[Trend Report] Handbags for “Juntos En La Mañana”

Posted in Designer, Dime Que Usas y Te Dire Quien Eres, Fashion, Fashion Segment, Fashion Video, History, Juntos En La Mañana, Personal Style, Trend Report by Aisha Naomi

Every woman loves to be at the forefront and express their style in different ways. An inexpensive way to change or add personality to any wardrobe is with accessories and handbags . The most common colors that are usually seen in purses are red, gray and dark tones, but the trends for this spring/summer ’16 season are vivid and bright colors.

Hues of cobalt blue, cherry red, or any a vibrant color is the easiest way to style a basic and simple outfit. The best part? These trends are offered in all kinds of shapes and sizes you can imagine. Since purses come in different styles: minis, hobo bags, clutches and oversized, this means that every woman can find something practical, to her taste and style.

In the beginning of 20th century the art and fashion movement began to go very hand in hand, thus the evolution of the handbag came with it. However, the emancipation of women was the most influential factor in the evolution of purses. Women were evolving and developing in the work force, which meant they became more mobile and needed their handbag to meet a growing variety of practical needs.

This led to diverse variety of purses for specific occasions, such as leather briefcases for the office, practical everyday handbags, as well as bags for traveling. Stylish pocketbooks with metal details and clutches for evening use.

Fashion houses and brands have become more important in recent years and thus have emerged the most exclusive handbag designers. The most recognized designers in the world for these types of bags and leather work include Hermès, Chanel, Balenciaga and Givenchy, these handbags can cost thousands of dollars for an exclusive model, this is the elusive “It Bag”.

For fashion houses like Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Versace, Donna Karan and Dolce & Gabbana, the handbag has become an important accessory that evolves with the seasons. In the past, designing a bag could remain unchanged for a undetermined period of time, these days it has become a component that changes constantly.

These trends come exclusively from the most important runways from around the world such as Paris , Milan, New York and Puerto Rico. But how can we afford these exclusive handbags in such exorbitant prices? We can also get styles at affordable rates. These purses are known as the “Ready to Wear” line of different designer brands; these are high quality products that are mass produced for the general market.

The fashion world is taking advantage of technology trends and creating handbags with accessibility for electronics and smart devices. These are usually more portable for girls who prefer to carry only what is necessary .

Cellphone Bag

If you prefer a style that you can carry at the elbow or simply carry by its straps, a short handle handbag is one of the most popular styles of the season. In this same category we can place the “tote” bag , with its short handles and is oversized style, it can transition from casual to elegant.

[L to R] Short Handle + Tote Bag

The cube style purse, also known as the “bucket bag”, its inspired by its simple form. Usually this has gathered detailing and tends to be asymmetrically, these have evolved with its stylization.

Bucket Bag

If handbags for cell phones have become one of the most popular trends of the season, the camera bag is not far behind. This gives a touch of nostalgia to any bohemian or ultra modern style.

Camera Bag

The “cross body” or “messenger bag” lets you keep your hands accesible, but always on trend. The girl who appreciates this side shoulder style tends to lead an active life and is at the forefront .

Crossbody Bag

The “Clutch” or evening bag is one to be worn with elegance and panache. Above all with this purse we create the perfect ensemble. This handbag gives us the opportunity to express ourselves in a very unique way. Evening events in long dresses or gowns tend to be more conservative and sober. This handbag usually comes with details in rhinestones, dark shades and classic designs. But for the daring woman , there are varieties from floral to skull form.

Clutch

The “It Bag” which many woman dream to have as part of their wardrobe; this designer handbag is a classic piece with a unique, exclusive and easily recognizable design. These purses tend to have a waiting list for its customers.

[L to R] Jennifer Lopez with a Chanel 2.55, Victoria Beckham with a Hermes Birkin Bag and Sarah Jessica Parker with a Givenchy Bettina.

For the girl who prefers to use handbags that are sustainable. These are made of recycled materials, wood, leather and vegan materials. The immense variety of these bags let you transitions with styles for everyday use as well as evening options.

Vegan Handbags

Even now we have the alternative to complement our handbags with accessories where we can express our style and personality even more . Tassel details with rhinestones, metal buckles and furry details add character to any bag.

Accessories

Remember, a handbag part of your self expression and style. So when choosing, have fun and express your personality.

Check out my fashion segment on WAPA TV & WAPA America: [Dime que usas y te dire quien eres] Carteras: Parte 1 & [Dime que usas y te dire quien eres] Carteras: Parte 2.

18Feb2016

[Exhibit] The Costume Institute’s: ‘Manus X Machina’

Posted in Art, Exhibit, Fashion, Inspiration by Aisha Naomi

The Met’s next fashion exhibit will seek to reconcile the oppositional relationship between the hand (manus) and the machine (machina).

At the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s press preview for the Costume Institute’s upcoming exhibit, “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology,” head curator Andrew Bolton touched on the traditionally dichotomous relationship between the handmade and machine-made in fashion, and the blurring of the two disciplines in the creation of haute couture and ready-to-wear.

Bolton started off by noting that since the birth of haute couture in the 19th century, the hand and the machine had been constructed as “discordant instruments of the creative process,” with the former seen as a symbol of “detrimental nostalgia” by its opponents, and the latter as a symbol of inferiority and dehumanization. With this exhibit, which opens in May, the Costume Institute hopes to “suggest a spectrum of practices whereby the hand and the machine are mutual protagonists in solving design problems.”

[L to R] Chanel Haute Couture Suit 63-68, Chanel Haute Couture wedding ensemble F/W 2014-2015

To that end, the exhibit will feature more than 100 pieces of haute couture and ready-to-wear, to be shown at both the Robert Lehman Collection galleries and the Anna Wintour Costume Center galleries. The latter will focus more on the traditional aspects of haute couture, and will resemble a traditional maison de couture, while the former will present a series of case studies, “unraveling the mythologies of the hand/machine conundrum.” Traditional métiers of haute couture, such as embroidery and featherwork, will be presented alongside innovative techniques like 3-D printing and computer modeling.

YSL Couture evening dress F/W 69-70

Some items at the press preview included: a machine-sewn, hand-finished white synthetic scuba knit Chanel haute couture wedding ensemble, which, according to Bolton, served as the inspiration for the exhibit; an Iris van Herpen haute couture dress with hand-stitched strips of laser-cut silicone features and hand-applied gull skulls; and a Chanel haute couture suit with 3-D printed white polyamide overlay.

[L to R] Iris van Herpen couture dress F/W 2010, Iris van Herpen couture dress F/W 2013-2014

The exhibit will run from May 5 to Aug. 14, and designers in the exhibit will include Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, Alber Elbaz, Karl Lagerfeld, Iris van Herpen, Rei Kawakubo, Raf Simons, Miuccia Prada, Christopher Kane and more.

29Oct2015

[Exhibit] Fashion Underground: The World of Susanne Bartsch at The Museum at F.I.T

Posted in Art, Events, Exhibit, Fashion by Aisha Naomi

Designs by Rachel Auburn, The Blonds, Leigh Bowery, John Galliano, Jean Paul Gaultier, Pam Hogg, Stephen Jones, Alexander McQueen, Thierry Mugler, Rick Owens, Vivienne Westwood, and Zaldy contribute to the approximately 80 looks from the underground fashion impresario’s personal collection of clothing and accessories, on view in Fashion Underground: The World of Susanne Bartsch.

Susanne Bartsch has been the queen of New York City nightlife since the 1980s when she became renowned for creating spectacular parties where she and a diverse mix of individuals—uptown, downtown, gay, straight, multiracial—dressed up in their own versions of high fashion, street style, drag, and Mardi Gras extravaganza. Her first party took place in 1986 at a club near the Chelsea Hotel, where she has lived for many years. “It was about seeing and being seen,” says Bartsch.

Bartsch and her friends have long constituted a fashion underground of creative individuals who take dressing up to the level of performance art. “Style is about expressing yourself,” says Bartsch. “You can be whatever you want to be—a silver-screen star, a Marie Antoinette baroque creature, a Victorian punk. I love that about fashion and makeup.” A muse for fashion designers and makeup artists, Bartsch has also been a catalyst for the cross-fertilization of ideas between creative people in a range of fields. Today, she is increasingly creating events that explicitly link fashion and art.

Born in Switzerland, Susanne Bartsch moved to London as a teenager, living there for a decade. “We called her the Swiss Miss,” say old friends from London, where Bartsch was a key figure among the New Romantics. Arriving in New York on Valentine’s Day 1981, Bartsch opened a boutique in Soho while still on a tourist visa. An enthusiastic proponent of 1980s English fashion, she was one of the first New York retailers to import Vivienne Westwood. She also organized fashion shows, such as New London in New York and London Goes to Tokyo, that showcased designers Leigh Bowery, Body Map, and Stephen Jones. But life in 1980s New York was not just a party; AIDS was devastating the community. As her friends began dying, Bartsch notes that she “survived this period by becoming a fundraiser.” In 1989, she organized the Love Ball, one of the first and most important AIDS benefits. Over the next few years, she raised a total of $2.5 million for AIDS research and advocacy.

Fashion Underground: The World of Susanne Bartsch opens with a small introductory gallery of images and videos about Bartsch and her world.

In the main exhibition gallery, the first section focuses on the 1980s English fashions that Bartsch introduced to New York displayed in a mise-en-scène evoking her surreally styled boutiques. The second and largest section features a variety of the creations that Bartsch and her friends have worn at her famous club nights at Savage, Copacabana, and Le Bains, with a special section devoted to the AIDS balls. The final section evokes her apartment at the Chelsea Hotel, the center of her creative world. Videos and projected photographs throughout the exhibition document Bartsch’s 30 years of sartorial self-expression and its influence on the global fashion scene.

The exhibition is curated by Valerie Steele and Susanne Bartsch and designed by Kim Ackert after a concept by Thierry Loriot.

By Aisha Naomi

The world of a freelance Makeup Artist + Wardrobe Stylist.

Tag Archives: New York

[Trend Report] Handbags for “Juntos En La Mañana”

[Exhibit] The Costume Institute’s: ‘Manus X Machina’

[Exhibit] Fashion Underground: The World of Susanne Bartsch at The Museum at F.I.T