) 

Well, those are a just a few- what are yours? Comment on this and tell me. Anyway, Happy New Year Everyone!

The Clothes Press

A wolf in sheep's cothing...

One of my favourite things about the AW10/11 catwalk shows, is that they contained lots of knitwear and thankfully this has been picked up by high-street shops, with thick cables, statement knits and generally nice warm cuddley things. Here is a selection from Asos (including brands sold on Asos) and Topshop (including collaborations)....:

Back to the Future...

(Image found here)

Holly Fulton (above) is definitely one of the new designers who has added her name to fashion history.

Since completing and showing her MA collection with the Royal College of Art in 2007, Holly has gained considerable interest in the fashion world, debuting her first collection at London Fashion Week in Autumn 2009 and gaining the Young Designer of the Year Award at the Scottish Fashion Awards, a British Fashion Award for Jewellery, and the Elle Style Award for New Designer 2010.

Holly Fulton's 'signature' look is one that combines elements of art deco, the use of symbols, digital prints, aboriginal art and a sort of 'robotic' look, yet the overall image is very futuristic and 'modern'.

For Spring Summer '11, the collection had a 'holiday' look about it- you could certainly imagine wearing the designs in Morroco, Egypt or Africa. Some models carried small cases, many were wearing sunglasses, I saw a bikini and a swimsuit, and wrap skirts and wide-leg silk trousers-that billowed in the 'breeze'- were present. She also used luxurious and exotic fabrics and materials, with the use of python and pony-skin as well as silk. And of course it wasn't complete without her prints- an almost 'giraffe' like one, skyscraper buildings, birds and many others with art-deco and aboriginal looks- in true Holly colours.

Oh and her jewellery was as spectacular as ever- made from a combination of laser-cut wood, perspex, crystals and spikes with this season's skins all in the form of large collar-necklaces, big earrings and chunky bracelets.

Here are a few of my favourite images from the collection:

(all images from here)

Now, if you, like me, would love a little bit of Holly, but have a smaller budget than to buy from here or here, go here: http://www.asos.com/search/pgeSearch.aspx?q=holly+fulton - luckily for us, Holly Fulton collaborated with Asos recently to create these pieces at what I have to say are very good prices.

Happy shopping!

The Clothes Press

Bugged out...

I have a new obsession..... Wait for it....

BUG JEWELLERY!

I love this necklace, from topshop:

It's so how they're all kind of in a cluster, with interlocking legs or feelers. I also think the use of black, silver and gold works very well, and giving a nice strong image.

Also like this ring:

I found it on asos.com, and I have to say I adore the detail on the body. Very pretty.

Found an addition for (any?) arachnid lovers (however bear in mind this is a 2009 piece):

It was from Zoe and Morgan, although the photo is from vogue.com. I love the shape- I can imagine it would look great on. The heart cut out is also a nice touch, I think it emphasises the beautiful shape. Shame you probably can't buy it now...

A slightly more scary number is this (again, from 2008 so it is not so relevant....):

I came across it whilst on vogue- by Stephen Webster. I like the nouveau-gothic style to it, and it is good that it was trying to raise Malaria awareness. This one-off ring was auctioned to raise money for a charity called Malaria No More UK, but 300 replicas were be made and sold on asos.com for £50.

Anyway, happy reading, and more posting coming up!

The Clothes Press

P.S. Keep commenting! I love comments! They are lovely and make me smile... which makes me look like a chipmunk.