Paris in the fall

(via nytimes)

A private fitting with Azzedine Alaïa, sipping on an allongé at Café de Flore, shopping for fresh cut flowers, a slow stroll through le Jardin du Luxembourg with a boxful of patisseries…yes, a charmed life.

Girls and boys, F-Troupe

(photo from F-Troupe)

New York was a jolly good time. Hit up the usual but few haunts, with measured success. The Topshop Unique collection at Opening Ceremony afforded many a cute number, and I ended up getting a black cotton wrap dress (made in GB, actually), but was enamored of all the designers and beautiful creations OC had amassed from Scandinavia this season (too many good ones to name).

There was also a sizeable army of F-Troupe shoes that made me googly-eyed. The little booties continue to be adorable, but good news for the boys the mens collection of sneakers is quite nice as well. I thought I was done with shoe/boot buying for this season, but may have to reconsider: for me the Ella boot, K31 bootie, and Alessandra are good places to start.

Must see

(Photo courtesy Loki Films)

Boys of Baraka, a documentary from directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, premiered on PBS POV this week, and it is absolutely a must see for all. The duo’s latest film Jesus Camp opens nationwide today.

Hats off to the pouf

(photos from Facehunter)

The smock/bubble/tent/child dress (whatever you want to call it) can be seen everywhere as captured by my favourite street style documentarist. A forgiving cut, the benefits of such are obvious (ie eating like a glutton) -though a pair of svelte stems can really help. Volume is certainly a more welcome trend than excess skin, but it’s as difficult a look to pull off. Worn in this manner, volume is overwhelming to my frame and it’s a little frightening how freakishly childlike and weird I look in dresses like these. Damn those extra pleats and gathers. Very cute, but not altogether alluring…

Upward and onward

(Photo via Misericordia)

Misericordia keeps growing as does awareness of ethical consumerism. Says Aurelyen Conty, co-founder of Misericordia in this Herald Tribune article:

“Look, my goal isn’t to make the best product in the world but to have the best process in place for the people behind it. And to turn the best profit for them,” Conty said. “This is a luxury project but the luxury is in the human value, not necessarily the product. The quality of what we make comes from the quality of our working conditions.”

An attitude that should only be the norm.

 

The true good stuff

(Mary Ping s/s 2007 photo courtesy of Coutorture)

Foregoing the allure of spectacle, some designers take the road less travelled -with sexy results!

Thank you!

The local wildlife

(photo via Hastings+Main)

Dressing in the in-betweens can be a tedious task. The mornings here are brisk, but the past few afternoons/evenings have been balmy and very Indian summer. I tend to dress on the side of too warm, as it can be pretty miserable being underdressed in pre-fall temps. I always find that light dressing with the accessories of fall can be a pretty good way of negotiating this grey area.

This Hastings+Main dress is perfect for this time of year. A nice part of the collection this Fall is done in a haphazard and rumpled silk with a refined fall palette of mustard, forest green, aubergine, black and beige. A matte mustard silk blousy tube top with black silkscreened ferns has been in heavy rotation of a friend’s summer wardrobe for a couple years, and I have to say that everytime she wears it, I think, “wow, what a beautiful top.” The pieces in the fall collection are nice and drapey with just the right amount of a slouchy and more subversive brand of femininity.

Seasonal delights

(via Creatures of Comfort)

This dress was recommended to me at U&I last weekend (that store is the death of me), and really it looked like nothing much on the hanger, but to my delight, when I saw it on a model it was quite something while seemingly nondescript. The stripes are lace inserts with black cotton poplin underneath, with a demure little elastic cinched waist.

With a New York trip coming up, I think I will just go to the store and see what goodies they didn’t include in the catalogue before I make my seasonal APC selections. Then again, some of their items can be so hotly elusive that it may be long gone -I was planning on staying away from U&I for a while, but another visit may be needed.

In other news: the Herchcovitch fall line (as seen at Creatures of Comfort, particularly this “be still my beating heart” jacket with the amazing pictoral lining) is full of delights.

The Haunting

(Photo via The Sartorialist)

This cape, as photograped by The Sartorialist last February, has been etched in my memory as the most perfect and adorable outerwear garment ever. I’d been looking for the right cut of cape for a while -something slim and not very billowy nor bohemian- and this was it, Eureka! An ingenius design. I knew it had to be a fairly accessible and widely distributed designer as I had seen it in another photo on another fashion blog, but still couldn’t put my finger on it. So the summer came and went (even in the heat of summer I never forgot about the cape), and behold today it resurfaced, this time in a much different style on a different kind of girl, but in the same city, captured by The Facehunter.

(Photo via Facehunter)

Must you taunt me so? What with the sharp collar (that would look quite swell up), your ever so slightly oversized brushed gold buttons, the light creamy hue -oh I can imagine it’s a cashmere blend, so soft…tell me who made you, o cape!

Can it really be done?

(Stella McCartney Night blue paint flock knee high boot)

Can one for all for new sustainable textiles and neglect the issue of leather and footwear? I suppose we choose our battles, but if one aspires to lead a green lifestyle surely the shoes would be included. But can it really catch on as much as sustainable fibres have? I guess it would involve eco-friendly rubber farming and organic/sustainable leather production?

Knowing Stella McCartney does vegetarian friendly collections, when I saw her Fall line of footwear, I wondered if she was still at it since the shoes look tremendous (and suspiciously leather-like). They are in fact veg shoes and perhaps are proof that it can be done -though at a high price.

That said, leather shoes are just not something I can or want to give up, and actually fiftyrx3 sums it up nicely in her post on the question of leather -so there, I don’t feel so bad.