Arbiter Elegantiae: March 2011

Letter From the Editor

You may have noticed the recent flurry of activity on the site - I've just now posted three new pieces on fashion, as well as a television series review and two articles debating ethical issues. This is because tomorrow I'm going to be heading out for my grad event so in all likelihood I wont be doing much posting until Saturday or Sunday at the earliest. Hopefully this will be enough material to pacify you in the meantime; I promise when I get back I'll have photos and stories and I'll get started on Fall fashion.

I also figured I would pass along another update on the site's progress, which every day gives me reason to be happy and grateful. I have finally reached an audience in South America (Peru and Brazil), which for quite some time was the only continent not visiting the site. Besides Canada and the United States, readers come from as diverse locations as Britain, France, Switzerland, Denmark, Iran, Italy, Malaysia, Russia, Belarus, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, China, Germany, Sweden, India, Ukraine, Israel, Spain, South Africa, Peru, Brazil, and Mexico. Your interest has moved the site way up in google searches, from which I am getting more and more referrals by the day. On a comedic note, I am also getting regular referrals from a site called lolsnaps.info, whose address includes something about Star Wars. I can't see what the site is though, because apparently people from my country are not allowed. How strange! If any of you know what the site is about I'd be interested to know.

To reach such a multinational audience is exhilarating and wonderful, and I am really enjoying receiving your input through your comments. If you have anything you would like to hear more about or see more of I encourage you to let me know and I'll do my best to incorporate it into the site. For now I'd just like to say another big thank you for your continued interest and support. Have a wonderful weekend, I know I will! - Arbiter Elegantiae

Spring 2011 Favourites

I have now covered about all the Spring 2011 trends I plan to, and will soon be moving on to Fashion Forecasts for the Fall 2011 season. However, before I do I wanted to do a post on my favourite Spring looks. Not all of them fell into a particular trend, but they all spoke to me, whether it was through a well-chosen colour palette, graceful lines, or general ingenuity in their design. So without further adieu, these were - in my opinion - the best of Spring. (Photos from www.style.com)

3.1 Phillip Lim

Badgley Mischka

Burberry Prorsum

Carolina Herrera

Christian Siriano

Derek Lam

DKNY

Dries van Noten

Giorgio Armani

Gucci

Jason Wu

Jean Paul Gaultier. I feel this probably needs a little more of an explanation. I love the inclusion of The Gossip's Beth Ditto because it felt like such a giant "fuck you" to people like Karl Lagerfeld who are so against using healthier-size models (not to say that Beth Ditto is exactly "healthy"). The celebration of all forms as beautiful is a big leap forward that will hopefully lead to less stress upon women to be unrealistically thin in the future.

Marchesa

Mulberry

Narciso Rodriguez - love love love this

Nicole Miller - I was particularly drawn to the graduated fade going the sheer skirt. Something about it is just so beautiful.

Nina Ricci

Oscar de la Renta

Reem Acra - this dress looks like Aztec gold work. Love it.

Reem Acra

Tory Burch

Fashion Forecast: That '70s Show

So pretty much every blogger of the fashionista persuasion has posted recently about Spring 2011's return to 1970s style. Perhaps this is why I've been so reluctant to cover the trend myself: it feels a little like white noise. However, it also would feel like a glaring oversight if I didn't at least give it a cursory nod in a Fashion Forecast.

In other posts I've mentioned the return to flared and wide-leg jeans, as well as the resurgence of crop tops and peasant tops. These respective trends are all part of the larger '70s trend. Big hair, flowing maxi skirts, and floppy hats all paraded down the runway this spring leaving us all with infinite ways to adapt the trend to our own personal style. The '70s style is great if you want a more bohemian edge to your look, or if you'd like to revamp your silhouette. I know I'm going to be rocking some sheer dresses to the beach this summer. Last year I actually managed to find a gorgeous Poleci silk blouse for a great deal. At the time I just loved the blue and white pattern, but now the flowy structure, sliced sleeves and '70s vibe are right on trend. I love it when that happens. All photos from www.style.com.

Badgley Mischka

Blumarine

D&G

Elie Saab

Fendi

Jason Wu

Marc Jacobs

Valentino

Fashion Forecast: Atlas Shrugged

Okay, so the Atlas Shrugged reference doesn't perfectly reflect the halter top trend, but I couldn't resist using it. If you're not familiar with the allusion, Atlas was a Greek hero or god or something who wound up with the unenviable task of holding up the world. I believe at one point Hercules (or Herakles if you prefer the Greek) had to take over this job in his seven... or maybe it was twelve? ordeals. You can tell I paid close attention in Greek and Roman Myth. Anyway, Atlas Shrugged was a novel written by Ayn Rand during the Cold War, which was essentially a really long rant about how great capitalism is and in defense of property rights. Believe it or not, the Iron Man comic drew heavily upon Atlas Shrugged for some of its material. Cracked has done an interesting article on it. I liked it because it suggested the shoulders, and as you'll know by now Spring 2011 is all over shoulders.

Again and again designers were showing this rather different look. In some cases they featured genuine halter tops, which fasten at the neck and not at the back, and in other cases they seemed to take a tank top design and cut further away from the shoulder area, accentuating that feature. It's a little hard to put into words but the pictures speak for themselves. I think it's a pretty cool idea as shoulders can be very sexy. However, this style does present a little bit of a challenge when it comes to your bra straps, and I'm not even sure it's something bustier ladies like myself can pull off, but I suppose that remains to be seen. Pictures, as per usual, are all from www.style.com.