Leather lovin'

One of the current trends that I needed plenty of time to warm up to is the leather craze that's been prevailing for a while and seems to be here to stay for at least a couple of more months. Despite being a huge animal lover, I am not at all opposed to the material per se: I have no qualms about buying leather boots, gloves or bags, and I'm always open to checking out a cool-looking leather jacket or blazer. Who's not?! The studded biker jacket is undeniably a modern classic, at least for me, who flirted a lot with punk rock fashion during my teens. However, however.... that Domina look that is supposedly in style right now - leather rompers, lingerie and even pencil skirts and skintight pants - actually makes me shudder a little. It is in 9 cases out of 10 just way too much and, in my opinion, most often ends up screaming of bad taste and tacky styling. The YSL runway look (pictured right) and even more so Chloe Sevigny in Proenza Schouler (pictured left) are perfect examples of what I mean!

Maybe one of these in-your-face leather getups would do it for me if I was starring in a remake of Madonna's "Open Your Heart" video, or if I worked the whip all day long at The Nutcracker Suite (and then the clothing would be a nice tax write-off, too!), but as it is, I'll gladly pass! Let's please wear leather only on top and our feet/hands, and pretend these awful head-to-toe looks never existed!

There are some exceptions, though, for those who are stylish enough to know how to tread with caution. I do think a leather dress that is long enough not to look slutty and short enough not to give that scary head-to-toe dominatrix impression is a great choice for a night out. For instance, Angelina Jolie looked lovely in her Kors dress at the LA premiere of "Inglorious Bastards" (pictured right)! I believe the key to pulling off her look (other than being ridiculously beautiful with a great body) is to accessorize sparingly... the dress is almost a statement piece in itself and looks best with little to no bling. Worn with an updo, I guess a choker-ish necklace could have come in handy, but I'm a hair-down girl so I'd rather get a good blowout and just let the dress speak for itself - like Angie did!

Other current inspiration: boot at Fendi (on the left) and Angela Lindvall for H&M (below). Note how Angela's cotton tee softens the somewhat tough and bitchy look of the dress - I like it a lot, but am still not convinced it's the kind of style that would compliment me and my looks. However, a piece that I anxiously do think would fit me like a hand in a glove, is the fall '09 biker jacket at Rodarte (below - the one I am always crying over in here as well as in comments on other people's blogs!), or actually, at any model or fashionista trotting around New York C right now -- check out Taylor Momsen and Agyness further below, as well as the awesome snapshot of Belle Franke over at Jak & Jil from earlier today! I am fairly sure this jacket is how I am going to embrace the leather trend, as it's not only easy to wear and style, but also looks fantastic with mini skirts and dresses, which are garments I own en masse and desperately need to mix with some current pieces, so I can stay stylish throughout the season!

Now, for everyone's info, I will probably NOT step out of my house sporting Fendi-esque leather legwarmers, but I am indeed currently experimenting with knitted leggies and big platform pumps (from my closet) reminiscent of those in the ad above, and the results do not look too bad! The knits offer an excellent way to play up the rocker/biker/domina vibe if you're wearing a leather jacket and want to have a little fun with your outfit, or just offset the toughness of it.

I might have to write a blog on those legwarmers soon... but meanwhile, let me just share my love for these stripey ones with little skulls from Discount Dance Supply (on the right)! They would most likely look adorable with a purple knitted dress that I re-discovered today when I cleaned out my closet(s)... not to mention the GUESS faux leather jacket I just purchased, against better judgement! Obviously, I wanted Rodarte, but $4,000ish is a tad too steep for me, so I ended up choosing between these two from GUESS and Forever 21 (below). In the end, however, the former one just appealed to me a little more -- I prefer to be able to accessorize freely, as opposed to being restricted by a miniature minefield of punk chic rocker studs! Also, since I am mostly going to wear my jacket with dresses and skirts, I was very particular about the fit - it needed to be very snug without giving off that "one size too small" look... and the GUESS piece turned out to look like a million dollars on me, while the F21 was kind of blah!
And speaking of blah, I hear there is a similar jacket selling for a nice price at H&M, for anyone who's willing to search rack after rack of unsorted merchandise...! I've seen pictures and it looks great... albeit very difficult to find in NY stores (I tried).

To sum up for tonight, I am super excited about this aquisition and have a myriad of ideas on how to style it... but that will have to be a separate blog entry. Hope you all will have a great Monday tomorrow! xoxox