details: bold structure at Rosie Assoulin Resort 2014

Rosie Assoulin is a young (29) New York designer who has been mentioned more and more in the press in the last year as someone to watch. She researched and interned for several years (and this after helping her jewelry designer mother from 14 on) before her first collections, all built on noticing, decade after decade, patterns of long, floor-brushing pieces, generous volumes of fabric, sashes, and bold solids. The results are clean and sweeping, with an appealing blend of boxy and fitted elements.

Here are some of my favorite looks from her Resort 2014 collection.

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images from rosieassoulin.com

While the concept of a resort collection kind of cracks me up sometimes (a line you would theoretically wear at a resort, or on vacation…or in the summer… but I guess ‘summer’ was already taken in ‘spring/summer’ and these things are immutable), I often like them anyway, if only for their heavy use of white (and other bright colors), of which I approve.

These structures strike me as regal and yet fully modern (if not a bit of the future). Their silhouettes are cousins of silhouettes many centuries old in some cases (sashes with giant, bustle-like bows, trains, floor length skirts, complex draping), but the textures and the complete lack of embellishment are current, and these designs do not read as old-fashioned in anyway to me.

 

earth friendly lipcolor

There are a number of great organic beauty ranges out now, many with respectable lip products. Here’s one I’m liking for spring, the Ilia tinted conditioner in Crimson & Clover (impossible not to hear the song in my head when I think of this, either the original or the Joan Jett rendition..I go back and forth).

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This formula has a lot of pigment for a “tinted conditioner” but it has a sheerness that makes it more casual (and friendlier to apply) than true opacity. The shade is limited edition I believe, a bright red with a hint of pink. It’s a little waxy and hard at first but improves significantly as it warms up. I didn’t find this especially conditioning but it was light and unobtrusive on the lips (I forgot I was wearing it a number of times the first run) and faded evenly. I like! Straight into the bag it goes.

Other organic brands I’ve liked for lip stuff include RMS, Bite Beauty, and Josie Maran (there are a lot more I haven’t tried yet – let me know if you have recommendations!). Korres isn’t entirely organic but is extremely eco-conscious as well, and their lip butters and mango lipsticks are great.