WINTER WONDERLAND: Bye, Bye 2009!

Brooklyn is beautiful this morning. Walking to work is rarely an enjoyable experience, especially in the winter time. But today, the last day of 2009, dime-sized snowflakes are falling, turning the loading docks into mini-wonderlands...and it's making me incredibly nostalgic.

Here are some gorgeous photos taken for Numéro Magazine last year.

The ethereal beauty of this silk is the perfect compliment to the soft snow falling outside my window...

Photo credit: Numéro 91, March 2008.

ELSA SCHIAPARELLI: No Bones About It

Lindsay Lohan is expanding her formerly leggings-only label 6126 into a full force line of contemporary apparel come Fall 2010.

Happy as I may be for 'ol LiLo, this got me thinking about the downfall of artistic development in the fashion industry. With celebrities launching clothing and accessories lines left and right, the concept of fashion design seems to be withering away. 

Still in reflection mode ahead of New Year's Eve, my mind is focused today on the positive: one of the most artistically inclined designers in history, Signora Elsa Schiaparelli.

Schiaparelli was a fabric architect; a true creator of style. And, more so than most designers can claim today, she was in touch with a world of talented artists, and brought their work to the forefront as a result of her own success.

Taking cues from Pablo Picasso and George Braque, as well as collaborating with the likes of Salvador Dali, Jean Cocteau, Leonor Fini and Alberto Giacometti, she pushed boundaries, forced a reconsideration of lines and proportions and pioneered the concept of wearable art.

Here's a look at my favorite piece from Schiap, the Skeleton Dress she created with Dali as part of the Circus Collection in 1938, once again blurring the definition of 'beauty'.

Photo credit: Victoria & Albert Museum, Textiles & Fashion Collection, from the exhibition: "Fashion: An Anthology by Cecil Beaton."

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GRUNGE REVISITED: Marc Jacobs Eat Your Heart Out

With the new year in sight, the most natural reaction (and easiest blog post) is to reflect on times past.

Fashionably speaking, reviewing the last year is like watching an episode of "My So-Called Life."

To the dismay of many, this tribute has nothing to do with Claire Danes and Jared Leto, but rather the re-invasion of Kurt Cobain-inspired haircuts (or lack thereof); beard growth to rival ZZ Top; and enough threadbare flannel to outfit an army of lumberjacks in Southwest Oregon.

Today, I'm honoring my favorite symbols of 90's grunge; the poster children that Marc Jacobs for after his 1992 collection for Perry Ellis: Kate Moss & Johnny Depp.

Enjoy...