Tag Archives: Kate Moss

Kate Moss at Stella McCartney

Kate Moss, called “the Garbo of fashion” by the NYT this weekend, is coming out with a huge photo book spanning her career, Kate, with commentary by Moss herself. Here she is exiting the Stella McCartney show in Paris this fall, surrounded by a mob of paparazzi.

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Eccentric English Style: What to Wear

laszlo_-_vita_sackville-west1Now more than ever, it’s time to make your own rules when it comes to fashion. As we move blessedly away from the brand-driven consumerism of the early part of the decade, getting dressed is more about putting on whatever suits your fancy than making a statement with the latest must-have.

So here’s a celebration of the original eccentric dressers: the British, who are still pushing the envelope today. Style icons like Vita Sackville-West, Kate Moss, Simon Doonan, and Glastonbury rockers make for excellent inspiration. Best of all, eccentric works at any age or size if you do it right. (I disagree with Cathy Horyn’s assertion in today’s Times that you have to ditch the irony after 50: there are many examples of successful creative dressers of certain age in the fashion world – Madonna notwithstanding.) The world of Wellies, florals, and kooky hats has long been reigned by the British.

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Kate Moss Summer Collection at Topshop – Top Picks

kate-moss-topshop-4A new batch of Kate Moss clothes comes out tomorrow at Topshop, and unless you have more tolerance for dressing room lines than I do, you might want to shop online. As the Topshop copy goes, “Taking inspiration from Kate’s summer travels, her latest pieces are rich in texture and heavily embellished,” and indeed, the elaborate and ’70s Morocco-style designs are the most lust-worthy. Here’s a preview of some top picks – no pricing details yet.

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Best and Worst Dressed of the Met Costume Institute Ball

There was a lot to love – and so much to hate! – about the celebrity fashion at the 2009 Met Costume Institute Ball. First off, the theme of “The Model as Muse” guaranteed that there were going to be a lot of beautiful models there, because what beautiful person doesn’t want to go look at photographs of herself? Marc Jacobs, who bought up several tables for the event, supposedly counseled his posse to “wear short.” Maybe I am drinking the MJ Kool Aid, but the short styles, especially with the minidresses with trains, looked especially fetching. Mermaid styles? Please, please, celebs: stop shopping your closet for these.

All these photos are from WWD, which has an amazing slideshow of all the major hitters.

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– OMG, Donatella, you didn’t tell me you were going to wear the blue Versace dress too?

– Quit your bitching, Cindy. At least I’m not popping out of my fabulous clashing blue Versace creation. You should be lucky we got these back from those drag queens in time for the ball.

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TopShop Opening Day Photos

There were a lot of trendsters in line on the opening day for TopShop – in fact, there was more fashion outside than inside TopShop, due to the sheer volume of TopShop fans.

The biggest trend? Jean shorts in a variety of washes and cuts, often paired with tights and Doc Marten’s. New York designers may be channeling the ’80s right now, but this generation definitely seems to be having its own 1993 grunge moment.

Denim shorts: first sighting.

A more tailored version of jean shorts.

First male TopShop fan in line. He was dressed a lot like the TopShop guys in their uniform of cropped pants.

Bright colors continue to be a big spring trend.

A variety of footwear. The heels are killer, but I would probably go with the other two choices for standing in line for two hours.
The official TopShop male uniform. Love the socks and the blazer with piping.

Sir Philip Green, left.

Kate Moss in a green dress, her own design, blocked from view by a cop who promised paparazzi he would move out of the way when the time came. Thanks, buddy.

Doc Marten’s, first sighting. Very appropriate for this occasion since they’re a British brand.

A glam rock look.

This look is sort of lazy-post-collegiate. Very artfully done.

A couple in plaid.

The floral, feminine dress belted with a rough-looking leather belt is right on target. It echoed several of the Kate Moss Liberty prints inside.

Doc Marten’s and plaid.

Model Coco Young. Her blazer is perfection! The shoulders are just strong enough without being overwhelming.

More Doc Marten-esque boots, this time paired with a stretchy black miniskirt.

The waiting game.

The ripped denim shorts paired with ripped tights and Doc Marten’s are classic early ’90s – but the feminine blouse and cool headphones place the whole outfit in this era.

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Kate Moss Has Left the Building

After a very disappointing paparazzi stake out that resulted in limited, blocked shots.

But it’s always entertaining to hear the paparazzi’s fashion and beauty commentary:

On a woman walking by in this season’s red-orange lipstick: She looks like that bird from Florida.

On a not-very-attractive woman with bright purple hair: Because when you look that good, you wanna draw a lot of attention to yourself.

On a large lady leaving from the same door Kate would eventually come out of: That’s not her!

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Kate Moss and a Cheap Chic Critique

Is it any coincidence that the most famous fairytale about vanity and self-deception is also about fashion? The Emperor’s New Clothes comes to mind often these days whenever a major designer or model launches a cheap chic clothing line.

Proenza Schouler opened a pop-up store earlier this year for their Target line, but you did not see it on Gastro Chic, because it sucked. I’ve never been a fan of Proenza Schouler, despite their heartwarming meeting-at-Parsons story and socialite connections. Take away the high-quality materials and hand stitching, and Proenza Schouler line isn’t much different from the run-of-the-racks clothing you’d find at Target. By 3pm, the only things left were cropped orange jackets and weird floral things in size 14.

But this didn’t stop Colette in Paris from carrying the line. Can somebody please pass the Kool Aid?

As for the Alice Roi collection for Uniqlo, when it is bad, it is very, very bad, and when it is good, it looks like anything else you’d find at Uniqlo. Here’s a nightmare in floral, right, and for a floral Alice Roi house dress, check out Racked. Mystifyingly, it was sold out by the time I arrived at Uniqlo. Couture designers seem to see doing a mass market line as an opportunity to take risks they would never take at a high-end level, in a “let them eat cake” sense. There’s a fine line between jolie-laide and just plain ugly, and many of them cross it.

This Alice Roi sack dress was interesting but not particularly wearable. The only things worth buying from Alice Roi’s collection for Uniqlo were the more conservative designs, like this safari-style top, below. And for that, why do you need Alice Roi?

Everything I needed to know about Madonna’s ill-conceived collection for H&M I learned by peering in the windows at H&M and seeing rows and rows of basic hoodies and sweatpants. They should have called it “Madonna Gym.”

Last week’s Kate Moss at Topshop at Barneys hullabaloo was best approached with cynicism. If it is possible for a blog to stalk someone, Fashionista did before this opening, posting a video, Kate Moss Speaks! In case you were wondering whether she has anything remotely of interest to say, no, she doesn’t. Nevertheless, Kate fans were in awe of the video, sent multiple comments, and drove traffic to the site. Barneys, Fashionista, and Racked all posted countdowns to Kate. Apparently, she is Santa Claus. Maybe even Jesus.

Is it any surprise that the line is a letdown after that? This may come as a major shock given her involvement with Pete Doherty, but Kate Moss is dumb as bricks. But it doesn’t matter. They’re like the stylish couple Woody Allen approaches in Annie Hall and asks for the secret to their happiness.

“Uh, I’m very shallow and empty and I have no ideas and nothing interesting to say,” she says.

“And I’m exactly the same way,” he says.

Forget about love. The fashion take-away from Annie Hall is, they’re still stylish! For better or for worse, you can have nothing interesting to say and still have style.

But not chic. Only an original like Isabella Blow can be truly chic.

I wasn’t one of the hundreds waiting in line at Barneys, but I did go up to the seventh floor around 1pm Wednesday to find…tank tops! Oh my God, tank tops! With buttons on them! They reminded me of… dare I say it? Another K word. It begins with a K and ends with a Mart.

There was no sign of the cool black windowpane dress that reminded me of…some other designer. Or the floral dress that was directly copied from Kate Moss’ wardrobe. I grabbed a ruched gray thing before anyone else could, but it wasn’t in my size. A salesguy appeared immediately and offered to pull it in my size from the display window.

I nearly fainted. Not only had a Barneys salesperson rushed to my service, but he had volunteered to mess up the pristine, Simon-Doonan-designed Barneys windows for me. Thrilled, I accepted. There was no way I wasn’t going to buy the Kate Moss thingie now. I was beginning to like this fairytale.

It wasn’t really the first time. I became obsessed with the Rodarte for Gap white trapeze top with pintuck pleats when I saw it on a friend who works for Marc Jacobs. It’s on its way to me now, being shipped from Gap in the mall at Lakewood, CA. No big deal. I just put in an hour of phone research on 1-800-GAP-STYLE and called five stores all over the nation when it sold out in New York.

So here are my spoils from Kate Moss for TopShop, below. I’m not sure if it’s a top or a dress, but it’s actually kinda cool. The detailing seems to be hand stitched. And there are none left anywhere in the world.



It may be mass delusion, but the quest for A-list style at D-list prices has unified fashion fanatics everywhere. The long lines, the months of anticipation, the inequality of demand versus supply: it’s the same kind of mania you see surrounding a Rolling Stones concert or a really big sample sale. In the end, who really cares whether it’s worth it or not? It’s all about the feeling of group participation in an otherwise merciless, every-woman-for-herself fashion world.

As for the Kate Moss for Topshop dress, I may be wearing the emperor’s new clothes, but that doesn’t take away the thrill of winning the hunt. As someone who beat out Kate fans across the country and in the U.K., all I can say is, How you like me now, sucka?

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