Chanel Haute Couture

This week the spring 2011 Haute Couture is showing in Paris. What, you may ask, is the difference between Haute Couture and Prêt a Porter (or ready to wear?). Haute Couture is made to measure whilst Ready to Wear is just that: ready to wear. You can pick it up off the rack, try it, buy it and skip out the door. Haute couture is about viewing the collection, ordering the pieces and then coming back for 3 or more fittings to get the fit exactly right. It’s made to measure in the very best luxury fabrics and all exquisitely hand sewn. It will fit like a glove (Highlighting your good points, disguising the bad). The cut could even be slightly changed to suit your personal style (which means that you will never bump into anyone wearing the same thing. Quelle horreur!)

So which Haute Couture show had all of Paris drooling? Chanel, of course! As Sarah Mower writes in Vogue.com, “People often wonder what makes fashion people cry at shows—a little absurd to shed an involuntary tear over clothes, no? Well, here’s the answer: That eye-stinging response only comes once in a blue moon, when a designer manages to move the hearts and minds of women on at least two levels. Suffice to say that’s why there was a deal of surreptitious mascara-dabbing going on as the audience blinked out into the gray light of the rainy Rue Cambon after seeing Karl Lagerfeld’s superb couture collection. A tour de force would be too crass a description for a show of such rose-tinted, shimmering delicacy—a palette of pinks and grays”. Sigh. There were beautiful tunics, sequin leggings, jeans, the prettiest frothy pink frou frou skirts, and pointy toe ballet flats. Divine clothes. That’s enough to make anyone cry.

Yours fashionably,

FiFi
www.FiFi.com.au

The Golden Globes! What a fabulous way to start off the awards season. Ricky Gervais got up to cheeky mischief, Glee stormed the stage, Colin Firth finally won for stuttering and Cher was no-where to be seen. Now let’s talk about the frocks. It was a night to look pretty in pink…

Looks to Love…

Nicole Kidman
We are proud of Nic. Simple. Chic. Prada (Are there any three words that go together so well?). Perfect hair and makeup. ..  She nailed it.

Julianne Moore
Hot pink, one shouldered Lanvin. So stylish. So fashion. So right. Who cares about a wrinkle or two. Her subtle hair and makeup was just right. She rocks.

Anne Hathaway
Love the over the top sequin Armani Privé. Who else can carry off a sexy low back, big shoulders and full on sequins? This dress was made for the red carpet. She knows her style and so does Rachel Zoe. I die!

Natalie Portman
You adorable thing. Love the unexpected, edgy look of the Victor and Rolf dress, with a big fat red rose, gently draping over a growing belly. Neat and chic, it was easy for you to waddle in this dress. Divine.

Claire Danes
Who said minimalism can’t look glamorous? Claire you are understated, restrained and modern. The strong architectural shape and subtle shade of this Calvin Klein dress is pure unadulterated sophistication. Add a single dramatic cuff. Love.

Please explain…

Angelina Jolie
What the? Your beauty is too overwhelming to handle anything so green and glittery. Which is why you should always wear black. Can we talk about the shoulder pads and the bad fit? Wrong with all that long, non de la non hair.  But who cares. You have Brad. Six children. And are busy saving the world.

Jennifer love Hewitt
Sheet. Pray. No love. Or is it a tablecloth? Completely unflattering. Old fashioned hair. Overdressed. Daggy. She looks like a bride. In a bad way.

Heidi Klum
We adored Marc Jacobs’ Spring Show but this dress was inspired by studio 54 and 70’s night clubs. Not for the red carpet. Points for being on trend. But too much makeup. It works on black runway models not blonde, beach babes. It’s time to leave the runway.

Christina Aguilera
Are we surprised? Of course not! Christina has never got it right. Bless. Maybe it’s not the dress. If Halle Berry wore it, it would have looked fabulous. It’s the platinum cheap blonde hair, black eyes and over the top red lips. Can someone tell her it’s 2011?

Helena Bonham Carter
You zany, crazy, arty gal. Mismatched shoes. Kooky sunglasses. Messy hair. Love you for being unafraid to show your mad style without compromising. Good for you for choosing to wear fellow fashion maverick Vivienne Westwood. You know your style. You have a strong opinion about what you wear. Some stars have no personality. Which means no style. Helena has it with a capital P. You go girlfriend!

See more photos of the red carpet at StyleBistro

Yours Fashionably,

FiFi
www.fifi.com.au

You go on holidays. You chill out. You ignore emails and your phone. You are nowhere near the shops. You stick your pretty, little head in the sand and your toes in the ocean. You relax in ignorant bliss. Of course, you can guarantee when you are out of fashion communicato something outrageous will happen. Some of you may be aware of the shocking announcement (made in December) that one of fashion’s major influencers, Carine Roitfeld, has resigned from French Vogue.

But wait: there’s more! Emmanuelle Alt, the Fashion Director at the magazine, has now been appointed as the new Editor in Chief. This is big, big news. Carine Roitfeld is one of the most important figures in fashion. You can’t deny she has incredible style. Beaucoup de style.  But not in that flashy, Hollywood way. She has that understated style which only the French seem to be able to carry off.

We love her because she looks edgy but always the epitome of chic. We love her because her fashion pages are always sexy without being vulgar. We love Carine for her insouciance, her savoir faire, her fearlessness in anything avant garde. We love that she embraces the dernier cri (and all those other French words that you always wanted to use but never get the chance). We love her because she was the original brilliant stylist behind Tom Ford at Gucci. We love Carine Roitfeld because at 55, age has never stopped her wearing all the serious trends. She’s never been afraid of black, leather and lace.  We love her because she has been seeing wearing the same pair of shoes over and over again (And is that a Band-Aid on her knee?) Who would have thought?

Now Carine is leaving at the end of January after 10 years at Vogue Paris and Emmanuelle Alt, who takes over the reins, is 45 and fabulous. She is known for her low key, very rock and roll style, of big shoulders, skinny pants and seriously high heels. Fashion is changing. It’s a new decade. It’s time to wipe the sand off your toes, pull on those fabulous strappy heels, and slip on your favourite Review dress. It’s time for a new start.

Yours fashionably,

FiFi
www.FiFi.com.au

Summer holidays. Is there anything better? It means no traffic, no office, no deadlines, no work. It means no stress. It means Christmas is over and the happy new year has begun. You sense a feeling of fresh beginnings in the air.

Summer holidays. It means mean sunny mornings. Relaxing, reading the paper. Lounging around. Leisurely working your way through breakfast. Taking time over a strong coffee. Slurping into a fresh, ripe mango. Not worrying about the juice running down your chin.

Summer holidays. It means slipping your pretty Review dress over your bikini, pulling on the cutest straw hat and sliding into any old thongs. It means stashing your Prada beach bag with every Vogue from around the world, then tossing in a great book, sunscreen and your favourite stripe Missoni towel. It means applying just a smidgeon of Chanel lipgloss. It means wearing your Tom Ford sunglasses with a nonchalant I-don’t-give-a-damn attitude. It means throwing your summer look together without ever trying too hard.

Summer holidays. It means wandering ever so slowing down to the beach. Lying in the cool shade, swimming in the turquoise waves and trying to surf. If can master straddling outrageous Balenciaga heels surely you can stand up on a surf board. It means having an afternoon snooze under the umbrella with salt on your skin, salt through your messy hair and waterproof mascara smudged around your eyes. It means afternoons of slurping ice-creams, guzzling peaches and watermelons and never counting calories. It means low key, carefree sunset evenings which are as easy as slipping into your white cotton Review sundress. It means sipping a cooling cocktail and knowing you don’t have a care in the world.

Summer holidays. It means feeling a little lighter. Feeling breezy, bronzed and healthy.

Summer holidays. It feels good.

Yours fashionably relaxing,

FiFi
www.FiFi.com.au