Hillary Clinton took some heat for her pumpkin pantsuit at the DNC, but these days, the future Secretary of State is rocking chic all-black suits. What more can be said about Sarah Palin, the 0,000 gaffe in boots? It’s First Lady-to-be Michelle Obama’s fashion sense that has everyone in a tizzy. She’s being hailed as the next Jacqueline Kennedy—certainly Michelle O.’s tailored dresses by Maria Pinto called to mind Jackie O.’s geometric sheaths. We'd argue that Michelle’s style adds a contemporary twist by striking a nice balance between accessibility and the occasional fashion curve ball.
L to R: Robert F. Bukaty/AP, Chip Somodevilla/Getty, Jeff Zelevansky/Getty
Take your pick of trends: it could be military or metallics, day-glo or nude, transparent or opaque. At this point, it doesn’t really matter what trends you follow—it’s all about your own preferences and your own sense of style. Designers don’t dictate much these days—more than ever, it’s the consumers, via their purchases, who are dictating the bottom line.
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The consumer thirst for designer collaborations cannot be satiated or slowed—not that our budget for fashion frivolities is complaining—nor, it seems, is any designer off-limits: H&M packed a polka dotted punch with their latest collaboration with avant-darling Comme des Garcons, while Alexander McQueen, relatively unknown in the U.S., will soon become a household name in Kansas when his collection for Target hits stores next April, and Norma Kamali became a runaway hit with her dresses for Wal-Mart.
www.walmart.com
When it comes to winter wardrobes, staying warm usually trumps any real expression of personal style. Thankfully, a new crop of knitwear designers—Tom Scott, Sandra Backlund and Louise Goldin—have put knitting needles and looms to more imaginative and stunning uses with providing winter warmth and wearable art.
L to R: Annika Aschberg, Catwalking/Getty, Dan Lecca
Not that buying stuff on sale ever really goes out of style, but there certainly are times when you’re less inclined to boast about ransacking the Salvation Army. Not anymore. It's cool to buy stuff that’s cheap, in any shape or form, whether discounted designer from Bluefly.com or eBay or one-of-a-kind vintage or handmade items from Etsy.
Christa May
We have Pete Doherty and Samantha Ronson to thank for boosting the profile of porkpie hats in under-30 hipster circles some months ago, but polished millinery—feathers! cloches! felt! —is no longer just an accessory for kookish eccentrics or to be worn only once for the Kentucky Derby.
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Technology is changing the way we wear fashion—we need a place to put it, and we need it to work for gadgets, not against them. Enter Freehands, the maker of gloves that feature fold-back finger tips for the two most important touch screen technology appendages—the thumb and the index finger—for obsessed iPhone users.
Freehands.com
Michelle Obama might be making fashion more Everywoman, but Beyonce reminds us that sometimes superstars should be superheroes, and totally, utterly inaccessible. You might scoff at her medieval cyborg accessory du jour, the Lorraine Schwartz-designed silver glove (just think of it as the couture version of a oversized cocktail ring), but the video “Single Ladies” makes a strong case for embracing an Fosse-ready closet full of dancewear.
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We may be closely guarding our paper money, but you can always scrounge up a little loose change from the bottom of your pocket, right? If the Obama commemorative coins strike you as too tacky string on a necklace, Refinery 29 has posited a better option for keepsake jewelry: Take one of the Coco Chanel 125th Anniversary 5 euro limited edition coins created by the French mint (the silver coin is a relative steal for , or there’s the gold coin for ,540) —it’s a chic alternative to advertising your wealth, or a talisman for more prosperous times.
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Though the debate continues to rage over whether models are too skeletal, an interesting 2008 trend morphed the female shape into a futurist fembot with exaggerated hips and shoulders. Sculptural tailoring brought back the Blade Runner-esque visions of Thierry Mugler and Azzedine Alaia in the eighties. Oversized t-shirts and cocoon-like sweaters offered a softer version of this body morphology, and made the quest for a skinny body a moot point.
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Pre-Fall, Resort, Holiday...the showings don't stop in the fashion industry—it’s no longer enough to show Spring and Fall collections. This year, it seemed like the buyer’s thirst for new stuff could not be satiated, with more and more demand for new merchandise produced more fully developed collections in-between seasons. Will the recession change this production overdrive?
Left: Mark Mainz/Getty Images for IMG; Right: Amy Sussman/Getty
Yves Saint Laurent passed away in June at the age of 71, but iconic pieces like “Le Smoking” and his safari looks lived on when designers such Zac Posen paid homage to him in their collections this year.
L to R: Reg Lancaster/Getty, Robin Platzer/Time Life Pictures/Getty, Randy Brooke/WireImage
Beyond calling attention to the lack of black models on the runways and in magazine editorials, the Vogue Italia all-black models issue in July 2008 was the kind of collector’s edition magazine that might be the future of print fashion media.
www.vogue.com
In 2008, the look of choice for hip, dapper men was something like a disheveled frontiersman. With work shirts, lumberjack plaid, tweeds, waistcoats and utilitarian pants (a la Engineered Garments, designed by Daiki Suzuki and winner of GQ/CFDA’s best new menswear award), or colonial American scrubs courtesy of Freemans Sporting Club, the look was down-to-earth, but polished. If you’re going to look scruffy, make it artful.
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Skyscraper heels and platforms were 2008’s version of the power suit. Their extreme, towering heights commanded attention and authority over the peons, while at the same time offered an adrenaline rush to the wearer—mastering these shoes without falling made you a member in the advanced fashionista club. Impractical, yes, and also rather dangerous. In other words, the ultimate fashion symbol.
Left: Stefano Rellandini/Reuters; Right: Karl Prouse/Catwalking/Getty
A bird-influenced flight of fancy was a dominant theme in a year where escapist fashion dominated the runways. With the economy crashing and our heads were stuck in the clouds, all those feathers gave us a way to stay afloat.
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Lace will always be beloved by those scouring eBay for antique turn-of-the-century treasures, but Miuccia Prada took the cake for the most elaborate lace concoctions this year. Specially created for her line in a Swiss textile mill, her Prada lace offerings were impossible for fast fashion retailers to convincingly copy. Not that they didn’t try—you could still get a lace skirt at H&M—but as designers looked for ways to justify their hefty price tags, high-end lace was one clever way to distinguish a luxe brand from the masses.
AP Photo
Though not new in 2008, the eco-craze picked up momentum and mainstream popularity. Alexander McQueen adorned a gown with gothic-looking tree branches, and the go-green push came to department stores like Barneys New York, who highlighted their mission over the holidays. Manufacturing cooperatives in Latin America and Africa not only supported local populations, but also acknowledged the importance of fair trade.
Left: Chris Moore/Catwalking/Getty; Right: Courtesy Loomstate
Celebrity weeklies like In Touch and Life & Style posted newsstand sale losses in the first half of 2008, but that didn’t mean that celebs stopped influencing consumers. While Katie Holmes’ every move was documented in New York—Would she be wearing “boyfriend” jeans? What shape were her sunglasses?—pop culture phenomenon Sex and the City made a strong case for belts, Sarah Jessica Parker became a fashion designer with her line Bitten, Gucci selected Rihanna as their face and Christina Hendricks as Joan Holloway on Mad Men reminded everyone of the glamorousness of curves.
L to R: Arnaldo Magnani/Getty, AP Photo, James Devaney/WireImage
Despite what any fashion glossy dictates (er, “suggests”), or how many fashion blogs one reads or runway videos one watches, the truth about the state of fashion in America came to a head on Election Day. What did the voters wear? A basic uniform that consisted more or less of jeans and t-shirts. So much for fashion! Just eat the mac n’ cheese.
Left: David Paul Morris/Getty; Right: Mario Tama/Getty
