FASHION FLASHBACK: VOGUE NIPPON NOV 2007 - ISABELI FONTANA

courtesy of fashiongonerogue.com

MY HATE/LOVE FOR CLOGS

I must be sincere and admit that at first I absolutely disagreed with this clogs' revival. When I saw the chunky shoes on Chanel catwalk I was like "OMG, stay away from me" and I never thought I would have followed this trend and buy a pair.

But then I went for a walk and decided to visit one of my male friends who actually works for Prada. I was doing a little chat with him and I saw them... this pair of amazing sky-high clogs in cream were looking at me begging to give them a try. I coudn't resist. I started telling him I didn't even know Prada was doing a pair and he told me they've just arrived as a preview of the Autumn/winter 2010 collection. The damage had been caused already and I wasn't anymore able to stop myself from trying them on. As soon as I put them on they had to be mine - they were heavy yet chic, also not considering my improved height - the heel is about 5'' - but the price tag of Eur 400 stopped me from opening my purse and handle the creditc card to my inviting friend.

A few days after, I saw a picture of Garance Dorè - one of my favourite icon of the moment - wearing a pair of Chanel clogs, exactly the same colour I've felt in love with in the Prada boutique. Then again, a post from Caroline Bromst (check it here http://caroline.feber.se/art/177298/woodies/) made me start my research on the internet to find a high-street pair to satisfy my desperate need of clogs. And it's even still cloudy and cold these days!

At the end I found this Chanel-isque pair - they pretty much look the same - on urban outfitters from Jeffrey Campell (the ones suggested by Caroline) at Eur 144.

Now that I'm looking forward to receiving my treasures, I've started thinking about how I should wear them. Take for granted that I don't want myself to turn into a hippie girl coming back from the 70s and wear them with very long skirts or exaggerate flares, so I was looking for some inspiration.

Wearing them my own personal way, I think I'll match 'em with ankle skinnies, probably white or very light blue and some silk top/shirt or a frilly feminine blouse.

BREJE

She's beautiful, isn't she?

Pics courtesy of fmd1.com and Vanessa Jackman

WHAT THE OUTNET DIRECTOR SAID ABOUT THE BIG SALE

"Hello everyone, I am Stephanie, Director of theOutnet.  I wanted to personally say that we have been listening to all your comments.  First and most importantly, I want to say sorry for the frustrating experience that many of you had. You have shown incredible interest in our site today and we do not take that lightly. Clearly, while we were prepared for the volume of traffic the sale would deliver, in some markets, the UK mainly, we were overwhelmed by the speed at which you came to the site this morning. This remarkable volume –up to 9 orders a second - led the site to crash for many of you, and I want to say that we are very sorry to all those who didn’t get to buy anything at the sale, but delighted for the thousands of lucky ones amongst you that did walk away with a £1/$1 bargain from theOutnet. We want to thank all of you for being part of our first year celebrations.  With each event we are working hard to fix issues that arise, and want to say that we fully intend to offer you further bargain shopping opportunities in the future. Thank you again, Stephanie”

MELANIE HUYNH: INTERVIEW FROM MODELS.COM

I found this amazing and inspiring interview of Melanie Huyhn, junior editor at Vogue Fr, from Stephan at models.com and it really made my day!

She's one of my favourite voguettes (together with many others, that's true!) and I'm always collecting streetstyle pictures of her from the web. If I were the lucky interviewer I would have asked her many other questions but it's really enjoyable. Hope you'll like it.

1. How did you get your start in the industry?

Since my youngest age I have always been passionate about fashion, I have always collected fashion magazines, so it was natural for me to study fashion design. I started by working for fashion houses like Margiela before transitioning to publishing.

2. What are your inspirations and the references you always come back to in your work?

I have many references! I can be inspired by a film, a book, a show, etc... but more frequently I find inspiration in a muse or icon. Many women inspire me but I mostly trust my instincts and try to feel the current trends.

I am inspired by influencial women who defined their generation: Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve, Jane Birkin, Romy Schneider, Marilyn Monroe, Kate Moss... and also by the greatest photographer's vision like Helmut Newton or Guy Bourdin... and from creators like YSL or Chanel.

3. What do you think of the phenomenon of the star.stylist, and the attention that your personal style gets on the street style blogs?

With the democratizing influence of the internet and films like "The devil wears Prada" the biggest designers and editors in chief habe become stars, several years ago no one was aware of their work. Fashion now reaches a large audience and many young girls dream of expressing their ideas and sense of style by working in fashion. It seems to me that being a stylist is perceived as being more accessible than being a model, and especially more influential. Even if fashion shoots are the result of team work, the stylists are defining their own signature style while they were fairly unknown until recently. There are books on the great photographers, makeup artists, hair stylists, but on fashion stylists it is quite rare.

I am quite surprised that I have been part of this phenomenon, even if in a small part. I love fashion and styling, and I am delighted if my personal style is appreciated.

I love the street style blogs and I think they revolutionized the fashion industry, especially the pioneer Scott Schuman. I greatly admire the work of Tommy Ton and Garance Doré.

4. What was your most memorable work experience?

Working at Vogue Paris with Carine Roitfeld, the greatest source of inspiration!

5. As a stylist who works with clients both in Paris and NY which are your favourite stores in each city?

Paris: Colette, Maria Luisa, Balenciaga, Céline, Alaia chaussures, Isabel Marant, but I also like visiting less expensive stores like Zara or H&M to mix it up.

New York: Barneys, Opening Ceremony, Phi (now unfortunately closed), Tsubi, Topshop, Urban Outfitters.

6. What were your favourite collections this season?

MiuMiu, Prada, Rick Owens, Balenciaga, Céline, Ysl, Alexander Wnag, Jil Sander, Isabel Marant, Christopher Kane and of course Altuzarra.

7. What trend from the latest collections do you find the most interesting?

A lot of retro 60's, 70's. Also a return to femininity and elegance: with voluptous models (real women proud of their bodies) and top models on the runway! There was also a lot of minimalism, more classical shapes. Less exuberant shows for fashion shooots but a lot of beautiful pieces to buy.

Most of the pictures are courtesy of Garance Dorè. Streetpeeper, Stockholm streetstyle, shoot the breeze.

SEPARATED AT BIRTH???

Don't you find a certain resemblance between them? They pretty look like the same! Same heart-shaped lips, same eyes and nose...

25 MAGAZINE APRIL 2010

TORI PRAVER - ELLE ITALIA APRIL 2010

THE OUTNET HAPPY BIRTHDAY SALE: BAD LUCK OR...???

I've just returned from a true fight trying to shop the £1-$1-€1 sale of the outnet with no results at all! Jumped out of my bed this morning at 8.30am when my mobile warned me I've received their email announcing the sale was starting at that exact moment, I wasn't able to connect to their site till half an hour ago! Ok, I was like "all the others are experiencing the same thing, so don't panic", and kept trying and trying to connect even from 3 computers at the same time. No way!

When I finally managed to connect, everything but a few orrible things was already sold out (how???). And even when I tried to click on one of the remaining items, the loading was so long that when the page came on the screen the piece was already sold out!!! 

Now, should I blame on my bad luck (better say my slowness?) or was it really impossible to buy something?

Can you please tell me if any of you was able to shop from their sale today?

HAIR TREND: FADE OUTS

It's all about dark roots that gradually fade to honey blonde tips but the result is really cool! Let your highlights grow and you got it girl (or at least this is how I did it!). It's very natural and model-ish, I love the effect. And you don't have to go to your hairstylist and pay a lot of money for it! 

Even if you are not blonde, you can still make it as it works with any tone or textures - check Caroline Blomst, she's more like a red-head and she's got amazing hair.

I think the first one was Erin Wasson quite a long time ago and now it's everywhere! Just remember that, even it is a low maintainance trend, since you're going to light your tips so much, they'll need more moisture and you'll have to take care of them (to avoid they get dry) investing in some restorative products.

DECIDING TO MARRY A MAN IS LIKE DECIDING TO WEAR THE SAME BAG FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. THINK HOW MUCH YOU SHOULD LIKE HIM!!!

IT JUST CAME OUT OF MY MOUTH WHILE TALKING TO MY BEAU...

LET ME KNOW WHICH WOULD BE YOUR CHOICES (BAG AND MAN!). THESE ARE MINE:

Chanel 2.55

my husband Max

... FASHION TOUGHTS...

Carrie Bradshaw's closet

Cleaning my wardrobe for a spring update I’ve started thinking that a lot has changed. I’m not putting away clothes classifying them in “spring clothes” or “winter clothes” anymore and I haven’t been doing that for a long time now. Straight off that thought I was asking myself if fashion by seasons still makes sense today. In a world where everything changes so frequently, considering fashion as reflection of the times, what was right for the past decades isn’t working anymore now. Once I used to have a “spring wardrobe” and a “winter wardrobe” and to exchange them twice a year, adding new trends to refresh them at the beginning of each season. But now that all items are mixed up together and that we can wear a summer dress with a winter coat on it – not talking about wearing sandals on freezing winter nights-out – our shopping habits are more focused on what’s new in the shops rather than what we need for a specific season. People are more interested in buying quality pieces, clothes and accessories that will last for a long time and that can be worn over and over again. That is also why work-wear and minimalism as seen at Chloè, Stella McCartney and Celine for example are so successful now. They are not just selling beautifully cut feminine pieces, but something we are going to wear for years to come. And due to the many collections there’s always something new in the stores to lust after...

ELISA SEDNAOUI - VANITY FAIR ITALY

Thanks to fashiongonerogue