The Craze: White-hot Lace

The Craze is a trend report bringing you the latest (and, duh, the greatest) in beauty and styles.

The delicate elegance found in lace has been becoming an increasingly popular trend for spring and summer collections. It started with Dolce and Gabbana’s spring ready-to-wear collection. This collection was a predominantly white collection with most of their garments incorporating elegant white lace as detail work into their designs. The theme of the collection was possessions new and old that a new bride might pack away before she begins a period in her life. The fabrics used for this collection were very loose, airy fabrics like linen, sheer silks, and crocheted material.

Dolce and Gabbana Spring 2011 RTW

This incorporation of white lace has also spread to other designer’s pieces. It seems to give garments a summery touch and can also be considered dressy or casual. White lace can be used to give garments notions of springtime, femininity, pureness and sophistication.

BCBG

Yet, while appearing sexy and chic on the runway this trend can sometimes come off as old fashioned if overdone. To avoid looking a bit doily, incorporate a casual piece into the look. For example, with a white lace dress throw on a denim jacket or vest to play down the ultra feminine aspect of the lace dress. Also, it is important to wear lace with clean unembellished pieces. The lace itself on a garment is the embellishment so rock the lace with a clean solid colored piece.

AMRAG

-Christina Riggio

Designer Confidential: A Mind for the Business

Designer Confidential highlights the work of SU's greatest fashion asset: its student designers.

Junior fashion design major Alexandra Greiner knows exactly what it is that sets her apart from the rest. In a sea of designers creating fast fashion for the bright, young, (jobless) youth Greiner is creating clothes for women set on upward mobility, as career oriented as the designer herself. “I look at trends and go the opposite way, or if I’m going to follow a trend I try to spin it in a...fresh and new [way]. My style is very tailored, for the power [driven] woman...”

For the Geoffrey Beene inspired collection so talked about in this column, Greiner draws on the designer’s love of sculptural haute couture and merges it with her rich, austere, sensibility. A prim black bustier, for example, is transformed with a ruched plume of material that fades from black to white and back again.

Greiner’s aesthetic permeates even the most straightforward pieces. A simple gray jacket she designed last year became a bold self-statement with the addition of sculptural details on the shoulders and waist.

Greiner draws her inspiration from nature, architecture, and period costumes. Her most recent collection utilizes all three elements in what she describes as a battle of “organic vs. geometric.” Her affection for the paired down silhouettes of the 1920s is also present in the collection. “I like creating interest with shapes and forms rather than [embellishments, like] embroidery or pattern,” she says.

An internship this past summer at BCBG redefined Greiner’s perspective on her future career opportunities in the fashion industry. “I got to see what type of job i’ll [be applying for] right when I get out of college. There are three levels: designer, assistant designer, and design associate. I’ll start out as a design associate, who basically just run errands for the designers.”

Greiner also had the chance to interview two designers currently employed at the fashion house.

“Both of them said that when they were in college they viewed [creating their own line]... as the ideal success, but once they got out in the real world they saw what huge [of an] undertaking [that] was and they didn’t want to risk their own money. They also said they didn’t think they had the business sense for it. I think what makes me unique is that I [understand] both the artistic and business sides of the industry”

Dream Job: To open a fashion house with a small, but devoted audience (similar to the studios of Helmut Lang and Jason Wu) or work as a haute couture designer at an established company like Chanel or Louis Vuitton.

Why you should look out for her: “My work is definitely not for the mass-market. It’s high end. My target market is established urban women in her 20s and 30s. I feel like a lot of style right now is very eclectic and you throw a bunch of shit on and its called style. I like it for our age group, but it’s not good for an older woman.”

Designer Confidential: “I love both the artistic and the business sides of the industry, so that will help me when I want to start my own line.”

-Julie Kosin

The Craze: Seeing in black and white

The Craze is a trend report bringing you the latest (and, duh, the greatest) in beauty and style.

Black and white: It's one color combination that never goes out of style and works in any season. But if you're not careful, it can get a little boring and uniform-like.  

In one of Elle.com's latest trend reports, we see clothes, shoes and accessories in "Graphic Black and White." What we love about this trend is how versatile it is: You can pair a black and white piece with practically any color and it pops. That being said, we took the liberty of combing through a few sites and stores to see what graphic black and whites they offer that won’t break the bank.

 

Forever 21 printed skirt

This graphic print skirt from Forever 21 has a very similar pattern to a Oscar De La Renta dress from the 2010 resort collection, but it’s only $11.50!

Forever 21 cropped jacket $27.80

Another Forever 21 find is this cropped jacket. Now, bows aren’t always done properly, but something about the simplicity and lines of this piece say Chanel.  Pair it with some jeans, a white tee and a black boot or ballet flat to get that effortless, well-put-together look.

For those of you who want to take the plunge in your pocket, here are a few splurges we found at Nordstrom. 

BCBG MAXAZRIA dress $117.90

 

Tory Burch dress $395

 

Some of these pieces may be a little skimpy for February, but keep in mind that spring break and a warmer Syracuse are just around the corner! 

- by Rosalind Dean

The Orange Carpet: Winter's warm-chic look

The Orange Carpet scours SU to roll out the best of campus style (die, hoodies, die!). 

It looks like we're on the eve of Syracuse's infamous change from a quaint mix of autumn hues to the icy white tundra we'll all come to know very well early next year.  

Yes friends, it's December. 

While Fashion Week showed us Spring 2010, Syracuse just showed us its Winter 2009/2010 preview. But before you pull out the sweatpants and dust off that floor-length puffer coat, let's take a step back and figure out how to stay warm and look presentable.

Recently, we found a great example of warm-chic from PR grad student, Jeehee Sohn of Seoul, South Korea.

 

PR grad student Jeehee Sohn. 

What we love about this look - besides the fact that she managed to wear ballet flats in 30-degree weather - are the delicate layers highlighted by a chunky, wool scarf.

Jeehee is wearing a black H&M tank with a white BCBG button-down tunic under a semi-sheer BCBG black cardigan. Her thick, dark denims hide the fact that she's wearing thermals underneath.

And the exposed feet? She's got them covered with nude, knee-high stockings.  (Note: Do not try this in snow.)  When it's time to leave Newhouse, Jeehee dons a knee-length, insulated black, wool pea coat. 

The most versatile part of this outfit is the indoor-outdoor scarf. Jeehee's look is filled with gold accents from her leather bag's hardware to the gold thread weaved throughout the brownish-grey, H&M infinity scarf.  The scarf and light layers make the outfit flexible for any occasion.

The Unisex Circle Scarf in too many colors to name. American Apparel, 28.00

When she comes in from the cold, she doesn't have to strip off half of her outfit or get dressed all over again when it's time to go!

Tank and Scarf: H&M

Tunic and Cardigan: BCBG

Jeans and Tote: Marshall's

Flats and Stockings: Target

- by Rosalind Dean