Bottega Veneta's boots and bolos

Yes, for me accessories are the highlights of Bottega Veneta's Fall 2010 collection. And boots have also left deep impressions throughout many of the shows.

These two above are fairly simple, but they illustrate how many pairs of trousers were slimmed down for effect.




These thick-soled lace-ups are then a clear sign of the era the label draws inspiration, or at least imagery, from. (The croc skin on the right is worthy of the brand.)




Weight is what the boots give the outfits, with their soft, creased, and crumpled fabrics. Seeing the whole pictures, the buckled shin straps make more sense — even if they look more like thick wrist bands. (The bags look familiar, right?)




Only a few things that I noticed from show, and these flecked sweaters are part of the list.




Yes, the jeans, and the blazers that are marginally formal and understated enough to avoid being sleek — perfect for the denim-clad and slicked-back romantic/rebel.




Honestly, these are the outfits that I enjoyed the most. Because of the fedoras, which perfectly complement the oval-buckled skinny belts, the thick-soled laceups, and the loose jeans. Oh and the trunks!




Like the bags above, the shirt on the right looks familiar, and I've noticed this in other collections: something is always carried over from the previous season. In this case the print. The shirt on the left looks new, even if it resembles the M on Maison Martin Margiela's shirts and tees from a past collection.




Spring 2010's DBs have shed their pagoda shoulders for Fall. The colors are also familiar.




Though I'm not complaining since the jackets are indeed distinct, unlike the satin trousers on the right, which resemble those from Dolce & Gabbana and maybe even Prada.




These evening jackets may have been meant to be the collection's masterpieces, with their oil paint splotches. (Cummerbunds again!)




But this only brings me to my point that Fall 2010 is quite disappointing for Bottega Veneta. That is why I am posting next their Spring 2010 collection, which I missed and I am partial for.

A life with Dries Van Noten: Fall 2010

While the Spring 2011 shows are going on in Milan (or is it Paris already?), let us step back a little to the previous collections. I know I haven't been able to keep up since Spring 2010, but I still kept my tabs on what I found remarkable, like the Fall 2010 collection of Dries Van Noten.




Now one may argue that it was Raf Simons' Fall 2009 show, with its knit and neoprene shrugs and its play with varying colors and fabrics for sleeves that influenced Dries Van Noten's stripes/plaid, plain/houndstooth, wool/cotton, white/navy, navy/beige combinations. Yet that doesn't fully explain the impact of the Belgian designer's Fall 2010 collection.

Just look at these two shirts. The one on the right has brilliantly combined a possibly boring (but of course, this is Dries Van Noten, and even the placing of the pattern on the placket and collar is well thought out) checkered pattern with a baseball tee, while the shirt on the left combines fine plaid with thick stripes from another era.




You may notice that colors and patterns are interchanged — what was on a shirt or jacket gets transferred to sleeves, a scarf, a tie, and trousers, making the collection cohesive by exhausting a theme. (Just how soft is the fabric for these moss green trousers? Just look at the contrast with the quilted puffer.)




The thing is with this collection — I don't know how Dries Van Noten does it — is that bold strips and contrast-piping jackets do not at all feel too strong or out of place.

Look closely and you'll see that the red-striped jacket is actually a vest. The long-sleeved tees become key.




And how about the sleeveless trench? Or the cardigan with a white sliver or a crack at the shoulders.




How can one not be convinced that the simplest (deceptively so) can actually become the most sophisticated?




Even the brave contrast of blue and red is easily usurped another striped pattern, together with gray.




A peak into the red-collared, similarly sleeveless puffer. Perfect styling: a gray baseball tee with striped sleeved over an immaculate white shirt, with the two collars coinciding.




One day, I would like to wear blue in this tint, in semi-shiny fabric and in bold stripes. Just with a plain black shirt, the look is a notch above casual, dressy but not uncomfortably so. (Of course the fabric of the shirt has something to do with it.)




Here comes the real vest (not sleeveless jackets).




Excellent trousers, in this case cropped and with a belt of the same fabric, are more than enough to make a baseball tee look extraordinary.




The trench is tied to look like a Rorschach test. The very finely zippered vest makes a reappearance. Doesn't it look like a male, watered down bustier?




The lining of these jackets peel out to become the collars, with piping like the skin of fruit. I like the boxy cut of the jacket on Cole.




Reminds me of Raf Simons, but is actually far from it. At second glance they look military, but then again, it must be the dignity the belts add to them.




This is often the case with Dries Van Noten: what is remarkable is not so for being flashy, or new, out abruptly ingenious. Dries Van Noten produces clothes that accompany you, make you feel good but at the same time are instantly ready to be discarded, as should all kinds of objects, no matter how beautiful or functional. Beautiful because they are transcient.




Understated jackets with pleated pants.




I like the buckle concept of the bags.




This time the lining of the trench pops out at the collar. The jacket on the right looks like crepe: fine and frail, but protects you from the weather.




Pocket square like sea anemone.




Collar pattern like the luminescent spots on ocean floor creatures.




All the real wars have been fought, now fatigue is just that: tiring. Unless you mix it with other fabrics!






Hello, long lost double zipper.




I love the insignia, which looks like lace, or a fine tattoo. Perfect complement (brooch replacement) for the fuzzily-striped blazer.




The little things make me giddy: how the insignia changes shape and color and plays hide-and-seek. (Do you see the skinnier than skinny, ribbon belts?)




Here's looking at it.




Now it's time to make a mad dash to Spring 2011! (But of course I will be back!)

Gianfranco Ferré takes it fur-ther

Who can miss these fur capes that look like enlarged stoles, lengthening under jackets? (Maybe they are stoles.) Besides the fact that one does not expect them from Gianfranco Ferré, many would entirely not expect them on men.

Who can deny what they do — besides of course to provide warmth — for the silhouette, and for the swagger of the man who wears them? In this pair, the fit of the trousers and the biker boots add to the enigma.




What comes to mind is The Polar Express (I didn't watch it. It just sounds right.), The Chronicles of Narnia, and some dated Russian spy film. The sleek fur vest is the worthy male version of the common hairy fur vest for women. Notice how the sash-like strip on the trench looks like a cummerbund.




Though the sleeveless fur number on the left is reminiscent of Gareth Pugh, the use of the cummerbund is not. Why are there diamonds on the sleeves? A kind of puffer? Leather and fur belong together.




The use of gray on gray reminds me of Thom Browne, but again, it is the stole that makes the difference.




From stole and vest to sweater and muffler.




With a belt or under a cummerbund. Or maybe fastened as a wrap.




Love the plaid tie, even if I'm not as excited about the grizzly lining. The guy on the right could be coming from a ski chalet. Notice that the leather vest is tightened by a drawstring.




The pelt in colors for evening wear.




A furless silhouette.




Yes, plaid-on-plaid is not new, but doesn't this interpretation look spiffy?



So the cut reminds you of other designers, but hey, everybody's gotta sell.




Even this fur sweater underneath recalls Miuccia's mohair, but did she put a belt over it?