Fashion Models and the Hottest Designer Trends

Wow, I loved them all. They were all so different. Kenley had an incredibly colorfull look. Korto was so Ethnic with such saturated color and Leane’s looked just sleet, well in a sleek ruffle kind of way.

Yep, and the winner was…. drum roll please, the lovely Leanne.

I am glad leanne won project runway season 5 and I really loved her collection. I loved the petals and the look was new and something that could not be anyone other than Leanne. All the project runway season 5 collections were awsome, you can check out all the Season 5 Project Runway collections here.

Here is a recap of Leannes Final runway show on Project Runway.

I love the very complicated made simple and effortless look. It is so fancy and ruffled in a demure and refined kind of way. Those ruffles or petals look stylish and give her a signature of her own without even coming close to look like too much. They really catch my attention and obviously the judges and producers who ultimately made Leanne the new Project Runway star and winner. I can’t say I didn’t see it coming, she was the strongest competitor from the start and took quite a few challenges all in a row. I believe she even won a show with immunity.

You go girl!

Lets jump back a few decades to the incredibly colorful 1960’s. This is a great decade for fashion and a store called decades actually has these dresses for sale. The 1960’s was all about

the mini and designers used the craziest of prints and gorgeous saturated color to make 1960 one of the more memorable decades for fashion. Designers at the time not only had to make the garment work, but match up prints and make them work as well. It almost seems that trying to piece a dress together from some of these elaborate prints is almost like doing a jig saw puzzle, every printed piece has to fall exactly into place to pull it off. Unlike solids where all the fabric is

identical and can be used, these loud prints must be cut and placed exactly, the tiniest of mistakes and nothing lines up.

check em out…

Emilio Pucci print mini dress from the 1960’s, this dress was sold through decades.

This is the back of the Emilio Pucci dress

Another gorgeously 60’s dress from Emilio Pucci. I love the attention to the print and the aqua trim.

Here is a photo of the detail in the top of this Pucci dress

Emilio Pucci, yes, 1960’s print dress of silk crepe

We all know that hats and gloves were the rage of the 40’s and 50’s. I mean, you weren’t anyone and definitely not stylish with out a cap of some kind grazing over your forehead.

How about a book on your head? hey, it’s a hat and it may help your posture as well.

Classic models in, what else, vintage hats

I rarely write about anything that has to do with me or what I look like but a surfer caught my attention and commented that I am just most likely obese and out of shape. Mind you, I am neither. The criticism came from an article about skinny models, anorexia in the modeling industry and of course my views on it.

I was a bit alarmed that 1) someone thought being 6 foot tall and 98lbs. normal and 2) that I was basically bitter because I am overweight.

The truth. Really!

I am around 120 lbs, sometimes 125, others 115. Anyway, totally and completely normal for my height(average). My weight always fluctuates within 10lbs it seems, not that I ever weigh myself. I just know this by how my clothing fits. I have worn the same size for a long time and some months my jeans are tight and other months they fall down if not belted. No biggie, it just really has to do with my level of activity.

With that said here is where I gain and lose weight. When I am more active I tend to eat more and I have noticed that eating less often actually makes me gain weight. That is in line with everything the experts say about eating more often to raise your metabolism, no crazy diet secret there.

But here is what I did notice as I came home today…

My next door neighbor is about 50 lbs. overweight. She is my height and I would guess about a buck 70. I ran into her as she was taking out the trash and I was pulling in. We both live on the second floor. The building has an elevator, but since it is only a flight and faster to run up the stairs, I never take it.

Anyway, I, out of habit, opened the door to the stairs and she, out of habit, pushed the elevator button. I was home before the elevator even came down to get her. Now, a flight of stairs is not much… maybe 10 calories burned? However over a year its a couple pounds.

Maybe that is the problem with obesity in the U.S.? people got lazy and would rather stand and wait 5 mins for an elevator than take the 30 second trip up the stairs.

My conclusion… hah ha, my impatience keeps me thin. Seriously. I hate to wait and would rather run up a flight of stairs quickly than wait for the elevator. Tiny life style changes can make huge differences over time. I gotta admit, if I was overweight, I would never even want to take the elevator, but rather run a few laps up and down the stairs just to do it. Seriously, if taking the elevator causes someone to gain 2 lbs. a year, over 10 years its 20 lbs that could have easily been avoided without any dieting.

Actually, I am glad that I eat everything and anything I want and use the stairs rather than staying on a diet just so I can use the elevator. Screw the elevator, Pizza is so much better!

The Balenciaga line has really changedin the last 60 years. From the very classical to extremely futuristic in the clothing designs seen on the runways, however the handbags have kept a bit of the original styling, well, maybe. The balenciaga shoes, ahh, those are always very interesting if not always wearable. I love some of the Balenciaga shoes, even though I may be too scared to try to walk in many of them. Either way, Balenciaga always amazes and pushes into the areas of fashion that many other designers will not roam.

Here are a few of the items from the Balenciaga collection of shoes and handbags. Very colorful

Balenciaga is a Design house that has made it through half a century. The garments designed by Balenciaga in the 1950’s are absolutely exquisite and really show off the fine craftsmanship and complete attention to the tiniest of detail. The following black and white photos are all from the 1950’s or early 60’s and reflect the high waisted, very finished look that was all about elegance, grace and glamor. Unlike the free-er 60’s fashion that followed, the models of the 50’s had their hair up and back in exquisite hats to finish off a very polished and refined look. I love this look, especially the gloves that women wore as the final touch.

The 60’s are one of the more memorable fashion decades of the last century. the 60’s saw the coming of full living color and with color photography came incredible prints and fashion color. The 1960’s saw the coming of the first supermodel, Twiggy, and a whole new look that would shape fashion and style for many years to come.

The 1950’s were full of well tailored, slim skirts, tweed was big. The free flowing, free thinking 60’s brought free flowing fashion as well.  Skirts and dresses became more free form, free and flowing. Tightly fitted suits became a thing of the past and women seemed happy with softer fabrics and much more comfort and movement in their garments. Fabrics became more shear and swim suits got a bit smaller… lets check em out.

Twiggy is still a fashion icon today and I gotta admit I really enjoy her on the show “America’s Next Top Model” where she has been on the judging panel. The 1960’s were an awesome time for high fashion and I would love to see a return to some of that 1960’s wild print style.

The looks below from the sixties are just gorgeous, and the models look absolutely insane, this is before computer photo retouching…

1960’s print from Verucshka, around 1964

Emilio Pucci in 1966 shows a lot more skin than the previous decade

Verucshka 1966, full of color and very 1960’s

1968 suit by Mila Schoen

Model Susan Murray in a gorgeous blue print dress – 1960’s fashion

Verucshka in 1965

A gorgeous sheer yellow dress on a model with the classic 1960’s long straight hair

A pretty insane print from the mid 60’s