Aladaprada

I've been thinking. Thinking about what kind of dress I would be if I were a dress. A while ago, when heading home after a yoga class with my aunt, I said, "let's take Madison Avenue". She proceeded to tell the taxi driver to cross over town and take one of my favorite avenues in the whole city. She would sit on the right and I, on the left (it was the opposite last time) and without talking we would gaze out the window. "Oohs," "ahh's" and "look over here!" filtered the cab. That tradition carried on every tuesday night after yoga, for some time.

As we carried on up the avenue, I would always look for Makola. A womens fashionable, traditional and classy dress boutique. Dresses tended to be cut off at the shoulders, belted at the waist and perfectly "poofed" until they reached the floor. I make it sound awful, but no. The store (to me) seemed to call to older or middle aged woman looking for an Audrey Hepburn styled dress. The dress was needed for a special occasion, (special enough to spend a lot of money) but it would be saved forever and passed on in it's original Makola box. The dresses rang with the words: elegance and poise.

Not one of my favorites, but an example of dresses basic template

Sadly, Makola closed in January of this year, I had hoped to buy one of your magical creations when I was older and had some money. Maybe you will come back.

Not to fear, Prada is here. When flipping through Vogue and looking on Style.com, I can not get over Prada's Fall 2010 RTW. I am loving the preppy-ness and the pumps are killer. I like to think I am similar to this line as it puts forward a number of different looks, all with a different story. It also reminds me of Makola because the collection seems to be back in the past but is able to make it work in the twenty-first century.

The models from the runway show look like they are on a mission or as though they are modern librarians revamping the fifties and sixties look. "It's normal clothes," she said backstage before her show. "Classics. Revising the things I did in the nineties," taken from an interview by Sarah Mower. The glasses, the tiny bows, the huge coat collars, hair wraps, the chunky knitted knee high socks top it all off. Each look has it's own detail and emotion, that's what I like about it.

from style.com

What dress are you?

-Sj

No prize winner

Hello. Hello. I really have missed this! Even though I did not post religiously a while ago, I am trying and start it up and get this going again.

I hope you all have been well and are reviewing Spring Fashion Week on style.com, putting away all those summer dresses (unless you can pull them off in the winter), taking out furs (faux of course), and just settling in for a new season. I guess you can say I have. Although, I do try to pull of summer things in the winter. Also this year, I organized my wardrobe into sections, and then in each section it goes from summer-wear to winter-wear. It works well. As for furs, I only have 1 faux fur vest from lf (which I love!) and just got a new fall coat, so I am settling in for the season I guess.

Speaking of Spring Fashion Week, (even though I am too late to promote it,) Jane Aldridge from Sea of Shoes, held an art contest on September 28th on her blog (www.seaofshoes.typepad.com). "The idea is to pick your favorite runway look from the spring shows, and to render your own interpretation of it in a sketch," she stated. I liked how it wasn't so much a contest, but rather "a way to celebrate fashion designers and share readers artwork".

"The daisy-chain maxi dress" by Diane Von Furstenburg

My version

It didn't take me long to pick the look I wanted to portray. I chose Diane Von Furstenberg because I was looking for something vibrant, free and exciting. After looking at Jane's example of Meadham Kirchhoff's look from a London show, the words that rang to me were: eccentric and alive. Immediately, my search became more limited as conservative/modern or funky/vintage, were out of the picture.

Diane Von Furstenburg received a pleasing review for the clothes she put forth on the runway. Nicole Phelps for Style.com reports: "This season's nomad searcher is 'looking into antiquity for effortless beauty,' with Egypt and the desert on her horizon, along with a side visit to the Pre-Raphaelites. Saucy tiger-print safari suits and leopard-spot shirtdresses mingled with floral-appliqué chiffon and a daisy-chain maxi dress, while brightly colored macramé hippie frocks mixed with more urbane jersey numbers". All in all, wonderfully done Diane.

Another favorite of mine by D.V.F

Sadly, when I was frantically trying to send in my entry, I believe (due to all the madness: sizing, downloading, jpegs, pdfs...) it didn't go through. So, after a whiles work and numerous emailed attempts, my entry is still stuck in my sketch book. However, I decided to share it with you. I hope you like it, though I was rather put down when I saw everyone else's submissions on Flickr. People are just so talented.

Jane posted an album of all the entries on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/janealdridge/sets/72157624942613335/

Glad to be back (I hope).

-Sj