Burberry Winter Storms Collection

I just fell in love.

Burberry Prorsum

Dear Mister Bailey,

First of all, congratulations on the wonderful show and amazing spring/summer-line.
For a few years straight now, every season of BP has made it to my wish list and so,
I was wondering if I could exchange my two Burberry-trenches and my sister's, for one of these looks?

Kind regards.
T.S.

(source: style.com - photos by Yanis Vlamos)

J'aime mon carré - Hermès

As if those supercute How To Tie-cards you get when you buy an Hermès-scarf weren't enough, now the French fashion house launched a great site (which reminds me of Burberry's Art of the Trench!), filled with street style photographs that make choosing the right fold for your look even harder.

I'm crazy for scarfs and I do have many different looks and styles when it comes to this accessory, however I should pick and wear my Hermès one more often... I'm sure jaimemoncarre.com will give me some inspiration for next fall.

(source: jaimemoncarre.com - click to enlarge)

1.2.3

I remember, when going shopping with my grandma when I was a little girl, she always visited the 1.2.3-store. But when my sister and I came across the stand of the shop at the Oona-press days, we were shocked! No longer is it a brand for 'the older ladies', cause we fell in love with some great pieces... we couldn't believe the transformation of the brand, but we are thrilled with our re-discovery!

As some of you know model  Eva Herzigova is the face of the brand but she designed some pieces too.
Eitherway, the 'non-model' collection of the brand surprised us as well

Here are some of our favorite pieces and I can't wait until they hit the stores...
I loved the 1910-1920 inspired dress (will look great with a chuncky belt!) and the jacket that reminded me of Burberry's aviator-collection!

Humanoid

I had heard the brand name so often, but I don't think I actually ever saw the collection live. And I must say I was very surprised by this Dutch company called Humanoid... Why? At the Oona press day, my sister and I came across this amazing jacket. It instantly reminded me of a Rick Owens-jacket, which is always a plus. Besides that, one can not wear Burberry trench coats forever, so this suede item is already on my winter wishlist!

Film influences fashion

So for the last past days, I've been going through literature on how elements from the film industry can influence the fashion world. And I've found quite a few. For instance, a film star or character can start up a trend easily, like the Louise Brooks-look or the Letty Lynton-dress.

But aside from influencing the public, film has cast a spell over some fashion designers as well. Jean Paul Gaultier and John Galliano, they both have a thing for Hollywood movies and film stars, hence their many collections inspired by the industry's golden age... (see: JPG haute couture 2009 & Galliano's Fall 2005)

Alexander McQueen, also a film-enthousiast, based some of his creations and fashion shows on Hitchcock's work or movies like The Shining and They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Also, after watching a Harry Potter-movie, the designer incorporated the chess segment in his 2005 spectacle, where the models functioned as pawns.



And the fashion business is catching up on the film world really quickly, with Burberry being the first fashion brand to broadcast their entire fashion show in 3D globally, only weeks after Avatar premiered.

Web Sales

2009 changed fashion history, when fashion brands invited you, the internet user, to their until now very exclusive incrowd-only fashion shows. The brands have discovered Web 2.0 and the social media. And when they started to stream their shows live, it seemed as if they are putting the press and networks present offside by giving the viewer at home the chance to witness it all live, and as it happens.

This season however, I get the impression they are trying to pull this off in another segment of the industry; the retailers. Both Burberry and Proenza Schouler launched a web shop, where some exclusive items of their newest collection, could be bought within limited time of the show. Apparently the Aviator-pieces are selling out very quickly. That Burberry is delivering the jackets within 8 weeks, just shows what a well-olied machine the brand is.

This all reminds me of what my professor was telling us yesterday, during our film history-course; How Hollywood started expanding and growing tremendously and at some point controlled the film productions, the film distribution and the exploitation of their own films, which they had to give back by court order.

Or maybe by now, my head is too focussed on searching impossible similarities between film and fashion. How I enjoy my thesis...

Either way, those are some amazing jackets. 'Add to shopping bag or put on wish list?'

Burberry 3D

My second term has started at the University of Leuven, and I had just begun pondering on my Fashion/Film-thesis -what content to include or exclude, why the subject is relevant, setting up my research part...-, that sort of things, when I came across this Twitter-message by Business of Fashion:

BREAKING: Burberry to beam live 3D fashion show from London to NY, LA, Paris, Hong Kong, with local hosts like Colette and Tina Brown.

Apparently the British label is hosting 'the first ever truly global fashion show… 3D technology will bring our global audience into the London show space allowing them to see the colors and fabrics, to hear the music and to be a part of that moment when it all finally comes together'. And those lucky fashion VIPs will catch up on the whole atmosphere of the fashion show as well, since there will be a pre-show segment filled with behind the scenes action and red carpet moments.

This for sure will be a part of fashion history, and even better, this is great material for my thesis-chapter How fashion is influenced by film -or at least by a motion picture technique which recently has been causing a small riot in theaters.

Too bad us mortals just have to witness the whole thing via live.burberry.com in 2D. You can comment and review the fashion show in real time through your facebook or Twitter-account.

Save the date: February 23rd, at 4 PM. (WWD)

Burberry

Yesterday I took a break from studying, so that my boyfriend and I could enjoy ourselves in the snow. Over the past couple of days, it has snowed tremendously, so I layered up my outfit with extra stockings underneath my leggings and some ear-warmers. Besides a woolen scarf, I added an old fur collar/scarf* -from another jacket- to my Burberry trench coat. Not only is such an item extra warm, it also gives a 'plain' coat a luxurious touch.

Today, I was browsing the Burberry-website -as I do quite regularly- when I came across this double breasted long trench with a fur collar. I believe that the scarf I wore is equally fluffy and long -I tucked it into my coat to keep me warmer. And so, I apparently own 2 versions of the same trench, without spending the extra money.

* = When I say fur, I mean that I'm still not quite sure if it's real or not. I most certainly hope not, and I have no idea how such an item would find itself in a house where my sister talks about animal rights 24/7. The Burberry-collar on the other hand, is definitely real.

I want one: Buberry meets Colette, check out the studded collar!

Oh, and I finally got the chance to hit the stores during the sales. My dad took my sister and I shopping before we went out to dinner, and bought me this grey T-shirt, which has a silvery shimmering effect. Al tough this Rue Blanche-shirt -a store I actually entered for the second time ever- is quite basic, it has a rock 'n roll-effect to it. So I'll probably be wearing it all the time from now on.

The trenches

Belgium is in total chaos. Yesterday it started snowing pretty hard and there were up to 500km of traffic jams. And that is a whole lot in this little country. Now, yesterday evening it didn't bother me all that much. Ok, my boyfriend and I waited one hour in the freezing cold for a bus to take us to the car center, where his rear window was being fixed - his car got broken into the night before and not only did they steal his car documents, they stole all of his band's equipment, like his Marshall tops, boxes, his Yamaha guitar ànd his Gibson Les Paul, but the police got most of it back, luckily. We are going to pick up all of that stuff later tonight, since that bus never showed up or refused to let any more passengers in because it was pretty crowded. I felt sorry for that old man standing in line with us. He was dying to get home, while we just lived around the block.

Anyhow, so it was still mostly all fun and games yesterday, the snow. Today it had all turned to ice.

I was on my way to get some slides printed out, so I can start studying for my exams next week. I was just about to call my mom, when all of a sudden I fell. And I fell hard, while still on the phone. She witnessed it live but had no idea that I was laying flat on the ground. My first reactions was: "Oh no, my trench!". And yes, my beloved sandy colored Burberry trench had turned into a hideous shade of mud at the backside. And yes, I was almost crying on the phone. Only then I realized that my wrist and arm started to ache. Now, about an hour later, it still hurts when I'm typing: 'I hate snow. I hate ice. I hate mud on any of my coats, but most of all on my trench!'

So, luckily I have some pain killers at my dorm, and some gluhwein, I had picked up yesterday after the bus incident. Hopefully that will ease some of the pain.

My trench in better / ice-free days

P.S.: Many thanks to the two girls who asked me if I was okay.