Mother of Prints

By Neslihan

Anything with bright prints and mixing and matching makes my heart go va va va voom. So when I saw Mother of Pearl's Resort collection I was -needless to say- in awe. And the reasons are out there: florals combined with leopard prints or with other florals creating an unseen dimension. The cuts were kept really simple but it was all in the use of colours. They picked three kinds of florals and re-used it for the blazers, dresses and shorts. So you can quite say you can easily combine the pieces with each other. Not only did she mix her flower garden with the wild, wild leopard printed fabrics but she also combined the first with stripes and geometrical shapes. It's just the kind of collection I would wear, simple, yet quirky. And just really colourful. The first jacket is ideal for chilly summernights. And I also loved how they used sporty flats to support the effortlessness of this collection.

                     

Polished sportswear

By Neslihan

Chalayan's last collection can be best described as polished sportwear. He pushed the female body into cubistic forms and gave them power by adding pointy shoulders, oversized shirts and straight lines. He played with proportion and tried to find a balance between his rectilinear designs and feminine tayloring, That's why the whole collection felt so natural and humane, even though there were lots of 'stiff' shapes. It never felt artificial. It was poetic, pure and honest instead.

While he was creating geometrical creatures in the first part of the show, the second one was all about classy tennis players. He created waists by using peplums and did some exquisite tayloring. The zippers and horizontal lines contributed to the sporty feel of this collection.

Even his night gowns were sporty due to their simple, straight lines. And since this collection was so pure in terms of colour (predominantly white/black/overexposed pastels and some popping blue and orange), Chalayan was free to use prints to spice things up. And boy, he did! He combined the prints with the clinical whites and created asymmetrical dresses. All the Chalayan keywords were present but what about the futuristic component? It was there but subtlely processed in the lady like  hats, which accompanied the sporty deux-pièces. Hence the transparent hatch in the front of the hats. In other words: it was a divine, balanced, breezy and poetic show praising sport's aesthetics and keeping it down to earth. Only like Chalayan does it.

Peplumming your way to the tennis court

Clinique chique

Sporty godesses

A neurotic splash of prints

Pictures: http://www.style.com/

I wouldn't say judgemental, rather critical

By Neslihan

I collect magazines. It might not come as a surprise but I love to buy fashion related magazines. I love the idea that the whole crew has worked a whole month on it (in some cases even 'months'). I love the idea of actually waiting for something. I love discovering something new, learning something I didn't know until then. I love to look at the flawless pictures and impeccable stylings. I love to read the articles. Yes, I'm one of those people who actually READS the damn thing. So it might also not come as a surprise that I'll be reveiwing Vogue Turkey's August issue in this post.

I've waited 2-3 weeks until I finally laid my hands on the Turkish edition of one of my favourite magazines. When I think of 'Vogue' I think of different countries showing what they've got fashionwise. Every issue should be recognisable. And every issue should also introduce its own young talents to ensure tomorrow's fashion. Vogue should be a platform for unknown artists and I think that's exactly what Vogue Turkey has tried this month. A magazine that actually teaches you something, that really is refreshing. 

My favourite article was actually the one about Oscar Wilde. It says that he has been a fashion editor for 2 years! I was so surprised when I read that because Mister Wilde isn't just an ordinary author. He was one of the leading literaries during the 20th century. He's the man behind the many poems but most important the man behind the horrifying 'The Picture Of Dorian Gray'. So why did Oscar become a god damn fashion editor? He simply needed the money and liked social events that came with the whole thing. He even changed the name of the magazine. He hated the 'lady' word so he changed the original Lady's World into Women's World. 

"When Oscar Wilde went to work at a women's fashion magazine to earn some money, all his friends made fun of him. They said he wasn't manly and professional enough and that he didn't have morals."

Even though I liked the photoshoots ( 'Yol Arkadasi Nur Fattahoglu' and 'Isiga Dogru') and articles, certainly those about newly discovered Turkish designers, there were also some things I didn't like.I thought the cover was tacky. What is wrong with that cleavage? Don't get me wrong; Miranda Kerr is a beautiful woman but I've never really thought of her as a high fashion model. Victoria's Secret isn't fashion, sure it's entertaining but it is not fashion. Miranda might work on that catwalk but she doesn't in Vogue. She has a strong and very expressive look and that doesn't quite work in huge fashion shoots. A model to me is a canvas, someone who can be everything/ everyone. Sometimes all at once. Miranda is sexy. And beautiful. Full stop.
 Another thing I didn't like was the fact that they had taken several photoshoots of the American Vogue. Sure it happens all the time but it is annoying. The whole Emma Stone shoot of July was also in this month's Vogue Turkey. Rather repetitive.

I adore the colours and textures of this shoot. The effects they've used are also amazing. They've tried to mix western silhouettes with oriental details and the totality looked modern and really bohemian.

More on: http://vogue.com.tr/
Source: Vogue Tr. August 2012

The NewGen looks promising/ Do it like a brother

by Neslihan
Hello, dearest fashion lovers
If you're still hungry for more Fashion Week collections: grab a mug of coffee and put your fashionable reading glasses on. And make sure you've got Fashionmania on your screen.

The Fashion Week I love the most is LFW because it's all about being innovative, extravagant and avant garde fits in this row too. It's about young designeres standing up and showing their most amazing creations. And since I tend to neglect the men's collections on this blog, I'm going to show you some style for guys today. And there have been a couple of very different collections pour le mâle. Star Wars, the Beatles, and sporty elegance were all to be spotted at this season's lfw for guys. Let's start with Martine Rose.

   

 Martine Rose LFW RTW A-W 2012

Martine Rose is one of the NewGen designers this season. The New what? The New Generation is an organization created by the British Council of Fashion that looks for new talents every season. It was thanks to this project that we can/could enjoy McQueens gaga creations, fall in love with Erdem's rose garden and go nuts with Christopher Kane's prints. And a little more recent is Mary Katrantzou's launch. Martine Rose though is different. Her show consisted of  black suit pants and amazing white shirts. She played with proportions while giving the male models a waist and  destroyed this waist again with bomber jackets. She used shiny, satin like fabrics to make the whole collection luxurious. She didn't only play with proportions when it comes to sizes and shapes but also when it comes to gender. She gave her dudes a blond/ grey wig but then again she made them wear Cats ( she had a collab with them), with which she tried to man her collection up. Not so many colours: think of spicy orange, military green and lots of black+white. The capes gave the collection another dimension. So I liked it because it was wearable but still had a few weirdnesses to top things of.

Matthew Miller LFW RTW A-W 2012

Oh how I nearly passed out looking at those delicious prints! I've got the impression that men's fashion is always a B plan but how Matthew Miller, another NewGen launch, puts it on A again! He knows to keep the balance between elegance and being laid back. He splashes with colours that make your head spin around. And his fittings are just so fine! His keywords are industrial, tailoring and sporty. One thing though: I don't get the futuristic black trench coats in this collection. Maybe drop 'em next time?

J.W. Anderson Men LFW RTW A-W 2012

The first thing I thought when I saw the first look (first picture) was: Starwars! How it hit me like a fireball! Seconds later 'the Beatles' popped into my mind. So that might've been J.W. Andreson's (also a NewGen designer) two inspirations while designing, well euh...his outfits. Don't get me wrong, I think his collection is rather interesting. I mean at the end I am the one who said that you have to look further than words like 'beautiful' and 'wearable' because like Simon and I agreed: fashion is a form of art. Fashion is there when no more words are left to say. So keeping that in mind I truly liked what Anderson did but it's just too literal. I can deal with futuristic but a full length homage to Darth Father and C-3PO is just a little too much. Maybe wear the jumpers but the shiny jumpsuits? Nah, didn't think so.

Move your fingers towards this site's direction for more fashion because less isn't more when it comes to exploring new designers.

Love.