Celine - Resort 2011

Have a fabulously wicked holiday weekend and enjoy the patriotic colors of red, white and blue  – these images are looks from Resort 2011, courtesy of style.com

Lanvin - Resort 2011

Prada - Resort 2011

Oscar de la Renta - Resort 2011

Alexander McQueen - Resort 2011

Marc Jacobs - Resort 2011

Miu Miu - Resort 2011

In Print: Winter Florals, Graphic and Diffused ombré effects

No Sleeves: Gilets and vests carried over from several collections as a fur piece or brushed mohair

Cut It Out: Bold cut-outs in dresses and tops

In Short: Winter shorts – mid-thigh and above the knee

Simple Coating: Minimal modern coats with simple tailoring and square necklines were prevalent

Laced: Lot of lace in skirts, inserts, sheaths and tops

In The Details: Gothic embellishment, Modified fairytale princess flair, Bows, Fringing on cuffs and bottoms

Coloring: Lipstick Red, Dark Berry, Pine, Blacks, Camel, Nudes, Blush, Metallics, Greys

To Be Continued: Leather, Onesies, Cropped jackets, Asymmetry in sleeves, and Capes

This morning I received an email from a friend in Italy who told me that she wanted to lose 8 lbs. and is doing so via the Mediterranean diet. She asked if I had written about any diets on Fabwick and if I was interested in featuring the Mediterranean diet. I thought to myself – I loathe diets and diets mock me. In my twenties and early thirties, I dieted until I realized that diets make me fat – I eat more when I’m on them because I’m constantly thinking about food. Today I don’t even own a scale. The true test to how I feel about my body is my high-shine, high-waist sample-size Marc Jacobs trouser. Can I wear them without any fear of a zipper or a seam popping as I sit down? If there’s a slight fear – this girl needs to put down the fork and take action. I don’t run, I can’t stand gyms (due to an overdose in the Aerobic 90’s). My savior is hot yoga. When I need something extra, I walk. This morning I tried on the sample-size trouser and found an unfortunate high risk of a pop-effect. I have certainly popped zippers and seams before. It isn’t fun. So this morning I walked for an hour and plan to melt some butter in a hot yoga class this afternoon. Now my question is – should I also diet? The Mediterranean diet doesn’t sound too brutal, in fact it sounds very Mediterranean, and I bet they allow bread, olives and wine. If that’s the case Tonya, please share with us (life is too short to forgo the goods).

That said, we are entering an era of celebrating a fuller figure with Christina Hendricks (from Mad Men) being a role model. And Miuccia Prada sending us the message that the voluptuous female figure is back and the pin-thin-adolescent-girl-meets-boy-figure might be a look from the past. If this is in fact a true look into our present and future, will we stop criticizing our breasts, hips and thighs and start to celebrate our curvy bodies? And if so, why do we need Miuccia or Mad Men to do so? Are we really not strong enough to do this without ‘trends’ from fashion or pop-culture? Either way, as long as the pant fits, I’m a walking celebration and feeling homicidally hot. But when it doesn’t – how long do I have to wait for the tipping point of power-bodies to tip in our favor? Or can we just take charge without approval from the fashion-physique police?

Stay with me here, there’s a twist – it’s not only practical – it’s both Matrix-esque and sweet at the same time. The boot will go with any ensemble: leggings, tapered jeans and dresses. When a woman is wearing a boot that she can go from the carpool lane to a night out with the girls – she is worry free.

Also, when a woman is caught dead in Prada she has an advantage.

If you are the girl who can go from work to cocktail in a LBD, tights and a lug sole boot – I adore you. Now that you have my admiration – take it to the next level: Imagine unexpectedly running into an ex- or future lover at the freezer section at the grocery store late at night, wearing that boot…now go ahead and use your imagination…

XO AR.Parker

Fashion Night Out (FNO) was celebrated in several cities across the world, from Berlin to Beijing, last night – to get people in the stores to boost retail recovery. This is a phenomenon created by the bold and beautiful Anna Wintour.

We were in New York walking the streets and entering the shops in Midtown and Soho. They were filled with shoppers, designers, celebrities, models and the media. Everyone was out and it felt like the night before Christmas. (If Christmas Eve were to fall on the 9/11 anniversary).

We started at the Prada store on 5th Ave where we spotted Grace Coddington and Sasha Pivovarova. The store was cleverly styled by Coddington. Prada in red. All that beautiful wool and brocade from the Fall ’09 collection was vibrantly displayed on mannequins. Some of it was wolf-headed, the red thread was consistent throughout the store, accessorized by apples and red canvas limited edition Prada bags (especially made for FNO). We adore Prada.

It was New York in its complete state of mind with A-listers everywhere–from Lady Theron at Dior to the Olson twins serving cocktails at Bergdorf’s, where Zac Posen was hand-painting a dress on a model in the window. There were models eating food in the windows at Escada – très existentialist. As we walked into Barneys, we ran into the beautiful Proenza Schouler boys, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez – we have a huge crush on them.

When we finally made it to Soho, things were calming down. And once we got to Marc Jacobs, there was a line outside – not knowing what or who was inside the store. Knowing that anything Marc touches is brilliant, we went for the line. The doorman let in a rash of people in front of us and then closed the door in our face and said unapologetically, “Sorry, the house is full!” A total D-list moment. This is when a fashion girl and her gay man go immediately for a martini – followed by a big old slice of New York Pizza.

I love New York.

When given the opportunity to be in Berlin for a couple of weeks to write for Fabwick – to be inspired by the edgy wardrobes and write about the scene, a fashion girl likes to look her best. If her wardrobe is born to be used because of the investment she has put into it – and her Lanvin pieces scream to be packed into her overloaded, overcharged suitcase and she has packed more stilettos than underwear, it can be a challenge to travel in a city like Berlin that doesn’t really support stilettos. Because I loathe cone and kitten heels – I was in no way prepared to see more cones and kittens in three days, than I thought I would in a lifetime. Once I saw the capri’s and the cones, the tivas and the muumuus, I started to feel a bit funny inside, not balanced at all, as if I were on a ship. I stumbled in my runway Prada platforms on the pebbles on my way to the Café am Engelbecken. My Missoni coat got torn on a roughly finished bench and the waitress at the café spilled coffee on my white Chanel messenger bag. I thought to myself, this feels like fashion homicide.

All I wanted to do was to sit at this beautiful café overlooking a lovely pond, where the East was separated from the West, and write my first column for Fabwick. I had been so eagerly anticipating finally getting the opportunity to be a bit like Carrie Bradshaw. If Bradshaw ever felt like she was wearing Patchouli in a roomful of Chanel. I felt like a harassed Chanel whore at Woodstock.

This is when a fashion girl needs to adjust, and I’m not in any way suggesting following the crowd, but fashion is both comfort and culture. I paid my bill for the coffee and over-tipped the waitress, like a true fashion girl does, and ran home to the apartment.

I pulled out the paint spilled jeans I had worn in Iceland for horse back riding (washed them in the sink and watched them dry), pulled out my nude Chanel flats and put graffiti stickers (that came with an art event ticket) on the logos, grabbed a man’s linen shirt from H&M, poured bleach on it, tore an old Missoni skirt and made it into a turban. No make- up. Just bright orange lipstick and my vintage Lanvin sunglasses. I jumped on the U-bahn to see Bodies in Urban Spaces (featured in the Art section).