Beauty & Fashion Tips - Rags & Rouges Style Tips

Linday Lohan to Launch New Leggings Line! ~ Fashion Updates

Check out the Opening of Kim Kardashian’s Store Dash ~ Gina Angelina’s Fashion Fitness and Skin Care Tips For Models

Pedicure Tips from NailTiques ~ 15 Minute Beauty Fanatic

Chanel Preview The Robertson Boulevard Collection ~All Lacquerd Up

Zac Posen the L’il Zac Handbag LOVE LOVE~ Bag Bliss

OOOOH, Emilio Pucci’s New Sandal!!! It’s an Ankle Wrap, AND a thong! ~ The Shoe Goddess

A Bird’s Eye View of Australian Fashion Week ~ Trendinista

A New UTT-erly Awesome Online Boutique! ~ Urban Socialite

We haven’t done a whole lot of Milan coverage just because, I find when one fashion week runs into another, you get very similar looks. So what I like to do is pick out what trend runs amongst the fashion weeks. These are the looks that are going to last through the season. This year lace seems to be big. But not too big. What we have been seeing are contemporary, edgy looks that have just the right touch of lace. Gives you that strong but soft look, who says you can’t bring home the bacon and feel your most feminine at the same time? Not our lead designers, that’s for sure.

Miuccia Prada is just one of many designers that melded this strend between strong and feminine. She found the fabric she adored and worked the entire collection around it. Lace is described by Miuccia as ‘the most important fabric in a woman’s life’ . Why? It is present at birth, marriage, death, and every other milestone in between. Lace is not just for your grandma girls, celebrate it. In typical Prada style, the lace Miuccia incorporated was not precious, but smart, and subtly suggestive. And in 2008, subtly suggestive is sexy, beautiful, and strong.

LaPerla is another fave that never seems to let us down when it comes to pretty girly things. LaPerla finessed the strong yet sexy look in her Madonna like ‘Like a Virgin’ days which she put to shame with lingerie like details that left very little, but just enough to the imagination.

Derek Lam was another who took his contemporary cues from goth women. His girls were shrouded models in black lace dresses, tops, and even sexy eye masks. I love this chic sheath with the gold toned lace and black underlay. This could even go for day if you throw a snappy black blazer over top. So pretty. And Erin Fetherstone (pictured first, above) was right on target with her girly girly feminine appeal. Not the most wearable piece mind you, but she followed suit with the trends rather elegantly.

Rumors are swirling that some celebs are taking the looks right from Milan to the Academy Awards carpets. Who do you think can dare to be this sexy? Check back Monday to find out!

Photos: Elle

It is rumored that the two influences in Michael Kors collection this fall were Amy Winehouse and Alfred Hitchcock. The heroines, aka models, in his story on the runway were Kim Novak-esque complete with teased hairs that rivaled Amy Winehouse’s famous hive.

For me, the look carried much of the Sexy Librarian look. Think chic, polished, sleek, and sexy. Each look hugged the body in all of the right places, but carried an elegance and poshness that only Michael Kors could pull off. Colors came in rich fall tones, and when Kors strayed from that he used a variety of shades in lilacs and purples. Olives, balmacaans, and camel were hit shades on his runway. We saw long narrow skirts, cashmere sweaters, cropped print pants, and when adding a hint of sophisticated chic a little bit of sable and mink stoles were toss in. All of this over tweed jackets or plaid skirts.

When it was time for the Kors cocktail hour collection, metallics were his shades and fabrics of choice. Strapless gold and silvery princess dresses that came embellished stole the scene. And when it was time to showcase formal wear, it was the column gowns with the Watteau backs that really impressed.

Everything I do is a matter of heart, body and soul. — Donna Karan

The theme surrounding Donna Karan’s FW ’08 Collection this week was termed ‘Eclectic Glamor’. Donna never fails to please, and her Fall Collection this year was a little bit of everything.

Fabrics came in every sensation imaginable – tweed, brocade, jacquard, printed silk, corduroy, and a handful of knits. Colors ranged from muted heather grays to rich fall tones. The color line was extended into the cocktail dress wear, where we saw some bright colored and patterned pieces and a lot of bold, strong reds.

The entire collection was a mix of energy and freshness. A lot of pretty, with a little touch of funky. Eclectic Glamor.

Making clothes involves what I like…the surprise of seeing the work come alive walking and dancing around on strangers….~Betsey Johnson

This philosophy definitely rang true for the Betsey Johnson addition of NY Fashion Week. The collection was described as loads of fun, and as you can see from the slideshow, there is no better description. Some of Betsey’s collection looked a little high school, on pieces that garnered 6 inch ruffles for example, but once you turned to her party dress series, you would second guess that original thought. Betsey used quite the color range, starting with a dark stream of black and moving to deep fall colors mixed with some jewel tones.

Key pieces in the show included the opening number of a fringed leather jacket, and moved towards mix and matches that included a suede wrap skirt, twill blazer, leopard leggings, and zebra cardigan. The entire collection in fact was a long series of mix and matchables. With the dark and bold lines, Betsey describes the collection as “kick ass with a harder hard edge in a Joan Jett kind of way”.

The end of the show was everyone’s favorite as Betsey celebrated her 30 years in the business by closing the runway with a collection of anniversary pieces. You can catch these in the last segment of the slide show, and note how timeless her work really is. It’s really hard to see the difference between contemporary Betsey and vintage Betsey. The last few pieces in her collection were her personal favorites over the last 30 years and include pieces from the ‘70’s and ’80’s.

I am changing formats to offer you a better view of the Fall Collections, so have a look at the slideshow and tell us what you think of the latest Betsey Johnson line.

Well, after much ado about bandwidth issues, health issues, and crashing computer issues, Rags and Rouges is finally back in the swing and things. And PHEW just in time to hit the flux of fashion week.

Fall is in the air on the streets of New York as Fashion Week for the Fall/Winter 2008 Ready-to-Wear Collections are being launched. Today we are going to have a look at BCBG MaxAzria’s line.
And it looks like BCBG is celebrating femininity. The looks you will see in this collection are ethereral, fairy-tale esque and free falling flowing fun. You are going to see a lot of the standard fall color palette, but BCBG is far from dreary. Color palette for BCBG’s collection was largely neutral, but in a very sexy way. You may like the creams, tans, ivories, and khaki’s that are elegant, but not ‘yuppy in the Hamptons’ kind of khaki.

Fabrics were all of the fabrics that you like to touch the most, that you adore to feel against your skin. Think silks, georgettes, satins, organzas, with some practical no muss jersey thrown in as well.
Oh, and TREND ALERT. Waist cinching belts are all the rave, not just with BCBG but all over New York’s runways this week.

Towards the end of the show you saw more color but in subdued tones. Overall, the theme to almost every piece was a luxurious sexiness of intricate folding and draping, airyness, and light silhouettes. Beauty for the show was a mix of ‘just got out of the convertible’ blown hair and very light makeup. I am going to venture almost on the goddess appeal for this collection. BCBG is one that always surprises, and this was one surprise I was quite tickled with.