PLATT: Sheer Genius
Feb 21st
Platt
One of the big new trends for Spring 2012 is the sheer skirt.
I know reading the words “sheer skirt” seems crazy, but a few designers made me a believer. Fashion houses used detail and color to distract from the sheer fabric, so this style is not too overwhelming.
I love the way Badgley Mischka uses embroidery and Charlotte Ronsonombre coloring to provide additional coverage. Jenny Packham’s beading detail creates a pattern that directs your attention away from the sheer fabric. Lanvin adds a heavy belt to balance the soft skirt, and draw your eyes up.
The designer to best executed this trend is hands down Christian Dior. Dior repeated this on the spring runway several times. Each piece so different from the other. Unique colors, detailing, and shape combined for a breathe taking collection.
Sara Platt
Christian Dior designs
PLATT: Tropic Storm
Feb 17th
Floral prints are a spring staple, but I’m loving the tropical-inspired patterns on this seasons palette. These prints are bigger and bolder than the traditional floral. I love soft pastel florals for Spring, but some designers have found a way to separate themselves from the pack.
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Dolce & Gabbana and Proenza Schouler used unique and sometimes strange patterns in their spring/summer collections. And by strange, I mean the use of fruits and vegetables by Dolce & Gabbana. Almost all clothing, jewelry, hair pieces and shoes are covered in food-inspired prints!
The London-based fashion house Issa, hit the head-to-toe floral trend and actually found a way to make it look casual. Speaking of casual, Marc Jacobs didn’t take too many risks, but the Marc line gives us easy ways to wear the tropical print.
Thought you said goodbye to gem tones this winter? Salvatore Ferragamo reinvents the use of these bold colors in spring/summer 2012. No one executed the tropic florals as well as Ferragamo, see the absolutely stunning line on their site www.ferragamo.com.
Sara Platt
PLATT: Jason Wu Spring 2012
Feb 14th
Jason Wu’s Ready to Wear Spring Collection has me praying for warm weather. The Manhattan-based designer knows how to perfectly incorporate risks into a ready to wear collection. While there was plenty of white/black pieces, candy pinks, neon yellows and a palette of blues in florals dotted the runway.
Let’s start with my favorite trend, the peplum. In some pieces, Wu used feather and beading embellishments and also successfully incorporated a short under a peplum top – no easy feat. I adore the the white dress with exaggerated feather detailing, it makes me think old hollywood. The strappy shoe and long earrings were a great way to update this look to 2012.
Wu collaborated with KAWS, the graffiti artist who came to fame in the nineties for inking up bus-shelter ads of Kate Moss, on the flower-petal print that repeatedly walked down the runway. Florals are no new idea for a Spring collection, so Wu’s use of a graffiti artist is a nice way to ad diversity in the inspiration process. I loved the high waisted, thigh-baring shorts in florals. My favorite is the pairing of the opaque floral top with the solid short. We saw lot’s of floral pant suits in couture Spring and Summer shows, and I like this twist on the trend.
The hemline went up and down in this colllection. Extremely high on sport shorts, which I loved paired with a cropped bustier or beaded-collar top.
Extremely low on the maxi dresses with cascading hemline. These dresses combated a winter feel with lightweight fabrics, bright colors and strapless necklines. For the ladylike pieces, Wu showed a fit-n-flare knee length dresses along side A Line shifts with excessive high-low hems.
Sara Platt
Grammy’s 2012 Fashion
Feb 13th
Fergie wins the Straight Off the Runway Award for her stunning Jean Paul Gaultier gown. Yes, it is totally sheer lace and the color is extremely bold, and most will take one look and say no. But this is how couture is done!
Platt
This dress hit the runway in Paris only two weeks ago and seeing it walk down the red carpet gave me the same chills as seeing it on a runway. Do yourself a favor and check out Gaultier’s line. It’s full of antics like lit cigarettes as accessories and giant gem-toned wigs, but this line is a great example of the updated ’50s inspired trend (see entire collection here: http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/S2012CTR-JPGAULTI)
Rihanna, without contest, wins the Sexiest Look Award. The creation of this stunning low cut, backless piece was actually a collaboration between her and Giorgio Armani.
Katy Perry wins the Elegance Award for this delicate Elie Saab gown. The soft hue, beautiful train and simple silhouette is a change for her past edgier choices — perhaps a pending divorce makes Katy conservative? Whether Russel Brand is to thank for this look or not, I adore the softer side of Miss Perry.
Kelly Price wins the Dressing for Body Type Award. This frock is perfectly cut for her figure, I especially love the placement of the waistline and cap sleeve details. And the color could not have been more flattering!
Jessie J wins the Rockstar Award for this gown by Julien Macdonald. The metallics remind me of a night at Studio 69 and the shape is ultra flattering.
Sara Platt
PLATT: Designer Spotlight — Erdem
Feb 8th
Erdem Moralioğlu is on his way to becoming a household name.
Born in in Montreal, Erdem earned a B.A. in fashion from Ryerson University in Toronto and later received a Masters at London’s Royal College of Art. He moved to New York where he worked alongside Diane von Furstenberg before relocating back to London to launch his own label in 2005.
Platt
This label is synonymous with color and femininity, and known for mastering floral prints. His fan base includes celebrities from all walks of life, and can be seen on everyone from Sarah Jessica Parker to Kate Middleton. His label “Erdem” is sold globally in more than 50 premiere department and specialty stores.
Erdem won the 2010 inaugural British Fashion Council/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund.The Award which is comprised of £200,000 and access to director level mentors across the industry. The BFC invites eight design houses to present their collections and future plans to the judging panel of Fund sponsor representatives and industry experts chaired by Alexandra Shulman, Editor of British Vogue. Along with Erdem in 2010 the shortlist included: Angel Jackson, Christopher Kane, Clements Ribeiro, E. Tuatz, Marios Schwab, Nicholas Kirkwood, and Richard Nicoll.
When asked to name his design hero, he chose Yves Saint Laurent.
Sara Platt
PLATT: Glee fashion hits low note
Feb 8th
The stars know the SAG Awards Show is a good time to risk an outfit.
Traditionally, not as watched (so not as important) as the Academy Awards or Golden Globes, this is a good time to
Platt
try out a look. The Glee ladies are young and talented, and should be taking a chance. The only problem, their choices came out a little flat.
When we see a dress going down the runway, it looks stunning and dramatic. So perhaps when Jenna Ushkowitz saw this going down the Rebecca Minkoff Spring runway, she assumed it was formal enough for a red carpet. She was wrong. The sad thing is, I love this dress and Jenna looks fantastic, but a total red carpet swing and miss.
Lot’s of starlets showed off legs in a mini under sheer fabric. However, Heather Morris’ leather cut off dress was too dominatrix-inspired for an awards ceremony. Not too mention, the neckline is unflattering, jewelry gaudy and the shoes tacky. Heather — What happened here?
When women want to accentuate a part of the body, a good idea is too add fabric to that area with details like ruffles and bows. Amber Riley’s dress puts a big bow on an area she does not need highlighted. The bow looks almost cartoonish, also her bust and stomach are covered in access fabric. To me, this dress would have been perfect for her without the bow and cascading peplum.
Sara Platt
PLATT: Calvin Klein ladylike for Spring
Feb 6th
Traditionally, Francisco Costa (womenswear creative director for CK) has chosen masculine styles with rigid architecture. For Spring 2012, Costa said goodbye to androgyny and hello to sweet feminine pieces.
Platt
Calvin Klein is known for chic minimalism, and that credo may be doing them a big favor this season. So many designers used electric neon colors and distracting patterns for Spring. CK kept to a clean color story, using only nudes, black and silver. The simplicity and color choices make this line a great ready-to-wear collection.
Most of the pieces were silk and included sheer detailing. Many pieces are lingerie inspired, as this was a breakout trend this past fall/winter. Which again, is good news for CK as a large part of their empire is lingerie. Uma Thurman, Naomi Watts, Ashley Greene, and Chloë Moretz were all sitting front row for the Spring CK show.
Sara Platt
HOLOWICKI: English Rockers “Purple Melon” Review
Feb 2nd
Purple Melon
Holowicki
London rockers Purple Melon is an unsigned hard rock group that are the self proclaimed quintessential rockers of British Rock. Their influences range from the Kinks to the Faces. I would have made more of a comparison to the likes of Aerosmith, the Eagles and Kansas. The band has been featured on MTV, AOL, KTLA and Hit Music Central. They have played at the Roxy Theater and other music venues around the world. They are scheduled to begin a USA tour of 140 different venues starting at the beginning of March to promote their new demo called Henry’s Rocket which was produced by Paul Stacey who has worked with the Black Crowes, Oasis, Chris Robinson and the Lemon Trees.
They crafted their style in the form of a US/UK style of rock that made a resurgence a few years ago with the likes of Jet and the White Stripes before the indie hype began. They record entirely on analog equipment so it may not sound as polished as digital but is totally acceptable. Watch for their tour dates on their website at http://www.myspace.com/purplemelonspace.
Steve Holowicki
HOLOWICKI: Nostalgia and Buddy Holly
Jan 27th
A recent photo of the site of the plane crash about five miles north of the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake. (Photo credit: http://coast2coastchronicles.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/ski1835.jpg)
I feel a bit nostalgic for a moment.
Holowicki
A few days ago I posted some information on Facebook that I recently discovered on Buddy Holly. I felt this was an appropriate time to discuss this at this time of the year. I was a kid listening to my mom’s old records decades ago and among them were “At the hop,” by Danny & the Juniors and “Not Fade Away,” by the Crickets. That was Buddy Holly’s former band.
On Feb. 3, it will be the 53rd anniversary of the death of three rising music stars whose lives ended suddenly. They are Charles “Buddy” Holly, Ricardo Valenzuela “Ritchie Valens” and JP Richardson aka the “Big Bopper.”
They had just finished a gig in Clear Lake, Iowa, at the winter dance party tour and a few minutes later their lives would be taken in a plane crash about five miles north of clear Lake Iowa en route to their next show in Fargo, North Dakota.
Buddy Holly’s band at that point had released about six singles and had sold 4-5 million records, Ritchie Valens was just 17 and had also released a handful of singles, he was too sick to board a tour bus, which had a broken heating system. The Big Bopper also was recovering from flu-like symptoms and requested a seat on the plane.
WATCH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SWIaJ5Ili4
Ritchie Valens, for those too young to remember — most of us were long from being born yet — was just starting out and had only a few hits in just about eight months with Donna, “Common Lets Go” and “La Bamba.”
WATCH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hto-UMuYkwk&feature=related
JP Richardson was considered the main act at the time and excited the crowds with “Chantilly Lace,” his biggest hit.
WATCH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b-by5e4saI
Years later, Don Mclean would record “Miss American Pie,” in memorial partly to the tragic event remembering “the day the music
(Photo credit: http://www.cityofclearlake.com/files/images/Surf_Ballroom_08-31-2011_101358.jpg)
died.” Contrary to popular belief, the single engine 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza that the singers flew in was not nicknamed Miss American Pie and most of the song is not about the legendary trio, only part of it is.
The Surf Ballroom’s annual commemorative event honoring the musical legacies of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson began in 1979.
This Feb. 2-4, 2012, the Surf ballroom will host an all new Winter Dance Party in anniversary of the bitter sweet events that happened back in 1959.
The sold-out event this year will feature Pat Boone, Jason D. Williams, Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys, Marshall Lytle of the Original Comets, Tommy Allsup (Buddy’s guitarist), The Flamingos, Danny & the Juniors, The Bobbettes, John Mueller’s Winter Dance Party and Sid King & The Five Strings!
Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012
Doors open at 7 p.m. Nightly
Ticket Price: $ 110.00 Adv / $ 125.00 Door
(Again, sold out)
Steve Holowicki
HOLOWICKI: Spotlight on Keith Franx
Jan 24th
Keith Franx in 2008 at the 15th annual Bluesfest in Quincy.
As promised, I’m writing about two out of the many area musicians. The first is Keith Franx, native of Minneapolis who came to Quincy to live with his family in 1994. Keith remembers a time in the land of 10,000 lakes when Prince, Soul Asylum and the Replacements were just starting out. “Oh man, Soul Asylum was TERRIBLE back in those early days,” he says.
Holowicki
I have seen Keith play locally a few times. Thursday night was the third. I showed up at a local watering establishment just to listen to Keith.
Keith plays a bluesy, soul type of one-man show guitar while at times playing the harmonica simultaneously. That takes a lot of talent. He is not a lead guitarist though. He‘s a strummer, so he is a in a different league than a BB King. Nevertheless, Keith has written and recorded hundreds of songs. From listening to him, his influences range from Cat Stevens, Van Morrison, Tom Waits, Black Crows and a little bit of Barenaked Ladies — sorry man. Keith pauses between sets to tell a story of his fourth grade crush, his teacher. He was excited when he got to sit next to her a field trip she took them, too. Some movie I had never hear of, “Sounder.” But, most importantly, he told the story of rushing through the airport to have his picture taken with a guy named Taj Majal, who is an American Grammy Award winning blues musician. At the time, he didn’t know who that was.
He also incorporates elements of world music into his music. No, I have not heard that much of him, but members of the audience certainly did. Keith admits that is his REAL influence. I’ll give him that. Keith’s next show is Feb. 3 at Johnny Bang Bang’s.
Next, I will be doing a CD review of a band named Purple Melon, an unsigned band that claims to represent the best of British rock.
Steve Holowicki
