Fashion Books to Give and to Receive

The other day my amazon.com copy of my former colleague at In Style Hal Rubenstein's book 100 Unforgettable Dresses arrived on my doorstep. I loved that the title really tells it all...that they're unforgettable and not-so-much the subjective "best of" dresses. Flipping through the book, there was dress after dress that were absolutely the ones that you'd be hard pressed not to remember.

I like that it was a mixture of red carpet dresses as well as ones from films, runways and daily life. Mixed with the storytelling that is uniquely Hal at his best, this is definitely a great coffee table book to give and to get. We don't have it at the Troc quite yet so you'll just have to order it from amazon.com like I did.

One dress that was not included was the Shalom Harlow modeled Alexander McQueen one from his Spring/Summer 1999 collection. Hal included the very memorable Kate Moss hologram dress (one that I saw live at his Fall/Winter 2006 show). This was truly mesmerizing and gives me chills watching it again.



There are some obvious dresses in the book and some surprising ones. Can you guess some of the dresses that made the cut?

If you're looking for another book that is great for that fashionista in your life, Sasha Charnin Morrison from US Weekly's (and prior to that at Allure and Harper's Bazaar) book Secrets of Stylists is a fun "guide" of the fashion industry with lots of stories and advice from insiders. I highly recommend it and it's available at the Troc. Just give us a ring (402-934-8389) or shoot us an email and we can put a copy on hold for you!

source 100 Unforgettable Dresses book cover
source McQueen-Shalom Harlow
source McQueen-Kate Moss
source Secrets of Stylists book cover

Fascinating!

All I can say is that I've had this all planned...all along...really!

It's funny because I keep up with all my current celeb gossip because of my free lifetime subscription to People magazine. I do look forward to getting it in the mail to catch up on all that frivolous fun stuff that I don't pay much attention to other than that. Hard to believe that I used to not only read People, but at work had subscriptions to US Weekly, had stapled gossip packets that included stuff from the NY Post, Page Six, The Daily News, etc. And I used to watch shows like Entertainment Tonight and Extra! I don't know the last time I watched either of those programs. At my house, it seems to always to be tuned to ESPN Sports Center.

Art imitates life. Or in this case it may seem like life imitates art.

Being a woman in her 40s, I've been searching for a "wedding dress" that is not sleeveless and definitely not strapless. Let's just say it's close to impossible to find any evening dress that is not sleeveless and/or strapless, let alone something to wear to one's own wedding! It's amazing how many brides choose strapless. I've never quite understood the fascination as it doesn't look particularly great on anyone and the dresses are usually less interesting in my opinion.

When Ivanka Trump got married, I loved that her dress had sleeves. I loved the ever-so-slight high neck collar line. I loved the lace and illusion netting, which normally I am not a fan of at all. But this dress was so refreshing, classic and elegant. And yes, many compared her Vera Wang wedding dress to that of a certain Princess.

And then there's another Princess who also adopted her wedding look to that of Grace Kelly. It may be "attributed" to Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, but let's face it, there's nothing the House of Alexander McQueen about it whatsoever. Lots of people thought it was a big snooze-fest. To me, it was just an updated Grace Kelly dress and I liked it. But not as much as Ivanka Trump's dress.

Now, of course, everyone and their mother is churning out sleeved wedding dresses. While I can say I'm happy that perhaps this will create a new trend to offering some pretty sleeved versions, I'm not happy that it will seem like I'm copying a trend by wearing a sleeved wedding dress! I swear I was interested in this silhouette before Kate got married!

And then let's talk about veils. While Kate wore a traditional veil, it was the ubiquity of fascinators at the royal nuptials that really made heads turn...and headlines. Again, bucking tradition I had already decided to skip a veil and instead have some sort of headpiece with netting referred to as a "birdcage" veil. No, not like something that Beatrice wore on her head!

We are talking about something simpler, romantic, chic. Something close to this headpiece from etsy. Thank goodness for the internet. I thought I would have to have something made but lo and behold I think I found the perfect veil for my wedding day and I didn't have to leave my house! All these years, I had no idea that what I wanted was called a fascinator. Seriously, having been an accessories editor for so many years you'd think I know what it was called! (But to be fair, it hadn't really been a U.S. or celeb trend in the years I was an editor...)

Lastly, I decided to have no bridesmaids because let's face it, pretty much all my friends who I was a bridesmaid for are now married with children. Being a bridesmaid is fun in your 20s. In your 30s, it's a bit tired. But in your 40s? Forget it. Who in their right mind wants to subject your close friends to wearing matching dresses, or dresses in matching colors? I decided to ask my closest friends who have daughters to have them be flower girls instead. That way they can be a part of the wedding too by having their daughters be a part of the ceremony. Win-win situation. Little girl is thrilled to wear a dress; mom is happy to sit out and watch from the comfort of her chair, and more importantly, in a dress of her choice!

Apparently Reese Witherspoon also had the same idea. Damn, you celebs stealing all my ideas! And Reese also did long farm tables and simple flowers in short vases. I'm starting to think I might have....trend-making ideas. Fascinating!

photo source Beatrice: E! Online

photo source champagne veil: etsy

As Good As Fashion Gets-RIP, Alexander McQueen

As the start of New York Fashion Week began this morning, the industry was shocked and saddened to learn that one of their own, a most gifted and visionary designer, had died.
The news of Alexander McQueen's death spread like wildfire via Facebook status updates (how I found out), blogs and news outlets via the internet.

McQueen was truly an incredible artist with a genius, creative mind. I learned this not so much from his clothing but from the shows that he put on season-after-season. Being out of the fashion loop for 3 years, I'm hard pressed to remember many shows from his contemporaries and peers. But I can rattle off at least three seasons of McQueen pret-a-porter shows that made an impact on me.

The first true memorable fashion spectacle (and really, it was a spectacle from start to finish...) was from his Spring 2004 show held in October of 2003 at the Salle Wagram in Paris, a historic, gorgeous theatre near the Arc de Triomphe.
It was modeled after the 1969 Sydney Pollack-directed film, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, set during the Depression era and centered around a grueling dance marathon competition. This was one of my first introductions to how Paris fashion truly set itself apart from the rest of the pack. It was theatre to the highest degree and from that point forward I knew that McQueen was a true genius. I had never seen anything like it before. And the clothes were magnificent both on the stage and up-close-and-personal. This is someone who learned his craft on Savile Row, making custom suits for royalty and heads of state and it always showed in his impeccable tailoring.

The second show that comes to mind is his Fall 2005 show, "The Man Who Knew Too Much" held in Paris in March of 2005. I remember it because as a Hitchcock fan, I saved the invitation for its homage to Vertigo .
Years later I had it framed as a fashion memorabilia souvenir from "my glory days as a fashionista." I'm really glad I saved many of the items I received as an editor, whether it was the invitations or even the goofy trinkets that often came with the envelopes. It was at this show, very inspired by the Hitchcock Blondes of the 60s, that McQueen also gave out plaid blankets for us attendees to cover with. The hall was very cavernous and extremely chilly and the wool blankets were cozy as we sat for the show to begin. I still have my blanket (pictured here on Carine Roitfeld's lap as well as in one of his looks as a poncho) and will always be reminded of McQueen's terrific theatre he delivered season after season.

The third brilliant memory of a McQueen fashion show was his Fall 2006 Collection, shown in Paris in March of 2006. Now this was the one that ended with a glass pyramid in the center of the runway/stage. Inside it appeared a puff of smoke that moved and swayed until it shaped into a figure of a woman...that woman being Kate Moss. It was incredibly beautiful and downright magical. This time I really forgot about the clothes (can't remember the collection whatsoever) but the image of Kate Moss coming from the billowy smoke is something I'll never forget. And we will never forget Alexander McQueen.

Spring 2004 Collection images from style.com
Fall 2005 Collection images from style.com