Alexander McQueen, Pre-Fall 2013: Puritans, Popes, and Vampire Queens.

Previously on Alexander McQueen.

As is often the case with Alexander McQueen, it was very difficult for me not to include every single outfit in the collection. This was a show so beautiful that the background for the lookbook photoshoot had to be blank, because anything else might have run the risk of overpowering the beauty of the clothes. Plus, the austerity of a whitewashed backdrop fit in with the puritanical theme.

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And when I say "puritanical", I don't mean that metaphorically. This season, Sarah Burton took her inspiration directly from priestly vestments, nuns' habits, and the severe black outfits of the Puritans. Featuring everything from medieval robes to 17th-century style buckled shoes, this collection was dramatic while still remaining entirely serious throughout.

The cape-effect tailoring on these gowns seems closely inspired by the chasuble (the outermost layer of a clergyman's ceremonial clothes), with some of the outfits going so far as to look like actual priests' robes. Others were a little more fantastical, allowing for conservatively high necklines and Puritan shoulders on top, but short skirts and leather thigh-highs on the bottom half.

I often see the word "costumey" used in fashion editorials, usually preceded by the phrase, "to avoid looking...". Well, it will probably come as no surprise whatsoever that I have no qualms about looking costumey. What's the point of high fashion if not to look interesting? And with with Alexander McQueen, "interesting" is a guarantee. The nipped-in waists and simple, tailored silhouettes could have come from any McQueen collection of the past ten years, but the severely monochrome colour palette and religious overtones are a definite step away from the more organic, animalistic inspirations of the pre-Sarah Burton era.

Regarding the costumey nature of Sarah Burton's designs, there were, as always, several ensembles that seemed to have been taken directly from the wardrobe of an evil witch-queen. I can only hope that one day the McQueen brand and/or Burton herself is hired to provide costumes for a fantasy movie, as with Jean-Paul Gaultier's work on The Fifth Element.

The black robes pictured below were probably the most literal interpretation of Christian liturgical clothing in the entire collection. Interestingly, there was no religious imagery present at any point in the lookbook. Rather than going full-on Madonna and festooning everything with crucifixes, the collection was accessorised by long chains with acorn pendants, an indication that Sarah Burton is very aware how easily this design theme could slip into parody.

Sarah Burton is known worldwide for designing Kate Middleton's wedding dress, so it's hardly surprising that this collection was rounded off by multiple wedding-appropriate gowns rather than the traditional one. Personally, I think this next outfit is a far more daring and beautiful style of wedding dress than the rather more conventional efforts put forward by most other big-name labels.

Previously on Alexander McQueen.

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Pre-Fall 2013: DSquared, Badgley Mischka, Carolina Herrera, and Prabal Gurung

Previously: Ports 1961, Pringle of Scotland, Vera Wang, and more. 

I probably complain way too much about the aesthetic mid-season lookbooks. You know, they way the photoshoots are often just a series of sullen-looking teenagers standing in a glaring white refrigerator unit while wearing a minidress. WELL. DSquared's lookbook is not so. The clothes themselves are not exactly groundbreaking, but they are stylish as hell. And better yet, the model and her poses are full of personality.

"Make a comment about my socks and sandals. I dare you."

This lookbook proves just how easy (or seemingly easy?) it can be to create a great photoshoot without going all out. There are definitely some cases in which featureless white backgrounds can be beneficial to the look of a collection, but most of the time it just makes the models look washed-out and soulless. This collection has a kind of vampy noir aesthetic, but the individual clothes are relatively simple Ready-To-Wear. It's the overall design of the backdrop and the model's attitude that makes this lookbook interesting and fun to look at, while the clothes remain as saleable (ie, non-couture) as they would've done in a typically bland catalogue-style photoshoot.  

What with the instruments and antique furniture, the photoshoot theme seems to be vaguely jazz/blues-ish -- although most of the actual clothes aren't deliberately retro in style. The outfit below, with its slouchy high-waisted trousers and loosely-tailored shirt, looks heavily inspired by portraits of early 20th century blues musicians, but each individual piece could easily be taken and included in a modern outfit.

 SO DRAMATIC.

Badgley Mischka
Always nice to see someone designing clothes for the Asgardian deity market.

Carolina Herrera
If we ignore the rather glaring shirts, these two suits are awesome for two very important reasons:

1. HOUNDSTOOTH. Houndstooth is the best. Today my work outfit included houndstooth gloves, and houndstooth coat, and a houndstooth pencil skirt. I hope to one day work up to the lofty heights reached by Lady Gaga, but it may take a while.
2. These outfits make the models look like a girl version of Starsky & Hutch. Have you ever seen oldschool Starsky & Hutch? If not, DO SO. It's the best. Particularly all the disguises. I recommend the episode where Hutch is kidnapped and forcibly addicted to heroin, and then Starsky lovingly nurses him back to health in Huggy Bear's spare room. Or the episode where they go undercover as dance instructors and Hutch accidentally becomes a gigolo while Starsky wears a false moustache and speaks in an egregiously false Spanish accent. Really any episode where anyone has to wear a false moustache, to be honest.

Prabal Gurung
This is one of the collections that does work in the context of a near-blank white backdrop. Prabal Gurung's designs look beautifully clean, and the stark background just makes the colours pop even more. I love the contrast between the futuristic neon shoes and the baroque patterns on this dress.

Full marks for this origami-like robot suit. The shirt looks so flat and crisp, this could easily be a photograph of a statue rather than a model.

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Chanel Pre-Fall 2013: Lagerfeld, King of Scots?

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As a Scot, I can be kind of snobbish about supposedly Scottish-themed fashion shows. However, this season's Chanel managed to avoid any of the expected ugly-tartan pitfalls and turned out to be just as spectacular as last year's Pre-Fall India collection. I suspect this is partly down to the fact that Karl Lagerfeld has the luxury of visiting Imaginary Scotland, which is significantly different from Real Scotland in that it primary contains castles and expensive whisky rather junkies, mud, and football hooliganism. Had it not been snowing on the night of the show, I can only assume that Lagerfeld would've hired kilt-wearing male models to grate ice-cubes onto the audience from the parapets above.

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One of the problems with the backwards nature of fashion seasons is that when you're looking at Summer clothes it's usually Winter in real life, meaning that one's critical faculties are occasionally taken over by thoughts like: "WHY would anyone want to wear a floral miniskirt when everything is so damn cold?" Not so in this case, wherein the "Pre-Fall" (ie, Summer, as we would say in non-Fashionese) collection looks entirely suitable for the weather we're having in real life. I found it immensely comforting to know that all the models striding through the chilly hallways of Linlithgow castle got to wear flat shoes and blankets instead of looking knock-kneed and frostbitten as they so often do.

Lagerfeld's inspiration was a combination of Scottish history (specifically Mary Queen of Scots, who was born at Linlithgow castle) and Chanel heritage. Coco Chanel herself had close ties to Scotland, as she often stayed at the Scottish home of her lover the Duke of Westminster, and learned much about tweed and knitwear from the local clothing manufacturers. In fact, many of her masculine-styled suits were inspired by clothes she saw while on hunting parties in Scotland. The result of these two very different Scottish influences was a show mixing 16th century styles (MY FAVE; don't get me started on my love of pantaloons) and more typical (but still exquisite) knitwear and tweed outfits.

The reason for the unusual location this season was not due to a Lagerfeldian whim, for all that he embraced the Scottish theme. Over the past few years, Chanel has been producing collections honouring each of its offshoot workshops in turn. This year it's Scotland's Barrie Knitwear, which has been working with Chanel for decades but was only recently acquired by them (saving the company from liquidation, I believe).

I loved the warmth and layering in the more modern, street-style outfits. Lagerfeld can be very concerned with thinness (as a contrast to the traditionally boxy Chanel silhouette) so it was a welcome change to see these rather more padded-out styles. In some ways, several of them reminded me of traditional Russian and Eastern European-inspired designs such as those of Ulyana Sergeenko, possibly they acknowledge the existence of cold-weather clothes other than peacoats and cardigans.

I love both these outfits, even though neither are exactly my style. The above outfit has clear Mary Queen Of Scots-era inspirations in the form of the split-front skirt, whereas the outfit below is 100% mid-century Scottish Laird's wife.

OF COURSE my favourite section of the show was the series of outfits with clear links to the padded faux-armour of the 16th century. In most cases puffball skirts replaced outright pantaloons, but I loved the jackets tailored to resemble doublets, as well as all the ruff-like collars.

Oh, another detail I really appreciated about this show -- flat shoes. "Practical" isn't really something one expects from Chanel (especially Lagerfeld's Chanel), but this show proved that high-end designer clothes can be both interesting and comfortable.

Rather than the single traditional wedding dress at the end of the show, there was an entire final phase of white gowns -- all of them warm and taking certain elements of inspiration from Renaissance-era Scotland.

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