Dallas’ Fashion at the Park

Sorry I’ve been so conspicuously silent in the past few days. I’ve been covering Dallas’ “fashion week,” called Fashion at the Park, for the Dallas Observer‘s blog Unfair Park. While most of the collections shown are Fall 2008 (rather than the Spring/Summer 2009 collections seen at New York, London, Paris and Milan fashion weeks), Fashion at the Park still puts on quite a show.

While I have seen many of the collections online, it’s still exciting to see them in person. And of course, there’s free Champagne.

Cruise over to Unfair Park to read my posts about the Roberto Cavalli show, the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund show (got to meet the Marchesa designers, woo-hoo!)…and more to come.

Also, see my coverage on this blog of the Fashion!Dallas/Kim Dawson Model Search.

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Ebay Wish List: YSL Manifesto Tote Bag

If I had been at New York Fashion Week, I would’ve loved seeing the shows, lusting over the latest fashion and beauty items and mingling with the tall and beautiful. But what I missed most about not attending Fashion Week: the free stuff.

Early in September, I saw pics of the limited-edition YSL Manifesto tote bag on the blog Selectism. It was a giveaway in several global locations (including New York) on September 6, but unfortunately, none of those locations was Dallas (where I am). So my only recourse is Ebay where, not surprisingly, 36 of the FREE totes sold for $35-$127 since the end of Fashion Week.

It’s an interesting look at the relation of intrinsic value, branding and supply/demand. The bag itself has so little intrinsic value (an imprinted cotton tote costs about $2 to produce) that Yves St. Laurent was able to give it away for free. But the power of their brand name and the low supply, along with shoppers’ desire to have the “it” bag of the moment drives the price right through the roof. The same thing happened with Anya Hindmarch’s “I’m Not a Plastic Bag” bag; that limited-edition cotton tote sold for £5 in stores, and it still sells well on Ebay for $40-$360.

So, how much would I pay for a $2 tote that happens to have the YSL logo on it? $35? Maybe. Not $127.50, that’s for sure. For now, this item will have to stay on my wish list.

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Nail Techs, Fashion Week’s Lowest Caste

An interesting article (but a fast read) in The New York Times this morning highlighted the role of nail techs—crawling on the floor, stepped on, with hands that smell like feet—behind the scenes at Fashion Week.

Photo courtesy of nytimes.com

Fascinating is the idea that nail designers spend days mixing custom nail lacquers for designers (for instance, Twinkle‘s designer Wenlan Chia requested a polish based on a “Pantone color called Deauville Mauve”) or designing intricate, textured faux nails.

Natasha Singer, a reporter who was “embedded” with Creative Nail Design (she assures us that she wasn’t allowed to use any sharp tools), says that nails have become an important part of drawing the eye toward expensive shoes and handbags.

Read Singer’s saga at I’m Down Here, Up to My Eyes in Cuticles.

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Cheap Shoes at Fashion Week

New York magazine’s blog made a snarky crack earlier this week about an Aldo retailer who was promoting their shoes as “seen on the runway at New York Fashion Week.” The implication was, dahling, “cheap” shoes are for the unwashed masses and have nothing to do with fashion.

I guess Payless didn’t get the message, since they featured their shoes in three shows at Fashion Week, by designers Lela Rose, Abaete and Alice + Olivia. While these designers’ lines aren’t new at Payless, they certainly feature some cute shoes for not a lot of dough. Take that, New York.

The Spring ’09 collections won’t hit shelves until February, but you can read about the designers and take a look at current collections at PaylessOnTheRunway.com. Or catch a peek in the video below, featuring Gossip Girl stylist Eric Daman. [UPDATE: Embedded video stopped working, so I took it down. View the video here.]

Thanks to Fashion Indie for the video.

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