fashion low down

Click here to view the embedded video.

Even though the trailer is for a women’s fragrance, we will feature it here, mainly because it has been produced by comic book legend Frank Miller. The trailer for Gucci Guilty already looks promising and the full clip will be shown during the MTV Video Music Awards on September 12th. The campaign website can be seen here.

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Post tags: Film, frank miller, gucci, videos

Bloomin’ Brilliant: StyleCaster debuts its high-texture, floral-centric editorial shoot, photographed by Frances Tulk-Hart. We’re dreaming of layers now…and just in time for a bit of a cold front. {StyleCaster}

Devious Designers: In a bizarre display of cunning, top-name fashion houses are sending free designer bags to Jersey Shore’s Snooki. But here’s the catch– they’re sending her the bags of competing designers. Why? Well, you try carrying around a Gucci purse after it’s become Snooki’s signature item and tell us how many compliments you get. {The New York Observer}

Tyra On Teeny: Tyra Banks responded to the “misconstrued” Top Model teaser trailer, in which ANTM judges swooned over a prospective contestant’s teeny waistline, in exactly the way we’d expect her to– by complaining that she couldn’t possibly oversee every aspect of the show’s publicity material, and by managing to sound like the victim in a society of waistline-worshiping media. Um, honey, you’re the host of a modeling reality show. You can only be so blameless. {The Huffington Post}

Puffin Gets Pretty: Print- and pattern-master Orla Kiely will be designing a cover for Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women for Puffin’s 70th anniversary classics edition. Maybe it’s time to put down our Kindles and re-kindle our love of the hardcover. {Vogue UK}

High Class: The Unviersity of Monaco is now offering a Masters Degree in Luxury. The university has teamed up with Gucci and Ralph Lauren, among others, to bring you only the most prestigious education. We kid you not. {Racked}

Beagles Vs. Bedbugs: Bergdorf Goodman has announced its plan to use bedbug-sniffing beagles to keep the store from going the way of so many other chains. Ehem, we’re looking at you, Hollister, Victoria’s Secret, and Abercrombie. {The Cut}

All Dolled Up: Racked introduces its new transgender blogger, Doll. {Racked National}

DVF Plays Doctor: We know, we know– the worst part of going to the doctor is taking off your perfectly-styled outfit and dressing yourself in an elephantine, abrasive clinical gown. Well, looks like the tide is turning– DVF has designed new gowns for the Cleveland Clinic. Coming soon to an office near you, we hope…? {DVF via Twitter}

On The Lam: Want a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Derek Lam’s new print campaign? Then we’ve got the video for you. {Derek Lam}

A new mid cut boat shoe has released from Italian luxury brand Gucci. They present a premium brown suede shoe with orange accents, hexagonal eyelets and the trademark red/green tag. Now available from Concepts.

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Post tags: gucci, Shoes

As I continue to read the endless Twitter details of all my friends’ summer vacations (and then see the inescapable pictures on Facebook afterward), I can’t help but turn my attentions to travel. I still make due with the same black Samsonsite suitcase that accompanied me on my first jaunts to New York City, Boston and Chicago as a teenager, but surely there are more interesting (and expensive) options out there for a traveler who wants the best suitcase on the luggage carousel.

With that curiosity in mind, we’ve picked some options for your perusal from Louis Vuitton to Bottega Veneta, spanning a price range from $500 to $50,000 (yes, that’s the correct number of zeros) for a suitcase. Let us know which one you like best and what your current luggage of choice in the comments.

The Louis Vuitton Pégase 55 is probably one of the more well-known luxury suitcases on today’s market, and Vuitton is one of the first brands that customers think of when designer luggage is mentioned. Many people opt for the less expensive monogram canvas, but that has always struck me as a sure way to get your luggage snatched at the airport. The more discreet Epi leather version would be my personal choice. Buy through Vuitton.com for $3230.

Whether you love or hate Prada nylon, you have to admit that the material is a fairly sensible travel choice. The Prada Nylon Wheel-Away Trolley Case is probably too expensive when compared to most nylon (or leather) luggage, but if you want the logo and have the extra cash, Prada is more than willing to provide it. Buy through Neiman Marcus for $2035.

The Tumi Medium Trip Packing Case maybe not be a “designer” suitcase in the same way that the others on this list are, but I think that the brand and this type of luggage are worthy of a mention. On my first-ever plane ride when I was a kid, I remember seeing a guy with a briefcase made out of this material and thinking that it was the coolest and most awesome thing I had every seen. The material makes the suitcase look like it contains nuclear secrets, even if the only thing inside is your sweatpants. Buy through Saks for $495.

For a logo-covered suitcase, the Gucci GG Coated Fabric Trolley is probably as discreet as it gets. Still, I imagine that the same thing would happen to this case as certainly befalls loads of Louis Vuitton luggage every year: mysterious disappearance during baggage handling. Buy through Saks for $2350.

If you’ve ever needed something to justify the cost of a Vuitton leather suitcase, we’ve got just the thing: the Valextra Small Trolley Case. This suitcase, which is small enough to use as a carry-on, will set you back over seven grand. For that, you could have two of the Vuitton Epi suitcases at the top of this list, plus enough left over to buy a handbag. Buy through Barneys for $7450.

And now for something to make the Valextra suitcase seem reasonable: the Bottega Veneta Nero Soft Alligator Suitcase will set you back as much as a new BMW, but your manservant sure will look sharp while carrying it to your private plane. Buy through Bottega Veneta for $53,500.

The fedora and its smaller-brimmed siblings, the pork pie and trilby, really must die. This trend has reached its saturation point.

Much like the Ray-Ban Wayfarer, one can argue that the fedora is a classic item that will never really disappear. This may be true…to an extent.

The fedora first came into fashion in the 1880s as an accessory for women. Then it fell out of favor with the girls, and men co-opted it in the 1920s. The fedora had a long run of popularity, eventually fizzling out as a common menswear item in the early 1960s.

However, it has reared its jaunty head frequently in popular culture since then. The Blues Brothers. Indiana Jones. Annie Hall. Freddie Krueger? Yes, icons all. But no one really wore the hats in real life. They felt costumey.

Then the mushy straw version of the fedora started appearing on slouchy hipster guys and Brad Pitt. In a textbook case of runway following the street, we started to see designers styling with fedoras.

They figured prominently in the SS 2009 shows at Gucci and Emanuel Ungaro. The trend really exploded on the runway during the SS 2010 shows, in both women’s and men’s ready-to-wear. Rochas, Vivienne Westwood, and countless menswear designers showed them.

When I first started seeing people wearing them, particularly women, I was blown away. They looked modern, über-stylish, and downright rakish. The kind of look where I would say to myself, “Damn, I wish I could pull that off.”

But now that every starlet and random person on the street is wearing one–usually ill-fitting or horribly styled–I’m losing patience. The look is tired. I think the final nail in the coffin was seeing a rack of them at my local supermarket.

Perhaps this is just sour grapes because I look horrible in hats, but I would be happy if another 50 years went by before the fedora became popular again.