Ripping the Collections: Irina - Part 2

Let's put the cherry on the sundae of Season Six, bitches!

Gorgeous. Love the details on the coat; love the huge collar; love the t-shirt.

Ditto. Although she probably went to the "big ass coat + boots" well one time too many.

There is a LOT going on with this look, but taking each piece on their own, we love every one. Love what she did with the sweater, with the holes in the sleeves. In fact, it looks like the wearer has several sleeve options here. Those pants are HOT.

And THOSE pants are HOT too. Although with everything else she's wearing, they don't exactly make for a chilly day option. Love the giant scarf thingy too.

We have to give her props here. She keeps returning to the same motifs over and over again and somehow the collection doesn't feel too repetitive. Sure, there's too much black and like we said, too many big coats or sweaters paired with boots, but that's more about styling and silhouette. When it comes to the detailing, specifically those overlapping pleats, she uses them well. They appear throughout the collection yet she manages to make them slightly different each time.

Case in point. This is like the punctuation mark at the end of the statement that was her collection. Kors didn't think she needed an evening gown and questioned why she had one at all, but we think it was kind of brilliant. Again, we see all the elements present in her collection, but this time in the form of a gown.

There were a couple of clunkers, but for the most part, it was an amazingly consistent and cohesive collection that showed great skill and a strong point of view. There has always been controversy surrounding the season winner and there always will be but we stand by what we said earlier: this is as good a collection as any of the previous winners. Better than a couple of them, actually.

Additional pictures:

[Photos: firstVIEW.com]


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Ripping the Collections: Irina - Part 1

Alright, bitches. We're all well rested, so let's get to this.

The thing is, hate us if you want, but we really love this collection; more each time we look at it, in fact. For all the talk of how low the talent level was this season in comparison to previous seasons (talk with which we don't entirely disagree), we think this collection could stand next to any of the previous winning collections and hold its own. Sure, she could have used more color, although we're not entirely in agreement on that chez T Lo. Lorenzo loves the collection as is and Tom thinks while there's nothing inherently wrong with so much black, it served to lessen the impact of some of the amazing detail on the pieces.

Let's start the show. If you're a hater, you might want something to bite down on.

After an intro like that, you thought we were going to rave about every piece, right? Well, we hated this look. It's a strong opener, but when you look at the rest of the collection, a bit of a head-scratcher. Sure it fits thematically, but the severity of this look is off the chart in comparison to the rest of the collection. Too stiff and shiny and textured. Too weird for weirdness' sake. We absolutely hate how it sticks out so stiffly near the bottom. Forget about sitting down in this thing.

Now this, we loved. So much detail here that you really need to stop and take a look to see it all. Love the proportions and the softness of the look, which stands in stark contrast to that armor-like opening piece. And we're gonna say it: we love the hats.

Another piece showcasing some amazing technical work. It skirts right up to the border of overworked, but the simple silhouette and neckline along with the lack of color, keep it from veering into that territory. The gloves really make it.

We absolutely love the top half of this and wish she could have left it there, as a jacket. It's soft and luxurious-looking. Unfortunately, she went coat length and the instantly screwed up the proportions. Worse, it makes the model look quite a bit bigger than she actually is, which is of course a big no. Still, we do love that collar and those sleeves.

Sometimes, what a designer thinks is their signature piece, isn't. Some other piece captures the crowd's imagination and for Irina's collection, that would be this one. Partially it's because it's not black, which is a relief, and partially it's because it was the perfect combination of look + model, but mainly it's because it's a fantastic piece, full stop. Again, love the sleeves and the collar/hood. And while we are COMPLETELY talked out over the whole t-shirt text controversy (and hope that you are too), we think pairing this luxurious sweater with a t-shirt was a bold idea that paid off. Love those closures she used.

CLUNK. We're assuming this is faux fur (looks like it). She clearly doesn't have the facility with this material that she does with the heavy knits. This just looks shapeless and colorless and unflattering.

Okay, we're gonna say something about Kalyn that was weighing on us all season. She's a pretty girl and there's no reason to think she can't be a successful model, but to our eyes, she doesn't look like a fashion model. She's got the conventionally pretty, beauty queen looks that would make her perfect for say, hair products and makeup modeling. She's just not striking enough for runway walking. Nothing illustrates this more than this look, which was Irina's surprise 13th-look. Why she picked this look for Kalyn to wear is a mystery to us. She can't pull off the edgier stuff. Blow out her hair and put her in one of those fluffy sweaters and she's your girl.

As for the look, love the lower half, but the upper half is WAY overworked. We hate the silhouette from the side and the way it makes her look like her boobs are blooming from a flower. Plus, the fit up top is weird. We no likey.


[Photos: firstVIEW.com - Video: Youtube/myLifetime]


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Ripping the Collections: Carol-Hannah - Part 2

The turkey has settled and Black Friday is a mere memory, so it's time to get back to dress ripping.

The proportions are off, unless she was trying to make the model look 10 months pregnant. We do like that frippery on the bodice, though. She just needed to make it a bit more fitted.

We don't know if it was Christopher's influence as her 13th-look helper, but she managed to bring the editorial eye to this look. It's got all of CH's trademarks but for once, she hasn't gone overboard on any of them. Beautifully done.

DULL. When the only thing of interest is the big Carrie Bradshaw circa 2002 fabric flower, then you need to step back and ask yourself if there's a place for this look in your Bryant Park collection.

We realize that there's a place in fashion for those high-waisted shorts and we've even trained our eye to see how they could work under the right circumstances. These are not the right circumstances. The proportions are really weird here and there's nothing at all flattering or pretty about this Little Blue Riding Hood look.

We like the idea behind this look. We just don't like the outcome. Again, it's a matter of proportion and knowing when to edit. Half of that effect, starting about a foot lower, would have made a huge difference.

We're not fans of that trademarked exposed and deconstructed seams thing that she does, but even if we were, we'd recognize that - yes, we're going to say it again - a little editing would have gone a long way here.

The girl clearly has a strong point of view and a range of techniques and tricks in her arsenal, but at the risk of repeating ourselves (too late), she needs to develop an eye that lets her know where the line is for going too far. She also needs to step away from the design every once in a while and consider the woman underneath who she envisions wearing it. As it is, there's a lot of concept and technique here, but no real understanding of a potential client base.

Additional pics:

[firstVIEW.com]


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