Sunday, February 19, 2006

FW'06 New York Fashion Show - All About Marc Jacobs

After looking at all the collections on http://www.style.com/, my only feeling is that I would no longer care about the New York fashion week if Marc Jacobs stopped showing his designs in New York.

There were lots of nice clothes shown in the Fashion Week, but they were rarely directional. Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera looked more and more alike. Others presented nice clothes but appeared to be confused. At the same time, Marc Jacobs kept exploring new looks. In this season, Marc Jacobs offered cover up looks and showed us real life outfits for the winter: skirts over pants, leggings above boots, and coats over dresses. The looks were beautiful yet practical. The colors were mostly dark grey with sparkles. It continued the soft hues in spring 06 and it made me very comfortable to get used to the gentle color transition. I found many highly desirable pieces although it was a little overwhelming to figure out what Marc had to offer through the layers.

The Marc by Marc Jacobs collection was well made as well. Being a customer of both collections for three years, I have already noticed that Marc always brings ideas and details from the collection line to the Marc line to offer affordable designer looks. They normally come in the Marc line one season later, but nothing is better than a bargain design. I remember a top from three or four seasons ago in the collection line: it had this pleated details on collars and the delicate look eventually became one of his signature details. Then the same details appeared on a couple of tops in the Marc line one season later, and it became one of the hottest items in the boutique. In this season, Marc used the coat over long dress look from the FW '05 collection in the Marc line, and the silhouette showed a grown up Marc girl. Layering still comes into play in this collection, but this time around, the Marc girl is growing up. Not a girl, not yet a woman.

Marc Jacobs Collection (photo courtesy of style.com)





Marc by Marc Jacobs Collection (photo courtesy of style.com)






Sunday, February 05, 2006

Designer Agendas

I had thought about getting a designer agenda for a long time but never bought one. With the Outlook in my computer at work keeping track of everything, a designer agenda seemed unecessary. When I recently changed my job, however, I realized how important it is to keep my personal contacts and activities in a personal book that will follow me forever. Digital technology brought us all the efficiency and convenience, but when it comes to unexpected changes or a system crash, the old fashioned paper and pen system appears to work better. So I decided to get an agenda and return to the old fashion.

I always used agendas to organize my life since I was a kid. My parents always gave me those free agendas from conferences and business gifts. They normally only worked for only a couple of months and then were replaced by new free agendas. This time though, I need a really nice agenda that I plan to use for the years to come.

There are a few designers who offer nice agendas: Coach, Kate Spade, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Smythson, and Hermes.

Coach, Smythson, and Hermes don't use ring agendas. Instead, they offer agenda covers and secure the refills by the pockets inside of the covers. I was told that Hermes agendas start from $1,800, so it was out of consideration. Maybe I will get one when I am one of those C_Os.

I prefer something classy and I always think that showing a logo product in public is embarrasing. I failed to find a logo free agenda at Chanel, and I was told that the agenda market was shrinking so they only produced agendas in selected product lines. Kate Spade agendas are mostly colorful from the tabs to agenda covers. I would have loved to get one if I was in college, but apparently it's not something appropriate if I need to bring it to conference rooms.
I saw the most variety of agendas at Louis Vuitton and some of them are very decent. Epi, Suhali, and Taiga agendas are all good choices to me. I am especially fond of the Suhali agenda because of the details and the lack of logos, so I ordered one with plum color. Although the LV refills were sold out, I was able to find a set of Franklin Covey refill with pastel lanvender flowers. The lanvender and the plum work perfectly together.

Louis Vuitton Suhali Agenda

Louis Vuitton Taiga Agenda


Coach Agendas (www.coach.com)

Kate Spade Agndas (www.katespade.com)