London Fashion Week SS12: My Top 5

Renowned for our individualism and eclectic style, it comes as no great surprise that us Brits defined the use of prints at London Fashion Week. From Erdem's feminine florals, to Mary Katrantzou's show-stopping digital gardens, the catwalks blossomed with clashing prints in all colours and patterns. There were so many outstanding shows, it was really hard to narrow it down to just five. If I had a 'runners up' category the three M's would have been there: Mulberry, Matthew Williamson and Michael van der Ham.

Who were your favourites at LFW?

tomorrow! tomorrow!

...starts off London Fashion Week - best bit of all, eh? Ok, I'm biased, but really there are so many great designers to look forward to seeing. Here's a collection of my favourites :

Who are you looking forward to seeing?

Fashion Week: Look of the Day

If I were a designer, I'd definitely concentrate on full length, Victorian-inspired pieces such as this Julian Louie dress. I've just watched Coco Before Chanel, and it reminded me of how in love I am with that period look. It seems so elegant, and I'd love to wear it now, without it looking like a costume piece.

Where to begin?

Well, London Fashion Week came and went in a flash and it's left me a in the middle of a muddle of notes, that I'm finding hard to cipher through to form any kind of cohesion for a blog!

Some collections here and there, didn't exactly disappoint but didn't however deliver what I thought they would....the final night however made up for everything! Of course, the icing on the LFW cake had to be Burberry Prorsum's closing show. As soon as I saw Emma Watson arriving in that stunning dress of golden sparkle and skyscraper heels, I knew we were in for a treat. To be honest, I think I'll do another Burberry blog, as I loved every single piece that walked down that runway, from simple centre parted hair to knotted-heels-with-matching-ankle-sock-clad toes.

So, where do I begin? I was going to attempt to give details of almost everything that happened on the last day, what kind of mean feat is that to set myself up for? Instead, I've whittled it down (there's a word I've never used before), to those collections that stood out to me for the good and the bad. Of course, my fashion favourites will be blogged very soon.....

Aquascutum:

It's not a look I've ever been a great fan of, but the Aquascutum collection was heavily laden with safari style. It's been cropping up here and there but never more obviously than at this presentation, where the look was a heavy concentration on outwear: long jackets in camouflage tones of khaki green and beige, paired over full length contrasting maxi dresses. Ruffles frilled up here and there, as did a bucket hat that made me think, well if a model can't pull it off, what hope is there for the rest of us? For me, I wasn't overly keen on this collection but it was definitly the first presentation I've seen with such a strong serving of safari and basic undertones of masculine army wear.

Basso & Brooke:

Bold prints, and colours with repeated zig-zag detailing.

Chunky necklaces.

Great bolero jackets.

Clements Ribero:

Loved the strong eyebrows (I'm really into eyebrows at the moment!) and dark lips....kind of found myself liking the hair too even it was a little Amy Winehouse.

The clothes had kooky black cat motif details, looked chic and well put together with a cool sixties style look with simple shift dresses. The collection was a mix up of the soft and the strong, that worked really well. A first time since I've seen this designer, and one I'll be looking out for in the future.

P.S - Great shoes!

Fashion East:

Love, love, love! these grandad slipper shoes!

There's so much more I've got left to post; Roksanda Illincic, Peter Pilotto and of course Erdem and Burberry Prorsum.

Christopher Kane

It's getting late, and I'm currently having a night to recover from the festivities you encounter on the return to University....

Even so, I just wanted to post a mini blog for Christopher Kane's collection, that I'm sure I'll update tomorrow to the fuller proportions it rightly deserves. I don't know what I was expecting from his collection; I knew it had to be pretty spectacular....not that I feel Kane does 'spectacular' in the usual sense of the word. But the eyes of the fashion world were definitly switched on for his show...and it didn't disappoint. In fact, I was more than pleasantly surprised.

Gingham became a mesmerizing sight for the eyes, as virtually every model was wearing some.

And wow...what a silouhette was created...the secret to eye-deceiving slimness I think may have been discovered. I know a model is tiny compared to normal human proportions....but the cut, colour and arrangement of panelling on some of the outfits made for some serious slim tricks on the eyes...that hopefully will be transferable to the every day woman.

The centre panelling, diagonal lines drawing straight in at the waist and the slightly warped pattern of gingham all  make for the illusion of a slimmer frame.

It's funny how much difference two side slits of a skirt can make.

A great play with structure and cut.

Sweet pastel shades.

With slits up to the regions that thigh high boots are just about touching for this season, Kane spiced up a collection that could have become devastatingly dowdy with gingham in a baby-soft palette of blue and pink, and mild brown and navy hues. This collection has been one of the few that has really caught my eye for its playing and experimenting with cut and structure. The collection made for a perfect fusion of every day, springtime loveliness with a high fashion, sexy edge. I can't wait for Spring...

P.S If I had to be picky...the only thing that did disappoint for me, were the shoes. From the front, they looked like an awful shoe my 60-year-old step mum wears...the heel made them marginally better.

Let me know what you thought of the collection. My mind has clearly been warped in to Fashion Week mode.....I will look elsewhere for bloggings!

Look who turned up to the party....INvited!

Things are certainly brightening up! And I don't just mean the English weather. Of course most importantly, the London catwalks are heating up, and there have been some hot pieces striding down the runway.

First up: Jasmine Di Milo.

Her collection has caught my eye for simply how stunning it looks. I know it's a models job to make the clothes look even more fantastic than they already are, but there was a certain something here that looked particularly gorgeous. The colours and fit looked almost like a second skin encasing the models. There was nothing too complicated or fussy with this collection; simplicity this time, really did do the talking.

All in all a very accessible collection that looked great.

If embellishment is what you're looking for then there's really only one name you need to look for at the moment, and it comes as a slight surprise; Matthew Williamson. His collection has really grown up and developed for this Spring/Summer. Still true to his usual styling, the collection was feminine, pretty and flowing....but with a more chic and sophisticated edge. The shoulders were still expounded upon this season, but the silhouette was less about power dressing and more about looking strong, yet ladylike. My favourite look had to be these fantastic black shorts.

The same design was also used on shoulders....which I didn't mind at all.

I loved the clash of colours used; pink against canary yellow, yellow gold against faded bronze.

And as I said before...it really was the place for everything embellished.

Last but certainly not least for today, Vivienne Westwood claimed everything I love about fashion as usual. The unlimited creativity of fashion, was branched out past clothes to include the setting of her show. I'm not sure if I totally get the use of a real life dog, I preferred the accessorising of a toy frog.
Red Label has definitly taken a different route for S/S10. I got the feeling of a woman dressing to go and meet friends at tea parties. Hopefully, you'll see what I mean...
But anyway, I thought the collection had left alot of the traditional Vivienne punk vibe behind, as the eccentricity I was expecting in the clothes had vacated the models to set up in the surroundings and accessories.

Some of the greater things I thought were:

I guess by now, you may have wondered about the title of this blog.....

One person was plodding down the runway of Red Label, that made  me cringe. I know, Vivenne Westwood likes to use other 'models' in her catwalks, including Pixie Geldof, Daisy Lowe and Pamela Anderson....that I can just about get to grips with.

But.....Lisa from Big Brother 2009. No. Just quite simply, NO! I was expecting her sidekick David to prance down at any moment. Thankfully, he didn't. If you really want a look, go to http://www.style.com/ and the Red Label collection. Big Brother contestants won't be featuring on the misspdolly blog for sure.

And so it begins...

Well.

The last couple of days have been up and down, and very busy; I've been settling back into Uni life. Not a hope that my internet would connect readily and co-operatively, I thought it would be a while till I would be able to get my eyes on the first steps to be taken down the London Fashion Week aisle.

But today, without any effort and for the first time...the internet connected. Instantly. Straight to style.com, to see what's been happening, and I've had a good look.

What a sad surprise it was to find so far...and heavy emphasis I know, on 'so far', but what an uninspiring collection. I don't know if it's just me, but sometimes when you look at a collection, within the first 5 photos, maybe even less, you just know if you're going to love it enough to share with others. There wasn't really anything that gave me that much anticipated effect.
I loved Ralph Lauren for A/W 09 and especially for S/S 09, but for 2010....there's nothing 'doing it' for me. The best pieces I felt, could be found at Phi, Threeasfour and Calvin Klein, which usually never inspires me, being too clean cut and minimalistic. Below, I've posted my favourite bits from those...excitement mainly coming from those boots at Phi.

Fingers crossed for what's to come, eh? Let me know your thoughts!

Threeasfour

Calvin Klein

Phi