APPAREL

A nod to the Fabulous Forties. A nod to the Elaborate Eighties. Or maybe it’s the Thrifty Thousands. (Sad face.) But the suit has transcended Hilary Clinton and crawled onto the catwalk. Fall 2009 provides a variety of styles suitable for (haha) both office and scandal-laced rendezvous. Think Casablanca on cocaine. Break out your shoulder pads, pull on your gloves and if you feel inspired, you can even sport a brooch or two.

From Rachel Roy to Ralph Lauren, the neatly tailored nod to the recession is running a mill of department stores and boutiques. Dior paired a taupe faille wool jacket and skirt with pearls and prim toque. (Faille fabrics appear textured as a result of a faintly ribbed woven pattern. They are often more structured and less likely to wrinkle.) Yves St. Laurent plays for team badass with leather corsets, dark knee length skirts and heels that never end. And in case you thought hipsters lack appropriate office attire, Phillip Lim set out to prove you wrong. His Fall 2009 RTW collection proved that business, whether good or bad, doesn’t have to be boring. Lim spiced up suits my mixing shades, adding metal and varying lengths. Zac Posen (right) spiced up his neutral suits with structured shoulders and a pop of color.

If the thought of sporting the entire ensemble scares you – or if you can’t afford to, like us – choose one or two stand pieces to mix with suits you already own. Don’t be afraid to mix blacks, neutrals and navy with pops of color. And if the polished suit doesn’t power you up enough, lift yourself with some stilettos. Honestly, in today’s economy, it’s totally kosher. Plus, someone has to lift the mood. Why shouldn’t it be you?

Emma Dinzebach

While the Fall 2009 apparel erred on the conservative side – blazers, pants, waist belts, suits and such – designers did agree that we can’t be all frowning penny pinchers. Maybe the bright color was a reaction to the grim depression or everyone’s been watching a little too much True Blood, but red is pouring out of storefront windows like hot lava. Don’t be scared; we’ll walk you through it.

Everyone has an inner Lady in Red dying to get out – your Lucille Ball of a neighbor, your orange and white tabby cat, your tailor, your sixteen year old niece, everyone. And the timeless color transcends age, race and even hair color. But people fear the Lady in Red because they don’t know how to wear her. This fall, it’s time to unlock her. Vogue is chock full of red from draping skirts to overcoats. Didn’t you see The September Issue? If it’s in Vogue, then it’s in. Luckily, red comes in many different shades providing multiple outlets for exploration. When you go exploring for your red, bring a friend because if you aren’t used to the brightness, your view of how the color looks on you will likely be a bit distorted. Ask friends and other people in the stores, “Does this shade of red look good on me?” (Maybe not sales people. They lie.)
   
Like the lipstick, choose a blue-based red – more maroon- if you have a cool complexion and a yellow-based red – more orange – if you have a warm complexion. If the fiery color scares you, then move it away from your face. Choose shoes, outerwear or skirts. Red shoes have staying power. Certainly you cannot wear them all the time, but you can keep them forever. Red outerwear also has staying power, and being removable and all, a sharp red coat might be your best bet. Skill scared? Try a skirt. It has less material (translation: less red) than a dress or coat, and can be toned down to your comfort level with the boring neutral tights and jackets you already have.

Emma Dinzebach

We embraced leggings. We embraced skinny jeans. Then jeans married leggings, and voila! This season, widen your wing span as we embrace the masterful combination of both: jeggings. Jeggings, eh hem, denim-esque leggings, have been creeping their way from suburban London, through the BK and to our concrete jungle for the past several years. Stretchy like leggings but made of elastic denim, jeggings feel snug avoiding the misfits of regular jeans.

 

Shops like Built By Wendy and Goldy & Mac in Park Slope carry unique versions of jeggings. And up until last year, you had to boutique shop to find them. Then Kate Moss waved her magic wand over Soho and up popped Top Shop. Top Shop has a whole section devoted to jeggings with different washes (indigo, stone washed, tye dye, black), styles and fits.  There are jeggings with stir-up and jeggings with pockets. It’s jegging heaven.  Beyonce wears jeggings and so does Lily Allen. LiLo was spotted in jeggings as was Mary Kate Olsen. From biker to boho, they are a versatile addition to your fall apparel palate.

My wonderful editor said she wasn’t a fan of the idea or wasn’t a fan of my portrayal of the idea and certainly wasn’t a fan of jeggings in general. Sure, I get it. It’s a hideous word for a debatably hideous piece of apparel. However, if you rock leggings and skinny jeans, you may want to give them a  try. That’s if you can wrap your mind around it.

Emma Dinzebach

Fall Fashion Week is the best time for the wardrobe selective to shop, particularly if you intend your items to extend through Spring. It started with a pair of polka dot, high waist silk shorts. They looked like Charlotte Ronson married Rebecca Taylor (in Spring 2010) and made a bouncing polka dot baby. These shorts are flowy but rather slimming; and I found them at Barney’s…yesterday.

Thus making Fall Fashion Week the very best time to shop. (In case Fashion’s Night Out wasn’t enticing enough.) Pay close attention to what designers are sporting for spring, and you will find some crossover from the current fall season. Those crossovers, darling, indicate items to snatch up. The crossover items signify staying power and versatility. My shorts can be worn over tights, with a blazer or paired with pastels for spring and through summer. But for the record, they are technically Fall 2009 collection. Other items that this works great for are dresses, blazers and lose fitting blouses and tanks. (Loose fitting look nice under cardigans and blazers in colder weather.)

Sure it doesn’t work for bright colored dresses or light blue platform stilettos, but a few runway shows I’d go back through before you continue fall shopping are: Behnaz Sarafpour, Elise Øverland, Rebecca Taylor, Rachel Roy, Hervé Léger by Max Azria, and Y-3.

Emma Dinzebach