New York Fashion Week, Fall 2008: More Favorite Looks So Far

Perhaps it's because we've got a possible female presidential candidate on the collective brain, but there's a streak of "grown up" conservatism going on in the New York collections this season, what with lots of separates, suits both skirt and trouser, and a general covered-up thing going on. I'm not sure how I feel about it; it should definitely sell to the "working woman" and I'm happy to see the sometimes infantilizing girlishness of the recent past recede gently like an evening tide. But surely we don't need to look dowdy, which some shows came dangerously close to being. (If you're making tall, emaciated models look heavy and matronly, you know something's not working.) But happily, there's a few other things happening as well: purple (which has been popping up on nearly every runway), Katharine Hepburn (lots of high-waisted trouser suits happening), and my favorite theme of all, a sort of Joan of Arc flourish, what with a lot of militaristic detail and emphasis on a strong shoulder and almost breastplate-like bodices. Maybe Jeanne d'Arc offers a middle way between past seasons' little girl lost and this new Hitchcock heroine redux? She certainly satisfies my own slightly savage/dark romantic predilections. And certainly it's been fascinating to watch girly and ladylike stalwarts like Temperley and Behnaz Sarafpour find their inner toughie. But I think my most favorite show of all so far was Rodarte -- beautiful, intense, almost unwearable and highly imaginative, with its Japanese horror film and manga inspirations. I would like to live in a Rodarte world, or at least make a Rodarte movie. They should team up with Hayao Miyazaki and make a fairy tale..

I trawl style.com so you don't have to;

(l-r: 3.1 Phillip Lim, Anna Sui, Badgley Mischka)

(l-r: Behnaz Sarafpour, Benjamin Cho, Brian Reyes)

(l-r: Carlos Miele, Carolina Herrera, Catherine Malandrino)

(l-r: Chris Benz, Dennis Basso, Derek Lam)

(l-r: Doo.Ri, Halston, Isaac Mizrahi)

(l-r: Jill Stuart, J. Mendel, Karen Walker)

(l-r: Luca Luca, Malo, Marc by Marc Jacobs)

(l-r: Marchesa, Matthew Williamson, Max Azria)

(l-r: Michael Kors, Monique Lhullier, Narciso Rodriguez)

(l-r: Oscar de la Renta, Peter Som, Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti)

(l-r: Ports 1961, Proenza Schouler, Richard Chai)

(l-r: Rodarte, Shipley & Halmos, Stephen Burrows)

(l-r: Temperley, Thakoon, Tory Burch)

(l-r: TSE, Vivienne Tam, VPL)

(l-r: Y & Kei, Zero Maria Cornejo)

Posted by Kat in Fashion Weeks
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