New York Fashion Week took its final bite out of the Big Apple last week and most fashion fiends and followers have already moved on to the substantially edgier avante-garde parade at London Fashion Week (happening now).

But NYC's shows deserve a recap, especially since many of the looks will be seen on red carpets well before Spring, and malls thanks to the knock-off effect. We followed our favorite designer's Spring 2009 NY presentations (and the party scene that surrounded it) via the always extensive online coverage at New York Magazine and our friends at Paper mag, and we've come to the conclusion that there truly is nothing new to be done fashion-wise, not that really works for women anyway. When a designer does attempt to think out of the box a bit, the results are usually too campy or just downright dumb. Example Michael Kors' mom-on-vacation meets Devo helmet-style visors. Ick.

We know you haven't even pulled out the sweaters for this Winter yet, but these shows are always about looking ahead, and in that regard, next year's warmer months promise two extremes: frilly lacy femme frocks and streamlined, almost androgynous simplicity. Our favorite dress maker, Diane Von Furstenberg, floated whimiscal boho looks down the runway complete with flowers and garlands in the hair (this is close to the ethereal getup we wore on our wedding day!) Sweet.

Cynthia Rowley's collection showed the other extreme, with a procession of jersey striped columns and bold, offbeat jewelry selections. How about this giant piercing jewelry-style ball belt?

Alexander McQueen's men's collection (which had some women's pieces too) also ascribed to the sleek/not meek aesthetic, with lots of stretchy fabrics, black and cream hues and fitted pieces. It was all very Euro-hipster ala Mike Myers' SNL Deter skits.

Over at Rock & Republic, they balanced out the jean genies (some of whom wore acid wash... please no!) with a crop of ruched and ruffled little club dresses which seemed to be going for a retro rock vibe, but mostly looked hoochie mama. (We love R&R, but this catwalk was a step backward after their noir-themed '08 Fall spectacle).

Speaking of hoochie, the bodacious Baby Phat show once again did the trashy bling thing, showing lots of leg, cheap looking pantsuits and one piece bathing suits, and baggy undies worn as shorts (?). The worst part about this one? The ill-fitting long dark wigs on the models... too urban tranny. Sorry Kimora Lee, but your show was more fugulosity than fabulosity. (This photo is actually one of the cutest).

So what did we love? We thought Charlotte Ronson's show was cute, effortless and well-edited, if a little slacker-looking. (Think that was the point though).

On the other end of the spectrum, last season's Project Runway winner Christian Siriano kept it way fierce.

Anna Sui turned up the color quotient, meshing ethnic embroidery, beading and textures like lace, quilting and knit for a Russian Doll-meets-American-Indian on acid feel. Love it...

And Marc Jacobs... ah Marc. The man is a god to celebs and iconoclasts alike for good reason. This granny chic layered look might be a bit much, but each piece is individually strong. Jacobs paired dainty chapeaus and turban-ish headbands on all his models with metallics, and plenty of layers (the man loves his layers). Nearly every skirt, cigarette pant, and belted jacket he put on catwalk was cute, even when presented in this cartoony way. We highly recommend you check out his entire show here.

All photos from NYmag.com

Even with the less than interesting stuff seen this year, the New York shows still seemed like circus-y good times. (Someday we will go to them!) In the meantime, we've got our own Fashion Week to think about, but after this came to light, and then this, things ain't exactly looking good for LA's frock lovin' flocks.

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The L.A. Fashion Awards are on hiatus until 2009. Why? Money. As in, not enough of it. Those are the awards that come at the end of Fashion Week. Co-founder Jen Uner told Apparel News “The L.A. Fashion Awards have tremendous support from the fashion community, but the business community hasn’t been able to step up the way it needs to happen to build the event." The Mayor was at the Awards last year. Project Runway, Juan Carlos Obando, and Max Azria won awards.

If you remember, there was also talk last month about this October's runway shows at Smashbox Studios possibly being the final ones at that venue.

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We missed Burning Man this year, sad to say, but photographer Charles Evans, Jr. captured some absolutely stunning images out on the playa. We'll be setting up a slideshow of these images (and many others) in coming days, but for now feel free to borrow fashion tips, transportation ideas and miscellaneous joy from the photographs below.

All photographs by Charles Evans, Jr.

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By Pandora Young

It was the typical sample sale scene at Rachel Pally's warehouse Thursday morning- Sweaty, scantily clad women practically crawling over each other in their frenzy for designer frocks.

Admittedly that's my idea of heaven. Even so, I generally avoid sample sales simply because I'm not a size six anymore. But Pally's gently-draped jersey dresses look good on every body type, and come in sizes to match.

I bought four. I'll be back tomorrow to shop for blouses, or maybe just to watch.

The Rachel Pally sample sale is located at: 2001 Santa Fe Ave., Ste. F Los Angeles, CA 90021
Aug 14-17
Thu.-Fri. 10 a.m.- 7 p.m.,
Sat. 10 a.m.- 6 p.m.,
Sun. 11 a.m.- 4 p.m.

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Now that Michael Phelps finally crushed the 400-meter this past weekend, how about those Olympic swimsuits? You know, those controversial Speedo LZR Racer bodysuits that look like a pair of Spanx pantyhose mated with a scuba suit. The ones that caused tons of world records to be broken?

People got their panties in a twist over them when they came out this February, saying that they amounted to "drugs on a hanger" or "technological doping." And then again this May, when rival company TYR Sport filed federal suit (ugh, bad pun) alleging that Speedo violated antitrust laws by conspiring with the United States swim team to push the benefits of the suit.

Technologically, the $550 LZR Racers make you more bouyant, reduce drag by 2% (according to some tests), are water resistant, chlorine resistant, were designed partly by NASA scientists, have no stitching, only bonded seams. Plus, they're super-tight and squeeze you like a sausage casing.

Aesthetically, I'm opposed to swimmers wearing a full-body condom. Why? Because there are few pleasures in life that come close to ogling Olympic athletes in micro-mini bathing suits. Let's not let petty things like, oh, setting world records get in the way of that.

And then, there's this, from the China International Fashion Week last March. You wanna talk about drugs on a hanger?

Well, hello, Bai Ling! Is that you?

-Gendy Alimurung

(Photos courtesy of Speedo and Ahboon)

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What’s with the meat? Our web editor brought in his bacon wallet a few days ago. Then one of our computer guys said that he had a bacon wallet, too. He muttered something about “bringing home the bacon.” There are all kinds of meat-themed accessories to be had these days.

(1) Here’s a Raw Kobe Beef iPod Nano Pouch, from GeekStuff4U. It costs $95 and is pretty close to the best thing I’ve ever seen. Except for the $95 part. For that amount of cash, you could almost have dinner for two at Fogo de Chao on La Cienega and eat all the spit-grilled meat you want.

(2) A close up of the Beef iPod cover. See the delicate marbling.

(3) Raw meat business card holder. Popular among non-vegan salarimen. From Rakuten. The site is in Japanese, though.

(4) Meat pencil toppers. Are they erasers? Whatever. These cuts of meat turn your yellow #2 pencil into meat works of art.

(5) Bacon Air Freshener. “It sets the mood for ‘makin’ bacon’,” a friend said when I asked him what he thought of this.

(6) Bacon bandages. You know when someone punches you in the eye and you put raw steak on it to make it better? Same concept, only smaller. Fifteen strips in a pack. Never doubt the healing properties of meat. (From Gags and Goods)

(7) Meat-esque Keyboard. Okay, if you look up close, it’s not really meat. It’s pink flowers on a white background that look like meat from far away. Flora that looks like fauna that feels like awesome.

Then, there's always this...

The ever popular Bacon Bra. Photo courtesy of bkusler on Flicker. The ultimate meat-as-accessory item. So, I believe the story is that his friend made this bra for him as a present. She agreed to let the photo be posted online as long as he cropped her face out. Bkusler writes on his site: "We totally deep fried the bacon and ate it later."

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One down. Two to Go!
Coachella Friday was actually very easy breezy. Okay, we left Thursday night thereby avoiding most traffic and we spent a big chunk of yesterday poolside at the BPM party (which was supposed to be Smurf-themed but didn't exactly turn out that way... more on this in our Nightranger column next week!).

Still, the feel at the fest itself was carefree, and felt a lot like a warm-up for the weekend ahead. The music was heavy on the melodic vibe (our faves so far: The Verve, The Black Lips, The Dap Kings) and the fashions had a decidedly hippy feel (Jack Johnson fans we're sure). For more on the music see PLAY, but for a quick glance of Coachella style look below.

Gathering of the tribes: Dread-headed hippies brought the whole kit and caboodle for their Coachella nests.


Rainbow Bright: Colored hair and clothing helps Coachella fellas stand out in the crowds.

Alison Goldfrapp abandoned her glam minx guise for a more earthy, Hari Krishna look. Unfortunately, her vocals were as flighty as a her get-up.

Hot weather hotties: "The less, the better" was definitely the order of the day clothing-wise for lotsa ladies. These gals took it to an extreme, but they were actually quite nice. If you have the body, why not wear next to nothing? The cool thing about Coachella is, you can wear stuff like this and not really get harassed.

Did all the hippies go home last night? Or did they sweat it up in the campground only be grungier than ever today? We'll see, but either way, we're fully expecting to see a Revenge of the 80's free-for-all style-wise, inspired by the blaring prints of MIA and the Purple One's eclectic retro looks. Check here tomorrow for another glimpse.

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Mark "The Cobrasnake" Hunter hit NYC's Fashion Week and returned with pictures of runways, parties, ingenues and behind the scenes looks at what happened.

All photos by Mark "The Cobrasnake" Hunter

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From www.weaknights.com

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There was something that made me feel sexy about the unveiling of Brian Lichtenberg’s Spring and Summer Collection at the Museum of Architecture and Design. The being in a lingerie store kind of sexy: with a mix of the accomplished and the young shining in everything from classic blacks to outrageous feather head bands, funky let-loose glasses and over-sized fur hats, it was an arousing night. Things got even more sexed up when the designs took stage. The California fierce models had their snap-your fingers faces on and particularly worked the Briangular swim suits. The bathing costumes were fun and functional—with sleek Art Deco-style curves of color.

This swim suit, as well constructed as the model’s abdominals, was applauded with a healthy amount of satisfactory hollers from the crowd.

Top on our hit list was this cotton shift. We would kill to have it as a beach pull over. The back of the dress was super cute too, with a hole for your shoulder blade to peek out of. There were also some hot grey and black stretch pants, a wonderfully androgynous black sleeveless hoodie with bright overlapping colors paired with skinny jeans, a mermaid style glittering blouse, and a sleek transparent black dress over footless tights layered with lace to name a few of the eye catching pieces.

After the show, things got a little kinky at the after party. The night came to a full swing with boozing and boogieing upstairs. I paused, from some serious hip-shaking on the dance floor, to tell Brian Lichtenberg looking more shy than proud, how much I enjoyed the show. He was still downstairs demurely accepting the zealous praises of every one that walked by. The California native designer was sweet and gentle. He looked like someone who you wanted to hold your hand.

Here the red hot redhead Brian is with his handsome friend and the saucy Lisa from “America’s Next Top Model.” Lisa was so friendly she had me feel her ass not once but twice. “No, you have to touch it where it meets my leg!” she scolded. Lisa was set out to prove to me that models do have asses (even though I never really asked). Her bum felt nice though; I scored.

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Check out next week's LA Weekly for continued Smashbox coverage:

including, Evidence of Evolution, JEREMY SCOTT and PETRO ZILLIA!

www.laweekly.com

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Grey Ant hasn't been seen on an LA runway since 2005.
And thank God for its return!
It was my favorite show so far this fashion week. It seemed to incorporate the ecological zeitgeist of our post- An Inconvenient Truth lives. It was hippy but through a Japanese filter. It was future-bohemian— tie-dye shirts and dresses, floppy bonnet-hoods, hemp and khaki. It was Kubrick meets Haight-Ashbury. Designer Grant Krajecki said he had been spending a lot of time in Seattle and the vibe of the place started to influence him. It was hippy, but not dirty hippy. "More...preppy hippy," he said. "A little more conservative." Think Tevas not Birkenstocks. Grant did. The boys walked the runway in standard issue all-terrain Tevas, while the girls wore Grant's own design, platform heels with velcro Teva straps. They were kind of genius. The models also donned Grey Ant shades, sort of futuristic versions of the classic Wayfarers.

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Ok, I've finally gotten out of my Heatherette-induced K-hole. I've had a lot of time to think about what I saw. If you asked me yesterday what I thought of the show, I'd have said it was like someone ate a Jo-ann's Fabric store and threw it up all over. Then ate a fourth of July church picnic , tablecloths, napkins and all, and then threw that up. I mean that's what I would have said yesterday. I've given it a lot of thought and have changed my mind. There was fringe, on top of appliques, on top of doo-dads and doo-hickeys, they were almost Suessian. Heatherette was like doing every drug you ever took— all at once.
Richie Rich, was a real honest-to-God club kid from New York City. Remember when clubbing and raves were hot shit in the 80s and 90s. The club kids were kind of like the disco era's dumpster prom baby. I was one of them, for a little while. So I started feeling nostalgic. I had just watched Party Monster, (I never watched it before because we sorta knew those guys the movie was about. We knew mostly Freeze, the hammer weilding drug addict. ) And I was thinking how back then kids glue gunned their clothes together and created "fierce" looks just for that night. It was their art and self expression, and I pictured Traver Rains and Richie Rich running around with glue guns.

Getting of course Patty Hearst's daughter Lydia and pornstar Jenna Jameson to walk in the runway. But even if it wasn't for the guy dancing, er rolling, in the aisles, the main tent felt at that moment like the fiercest party of fashion week. Heatherettte is about fun. It was so much fun that even now, it's all a blurr... You know what they say, "If you remember Heatherette, then you weren't there..."

Jenna Jameson

Lydia Hearst

Lydia, Jenna, and Richie Rich, on rollersaktes...

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A few changes at the tents in Culver City this year, for one no VIP tent, which was a better place to hang out, a little more removed from the lobby sleaze, err, I mean fleas of fashion weeks of yore, and if there wasn't a VIP tent, that meant the little patio outside the VIP tent, with couches and tables for smokers was gone this year too. Rats! In its steed, was the Design Suites. A big lie, a mirage in the middle of a Culver City business tract. There were canvas shopping bags ready for you when you entered, which might lead you to believe that you would be putting things in that bag, a hint that you would in fact be almost shopping with that shopping bag. The only thing you carried away was business cards. It was easier to get to the bar in the design suites though, and there was a real bathroom inside, oh and we scored some caviar on frigid potato appetizers. And ok, I got a pair of Smooches, a jean designed by family run LA-based denim company, with an angled waistband, so that one hip peaks out but the other stays covered. They had rhinestones on the butt that looked like two lips kissing.

Charon and I arrived in time for Chick, Nicky Hilton's line. Charon had a standing ticket but the publicist said she looked too good to stand and gave her a seat in the second row. Jewelry designer Tarina Tarantino sat next to me, her hair almost electric with a fresh hot pink wash. She was glowing, she said they were going to be shooting the back-of- the- box photo for the Tarina Tarantino Barbie tomorrow. And she was also sort of covering fashion week on her Buzznet video blog. Petro Zillia's Nony Tochterman sat in the front row with her daughter.

Chick's spring collection was.... well it was just a little cheap looking. Don't get me wrong, I thought the idea of apples was super cute, the idea of a Wednesday Adams meets French maid little black dress with a white collar and scalloped edges was super hot. I want one of each, but I'd want mine made with better fabric, and with better tailoring.

One thing I have to track down were the big red plastic purses shaped like bows. So adorable.

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LOUIS VERDAD

Louis Verdad's show didn't really have a theme. There was no through line for the collection, other than all of the pieces being really pretty, flouncy, and decidedly 40's. No one does dainty lady like Verdad. Only problem is, it seems like that's all he's been doing for the past few seasons. Pantsuits, pencil skirts and floppy hats. It's kind of become predictable and a little boring. And there was a lot of beige. Beige is just so safe, it's hard to look sexy in beige. (Though there were splashes of lavender and spring green, and his evening collection had lots of color). I just felt on the whole the collection looked a little too Stepford Wife-y.

Louis Verdad, the crowd

Oh Toni! Toni Basil, of Oh Mickey fame (how many times did you rollerskate to that song?) sat front and center at Louis Verdad. She kind of looked exactly how I remembered. What's her secret? She said she dances every day and stays out of the sun...oh and has a great skin doctor...

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(a beaming Jeffery Sebelia after his epic 52-look show at Vibiana)

COSA NOSTRA
BOXeight festivities were off to a slow start last night. When we arrived at 5:00 p.m. the courtyard of Vibiana was practically empty, bartenders stood idle, a coffee bar sat untouched and by 5:15 most of the seats for Jeffery Sebelia's Cosa Nostra show, scheduled to start at 5, were still empty. But in just 15 minutes, the place swelled with people and all the seats were filled. Vibiana was a great choice for a venue, really gave it a sense of grandeur, a nod to a former golden age of Los Angeles, and while the sun set high in the cathedral's windows, we hunkered down for the show.

The theme was Into the Wild, one of my favorite books of all time. And while there were a fair amount of t-shirts and jeans, the standard garb of the book's protagonist, I felt the theme really carried itself more in the relaxed loose fit of the clothes, the tattered edges and especially in the sun-faded dusty blue jeans. They almost looked like they were washed with sand, they reminded me of the desert. Sebelia does dresses really well, there were a number of pretty floral dresses, very sweet and sexy.

He also used some cool fabric, a nylon hybrid, that made jeans and rain-slickers look wet. There was lots of silver, pearl and champagne.

COSA NOSTRA, the crowd

Front and center were debonair designer Jared Gold and writer-slash-scapegrace Clint Catalyst. Gold gave us the scoop on his upcoming show this season—it will be held in his new home of Salt Lake City, Utah, the models have been curated by Catalyst including some actresses (Busy Philips). The collection, as he described it, is Nordic Belle Epoque through an old school chola filter. I'm booking my tickets now!

We saw actor Lucas Haas, and Ima Robot Tim Anderson. Tim's producing Lucas's new cd.

I saw Zoë Day (pictured above) dancing in the aisles of the church with sunglasses on to some Stevie Nicks song. I had to talk to her. "I grew up around fashion," she tells me as she takes off her shades. Who's her favorite designer? "Well," she says, "he is my father so I'm going to have to say Elmer Ave." Elmer Ave! Zoë's dad is none other than Jonny Day (right above), one fourth of the Elmer Ave designing team, Ward Robinson (left)
was with him. Ward and I sampled make-up at Smashbox last year. And planned to catch up soon. The guys are hard at work on their men's line...

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Every year LA Fashion Week seems to get a little longer. It has been pushed to nearly a month long string of shows and satellite parties. Today BoxEight, the alternative art/ production company returns for a second attempt at bringing LA Fashion back downtown (where some say it belongs), with their somewhat sadly titled “Have Faith in LA” (as if we didn't?) series of fashion shows and art events and parties held at Vibiana (formerly Saint Vibiana, a cathedral, thus the "have faith...").

Today is a full day of events. The schedule is so packed, I'm tired just typing it.

5:00 Cosa Nostra by Jeffery Sebelia, we hear the theme of the fashion show is Into the Wild, personally I can't wait to see what he former bad-boy of reality TV has up his tatted sleeve...
8:00 Louis Verdad
8:30 You Wear it Well Fashion Film Festival
10:30 Eduardo Lucero
11:30 Bohemian Society. party
12:30 DJ Hollywood INsider & DJ C-Town

2:00 go home.

Stay tuned for full coverage and lots of pictures...

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Kitson is about to get some fierce competition... Intermix, the über popular NYC fashion boutique has announced it will open its first West Coast shop on Wednesday, September 26th (despite what you may have heard from Daily Candy).

When I lived in NYC, Intermix was THE place to go for up-to-the- minute designer pieces, I would often spend hours drooling in the relatively small space on 5th Ave. crammed with Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney, and tons of others.

Now, we can head to the 5,000 square foot shop on Robertson and spread the drool.

Intermix
110 N. Robertson Blvd. Los Angeles, (310) 860-0113
Store Hours: Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

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