NYFW: An all-American affair

Altuzarra S/S '15; image source: nowfashion.com

Long gone are the days of experimental American fashion. What used to be a Saturday reserved for young innovators going by the names of Gurung, Wang and Altuzarra has now turned into a snooze-fest as all three designers showed coll-ections that appear to have been created just for the purpose of generating profit.

Just two years ago young designer Joseph Altuzarra had his breakthrough collection thanks to a 'gut' telling him to go where very few begi-nners have gone - an expensive route filled with high-quality astrakhan fur, exquisite tailoring and excessive embellishment. Today, possibly as a nod to his collaboration with Target, he chose to create an all-American collection that brought very little to the table.

The silhouettes were well-too-known - the show opened with a classic Altuzarra white suit con-sisted of a crisp jacket and a high-slit skirt, con-tinuing with an army of knee-length dress clad models, cigarette pants and distressed chiffon gowns. One has got to applaud the designer's successful decision, however, to include laser-
cut leather pieces in the form of skirts, dresses and vests that almost have a fence-like feel to them, thus serving also as some sort of shields.

There can't be said much about Prabal Gurung's latest show, mostly because it looked like a mash-up of everything the designer has done over the past few seasons. The skirts yet once again had chiffon extensions hanging from the sides; there was a lot of asymmetry and excessive complications regar-ding the cut of the clothes; the outfits were fairly repetitive, and the whole mess ended with a weak evening-wear part of three gowns that had shower curtains covering basic white underwear.

Alexander Wang's story is very much similar. Just recently I read New York Times' Vanessa Friedman's profile of the designer and him shuffling between two brands, and funnily he mentioned how he is afraid of succumbing to the pressure and creating the same items for both Balenciaga and his own brand. I assume his fear is coming true, because what we saw at his show last night barely had its own identity.

Alexander Wang S/S '15; image source: ehads.com

Yes, there were some classic Wang-moments like the three consecutive scuba diving mini-dresses in orange, green and blue; the relaxed maxi dresses with a color-blocking technique that relied on fabric rather than color and the white and mint Adidas-inspired tennis pieces, but most of it felt like a scaled-down Balenciaga show down to the structured tops and immaculately tailored black satin pants.

For more photos of the collections go to Style.com and don't forget to follow me on Twitter!

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Emmys 2014: A very red, red carpet

Lena Dunham and boyfriend Jack Antonoff attend the 66th
Primetime Emmy Awards; photo credit: beimages

Alright, alright, alright. We all know that "Girls" star Lena Dunham ended up on al-most every worst dressed list regarding this year's Primetime Emmy Awards. But have you really stopped and asked yourself why?

I assume the comments would read some-thing like this: "Look at her, she's so fat, she should not be in a ball gown that makes her even wider" or "That dress looks like a wedd-ing cake exploded". For the record, yes, Lena Dunham is a big girl who is not ashamed of her body. She is a fearless actress who is not afraid to take risks on the red carpet and to constantly have fun with fashion. She also has a new hair-color and a gorgeous boyfriend.

What do you got?

Now that I got the Lena Dunham and her Giambattista Valli dress burden off my chest, we can move on to the rest of the night's risk-takers. Finding herself very high
on my best dressed list is Dunham's co-star Allison Will-iams who also chose to wear one of Valli's gowns from the designer's F/W '14 Haute Couture collection. The rest of the successfully clad actress-es who wore his designs included Michelle Monaghan and Amanda Peet.

The color of the night was definitely red. I have counted approximately thirteen red gowns - some more, some less successful, but all equally impactful. The list of women who wore the popular color is filled with names such as January Jones in Prabal Gurung, Claire Danes in Givenchy and winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus in a beautiful shade of coral, courtesy of Carolina Herrera.

From left: Claire Danes, Allison Williams, Kerry Washington & Lizzy Caplan; photo credit: Getty images

Furthermore, "Scandal" star Kerry Washington showed off her post-baby body in an electric orange Prada dress with a sparkling mini-skirt underneath and Lizzy Caplan shone in a backless black and white Donna Karan gown that literally took everyone's breath away. Some actresses, however, were less fortunate on the red carpet such as Debra Messing and Taylor Schilling in a beaded Zuhair Murad dress who bore with their choices.

Get the Met Gala look for less: Hailee Steinfeld

The best part of the Met Gala each year for every one of us is the red carpet and all the beautiful looks we see from various stars. Unfortunately, only few people can afford the looks celebrities wear.

Which is why I give you an affordable version of Hailee Steinfeld's look that almost everyone can buy!

1. Unique Vintage black & white dress - $238 | 2. G by Guess platform pumps - $40 | 3. Ice 1/10 carat diamond earrings - $75 | 

4. Ice 1/10 carat diamond ring - $75

The beautiful young actress Hailee Steinfeld wore a Prabal Gurung dress to this year's Met Gala that had a glamorous, but yet sporty feel. In order to steal her look buy this similar-looking prom dress from Unique Vintage and go the same achromatic four-leaf clover way when it comes to your jewelry.

Would you wear this look?

What will Sandra Bullock wear to Oscars 2014?

As we are counting down the days until the 86th Academy Awards, we all probably have one question in mind: "What will the big stars wear on the red carpet?"

To answer your question, here is my prediction about America's sweetheart Sandra Bullock.

There were times when Sandra used to choose feminine and figure-hugging dresses for the red carpet; however this year she has been balancing between low-key casual and sexy. Considering Ms. Blanchett will most likely get the Oscar for Leading Actress, I believe Sandra will go for something comfortable and relaxed which will allow Cate to shine. If that's the case, I predict she will choose the dove-gray embellished dress with pockets from Alberta Ferretti's F/W 14.15 collection; but if her stylist decides to impose a more glamorous look on her I guess it will be the fire red Marchesa gown from the latest collection, considering she has worn the brand twice to the Oscars before.

Other contenders in the game are French designer Roland Mouret who often dresses Ms. Bullock in his figure hugging dresses, Alber Elbaz for Lanvin who could possibly design a shiny custom-made dress for the star inspired by the brand's S/S '14 collection and Prabal Gurung who could lend Sandra one of the closing gowns from his F/W 14.15 show to make up for the much hated look from the designer she wore to this year's Golden Globes.

Which designer do you think Sandra Bullock is going to wear to this year's Academy Awards?

Which designer do you think Sandra Bullock is going to wear to this year's Academy Awards?
	Alberta Ferretti
	Marchesa
	Roland Mouret
	Lanvin
	Prabal Gurung
pollcode.com free polls

Stay tuned as more outfit predictions for stars like Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence and Julia Roberts are coming soon!