Friday, March 7, 2014

Color, Spring 2014, Shoots Self in Foot!




This is interesting. The Top 5 Colors for 2014 are, as follows:

1. Radiant Orchid. Nice!
2. Hemlock. A new name for paler green. Nice, but a poisonous name.
3. Paprika. This is based on the popularity of an orange-ish version of red that most of us cannot wear.
4. Paloma. A new name for an overdone, understated gray.
5. Fressia. A yellow so bright, again, that most of us cannot wear it (unlike a pretty lemon color, which has been a successful staple of the last four years!)

Is it entirely necessary for the American fashion industry to shoot itself in the foot on a daily basis?

Radiant Orchid, however, is another story. It's the Pantone Color of the Year and is universally flattering. It warms the face and makes most women look younger. (Be careful, golden blondes, because purple is the complimentary color to yellow, and therefore can over-emphasize yellow.)

Here's another look at Radiant Orchid:




Enjoy!

—Mary Duffy

Thursday, March 6, 2014

New?New?New? NO!NO!NO!


QVC is a spectacular merchant—all my friends love them. The Q even posts garment measurements so you can have a good idea what size to buy. (They cite your bust and hip measurements + 1-3 inches on stretch or knits + 3-5 on woven garments.) They have several Fashion Days a year and this season, are doing 50 hours of fashion! 

Good? No.

The TSV (Today's Special Value) for the first day was another droopy-poopy piece, this time from LOGO by stylist Lori Goldstein, a $40 vest, so similar to the chiffon-edged items she has done for several years (yawn) that it appears not to have been a hot seller. The second TSV is a $230 bag from orYANY, in color blocking. I think most women will find it all too easily resistible.

My love for QVC is such that I almost take this personally, and so far, I have found nothing I HAVE to HAVE, and I am a clothes hound! Even my favorite line, Linea, was a tad more soft dressing than usual, and on behalf of MOST OF US, I hope this shapeless, droopy trend goes far away. As for colors, most of us do not look great in blah, or bright yellow-based colors, so why does the fashion industry work so hard to shoot itself in the collective foot?

—Mary Duffy

Monday, March 3, 2014

Apres Oscar


The raison d’etre of my company, Fashion for the Rest of Us©, since 2010, has been to address the fashion and beauty needs of real women—those not likely to walk red carpets or be the next Miss America any time soon. 

That said, last night’s Oscar Show deserves a comment from the perspective of those of us who make up most of the audience—people in lounge clothes or sleepwear,  propped up on pillows, longing for a fix of the glamorous life, of what Hollywood once was, and, for most of us, still should be. 

Last Night, we got it.

Nearly everyone was lovely. I will not detract by mentioning the handful of misses. There were the young and the mature, the thin and the not-so-thin, the pregnant and the ingĂ©nues, and the gentlemen dressed like men of the world—all giving us a dream of the “grandeur that was Greece and the glory that was Rome,” as Poe said, or of whatever floats your fantasy boat.


Not to be confused with what most of us are or should be, the primped-to-perfection, starved to a size 2 to 4, those eying Ellen’s pizza—they were all very funny. She was funny, too, without destroying anyone. I loved her pop-ups in the audience and her cool demeanor. 

It was a wonderful night and nominations and awards were graciously received and spread about several superb productions. 

HURRAY FOR HOLLYWOOD, indeed.

—Mary Duffy

[PHOTO: The famous Degeneres "selfie" that got so many Retweets on Twitter that it shut the service down temporarily on Oscar night.]

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Designer Diversity


The other night, while watching the finale of CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund competition, I was almost too confused to pick a winner.

The uber-talented gold jewelry designer, Marc Alary, had my support all along, as he made one small brilliant item after another, to be shown against the other designers' entire ensembles. Further, one had to be blind to miss the enthusiastic Hollywood reaction to the charming  Juan Carlos Obandao. And what of Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow of Public School, the clear front-runners from the outset?


Well, the results are in and we are looking at the new face of not only America, but of American design —White, Hispanic, Asian, Black. My only disappointment was that they were all men, but hey ladies...maybe next year!


Bravo to the talented!


—Mary Duffy


(Photograph, from left to right: Designers Juan Carlos Obando, Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne of Public School, and Marc Alary.)