There is a common theory that fashion shows exist for two reasons: 1) to generate publicity and 2) to sell a fashion house's bread and butter. For companies like Dior, Gucci, and even Chanel, this means makeup and perfume, and even shoes and handbags. And that makes sense--I'd say less than 1% of the women in the world can afford straight-from-the-runway looks, but pulling a $24 Chanel lipstick out of your handbag at least achieves some level of glamour. But not all runway shows are on the level of Chanel and Dior, especially at New York Fashion Week, which, like America itself, is a bit more accessible and proletarian. So by going to the BCBG show yesterday, I was expecting to see a lot of jersey dresses and suit separates--basically, the stuff for sale on the 2nd floor at Bloomingdale's--which is what I think of when I think of BCBG. What came down the runway, however, was far more artistic and beautiful and luxurious than anything I'd ever seen at Bloomie's. The collection consisted of beautiful burnout velvet dresses, cropped quilted jackets, crocheted skullcaps, and feather trim everywhere. It was a little bit Stevie Nicks, a little bit I'm With The Band (an excellent memoir by premier groupie Pamela des Barres), and very rock and roll. My inner rock star loved it.
The good news (in my opinion, at least) is that dresses are still big for fall, and full-shape ones at that. I've been wearing them all season thus far, and they are just so damn comfortable. Here's a great contender.
This was one of my favorite dresses. I love the pattern and the shape--it's all very late '60s rock star girlfriend.
This was one of the more Stevie Nicks-esque looks. I own a similar crocheted shawl, and let me tell you, I love crochet, and I'm going to be tres excited if this turns out to be a big trend for fall. (This, by the way, is Irina, one of the very thin models working today, and a good friend of Kate Moss. I think she's very rock-and-roll, and thus a good casting choice for this show.)
A lot of the looks had this beautiful applique detail, this one at the neckline. It's very arts-and-craftsy and fits into that whole rock-hippie look.
Evening-wise, this was a gorgeous look, although it's hard to see all the detail in the photo. There was studding along the top, and the fabric was this beautiful navy crepe de chine.
This was my other favorite dress of the show. I love the mod colorblocking, and it just looked very wearable to me. (A cami underneath is obviously necessary.)
So while I'm not postive that we'll be seeing these fancy dresses on the racks at Bloomingdale's, hopefully we'll see the influence filter down to BCBG's actual merchandise. If not, it's always good publicity and will probably help sell BCBG's bread and butter--i.e. those $150 wool-blend pants you wear to work every week. But, hey, even working girls could use a little rock-and-roll in their everyday wardrobe.
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