Day 3.  Icy Wind and the My Dick Song

I usually do get up for the 10 a.m. Lacoste show.  Years ago, they had colorful pillows on the seats (giveaways), for say, the first 8 rows. And then it was big beautiful bags in bright colors; literal gift bags As the economy soured, only the first row got bags. And this year, hedging my bet on no gift, I decided to catch an extra hour of sleep.  I do love Lacoste polo shirts and sweater, however. Did manage to attend the Editions by Georges Chakra show, at 11 a.m.  I got there, at the Tent, at about 10:52 and there were a thousand people waiting to get checked in.  If you have your seating assignment written on your invite, you can just walk right in, but I could barely find a pen to scratch mine down. Inside, Deborah Hughes, who runs the thing, gave me a third row seat. Okay, fine, but believe me, there was noooooobody recognizable in the first or second rows, except for Alex and Simon from Real Housewives of New York.  Ahem.  In the past few years on the red carpet in Hollywood, I have been hearing the words Georges Chakra a lot.   And some of the dresses were great. But what killed me were the three or four Celine-Dion-style backwards tux jackets that were really dresses. You know, buttons up on your back, big open space for shoulder blades where one expects a bust line.  Didn’t Celine Dion ruin that look for all time, forever, caput. Iceberg on the runway.  Brrr. Did I mention that last night in the Fashion for Relief in Haiti show, Agnes Deyn fell hard, twice, before removing her shoes. Bam!.

Prabal Gurung, the designer who hails from Nepal, did a presentation last season at a gallery in Chelsea. He had a very good year.  Demi is now a big fan.  So I was expecting big names at the oddly tiny venue at the tents called The Salon.  Name fashion editors, who shall go nameless, had third row seats.  And I had missed an email from Prabal’s peeps saying I needed to contact KCD about the show.  So I had no seat at all.  Oy.  I sat on a loudspeaker in the back, trying to hide behind heads so as not to be noticed by friends who were well situated.  When Barbara Bush, the younger came and sat, from my position, for a moment, I thought she was Victoria Beckham (wishful thinking).   Zoe Saldana joined a moment before the show.  She’s now stars in Avatar, but I knew her when.  When?  Well, I recall one night a few years back when she was reading the doormen at Bungalow 8 up and down in Spanish for not letting her in.  And after she left, I told them she pretty famous and that they should have opened the door. Gurung worked for Blass for a time, and the show had the theatrical big ruffles, and various other Blass elements, but exaggerated in a hip toned-down fashion.  He updated with muted jewel tones. And he added black panels to give the pieces edge.  The hair was long with wave-like bubble bouffant on top, smoothed down.  It wasn’t McQueen http://www.style.com/video/fashion-moments/fashion-moments/1896809784/spellbound/66153924001 nothing is. Well, I shouldn’t say nothing is. This clip from 1935 for Max Reinhardt’s A Midsummer Nights Dream, choreographed by Bronislava Njinska, for example, is on that level of genius:

But it’s rare, indeed.  Okay, so as Gurung finishes up, I rush for a taxi, and arrive in time square as Broadway lets out.  Oh, and there is killer, icy wind.  I had to walk to 45th and 10th to get an f-ing taxi.  And Alexander Wang does his show on 55th and the river in the iciest, cab-free zone one could imagine. It was one of those massive empty warehouse spaces.  Vanessa von Bismark’s company did a spectacular job setting it up.  The building was mostly empty and dark, and then the seating was black risers, that zigged at both ends, so it looked like a big black river of fashionistas.  And in the “preferred” standing, there were literally thousands of hip fans.  The kid has a Biblical-scale following.

Frankly, my seat was so bad, that I can’t tell you if it was great or not. Caroline T C, Fashionland founder, who had an eye view, said that she LOVED.  The hair was smooshed down and long and some models wore big dark glasses.  There was a memorable jacket with pin stripes made of big silver beads.  The dresses had skin showing in unexpected places. No sleeves.  Then, also, sleeves that are too long on purpose. And there were fabrics cut out like Mexican placemats, similar to something Chacras had showed earlier.  It was a real Marc Jacobs scale event, without the big conceptual underpinning. Just tons of cool stuff for gals to wear with thigh high boots and such. Anna Wintour came, Peter Brandt, Zoe Kravitz.  It reminded me of the attention and production values that Zac Posen used to get. When the fashionistas anoint a young one, they really give them a chance.  Shades on the runway seem to be a trend, by the way.  If you didn’t have a black car waiting after the show, however, you were screwed.  I snuck out just before Wang walked.  Nabbed a taxi, and a few minutes later, found myself discussing McQueen’s circle and their sadness with Kelly Osbourne in the front row of Elise Overland at Exit Art.   She said that the friend who introduced her to McQueen is catatonic.  Those who knew him well are irreconcilable. Tough.  Heidi Klum was also allegedly shooting the German version of Top Model in the front row. Elise had some beautiful velvet numbers, that recalled 1930s elegance, but one does get the feeling after a while that pieces from a number of these shows are practically interchangeable.

(more photo’s at Zimbio.com)  Even tougher to get a cab after Overland (I saw CTC on a corner freezing and swooped her into my cab).  I’m over the bitter wind.   I then skipped ahead to the Alice and Olivier presentation at Provocateur in the Meat Packing district.  It’s a really great- looking club at the Gansevoort Hotel.  They had a big red carpet.  Mina Suvari’s hair was frizzed and fluffed, and my crush is  officially over.  In the better light, I noticed Kelly Osbourne’s bod.  She has really lost weight. Says she’s on the diet where you avoid sugar content and carbs.  What will power.  Okay, she’s my new girl crush.  She smooched me hello at Overland.

At Alice and Olivier, the concept was to have the models stand on platforms in the midst of a party.  They were definitely the best dressed in the room.  Cute stuff.  Designer Stacie Bendet has it goin’ on. Waitresses served tiny cupcakes.  And Mickey Avalon was singing. On her way out, Kelly Bensimon told me he does the My Dick bigger song.  Love that:

My dick need no introduction
Your dick don’t even function
My dick served a whole lunch-in
Your dick, it look like a munchkin

Posted under: Fashion

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 13th, 2010 at 7:09 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.