Hats Off to Easter

This Easter was filled with beautiful weather and New Yorkers from 49th to 57th and 5th avenue were all in their Easter best, parading around giant hats. Men looked debonaire in fitted, colorful suits, top hats, canes, and gloves while women flaunted their pastels. Children too looked pretty as pictures in their Easter outfits, some more pleased than others to be wearing giant bows. And what could be a more perfect accessory than live animals; as dogs were decked out in their finest Easter attire. 

The mother of all Easter hats

   

         

Pleasant purples added the perfect accents.

          

                      

                                               Matching magentas, yellows, and greens were certainly an Easter trend. 

Wonderfully white!


  

         

 

Prohibition-period Pascuas was the fabulous look of this group.

Here come the hats!

 

Tea Time!!

          
    

Front

Back

 

     

Fairytale Headwear

More Colorful Creations

I bet you couldn't find this hat on Sesame Street

 

  

 Babies in their bonnets

          

Courageous Costumes

  

  

                      

                                                                

 

UP!

A Journey Through Macy's

      

After much anticipation, Matthew Williamson for Impulse at Macy's has arrived as of April 13th. 

Once upon a time, a young fashion student low on cash and big on fashion, went in search of the Matthew Williamson capsule collection for Macy's. Being a couple of days after the release of the line, she decided to call Macy's first;  having learned her lesson previously when she made the journey to H&M for the Matthew Williamson collaboration in 2009 and found herself staring at empty clothing racks. When first calling Macy's, she went through various automated menu options before being connected to an operator who then directed her to the women's department. From here, the woman on the other end of the telephone had no idea who Matthew Williamson was and directed her to the Guess by Marciano department. With an exasperated sigh, the girl decided to battle her way through the flagship Macy's on 34th street in search of Matthew Williamson salvation. Upon arriving, she entered through the men's department. Dodging fragrance spritzers, she sprinted to the cash register to ask a sales associate "excuse me but where might I find the Matthew Williamson collection?" to which the woman replied, "who?" 

Taking a deep breath, she pressed on, dashing up the ancient escalator to the second floor, racing around hoardes of tourists to the women's sportswear section to ask another sales associate. This woman too had no idea who Matthew Williamson was but to maybe try the third floor.

Up another escalator she went to the third floor where she proceeded to ask a third sales associate who merely informed her that was not her department and to try the second floor. 

Not wanting to give up, the desparete girl pressed on, not giving up on her search for the perfect $100.00 Matthew Williamson dress. Up to the fifth floor she went where she had experienced success in the past when looking for a simple white button down shirt. Success!! The fourth and final sales associated pointed her in the exact direction where there was a massive display of the collection along with dressed up manniquins.

 A staggering thirty minutes after entering Macy's, Matthew Williamson had been found. Upon further investigation, the girl came to find that had she gone through a different entrance, she would have passed a window display's of the designer's collection.

 

Having successfully found her salvation, she browsed through the collection of dresses, shirts, skirts, and scarves, all in the same fabrics. One item worth debating was a light, black trench with deep blue polka dots, very 70's inspired and absolutely worth $99.00 and the journey through the flagship Macy's.  Leaving Macy's, the girl reflected on her journey and came to the conclusion that when going to Macy's, one should always carry a map.

Click here for entire Look Book

Here Comes the Sun

Nothing says spring quite like a floral frock. 

Spring has finally sprung on the streets of New York as the temperature rose above 50 degrees and raining. The students of the Fashion Institute of Technology were in full bloom, taking advantage of the weather to show off some bright colors and fashionable florals.

   

A flowy white dress is perfect for warm weather. The bit of black lace peeking from the hem adds a subtle hint of grandeur, spicing up this spring staple.

                                                  

   

There is certainly something to be said about the amount of plaid decorating the streets of NY. Commonly worn in the fall and winter months, it seems this hind of Scottish splendor is appropriate for all seasons.

                   

                                                                                  These lovely ladies were certainly not afraid to show off a plethora of prints. Striking stripes, polite polka dotes, and feisty florals decorated the sidewalk of 27th and 7th and one young lady in a glorious grape skirt skirt soaked up some sun.         

                                              

Nothing tops off a day of sun quite like a powder blue sun hat and this fringed female certainly works this fierce fedora. 

#9 New Fashion Show Formats

As technology is becoming more advanced every day, it is nearly impossible for something as simple as a runway show to come across as anything but old fashioned.  With the emergence of new types of fashion show formats, designers now not only have to focus on the clothing coming down the runway, but the runway itself as fashion shows have turned into a survival of the fittest in terms of innovation. One designer who has always been viewed as a classic retailer, was one of the first designers to launch a completely new type of fashion show. For its 10th anniversary of its e-commerce, business, Ralph Lauren presented a "four dimensional" light installation that uses light to make buildings look like they are moving and 3D replications of classic images from the brand will walk on invisible runways. This type of fashion show format is the first of its kind and truly innovative.

#8 Look Books

These photos are from the Spring 2010 American Apparel Look Book. I really like how basic clothing is put together in a very sophisticated way. The photos are extremely provocative which I definitely think helps sell the clothing as the models are beautiful and look great in the clothes. The simple backgrounds are brought to life with excellent lighting. The looks are very dance-inspired, similar to looks seen in the movie Black Swan however these looks are much more cheerful, with bright colors and lighting.




Here is another kind of Look Book I found extremely interesting; it's a video Look Book for Free People's April 2011 collection. I really like the music of the video and especially the light clothing combined with bright animals.