Click through the gallery for some boots from New York Fashion Week that are made for walking.

Photos: Style.com

Michael Bastian’s set is looking natural, but a little bit lavish. 

I love that you used the word lavish!

How does your aesthetic change between a show with the classic American prep of Michael Bastian versus some of the more wild designers?

It was important to give Michael Bastian a refined look, as soon as people walk in the door. They’re used to him being a little big sporty, but this season it’s very refined. I approach all my shows with same intensity. People always ask, what has been your favorite show? They all become your babies when you’re in the middle of making them. It’s a constant evolution from the minute you have the idea till the lights go on.

What past experience led you to being the Creative Director on so many top shows like Jason Wu, Alexander Wang, and now Michael Bastian?

I come out of the fashion magazine world. I was a fashion editor for many many moons. I always felt my job was not just get people excited by the clothes, but to almost make the clothes feel legendary within the picture. I was coming up in an era where we were making clothes famous.

- Celebrities are clamoring to spice up their red carpet lives by wearing Victoria Beckham to this year’s Oscars. [Daily Mail]

- Victoria’s Secret Angel Kylie Bisutti apparently took her title too seriously and quit VS because god doesn’t care for that kind of behavior in his heavenly hosts. [Vogue UK]

- Ellen DeGeneres took the moral high road in responding to the One Million Moms group that wanted JC Penney to dump her for being a big ole lez. I, however will continue skipping merrily along on the low road by saying, “Suck on that, trash.” [EW]

- Christian Siriano may have been denied membership to the CFDA, but he’s “fine” with not being “a Wang or a Wu” as long as he has wads of cash to wipe his tears. [NYT]

- Kanye West is showing his sophomore collection on March 6 at 9:30 pm during Paris Fashion Week. Anna Wintour is expected to leave at 9:31. [WWD]

- Hey, Linds, your tit’s out. Oh, nevermind, you’re with Terry Richardson. Carry on. [Terry's Diary]

To read the rest of this article, visit Société Perrier.

Willy Vanderperre captured Julia Frauche as a modern day pin-up girl in looks from Wu’s spring 2012 collection. With an emphasis on silhouette and sophistication, the designer decided to infuse an element of chaos by posting the ads all over Manhattan’s streets, adding, “The juxtaposition between the downtown-uptown vibe feels so right for my first campaign.” [WWD]

Via Fashion Gone Rogue

Get into them for $475 at SSENSE.

Mary Alice Stephenson wears a lot of hats!  Her Facebook followers are in the five figures, she is a media go-to for her red carpet commentating and heart-filled fashion segments, a world renown stylist who has styled for icons such as Avedon, Hiro, Demarchelier, Lindbergh and Richardson as well as serving as a brand ambassador and spokesperson for many Fortune 500 brands.   Oh, and we can’t forget to mention how cool it is that she and Barbie are talking fashion in her “dream” closet for BarbieWow.com next week, while still making time to be the national fashion ambassador for the Make a Wish Foundation.  She gives her time and love for fashion to many charitable organizations all while being a single mom.  She’s our new hero and we think soon to be yours, too!

As a fashion consultant, you get to do something different every day- which days are you favorite?

Every day is different and I love it that way!  It’s such a mix — from red carpet commentating to consulting behind the scenes for Fortune 500 companies, to creative directing, to styling editorial shoots with top photographers. Each week it’s high fashion to mass fashion, it keeps me happy to be in both worlds!  I can reach so many real women all over the world via social media, my followers love that they can get a look into the real world of fashion and learn how they can apply that glamour to their lives in a realistic way.  One day I’m shooting for a European Vogue, doing a fashion segment for the Nate Berkus show or styling a supermodel for Estee Lauder and the next day I could be helping real women get their glam on in a mall in middle America!

Who are young designers that we should be looking to for the future of fashion?

I just had lunch with the talented designers of Cushnie et Ochs, I try to support as many up and coming designers as possible.  I know how tough this business can be and how much support they need to make it.   I love Flora and Alexa from Ohne Titel, Juan Carlos Obando, Joseph Altruzara, Christian Cota, Suno, Frank Tell….  There is so much talent out there right now.  I try to shoot their clothes, or get them on the red carpet as well as talk about their clothes in the media to help get their point of view out to mass America.  The American public needs to know there are more options than just the big brands that can afford to advertise.  It’s still a struggle, for example, there were a wide range of luxury brands seen on the Golden Globe red carpet but where were Erdem, Prabal Gurung, Thakoon, Alexander Wang, Proenza Schouler?  I was happy to see Givenchy, Nina Ricci and Jason Wu, though —  so that is some progress!

For the rest of the interview, click on over to LOOKBOOKS.com!

- Speaking of the Obamas, the campaign’s Runway to Win e-commerce site went live today, featuring designs by Proenza Schouler, Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenberg, Alexander Wang and —  for kicks — the House of Dereon. [Runway to Win]

- Will wonders never cease? A Top Model contestant actually becomes a top model. ANTM‘s Cycle 10 reject Fatima Siad — the second coming of Iman — landed Hervé Léger‘s spring 2012 campaign. [The Cut]

- Blue Ivy Carter is officially a hitmaker. The less than a week old diva-in-training is the youngest person to enter the Billboard charts, riding on the coattails of daddy Hov’s “Glory.”  No one’s ready for this baby’s jelly. [People]

- Calvin Klein and his jailbait lothario Nick Gruber are apparently “on a break.” Guess Calvin finally put Nick down for his nap. [NYDN]

- Indie Music Style Star Azealia Banks is going Gaga, working with the Lady’s right-hand queen Nicola Formichetti on her latest video. [Fashionista]

- Nike‘s agreed to pay a group of nearly 4,500 Indonesian factory workers $1 million in overtime, which roughly comes out to the price of a pair of Air Jordans per worker. Congrats. [The Cut]

- Lingerie models stripped down to their skivvies in Paris’ Musee d’Orsay as part of a publicity stunt for panty purveyor Etam. Museum officials, however, were not amused. Mostly because they did it without getting permission to film in the museum first. [Huff Po]

Photos via NYMag

On stereotypes:  I love stereotypes, sweeping generalizations and everything that is un-PC. Stereotypes are fun to goof around with and, in a way, you sort of diffuse them if you throw them around.

On gay food versus straight food:  People have the silly notion that there are four food groups. There is really only gay food and straight food. I’m advocating a balance of the two. An oversized beef burrito is basically a phallic symbol, it’s obviously so straight. The gayest food has got to be macaroons, in all pastels and shades. If you lived on them you would explode into a nuclear cloud of gayness. Sushi is also a gay food. You’re taking a big sloppy fish and making it into little bon bons. That seems really gay to me.

On bringing the word “naff” to America:  The word naff is a very useful term, you use it to describe something that is just really tragic and dreary and doesn’t have any style, a lack of panache. There is no American word for that.

On female inspiration:  Suzanne Bartsch was a woman I found to be really inspirational and funny.

On his message to the masses:  I want everyone to be less self-critical and feel less self-conscious, that’s my mission in life.

On his favorite designers:  Alexander Wang – he’s incredible, has such energy, he’s really groovy. Azzedine Alaia – it’s fun to go into his boutique and turn the dresses inside out, the construction and level of design is amazing. Paul Poiret – who did all the exotic stuff at the early turn of the 20th century. Also Christian Lacroix, Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto.

On International Gays: The gays in London tend to be very mod, they wear their Fred Perry’s.  In Japan its crazy, the level of flamboyance, style, and experimentation is incredible. In Paris people are so dressed up its great. There are lots of cocktail hats, lots of transgendered things but not in a drag way, more like a tweed cape and Birkin bag, but in a man way.

On Straight Man Fashion:  If you’re in America and you put a lot of attention on how you look and dress, in US context you’re going to be perceived as gay. If you do that elsewhere it may not. I have a chapter on men’s style and what I’m advocating is that gay men and straight men should dress the same but they have to pick from three looks: the perverse prep (Thom Browne, Band of Outsiders, comes from workwear) or the heritage henry (Carhartt, Levis, heritage brands) or the douchebag look (Jersey Shore, Ed Hardy, Abercrombie) it works. It’s all about juxtapositions in the world of fashion, it’s a jigsaw puzzle. It doesn’t work individually, it works as a whole.

On Fads:  There’s absolutely nothing in the fashion scene I would like to see go. I love all of it. I don’t have the ability to say “oh yes she looks terrible” because it’s all subjective — as long as she’s happy and having a good time I don’t have that need to kick her to the curb.  Probably because I’ve been so involved in fashion history I see it as a landscape. It is not about you, it is about fitting into the social landscape.

On Having Your Own Look:
You’ve got to have your own look, it’s all about self expression. Even if that is objectively kind of demented. Marc Jacobs once said fashion isn’t about trends any more, but it is about having your own look. Self expression is the key to everything. Even if you have a mullet at least you look like yourself. Good. Go buy two mullets.

Photo: Vogue.com

Wintour and Vogue have reportedly been “instrumental” in coercing assembling the 22 designers, including Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenberg, Tory Burch, Alexander Wang, Tracy Reese, Joseph Altuzarra, Rachel Roy, Narciso Rodriguez, Rag & Bone and Jason Wu. Wary of alienating Republican voters from their brands, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton initially nixed their labels from participating in Runway to Win, but Marc Jacobs — of which LVMH owns a majority stake — designed his T-shirt anyway, “following pressure from the magazine,” according to WWD.

On the other hand, Donna Karan, also owned by LVMH, did not bow to Wintour and is therefore not participating in the fundraising effort. And therefore won’t be seen in Vogue anytime soon…Kidding!…Not really.

Runway to Win’s e-commerce site, runwaytowin.com, officially launches on Thursday, but Wintour’s re-election campaign is not stopping there. She will also co-host an Obama fundraiser with actress Scarlett Johansson in February — which I’m taking as a sign that ScarJo will be on the cover around that time. See, kids, and you thought fashion and politics had nothing in common. They both require a steely nerve, a willingness to compromise and the ability to turn a blind eye to corruption. The blatant abuse of power doesn’t hurt either. [WWD]

Photography by Stockton Johnson

Styled by Yi Guo

Link Love: Fashion Gone Rogue

]]> http://fashionindie.com/vogue-does-the-go-to-the-gym-new-years-resolution/feed/ 0 http://fashionindie.com/forbes-30-under-30/ http://fashionindie.com/forbes-30-under-30/#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:29:37 +0000 Lester Brathwaite http://fashionindie.com/?p=222544 Aaliyah once said “Age Ain’t Nothin’ but a Number.” Of course she was 15 at the time and boinking R. Kelly, but that’s neither here nor there. Forbes Magazine, always list-happy, doesn’t believe in that mantra and therefore decided to rank the top 30 “disrupters” under 30 years of age, each in twelve categories, including art, media, music, energy, finance and technology. And just after I had finished going through my quarter-life crisis — looks like I (once again!) picked the wrong day to stop huffing glue.

Among the precocious pissants are designers Joseph Altuzarra, Alexander Wang, Chris Benz, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and Pamela Love; musicians Adele, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Rihanna and most of the Young Money roster — Lil Wayne, Drake and Nicki Minaj; actors Chloe Moretz, Jennifer Lawrence and Community‘s Donald Glover; and hiding out in the media category is Tavi Gevinson. And while Jaden Smith made the cut, his hair-whipping, fireball-throwing sister, Willow, is nowhere to be seen. Other notable exclusions include Glee‘s leading ladies Lea Michele and Chris Colfer, as well as tween fashionistas Elle Fanning and Hailee Steinfeld. Guess they weren’t being disruptive enough.

Click through the gallery for some of the kids making waves while I pass out in a pool of my own vomit. [Forbes]

-How would you describe your blog in a few words?
Quirky downtown NYC.

-When and how did StyleDefinedNYC begin?
It began almost 3 years ago. I was a big fan of Scott Schulman/the Sartorialist but felt like he wasn’t
seeing “my New York” that is a bit more urban than urbane and has a strong nightlife streak. So I decided
to start my own blog!

-What is your favorite part about StyleDefinedNYC?
Sharing my experience of New York City with everyone else. I grew up at the end of the “club kid”
era and I love giving props to the nightlife peeps and their personal style. At the same time I’m a big fan of
emerging designers so have expanded to include a new section called UP|Coming that profiles them and
that I’m really excited about.

What is the hardest part of StyleDefinedNYC?

Staying true to my vision. I get tons of requests from PR companies to cover their events or products and
I have to be really careful about what I agree to write about. It’s also really important to me to have
all original content –not just grab things from other websites.

Three favorite Fall 2011 must have items in your closet right now?

I’m kind of obsessed with outerwear at the moment, so I’d say a black leather vest with an
asymmetrical hem and big faux fur collar -it’s “instant glam”, a cropped and boxy vintage leopard coat and a
black wool Alexander Wang coat.

-What is the best moment so far that you have experienced as a fashion blogger?

Well the best opportunity that came from blogging happened last summer: J&B Whiskey was having a party in Madrid with a theme of the Manhattan cocktail. They invited me over as an “iconic New Yorker” and had my photos blown up wall sized for the party. I am far from iconic, but it was an amazing experience! That’s one big event. But in smaller ways it’s the daily connecting to different people. I’ve met so many really amazing people simply by taking their photo and I feel I can go pretty much anywhere and see people I know, now.

-Do you have any favorite fashion/ photographer muses at the moment?

My two favorite fashion photographers are Steven Meisel –whose ongoing work with Italian Vogue is off the charts– and David Lachappelle. David doesn’t do fashion so much anymore but he has a great eye for the whole photo and really plays with color in a brilliant way.

- What advice would you give to an aspiring street style blogger?

Decide on a particular “angle” that will make you unique. Advanced Style does this really well! There are so many street style sites and sites that allow people to submit their own images that you have to figure out a point of view. Alternatively maybe you can contact a fashion or style site that doesn’t have streetstyle and offer your services as the street style photographer. That could give you experience and exposure. Finally, you can’t afford to be shy – but if you are just keep doing it and work through it!

-What music are you currently listening to on your iPod?

I have given up the iPod for Pandora and am a total Pandora junkie. Right now I’m switching between
a station I made called “Katya Chills” which is an electric mix of my favorites like Thievery Corporation,
the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and old classic bands like The Talking Heads on it and a Jazz Standards station that
plays Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.

-As a street style documenter, what part of NYC would you say has the best style?

Well since I kind of focus on nightlife style I’d say currently I love some of the style I’m seeing at ZigZag – thursdays at Le Bain- but this is always changing up!

-How would you describe your personal style?
Constantly evolving! I am a platform heel addict because I need the height and I prefer jeans –either
skinny or super wide– to skirts or dress although there are exceptions. I recently went to the Daphne Guiness’ exhibit at FIT and found it utterly inspiring. I’d love to be able to dress like her, but since that’s not practical it has inspired me to eliminate t-shirts from my wardrobe. They’re sooo boring!

-Where do you see your blog 5 years from now?

Five years?!? I’m not sure! But I’m interested in pushing the photography angle further. I’d love to do shoots
with some of my favorite nightlife people that are a bit more controlled as well as shooting lookbooks for designers and adding video to the repertoire. But above all I’d like it to be a little time capsule of downtown New York fashion and style.

Make sure to follow more inspirations by Katya on Twitter! @Katya_NYC and check out some original first hand glimps at the street style in New York City on StyleDefinedNYC

W’s EIC Stefano Tonchi and senior editor Diane Solway approached Ai about doing the cover shortly after he was released and the artist seemed game. ““He really, really liked the idea,” said Solway. “We left it open to him to create an original work and then we didn’t hear from him for a little bit, so we thought it wasn’t happening.”

Then suddenly, Ai re-emerged with the idea of referencing photos he took of the 1980s riots in Tompkins Square for a five-photo spread. With photographer Max Vadukul, Ai art directed the shoot via Skype, remotely observing as Sui He was detained and hooded — while giving face the entire time — in an Alexander Wang dress before being confined in Rikers Island.

“For me, the excitement has been, firstly, to have the chance to collaborate with an artist of his stature,” said Vadukul of the shoot, “then to hear him actually give a very strong direction. If anybody ever asks me what’s the most incredible thing you’ve ever done in editorial, I will say this assignment.”

The cover is certainly a departure from W‘s last “Art Issue,” featuring a nude and painted Kim Kardashian and one can bet that Ai Weiwei won’t be crying into his sister’s mannish arms about being able to see a little nip. [NYT]

For more information on The Fund, visit Vogue.com.

- The always pragmatic Rachel Zoe came to Paris Fashion Week with 11 suitcases. Because those caftans and block wedges aren’t going to fly transatlantic by themselves. [Fashionista]

- Tom Ford, in a position to which he has grown suspiciously accustomed, for Russian GQ. [Image Amplified]

- An Irish farmer kicked a scantily-clad Rihanna off his land, hoping RiRi and her friends “acquaint themselves with a greater God,” i.e. Beyoncé. [BBC]

- Crystal Renn was accused of being too skinny by a plus-sized designer; there have been worse insults. [Fashionista]

- Natasha Poly, 52 years after entering the game (in model time) , is the hardest working model of Milan Fashion Week. [The Cut]

Photo: Models.com

Karlie Kloss – The supermodel of the moment, Karlie’s stardom was cemented with her special cover of Life magazine and her transition to grown-ass woman cemented by her nude spread shot by Mario Testino.

- Lindsay Lohan continues to be employable, if only by German fashion houses you’ve never heard of/care about. This can’t go well, particularly considering the first sentence of the press release announcing Lilo’s participation in Philipp Plein‘s spring campaign: “Lindsay is a beautiful, highly acclaimed actress and model.” Who are we lying to Philipp Plein? [Styleite]

- Frida Gustavsson is GORGEOUS on Paolo Roversi‘s cover of Vogue Italia‘s Couture Supplement, giving us a little flapper chic and some serious face. [Fashion Gone Rogue]

- Designer Alice Temperley thinks London Fashion Week is better than New York Fashion Week and should be longer. Meanwhile, preaching to the choir, girlfriend. [Telegraph]

- Girls fall on the runway every season and, honestly, it’s always a highlight. But turns out taking a catwalk misstep could land a girl face down in unemployment. [Daily Mail]

- Which is why they should take a cue from the pros, like Liu Wen and Jourdan Dunn, who reveal how they traveresed the trricky runways of Jason Wu and Alexander Wang, respectively. [The Cut]

Photos from Style.com

The limited edition tees are $85 a pop and are sold through starbucksstore.com and select Nordstrom stores. Though the designers were given a fee to participate, according to CFDA executive director, Steven Kolb, the project gave them the chance “to give back a little bit which is in keeping with the spirit of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund.”

Not really sure to whom they’re giving back nor am I sure that the spirit of the Fashion Fund is about selling out hardcore, but for $85 I guess you can have your coffee and wear it too. [WWD]

Color Palette: Black, royal blue, white and gray

Mood: Alexander Wang meets menswear

Statement Piece: No piece in particular stood out more than the rest, but the cuts and accents, especially the zippers, added bold detail to each of the designs

Front Row Name Drops: No famous faces graced the front row

Gossip: Person behind me in reference to a long-haired model, “Look, it’s Jesus.”

Runway Music: New Age Instrumental

Diane von Furstenberg: ”That’s her opinion. She is entitled. She has a voice, she uses her voice. I have a voice. All I will say is that I work very hard, and I do the best I can. I hope she comes to the show and I hope she likes the show.”

Michael Kors: ”People can make their decision as to what turns them on and what thrills them, and what doesn’t. It’s like shopping.”

Oscar de la Renta: ”It bothers me because I love my industry, and I love fashion. I think fashion is something of beauty and it really makes me mad when someone writes about fashion in a bitter way.”

Vera Wang: ”We actually employ a lot of people, and we try to support our industry, and we do pay for things. We’re doing our best to be honorable and support our industry. If those things don’t stand for something, I don’t really know what does.” [WWD]

FashionIndie‘s own Jessica Lapidos captured
during last Fashion Week by NY Mag

Go East, Young Tran!

Asia is booming! With many designers flocking to the Far East not only for business but inspiration, why not give a knowing wink to the Orient with this look, featuring a Boudicca cape, cropped McQ jersey harem pants and of course, what Asian sensation is complete without a little Hello Kitty?

11. University of Delaware Newark, DE

Campus Tour: The smallest state also has a small design program that is focused on quality garment making from every angle. The program follows a garment through its entire lifecycle, from the creative design and tailoring, to a focus on sustainably producing goods on both small and large scale in a socially and environmentally minded manner. An entirely student run fashion magazine, UDress, and fashion shows exist outside of class, working to show and pull fashion out of this college driven town.

Programs: Apparel Design, Merchandising, Sustainability

Student Body: 16,500

Tuition:  $27,000

Star Alumni: Well, me. And a fierce force that is the backbone of the garment industry.

Click through all the pages to see our Labor Day getaway essentials, and your weekender will be light as air.

I’m not the only one who would live in this rainbow mountain of Givenchy Pandora bags. Celebrities like Reese Witherspoon, Kate Beckinsale and Hilary Duff are also huge fans.

We love this bag to death, but, unfortunately, won’t be buying one anytime soon. Check out page two for our “look for less” picks.

- And speaking of useless marriages, People paid $1.5 million for “exclusive” rights to Kim Kardashian‘s wedding, despite her lackluster engagement issue and the fact that no one really cares. [WWD]

- Alexander Wang ventures behind the beauty counter with a nail color from Sally Hansen. [Style]

- Miss Piggy, diva of divas, will make an appearance during Fashion’s Night Out at Opening Ceremony where she will debut  the new Muppets x Opening Ceremony line. I hope the clothes don’t come with a hand already up them…or do I? [Fashionista]

Savannah Ankle Boot, $595

Brazilian beauty Raquel Zimmermann runs around in Alex Wang Fall 2011 ready-to-wear with some sort of flare in hand and SebastiAn and M.I.A.’s “C.T.F.O.” blasting in the background.

Fabien Baron — perhaps best know for Sex with Madonna* — directed the ad, a moody meditation on modeling in an abandoned grain factory in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Thoughts?:

And if you still want the full, projected-on-building effect, you still have tonight and tomorrow to get you some Wang. [WWD]

*Sidebar: Remember how awesome Madonna was?

Go to page two for our perfect Manhattan workday lunch outfit splurge.

“We’ve rented these trucks and the video will be projected from the trucks onto the sides of buildings. Some will be roaming, some planted,” explains Wang.

The video, featuring Raquel in all her super glory, was shot in an abandoned grain factory in that jewel of Brooklyn, Red Hook. Wang was apparently going for “gritty” and “raw” and it really doesn’t get any grittier — or rawer — than an abandoned anything out somewhere in Red Hook.

You’ll be able to catch Raquel crawling over the Upper West Side, SoHo and the Meatpacking District for  six hours tonight, and into Thursday and Friday night. [WWD]

Wang told Style.com that the duo’s “endless talent, incomparable energy, and most of all, down-to-earth personality make them the perfect representation for T.”

Click through for T’s new campaign video featuring Santi and Spank getting down and turning it out to a remix of Santigold’s “Go” by Diplo’s Major Lazer partner, Switch.

Take a walk on the wild side with these animal inspired Jeffrey Campbell wedges – $190

The Beatles started wearing them in their Cavern Club nights, aka that hole in the wall in Liverpool, where John, Paul, George and (eventually) Ringo would literally drive the kids into a frenzy. The Fab Four meticulously honed their look. When they hired Ringo in ’62, it was under the condition that he too brush his hair forward into a mop top. Soon, that hairdo, the Nehru jacket and the winklepicker, renamed the Beatle Boot, became just about as internationally crazed as the boys themselves. Stores across the world went wild making and stocking the Beatle Boot, and Andy Warhol even immortalized the advertisements in a work of art.

[Clockwise from the top]

Snaz it up in silver snakeskin. Guiseppe Zanotti

With a toe dipped in patent leather, this ain’t no old brown shoe. Alexander Wang

In betwixt side buckles are cutouts for a summertime winklepicker. Opening Ceremony

Solid black like The Beatles like ‘em. Alexander Wang

Dig it?

Kate, it seems, is taking a page out of the Michelle Obama playbook by adhering to the rules of wardrobe diplomacy —  the practice, as The Financial Times‘ Vanessa Friedman explains it, “of a national leader (or leading representative) wearing clothes from the country they are visiting as a form of economic and cultural outreach.”

For her tour of Africa this week, the Fierce Lady has mixed and matched her Narciso Rodriguez and J. Crew staples with Nigerian-born designer Duro Olowu.

Meanwhile, DVF is a logical choice for Kate. Not only an iconic designer and president of the CFDA, the DVF wrap dress is the prototype for those damn Issa and Reiss dresses Kate can’t seem to get enough of.

I can’t wait to see what else Kate wears — especially since she’s picking out her own wardrobe like the down-to-earth princess she is. Personally I’m pulling for some other all-American designers  to cover that emaciated royal back of hers. Imagine, Princess Katherine in Alex Wang?  [Financial Times]

Shield your eyes kids with a massive sunglass:

Still Here & Queer? Yellow frames and purple lenses are the answer. Squint Topshop

Over the rainbow? Raise a brow at the thought of seeing purple so soon in Prada.

Your hair is a wreck and your face has weathered a GLAAD storm. A dramatic hat will hide that:

Still Here & Queer? Missoni has your colorful needs covered.

Over the Rainbow? A black hat is subtle… San Deigo

Your body wants something like sweatpants, but your heart, mind, soul, and the judgement of others will never allow it. The alternative is a skirt, flowing like the coconut water you’ll be guzzling.

Still Here & Queer? Alice + Olivia must have made this skirt with Gay Pride in mind. And its subsequent hangover.

Over the Rainbow? Your Sunday antics are right out of ancient Greece. Commemorate with Opening Ceremony‘s long grecian skirt.

Give yourself a hug in the softest shirt in the world.

Still Here & Queer? Purple dyed and hand-deconstructed, much like your hair in college. Raquel Allegra

Over the Rainbow? Just throw on an asymmetrical T by Alexander Wang tank and call it a day.

You stomped for miles all over the damn town shouting your love of yourself and your same sex lovers around the world in a 6 inch heel. You need a flat.

Still Here & Queer? Make that flat a flatform. Ego and Greed

Over the Rainbow? Let your feet breathe in non-confining sneaker, a proper mandal. Ksubi Artimus

Menswear wasn’t always in the cards for Wang. His T by Alexander Wang line started off  as a “vanity project.” He claims he “just wanted to do stuff [he] wanted to wear.” But after GQ named him Best New Menswear Designer in America and he was nominated for the CFDA’s Swarovski Menswear Design Award, he got the message:

“That was like, ‘Whoa.’ You know, awards are great, but they put you on fast track — you have to do this, you have to do that. Now we can breathe and go back to focusing on this new line.”

This new line will have, according to Wang, “a more refined point of view” with slicker fabrics, sleeker lines and “less flashy” embellishments. And that translates to a less sexually-charged aesthetic than his womenswear: “[M]y guy isn’t about exposing his chest. It’s not the male gigolo.”

Capt. Jack Sparrow probably wouldn’t approve. [WWD]

Check out Alexander Wang’s Spring 2012 Mens Ready to Wear lookbook below: