LA Fashion Week

I am familiar with Literature Clothing, but know it for its graphic-printed t-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies and mostly casual pants. Seeing the Literature Fall 2007 collection during LA Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios was a little bit of a surprise, though I expected something different from a line called "Literature Noir." Everything was a little more dressed up. The women were in short little skirts and dresses, with a featured black print on nude/khaki (right, in the image above) that showed up on several babydolls and a long gown. In fact, I almost fell over myself for the babydoll shown. Some of the pieces were a little odd, like the black smock shown in the middle, which looked a little too much like a smock you'd throw on at the beauty parlor, particuarly with the hair styling on the models. Otherwise, not a bad showing from Literature Noir for Fall 2007.

Alvin Valley's Fall 2007 collection, while at first did almost nothing for me, is kind of growing on me. I thought the colors were typical and the designs somewhat boring except the strange shape on the voluminous pants, but after thinking about it for a while, I realized that while it was rather ho-hum, they were all very wearable. I love the loose comfort of cowl necks, simple dresses, and especially the smart little silver dress in the middle of the photos above. The dress is pretty, no doubt, even girlish with that big fat bow at the waist, but how much can you love pockets on an evening-ish dress?

I think I might have found the collection that made my Fashion Week: Joey Tierney.

Granted, it's not often, no, pretty much it never happens, that an entire collection will make me say "yes," and though Joey Tierney's Fall 2007 collection wasn't 100% perfect, I liked a lot of it. Tierney's palette was mostly black with some rich jewel-ized green. I am not fond of wearing green, but it was a nice refreshing change from all the typical autumn colors. I'm getting a little tired of shorts, but I loved all her use of sheers, whether it was lace shirt or sheer fabric on an evening gown, not that I could actually see someone wearing a sheer gown in public like that. Then again, this is LA and anything goes.

Yep, we're still recovering from the frenzy that was LA Fashion Week last week, but while we're reviewing our notes on each of the remaining fashion shows from the week, here are the Top 10 Highlights that otherwise wouldn't have made it into the runway reviews, sponsored by Max Factor:

10. Anand Jon not even showing his collection because he was arrested in LA the week before. Classy.
9. Creepiness in Joseph Domingo (eyeless models) and Imitation of Christ (bones on the runway)
8. The very hot 2(x)ist show. Yeah, just the show. Okay, maybe just the male models in underwear.
7. Carmen Electra et al slipping on the runway at the Max Factor event, recovering gracefully, and the producer finally realizing that going barefoot in evening gowns is still glamorous.
6. Strip tease by Forty Deuce dancer at the Dina Bar-El Show
5. Danica McKellar, a.k.a. Wonder Years Winnie Cooper, looking like a glamour girl at Dina Bar-El
4. Paris Hilton actually looking fat on the runway at 2BFree next to the real models
3. Jenna Jameson showing up to Every. Single. Show.
2. Jenna Jameson perpetrating Posh Spice with her new haircut

And the Number One Highlight from LA Fashion Week that will not be forgotten by myself or the security department at Smashbox Studios is...

1. Janice Dickinson's questionable antics at the Ed Hardy Fall 2007 runway show that got her banned from all -- I repeat "all" -- future Fashion Weeks.

As you well know now, while we made it inside Boulevard 3 for the event that was co-sponsored by 944 Magazine, we never made it into the actual runway show for 2 B Free's Fall 2007 collection. Doesn't matter though, because from what I can tell, we didn't miss too much. None of the pieces nor complete "looks" were all that different from one another, nor were they all that different from any of the other graphic-print, slightly rocker-chic inspired California casual knit wear that we have seen for years from a number of designers. Bright colors, reactive dyes, layers, t-shirts, and hoodies that can be worn from the grocery store to dinner on Sunset Blvd were nothing, and I mean nothing, we haven't seen before. The one thing that deserves mention, though, is how shockingly "plump" and slightly awkward Paris Hilton looks on the runway. Paris is, of course, a very thin girl, and yet, by comparison to the models, she looked normal. For the models, that's frightening.

We made it, y'all. We barely made it through LA Fashion Week last week on the little amount of actualy food I ate and the even less amount of sleep. You see, the runway shows were during the afternoons, so yo'd expect that I could rush right home and blog the reviews, but oh no. Some of the "unofficial" shows that were were not held on-site at Smashbox Studios were later at night. Basically, the night shows were just an excuse to party.

2BFree was one of the designers who did their show elsewhere. They teamed up with 944, a lifestyle site and magazine, and took over Boulevard 3, a new "event space" in Hollywood. I'll do a short write-up of the runway show I didn't see (I'll explain later), but for now, let's just talk about the club chaos that was the 944 party.

About a month ago, we posted about how New York Magazine followed the diets of four people fom the fashion world during New York's Fall 2007 Fashion Week. With all of the hype about skinny models and low BMIs, we would have expected to see the diets of the two models to include pretty much just water and uh, water? We were wrong. As it turns out, it was the fashion magazine editor who ate the least!

Well, I'm here to surprise us even more! It seems that a fashion and food blogger eats almost as little as a magazine editor! Yes, kittens, I decided it would be fun to do the same thing while covering LA Fashion Week last week so I kept track of everything I ingested (except a few bottles of water here and there) for the five days of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

Based on my diet I think I'm okay as a fashion blogger, but I might have lost my street cred as a food blogger! I rarely ate breakfast other than coffee and vitamins, I ate a few salads for lunch, almost nothing for dinner. The detailed diary is over on Slashfood.

Whoa. Can someone say "morbid?"

As if the scary Blair Witch-looking writing on the black wall that featured three crosses wasn't enough, there were bones all over the runway for Imitation of Christ's Fall 2007 runway show at LA Fashion Week. To take it even further, with the exception of a few, models were deathly pale-faced with what looked like hollow eyes and black lipstick. Of course, it all makes sense when their "props" are Blackberries, right?

Right.

The clothing was unexpected (for me), with the color palette staying in the neutral zone -- airy beiges, silvery greys, and the color choice for almost every designer who's shwoing this week, black and white. I loved the flowing dresses (though the question is, will they work for "fall" anywhere else besides LA?), but am still unsure as to how I feel about the strange sleeve-work. Several of the pieces featured partially attached long sleeves. I guess partial attachment is better than "armings."

There are plenty of ways you can make a statement at Fashion Week. If you're a celebrity, you just have to show up and the flashbulbs start popping. Or of course, you can be like a pathetic model/actress and cause a scene. Designers can do it with a lot of flair in their shows whether it's the look of their set, or adding some cheerleaders. Or...

Or they can do something really creepy like Joseph Domingo did to his models for his Fall 2007 collection for LA Fashion Week. He taped the models eyes shut with nude masks so that they looked like they didn't have any eyes. It's still unclear to me if the models's eyes were actually closed, but I think everyone was just waiting for one of them to veer off the runway right into the audience.

But even with the weird masks, the evening wear from Domingo was lovely. The colors were all black and white with some shimmering chocolate thrown in here and there. The fancy black lace-like design that was on the invitation showed up on a few of the dresses, and most prominently on the back of a long black gown with a whole lot of ruffle in the back of the skirt. My favorite look was a black top and pants for evening that saucily showed a little bit of the abs.

Tart is certainly a change of pace after seeing the colored chaos of graffiti- and tattoo-inspired fashions of Ed Hardy. Tart's color palette was subdued with deep wine, rich eggplant, scarlet, black, and white showing up as solids in short mini-dresses, and all together in a bold-print that looked more appropriate for sundresses in the warmer months than autumn. The entire collection looked comfortable and very wearable. My favorite is the dress shown on the left with puffed ¾-length sleeved, a rounded v-neck, draped sides, and of course, that super-high hemline that's screaming for some nude-colored knee-high boots.

Don't think that the only excitement at the Ed Hardy Fall 2007 Collection runway show at LA Fashion Week was Janice Dickinson getting kicked out then banned from all future Fashion Weeks. The Ed Hardy show itself was quite a sight. The runway was colored in hot pinkish red (totally reminds me of Betsey Johnson), there were colorful balloons, and the line's name glowed neon at the back. It was the perfect backdrop, of course, to a show that was all about trailer trashy tattooed punk rocker-goes-to-the carnival. All the knit and sportswear that designer Christian Audigier showed was bright, colorful, and featured circus animals like tigers, and a fake python wrapped around a model's neck. Men's clothing didn't seem quite as outrageous as the women's, though there was definitely some attitude with models ripping open their t-shirts and giving the finger at the end of the catwalk.

Sorry, ladies. There is a reason why we have Victoria's Secret. Heck, there's reason why we have Hanes Her Way.

Women shouldn't wear men's underwear like 2(x)ist, which is " cut to accentuate a man's body." Something cut to fit to the narrow hips of a guy just isn't going to work for women's hips. It makes the poor girl at 2(x)ist's runway show at LA Fashion Week look like she has love handles, and she's a model. Imagine that on a real, live, normal person. Extra-large, oversized muffin top, to be sure.

Don't get me wrong. I love the look of boy-briefs on girls, and of course, they're definitely more comfortable than much of the floss that's out there (and "in there"), but let's stick to underwear that looks like boy briefs, but designed for a woman's body.

There were some gorgeousness that came down the runway for the 2(x)ist Fall 2007 collection show at LA Fashion Week.

Oh yeah, and the actual underwear was pretty hot, too!

2(x)ist ("to exist?"), for those who don't follow men's underwear, is a line of men's designer underwear that's oohlala enough to have a fashion show. Hey, if Victoria's Secret can do fashion shows for bras and underwear, why can't men? 2(x)ist is about more than just your plain old tighty-whities (though there were some of those, too). The pieces are more colorful, and are made with luxury fabrics, like the new line made of 95% soy that s supposedly more luxurious than cashmere.

Eva Longoria was at the Bebe Collection Fall 2007 runway show for LA Fashion Week. Why wouldn't she be? She is now the new face of Bebe Sport, which seems like an odd pick to me, even though I adore her.

Though she looks like a fairly voluptuous woman, Eva Longoria is teeny tiny - she makes Rebecca Romijn look like an Amazon! How adorable is Eva in that little black dress, which she paired with black peep-toe heels (black peep toe is the flavor of the month, it seems). The only thing I didn't like is the new hair style. You can't tell from the photo, but it's straight and shorter, almost a long bob.

Sorry Eva, you're cute and tiny and utterly adorable, but I like you better with the long waves.

Tart comes in many flavors -- Tart Intimates, LemonTart for loungewear, and SweetTart for juniors -- but we like the original collection for the easy, somewhat carefree, but always sexy, designs.

The Denise V-Neck Dress is made of 96% polyester/4% linen. The prairie-style dress features a modest V-neckline, wide straps, and a full-circle, tiered skirt. The grayish color coffee could be hard one to match for accessories. White would be too bright and black would be too severe. So, I say go for something like silver sandals. That makes it easy for jewelry and of course, a silver handbag. Not that you need a handbag, since this dress, very conveniently, has pockets.

Available from PinkMascara for $180.