Alexander McQueen

Saturday, 30 April 2011

Fashion: And the bride wore McQueen...

My gosh, that was quite a dream wasn't it! If you follow my Twitter feed, you'll know how much of a Royalist I am. And I am so ridiculously pleased that Kate Middleton chose Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen for her bridal gown...and my, wasn't it as spectacular as everyone had hoped!

From the BBC:

"Designed by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen, it has a lace appliqué bodice and skirt, and veil. The bride wore her hair down, with a tiara. The lace on the bride's dress details a rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock, and was hand-made by the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace. The bridal train measures 2m 70cm, and along with the lace, all other fabrics used in the creation of the dress were sourced from and supplied by British companies.

Workers washed their hands every 30 minutes to keep the lace and threads pristine, and the needles were renewed every three hours, to keep them sharp and clean. The veil was held in place by a Cartier "halo" tiara, lent to Miss Middleton by the Queen."

And her dress for the evening celebrations, again by Sarah Burton, was as spectacular as the bridal gown!

There was so much fashion to cover from the event so I'll be doing a separate blog post about everyone else's ensembles.

Images via BBC and Daily Mail

News: Wedding Fever!

I am somewhat of a Royalist, so obviously I am beyond excited for the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton tomorrow, Friday 29th April 2011 - my Union Jack bunting is already up!

But, the one big question on my mind is which designer has made her bridal gown? Obviously, everyone was excited at the rumours of Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen creating the gown, but we've also heard rumours of Sophie Cranston or Bruce Oldfield creating this show stopping piece. I'll be watching the TV with an eagle eye tomorrow to dissect all of the wedding fashion choices by the bride, her family and guests. I can't WAIT!

Google Images

Fashion: I might be bad but I'm perfectly good at it

That's right, fetish was a huge catwalk trend for A/W 11/12. Wearable handcuffs and kinky boots? Who'd have thought this would be possible!

Marc Jacobs showed us rubber shirts and latex, paired with ladylike Forties silhouettes and lace-up boots at his at his catwalk show at New York Fashion Week (a definite pre-curser of what was to come at his collection for Louis Vuitton at Paris Fashion Week. This was definitely the show to show the wearability of this trend; cinched waist belts, and PVC leather gloves, to update your winter accessories.

In London, Giles showed us demure fetish again, and with an innocent bow in the hair as a final touch.

Paris Fashion Week was as risque as they get! Givenchy, Mugler, Alexander McQueen and Louis Vuitton showed us all how it should be done; with Gaga, Mossy and that much talked about cigarette.

Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy went wild with animal prints, sheer fabrics and leather - PVC peplums over sheer knee-length skirts are not for the feint-hearted, although I could see myself in a cat-hat; definitely the easiest way to wear this trend, meow!

Nicola Formichetti's first womenswear collection for Mugler already had the Twitterverse buzzing before the show, with rumours that Lady Gaga would be modelling. Of course, she set the show alight and I can definitely imagine her wearing every single look from this collection.

One of my favourite collections of the whole season was Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen. She managed to make the fetish trend look, dare I say, elegant? The harnesses were beautifully constructed and really added edge to another astounding beautiful collection.

And last but not least, Louis Vuitton's racy show (with every model in Paris it seemed!) showed us handcuffs, ladylike silhouettes and hotpants. And amazingly, they were oh so wearable! Loved Natasha Poly's look with her hand handcuffed in front of her, almost like she was a raunchy, praying nun? I like, like it, c'mon.

All images via Style.com

Paris Fashion Week: Chanel, Valentino & Alexander McQueen

Chanel

Mixing the masculine with the feminine is already a prominent trend this season (see Dolce and Gabanna) and Karl Lagerfeld presented haute workwear for the Chanel A/W 11/12 collection. Quilted jumpsuit anyone?
The set design for any Chanel show is always highly anticipated and they did not disappoint: a section of scorched earth (love Tim Blanks' comment about volcanic ash!) engulfed the Grand Palais and the models can out in the classic heritage tweeds, but teamed with leggings and worker boots. If Chanel did mining...

Valentino

Romantic, elegant and very wearable. Valentino A/W 11/12 provided us with beautiful garments accented by python prints, fur and micro florals. And I have fallen head over heels in love with the oil-blue/green leather trench coat - to die for! The Sixities influence was noticeable again with the long jackets over skirts and it is confirmed now that florals will be everywhere for A/W 11/12

Alexander McQueen

Much publicity has surrounded Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen this week - she is reported to be designing the wedding dress for Kate Middleton - and didn't she produce a collection fit for a Queen. Decadent, delicate and more couture that ready to wear. The craftmanship was astounding and if Kate Middleton has selected Burton as her chosen designer, we really are in for an unmeasurable treat.