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Dress of the Day: Pink lace belted dress from Topshop 
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Monthly Archives: June 2011
Dress of the Day: Pink lace belted dress from Topshop
Victoria Beckham to launch budget dress collection, Fashion Police rejoice
In what has to be the best news of the week so far – and possibly the entire year – The Fashion Police hears that Victoria Beckham is to launch a budget dress collection next year.
Now, just before any of you start empting out your piggy banks and getting all excited about this, let us quickly clarify that what WE consider to be a “budget” dress and what Victoria Beckham considers to be a “budget” dress is considerably different, as you’d probably imagine. We’d call it a “budget” buy if it was under £50, for instance: and ideally, if it was under £30. When you’re Victoria Beckham, however, “budget” means it’s in the £350 – £550 range. Oh.
Still, that’s still a darn sight less expensive than what you’d usually pay for a Victoria Beckham dress: they normally retail for between £3,000 – £5,000, which is why you only ever see them on celebrities and not on the woman in line behind you at Tesco, say.
According to the designer, the dresses will also look a little different from her mainline collection, and will be “less tight, clingy and structured”. Victoria says she wants the dresses to appeal to “woman and girls of all different shapes and sizes”, which is welcome news indeed.
Look out for the launch of the new collection at London Fashion Week, as part of the Spring/Summer 2012 shows. Before that, look out for the launch of the Beckham’s new daughter, who’s due on Monday, and will have one helluva closet to play dressup in when she’s a little older. (Did you ever used to try on your mother’s shoes when you were a little girl? Now imagine if your mother was Victoria Beckham…)
[Source | Image: PRPhotos.com]
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Fashion Police at the Burberry Serpentine Gallery Summer Party: Portia Freeman
If Alexa Chung was ready for the office at the Burberry Serpentine Gallery summer party, it looked like Portia Freeman was more or less ready for the beach, in what looks a lot like a swimsuit n’ sarong combo. Just get rid of the heels and she could be strolling along the sand in no time!
Now, there are two schools of thought about this type of look. One is the “if ya got it, flaunt it” argument, which basically states that if you have great legs (and she does) and you feel like flaunting them in a body suit with very little else, why you go, girl! Do it! Just grab the curtain off the shower and sling it around your waist before you go.
The second school of thought says that a leather bathing suit does not count as “clothes”. Not even with a sarong.
Which school of thought do you subscribe to?
[Images: PRPhotos.com]
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Fashion Police at the Burberry Summer Party: Alexa Chung
Alexa Chung is here for her interview, readers. She’s interviewing for the junior accounts executive position, and as you can see, she’s dressed in a very office appropriate manner: neat little suit, prim, high-collared blouse, shoes which aren’t quite “sensible” – or at least, not in the heel department, anyway – but which somehow manage to create the illusion that they are. Excellent work, Miss Chung! Now, if you could just start out by bringing us some coffee and donuts, that’s a good girl…
So, yes, an outfit that wouldn’t look out of place in any reasonably conservative office in the country. Except Alexa Chung isn’t clocking in for her 9-5, she’s arriving at the Burberry Serpentine Gallery Summer Party. Maybe she could only make it in her lunch hour? Because this outfit doesn’t say “summer” or “party” so much as it says “Do you need any photocopying done before I go?” does it?
Of course, we’re ever so slightly biased here, because Alexa is doomed always to be a mystery to us but we have been seeing more and more of this office-wear-as-fashion lately, so we want to know what you think of it: innocent or guilty?
[Image: PR Photos]
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Can short women wear midi skirts?
(ASOS)
Dear Fashion Police,
I read your post about Fashion Myths recently and was happy to hear you don’t think short women need to stay away from maxi dresses, because I’m 5″2 and live in them! I was wondering what you think about midi skirts, though? I love them, but keep reading about how they’re unflattering on short people because they hit at the wrong part of the leg. Is this true?
~ Louise
As with the maxi dresses, this has more to do with proportion, and with body-shape than with height. Yes, short women can wear midi skirts or dresses – you just may have to shop around for a petite fit, or have a regular one altered to make sure it has the same proportions on you as it would have on someone taller.
If you look at the photo at the top of the page, for instance, you’ll see that the skirt hits just below the model’s knee, rather than at the widest part of the calf, (This actually means that it’s not a true “midi” length, but this is the length most retailers seem to be referring to when they use the word “midi”, so it’s the one you need to worry about) which is perfectly flattering.
Thanks to ASOS and their diligence in recording their model’s heights and dress sizes (something we really love them for, because it can be so helpful when you’re trying to work out what length something is), however, we know that the model pictured is 5″9. That means that on someone whose 5″2, say, that skirt will look much longer, and will possibly be more like this kind of length:
Which can be a little more problematic, especially on a petite frame, which can easily be swamped by all that fabric, making you start to look like you’re in some kind of costume drama.
The answer to this issue is to look for midi skirts made specifically for people your height – or to have a skirt altered to the right length. Of course, this isn’t the easy option: as petite people know, ranges designed especially for us are hard to find, and tend to carry a limited selection, but check out places like ASOS, Topshop and Dorothy Perkins (if you’re in the UK), all of which carry Petite lines. Alternatively, it’s not hard to take a hem up, and if you can’t do it yourself, it shouldn’t cost too much to pay someone to do it.
There is one other issue in all of this, however, and that’s body shape. The reason many people are wary of midis is because if it hits right on the widest part of the calf, it can have a shortening effect, which will draw attention to the calves and will possibly (although not always) make them look wider. If you really don’t want to draw attention to your calves, but also really want to try a midi, the key is, once again, to mess with the hem, so it doesn’t land where you don’t want it. Basically, you want to avoid the “stumpifying” effect of drawing the eye right to the widest part of the leg, and adding or removing an inch from the hem can help you do that.
One other tip for you: wear heels. Heels elongate the leg, and create the illusion of height, and that’s exactly what you’re looking for if you’re a petite person looking to wear a midi skirt. As an added bonus, the demure length of the skirt gives you the perfect excuse to break out your tallest, most outrageous shoes: not that The Fashion Police need that particular excuse, mind you…
What do you think? Are you petite? Do you wear midi skirts/dresses? Tell us!
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Dress of the Day: Silk halter shift dress from Mango
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Style On Trial: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley at the New York premiere of Transformers, and more celebrity fashion for the day
The eyes of the fashion press have been firmly fixed on Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as she parades a series of slinky dresses on red carpets around the world for the Transformers premiere this month. Here she is at the New York premiere last night, wearing a shimmery red Antonio Berardi dress, paired with beige shoes and a simple necklace that probably cost more than the Fashion Police car.
What do you think of her look, though? Is Rosie innocent or guilty of committing crimes of fashion? And what about the other celebrities in the gallery below?
Here’s a quick look at What They Wore today…
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- Emma Roberts
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- Ashley Greene
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- Claudia Schiffer
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Style on Trial: Gigantic platform shoes
Want to hear something funny, readers?
If you type the word “ugly” into the Polyvore search bar, this is what you get:
Yes, it’s Jeffrey Campbell’s infamous ‘Lita’ platform boots, and they’re the perfect example of the fashion trend we want to discuss with you today: the trend for absolutely gigantic platforms, of the type that make your feet look like boats.
You’re probably already familiar with this trend. It’s beloved of fashion bloggers all over the world, many of whom own either the Litas, or their close cousins, Jessica Simpson’s ‘Dany’ sandals:
Some even own both. In multiple colours.
But wait, what’s this we hear you shout. “This is last year’s trend, Fashion Police! These shoes are old news!” You’re right, they are. But rather than dying out completely, the power of the gigantic platform shoe has only been getting stronger as time has passed. The Litas, for instance, have gotten completely out of control:
The Dany’s meanwhile, have spawned dozens of copies. And it doesn’t stop there, because now other designers are getting in on the “make people look like they have absolutely gigantic feet act”. Witness Christian Louboutin’s ‘Daffodil’ platofrms:
Now, don’t get us wrong: we love Louboutin. A little bit too much, actually, as our bank manager will testify. But while these shoes come in an array of beautiful colours, there’s something almost comedic about the size of that sole. We don’t know: sometimes we think we absolutely love them, other times we think they make the wearer’s feet look deformed. They’re that kind of shoe. (Although, we have to hand it to them: if, for some reason, you want your legs to look like twigs – and we’re not sure why you would, to be honest – these are the shoes for you, because next to that sole, even the chunkiest ankle will look slim.)
When it comes to ridiculous platforms, mind you, Louboutin starts to look like an amateur next to Gianmarco Lorenzi:
This is a denim clog. There’s so much wrong with that sentence we barely know where to start. It’s yet another example of the chunky platform trend, though, and like the shoes above it, it will make your feet like they belong to someone else: and possibly not someone from the same species.
So prevalent has this trend become these days, that the ridiculous platform has become commonplace. We’re actually more surprised when we find a pair of shoes that DON’T have a platform. These Chloe Sevigny for Opening Ceremony boots, for instance, look quite tame to us now, after several years worth of giant platforms:
And these Irregular Choice creations?
Once upon a time they might have looked outlandish, but now? Now they barely even register, and we find ourselves picking up wedges that don’t have platforms and wondering what on earth’s wrong with them, so accustomed are we to their large-soled sisters.
As for these Charlotte Olympia platforms, meanwhile:
Well, these are just beautiful. Not only would we wear them, we’d also probably put them out on display between wears, just so we could look at them some more. And sure, they look a lot like boats, and so would our feet once they were inside them. But maybe we could live with that. Maybe.
What do you think, readers? Are you for or against the giant platforms? Are you fully embracing the look, or can you just not wait for it to be over?
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