A McQueen Halloween

Even after the untimely passing of their namesake, Alexander McQueen continues to grow under the leadership of Sarah Burton and still has the ability to wow me. Here, a short film by Parisian director Babette Pauthier showcases their Fall/Winter scarf collection. The scarves flow and mutate in a mirrored symmetry, with skull print and sinister musical undertones sitting perfectly with the soft flow of silk and more delicate shapes. Who knew scarves could be so captivating?

Coincidently, I went as a skeleton for Halloween last night having painted a full skeleton onto my black catsuit from Halloweens past as Katwoman. Unfortunately I have no shots of the catsuit, but here's my skull!

Barbie goes Gaga.

I was admittedly a Barbie lover when growing up (although the boy next door that I used to play with had Action Man, so Barbie would often go on little adventures) and I have after much deliberation bowed down to the sheer awesomeness that is Lady Gaga.

So when I became aware of the flickr page of a Beijing artist Veik I fell in love. Veik has started styling Barbie (who let's face it can often look quite dated) in the recent outfits of Lady Gaga - extreme headwear and Alexander McQueen lobster shoes in-all.

Whilst googling this, I discovered that la Gaga even has her own fashion empire brewing 'Haus of Gaga' and has recently been appointed as the new Creative Director of Polaroid!! An odd decision you may think but when you look at her credentials, it somehow seems very appropriate. Can't wait to see what she does with them.

Tribal

A tribal/safari theme was seen all over the Ready-to-wear SS '09 collections and this has evidently been filtering through to the High Street stores. Here are some of the designer labels which are pushing the look.

Louis Vuitton:

DKNY:

(I began to select a few images from all the designers but it turned out there were just too many so here are a few more shots. Top l-r: Anna Sui, Christian Dior, Christopher Kane, bottom l-r: Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Alexander McQueen.)

High Street retailers need to know their customer well in order to successfully interpret catwalk trends. (It might look good to Marc Jacobs but the truth is the typical UK lady will not wear a short grass skirt.) 

NY Tartan Week

So it seems that New York City goes all out for all things Scottish and tartan for one week in April. 

One event is the 'Dressed to Kilt' Fashion Show. Watching last year's highlights makes me want to go. Being Scottish, I don't look twice when I see men dressed in kilts (well, it depends on the man) for proms, weddings, or when the National football team plays, but I suppose it is pretty novel.

Robert (a.k.a. Rabbie) Burns Day is also a week today. Last year I didn't have any tartan suitable for a night out so ended up just wearing a Burberry checked scarf (oops, not very Scottish I know). I might go all theatrical this year reminiscent of Vivienne Westwood (above) or Alexander McQueen (below). Next week, I will post my outfit choice for the day.