the hooded parka

Surely winter could not come and go without at least the consideration of a new coat. Surely.

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And wouldn’t you know it, I found one! An olive green parka with a fur lined hood, like I’ve been hoping to find for ages. Ages I tell you. Cotton, not down, but still quite heavy and warm, and not $600. Not inexpensive, either, but that’s a coat for you.

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It’s getting to be that time where the fashion element of the site consists of various outerwear and protective gear. I do love coats, but still. It’s going to be a lot of coats. A lot of a few coats. One does want to look just as stylish with or without a coat, true. I’ll be mostly wearing thermal shirts and sweaters underneath them so will probably look a good deal more put together with the coat on, but one does long for the days of bare arms and wearing whatever one wants.

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Two scarves!

Zara parka, Express Jeans, Jeffrey Campbell France Strapped boots (I do like olive and rust together). On the lips: MAC lipstick in Hang Up, a deep raspberry bordeaux, which liking very much. I need to do another bordeaux lip round up, I think. Have found several I like since the first one.

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I can’t get enough of dramatic hoods and collars, and dramatic necklines in general. Fur is an easy way to achieve this kind of massive sculptural volume around the shoulders and/or throat, and I’m always lamenting that some of the old school strategies have gone out of style, i.e. ruffs and vertiginously high collars. A generous hood can be such a pleasing frame for the head and shoulders when down (think the massively hooded cloaks the women are wearing throughout the Danish film Babette’s Feast – excellent film btw), it’s almost a shame to put it up. Then, though, up it is a completely different kind of pleasing frame.

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we like: Versace Fall 2014 RTW

The Fall 2014 Ready-to-Wear collection from Versace features micro dresses—that mod, 60’s length—asymmetrical hems, boxy coats, playful (or playlike, or toylike) military buttons, and a restrained color palette of mainly red, black, and a deep, saturated teal. I am often on board with superfluous buttons, but the real beauties of this collection are the bias cut dresses, a new thing for Versace, and the absolutely stunning boots. Leave it to an Italian designer to present badass thigh-high boots for daywear.

The bias is the 45 degree angle across the grid of a woven fabric, in which direction the fabric has greater flexibility and stretch. Fabrics cut in this direction, bias cut, are known for draping beautifully and hugging the body in a way that is fluid and seamless (or seemingly seamless, compared to the complex tailoring/seaming of a fitted dress cut straight), at least in luxury fabrics like silk and satin. They are usually easy to spot as the fabric of the garment and the internal seams necessary to piece together a sufficiently large swathe of fabric are at that 45 degree angle from the major seams. Galliano, for example, especially in his work at Dior, is known for his bias cut dresses.

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So these boots above are handsome, yes, chic and witchy, but I was talking about these boots.

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Ugh! Beautifully done, Donatella. The sleek silhouette is given a bohemian softness by the elaborate cut-outs and suede finish.

These ones not bad, either. These, still more baroque in their embellishment, seem to me even more blatantly Italian.

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images via style.com, click through to the slideshow to see the whole collection