Style File: Couture du jour
November 10, 2004
New York, NY – Hurried and stylish as usual, Manhattan ladies allow dimming days to quicken their seasonal assimilation. For the first time since summer, these women have answered fall’s chicest challenges collectively, with a well-dressed turn-out rate far surpassing days past. Strolling downtown, off-to-work uptown or riding the subway underground, a movement of trend-setting servitude re-thrones New York’s fashion capitol kingdom.
On the radar: Toujours Couture
For the style-loving fashion voyeurs living the budget-maven reality, things are about to get as intoxicatingly rewarding as a Prada sample sale. If you’re accustomed to studying the glossy, well-groomed fashion pages only to grieve for the despair of unattainable designer goods, the best has yet to come – the best-kept secret, to be precise. Anyone tuned into the high-fashion design houses knows the name Karl Lagerfeld, that is. The man, the myth, the legendary two-decade-plus creative director of Chanel answers the un-heard laments from cash-strapped shop-aholics around the world. The reply: A Lagerfeld-designed line of clothing debuting at bargain retail Mecca, H&M. New York’s best dressed are circulating the fashion lead of the moment, determined to nab a noticeable from the new hybrid of high fashion. The lure of couture will leave throngs of aficionados lining up Nov. 12 for first dibs on the covetable creations, ranging from $29.99 to $149 at an H&M near you. On the street: Fur-fection
The look is in the details these months, leaving un-adorned outfits with much to be desired. The chicest quick-fix of the season finds itself in fur-lined fancies. No need to envelope yourself in a blanket-sized mink, soft pelts and peering swaths of fur do the trick just as well, if not better. This season’s most popular preferences find discreet ways to add a little luxe to your wardrobe: fur-lined anything is on New York’s best-dressed list, noting soft touches on purses, scarves, gloves, boots and most notably, creeping out of jacket sleeves and lapels.
Tweed Disposition
The avant-garde flair of city-slickers revels in a most refreshing take-back on tweed. Youngsters are spiking old bouclé threads and playing dress-up with a look evoking more whimsical days of happy-go-lucky, practical bedazzling. Tweeds are taking cues from tinsel, weaving metallic nuances into the most conservative of patterns. Slightly sparkly, these knits add much-needed youth factor to the vintage flare of fall’s prim-and-proper blueprint.