grace kelly 2.0

It's not exactly groundbreaking, but I kind of have a thing for Grace Kelly. Rear Window, To Catch A Thief, High Noon, Dial M for Murder, and High Society are among my favorites. She was an inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant's favorite co-star, the namesake of an Hermès bag (and eventually a fragrance), and of course there's that whole Princess of Monaco bit. Her status as a fashion and beauty icon is just icing on the cake.

Despite living much of her life as a tabloid star, with her relationships under constant public scrutiny, Kelly managed to retain an uncommon level of class. Sure, she had more than her fair share of scandal (alleged affairs with Ray Milland and Bing Crosby, a quickie engagement to Oleg Cassini that fueled pregnancy rumors), yet she always managed to present herself to the public with sophistication and style.

I've shared my sartorial admiration for Diane Kruger and January Jones before, but lately I've been noticing that in addition to their physical resemblance to Kelly, their style of dress is evocative of the Princess of Monaco. I don't just mean in cut and style (though it really doesn't get more modern day Grace Kelly than Diane Kruger in Giambattista Valli), but in presentation. There's something about their style that I find both enviable and unintimidating, graceful without being humorless. They're the kind of women that are easy to admire from across the room, whom you also wouldn't mind getting stuck with in a long line for cocktails. Whether they're veering toward the playful (Kruger in a Chanel bow tie ensemble), the throwback (Jones in ice blue Versace), or the avant garde (Kruger in Nina Ricci), they're fashionable without seeming pretentious. Quite a feat when wearing anything designed by Oliver Theyskens.

Diane Kruger in structured Giambattista Valli

Kruger in Theyskens creation for Nina Ricci (In my opinion, she had much better luck with this style than Kate Bosworth did. Style File agrees!)

Kruger in kicky Chanel

Kruger in peek-a-boo Christian Dior

Jones in lingerie-inspired Dolce & Gabbana

Jones in Elie Saab (a designer that I'm often ambivalent about, but Jones looks gorgeous here)

Jones looking effortlessly beautiful in Andrew Gn

Jones in timeless Versace

even coutouriers are desperate for job security

I'm currently getting away from it all, spending the weekend in Lutsen, MN, just off Lake Superior. The view is breathtaking. Our cabin overlooks the water, and the surrounding fir trees are white with snow, a regiment of icy stalagmites. This morning I ate breakfast while looking out over the rocky shore. And as I gazed out of the enormous picture window, snuggly wrapped in a cashmere cardigan and holding a hot mug of freshly brewed coffee, I couldn't help but wonder...
What the eff is going on with Valentino?

After Valentino Garavani's retirement, Alessandra Facchinetti took over, designing only for two seasons. I loved her fresh take on the classic brand, referencing its origins while moving in a new direction. But Valentino Garavani thought she had strayed too far from his original vision, and she was unceremoniously outed in one of the most dramatic dismissals in the fashion industry in recent years. She was replaced by Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, Valentino's long-time accessory designers. This week's couture show was the pair's much-anticipated debut, and though Valentino himself praised the collection, I found it completely underwhelming.

Probably afraid to rock the boat after Facchinetti's dismissal and Valentino's petty jabs at her in the press, Chiuri and Piccioli stuck closely to the classic Valentino look, creating a collection that was almost a recreation of the house's archives. Bows? Check. Rosettes? Check. Multiple shades of red? Ladylike coats? Inoffensive evening gowns? Check. Check. Check. Though the collection was refined and well-made, it seemed a step backward for the house. The presentation lacked the drama of a couture show, which begs the question: If not for drama, why do couture at all? As for Chiuri and Piccioli, I think they have a lot of talent and a great point of view. The question is, will they feel that they have the freedom to express themselves, or will they be too worried about the shadow of Valentino Garavani?

images: style.com

fuck the economy

I will not let you ruin couture week, stupid recession.

Christian Lacroix Spring Couture
images: style.com

karl's paper garden

Chanel Couture Spring 2009

images: style.com

sew buttons

as american as pomegranate pie

Marc Jacobs Spring 2009 featuring Raquel Zimmerman and shot by Juergen Teller

fashion mixtape: volume 3

It's time for another edition of Fashion Mixtape, in which I take on the tremendous challenge of picking out an outfit, guest blogger Kate makes a playlist to go along with it, and I try to say something clever. Usually, failing miserably.

Marc Jacobs. In a man skirt. Though it wasn't on Kate's playlist, I'm going to have to throw out The Kinks "Lola," because it's one of my childhood favorites, and I think gender bending in any shape or form demands a few plays of that song. I kind of love the man skirt with gladiator sandals (or tailored suit with high heels!) thing Marc's been doing lately. It's not exactly the most controversial idea anymore. I mean, Dear Abby has embraced it. But even if I weren't a fan, it's Marc Jacobs. As long as he keeps producing mouse flats and Juergen Teller ads, he can wear whatever the hell he wants.

Blur "Boys and Girls"
Amy Winehouse "Addicted"
The Proclaimers "500 Miles"
Warren Zevon "Lawyers, Guns, and Money"
Babes in Toyland "He's My Thing"

it's the most wonderful time of the year

It's couture season! Recession de damned!

The underskirt of this Dior gown is a perfect match to an antique porcelain bleeding bowl that I almost bought two years ago. For those who haven't seen Sense and Sensibility, a bleeding bowl is a porcelain, brass, or pewter dish that was used in the highly scientific process of blood letting. You know, when you cut someone's arm open so that they can bleed out their pneumonia. Pretty high on drama. Questionable success rate.

a pretty example, courtesy of l'internet

The bleeding bowl is a round shallow dish with an indentation along one side for the patient's arm to rest. The blood would then collect in the bowl throughout the process, and I assume would be disposed of afterwards. Though those crazy Brits really love their blood pudding. I really wanted a bleeding bowl to hold jewelry or candy, so that whenever people asked me about the strange indentation on the side, I could let them know it was for bleeding out winter colds. I just thought there was something so wonderfully morbid and sick about that. I'm currently hunting for one, and this couture gown will always remind me of the perfect one that got away.

behold the reign of the one-shoulder gown

Oh, SAG fashion. Not as boring as this year's Golden Globes fashion, but still, a little boring. Seriously, how many one-shoulder gowns can show up on the red carpet in one day? I know that Michelle Obama's inaugurational dress was beyond awesome, but that doesn't mean we all need to step out tomorrow in the exact same cut. Let's try and have a bit more variety, shall we? And since everyone in Hollywood seems to use the same five stylists, perhaps a little more communication between the stylists before the event?

January Jones was one of my favorites at the Golden Globes (though I wish she'd worn the belt that was shown on that dress on the Versace runway), and she was my absolute favorite last night. The embellishments on her Andrew Gn gown are gorgeous, and I love that she wore a black gown that wasn't in any way basic or boring. I just wish she'd worn her hair up. I think that a dramatic, voluminous upsweep would have been very Cleopatra-esque, and shown off the details on her dress even more.

Anne Hathaway's Azzaro gown is kind of the reverse of January Jones' gown. I love the column shape and the gathering on the bodice. The draping of this gown isn't the most forgiving (no matter how in shape you are), so I'm going to go ahead and use this dress as a celebrity endorsement for proper foundation garments. Namely Spanx. Hopefully Beyoncé will get the message.

I'll admit that the David Meister gown that Viola Davis wore wasn't my favorite--there's nothing wrong with it, the one shoulder-dresses are just starting to blur together-- but I had to include her because her styling was amazing. Her hair and makeup were flawless (even in the tight close-ups), the butter hue of her dress looked phenomenal against her skin, and she had such a radiant smile in all of her photographs. It's amazing how much a genuine smile makes people stand out on the red carpet. The Renée Zellweger pinch and the Olsen twin duck lips just don't do it for me.

Freida Pinto looks amazing in this Marchesa gown. I don't find the cut or the style particularly exciting, but the color. Wow. Freida wore an amazing mustard shade at the Golden Globes, so I'm curious to see what color she'll settle on for the Academy Awards.

Evan Rachel Wood: still embracing the pale and gradually moving away from SWFing Dita von Teese. These are good things. I'm usually not a big Monique Lhuillier fan, but I love this deep navy gown. I've tried to explain to a few friends how for me to truly love a navy, it has to contain a little bit of green. And I never have a handy reference. Now I do. This is exactly what I was talking about. It's also the only one-shoulder gown of the evening that I truly loved.

Katie Holmes looked classic and sophisticated in this Jil Sander sheath (the cutouts were modified, so it's a little different from the runway version). It's far more casual than the other offerings, but I don't think that she actually walked the red carpet. She presented the Outstanding Actor Award to Sean Penn. Which leads me to my next question: Why was Katie Holmes presenting the Outstanding Actor SAG Award? If it's just because she looks great in Roland Mouret dresses, then I demand that Posh gets to present an award next year.

It seems that I'm as bored of Angelina, as Angelina is of trying. She wore this (already kind of boring) Max Azria dress backwards. I guess the plunging neckline was too risqué for our Angie. I miss pre-Brad Pitt Angelina Jolie. Remember the vial of blood? The controversial sibling kiss? Those extra ten pounds? Pre-Brad Pitt Angelina would kick Current Angelina's ass, hold a knife up to her throat, and then make out with her. That's how I like my movie stars. With a great big side of crazy.

le gossip

One of my best friends works at the National Gallery in DC. She has one of those amazing jobs in conservation and restoration that requires her to fly out to Italy for a week so that she can escort a few paintings back to the gallery. Not only does this mean a behind the scenes tour when I go out there for the Cherry Blossom Festival (I'm still despondent that I didn't visit her in Los Angeles to take advantage of the same treatment at the Getty), it also means that I'm occasionally privy to juicy bits of gossip from the national and international art community. So with her permission, I'd like to share a story that confirms what many already suspected: Mrs. Cheney is kind of awful.

The National Gallery is constantly lending out paintings to federal buildings. Nothing first-tier (they'd like to keep their da Vincis in house, thank you very much), only second- and third-tier paintings. So a pretty great perk of being elected to executive office is that you'll be provided a pre-selected list of paintings, and you get to choose which you would like to bedeck the walls of your offices during your term. The last few months of my friend's job have been spent cataloguing and examining paintings returned by the Bush Administration, and helping to provide the same service to the Obama administration (who, apparently, have great contemporary taste).

There was a particular painting of a young girl by Lydia Field Emmet (an American artist best known for portraits) that Mrs. Cheney had wanted to hang in her office. For conservation purposes, all the paintings that the National Gallery lend out are covered in UV-protective glass, and the locations where they are hung must have the gallery's approval (avoid indirect sunlight, exterior walls, etc). Mrs. Cheney made such a fuss about the glass that they finally broke down and let her hang the Emmet piece without protective covering, as long as it was hung in the safe location that they'd approved. Unbeknownst to them, Mrs. Cheney later moved the painting into another room IN FRONT OF A WINDOW. For years the painting was exposed to sunlight on a daily basis. When it was returned to the gallery, the canvas was slack, the corners were drawn, and paint on the edges was beginning to flake. A mess. Mrs. Cheney (who'd already been difficult enough when selecting the piece) refused to take any responsibility. So now, let's just hope our nation's finest conservators can save this historic piece.

Please, treat art with respect.