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

“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

Naughty me. I’ve been too consumed with my own stuff to actually try to figure out why everyone was so stoked about The TeenVogue Handbook, a title that’s been on everyone’s lips for the past few weeks. I initially thought it was yet another unnecessary coffee table book I’ll buy and absently gush about it’s creative views when guests come over.

This is where I apologize, to TeenVogue, Amy Astley, and all my friends who work at the magazine.

From what I can gather via this video, The TeenVogue Handbook is my salvation and will be that of thousands of other girls looking to get their foot in the fashion industry door.

I’ve had, and am having, some amazing experiences working in Fashion Public Relations, and having had such experiences I know the good doesn’t come without a lot of hard work. That is one reason, the rosy picture so-called reality shows like The Hills and The City have put on the fashion industry annoys me to no end.

Young girls watch the episodes and may think to themselves that fashion is this glamorous industry where you play with clothes, go to parties, and take 4 hour lunches, when in reality, the extent of playing done, in Public Relations at least, is imagining if a celeb or model would look awesome in the garment you actually dream of wearing. As an intern, parties are generally attended only if you’re working them, and you’re lucky if you’re able to pop out for a quick bite before getting back to work— sack lunches all around!

I’m not saying there aren’t glamorous aspects of the job, like when the samples are out of season you get to take a piece or two home, but no job is all fun and games, even in the fashion industry. I hope, when I pick of my copy of The TeenVogue Handbook on October 5th, I find that they present the industry as it truly is, full of hard work, long hours, and majestic pieces of wearable art.

Remember when you were just a little sprout and you would “read”, a.k.a. look at the pictures and interpret the story through the crazy drawings of one Dr. Seuss. Your parents would look at you in surprise until they realized the words you were uttering didn’t match those on the page. Then, they would help you sound out the actual text. That might just be me, but from then on I’ve been sounding out words, or for lack of a cooler term, reading. Luckily, in fashion those visual analyzing skills I acquired at an early age are put to good use, and with the book, Yves Saint Laurent: Style, it is no different.

Of course in this retrospective trip down YSL memory lane, there are words to be deciphered including a couple carefully scribed tributes by Hamish Bowles and Florence Müller, but it is the collection of sketches and photographs of stitched masterpieces from the Fondation Pierre Bergé–Yves Saint Laurent collection that are the most awe-inspiring. Spanning 40 years of creative genius, this book not only showcases the finished product but the thought process behind many pieces in the YSL arsenal, via the notes scribbled on each sketch in Yves’ hand.

After setting this book on the coffee table in my living room for almost a month, I can tell you not only have I gone through it multiple times just for the sake of oohing and awing, but the book has been quite the conversation piece on multiple occasions. My favorite was when a male friend of the family was going through the book, and decided being a fashion designer would be easy. I promptly corrected him and said, “Yves just made designing look easy!”

This book coincides with a retrospective exhibit created by the Fondation Pierre Bergé–Yves Saint Laurent, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. The exhibit is currently in Montreal and will run until September 28, 2008 and will run in San Francisco from November 1, 2008 to March 1, 2009. The official release date is September 10th, 2008, but you can pre-order your version of Yves Saint Laurent: Style on Amazon.com for the sale price of $31.50.

p.s. sorry for the shody camera pictures, books are too hard to scan.