It’s Oscar week and as if there wasn’t enough glamour and glitz swirling about, Chanel has flown the spring-summer 2011 Haute Couture collection in for clients and celebrities to see up close and in person. The collection, which in its entirety of over 60 pieces appears lighter than air, was shown in an all-white, sunlight-drenched room on the second floor of the Chanel boutique on Rodeo Drive.

It’s hard to imagine that one white-beaded double-breasted floor length coat took 1,000 hours to make and that each one of the millions of tiny sequins, beads and metallic threads were all hand-placed and sewn onto the finest tulle and chiffon. The idea seems more real when you see one of the women who had a major hand in creating the collection. Martine Houdet, Chanel’s Premier L’Atelier (head of the couture workshop in Paris) is in town with the collection to fit couture clients. Anyone who’s seen the documentary Chanel Signe about the insanely creative and often chaotic process it takes to make the couture collection might remember Houdet as one of Lagerfeld’s team.

This is the first time in over five years that the Couture line has appeared in L.A, and Chanel’s head of Couture services, Sigrid De’Lepine is passionate about the pieces being available for potential buyers to touch and feel in person. De’Lepine was on-hand to explain the painstaking details of each piece and that it takes a team of 150 people to work full time on couture, in order to get the samples and orders finished. As aspiring as the couture line is, Chanel is clearly making it as accessible as possible to those who can afford to wear it.

Next, the Chanel Haute Couture collection will travel to China then Japan, so the French house’s loyal Asian customers can experience the craftsmanship up close and possibly place an order.

Melissa Magsaysay

Photos: A model walks the runway during the Chanel show as part of the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week Spring-Summer 2011 at Pavillon Cambon Capucines on Jan. 25, 2011, in Paris. Credit: Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images

John Galliano debuts a couture collection for Dior. [Telegraph]

Can't get enough of Bruce Willis? Anticipating next month's release of "The Expendables"? To tide you over, get a whiff of Willis' new fragrance line. [WWD, subscription required]

Serena Williams stars in a photo spread in the August issue of Harper's Bazaar. [StyleList]

The blogosphere continues to muse on model Crystal Renn: Is she losing weight ... or what? [New York Magazine/The Cut]

Do these bridesmaids make me look fat? ... One-third of (engaged) British women who were surveyed said they would ask an overweight friend to be a bridesmaid to make them look better. [Telegraph]

And if you cannot read enough about the stars of "Jersey Shore," we'd like to point out that Jennifer "J. Woww" Farley debuted a line of clothing in Las Vegas over the holiday. Its name? Filthy Couture. [People StyleWatch]

If you, like many of us, look at your hair in the morning and wonder if it is suffering the effects of too much coloring, processing, blow-drying, etc., one beauty editor has a suggestion: Home hair glaze. [Allure]

-- Alice Short

Photo: A model presents a creation by British fashion designer John Galliano as part of the Christian Dior Fall-Winter 2010-2011 Haute Couture collection in Paris. Credit: Associated Press

 

Recession, shemession: Apparently couture houses are seeing a rise in demand. [WWD, subscription required]

Lily Cole will help kick off Paris couture week with the launch of her the North Circular knitwear label at Colette. [WWD]

Here's a clip of "Rachel Zoe" season 3, um sans Taylor Jacobson. [N.Y. Post]

Famously plus-size model Crystal Renn is looking rather svelte lately. [Huffington Post]

French Connection's new brand Pippa will debut at Bloomingdale's. [WWD, subscription required]

MAC and Disney plan to make magic with a villains collection. [WWD, subscription required]

Murad moves into teen, makeup lines. [WWD, subscription required]

From Kristen Stewart to Rihanna: Why red is the celebrity hair color du jour. [Daily Mail]

Video: Kelly Cutrone, Justine Bateman discuss Wonder Woman's makeover. [Huffington Post]

Photos of Khloe Kardashian are slimmed down for swimwear campaign. [Daily Mail]

Iconic swimwear photos (that may or may not have been Photoshopped). [StyleList]

Coming soon to bookstores: the Yohji Yamamoto story. [Telegraph UK]

Need something to read over the long weekend? Here are some books on American fashion. [Style Section L.A.]

-- Whitney Friedlander

Photo: Christian Dior exhibit at the autumn-winter 2009 Haute Couture week in Paris. Credit: Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images

If you’re a nattily dressed gentleman, you might be aware that the ultimate luxury item is a bespoke suit from London’s Savile Row. Legend has it that these made-to-measure custom suits offer unparalleled fit and can last a lifetime.

Kilgour, founded in 1882, is giving local dapper dudes the Savile Row experience without the flight to Heathrow. On Monday and Tuesday at the Chateau Marmont, Kilgour's in-house tailors will fit clients, including measuring and chatting about lapel widths, super 100 or 250 wools and whether to use one or two buttons. The suit-making process should take close to year: measurements are translated to a second baste fitting in which your suit's shell is marked with chalk. This second fitting will also take place in L.A. later this year. The suit is entirely stitched at Kilgour's Savile Row atelier.

A Kilgour bespoke suit costs a pretty pound -- prices start at around $4,480 at the current exchange rate, but it's not outrageous, if you consider the quality and the prospect that it might never go out of fashion.

Will Adams, one of Kilgour's traveling tailors, says today's stylish gentlemen opt for single breasted over double, a narrower lapel and one button. Among other details, “about 90%" request side vents and slanted pockets. Most men also ask for a gray or navy suit, but if you're the kind of guy who does more business in the evening rather than nine to five, a black suit will definitely make an impression.

“Every guy should have a black suit to wear to an evening dinner or go out clubbing with your mates,” Adams says. "You can always mix the jacket with a pair of jeans or chinos."

To schedule an appointment with a Kilgour tailor in L.A., call (646) 785-0592 or e-mail customerservices@kilgour.com.

-- Max Padilla

Photo: A Kilgour suit. Credit: Kilgour

Pasadena’s Friends of the Gamble House is sponsoring two fashion-history events on Nov. 14 to kick off the group’s seasonal lecture tour. [Updated 3:55 p.m. Oct. 20: An earlier version of this post incorrectly implied that the events would be held at the Gamble House.]

First is "adDRESSING Titanic: Appearance and identity in 1912," in which Kevin Jones, curator of the museum at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, will break down the sartorial hierarchy aboard the tragically doomed Titanic.

In addition to dissecting the various social subsets that were present on the ship (first, second and third class, along with crew and steerage), Jones will also highlight the many Titanic passengers involved in the fashion world and trend-making high-society circles. The event begins at 10 a.m. at Pasadena's Art Center College of Design.

That same day, historical haute couture pieces that fashion maven Betsy Bloomingdale gave to the FIDM Museum will be on display at the downtown Los Angeles site, 919 S. Grand Ave.  "High Style: Betsy Bloomingdale and the Haute Couture" exhibit, which will be on display at FIDM from Wednesday through Dec. 13, features 60 pieces. [Updated: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said 125 pieces.]  

Bloomingdale is the widow of Alfred P. Bloomingdale and an heir to the department store fortune. She was a devotee of French haute couture from 1961 to 1996, and on display will be vintage pieces designed by Christian Dior, Hubert de Givenchy and Yves Saint Laurent, among others. The heiress' personal style and sensibilities will also be explored. The display opens at 1 p.m.

Both events will be sponsored by Friends of the Gamble House. To purchase tickets -- $15 for students and $25 for the general public -- call 626-793-3334 Ext. 52 or visit www.gamblehouse.org.

-- Emili Vesilind

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Photo: Betsy Bloomingdale, pictured in 1969. Credit: Courtesy of Mrs. Alfred Bloomingdale, FIDM Museum

The winter 2010 haute couture shows are over ... so here's a final look -- at John Paul Gaultier, Valentino and Josep Font. Jenny Barchfield of the Associated Press reports:

Elie Saab gowns are a red carpet staple here in L.A. Marion Cotillard recently wore a purple and blue mosaic print dress by the designer to the L.A. Film Festival premiere of “Public Enemies,” and Beyoncé and Evan Rachel Wood both wore Elie Saab Couture during the last Oscar ceremony and were two of the best dressed stars at the event.

Saab just showed his Fall/Winter 2009-2010 Couture collection today in Paris and it’s hard to tell whether any of the 46 all-white looks that floated down the runway will translate on to the red carpet. 

Every look the designer created was done in an ethereal white, with gathering and appliqués that made models look as if they were floating in a cumulus cloud.  It’s a far cry from the gold bedazzled dress Beyoncé wore or the elegant black column Evan Rachel Wood vamped it up in.  When awards season rolls back around-will Elie’s loyal celebrity fans being seeing all white?

-- Melissa Magsaysay

Pictures: Fall-Winter 2009/2010 Paris couture shows.

More blogs on the Paris couture shows

Photos: Looks from the Elie Saab Fall/Winter 2009/2010 Couture Collection. Credits: Left, Maya Vidon/ EPA; top right, Remy de la Mauviniere/Associated Press; bottom right, Remy de la Mauviniere/Associated Press.

Some of the haute couture shows in Paris have generated star wattage; all have undoubtedly inspired applause. But yesterday's Christian Lacroix show triggered tears.

Jenny Barchfield of the Associated Press reports that there were a few weepy moments at what might be Lacroix's last haute couture show -- "at least for as long as it takes the legendary French designer to sort out his finances." Lacroix started insolvency proceedings in May and "looks likely to close its doors at the end of this month."

It somehow seems appropriate, then, that his winter 2010 collection was done in shades of black and navy. Barchfield writes that the "collection had a funeral feeling, and the crowd of well-heeled women wiping their eyes after the display only added to the dark mood."

Lacroix told his audience that he hopes to relaunch the haute couture line. In the meantime, he sent models down the runway with "supple draping, black lace, tone-on-tone embroidery and luscious beadwork." The bridal gown "which traditionally closes haute couture displays," Barchfield wrote, "was a Catholic icon ... the sumptuous dress underscored Lacroix's rare genius."

Jenny Barchfield of the Associated Press reports that Giorgio Armani's couture offerings "opened on familiar but strong territory with a series of pantsuits, his signature look, embellished with rhinestone-hemmed cuffs and buttons that looked like minature crystal balls." Barchfield continues:

Then the Italian designer brought out the big guns or, rather, the shiny guns, with bustier dresses covered in scintillating silver or champagne-colored crystals, sequins and beaded fringe. Models wore beaded headpieces with dangling fringe that perched at a jaunty angle on their identical dark bobbed wigs.

Not surprisingly, the show attracted its share of stars, including Cate Blanchett, who described  the show as "blinding" and "beautiful," and Megan Fox, who has made a few recent headlines with her outpouring of love for her latest film "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and its director, Michael Bay.

Blanchett wore a pagoda-shouldered dress by Armani; Fox wore a gray asymmetrical cocktail dress by the designer.

-- Alice Short

Pictures: Fall-Winter 2009/2010 Paris couture shows.

More blogs on the Paris couture shows

Photos: Remy de la Mauviniere / Associated Press

  

Today marks the start of the couture shows in Paris. Don't ask about what these creations might cost ... or their relevance in the global recession. It's pointless.

Just look at the hats ... the vibrant colors ... the innerwear as outerwear ... and marvel at Dior designer John Galliano's homage to the 1950s. 

Jenny Barchfield of the Associated Press shares a few details:

Half-dressed models in waspwaisted jackets with outrageous bouffant sleeves and flesh-colored garter belts, or in pouffy skirts heavy with beadwork and pointy 1950s-era bras, loped languidly through the labyrinthine showrooms at Dior’s Paris flagship store, where the runway show was held.

Hourglass-shaped dresses in vibrant jewel tones dipped in the back to reveal the suggestive laces of a tightly cinched corset. A flesh-colored slip peeked out from beneath a knee-length dress, its sexy silk undermining the dress’ straight-laced seriousness. The skirt of a strapless ballgown in embroidered pink duchess satin was cut out in front and back to frame the model’s stockinged legs.

Harper's Bazaar Editor-in-Chief Glenda Bailey said "the half-dressed look was emblematic of the times," the AP reported. "It implied that things are out of kilter."

Well said.

-- Alice Short

Pictures: Fall-Winter 2009/2010 Paris couture shows.

More blogs on the Paris couture shows

Photos: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

 

 

Gossip, first impressions, trends-in-the-making, celebrities and style setters. A regular feature by fashion critic Booth Moore.

Sad to hear the news this morning that Christian Lacroix has filed for bankruptcy protection, and just when his exuberant, puffed-up, 1980s-era designs were starting to come back into fashion, too. Marc Jacobs borrowed heavily from Lacroix's aesthetic for his fall Louis Vuitton collection, and Freida Pinto wore a Lacroix gown to the Golden Globes earlier this year. But Lacroix himself hasn't gotten much attention from the fashion world recently.