(Newser) – After a game of fashion musical chairs brought Ann Taylor a new designer, Cintra Wilson decided it was time to reexamine the label—long a "corporate office submissive" look designed to "attract a nice tax attorney husband." She ate her words after checking out the new line (and buying a $175 gray silk-cashmere sweater she'll wear "every second until it dissolves into lint"). The line brings "less clutter and better details," from "the finished seams inside a little faille opera jacket" to "the velvet ribbon inside the waist of a peplum coat," Wilson writes in the New York Times.
The new Ann Taylor strategy comes down to "the honest injection of real quality bang for the buck," she continues, having been pleasantly surprised at finding a Lanvin lookalike silk shell for $70 and a Balenciaga-inspired skirt for $80. Her conclusion: "Ann Taylor’s office-wear may still be 98.9% edge-free, but it is concentrating on the right values: timeless lines and longevity. Other chains would be wise to follow in the plucky working girl’s conservative (yet spike-heeled) footsteps."
(NEWSER) - President Obama's re-election campaign launched a high-fashion fundraising initiative last night to grousing from Republicans. The "Runway to Win" effort—spearheaded by Vogue editor Anna Wintour—is selling clothing and accessories by prominent designers at prices far below what their work usually sells for, making the GOP suspect campaign finance laws are being broken, reports the Wall Street Journal . More»
(NEWSER) - It's always fun when Karl Lagerfeld opens his mouth , which he did quite a bit during a recent stint as guest editor of Metro . His most buzz-generating quote is about Adele: "The thing at the moment is Adele," he says. "She is a little too fat, but she has a beautiful face and a divine voice." More of his thoughts:
(NEWSER) - Melissa McCarthy is on top of the world, and now that she's won an Emmy and won over SNL viewers , what's next? The Bridesmaids star, who wanted to be a fashion designer before she ended up in comedy, is launching her own plus-size fashion line. "Trying to find stuff that's still fashion-forward in my size is damn near impossible," McCarthy, who designed her own dress for the Emmys, tells the Hollywood Reporter . "It's either for like a 98-year-old woman or a 14-year-old hooker, and there is nothing in the middle." More»
(NEWSER) - Karl Lagerfeld, never one to mince words , was apparently not a fan of the fashion he saw at the royal wedding. It was a mess of “bad proportions,” “ugly hats,” and “short skirts on fat legs,” the Chanel designer said recently, recalling his stint as fashion commentator for a French TV network during the big event. “An event like that is fun to do because I can make jokes, and jokes of the lowest kind are not against my mentality,” he added, according to the Telegraph . More»
(NEWSER) - Kate Middleton is a style icon, right? Wrong, says fashion designer Vivienne Westwood. The Duchess of Cambridge projects the image of an "ordinary woman," not the "extraordinary woman" she should be, Westwood complains to Britain's Sunday Times Magazine in an interview picked up by Australia's News Network . More»
