D & G Spring 2012

The paisley, the family crests, the Italian tile designs inscribed into the clothing present at D & G's Spring/Summer 2012 runway show all seemed to follow this season's growing trend for the bold at the expense of the commercial. It emphasized a style one would commonly associate with an out-of-touch older man and brought it to the young of today. A sense of tradition that I believe was successful in making the clothes wearable through the color schemes and shapes that gave the clothes life, something not easy to do. Especially since when you think of the market or the wearer of these clothes it is inevitably the young, party-going types because of its casualness, a true achievement in itself.

With this idea in mind, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabana sent the models down the runway in a variety of material, mostly consisting of the newly-popular and highly-comfortable silk foulard with denim, mixed in innumerable ways with accessories that cater to the young. The colors, the first look consisting of gray all the way to the end with a bold red were unbelievable, the bombers and tapered pants looked great together as they took away from the old-men style. This was fought successfully to the very end, when the swim shorts of male youth came out, which will undoubtedly turn up on beaches throughout the world.

One of the most interesting things this season was the concept of denim mixed with foulard, a few times one whole piece such as the military jacket that came out with pockets of foulard, undeniably stylish and classy. In other moments the denim of the shorts turned into chino-like material, khaki that worked with the rest of the outfit as it was cuffed, tapered, or cut. The mixture of these two things presents a whole new way to think about style; something I find ground-breaking.

Of particular disappointment in my view were the accessories. The wayfarer sunglasses that were not bold enough, the cheesy hats that suggest a douche bag and the concept of a messenger bag mimicking the clothes were all things I wouldn't dare to go near at a store.

In due respect, D & G's collection this season was very impressive for its unconventional style and boldness that the two designers have put forward in previous collections and have come to be known for. At the expense of great style and design, however, I believe that they may have pushed the commercial too far away and jeopardized their sales; something I am sure they will make up for in the following season. They expect a lot from their customer, as I believe any designer should, and hope that these customers will see it for what it's worth.

My favorites:

Men's Fashion Week Spring 2012

Photos and Reviews of Men's fashion week Spring 2012 will begin to be posted on Thursday. I know it is really late, now that Men's fashion week has ended, but I am very busy and will be sure to give you the first review this Thursday. I promise. Thanks.

James Joyce's A Potrait

In the past I have never liked James Joyce for the simple fact that I felt he was hard to read. I felt his writing was choppy and circuitous, literature that went no where. I assumed there was no joy in reading Joyce because he didn't mean for joy to be read, one of that group of authors, poets, artists, and composers that made Paris there home in the aftermath of Post-World War I. They were anything but optimists, and although I did always appreciate Hemingway and Fitzgerald specifically, even Gertrude Stein as time went on, I always felt James Joyce to be an out-of-touch Irishman who was seriously overrated. To his credit, however, it might have been true the depth of his writing many authors refer to, but it was writing I didn't care for because it was too difficult for me to decipher. I saw many authors, specifically Collum McCann, name Joyce's books, specifically Ulysses, as one of the greatest books they ever read, which I was aghast at. Before I had only read A Portrait which I had made 2/3 through (It's a pretty short book), and absolutely hated it.

I decided to read it once again after I had heard from a discussion with Jeffrey Eugenides about Harold Brodkey's work, which I love, even though, as Joyce's is, its very unconventional, more so Brodkey's than Joyce's in my opinion. He described it as "atonal music", making a reference not to its strange, dark pitches, but the unconventionality of it often takes some time to get used to. Today, I picked up A Portrait again, and I loved it from the very start, as now I feel it is easy to read and the fluidity in it is amazing, the character reminded me of myself, which was something special. I have a strange temptation to compare A Portrait with Salt & Vinegar chips, a very strange sort of chips that is very strong, something I love regardless after eating them however many times, till the point I can't get enough of them.