Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer ’12 Accessories

Hello!

Yesterday in the Merrion Hotel I spent half an hour with the Louis Vuitton S/S’12  accessories collection.

Backstage at the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2012 show, Marc Jacobs said of the season’s collection, “We decided we wanted to do something very pretty, and very gentle, and very loving, and just fill it with pretty colours and beautiful light, luminous textures, things that were translucent and transparent. We wanted to … have air and lightness and softness”.

Naturally the collection I saw included plenty of bags, as well as lace and fur collars, shades, a parasol and a delicious brown leather binoculars case…

Although strictly menswear, that binoculars case would make a stunning bag…

Multicoloured classics, the ‘Alma’ bag is now available in over 20 new colours, with matching card holders, cosmetic cases and zippy wallets.

Epi leather ‘Alma’ bags L.V. SS’12 detail

A lace parasol sets the background for the ‘sweet feminine’ day-to-night Pochettes (right) and the softer, plumper ‘Speedy’ in pale denim (front left) and ‘Speedy North-South’ (centre).

Sheer nylon voile ‘Classic Lockit’, ‘Stretched Lockit’ and clutch (right back to front) with lace collar and crystal tiara (right)

Lace collar and pale blue and pink patent ‘Speedy’ bags

Small canvas ‘Cabas’ bags

Leather and latticework: The metallic calf-skin leather ‘Basket’ bag… I love this. It’s so wrong it’s almost genius.

I think the “air and lightness and softness” brief has been met, don’t you?

And here’s a whisper of Pre-Fall…The SC bag, in calfskin and Crocodile

Mink fur collar, fox fur stole and gold, tasselled octagon clutch.

Yours,

Whisty Xx

P.s. Images from the Louis Vuitton S/S’12 ad campaign ft. Poppy Delevigne have been released, here’s a sneak peek and behind the scenes

BT2 SS’12 New Season Preview

Hello!

This week saw BT2‘s first preview fashion show in 5 years. The cooler, younger sister of Brown Thomas, offers a brighter, alternative, more casual way of dressing with collections from fashion houses including, Sandro, IRO, Maje and Lucy in Disguise. It also stocks designer diffusion lines from Karl Lagerfeld – KARL, Alexander Wang – T, Victoria Beckham Denim and Isabel Marant – Étoile among others.

Of the new season trends, BT2‘s must haves go like this:

• The dress – The shapes, style and proportion is key. Think bright and clean lines as shown by Raoul and DVF
• Denim – From Victoria Beckham‘s poppy red to Current Elliot‘s pretty pastels
• IRO‘s – trophy jacket in rich tomato red. See either the Ashville in washed leather or the Agnette in distressed bouclé tweed. See below:

• Lightweight Tailoring – COS‘ pared back aesthetic
• Shoes – The Superga trainer

While I agree with many a fair point made there, these are my favourite pieces from the show; my if I could I would choices, as it were.

The Dress – ‘Licorne’Who? Maje. Why? Leather trim and peplum (I am delighted that the peplum has made a return!)

OR

The Dress - ‘Penelope Gown’Who? Raoul

Why? Silk Georgette and leather maxi

Denim – ‘Sunbleach Peach & Poppy, Power Skinnies’ Who? Victoria Beckham Denim

Why? Thick, silky soft denim is rare especially when it’s tight enough to define your calf muscles.

I like the red but I want the peach. The shift tops are also pretty stunning.

Lightweight Tailoring – ‘Rolled Neck Tee’Who? Raoul

Why? Hot pink silk and button down at the back, like a reverse shirt surprise; great when worn under…

A grey trouser suitWho? The Kooples

Why? Turn up collar and matching chest pocket hanky and cuffs.

Shoes – ‘Australia‘Who? Carvela – Kurt Geiger

Why? Fuchsia pink suede peep toes

On another note.

KARL by Karl Lagerfeld…Silver leather collar and matching skirt, with cotton Karl Lagerfeld-emblazoned TShirt… Is a bit odd… Discuss.

Yours,

Whisty Xx

Brown Thomas S/S’12 Preview Dublin

Hello,

Happy belated New Year.

Finally Something Inspiring! I’ve felt like I’ve been in style limbo since December. But with the brilliant sunshine in Dublin yesterday came the Spring / Summer 2012 Brown Thomas showcase.

Twice a year fashion eds, stylists and bloggers frock up, and bleary-eyed arrive at the invitation-only event to see the new season collection arriving in store. The event is simple and brilliant; It is a fashion show, which this featured models wearing selected pieces from 27 designers.

S/S’12′s key trends came in four main themes…

‘Flower Shower’ (New florals), ‘Sports Couture’, Modernist Monochrome’, ‘Colour’ (The new palette).

Stand out pieces included floral prints from Stella McCartney, Mary Katrantzou and Dries Van Noten. The latter doing south pacific prints on beautiful silks

Monochromes from new designer Jay Ahr (pronounced J.R.), Diane Von Furstenberg and Alexander McQueenL-R: Jay Ahr, Alexander McQueen, Jay Ahr, Jay Ahr, Diane Von Furstenberg, Alexander McQueen.

New season colours from, Peter Pilotto, Roksanda Ilincic, Chloé, Lanvin and Stella McCartney

Stella McCartney, detail.

Jay Ahr, detail.

Yours,

Whisty Xx

Brown Thomas Exclusives in the Marvel Room

Hello,

Not that I need an excuse to post about beautifully crafted designer pieces, but Brown Thomas opened up their Christmas Marvel Room last week.

It’s basically the perfect Christmas wish-list, which I gather is the whole point. All the exclusive and limited edition Alexander McQueen pieces, and Chanel‘s €5,350 gold and silver python bags were pretty beautiful. Prices weren’t all bonkers though YSL and Mcqueen bracelets are €160 and €120-€150 respectively.

Chanel

Chanel Classic Flap Alligator clutch (Large €25,000; Small €17,800)

Chanel, classic flap sequinned lambskin bags and 1 of only 3 silver python bags, (€5,350).

Chanel, 1 of only 2 gold python skin bags.

Alexander McQueen

Alexander McQueen, skull print Pashmina (€225)

Alexander McQueen, silk scarf. Exclusive to The Marvel Room at Brown Thomas (294)

Alexander McQueen, silk and cashmere polka-dot skull scarf (€260)

Alexander McQueen, leather bracelets (€130-€150)

Chloé, Gabby grab bag (€2,900)

Lanvin copper metallic cosmetics pouch (€195) & YSL clutch (€595)

There was also a Tiffany & Co. craftsman installed in the room, demonstrating how their beautiful bangles and cuffs (from €490)

Now it’s all about the Christmas windows! Excited to see how they beat last years!

Happy Santa, letter writing!

Yours,

Whisty Xx

Lulu Guinnes S/S’12 preview

Hello,

Pucker Up.

Inspired by the antique market on Portobello Road (London), Lulu Guinness has created her largest collection to date. Themed ‘Bric-a-Brac’, the S/S’12 collection incorporates ideas drawn from cameras, books, old postcards and travel guides.

The iconic Lips Clutch has been given a S/S’12 makeover with padded snake skin and Swarovski crystals-encrusted designs, as well as the solid metallic and neutral-toned clutches.

The Lips Clutch has also been oversized and transformed into a shoulder bag with a gold chain strap.

The Doll Face motif has been given a 50′s twist with a pair of crystal-encrusted shades, creating the Holiday Doll Face collection.

The camera bags were a personal favourite, based on a vintage box camera, the rigid, Box Brownie bag is a limited edition to the S/S’12 collection.

Catering for those who prefer a more subtle lip, there is a beautiful collection of classic bags in soft leather and pastel shades.

Looking closely at the padded bags you can see the Lips shape is cleverly used in the stitching.

Elsewhere, Lips are used as clasps and fasteners, key-rings and prints on shoppers.

Yours,

Whisty Xx

Brown Thomas A/W11 Designer collections

Hey All,

Pretty much the most stylish and important event on the Irish fashion calendar is the Brown Thomas new-season preview. It’s the closest thing to a full-on, (established) designer fashion show in Dublin, and is met with genuine excitement and anticipation.

The A/W ’11 preview was held yesterday on Grafton Street with a ‘Return to Glamour’ theme. There were four main elements to the show; ‘Colour Fall’. ‘Glamour Decades’. ‘Prints’. ‘Outerwear’.

The collection featured highlights from 23 designers, including Céline, Miu Miu, Balenciaga and Dries Van Noten, here’s a few stand out pieces:

‘Colour Fall’

‘Glamour Decades’

‘Prints’

‘Outerwear’
Some Goodies:Utter perfection in every way at Céline

Surprising inspiration from Rachel Zoe

An alternative take on the LBD at Miu Miu (amazing sleeves)

Voluminous mini-dresses at Balenciaga

Stars and leopard print-clash dress at Dolce & Gabbana

Cups detailing in velvet at Tom Ford

Man, I am ever a sucker for military detailing. The back of the Alexander McQueen coat.

I reckon it must be a pretty tough job being  a buyer at Brown Thomas. Imagine looking at every amazing piece that each design house comes up with, every season, and then having to cherry pick the most commercial and ‘less risky / outlandish’ pieces to sell in store. They’ve done it though, I think this Autumn / Winter collection is both inspiring and commercial. I don’t know if I could do that!

Yours,

Whisty Xx

Jonathan Saunders & Preen… at Debenhams

Hey All,

Isn’t it weird… sometimes when a designer collaborates with the High Street, there is such a huge song and dance about it. Cue, massive hoards outside the store and more gnashing of teeth and weeping than the Book of Revelations.

So when I was going up the escalators in Henry Street, I was pretty (make that really pleasantly) surprised when I saw that both Preen and Jonathan Saunders had launched diffusion lines in Debenhams.

A lot of the High Street / designer collaborations are over-priced, under-designed, cheap, tat. But Debenhams have been doing designer collaboration for years and I think they know what we, as consumers, want and deserve for our ‘dollar’.

Both of these collections offer good quality pieces; well finished and although not terribly avant garde in terms of design, they include some striking key pieces and prints.

It’s the price point, however, that I’m I most impressed by. (From €37.50 for T.Shirts / Vests – €299 Preen Leather Jacket – see below).

I tried some Jonathan Saunders peg leg trousers, €60

And a Jonathan Saunders bold print mini dress, €68

I wanted to try this, but they didn’t have my size…

As far as the Preen collection is concerned I’m waiting for this dress:

Or this Blouse…

Or maybe these…

The collection is available in the Henry Street store and on line at Debenhams.ie.

Preen and Jonathan Saunders will be collaborating with Debenhams for a further 3 seasons and are due to be joined by Jonathan Kelsey by the end of March / early April.

Yours,

Whisty Xx

DVF = Dramatic, Virbrant Footwear… Right?

Hey All,

I’ve been shoe-perving again this week. You know with shoes, you have your favourite designers; either eternally (mine’s YSL and more recently Miu Miu) or seasonally (3.1 Phillip Lim SS 2011 T-bar snake-skin heels).

Queen, (or princess? Diane von Furstenberg was once married to a German Prince) of the silk-jersey wrap dress, DVF appointed Frenchman Yvan Mispelaere as creative director last year. A new creative head often means huge changes for a design house… but as the title may suggest, I’m shoe-gazing.

Diane von Furstenberg‘s spring / summer 2011 footwear, is vibrant, wearable – see those heels, they’re not spindles – and as on-trend as they are timeless. I was in Brown Thomas the other day, watching the launch of the new DVF collection in-store when I saw these samples on the runway…

DVF’s clutch collection was worth a look too, lots of snake-skin, tassels and rock-chic elements:

Have a great weekend,

Yours,

Whisty Xx

(Shoe images via Style.com)

Brown Thomas and the Hermès Kellydoscope Bag

Hey all,

I felt like I was in some weird Alice in Wonderland scenario this morning. Though, as much as I would’ve loved to have had a conversation with a giant caterpillar smoking a hukka, my morning was slightly less surreal. Having not actually drank from a bottle marked ‘drink me’, I still managed to walked into Brown Thomas and be dwarfed by a giant handbag. It ‘s actually a 12ft Hermès Kelly bag and is made exactly to spec, i.e. the same fabric and leather etc, as a regular-size one.

It’s pretty impressive, this is what it looks like from close up…

You can go inside it too… and feel a bit daft coming back out of it; yet again the eagle eyes of security were giving me the once over… Seriously this bag is 12ft tall lads. What’ma gonna do with it!?

Anyway, the bag is there to promote the Marvel Room at Brown Thomas;  a showcase of exclusive pieces that have been created through collaborations with some big fashion brands. YSL, Tom Ford, Chanel, Mulberry and Tiffany have all created one-off gifts that will be on sale in the Marvel Room in the run-up to Christmas. (Christmas for the utterly spoilt I presume… Green eyes Whisty? …Yes.)

Not to be outdone, Hermès have created the ‘So Black’ Kelly bags; a 32″ Kelly and a Kelly Mini Pochette. All the ‘exterior hardware’ on the usual Kelly have been ‘blacked-out with a glossed black finish’. I like it, it looks more elegant this way I think.

It’s no illusion, the bags are in a glass case, but you know if you fancy putting either/or on your list for Santa this year, best to warn him that the price-tag is a little on the gulp-worthy side. The Mini Pochette is €3,100 and the 32″ is €5,720. Oh and if you don’t think a bag could possibly be worth that much money, have a wander down to the Hermès concession over the next three days. Brown Thomas has an Hermès craft-person in-store, (in actual fact, an utterly lovely and très jolie Frenchwoman) who you can watch, making a Kelly bag by hand. The finished bag will be in purple leather, (I saw the individual parts – the handle alone is made up of 5 pieces of leather) and will be on sale in the Marvel Room from Sunday.

The giant Kellydoscope bag will be in store until 14th November.

Brown Thomas previews Peter Pilotto SS11

OR:  What’s Peruvian/Italian/Austrian/Belgian for; “Don’t get any of your cheap make-up on that dress sample, you blogger!”

Hey All,

I was a bit cheeky last night if truth be known. I love Brown Thomas, as you may already know, even when I’m not actually buying anything in there; when I’m just shoe-perving, or clothes-lusting, or trying perfume samples and eating Laudrée Macaroons, it’s great.

Anyway, last night, in the company of designers Christopher de Vos and Peter Pilotto, Brown Thomas showcased the new Peter Pilotto SS11 collection. (Though named after only one designer, the collections are created by both men; Pilotto focuses on textiles and prints, De Vos on silhouette and draping).

The collection is gorgeous; It’s feminine, yet edgy; the fabrics move and flow yet the dresses are structured. Soft draping enhances the fact that the pieces are also perfectly tailored to the figure. The prints are beautiful – a small pallette was used to create a kind of abstract, butterfly wing / leopard-print, design. What’s more, the collection is completely wearable; I’m more of an Autumn / Winter kind of gal, but this collection has me all of a flutter for spring, 2011.

To cut a long story short I accosted a Peter Pilotto personal assistant, politely enquired as to whether I could try on a piece from the SS11 collection. Having spent a good part of the afternoon drooling over photos of it on Style.com, I was positively anxious to get myself into at least one piece. Specifically the dress on the left below.

I was informed that if I was to allow said assistant to ‘dress’ me, (and keep a very close eye on me) then I was allowed to try to get into the sample.

… then I realised I am not actually in anyway sample-size proportions… This is going to be embarrassing. Little did I know.

So there I am, in the 1st floor dressing rooms in BT’s:

Stripped to the waist, (“if you take off your bra the dress might fit better”;

Bent over with arms forward like I’m mimicking Superman;

A scarf over my face to prevent my nasty make-up smearing the couture, (thus rendering me temporarily blind),

and with a very patient assistant attempting to pull a designer dress onto me.

My thoughts? Oh Lord if this gets stuck…  Breathe in…

Oh what?! People are queueing now?

But the changing room door’s open and my arms are stuck in the air…

Yup, that was a flash of boob…

Oh God just get the bloody thing on…

Ah there we go… wait, what do you mean there are still buttons and a zip to do up…?

…And now I have to walk in it?

OK slowly does it, out to the shop floor so my pal can take a few snaps with the camera phone. (Listen I needed evidence that this dress was on me).

And straight back to the changing rooms we go…

Buttons undone, zip undone, deep reviving breaths – I haven’t taken a breath for 10 minutes – starting to go faint. Scarf over face, bent over, arms out, dress up and over, another boob-flash and it’s off… Phew…

Ah, it was so worth it though. – FYI or amusement, this is me looking ever-so slightly embarrassed in the middle of Brown Thomas, unable to breathe! Nice frock though right?

Love the detail, the contrast collar and placket (where the buttons are) really stands out and the draped / folded detail around the waist is really flattering. Man these men know how to dress women.

In case you’re wondering what the meaning of the subtitle is, Peter Pilotto is half Austrian / half Italian, Christopher De Vos is half Belgian / half Peruvian; they met while studying at The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.

Xx