Monthly Archives: September 2012

The classic chambray shirt: A new fashion staple

By Caroline Hafner

The chambray shirt has turned into an absolute classic this season.

Just as jeans are a must-have in closets, the jean shirt is becoming more and more popular. I find myself reaching for it daily. My chambray shirt has definitely become a year-round staple!

And like any fashion staple, the chambray is a versatile item of clothing.

A long-sleeved chambray works thrown over something as simple as a white tank or as stylish as a leather skirt.  Just like a favorite pair of jeans, a good chambray begins to feel like your own the more you wear it.

To cement its status as a fashion classic, the chambray shirt is popping up all over the fashion blogs.

Emily Schuman of Cupcakes and Cashmere styled a chambray shirt for a night out. A bright green blazer and high-waisted shorts add a great pop of color to the denim.

 Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere.

Samantha Hutchinson of Could I Have That went for a much more casual look while styling her chambray. With comfortable smoking slippers and white denim cutoffs, she is ready for a day of running errands.

 

   
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New York welcomes Fashion Week

 

By Anne McCaslin Parker

 

This is a time of year many SMU students look forward to: Brights lights. Big City. Runway shows. Catwalks. Models. Front-row celebrities. Top designers. Fashionistas galore.

 

Yes, the Spring 2013 New York Fashion Week has officially kicked off,  and we could not be more excited as spring 2013 looks are hitting the runways. The first collections from , Richard Chai, Tadashi Shoji and Creatures of the Wind added some sporty and streamlined edges to a sophisticated and subtle color palette.

BCBG Spring Collection is modeled on Thursday, Sept. 6.  Photo by: Richard Drew/ AP Photo

 

Over the next eight days, nearly 300 shows will take place in Manhattan’s Lincoln Center. Everyone from top fashion bloggers to magazine editors and news reporters to the celebrities seated front row to the real stars of the show — the designers and models themselves — and more will be on hand to join in on the action.

 

Front row at the BCBG show at New York Fashion Week.

At the BCBG MAX AZRIA Spring ’13 show.  Photo: Diane Bondareff/Invision/AP Images.

 

As students in Texas, some of us may be slightly bummed that we cannot mingle with the crowds in New York and be there for all the excitement.  But, are you ready for this?

This year you can watch live streaming fashion shows by your favorite designers .  Also be sure to check out brands’ websites and facebook pages for more video of the week’s collections.  You can find a full schedule of events here!

 

   
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Fashion’s Night Out at 3 Dallas hot spots

 Highland Park Village — ties Milan

Fashion's Night Out at Highland Park Village. Photo credit: Michelle London-Bell for the Examiner.

By Floriane Leger

Thursday, Sept. 6, was Fashion’s Night Out. Last year, I spent it in Milan – Italy. This year, I am in Dallas, and I was more than excited to see how this event would happen in my new cowboy-spirited hometown!

Where should I go? The choices were numerous, and I don’t know the city well enough (I have not been to the city center yet!) to decide what is THE place to be.

Following some friends’ advice, I chose Highland Park Village.

First impression: The place looked like a movie! Second impression: Everyone was so dressed up!

In Milan the shops are becoming these extravagant party places where you want to be seen. But at Highland Park Village, the crowd was creating the show!

Next to me, inside the Louboutin store, stood a man dressed all in black with a golden embroidered cape and an extravagant hairstyle. All the girls wore amazingly high heels that made me wonder how they were able to walk. Everyone looked as if it had taken them five hours to get ready, and I felt more underdressed than ever in the black jeans, peplum top and moccasins I’d worn to class that day.

Arriving as an exchange student from Europe this fall, I must admit I found SMU fashion somewhat, well, dull.  But this display tonight was something I was not expecting!

So I guess I must say that in the “fashion wars,” my old and new hometowns are tied: Dallas, 1 – Milan, 1. Not so bad, right?

Jimmy Choo lights up the runway at Highland Park Village

 Firefighters carry the models at Jimmy Choo.  Photo: Daniella Lopez.

By Daniella Lopez

Fashionistas all over the world slipped on their stilettos for a night on the town during the fourth annual Fashion’s Night Out Sept. 6. FNO was created by Anna Wintour in 2009 to encourage shoppers to support the fashion industry during tough economic times.

I chose to spend my night at the luxurious Highland Park Village. The night began with gratis champagne and quiche at the home of the red sole, Louboutin.  A long line of eager fashionistas, decked out in designer from head to toe, patiently waited for a tarot card reading in the boutique, which was bathed in the brand’s trademark red light.

My next stop was the fashion show right outside the Escada shop. A pair of flaming Jimmy Choos literally set the runway on fire as chiseled firemen effortlessly carried models down the catwalk to show off the fabulous footwear.  Carolina Herrera gracefully ended the show with a red gown fit for a queen.

My next stop: Akris to satisfy my sweet tooth.   Fortified by chocolate, I then made my way through the shopping village, shimmering in lights, to my favorite place, Chanel, where makeup artists applied patrons’ pick of fall lipstick shades.

I had my photo snapped outside 4510 and finished the evening at Stella McCartney. The night was truly a fashion wonderland:  The fabulous people, out-of-this-world atmosphere, and glamorous fashion were just as big as Texas.

 

Dancing the night away at Tootsies

 

Author Lara Mirgorod and Greyson Gingery at Tootsies.

 

 

By Lara Mirgorod

It is that time of year again! With stores in over 500 cities nationwide taking part, Fashion’s Night Out rang in its fourth annual celebration, exploding with stylish soirees that we did not want to miss.

The fashionistas of the Metroplex were out and about, enjoying the hottest boutiques and shopping centers as they entertained with bubbly, fashion shows and other trendy festivities.

Ladies danced from one store to the next, and many landed in Tootsies, the Preston Center boutique.  Women stepped in –wearing Christian Loubatin and toting Chanel bags — and ordered Tootsies’ signature cocktails at the bar.

Reps from Clishade, a makeup brand that launched just a month ago, pampered shoppers with makeovers. And a DJ booth was planted upstairs where everyone ( well not everyone) danced the night away.

Those who did not leave with big Tootsies’ shopping bags walked away with gift bags instead.

 

Models strut their stuff at NorthPark

By

More than 40 models strutted down a runway at NorthPark Center Sept. 5, as onlookers from every angle “oohed and aahed” at the glamorous fall trends.

Live music and DJs amped the fashion-fanatic crowd, and photographers, bulbs flashing, captured dozens of perfectly posed pictures from the standing-room-only crowd.

This was Fashion’s Night Out, a celebration of fashion and fun that takes place in major cities around the world. In Dallas, shopping centers and boutiques held fashion shows, promotions and sales.

More than 75 stores participated at NorthPark Center, where three runway shows took place in the NorthCourt. Elsewhere in the mall, stores had sales and offered style advice and makeovers. Some, like Barney’s New York, even served patrons champagne.

This is the third year Dallas has hosted FNO events. In Texas, Houston and Austin also celebrated FNO, as did fashion capitals around the world – from New York to London to Paris to Milan.

Local radio personality and NorthPark FNO host Victoria Snee said the event is a wonderful time to celebrate fashion and to see fall trends.  “I think having fashion shows gets everyone’s energy levels up and is an exciting way to make everyone want to go out and shop,” she said.

Karley Osborn, a journalist covering the events at NorthPark for a local fashion publication, said that while Dallas is developing as a fashion capital, it still can’t compete with a fashion giant like New York.

“But on nights like tonight,” she said, “we’re one step closer.”

http://www.dallassouthnews.org/2012/09/09/dallas-struts-its-stuff-at-fashions-night-out/

 

Runway models strut their stuff during Fashion’s NIght Out at NorthPark Center.
   
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