Thursday, March 13, 2008

Everybody Loves Stefano

Photobucket

More YSL gorgeousness. Just because.


Well. Looks like I'm not the only YSL-besotted fashionista out there. Cathy Horyn at the New York Times wrote a glowing review of the latest collection, and for those who are curious about the inner life of Stefano Pilati, there's a profile of him in the March issue of American Vogue. The outpouring of love for this collection makes me feel all warm & fuzzy, because I think Mr. Pilati is going to start really getting his due as one of the best things going, and also as an example of someone who knows how to take a classic, iconic house and move it forward without betraying it. (Remember, folks -- Yves Saint Laurent is still alive. He retired from design, but he's still out there watching it. Can you imagine how nervous-making that would be? I wonder if Pilati has a red phone on his desk like the ones you see in the Oval Office in movies -- a direct line for the maestro in case of a fashionuclear emergency.)

A few have asked me where one acquires such magnificent things. Bear in mind, the collection I just showed you was Fall/Winter 2008, which means it won't be in stores for several months. If you're desperate for YSL, you'll have to make due with current & past seasons. (Which shouldn't be too painful.) Check
the YSL website to find beautiful things available for purchase, although it's far from a complete line, I'm sure. Saks online seems to only carry accessories; and Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus both carry a limited selection of including this little schmatte:

Photobucket

which is yours for a mere $4100. (Some how I think I'd look happier wearing that garment than the model above does. Seriously, whatever could go wrong while you were wearing that dress? You could threaten me with unanesthetized dental work while I was wearing that and my response would be, "What-ever, tra-la, hand me another glass of champagne, please!")

If you've spotted something in fashion coverage online, can't find it via e-commerce and absolutely can't live without it, your best bet is probably to phone up one of the stores and get a live human being to direct you. The number of the Madison Avenue boutique in NYC is 212-988-3821, and if you
really want to go to the source, the rue Faubourg Saint Honoré boutique in Paris is 011 331 42 65 74 59 (from an American phone). (Don't worry about your French. Trust me. They speak English there. Very hushed, sexy, French-accented, expensive English.) Also available online are some things from past seasons, still lurking out there and some of them (not all) bargain-priced. These breathtaking darlings

iconicon

are from Spring 07 (the "Violet" collection) and they long to come and live with me. I can practically hear them calling my name, can't you? If you love the style but the purple is more than you're willing to take on, they're also available in black.

iconicon

Personally, I'm all about the purple. Speaking of which, this blouse would serve a useful (and beautiful) purpose in anyone's wardrobe.

iconicon

The ties loop around in back, but you could wear them a number of ways, I think.

iconicon

This also comes in white. Good white blouses -- I love 'em!

This next is not exactly a bargain, but it's a similar color to that gorgeous blue trim on the gray coat I showed last week that so many people responded to so strongly.

iconicon


And this little num-bah -- so veryvery French, don't you think?

icon

And at a great price. This blouse + a great skirt in a dressy fabric + your favorite special shoes = your go-to cocktail party outfit for the rest of your life. Perfect.

And, of course, the Want Monster is torturing me with these:

Photobucket

From Spring 08. Every fashion editor on the planet seems to have gone mad for these sandals -- they are all over the mags & catalogs. And why not -- they're a teeny bit cutesy but who cares? (Although I think the reinforced-toe pantyhose is one particular bit of French styling perversity I'm going to leave on the shelf. I've come to embrace fishnets with open-toed shoes, but this is a bridge too far even for me. Too reminiscent of my Grandma Stella and her ever-present Peds.)

Photobucket

So cool. And look -- gold!!

Photobucket

This the sort of gold star I wish someone would award ME. For good behavior, perfect attendance, stylish excellence -- whatever. Unfortunately, they appear to be available... nowhere. They're not even on the YSL site (which has an extensive and highly drool-worthy selection of shoes, do check it out), so I don't know if they even produced any besides the runway versions. This is probably just as well, given the still-exhausted state of my MasterCard.

Photobucket

Sadly, also apparently available nowhere. Ah, well...

icon
Photos: Style.com, NeimanMarcus.com, Yoox.com, telegraph.co.uk

Stumble Upon Toolbar

6 comments:

benvenuta said...

ubles with images on your blog lately - I couldn`t see pictures from YOOX today (had to fish out them from source code), often pictures from photobucket don`t show. Is this only me? I have no idea why could this be.
I enjoy your blog a lot, and having to copy image adresses from source codes is not so much fun...

StyleSpy said...

Is anyone else having a problem with the photos on the blog? This is the first time anyone's mentioned it.

spell me said...

I am a regular reader and so far I've not had any problems viewing the photos.

Suzy/spell_me

Susan B said...

They look OK to me.

A question for you, Style Spy: let's say I decide that I'm going to save up my sheckels and must have one of those blouses you pictured. (The black Frenchy one, natch!) Do they even make them over a size negative 2? If I'm a size 8-10 is all lost? One of the reasons I've never even considered shopping in the designer stores is fear of being humiliated by lack of sizes for those of us who cannot exist on black coffee and celery.

StyleSpy said...

Deja -- that's an excellent question. Looking at the YSL website, most of the clothing is available in French sizes 34 - 36, which translates roughly to American 4 - 16. So the short answer is yes, most designers do make things that are wearable by people who eat actual food. The tricky bit is that a French version of an American 8 is likely to be more like an American 10. (Those French womens is skinny!)

The short answer is, yes, they're out there. Bear in mind that Yoox.com is a sale/consolidation site, so they're going to have limited sizes. But if you go to a boutique or department store that carries the in-season clothes, yes, they should be able to get things in your size.

Hmmmmm... this is an interesting topic -- we'll talk more about it later...

Gauss said...

Auch - those sandals look amazingly uncomfortable. look at the models' toes, as they barely hold on to the sandals. Yuck.