Love it!: Chloe's New Fall Collection

In his first collection as the new designer for Chloe, I think that Paulo Menim Andersson did a great job (though I know many seem to be pining for old Chloe's more 'flow-y' look)....of course this is coming from a girl who loves dark colors and simple shapes.

Love the colors (olive brown, to-die-for), love the cuts and drape, love the simplicity. These are wonderfully wearable pieces to build upon....classics!


A smattering below.

Secretary Dress. Absolutely ADORE this dress. Stunning.

Silk Keyhole Dress.


Quilted Ankle Boot. And the boot to match.


Button Top. Simple, chic, timeless.

Printed Silk Top.

Thoughts? And what of designers taking a label in a new direction. This seems to be heralded sometimes, often lamented by others (Isn't change good?) who want labels to have a certain sense of continuity or in some cases downright scorned upon (think Marc Jacobs in the 90's with the grunge Perry Ellis collection for which he was fired--of course we all know how this turned out).

I think like anything its about balance.

xo,
BG

MJ and those plastic kitsch 'special items'.....

So I was looking through the Marc Jacobs website and found under the title "Special Items" all the weird plastic-y 'made in China' accessories that I saw last night at the West Village boutique. Now I tried to do a little research on this and I can't really shed much more light on it, other than my opinion....the collection of items varied from all sorts of kitschy plastics like initial key chains, "stinky rat" key chains (a little plastic rat w/Marc Jacobs written on it), a band-aid pack/whistle (plastic w/Marc Jacobs written on it), a pen shaped like a lipstick (???), some resin rings (3$), resin heart pins (8$)...and the list goes onnnnnn. A bit strange, it was kind of like "Marc Jacobs does H&M"....In retrospect a lot of his items are now made in China, which to me is a sign of quality going down-hill...poor stitching, ill fit...etc. I don't know, I suppose some of these things were kind of fun, definitely affordable, but I'm just not sure what the point is?? I couldn't get any photos, but if you are further intrigued check out "special items" on the MJ website and you can too can see the "stinky rat" key-chain. Oh yeah and the best.....this canvas bag for 12$ which has written on it (and I am not making this up), "Jacobs By Marc Jacobs for Marc by Marc Jacobs in collaboration with Marc Jacobs for Marc by Marc Jacobs". What?? I don't get it. That's just too many words. Its not clever, just annoying.

Anyway. Point? I'm starting to think MJ is selling out with this off-shoot...the quality is just not there, and the mass quantity of these things is scary, I felt like I was in a dollar store.

Personally I like quality, unique items of beauty, not mass-produced plastic kitsch 'made in China'.

On that note I did enjoy the Fall 2007 collection show, I like simple, tailored lines though it was quite dark/somber feeling.

P.S. I promise to post some pretty things today, no more critiques for awhile.