Posts with tag dina bar-el

The third day of LA Fashion Week featured collections by Gregory Parkinson, Jenny Han, Christian Audigier, Dina Bar-El, Grey Ant and Whitley Kros.

My favorite show of the day was Dina Bar-El. Last year, Bar-El came under heavy criticism for using child models in her show, so as you might expect, the show was juvey-free this time around. I do have one gripe for Ms. Bar-El: what's up with all the white girls? Come on, Dina, get with the program.

However, if you can overlook her homogeneous choice in models, Bar-El's clothes were wonderful. Her evening wear was particularly stunning this time around. I loved the silk gowns in rich jewel tones and her plucky cocktail dresses with striking necklines. The simple makeup and sleek hair was also right on target.

My least favorite show was without question Christian Audigier's presentation. The catwalk/stage was set for high drama -- there was even moody lighting and music to match. To tell you the truth, I kind of think that the combination of the busy clothes and overwhelming set left me agitated. Consequently, I've got no love for the clothes either.

I wasn't sure what the designer was hoping to create. Some of the clothes had a 1920s Jazz Age feel -- flapper dresses, feather boas, cropped hair -- and I liked that part. However, some outfits looked like they were Jodie Foster's castoffs from the set of the movie Taxi Driver. Trust me, underage prostitute is not a good look. I also hated Audigier's makeup: red lips and dark eyes. Most models can't handle dramatic eyes and lips, and they end up looking like tweaked-out trannies.

Adding all of this up, if you can image an underage, tweaked-out trannie prostitute in a feather boa, you basically get Christian Audigier's Spring/Summer 08 collection. You can also check out the woman pictured at right.

We've picked out some of our favorites and our, well, least favorites for the Styledash LA Fashion Week Gallery. Let us know what you think.

Here are a few shots to check out:

Dina Bar-El's Fall 2007 collection most certainly lived up to its name "Burlesque." Aside from an actual
Burlesque dancer who made an appearance (and quite an appearance, at that), the looks were all about being a '40s or '50s-inspired sexy siren. The Burlesque looks were all black and red, with models in eye masks, veils, and opera length gloves, old-school Hollywood glamour girls had rolled hair atop shimmering evening gowns and feather boas and takes on the "pin-up" girl went from short little dresses that almost looked like uniforms to a smashing all white sailor look. Though the glamour was all there, the look was a deaprture from the giraffe and animal prints that were shown during the Spring 2007 show last fall. This time, much more wearable. Even the eye masks.
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Oh, the weekend, and not just any weekend. This is the weekend before Halloween, so all the parties will be in full swing tonight (and presumably, you already dipped into some Vampire Wine at a party or two last night!)

In honor of this unofficial holiday and the fact that we just saw her Spring 2007 collections, I give you a dress from LA-based designer Dina Bar-El that you can wear out in style as part of a "costume" a la celeb glamour as Elise pointed out, and wear again to your work Holiday Party in a few months. You'll be a glamorously sexy (but not slutty) leopard in this satin dress with sweetheart/halter neckline. Simply throw on a pair of ultra-high stilettos (I'd go with something strappy myself), put on a leopard mask, and you're set.

The dress is available at eDressMe for $495.

Besides the sucky gift bags that fashionistas were whining about, there was another thing about Fashion Week that has many people wondering. Where are the celebrities? Certainly, it's understandabale that LA Fashion Week is nowhere near the leagues of New York or the shows in Europe, but you would think with so many celebrities who live in the area, they'd make the jaunt down to Smashbox Studios in Culver City to take a peek at designers from their hometown! Still, the shows weren't completely devoid of celebrities. Here are some we saw, and some we heard were there (but didn't see because I am very vary bad about recognizing people on the street).

At Dina Bar-El: Angela Bassett, who has worn Dina Bar-El before, was in the front row. Katharine McPhee (of American Idol non-fame), strutted out with the designer during the finale.

Ex-darling of Bebe, Mischa Barton was front and center to catch the visored, black and white parade.

At Element for Hello Kitty by Victoria Couture, Natasha Hentsridge hosted and Sinbad was sitting right next to us!

Dina Bar-El makes evening gowns that have been seen all over the celebrity world: on Marcia Cross, Eva Longoria, and Nicollete Sheridan in international ad campaigns for Desperate Housewives, Geena Davis, Sharon Stone, Tyra Banks, Angela Bassett, Kelly Rowman, Holly Robinson-Peete, Kelly Hu, and no one will forget the gorgeous sunshine yellow satin dress on Kate Hudson in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Bar-El's gowns. They are elegant, lady-like, and very sexy.

Her Spring collection held no surprises, except that animal prints we have seen before seemed to play a bigger role. Not only was there the quintessential leopard print, but also an unidentifiable hybrid snow leopard-cheetah, and the giraffe. I have a strange attraction to giraffe, and was wowed by a short giraffe-print dress. I can't really imagine wearing it out, but it was fun to look at.

More photos I took of Dina Bar-El's Spring 2007 collection is available on Flickr.