Headpieces made a resounding statement on the runways as many crafty visions for women’s head wear took the stage, as well as some classic styles making an intriguing return to modern dressing. The fall 2012 accessories include Zorro styled hats in the Rachel Roy fall 2012 collection to a hardier conception of the hat – part Latin, part cowboy – in the Nicholas K show. The flat brim styles made for an interesting presentation and may be more receptive to the hat-toting set. But more bravado styles crept into the edgier collections that always leave us with something new to consider.

Marc Jacobs fur-treated hats are not for the light-hearted but then again, much in his collection ever are. Large dark and pastel-colored hats slouchily topped most the looks that made for the runway at Marc Jacobs fall 2012 show. The translation of the fearless style to daily wear reality is quite another conversation but makes for an ethereal Fifth Avenue scene.

Prabal Gurung’s headpieces are quite another matter. Styled with a minimal cape in the first look of the collection, sent a definitive message, marrying modern and future as honestly as can be created. The runway looks are available on Moda Operandi but the head pieces will not be among the pieces available for pre-order. We would certainly stand in line for the Prabal head dress.

Ohne Titel also delivered a head design which reminded us of futuristic concepts found in Beneath the Planet of the Apes but with a commitment to a forward take on dressing as the duo Alexa Adams and Flora Gill often present. The fine dimensions of the Ohne Title runway hat begs styling with strict form fitting ensembles for winter – like a slim-fit jacket with a wool, pencil skirt or slim-fit pants.

Military inspired hats often make the runway each season but never finding a home with trends on the streets. Perhaps Topshop Unique’s relaxed take on the severe style may strike a cord? Check out the headpieces from the fall 2012 runway below.

Which styles would you attempt?

[Images via Vogue.com]

Spring has sprung! At least at the department stores, and boy are we giddy. We have previewed the collections for spring and now it is time to secure those styles over which we drooled during the last few months. These styles are happening now at a store, or URL, nearest you.

We are still going nuts over color – something lime-y green is on our mind. Check out the styles available now. You are very welcomed.

[Click on the image to purchase]

Fendi Hemp, Metallic leather and patent leather sandals, $795 at Saks.com

Prada embellished patent leather slingback wedge sandals, $1450 at Saks.com

Gucci Bamboo-detailed leather sandals, $795 at Net-a-Porter.com

McQ Alexander McQueen studded neon leather pumps, $475 at Net-a-Porter.com

Roberto Cavalli Neon-trimmed python sandals, $1310 at Net-A-Porter.com

McQ Alexander McQueen multi-strap leather sandals, $655 at Net-a-Porter.com

Prada Rose-toe flame sandal, $1300 at BergdorfGoodman.com

Christian Louboutin Illusion pump, $795 at BergdorfGoodman.com

Oscar de la Renta two-toned high-heel bootie, $1795 at BergdorfGoodman.com

Rick Owens ringed ankle-wrap wedge Sandal, $1635 at BergdorfGoodman.com

Christian Louboutin Summerissima Crisscrosss platform sandal, $995 at BergdorfGoodman.com

Tabitha Simmons lace-up metallic Lattice bootie, $1695 at BergdorfGoodman.com

Christian Dior Colorblock ankle-wrap sandal, $1100 at BergdorfGoodman.com

Burberry Woven loafer, $850 at Barneys.com

Proenza Schouler slingback platform wedge, $1385 at Barneys.com

Nina Ricci leather platform cutout sandal, $795 at Barneys.com

Nicholas Kirkwood Leather flower & elaphe sandals, $1250 at Luisaviaroma.com

Burberry Prorsum Wooden beaded sandals, $795 at Luisviaroma.com

Givenchy Glitter buckled sandals, $880 at Luisviaroma.com

Casadei Woven suede sandals, $950 at Luisaviaroma.com

Dolce & Gabbana Raffia chiffon flower sandals, $875 at Luisaviaroma.com

Versace Patent sandals, $1247 at Luisaviaroma.com

Marc by Marc Jacobs, $350 at Saks.com

When a design house has no footwear collection of its own label to furnish its runway show, the house then commissions a damn good designer to conceptualize an original shoe for the show…or just team up with an established shoe designer to feature styles from that designer’s shoe collection. Ready-to-wear designer favorites will be no surprise – Nicholas Kirkwood for Prabal Gurung, Christian Louboutin for Marchesa, Alejandro Ingelmo for Sally LaPointe, Jean Michel Cazabat for Libertine, and it goes on.

Victoria Beckham teamed up with….wait for it…Christian Louboutin to create a short collection for the line. The styles are exclusively for Victoria Beckham and includes croc leathers and saddle straps on slouchy boots; in taupe, brown, and black; and in high and flat heels. The croc-stamp details brilliantly matched the croc on the collars of the smart, narrow dresses which were featured. There were some surpise at the inclusion of flat boots in the platformed-heeled designer’s runway show. Beckham explained, “There isn’t one thing in the collection I wouldn’t wear myself. I want to wear everything!” And, so do we! …Including the combat boots!

We have tracked down the collaborations and loans from the New York runway shows. It is a lofty list from shoe names like Dr. Martens to Tabitha Simmons to Christian Louboutin. Take a look through the gallery to see what went on afoot, and who is sleeping with whom …. ready -to-wear designer with shoe designer, figuratively speaking of course.

It is sure to be no surprise that the fashion set favors the Apple products in extraordinary numbers. Seconds before the show, the lights go down and, while sitting in an audience of a hundred, glowing lights splatter the crowd only to reveal iPhones. To snap a photo or to capture some footage, the iPhone is without a doubt the gadget of choice…and in white. Is that weird? That most at New York Fashion Week front row would similarly choose the white 4S? Consider.

Similarly, if the Nikon was not around the photographer’s neck, editorial non-professional photographers would tap you on your shoulder and ask if they may snap a picture. Then the inevitable … they would whip out an iPad. Pretty interesting considering the iPad does not take good photos. So we asked our casual photographer for the day, ‘what’s up with the iPad; the photos are quite grainy?’ To which he responded, “That’s okay, it is being taken with an iPad, everyone realizes that. It’s chic!” Got it.

Many of the APPs that are relevant to the fashion minded, are for the iPhone and iPad like Milk Studio’s Made APP (also available for the Android). The APP allows editors to send photos of any particular look coming down the runway to their email through sound technology that will identify the shot and send the designer name, bio, and contact details to their phone or tablet. Sick, right? It is also available for concerts, etc.

We asked one fashion week attendant in the audience, ‘why the iPhone?’ Dressed in a Proenza Schouler frock and a Burberry trench, she replied, “It takes fantastic pictures, and large ones, which you can just upload to your Instagram or Pose. It’s convenient and it [she giggles] looks pretty. I mean, you don’t want to pull out some obscure phone during Fashion Week.” She laughs.

Uh-huh. The reason may not have been as technical as we would have liked but it was her reasoning, nonetheless. Whatever the reason – Instagram, Pose, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter – it is quite clear, the fashion set favors the iPhone for all their social media documenting of New York Fashion Week.

She took to the stage in the same gown she accepted her award in, no flashy change, to perform her Grammy Award winning song “Rolling in the Deep” with the returned vocals which we are all appreciative of the doctors for restoring. She sang with the honesty that brought her the 6 Grammy wins for her album 21, allowing her to own the emotional night. Our Lady of the Moment this week is singer Adele.

Adele stunned with polished face, old Hollywood hair, and silvery long nails of which we approve. She touched the entire Grammy audience and all watching from home with her first performance since having vocal cord surgery in November. She wore a tea length Giorgio Armani dress and Harry Winston jewels. Paul McCartney waved in congratulations at the end of the performance, and as all took to their feet, Rihanna gave her two Caribbean style buckshots in congratulatory approval.

Adele wins 6 Grammy Awards Sunday night.

The doll face singer, and one of Sly’s 25 Most Interesting Women of 2011, shared many words with her fans on her blog concerning her big Grammy night. Here is a small excerpt:

I’ve been sleeping a lot but the minute I wake up I burst out laughing and it starts all over again…I forgot to mention so many people by name on the night, and for that I’m sorry. I will say thanks to your face when I next see you. I was totally unprepared. Despite the phenomenal year, I swear I didn’t think I had any chance. So not in my wildest dreams did I think to actually prepare anything proper to say just in case. 

It was a heartfelt, moving night at the Grammy’s Sunday, as tributes were performed to Etta James and Whitney Houston, and sincere enthusiasm for the return of another gift bestowed upon us, as one left us so absolutely – Adele’s soulful cords.

Many talk about fashion as a creative force, a chance to create fantasy, express a story. Marc Jacobs actually accomplishes it. If the collections were books, great literary narratives, Jacobs would be the J.K. Rowling, the J.R.R. Tolkien, in other words the author of the extraordinary fashion tales. That is just what occurred Monday night. Attendees threw around words like Pilgrims, Dr. Seuss, tinsel but we are thinking the Great Depression… if it were never depressed.

The Marc Jacobs fall 2012 collection was heavy with tea length skirts – full and boxy, heavy overcoats mostly in dual textures, and scarves fit for great long winters, full of purpose. Handbags were large and in mustard, rouge, and bleak sky blue hues. The collection gave way to a mass of conversations.

Jacobs continues to offer concepts to consider, like great wool scarves wrapped around models and held together with a great big safety pin, or square buckled loafers which evoked a Quaker essence, and large fur hats which brought the fantasy element to the collection. It was absurd; it was fantastic; it was wild; it was luxurious; it was everything fashion should be. We are excited to see how the collection will play out in real life – off the runway. We are thinking of a few fashion style leaders who can orchestrate it successfully.

Preview the collection and accessory close ups are below.

[Images via Style.com]

Yes, you read that correctly – mobile dating. Looking to meet singles in your area? Yeah, there’s an APP for that. SinglesAroundMe (SAM) is the mobile APP which allows users to meet singles from 100 feet to 100 miles of their location anywhere on earth. It is digital dating brought to real time. So, instead of hiding behind a computer screen, shooting messages to profiles that spark your interest, you can meet people right there at Starbucks – no misleading pics from 5 years ago – and enjoy a cup of coffee together. The advantage is you can decide right then and there if you should spend any further time pursuing the acquaintance.

Founder Chris Klotz said, “It’s a simple idea, difficult to implement, but really useful for a lot of people all over the world.”

With approximately 80,000 downloads a month, the company anticipates over a million new singles will join this year. SAM users are all over the world including the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, South Africa, Australia, and Canada.

It’s Valentine’s Day. No date? Not so fast – have you downloaded this APP yet?

The SAM APP is available for the iPhone, Android, and the Blackberry. Visit the SAM site here.

Alexander Wang delivered a strong collection of treated glossy leathers in structured forms for a climate long awaited in a fashion apocalyptic era where the elitist lead a power infrastructure. Well that is what we derived from the show that presented tough, minimal shoe forms in knee shielding tall boots, webbed shoes, and shoe boots. Models tore down the runway in slick tough shells with necklines extending over their faces like cast iron masks or mouth shields. We could not help but to wonder if it was a statement on censorship. The fall 2012 collection was incredibly tough but quite feminine and decisive in make up and intent.

Alexander Wang played with materials treating them all slickly making the collection one of his most luxe sensitive line yet. The sporty downtown girl has gone alternatively luxe but still badass. It is a direction Wang gave hints of moving towards  in past collection particularly in the fall 2012 season of parkas and outerwear that were making it on to every editor’s must-have list. But the fall collection, despite the lacquer treatment, the collection seemed quite industrial in textiles as well as in purpose. The sporty element for which Wang is known and celebrated were still present in leather bubble vests and tough jumpsuits.

Check out the pieces Wang’s army of downtown fashion snobs will be colleciton below.

Max and Lubov Azria design for a very specific woman who holds a very specific value in the wardrobe she collects, how it fits, and the way it makes her feel. It is a special designer that can make sexy, smart, and feminine. The BCBGMAXAZRIA Fall 2012 collection is not a departure from the spring 2012 collection of blocked, loose-fit frocks and panel dresses but a continuation for fall 2012 sans the cutout details that were in the spring line.

What is new to the collection is the magnificent string of outerwear that layered many of the looks. The luxury was layered thickly as designs with bright colored patchwork fur defined the collection. Fall will bring coats with fur-trimmed sleeves and blocked with leather; thick fur shrugs and vests (our favorite look 26) in a bazaar of bright luscious colors, canvas and  leather trenches, and wool cropped jackets trimmed in leather – the outerwear spoke volumes to the direction the Azrias are taking and they will not be deterred.

The Azria vision for the collection of playing with hue, space, and light brought about a color fantasy of pale cocoa and taupes, rasberry highlighted with bright yellow, or darkened with navy paneling. The mature sophistication of BCBGMAXAZRIA like in a merlot silk wide, leg trouser with sporty ankle-strapped sandals clinched the cool, sophisticated woman.

View the full BCBGMAXAZRIA fall 2012 show here. Also check out the celebs in the front row below.

Celebrities turn out for the BCBGMAXAZRIA fall 2012 show.

[Images: BFA]

The Monika Chiang fall 2012 presentation was a mix of tight leather, fur integration, and suede separates for office creative types to mix, to power, and to transition for ever changing needs -meetings, events, lounge. A fur vest, a leather pencil skirt, a fitted long sleeve shell top, a plum leather glove – it was a presentation of perfect pieces for the edge required in New York power circles.

But additional fare at the presentation were the display of Monika Chiang shoes and handbag. A small collection but packed with tall boots of slick smoky silver, spiked sneakers and flats, and exotic skinned minaudieres – the sort of accessory pieces required of a fall season. It has become increasingly important for designer labels to offer shoes and accessories and to apply equal attention to the design as the ready-to-wear line. Monika Chiang accomplishes this in another season and we predict the accessories will be a particular success for the designer.

Monika Chiang received some support for her collection from a few celebrity pals including Elettra Wiedmann, Hanneli Mustaparta, and Stephanie Winston Wolkoff.

View the collection and styles from the accessories collection below.

[Images: Courtesy Monika Chiang]