Lace, Lace, and more Lace

A red lace dress from Erdem's SS 2011 collection certainly left a lasting impression this Spring and Summer season. Michelle Williams was soon spotted wearing the dress at Blue Valentine's premier last October and Alexa Chung graced the cover of Net-a-Porter's Spring 2011 magazine wearing that same dress.The lace dress trend is definitely on the radar this summer as Issa also creates a lace dress capsule collection for Net-a-Porter this year.

For myself, I went Victoria Prison (now empty and occasionally used for various occasions) in Central, Hong Kong earlier this year for an art exhibit and came across a darkish grey blue lace on top of beige lining purse and thought "this would look really good on a dress." I'd never been a lace fan before but the combination seemed to fit perfectly and the moment I saw Alexa Chung wearing Erdem's lace dress, I was already in a must-have-this-summer mood.

Before I knew it, similar dresses started showing up everywhere! Topshop (as worn by Kate Bosworth), French Connection, Zara TRF (a sleeveless version) all have made similar dress (if I remember correctly, Marks & Spencer also made something similar). Occasionally I'd even find runway clips with a similar above-the-knee, one-color, mid-sleeve lace dress. Do you want to see more in the future? With Kate Middleton's lace wedding gown, I don't think this trend's going to be off the shelves any time soon.

All photos from Net-a-Porter (from top to bottom, left to right): Alexa Chung in Net-a-Porter's Spring 2011 magazine (in a red lace Erdem dress, another white Erdem dress, and the same red dress for the magazine cover) and Issa's capsule collection for Net-a-Porter.

For more affordable options, try Topshop's Cobalt Blue Lace Flippy Dress, French Connection's Anna Lace Dress, or Dorothy Perkin's Red Lace Babydoll Dress.

Cheers,
Delilah

the alexa chung addiction: the white collar

Hello! Among the various readings and assignments I have to do for uni, I've still kept myself rather engaged in the whole post-fashion week vibe. I really wish it didn't end! I started spending the last few days of Fashion Week on my computer every morning during breakfast and watching clips of shows from the day before. Meanwhile, as I  was going through recent pictures of Fashion Week, magazine editorials, etc and I noticed another very "Alexa Chung"  feature: a white collar. The collar might be just popping out from a knit sweater or added on to the neckline of a navy blue dress. It's simple, pretty, and very cute!

at Louis Vuitton's SS2010 show

in Elle UK November 2010

Photographed by David Vasiljevic in The Accidental Stylist

in  Madewell's FW 2009 Advertisement

I like this so much, I think I'm gonna go dig out my knit sweaters once it starts getting cold and match it with my white button downs from interning. I wonder if it works... Nonetheless, if you get really creative, you can actually try drawing on a black collar to a white t-shirt? I remember seeing a tank top in Zara over the summer with a printed on bow-tie on it. Maybe next time, Zara can do what I just suggested. hehe :)

Pictures from thefashionspot.com, fashiongonerogue.com, and refinery29.com.

All for now,
Delilah

the alexa chung addiction: nautical stripes

I'm not sure if anyone in fashion can quite get enough of Alexa Chung right now. I first found out about Alexa Chung in senior year of high school when my mom took home a tack of British magazines from work. I think Alexa was on the cover of an Elle extra pull-out magazine. And something about her smile, eyes, and (seemingly) very effortless pretty look made me wonder who she was. Back then, Alexa wasn't a host in MTV in the US, so fashion people in the US hadn't really put her under the spotlight.

Nowadays, it's like "OMG alexa chung is wearing clogs," and we're all told to run out and go get a pair of clogs. Well... we don't really have to buy clogs. Alexa's style is amazingly cute and simple, but I must admit, I don't find it as "effortless" as it may seem because not everyone knew to start off with the basics like cardigans, stripes, etc (haha, number one example: me!). There's so much to Alexa's closet, I don't really know where to start off! So, as I was flipping through an old copy of Teen Vogue from last year, I came across the photo of Alexa in overalls and a striped top (right) and I was like "ah! that looks like a signature alexa chung piece!"

So for my first post on Alexa Chung, I'll start with the nautical stripes.
photo: Alexa in very nautical blazer (left), Alexa designs for Madewell (launched the February in New York fashion week), and Alexa in short overalls and a striped top.

Firstly, the stripes are everywhere this season! I think H&M and Uniqlo have a whole section dedicated to stripes this season. You can get tshirts with simple horizontal stripes over it in almost every color. Next, I find it very similar to the one Audrey Tautou wore in Coco Before Chanel. Lastly, while looking through the selection of cut-off tees and long sleeve shirts at Cotton On Body, I found a shirt just like the one Alexa is wearing (which I gladly bought home after the 60% off Chinese New Year discount). Oh, and Alexander Wang has stripes in his Spring/Summer 2010 lookbook, some very awesome inner-turned-out wear (maybe I'll write about that next time).

So I guess what I'm trying to get at is how to dress simply for beginners and how dress like Alexa Chung? I'm not really sure. But I do love my stripey top like no other. I can wear it with jeans, both loose fit light colored jeans from the back of my closet, or navy blue skinny jeans. Since my top is a cut-off, I wear a black tanktop underneath (layers!). And as seen from Alexa (above), this would also go well with shorts and overalls. I think a black pencil skirt would do too. As for shoes, I guess blue, black or white wedges would work (and look very good with short skirts or shorts by making your legs oh sooo long.) Otherwise, flats or oxford flats (definately a thumbs up for oxford flats, I can see them taking over ordinary ballet flats this year, maybe) in the same shade of colors would do. Maybe I'll show you after I've tried out some of these ways of wearing my top.

...all for now!