Seen and Overheard

Okay, so it's only day one of fashion week and I've already have my first embarrasing moment.

Leaving the tents this morning after the Noir/Bllack Noir show, thinking I was looking rather stylish I might add, a fashion friend and I were stopped by the London Lite. Okay, not French Vogue or Scott Schulman but still!

Here I am approaching the photographer about to do my Chanel Iman fierce look and to my despair, they were actually asking my cute fashion friend to pose for the picture.

Luckily while she took the picture I was saved by street style bloggers that took a firm liking to my platforms.

I was so caught up in the embarrasment that I didn't realise that their journalist was actually shouting my name to come and get my photo taken too.

One embarrasing moment down, several more to go.........

Roving Reporter: Doo.Ri

Hello, fashionable people! As you might or might not know, tomorrow starts London Fashion Week. So - it's fabulous.

BUT in light of that, there are a million things to plan - which party will have a better scene, which booties go best with the fishnets - you get my drift. So how's about I give you my first thoughts on a few looks from Doo-Ri Chung, and you tell me yours? Great! xoxo

(PS: The line had gorgeous variations on the basic white shirt and pretty purple dresses, but I like black. So deal.)


If you must do 80s, at least make it a beautiful, textured Dior New Look-esque power get-up.


Fine, so here's some grey for you. Beautifully draped skirt, abstract-Valentino coat detailing and tights that everyone should buy now.


I don't eat meat and won't touch an egg unless it's free-range organic. And yet every time I see a fur I can't help but mentally drool. Oh, life. It's nice to combine a relaxed silhouette with an accent as luxe as pure-white fur.


Chanel Iman is working the high-waisted trousers and strong-shouldered top. The accented neckline keeps this from going too retro.


I don't think I have words. Probably my favourite thing from Doo.Ri, any collection.

Roving Reporter: Valentino, Post-Facchinetti

Mr Garavani stepped down. Alessandra Facchinetti stepped up and then was tossed right back down.

When former Valentino accessory designers Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri took over as head of the fashion line this season, they must have known it would be make or break. But after the lights came up for their show at the Sorbonne, many an editor decided they didn't do enough.

That's not to say Piccioli and Chiuri lacked strength or trampled lineage. This cream-coloured skirt suit with a Valentino rose at the neck and the gorgeously texturised three-quarter sleeve trench are hardly scoff-worthy. Still, the house has done it before, and couture week is supposed to bring surprises.



Exercises in tiers also turned out well, as seen in a beige pleated skirt and a mauve-satin one-shouldered evening dress perfect for the red carpet.



Yet again we see the bow-as-closure trend, with a smart bolero capping a slinky earth-tone number. I'd like to see it dressed up with a bolder lip and some rich-looking bangles.


The designers went for some sparkle to perk up their collection. Notice Exhibit A, a feathery mini-dress that could transition to the world of professional Latin dancing, and Exhibit B, an awards-season gown that would be gorgeous on someone like Jessica Alba.




The best dress of the day, in my opinion, was this high-necked, high-slit stunner. In classic Valentino red, it would pop in a spread for any high-fashion glossy.


Piccioli and Chiuri should receive praise for turning out a solid collection at a line that's been through its share of bumps, but the industry will continue to scrutinise them until the brand stabilises.

Until then, here's another question for the fashion crowd: Why, not long after race became a talking point with the all-black Italian Vogue issue, was Chanel Iman the only non-white model at the show?


And it's not just at Valentino. Maybe I'm looking to find fault, but the runways don't seem so diverse to me.

Roving Reporter: Jean Paul Gaultier

Money seems to be fresh on everyone's mind these days, and Jean Paul Gaultier is no different. The swoops, slashes, lines and dashes you'll see below are all his take on the intricate inking of cash.

Blending sweet antique lace with futuristic black-mesh sleeves and a bit of textile calligraphy on an A-line skirt, Gaultier finds a good balance of hard and soft. Anyone else feeling some sailor or stewardess action?


Nothing soft about Sessilee Lopez here. One of my style rules is to ask 'WWKLD?' - What Would Kate Lanphear do? I think she'd approve of the strong-shouldered blazer and ankle-trouser duo. The black gloves feel so matter-of-fact, yet so, so hot. Must get a pair or five.


Once again, Gaultier keeps the waist of his trousers up, up, up. Note that the tailoring isn't as skin-tight as some (brave) fashion-lovers tried to go two years ago. Think crisp '40s dame now.


Yet another high waist, but I don't have to keep reminding you of that. The billowy sleeves on this Spanish-chic blouse reminds me of the whirling and twirling embellishments on paper money. I'm loving the cape effect. We've seen this before at Armani Prive, so do we have a budding trend here?


Asymmetry? Check. Sheer? Check. Devastatingly gorgeous? Check! Jourdan Dunn's come a long way from the Hammersmith Primark where she was discovered.


We're heading into the part of Gaultier's collection that really moved. I'm picturing a handful of cash in Chanel Iman's hand, which would probably all be needed to buy this super-luxe mini. Gaultier only played with colour a few times in the show: a touch of yellow-green here, and a few hints of red now and then.


The panelling work from the Gaultier studio makes me swoon. How exactly does a designer channel Agent Provocateur and a mid-century Barbie at the same time?


Like Jourdan's dress before it, this dress flies. I can almost feel the layers and layers of chiffon fluttering off the screen.


Gaultier's shows was one of my favourites for the week, and after checking this dress out I hope I don't have to tell you why. Just in case, here's what won me over, from the bottom up: calligraphy-print hem detailing, billows, slits, gloves I want to take to a rock opera, a bow collar and a hat that this generation's grandchildren would kill for in a vintage shop. And it doesn't hurt that Karlie Kloss channels Scarlett O'Hara to a tee.


If someone would have stuck this on Jennifer Connelly and called it Balenciaga, I would have been fooled. As it stands, this looks better than real paper money and has structuring only a Gaultier or a Ghesquiere or a McQueen could make properly.


I wish this dress had been around when my bank once tried to find the person who ripped off my bank card. I would have worn it on a quest for justice. On a more serious note, Gaultier again builds on his sense of movement with this gothic number. And are all these double bangles a new trend, or are designers forcing themselves out of a recession by trying to get us to buy times two?


We all know Gaultier can make a corset, but whoa mama. We have the garter, the headpiece, the rocker gloves, a cape so light it could float away and a train that makes me wonder why I ever kept my skirts from dragging on the ground. I expect to see this in a photo shoot, stat.


Again comes the corsetry for this weightless sexy-bride look. Most grooms would want a private (and quick) ceremony with a slit that high.