I am ambivalent about fashion. I'm skeptical of trends that last 5 minutes, yet I love seeing a woman wear a beautiful outfit well.
I wear some of my clothes for 10 years or even longer. I try to buy things that won't go out of style any time soon and update with pieces here and there that will keep me feeling young. I don't have a big closet, and I try to keep my clothes pared down to just a few things.
You have to laugh at haute couture sometimes, but a few years ago I began looking at it as Art, and that changed my perspective. If I don't think of the shows in Paris and Milan fashion weeks as serious wardrobe contributions for the average woman, but as art galleries of a sort, I am more likely to enjoy them. And honestly, these shows are just big expensive marketing events for perfume.
Fall 2008 Ready to Wear hit Paris last week, and the Louis Vuitton collection really caught my eye for its fitted tops and full skirts. I'm sharing two photos without permission, taken by Karen Kooper at the Paris show (above and below). I hope she'll forgive me if she comes here, hehe. The others below, of Audrey Hepburn, I'm afraid I don't know who the photographers were.
Isn't this fez hat fun?
This pic of Audrey and Gregory on the Spanish Steps for "Roman Holiday" - one of my favorite movies - shows how well tiny Audrey wore the 1950s style with the fitted waist and full skirt.
Our old Iranian friend Shirin Majuri designs and makes clothes in her own version of haute couture right here in Lansing. I took a friend to her once to discuss a wedding dress, and Shirin said, "Why would you want a wedding dress like anyone else's?" My friend didn't go with her. But Shirin has a point, I suppose. But, even if I had $1000s to spend on clothes, I wouldn't. And maybe it's just sour grapes, but I think it's more fun to find great looking things at the VOA Thrift Store for $2.50. Think I can find a full skirt like Audrey's?
I hope this full skirt trend lasts more than 5 minutes.
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