Pink Rock Candy – Top fashion trends, news and shopping of 2010

From left to right: 3.1 Phillip Lim S/S 2010 – Style.com; ‘The Vanna Grey Dress’, $63 – Modcloth.com; Fendi Blouse, $960 – Net-A-Porter.com; 3.1 Phillip Lim Tiered Silk Mini Skirt, $550 – Net-A-Porter.com

I’ve grown up in a time of platform sneakers and boy-bashing tees, bell bottom jeans and cropped tops, and of late, shoulder pads and metal overload. The only thing I’ve yet to truly experience in my short lifetime is pretty sophistication. Sure, I had pretty as a baby with my itchy crinoline dresses and patent leather mary janes, and there is always some level of sophistication, but it’s never been trendy, and in 2010, I hope my cravings for what I lack will be satiated.

For spring, it seems the fashion industry is divided. The editors will quite obviously fill their magazines with the underwear as outwear trends seen all over the runway, while the rest of the world looks on in horror or at least confused amusement. New York Magazine‘s The Cut Blog even describes spring’s look as “a lot of panty bottoms and feminine ruffles and bras we’re supposed to wear as tops. You know, conventional femininity of yore, skank gear [...]“, but I’m not exactly sure that’s what spring will be.

Sure, that may be what slinky models wore down the runway and what will be on display in a Vogue of your choice, but I’m not sure designers or editors, for that matter, are as incredibly out of touch as people are making them seem. I’m sure they realize the proletariat masses aren’t going to be seen wearing a boudoir style bra while walking down Broadway— unless it’s a work uniform of course.

I think… I hope… the boudoir movement is less about getting naked and more about how it feels to be naked, the sexiness and apprehension you feel when peeling off your clothes for another person, the delicateness of a woman’s body. We’ve experienced an eternity, at least in fashion years, of geometric silhouettes, skinny jeans, and sharp shoulders, but now it’s time to be pretty. It’s time to strip away all the armor and replace it with amour, to work with the natural, soft, feminine beauty, and this doesn’t mean every fabric worn should be sheer, garters should show, or actual shirts should disappear. It just means, the clothes created and worn should feel good against your skin and make you feel as if you’re baring it all without having to bare anything, all things I personally feel Phillip Lim, though a young designer, does quite well.

Lim’s spring 2010 collection is going to be my personal guide to nudity because not only are the designs pretty, something I’ve longed for, but they evoke a certain boudoir feel without actually going that extra mile and put panties on preview.

Until then, check out ten of my favorite posts of 2009:

• Pink Rock Candy Turns 3
• Waiting to be Kissed
• I’ve Died and Gone to Shoe Heaven
• Utterly Inspired: Bang Bang
• The Truth about Fashion?
• New Hair, New Me
• The Wait is Over for Charles Jourdan
• The Bag’s a Stud
• Prom Perfect at Lord & Taylor
• Running in Flats

“We are not fashion insiders. We are merely spectators in the great sport of fashion. In fashion there will always be newer, cooler designers or style inspirations to look up to. We are not claiming to be experts on anything, except maybe celebrity gossip (we do our fair share of lurking on the gossip blogs). We can only write about what we like and would wear ourselves. Being people who are very much into fashion trends, we get a lot of our style inspiration from celebrities, celebutantes, and e-celebs who tend to be the well-dressed, trend trail-blazers. We aren’t the types to be held down by a particular style scene.”

This was the first paragraph of my first post written 3 years ago, today. I remember toiling over what I was going to write. I wasn’t a journalist. The most I had ever written was a term paper for school. I wasn’t a fashion aficionado. I was a biology student, dreadfully depressed by the career path I had chosen, and seeking a way out. Fashion just happened to be there in my time of need— along with my sister Blythe, of course!

Between then and now, so much has changed. For those who have been reading Pink Rock Candy for a while, you will know there is no longer a ‘we’, merely a ‘me’. I’m not sure if I would say I’m a fashion insider, but I now have my fair share of experience working in the industry. I often feel I am a spectator of fashion and in life, but from time to time, I do enjoy getting in the game. I am, still, no expert, and my intrigue into the lives of celebrities’ lingers even after three years, however the mean spirited gossip, I can do without. I still believe I can only write about what I like, and sometimes dislike, but being a hopelessly positive person, I try not to focus on the negatives because life is too short. No longer do I look to celebrities, celebutanes, and e-celebs for the latest fashion trends, but I find them in the latest collections of designers and am able to make my own decision as to what I will spend my money on.

I’m three years older, infinitely more mature and wise, and more confident than I have ever been before. Nothing in my life is perfect, but I happen to enjoy the little imperfections. I’ve been through painfully hard times, only making me stronger, and I continue to struggle with the little nuances of life, and death, for that matter. I find solace in music and love in fashion, but I find piece of mind on Pink Rock Candy.

Thank you all for three amazing years, and I hope there are many more to come!

“Anyone who has bought a dress with wild passion and seen that emotion continue to flow gently each time it is worn, will understand the warmth with which so many fashion enthusiasts have contributed to this exceptional book.” ~Suzy Menkes

The “exceptional book” Menkes spoke of is called My Favourite Dress, a compilation of stories and pictures about the favorite dresses of fashion designers, editors, and elite. Inspired by the original ‘My Favourite Dress’ exhibition at Zandra Rhodes Fashion and Textile Museum, an exhibit curated by one of the book’s authors, Gity Monsef, this wonderful coffee table book is chock full of mesmerizing masterpieces chosen by over 150 of fashion’s finest, including: Manolo Blahnik, Tom Ford, Dolce & Gabbana, John Galliano, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Hamish Bowles, Calvin Klein, Christian Lacroix, Ralph Lauren, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Issey Miyake, Zac Posen, Oscar de la Renta, Zandra Rhodes, Paul Smith, Anna Sui, Valentino, and Vivienne Westwood.

It has also topped Amazon UK’s list of best fashion books, all while donating to a good cause— a percentage of the proceeds go to Save the Children.

I first started reading this book not knowing what to expect, but finished with starry eyes and a little more insight into the worlds of some of my favorite designers. I think I also found my dream dress, a Coco Chanel piece made in the late 20s chosen by none other than Hamish Bowles. Not only does the man write one of the only columns I am guaranteed to read in US Vogue, but he has a collection of vintage pieces, probably, no one can rival. I’d never seen this dress before, but with the low back, a scandalous statement in the 1920s, and intricate embroidery, I can’t help but swoon each time I think of it.

What is your favorite dress?

Buy My Favourite Dress on Amazon.com