Get the Look: Paris and Rihanna in Wang!


I have discovered a little treat of a label and decided to share it with you and my ESVIE readers. Call it my gift to you as we officially launch! Recently Paris Hilton was spotted wearing this amazing Alexander Wang dress in this season’s hottest colour, nude. Singing sensation Rihanna was also pictured in the same dress on her way out of Kanye West’s pad. Now, although most of may not be able to afford the real thing, this amazing Wang-lookalike dress by Elise Ryan can be yours for just £52. Now that’s a bargain and no-one will ever know the difference!

For more information or to shop online, visit www.eliseryan.co.uk

Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show

With so many VS models on maternity leave, we did wonder whether they’d manage to produce a fantastic show this year or whether it would be lacking in a little sparkle. We needn’t have worried. Themes for the show this year were Star Trooper, All Aboard, Pink Planet, Enchanted Forest and Romantic Journey and Heidi Klum even made an amazing comeback just 4 weeks after giving birth to her little girl. She said that although she still has 20lbs to lose, she couldn’t help but pop out for Victoria’s Secret.



‘We came up with the idea of this girl who lands from outer space in Paris. She gets on a train that comes to a halt in Pinkland, where pink girls get on and off. Then they go into this fairy-tale forest and little lady bugs and butterflies land on them and vines grow up on their clothes. Then, there’s Tick-Tock Time; the wings in this section are based on clocks — there’s one modeled after a pocket watch with metallic feathers. And she ends up in this regal realm of princess-ness, where the wings have Swarovski jewels and peacock feathers.’

Charlotte Stockdale, the show’s stylist.


On the FROW: Alexander Wang, Zac Posen and Carine Roitfield.
On the Runway: Chanel Iman, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Miranda Kerr, Anja Rubik and Heidi Klum, plus a performance from the Black Eyed Peas!


AW09: Androgynous Grunge Returns

In the same way that shoulder pads and skirt suits strike fear into thirty-something women, recent runways have shown us twenty-somethings that it is time for us to relive fashion again.

It is a well-known fact that fashion moves in a circular motion. It is exhilarating to put on a vintage 1950s polka dot dress and feel like you could have been alive in that time. Yet for some who were, they do not want to do it again. The 50s were a long time ago, yet the 1990s seems oh-so-very-recent and still fresh in our minds.

Grunge is making a comeback
Grunge is making a comeback

Many women who grew up in the 80s will refuse to don the angular shoulder pads and bright, neon tights and accessories seen on Marc Jacobs’ AW 09/10 catwalk. Neither will they get overly excited about the power suits and restricting tight dresses of Donna Karen and Michael Kors. They’ve done it before. It reminds them of Vanilla Ice and bad perms. However, over the past couple of seasons, a few trends have sneakily appeared on the runways with designers attempting to be even further ahead of everybody else. They have left the 1980s and found themselves in the 90s, home to combat trousers, grunge and the Spice Girls. A scary combination though it may be, it is even more so for those who now are considering once again slipping on ripped, slashed deniers and a pair of Doc Martens for the first time since they were a Nirvana-worshipping teen.

Alexander Wang AW08
Alexander Wang AW08

Alexander Wang first brought back the grunge trend on his AW08 runway, with slashed tights and casual beanies. Comfort appears to be the way forward. After seasons of squeezing into Hervé Leger bodycon mini dresses and sky-high stilettos, we welcome biker boots, deconstructed clothing and Dolce and Gabbana’s pyjama suits . Slouchy, faded bags, ripped hosiery and denim and grungy, baggy trousers have all made noticeable appearances in recent collections. From Jimmy Choo to See by Chloé, leather biker boots are everywhere. The jeans trend for 2009 is ripped, distressed denim. Oversize blazers are the most striking look from 1990s movies and you may call it the ‘boyfriend’ trend nowadays, but it is not too far from what every stylish woman was wearing a mere fifteen years ago. Catsuits were also made popular in the 1990s when Michelle Pfeiffer hit the screens as Catwoman and Posh Spice willfully continued the look on stage. This trend was heavily reflected in the jumpsuits on the SS09 runways, which have proved popular with celebs and office workers alike.

Marc Jacobs AW09
Marc Jacobs AW09

But what else should we expect? It cannot be much longer until we are re-embracing the bandana and parachute combat look of 1997. We’ve already seen the headscarf as a major accessory and just mix the deconstructed, baggy trouser trend with the zip detailing seen on runways all over the world and what resembles a pair of combat trousers will slowly appear before your eyes. It would seem that it is inevitable. With tartan back a la mode, just wait until the Britney schoolgirls start to appear again.

Style icons for the future?
Style icons for the future?

My memories of the 90s are of bad oversized suits, cheesy boy and girl pop bands and the followers of grunge. Most of which I have been dreading would be repeated. And yet whilst I try to resist going where I have been before, I find myself scanning the high street rails for the perfect oversize blazer to go with my slouchy leggings and flat black ankle boots. I may as well pick up some tights whilst I’m at it. And a pair of scissors.