Obsession of the Week: Black, White, & Perfect All Over

   As the first half of New York Fashion Week ends, we have some standout designs, some great moments, and more than a few misses. 
    Lela Rose will probably be lauded for actually including more than one black model in her runway show. I think I counted 6/39 looks worn by models of color. It’s a big deal in this insanely racist industry. Too bad the clothes were generally unexciting.  Not one item came down the runway where I thought “ooh I want that.” I did love this dress but not in this limey color. Blimey.   

     Derek Lam, who made the only pair of shorts I actually like wearing, featured an interesting but unflattering mix of checkered patterns, cowboy fringe, and what looked like burlap. The show featured a few mildly pleasant looks, like the white dress below, but it seemed out of place among the rancher-at-the-office theme. Models of color: on 4/30 looks.

     Tocca had a few nice pieces, but overall it looked like a collection of flimsy undergarments that ballerinas would wear to class, and a few for performances. I mean, look at these pictures. Who wears that? Ballerinas. (And teenage girls in London who hate pants.) From my cursory review (and obviously making huge assumptions), I counted zero models of color. But that makes sense, because ballerinas can only be white. 

     I’m not very familiar with the avant-garde group ThreeASFOUR, but after seeing their spring/summer 2014 collection I’m pretty sure they are Lady Gaga’s outfitters, and I’m kind of obsessed with the cray cray. 3/21 looks were modeled by models of color, and every single model had a burnt orange wig on, as the designers paid weird tribute to Project Runway’s Jeffrey Sebellia.

     Speaking of Project Runway, Chrisian Siriano’s collection was exactly the mix of random and crazy that we want and expect from him. I personally liked one thing, but most of it was too odd for me and for most normal dressers. This collection wasn’t as fun to look at as some of his have been, with too little cohesion and too many boring prints. (And more b&w checkers, which apparently are in, but ugly). 6/38 looks on models of color.

     I usually abhor cutouts in all variations, but Yigal Azrouel’s show surprised me with a few pieces I liked. However, there were some dental hygienist outfits that I just don’t understand. And the vast majority of clothes looked very baggy on the models. Impeccable fit is one of the most important qualities to convey in the show, and unless they were going for baggy, this was egregious oversight. 4/31 looks with models of color, I think. 

     Monique Lhuillier focused her palette on pinks, oranges, and creams, offering a few wonderfully fresh evening looks but too many frumpy, lacy, collared things. I’m obsessed with the dresses below, though. 7/39 looks worn on models of color. 

  

    The most talked about moment, of course, happened in Victoria Beckham’s show. Not because of the clean but somewhat boring collection of black, white, and a bit of pink, but because of the this picture! Adorbs!! ANNA WINTOUR IS SMILING! AT A BABY! Best moment of NYFW. Harper is so cute, as is her unknown father. 

    The annual Vaute Couture preorder sale is going on now! As the most beautiful cruelty-free fashion line celebrates New York Fashion Week, it is offering lucky customers the chance to preorder coats, dresses, skirts, even sweaters from the new collection, and order coats from last season, at up to 50% off, with the percentage decreasing each day for the next week. 
     Vaute Couture is changing the face of high fashion in favor of the animals. For those of you who can afford to support the amazing company, do it now while you get such a sick discount! 
Click here for the Cold Weather Outerwear sale
Click here for the Vaute Collection Preorder
    Below are my favorite picks available right now. Nothing beats the original Audrey coat (in white) in my book, but until that comes back, I’ll enjoy looking at these pretty things with envy too. And if anyone feels like being my wealthy benefactor, I’d love any one of these as a present.