The Marquess of Dreams - Marchesa Fall / Winter 2010

I know it's been a while since I've posted on here - this is mainly because I've been practically incapable of doing anything productive since I got back from Malaysia a week ago and partly because all potential subsequent posts after the last one just seemed too frivolous for me to not be a little embarassed about having them up here.

Still, New York Fashion Week has been raging forth in full force, although I must admit that I haven't followed each collection as religiously as I probably should have. Maybe it's just that nothing really inspired me, although I think it's just that Fall / Winter collections rarely do. I love winter dressing, of course - but it can be a little difficult to get excited about pictures of layers and layers of clothing, especially when you're looking at them in the midst of an unrelenting Indian heat spell.

All that changed for me after Marchesa's presentation yesterday. They're one of my favourite design houses - I love their attention to detail, the fabulous textiles they use and the sheer beauty of their clothes. Notte by Marchesa is great too, but when it comes to the stuff little girls' dreams are made of, there's very little that beats Marchesa. I am also very envious of co-founder Georgina Chapman and harbour a secret desire to be her, even if for a day - all translucent skin and flowing chestnut locks. She looks like how I want to when I'm her age, which is - early 30s? That sounds about fair.

I fell in love with the very first image I saw from the collection:

And really, could you blame me?

As the collection went on however, I grew a little confused:

What on earth's going on here? It's way too fussy, the ruffles look like they're made from the sort of material that would ignite in the heat, and thanks to the length, the dress has accomplished the seemingly insurmountable task of making a 5'11'' model look like a dumpy Eastern European woman who seems to have just emerged, judging by the look on her face, from Dracula's castle. The latter is no reflection on the dress of course, but come on, Irina Vodolozova - it's not like you've had to parade down the catwalk in those godawful heels - it's a presentation, for god's sake. If you can't just stand around looking happy (or at least ever so slightly stand-offish) for a camera then I have no hope left in modelkind.

Then of course there was this:

Once again: What on earth's going on here? This is how I imagine Christian Audigier (designer for Ed Hardy, keep up) would imagine haute couture. I like the delicacy of the print, call me a snob however but the idea of a nude tattoo bodice just doesn't appeal to me. This look also marked the first of the white patterned tights, which I still have very mixed feelings about. They seem to be a growing trend though, unfortunately.

I love this one. The pleats and jacket look like they're made out of some kind of armour, and I love the delicacy of the pattern traced onto the jacket. Beautiful!

Some of the outfits reminded me a bit of Prabal Gurung's Spring/Summer 10 collection, like this one.

It's like the dress (which was actually a top and a skirt from the Gurung's collection) Becki Newton wore recently to an Ugly Betty benefit. Especially the aesthetics of the top half:

See what I mean?

I am going absolutely insane for this dress. Even the white hose doesn't ruin it for me, which is the mark of true greatness. Honestly, this is perfection. I'm a sucker for all things black, this is true, and I love the rosettes and the perfectly sculpted silhouette and oh my god, that model's collarbones are making me a little green.

Then began the barrage of red carpet hopefuls, dresses so beautiful that I'd almost be willing to sell up and buy a ticket to Los Angeles and wait tables at a French restaurant while making lifelong friends with my boss who is kind enough to get someone to cover my shift while I sneak away to auditions (and who I will thank in my first acceptance speech at the MTV Video Movie Awards and the audience will laugh - oh, how they'll laugh!) and am finally discovered by a sleazy producer who I dislike because he leaves small tips but he's willing to bet that I'm the next big thing so what the hell and who introduces me to Michael Bay who casts me as a sexpot in his next film which catapults me to starletdom JUST so I can wear one of these creations on the red carpet. Because honestly, if the whole world isn't looking on in awe while you strut these beauties down the red carpet, you may as well be wearing them by yourself in your bathroom as you brush your teeth before you go to bed with your cats. These dresses are all or nothing dresses.

The sheerness on the last one does seem a bit unnecessary, making it my least favourite of all the gowns from this collection - still, if someone held a gun to my head and forced me to wear this, I can't say I'd refuse, even if I don't really like dresses that can't make up their mind - saucy or sophisticated? Actually, it's the perfect little starlet's dress, come to think of it.

The more I look at this collection, the more I feel like this is the perfect party collection for every budding young starlet - there's something here for all her needs. There are the red carpet dresses, of course, which we've just seen.

Then there are the clothes that would fit so well into a budding actress' quotidian wardrobe. This, for example, would be perfect for an autumn fundraiser lunch. The skirt is one of the few examples of feathers not going horribly wrong, because it's been paired with that sharp jacket in a richer, darker colour.

This reminds me a little too much of Balmain over the last couple of seasons (while I loved it at first, that whole 80s power-partygirl thing got a bit old a bit fast) but it's the perfect look for a fun, casusal red carpet event. It's the sort of dress that almost expects its wearer to stumble out of the place five hours later, hair ever so askew (the stylists at Marchesa seem to agree), cigarette in hand, bouncers / leery boyfriends in tow. The model's even got the pouty expression of self-entitlement down pat.

Similar event, although perhaps slightly less boozey. The CDFA awards perhaps? No better way to prove your fashion savvy than by mixing a heady cocktail of trends together. Ruffles? Check! Muted colours? Check! White lederhosen? Check!

Dinner with friends at a pap-infested restaurant. I love it.

The jewel that crowned the presentation, however, was this gorgeous dress, all origami and ruffles (which should technically spell disaster, but it so doesn't), a dress I can imagine someone like Cameron Diaz or Diane Kruger wearing while the Fug Girls have a field day trying to think of fresh table napkin jokes. I don't care though: this is sheer glory.

When I grow up, I will wear Marchesa, even if I'm not famous. I'll put red carpeting in a strip down my bedroom if I have to.