Thebe Magugu and Valentino Do A 'Dress Swap', and other stuff
This Week In Fashion
Welcome new subscribers! As usual, I have no clue where you came from, so let me know in the comments. How did you find me? What convinced you to subscribe? Whatever the answer, I love and appreciate you, mean it. It’s been a bit of a slow fashion week, but there’s been quite a few good moments, so let’s get into it.
Vogue started a ‘dress swap’ initiative and the first two houses to participate were Thebe Magugu and Valentino. I think this is such a brilliant idea, and truly started with a bang. Thebe was given a pink, Valentino Haute Couture gown that was worn by Tracee Ellis Ross, and gave it a ready-to-wear makeover. He read that Pier Paolo drew inspiration from the 18th century when designing the collection this dress was from, so Thebe decided to figure out where African woman where during that time and what they looked like. The result was a beautifully exaggerated gigot sleeve coat, with a drawstring that added such a fun, modern touch. I loved the sheer panel of the pant, and the combination of the two logos on the headpiece was a sweet touch.
Pier Paolo did the opposite, and took the ready-to-wear look he was given, and added a sprinkle of Valentino couture magic. He took a matching set and made it into a pant and regal coat, while adding a bit of his signature color blocking with a pink glove and shirt. He mentioned that in a letter Thebe had written him, the designer spoke about the significance blankets played in his culture, and I think this long cloak was a way to keep that idea alive. Both designers did such a beautiful job, combining both of their house codes, and I can’t wait to see more of these moments.
- Harry Styles for Rolling Stone; Listen, whoever chose the copy for this magazine cover set this man up for failure. With the slew of Don’t Worry Darling drama happening this week, I feel like this feature is getting even more fire than it would have otherwise. Regardless, we’re talking about fashion here, and the fashion wasn’t as interesting as it usually is. In the past, Harry’s editorials have felt a lot more avant garde and, well, editorial. Now, I feel like they’ve been getting more personal and true to his style as it pertains to this era of ‘Harry’s House’. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it makes me curious to think how much the conversation around him and the way he presents himself influences his styling. I love the UK cover. I think the Loewe fur coat is delicious, and the JW Anderson, sequin short is fun. On a day-to-day basis, I feel like Harry wears a lot of athleisure, so these shorts are a fun balance between his off-duty style and his performance wear. The US cover was a fun time too! Marni is a fun brand, and this custom look makes me think of those outfits you’d see weight lifters wear at the circus. The chunky, yellow knit is good, and I like the scribbled stitching on it. The cherry Loewe top is very fitting for obvious reasons, and polkadots have been a big part of his wardrobe lately, so the suspenders make sense too. However, I feel like we haven’t seen a suspender since pre ‘Harry’s House’. The Vivienne Westwood sweater and feather skirt is fun, and I wish we’d gotten a better shot of it. However, the way he wears those vans with the back folded over is cursed. Harry in a skirt doesn’t feel performative to me, so that’s not an argument I’m about to have, and I love a feather, so I’m here for it. The ERL look feels very sterile. I’m not sold on it, but the psychedelic tight is an interesting (?) touch. I really loved this Botter, beaded, argyle top. Botter is a really fun brand and this is a beautiful piece. Paired with those same pink shorts, but this time in blue, it’s a great match. Styled by Harry Lambert.
- Nicole Kidman for Perfect; This is the best thing I’ve seen all year. Celebrating Glenn Martens for this shoot, Nicole is wearing all Diesel and Y/Project. That shot of her flexing in a Diesel belt mini is going to be stamped into my frontal lobe until the day I die. It’s interesting to see a woman in a more ‘masculine’ pose on the cover of a magazine, because lately there’s been a lot of editorials in which we see men being styled and shot in a more ‘feminine’ way. I also know people are mad as hell to see her “inappropriately dressed for her age” again, whatever that means. It’s Glenn Martens so all these looks are great, but the way she’s holding up the trompe l’oeil dress as if to reveal her leg, only to show a tight of the same style, is brilliant. Styled by Robbie Spencer.
- Olivia Wilde for Variety; Before we get into the fashion, I want to say one thing. I don’t care about celebrity drama, and I am not a Shia LaBeouf apologist, but Olivia being so pro Florence Pugh to the public, while not seeming to care about her comfort or safety in private, is very insidious. Anyway, this shoot isn’t that interesting. I do feel like it’s tapping into the indie sleaze era that we’ve been seeing make a comeback. Nothing is really all that memorable. The Chanel dress is different from the things we’ve been seeing from the brand recently, but it’s hard to see in this position. The Saint Laurent fur is delicious, and the stir up jumpsuits are fine and quite chic, but nothing crazy; they make me think of American Apparel, which again, indie sleaze. The Louis Vuitton jacket doesn’t feel too thought out, and the Elie Saab dress is hard to see, but I like the voluptuous collar. Believe it or not, the only thing Gucci here is the glove. I’m not made at the zebra set. The mini skirt is really good, however I feel like the sweater vest is fighting for a different vibe. The gloves also feel unnecessary. Styled by Aimee Croysdill.
- Gigi Hadid for Vogue Italia; This is a really refreshing shoot for Gigi. I’m a Bella girl myself, but I actually really enjoy this concept, and I feel like we haven’t seen Gigi styled like this in the past. I love the grunge of it all, and how it feels like a private school kid acting out against her parents. The Prada looks really chic, and the rounded shape of the shoulder and sleeve is interesting. The necklace is throwing me off though; it doesn’t sit nicely with the square neckline We now know that the Balenciaga tape jumpsuit is not actually a jumpsuit and just actual tape, but it’s Demna so it’s to be expected. Me getting mad at Demna using random materials to create garments would be like getting mad at Chanel for doing tweed. She’s also carrying the Balenciaga trash bag, which like, again, Demna knows exactly what he’s doing. Not the best Chanel tweed skirt suit, but styled in this way it works. I too would be making that face in that look. I really liked the Gucci x Adidas collab, and I actually wish they dove more into it for the collection that it debuted. There was too much happening, and I feel like exploring elements of the collab more in depth would have been really great. Some of the corseted looks didn’t work, but I think the one Gigi is wearing is great. It’s a great blend of the two brands, and the lace glove is a great little Gucci touch. Styled by Grace Coddington.
- Coco Gauff for The New York Times; What a fun shoot! I love that tennis elements were kept stylistically, even though not every piece is necessarily athleisure. The Tyler McGillivary skirt has such fun cutouts and is the perfect color match to the Telfar top. The Christopher John Rogers dress is a great casual piece, and I love the alternating rows of stripes; it’s also kind of giving tennis ball? Finally, there’s a lot of pleated skirts in tennis, so replacing that with a Chopova Lowena pleated skirt was really brilliant. I love. Styled by Michelle Li.
- Harry’s looks were a fun time this week!!! First we have this little candy cane number and it’s a yes for me. Love a print on print.
Next we have more stripes! This time going in opposite directions and in one of my favorite color combinations. Once again, a it’s a yes for me. Listen, I know I don’t really have bad things to say about these looks, and I know not all of them are that interesting, but they make sense with the ‘Harry’s House’ era. I think they’re fun and probably easy to do his lil dancy dances in.
MORE. STRIPES. I believe we’ve seen this print before, and we’ve definitely seen this style of tracksuit, but this time instead of the usual large sequins it appears to be studded. I’m lost on the shoe again, I feel like a yellow gazelle was the obvious choice here.
Finally, my favorite look of the week. This pink and blue, glittery polkadot number was a dream. I need it. He looked like Bibble from Barbie: Fairytopia.
- Dua Lipa in this itty bitty Marc Jacobs bra is very good. I love Marc, and these chained circle looks he’s been doing lately are really great. I also love that she basically went for the full look for her beachy bday. Later she took off the large cargo skirt and seemed to put on some shorts, but still kept the original styling alive by tying the jacket around her waist.
Dua is a Mugler girl in my eyes so this little mesh number makes sense to me. However…
It’s the Thierry Mugler she took out of the “vault” that stole the show. I love the color blocking in this full leather dress, and how the purple section on the sides shapes the waist. The jagged neckline on the halter also compliments the design really well.
- Madonna in CJR is a good time. I love the design of this dress and how it looks like you’ve been testing all your markers.
- Megan wore Hanifa again, and she looks great. Working with Law seems to have her heading in the right direction. I love this textured set, and the whale tail thong detail is very hot girl.
- Lewis Hamilton is definitely one of Law Roach’s favorites. This man is a fashion BOY! I literally don’t know anything about Formula 1, but I’m about to find out! This Loewe look is so good. The color and texture of that sweater is delicious. I would kill for those shoes, and I love how the pants also have an inflated feel.
He also wore GCDS, and the Eastern European in me is living for the crocheted balaclava. There’s a lot of textures happening here, but I think they all work, and I like how it almost looks like an ombré is happening from his head down to the pants.
- Ariana Grande wore a reissued Prada skirt. The original is from the Spring 2008 collection, and looked like it had been jaggedly put through a printer. Ariana’s has more of a “polished” feel, and I think it suits her style more. There was also a lot of gingham in the most recent Prada menswear collection, so in that regard, a reissue of this skirt makes sense. This look kind of reminds me of her ‘Yours Truly’ era when she was a little more Doo Wop and tapped into the 50s a 60s a lot in her music and fashion. It’s a really sweet look.
- Lori Harvey wore Greg Lauren, who is Ralph Lauren’s nephew. Greg’s work to me looks like he took his uncles scraps and Frankensteined them together. So, in theory, this could work, but it does not.
- Rihanna, is that you? What is with this family and dressing like famous black women?
- Kim is wearing Balenciaga as she is wont to do. I know shape wear is her thing, but it kind of feels counterintuitive sometimes with how much her body is part of the outfit. I feel like a little nipples out moment here would have really made the look. It’s like she’s always alluding to nudity but never actually committing. Also, it appears that she is wearing a full pantashoe underneath this dress which is insane to me. What is the purpose?
So that was this week!!! I’m off to overpack for my 4 day beach vacay!
(due to said vacay, I will be reviewing the VMA’s, but it’ll probably be an itty bit late))
TTYL!!!
xx