Most of the shows I’ve seen at this season’s Spring Fashion Week have emphasized soft, flowing clothing. But the harder edge is also present. Two shows I’ve attended, Herve Leger by Max Azria and this Improvd presentation, and others that I’ve seen on the big screens in the tents of Fashion Week, keep the hard edged trend alive. 

Improvd showed it’s collection through a presentation, where the models stand in place and onlookers can walk around the presentation room and examine the ensembles. Although the presentation format allows you to see the items from closer up, I prefer the runway shows because of the beat of the music and the movement of the clothing. Still, the change is nice.

The collection used soft forest greens, jade and shades of red with grey, black, cream and taupe in both solids and abstract patterns. There was lots of juxtaposition of woven leather with soft silks, shiny satin, and slubby knits. You can’t see the bottoms of the garments here because it was impossible to take full length photos, but the models were wearing drapey cropped harem pants, slouchy trousers, and maxi or midi skirts.

What immediately struck me was how most of the items here are completely wearable. In fact, the presentation looked like a great lineup for Shopbop.com. Take away the morbid make-up, arm henna, and theatrical hair styles, add in a few mainstream pieces like skinny jeans and pumps, and voila! Totally wearable, albeit fashion forward. 

I really enjoyed this collection. There was a harder edge, but it was mixed with soft, pretty pieces, which I think is in keeping with the main trends for next season.

After wearing neutrals for three days in a row, I felt like wearing colour. So out came the orangey-red pencil skirt that I wore on the first day of fashion week, only this time I paired it with a black lace shirt complete with cuff links. This was my other recent Anne Fontaine purchase, and Greg’s favourite piece at the time. With the abundance of lace and orange shown here at Fashion Week, I felt on-trend. 

My leopard print booties have been foot-heaven so I popped them back on with this outfit. I like combining tailored booties with bare legs and skirts or dresses, but also understand if that’s not to your liking. I added a light handbag to pick up the colour of my hair, part of the leopard print, and contrast against the black lace shirt.

Specs and watch were all the accessories I needed because the individual pieces and their luscious fabrications make a strong statement on their own. I also left off the necklace because it took away from the clean lines of the collar. Ordinarily, I would have added another colour close to my face to soften the harshness of the black. But my skin grinning through the lace helped break up the black of the shirt, as did the white rims on my specs.

These photos were taken on the Upper West Side on the way back to our hotel from an appointment in Midtown. We had just walked 35 blocks in warm humid weather so I’m not at my freshest in these photos. But that’s quite okay because we so enjoy walking through the city.

This was an interesting show and at first I didn’t quite know what to make of it. I thought that we would see a series of stories of bebe’s Spring and Summer 2012 inventory, but that didn’t seem to come through in the collection. All of the outfits were shades of white from head to toe. I enjoyed the first few ensembles that came down the runway, absolutely loving the crazy wigs and lucite sunglasses (Dianna the Budget Babe, who was also at the show, described the wigs as very “Marie Antoinette”, which I thought was spot on.) But after a while the white-out got monotonous, especially with all the models wearing the same white wig. I kept hoping that something would break it up, but that didn’t happen.

The outfits themselves were generally baroque and underwear-inspired. Bloomers, petticoats, knickers, corsets and camisoles were just as popular as more structured pieces like blazers, blouses and frocks. Runway models do not wear bras, so in some instances, their bare bodies showed right through the garments. This is not uncommon at fashion week.

I wanted to see the show because bebe makes a good product. If you can get past the excessive ruffles and club wear thing in stores, you’ll see well made, superbly tailored pieces in great fabrics. Upon closer inspection of the photos, I started to appreciate the collection more and more. The range was also full of fabulous tuxedo blazers, cropped jackets, textured shirts, interesting blouses, baggy short shorts and streamlined trouser shapes. We’ll probably see these silhouettes come through next season and I’m curious to see how representative the show is of Bebe’s store collection. 

From what I have seen so far at this fashion week, lace and sheer fabrications are going to be big. I’ve seen a few collections with hard edges, so do not despair if black, leather and zippers are your thing. But for the most part we can look forward to a soft and flowing Spring and Summer 2012.

After a modern classic outfit the day before, I was in the mood for something more edgy. I said I’d wear my infamous jodhpur jeans again at Fashion Week, so here they are. As I have said many times before, these jeans are an acquired taste. Greg loves them, I love them, and that makes me feel fab no matter what. 

I combined the jeans with an un-tucked, asymmetrical, sequined black cowl neck blouse and low heeled, taupe peep-toe booties. I spent most of the day in this combination because it was warm outside, but needed another layer to combat air-conditioning and the occasional outside chill. Enter my sparkly, cropped silver tweed jacket.

The glitzy top part of the outfit ruled out further accessories other than my watch, specs, and structured satchel. As much as I adore my pearl and pendant necklaces, I also enjoy leaving off the jewelry these days. Although accessories can take an outfit from fab to drab,  specs, bag, watch and wedding ring often feels suffiicient.

Like most people I’m in awe of the selfless courage of fire fighters. I also just love the aesthetic of shiny red fire engines and in the USA fire stations are often such impressive buildings. The one where these photos were taken is less than a block from our hotel and is no exception. Passersby were still placing flowers outside their big red doors to commemorate 9/11. While we were taking photos a lady walked past and said: “Hey! I recognize you from on-line. That’s so funny!”. It was the first time that a stranger recognized me during a YLF photo shoot. We had a lovely conversation about NYC with her and her friend. So fun!