Fashion: Designer Pugs for Charity

Worryingly, too many of my friends can envision me winding up as a crazy cat lady in my old age. There was a period in my life when it seemed all cats within a 2 mile radius of my house turned up at my bedroom window. What can I say? It's a gift.... Ironically, my own cat abandoned me a couple of years ago and, despite tracking him down and cat-napping him back, he wandered off again never to return. I've actually really been missing the presence of a pet in my home recently, but with plans to move away soon, it's just not feasible that I can buy one. I try and fulfil my wish for a pet (cat or dog, I'm not fussy) by either 'borrowing' the neighbours' cat or visiting my local jeweller who owns a whole troop of dachshunds (my favourite breed of dog). However, fashion, as if often the case, has come to my rescue with the launch of the charity fundraiser 'Pug Dogs for Happy Kids'. The campaign sees top fashion houses including Valentino, Balmain and Versace collaborate with Luisa Viaroma to give toy  pugs a style-over - quite possibly as close as I'm going to get to the real thing! The toys will then be auctioned on eBay to raise funds for UNICEF to help children living in impoverished conditions in Bangladesh. There are 20 pug toys to bid for altogether and my bid will be going to Giambattista Valli's quite fabulous creation:

To see all the dog creations including the designs of Mary Katrantzou and David Koma, and to learn how to bid, click here.

Balmain

I don't know about you, but I was kind of feeling like my head was just about clearing from the rush of Balmania, that fell upon us in autumn. Not to say that Decarnin's spring/summer 2010 collection wasn't as capable of achieving this again, but spring/summer 2010 just brought us a greater multitude of season defining looks. However, that time of year has come again and for me at least, autumn/winter belongs to Balmain.

The best pieces, unsurprisingly, came in the short and well-shouldered form he does best. This season thankfully moved away from the rock-chick look, clad in black leather and silver studs (how out of date does that look already?), and more into the land of a lady. Of course, whoever is lucky enough to be able to afford Balmain, is more than likely to be a lady who can afford a lot of luxury, so this collection will suit her just fine. It came in rich, sumptuous colours: gold, amethyst, deep sapphire blue and threads of ruby red. Brocade detailing gave those Balmain classics: second skin trousers, structured blazers, and ragged edged, thigh-skimming dresses, a new lady-luxe feel.  These elements reminded me of Elizabethan court dress, moving the style of the collection forwards, whilst still maintaining all of the fundamental factors, that keep the ladies going back to Decarnin for more.

The long gowns held a lot of impact, maybe even more than the gems that were the short styles. That one far left below, looks like it flows like liquid gold. Stunning to say the least.

There were a few odd bits and pieces throughout the collection; the second look had a skinny fit pair of navy blue trousers, which looked too casual - almost like a jegging - which just lacked the magical twist of Balmain. Similarly, a couple of pinstriped suits looked out of place. They picked up on the luxurious feel of the rest of the collections, with golden veined threads running through them, but compared to everything else which oozed opulence, they look detached.

Favourite Look:

I loved the more refined, polished look to this one, compared to the usual rugged effect of Balmain's hemlines.

The Evolution of Balmain's Army

Photos: style.com

Balmain Formula

Anyone know what it is, because looking on style.com they're not the only ones to have noticed that the Balmain phenomenon that has shaped our Autumn/Winter wardrobe has hit a standstill. It doesn't translate well at all to the average woman. In fact, we're not even talking about the 'average' woman yet, because the women able to access Decarnin's creations are the women setting style standards for many on the red carpet: Sienna Miller, Blake Lively, Rhianna to name a few. However, not one of them seems to be able to create the same sensation that the dresses created on the runway; the raw, edgy look that seemed so right on the catwalk looks completely awkward and misplaced in daily life, and totally loses the 'je ne sais quoi' that made the entire collection such a hit.

Have a look for yourself. What do you think? Have you seen a piece of 'Balmania' that looks just as amazing outside of the catwalk?

Sophia Hesketh

Anna Dello Russo

Pink

Rhianna

I think just because this isn't one of the dresses it looks slightly better.

Deborah Dauman: This is everything that can go wrong with style. A head-to-toe catwalk to red carpet translation, not made individual in any way...and screaming into my mind comes the word 'mutton'.

There are some people working it a bit better...just a touch.

Jazzy de Lisser

Blake Lively

Lauren Santo Domingo

The way it was:

Sew me up in sequins

Living at home in Devon, I'm short changed in the fact that there is no French Connection nearby. Always one to celebrate the highstreet....I love French Connection, and so despite being penniless, had to venture in on my travels in Manchester.

Well silly me! Because for Autumn/Winter they have excelled themselves. Clearly Balmain inspired, there are a few dresses absolutely dripping in sequins...seriously oozing them out of every fabricated pore. Being a student as I am, and therefore infamously known for having a tighter than tight budget, I'm still lusting after these dresses rather than buying them. Sometimes I wander about the highstreet and a few rare pieces linger around in my mind for an age (i.e thigh high Britany boots in Topshop), and I have a feeling these dresses will have some mind staying power.

P.S - These photos do the dresses no justice. So if you can't get to the shop, definitly have a look at http://www.frenchconnection.com/ for the lust, spirit and city sparkle dresses.

Springtime....

Whilst everyone is complaining that 'Summer' (if we even had it?) has gone, I am embracing the Autumn/Winter season. I'm feeling a stupidly high excitement at the chunky knits in stores now, more sombre colours and scarves and mittens! It must have been almost two months ago now, that I saw one of the first knitted dresses hit the highstreet and non-inspiring as it was, it still deserved a 'gasp and grasp'. However, I seem to have gained a child-like attention/patience span of about 4 weeks. I'm bored of reading about dressing with 'power' because a dress/top has 'statement shoulders'. As much as I loved it, there's only so much 'Balmania' you can read about....it's all just grown a bit repetitive. 

Maybe that's why I'm now so obsessed with blogging every new (well almost), development on the upcoming Fashion Weeks. Every day I'm checking out the shows (if only in person!), and it's so nice to see some new styles to ponder on. Already, I'm seeing style predictions that yellow and turquoise blue are going to be big, with the odd metallic, orange and even green hue about. Draping seems to be featuring on almost every catwalk. And sheer fabric cut outs are also being revealed from most designers. That one will definitly be coming up in the blog stakees at some point!

Being British, of course I'm eagerly...in fact much more than eagerly, awaiting London Fashion Week, to see what the designers will be offering us for next season. I can only hope it doesn't involve more shoulders!!

P.S....where would I be without style.com?