Haute Noorda

Spring '11 couture season kicked off in Paris yesterday, and it's good to see couture isn't the only thing making a comeback. Last fall's couture shows prompted those in the know, possibly after attending Givenchy's 11-look showcase, to herald it as having returned to its intimate (yet still extravagant) roots. And it seems Amsterdam-born model Kim Noorda has experienced a similar sort of transition. While 2010 was a quiet one in terms of runway appearances, if the start of couture week is anything to go by (Noorda has already walked for both Christian Dior and Armani Privé) 2011 is shaping up to be quite different. Here's hoping she'll be a mainstay as we round the bend into fashion month, kicking off in New York in less than three weeks. Three weeks!

  

via:tFS

Orange Olivia

Olivia Palermo. One of the very few reality TV stars/ socialites who has gone the distance and still has some sort of relevance in the world in which their interest lies. While peers of hers ( i.e. the collective joke that was Speidi), this girl shows she has some talent away from the screen. No mater how bitchy she may have seemed as Whitney Ports's nemesis on The City, this girl sure knows a thing or two about style. She reminds me of pop-princess-turned-serious-designer Vicky B. At the start of their fashion 'careers', I'm sure there were many inside the fashion industry (remember Olivia's snotty attitude at Elle? And Posh's days as a full-time plasticised WAG?) who would most definitely have written them off. After numerous campaigns for Hogan, ASOS and spanish giant Mango, as well as a collaboration with jewellery designer Roberta Freymann, it seems as Olivia has achieved a seemingly unattainable kind of staying power. A regular fixture on the international fashion circuit, her citrus and plaid combination at the Ermenegildo Zegna men's show in Milan is further proof that Olivia's batting at the top of her fashion game. Props for that amazing Hermés crocodile skin clutch and her forever sleek tresses. And for the ever so slightly, I'm-too-cool-for-you popped collar. And, just because, here's a close up of those incredible McQueen shoes...

Bright skirts and white shirts

Raf Simons for Jil Sander spring 2011. Minimalism's inverse. Maximalism. Couture Giganticism. Terms all considered by Simons himself when it came to describing the inspiration behind his latest collection in which no colour was spared. Fuchsia. Bright orange. Blue, green red. And in every combination imaginable. After the bright and ballooning skirts, whose tailored volume was played down with plain white tees, came the colour-blocking. A pink button-down tucked into orange flares finished with a royal purple coat. A cropped coral blazer over a magenta shirt with a burnt orange peplum. Purple over red and then pink cigarette pants, hidden beneath a green coat; red tucked into blue layers, and a splash of yellow for good measure. Colours that might otherwise be overwhelming were pulled off in the surprisingly simplest of ways. The tailoring was nothing but clean, and the cleverness was found, aside from the tricky colour combinations, in a fitted tee tucked into a puffball skirt, stiff collars with silken oxford shirting, and of course the voluminous lengths of it all. I'm not usually one for excess, but when maximalism becomes minimal - stripped back to the very basics of colour and shape and line - I'm all for it. 

via Style.com

Anna Dello Russo.

While in Paris recently I was lucky enough to catch (several) glimpses of the infinitely amazing Anna Dello Russo. For those who have been living under a rock, she is the fashion director-at-large at Vogue Nippon, and famous for owning not one, but two apartments in Milan- one for her and her adorable chihuahua Cucciolina, and the other (climate-controlled, of course) to house her ever-expanding collection of designer clothes and shoes. You too would need a second house if you owned over 4000 pairs of shoes. (And for those who are currently rolling their eyes at the excess of it all- her plan is to eventually have her collection archived so that it can be studied by fashion students, historians and enthusiasts alike.)

She is even more gorgeous in person than in photos, and I'm not just referring to her glamorous style (or those legs). She was all too happy to flash her 400-watt smile every which way, pose for street-style bloggers and crazy paps and repeat with loving detail what (or who) exactly she was wearing. Whilst other high-profile editors slinked away silently through the crowd gathered outside of Le Grand Hotel, Anna seemed genuinely delighted to stand there and share her love for fashion with all. I doubt that there is anyone in the world who loves fashion more that ADR, and it is refreshing to see someone who is as proud in their passion as she. 

Above (outside Balmain)

Dress: Balmain

Shoes: Pierre Hardy

Jewellery: "My own"- ADR

Below (outside Gareth Pugh)

Brocade Jumpsuit: Rochas

Shoes: Valentino

Leopard clutch: Fendi

My First Fashion Show

My name's Ellie and I'm obsessed. An addict, some might call me. Shakes. Splutters. Physical aches. Just some of the symptoms I display if I don't get my regular fix. Keeping in mind the nature of this blog, I'm sure it has become obvious by now to those who have forgiven me for the lame opening and are continuing to read, just what sort of an addiction I am talking about. This isn't called Fashion Morebidity (think about it... morbid?) for nothing. So why is it you may ask that I am blabbering about such an addiction all of a sudden, if I have named my blog with this in mind all along? Well, you see, that is where we come to the point of all this. If I thought I was hooked before... well, that was then. Now? There is no hope for me. Obsessed. Enthralled. Trapped. Completely and utterly done for. I am a goner. For I have been to my first international fashion show.

What luck that I found myself smack bang in the middle of Paris during Fashion Week. Well, it wasn't an entire coincidence but it wasn't meticulously planned that way. So there I was, on a sunny September Wednesday, the second day of the ready-to-wear shows for the Paris Spring/Summer 2011 season- the last city of the major circuit. With my measly 3MB of international roaming (thanks T-Mobile) I managed to look up the locations of several shows that day and decided I would wander over to le Pont Alexandre III, which seemed to be one of the main locations for the week. As an aside, this is one of the most beautiful bridges in Paris, and is in view of many famous Parisian landmarks: the Eiffel Tower, les Invalides and le Grand Palais to name a few. Wandering aimlessly down the Champs-Élysées, I spied her. Sleek and shiny; groomed, was what she was. With her lithe frame swathed in head-to-toe black, a splash of neon citrus silk glinted among the dark layers and a Chanel 2.55 chain bag hung nonchalantly from her shoulder, she positively smelled of fashion. And she was holding an invitation. Ah ha! She was my answer, my ticket to an elusive glimpse of the goings-on of a fashion show, for a glimpse is all I was ever after. After carefully maintaining my distance behind her (ever the perfect stalker) I noticed a small flaw in my plan. She was lost. After several self-captured pics for her MySpace, she too realised the inevitable and lowered herself to asking some no-name passer-by where indeed she was headed. By this time, I had already figured out for myself the location of the show. Too bad I was pretty sure she was onto my pathetic following attempts, or I could've marched boldly on ahead. So after a few more wrong turns, self-portraits and aimless wandering, we both stumbled off Avenue Montaigne past the Grand Palais and onto Pont Alexandre III.

Fashionable wanderer: my unknowing (and probably unwilling) tour guide, lost at the top of Avenue Montaigne.

Guy Laroche. Admittedly not a designer I know a whole lot about. I could ramble off a whole lot of wiki facts (ha, wiki facts) but as my university lecturers say that never does anyone good. As the designer has since passed on, the artistic director of the house is now Marcel Marongiu, and ready-to-wear shows have been running in Paris since 2007. Anyway, I was quite content with my space on the bridge's parapet; close enough so I could see the action but far enough away I could still be a little incognito. So as the time ticked over to 12.30pm (half an hour after the official starting time) and the guests slowly started to file their way past the obviously uninvited street-style photographers and bloggers (aka me) I'd made up my mind that this was as far as I was going to get, nothing to see here folks. But then Geraldine Saglio (assistant to French Vogue's Emmanuelle Alt) whisked past me, and was ushered into the show at the now empty entrance. And a few of the initial hangers-on started to go in without so much as a second glance. It was now or never. I took a breath and quickly descended the stairs as if I belonged. I stood in front of the gated entrance and before I had a chance to mumble so much as excusez-moi, the security guard stepped out of my way with nothing more than a head tilt. I was in! There I stood, a mere four rows from the front as the beat found its way into my viens whilst models flounced past me towards the wall of steady flashbulbs. And the rest is history.

Yulia Kharlapanova after the show 

Rose Cordero

pictures: mine!

Shout out: Adelaide fash-pack

Calling all emerging Adelaide fashion designers! Whether you're still a student, a recent design grad, or anyone else who thinks they've got enough design talent for an upcoming showcase, we are looking for YOU.

Titled "The Uglee Challenge" - the show is the brainchild of fellow Adelaide blogger + law student Katherine, who has been documenting her own "uglee" makeovers (for want of a better word) over at her blog, CaughtCouture.

The basic concept is turning an odd (and don't forget, ugly) assortment of discarded clothing into something new and beautiful, using parts from all of the items as well as 1 random object. The chosen designers will be provided with this goody-bag and fashionable freedom to get their creative juices flowing, with the general theme of the show being "Bad Romance". Only restriction? The finished garment must incorporate at least 20% of each ugly piece. 

The chosen contestants will get to show off their garments in a fashion show on the 24th of November at Garage Bar, along with entertainment, high tea and cameos by some already established labels. The night aims to capture the design talent of Adelaide, as well as promote other SA-based creatives and business, and all proceeds raised will go towards CanTeen.

If this sounds like a great chance to gain some exposure and work with others in Adelaide's fashion scene, we'd love to hear from you (aspiring designers or otherwise).

Entries close November 10. Good luck!

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(for more information visit CaughtCouture or email fashionmorebidity@live.com.au or caughtcouture@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter to stay updated!)