sugar fifties brights

i've been really drawn to prada's jelly candy, fiftie's cat eye frames with a modern, orangey-red lip ~ not to mention that hair. so when i had a meeting with a magazine about their spring fashion concept, it was on. retro pastels with a bright kick aren't going away.

prada s10

it brings euro licorice to mind...

...and esprit. esprit in the 80's interpreted the 50's - well. i miss that esprit. it needs to reinvent itself. i say, if other brands can reposition themselves, then esprit can be relevant again because it's memory definitely is. and plus, cherokee is doing it.

you might think the pop under-layer gives this retro-looking dress a little something new. it does. the sunglasses in the same pastel + pop are also responsible as are the round/graphically bold lenses. i'm just going to step back some if it gets too matchy match off the runway ~ so go quirky berserky.

cacharel s11

a coral orangey-red lipstick is somewhat of an offbeat way to jazz yourself up. so while a wine berry has it's place, unless you're going for a cool-girl-smoking-in-the-boys-room/rockabilly take, then choose a wowing bright to keep your fifties look from getting labeled as costume-y. i also quite like a close to neon peach.

maybe it's the messy cut eyes, mint walls and animal print that i love, but i suspect pee wee's playhouse (and esprit) are boiling down to pure nostalgia ~ and it's allll about starting your look off with a 50's in the 80's foundation.

and speaking of which, there's a whole lot of chair-y and mekka lekka hi-mekka hiney ho in these mykita's.

they also act like a mirage to all the warm colors at cacharel and will work swimmingly with that ysl lipstick.

mykita x alexander herchcovitch s11

let's pretend she has light, but punchy, blue sandal platform heels on with nude ankle socks (or would it be silver creepers with nude ankle socks?)and she's looking for her black & white band button to put on her dress. if she wants to be more playful, she'd make herself a copy of marc jacobs' cassette tape headband and let the chips fall where they may.

cacharel s11

luisa via roma, emma

phoebe philo really is outdoing herself on the celine tip with le classics all freshened up a bit. i could go on about the luggage bag tote, but with this design i see 3-D glasses from the fifties x that same strong flat top line that's gaining momentum. they're pretty much 3-D glasses for everyday.

these heavy eyebrow sunglasses (with a dash of surreal) make 'having a go' seem serious, but it's not a total joke. the cat eye might be what you put on when you are headed to certain lanvin collaborations in the wee hours of the morning since the red eyebrow acts like instant makeup and the angle emphasizes a stronger cheekbone. i think salvador dalí would approve, even if he didn't give you a straight answer right away. maybe he was too overcome by bargain elbaz bow ties, but, even more so, the stall was only due to his disappointment because he didn't think of it first.

prada f10

elsa schiaparelli had a bit of an edge on that.