Project Runway, Re-Vamped!

All us fashionistas can agree on one thing, we know Project Runway! Fan or not, this hit TV show has given us fashion reality TV like no other show! The opportunities for new emerging fashion designers to really show what they got on the TV show runway every week for many seasons has become a real popular show for fashion lovers. We've only once seen these hundreds and hundreds of these garments on the runway once and forgot how many exquisite garments have been designed on this show. These designs need to come out of the dark and into new light, styled, shared with the fans and fashion lovers, all re-vamped! I've had the amazing opportunity to visit some of the Project Runway garments and pick some pieces out to style them and shoot them for a collaboration school project! For the featured  look on this post I chose a leather high-low leather skirt by designer Olivier Green from Project Runway Season 9, according to my research. I paired it with a sheer black top and a heavy beaded black shirt that I styled as a vest for this particular look. These are also Project Runway garments, however from extensive research the designers of the two pieces haven't been identified yet. So, Project Runway fanatics, help me out here and let's do some trivia and figure out the designers of these lovely pieces I've handpicked for this look. My inspiration came from glam-rock queens such as Madonna, Cyndi Lauper and Joan Jett. Pairing leather with shiny beading and steel colored metals on the earrings and necklace helped achieve that glam-rock look I was going for. Oh, and how could I forget the gorgeous silver guitar! I loved having this opportunity to style a look from Project Runway archives and collaborate with a fellow Photography student with the idea of dramatic rim lighting to create a more intense and visually stunning result in re-vamping these pieces. Enjoy and stay tuned for another similar project! And for the Project Runway die-hard fans, for those whom can identify the designers of the two tops, I will shout you out and credit you on this post! Comment your guesses or answers down below!

Styling, Hair & Makeup: Priscilla Garcia

Model: Chantel Heinen

Photographer: Wes Aldana

Olivier Green info.:

http://oliviergreen.com/

https://www.facebook.com/oliviergreendesign

The Favorites. (SS13)

As my Current Designers class comes to an end, we are assigned our final project. For the given assignment, we are being asked to choose five designers from the array of designers we discussed in class, all ranging from American, Italian, French, British, Avant Garde, emerging designers and reemerging ones. Of all these categories, I have been able to narrow it down to my top five for this assignment. Tough it has been. I sincerely mean that. So without further ado, let's get started. The order in which I will be discussing the designer's Spring/Summer 2013 collections is in order from my favorite being the first, and so forth. However, these are all my top favorites of the many covered!




 1.Jason Wu

First off is my most favorite collection we saw, Jason Wu. I had never really looked at his collections before, but this one really caught my eye and pleased me from the get go. I find it to be the perfect mix of lovely femininity and sex appeal. The light, sheer, and lacey fabrics mixed with black leather, harness-like straps and open backs, oh my. All that is what I feel compiles to this incredibly sexy feel in this collection without it looking ungraceful or provocative. And I am all for that! The colors most seen is black and white, and we get some coral, nude and navy in the mix. The silhouettes I feel were very classic with a contemporary edge. We get form-fitting cigarette pants, high-waisted shorts, a tight top with revealed backs, and midriffs. This collection totally gives me the vibe of a wealthy, young and trendy business woman on vacation. The fitted and tailored pants, button ups, and almost knee length skirts for work; swimwear, cocktail dresses, and evening gowns. I'd love to be that traveling gal! I couldn't think of a more perfect collection, it has a look for almost any scene. I love how it is also rather wearable for someone how wants to play safe, and also has other pieces for those who like to dress on the edge. Very well done job to the young Mr. Wu ! I really can't wait to see more.

2. Altuzarra

Altuzarra came in as my second favorite, I am just absolutely in love
with every thing about it. From the shoes to the embroidery! I also
feel like this collection is one that is quite wearable, which is another reason why I like it. Form, function and fashion! I had never been familiar with Altuzarra prior to this class, but it only took one collection to really get me hooked, and this one is just pure class, beauty and a little something. The color palette ranges from neutrals like brown, cream, gray and black, we get royal blue, baby blue, olive and gold. That is yet another reason why I loved this collection, it's one of the few that actually have some color for spring! The fabrics are just amazing, we have some pin-stripes, a lot of embroidery, texture, and volume. The silhouette was more relaxed, loose, long and a little layered. The evening wear was just icing on the cake, exquisite. I am so fond with the idea of how he made the dresses look like it was an extremely long, beautifully embroidered scarf turned into a dress. I also am particularly so proud of the fact that he stated those "scarf" dresses that look like somewhat of a hassle to put on, just have on simple zipper in the back and you're out! Again, FORM, FUNCTION AND FASHION. Another thing I adore in fashion is practicality. And his cape/coat is very practical! It has sleeves for when the chilly weather comes around, but also openings on the side for the more warmer vibe. Love love love. And I cannot end this without mentioning the shoes. The knee high gladiator sandal heels are to die for! They will add edge to any outfit, as we can see with them paired with more business casual apparel, and they are just going to be the hottest things for spring! I've been catching them on many runways for SS13 and I feel like they will never really fade. Overall, I rate this collection as perfection.

3. Balenciaga

Up next we have Balenciaga, and the last we will see of Nicolas at the house. I've chosen this collection for a little bit more reason than the previous and rest. I've personally been fond of Balenciaga for some time, so it wasn't new to me like the rest, and since it is the last of Nicolas designing for the house; whose work I love, of course I'm going to include it. Regardless of those facts, I really did like the collection a whole lot! I love the variety we see here through various ways, such as a lot of the bare midriff, high-waisted pants, long and loose suits, cropped tops, ruffles, slits, boxy mini-skirts and a little lace and what looks like to be tweed, but is not! I get somewhat of an old school vibe from these outfits and silhouettes. The silhouette is long and short, as well as boxy and fitted. We get a mixture of all. In the short end is the boxy-mini skirts and cropped tops, and the longer end is the pants, blazers and ruffle skirts. It's all a great mixture of masculine and feminine appeal. The color story of this is basic and plain like the accessorizing. We get black, white, beige, gray, baby blue, and hints of navy, red and a pastel yellow. The fabrics range from what looks like to be tweed but is actually embroidery, some lace, and the rest are rather stiff and structured fabrics. I think this collection was all in all a nice tribute to classic Balenciaga, as well as the best farewell from Mr. Ghesquière for staying true to the house for so long. Round of applause and forever appraised!

  
4. Gareth Pugh 

 Next aboard is a now new-found favorite, Gareth Pugh. Seeing this collection, I instantly liked him. I immediately started looking at his past collections to see what he was about. To my surprise, the rest didn't seem as wearable as this one does. If you solely look at just the garments and not sometimes gaudy accessories and over-the-top makeup, you have a beautiful piece. I chose this collection because I loved the simplicity of it, but the extra design on these rather simple pieces, did it all. The fringe, knits, ruffles, leather, and high necklines were exquisite aesthetic. This collection I also find to be rather easy to wear, it's one colored pieces and the separates are not over the top. The colors in this collection are black, white, light gray and red. I love that he kept it so simple and basic because then do you really pay attention to design and aesthetic. The fabrics are fabulous mix of leather, knit, and what looks like to be jacquard and some satin, but in the smallest amount not taking away from anything. The silhouette is very long and somewhat wide, with the trumpet pants, capes, and what looks like bell bottoms on our sleeves. I just think this collection is absolutely stunning in a more muted way, but in no way is that negative. My favorite piece is the dress with the fringe along the sleeves to the back, so perfect. Shoes? PERFECT.

5. Mulberry

 

 Last but definitely not least is Mulberry. Mulberry was not a new name for me to hear about in class, but I never really paid attention to their clothing. Hence the reason we learned about is as a reemerging brand. If anything, I was only familiar with their handbags, what they were most popular for. However, I was clearly really pleased with their collection for spring. It somewhat takes me back to the seventies with the retro makeup and ditzy floral print in come of their pieces. Another reason why I just loved it is because it's another of the few that actually showcase spring colors in their clothing! How nice is that. The lovely color story of this collection contains mustard yellow, cream, pastel orange, bright orange, mint green, white, black, navy and some nudes. Again, many of those browns and oranges taking me to a seventies era. The fabrics were also just as spring-y as the colors, we see a floral jacquard in different patters, fabrics and colors. We also get a few light, thin and flowy fabrics like lace, and these awesome flared pants in leather, other pieces in leather being some small coats. The silhouette is long, loose and rather wide. I just find the collection to be a masterpiece of spring.

So there it is, my tops for Spring/Summer 13 out of our covered designers in class. Until next season!

Images via Style.com and Nowfashion

S/S 2013 Favorites.

 As the fashion world junkies should know, the Spring/Summer 13 designer collections have been gracing the runway for a while now. Captivating our attention and blessing our eyes one look at a time! Now whether you liked a collection or not, I must say many of them did capture my attention with the bombardment of neutrals and blacks for the usual bright season! However, the majority of my favorite collections did embrace color a bit more. So, here goes my coverage of my loves of the debuted RTW collections in New York, London, Milan and Paris.

New York: 

Badgley Mischka

Let me just get straight to the point, this by far is my absolute favorite collection for Spring RTW. No other collection really stood out to me like this one did. I didn't ever pay much attention to these designers, but this is all I had to see to fall in love. The romantic rosy flushes and blushes are just the beginning of what really makes this collection tie in with its "A midnight summers dream" theme. Throughout the collection you get pastels, metallics, and even what I like to call metallic pastels. These soft and neutral colors that are enhanced in a shiny metallic way or with embellishing and sequins. What I also really enjoyed was the fabrics and silhouettes used. We get modern geometric cuts in some of the gowns made of flowy and lightweight chiffon fabric, perfect for spring; and we also go back in time with a few empire waistline gowns and big soft sleeves. Another popular and favorite silhouette incorporated is the peplum top and scallop details. We get a lot of girly and romantic looks but just about an equal amount of modern and more casual looks. This collection is very wearable and diverse with their silhouettes and fabrics.They kept their handbag and shoe details simple and pretty by keeping them all neutral skin colors and their model's makeup in the same neutral and romantic effortless theme. Lace, draping, ruffles, floral, sparkle, peplum, scallop, neutrals and pastels in a beautiful nutshell.

London: Tom Ford

  Edgy, classy and contemporary. I never thought all three descriptions could be depicted well, and then I see this collection. Tom Ford always delivers sexy. This collection makes me think of a provocative Chanel line, if it was to be done. The whites, creams, and blacks colorblocked on boxy silhouettes like the skirts, cardigans and blazers do it all. This entire collection is all neutrals with a pop of a few blues, and yet such a small color scheme is nothing to be blue about. I'm loving that the colors are so simplistic because the design and textures of the pieces are what's making the statements. Many of the looks he mixed and plays with soft and sleek textures. The sexiness of these classic looking pieces is the incorporation of long slits, cuts, and deep necklines. He also did some street-wear like looks very well in all black and straight silhouettes, and definitely had fun with sleeves on some of the dresses. And let's not leave those showstopping shoes unmentioned!  It's all about above the ankles and beyond. I love how unexpected it is to pair those gladiator and strappy heels with these timeless yet tempting looks. The retro-like sleeves and big up-dos were all taking me slightly back in time. Classy, edgy and sexy.

Milan: Versace

There is definitely a trend in the shoes I've been noticing on the runway for S/S 2013. Those extreme gladiator heels! Donatella definitely used some pretty high ones too, but in neutral colors and with a pointy toe. As for the colors in this collection, she definitely used a wider color palette than most of the other collections. This sort of armored Romanesque bohemian look in this collection is painted with black, khaki,  beige, bright orange, blues, greens, and aquamarines. It's like earthy tones with a splash of bright life, golds and some tie-dyeish and watercolor like patterns. The silhouettes are very flowy withe the gowns, and many of the short dresses and tops are boxy and straight with playfulness of the gold fringe. Crop tops, flowy skirts, cuts and deep necklines, and cinched waists are all what this pretty versatile collection is. The midsection is definitely the attention!

Paris: Balenciaga

In Paris, the trends in these Spring RTW shows aren't differing much from what I'm seeing everywhere else. Balenciaga consisted also of a very neutral color palette of black, white, khakis, and a tiny splash of red and yellow. Some of the fabrics aren't very spring like at all, like the tweeds, but the lace is definitely very in. Like many others, the silhouettes are very straight or boxy up top. High-waisted pants, blazers, and crop tops are raging everywhere! Once again, that mid section emphasis! This collection is very girly but mature at the same time. We see tweeds, knits, lace, and very fun ruffles. This is the perfect mix of masculine and feminine. 

XOXO-
PGM

 (all images via Style)