Admiring To Wear, Admiring To Watch: A Style For Everyone

For each designer, there's an audience. Some like it Versace's way, some Roberto Cavalli's Hollywood glam, some - Mark Jacobs' polka dots. I have my own favorites...

I usually divide designers in two categories - artistic and 'peculiar designers' - something I love watching on a runaway, but, most likely, would never wear, and those - who make wearable, but still beautiful, clothes and accessories, in the likes of Donna Karan, Alexander Wang, COMME des GARÇONS, Derek Lam... Love, love Derek Lam. 

As for Donna Karan - she will always be for me the epitome of NYC, very NYC women - a style for a true New York City fashionista...I feel like whoever is not wearing her - is not really a new yorker!

And there are always the likes of Jen Kao - beautiful clothes, amazing hats, but, where would I wear it? Although, these kind of clothes keep me dreamful... 

And since the last summer when I discovered Custo Barcelona at a small boutique in the West Village in NYC during an accidental 70-80% sale, I became a big fan of his very colorful, very 'Barcelona' style - [who would have thought I'd wear reds, purples, greens, blues, yellows - all in one piece of clothing?! But I do now...] 

I was pretty excited to stumble over his store in Milan last August, wearing him at the very moment, feeling like one of those fashionistas who come to a fashion show of a designer, wearing that designer and/or going to a sample show of a designer, wearing that designer...

Wearing my Custo: Lake Garda, Italy

Wearing my Custo: Milan, Italy. Right around the corner, behind the gates is located Custo Barcelona store. Check it here.

And now I'm a big fan of Victoria Bekham, who, in my humble opinion, does a much better job designing than singing. I'm just happy to see that she finally took her personal style and applied it to the clothes and accessory designs for other people to wear her style that many fashionistas around the world have been copying for years now...

And my recent discovery - [yes, I know, she's been around, but I've only taken a note now] - Ann Demeulemeester.

She is one of those designers, who I love-hate. Love for her amazing clothes and hats, but hate - because not many of her designs I'd wear.

Her recent inspiration is taken from the adventuress of Arthur Rimbaud, the nineteenth-century poet hero on his self-imposed exile in Africa, is very much in her women's collection but it very much reflects the styles of Isabelle Eberhardt, a Swiss writer Rimbaud invented, and who traveled extensively in North Africa in the late nineteenth century, usually wearing men's clothing.

So, Demeulemeester's collection shows the freedom of men's clothes, the tailoring of men's pants and shirts, but in a very sensual, sexual feminine way. Her recent collection is described as:

"The creature Demeulemeester created was part androgyne, part decadent, a poetic hybrid of East and West. As she did with her men's collection in June, Demeulemeester imagined a European wardrobe "infected" by the tribal dress her explorer encountered. That might start with something subtle like a striped, tailored blazer with tassels dangling off its buttons, or a trenchcoat de-structured till it was a soft kimonolike wrap. In the middle somewhere, there were slouchy openwork knits and a jacket over-embroidered to look utterly exhausted. Then came the more exotic pieces: the black silk tulle caftan with a trim of beads, the embroidered waistcoat with a trail of fringes. A sheer asymmetrical top and skirt appeared in an ombré that evoked a dust storm. With the spectral pulse of Harold Budd on the soundtrack sounding like mournful desert winds blowing through abandoned casbahs, Demeulemeester delivered one of her most seductive dissertations on la femme perdue."

And I would have said it better...

But don't get upset that you might not be able to afford it. I can't afford it for the most part, unless I, accidentally, stumble over a great sale. I would have loved wearing something of my favorites, like Donna Karan, at least for a day to a special event, like The Petroushka Ball that is coming in a few weeks [I promise, I'll keep it safe for the night...]

So, for those - my dear stylish friends - a good place to start your search for the look-alikes of the leading designers, and - at the same time - for the works of the unknown designers who make very stylish clothes, but not yet know is the British-now-also-American site ASOS.com. Love, love this site! Every time I find and order something from it, I get tons of complements...Of course, there's always Gilt Group and eBay, but the last time I bought Stella McCartney's knee-high boots on eBay, which ended up being a bootleg, I refuse to buy anything 'designer' on the site. Not even the customer service of eBay was able to track down my seller, who then later sent me an email saying something along the lines: "I will not return your money, neither send me the boots back. I'm a poor single mother of 3 children. I need your money..."

At least I was hoping that my money might have been put to a good use then...like feeding those kids in UK - [where the seller was located...]

A note to be taken.