Mercedes Benz Fashion Week 9/8/07-Temperly London

The invitation for the Temperly London runway show at the Promenade in the Bryant Park tents was a textured white cardboard with elegant, black script lettering and a black and photo photo of 1920's bathing beauties sitting on an old jalopy. Really cute! And the Temperly London Spring 2008 collection could be called cute and elegant, too. The program notes suggest that the Temperly Spring/Summer 2008 collection was inspired by French seaside scenes of the 1930's, from Deauville to Biarritz. "Spring/Summer 2008 includes a new array of new silhouttes and plays on volume and proportion. Voluminous sleeves are paired with constricted waistlines and corsetry details whilst fabrics are manipulated with layers, frills, drapes and folds."

Of course, there were celebrities, supporting the British look. I believe the front row sported Demi Moore and Molly Sims seated next to stylist Rachel Zoe, but don't quote me on it! What I did notice were the cute "beach" umbrellas framing the runway entrance.

The collection, in my words, was youthful, diverse, and sophisticated. There were a lot of swingy short dresses, and quite a few designs with what I'd call "flamenco" ruffles, poet sleeves, and defined waists. The Black Label design for evening included stones and crystals, mounted like jewelry and decorating straps and waistbands to catch the light. A long, clingy, gold lame gown (walked down the runway to a modern musical mix of "Fever") was completely a nod to 1930's movie glamour, I would wager a bit that some of the evening dresses in this colelction will be snapped up by young Hollywood to wear to movie premieres and awards shows next season. Photography was a challenge at this show, but here is the hot, hip fashion model Agyness Deyn in the first dress of the collection, the white Cecelia Dress and White Bow Belt. A "miss" for me were unusual turbans with twisted braid in bright colors created by Patricia Underwood for Temperly that just looked to casual, too chunky and mismatched with the filmy, clingy, lightweight clothes on the runway.

Charlotte Tilbury did the makeup for MAC, which featured bold red lips in a warmer red than Fall's "dragon lady" tones. I'll get the actual details of the makeup later, but it looked like the eyes featured a metallic copper. he hair by Alain Pinchon for Aveda was quite interesting although I didn't get a good photo of it. The style was half up, half down, but brushed very close to the head on top and then twisted elegantly down the back of the head to leave a "rat tail." The look was a bit like a modern mullet, but mussed up on top to keep the "beachy" theme of the clothes. Christian Louboutin and World Tone provided the shoes.

*all text and photos by Alison Blackman Dunham -- copyright © 2007 all rights reserved by Alison Blackman Dunham of THE ADVICE SISTERS® No portion of this blog or any advicesisters content, including illustrations, may be copied or used in any without written permission. Permissions: advicesisters@advicesisters.net. The Advice Sisters is a registered United States trademark.

Mercedes Benz Fashion Week 9/7/07-Cynthia Rowley

When I saw the line of brightly colored bicycles (obviously hand-painted with Cynthia Rowley signature design), I knew her Spring 2008 show would be unique, edgy and lots of fun, like all the shows of the previous season. The inspiration/theme for the Spring collection is "Le Sportif. "

F Cynthia's show is always held a short walk from the tents, in the beautiful and historic Gotham Hall on 36th Street and 6th Avenue. It's a spacious venue, although it isn't just used for runway shows, of course. The atmosphere (at least to me) seems less tense than backstage at the tents, although it might be a bit disconcerting for a fashion designer to house her collection in a hallway until showtime.



Backstage, Jonnie Sapong for Redken was busy getting the models ready. The romantic, feminine hair looked right in step with the youthful, reminine clothes. As you can see from the photo, it does take a lot of hands to do this look perfectly, but you might be able to re-create the look at home if you are able to work on the back of your head. Redken Hot Sets #22 was sprayed along with plain ole water, from root to tips of each section of the model's hair. Then it was rolled into a modern version of rag curls, around flexible rollers made of alumnium foil. A diffuser or a bonnet dryer was used on the models to dry the curls, thoroughly. The top of the head was flat with all hair behind the ears and following the girl's natural parts. but although I couldn't get a closeup of the finished result (hair wasn't brushed out until time for the show) but you can see that the look was long, loose, textured, and just a bit bouncy as the models walked the runway.


Makeup, by Charlotte Tilbury for Avon, featured new colors for Spring 2008. I will be offering complete details and lots more photos of the hair, clothes and makeup un my photo/text feature on Cynthia Rowley's show. Check our FEATURES page at: http://www.advicesisters.net/Features/Features.html in mid-September, where I will be listing all the Fashion Week Spring 2008 features as they are posted. Lips were pink--actually, rasberry, featuring a lipstain and a gloss. As you can see, the focus is on the eyes, featuring navy, a softer look for a dramatic eye than Fall's black and charcoal. A light dusting of sheer bronzer with a tiny with of shimmer gave the models a subtle "glow." The look is polished and sexy, not "punk."

Celebrities are always a big part of any show, and Cynthia always has plenty. On the left is Lisa Edelstein, who plays Dr. Lisa Cuddy on the FOX Television show "House." On the right is a lovely young woman the photographers went crazy over. She obviously knows how to strike a pose. Someone please identify her for me?
I was sitting in the back, actually having a delightful discussion with a few of Cynthia Rowley's relatives. Great grandmother Amy was a charming conversationalist. Watching her eyes light up when her little great grandchild was brought by, was priceless! Alas, my photos, are not the best from this show, but here are some examples of what Cynthia Rowley has in store for her devoted fans, for Spring 2008. The colelction was full of flowing fabrics in light tones of taupe, light turqoise, light pink, and hits of lime. The clothes are fresh and body-conscious, but not so much that a non-model wouldn't be able to wear them. Cynthia seems to favor silky, drape-y fabrics, and these were in abundance, but not in super-shiny finishes as in Fall 2007. Long, delicate, silky scarves were a recurring theme in this show, used both with casual and evening wear, draped around the neck and flowing away from the back as the model moved forward.

Cynthia has a real sense of humor, always adding a surprise element into her shows (last year it was a giant braid, held by all the models at the finale). At one point models were being sent down the runway wearing headbands straight across their foreheads, like 1920's flappers, or worn sideways on the back of the head. And, there were a few goofier designs such as the dress of loopy fabrics worn here. At the end of the show, some of the models gingerly rode bicycles down the runway and around the back of the runway area. It was a fun, fitting end to a delightful show that is making me long for Spring already (and Fall just arrived). I'm wondering if Cynthia will consider a line of decorated bicycles for sale.....these were simply too cute! By the way, Cynthia was the final rider (my camera battery died right then, unfortunately)....what a way to end the show!!!!

*all text and photos by Alison Blackman Dunham -- copyright © 2007 all rights reserved by Alison Blackman Dunham of THE ADVICE SISTERS® No portion of this blog or any advicesisters content, including illustrations, may be copied or used in any without written permission. Permissions: advicesisters@advicesisters.net. The Advice Sisters is a registered United States trademark.