Fashion
Paris Fashion Week Spring 2014's 17 Most Glamorous Moments
Let's have a moment of silence: Fashion Month is officially over. It went out with a Parisian bang, not a whimper, as the biggest names in the industry showed off collection after jaw-droppingly gorgeous collections. Chanel. Valentino. Louis Vuitton. Alexander McQueen. Sure, the front rows were clogged with celebrities, and the street style was as fantastic as ever, but now that the dust has settled, we can really appreciate the clothes.
Acne
The simplest articles of clothing often look the coolest when they're oversized and a bit slouchy. And that massive belt buckle — might we call it "swaggy"?
Image: @lenagurrath via Instagram
Alexander McQueen
Though Sarah Burton's show for Alexander McQueen harkened back to the harshness and darkness of the troubled designer's earlier pieces, a patriotic checkerboard pattern made this dress seem playful... almost. On closer inspection, the intricately placed straps seem restrictive and scary — especially the extra-thick one around the neck.
Image: @ja_fashion via Instagram
Ann Demeulemeester
Who needs contrast, when layers of the same bright red brocade look so striking together? This combination of leggings, a mini-dress, and a train looks weirdly out-of-time, impossible to pin down — is this a runway version of Anne Boleyn? Lady Gaga? We couldn't tell you.
Image: @love_hats via Twitter
Balmain
Balmain's collection called to mind a cult of high-society punks who don't let gold chokers and thousand-dollar pantsuits get in the way of their antiestablishment attitude. This suit is urban and athletic, but wear it to Capitol Hill and you'd shut down the government. (Too soon?)
Céline
While every other designer has showcased a transparent skirt, Céline is the one who finally shows us how to wear it in real life. Just add the coziest, most massive sweater you can find.
Image: @rasnabhasin via Twitter
Chanel
Picking the best look of the Chanel show is a Herculean feat, so we're going with this one — it may not be the most groundbreaking, but it's perfect in its simplicity, and makes even the Crayola eye makeup seem high-society chic.
Chloé
Every look of the Chloé collection was infinitely wearable and fresh, but whoever snags this crisp dream of a lace number for her summer 2014 wedding is officially our new nemesis/best friend.
Givenchy
Riccardo Tisci taught us all a very important lesson during the darkly beautiful Givenchy show: You don't need heels, or a real face, to make a glamorous entrance.
Isabel Marant
We weren't really feeling the '90s lingerie-inspired fluff at the Isabel Marant show, but thankfully some of the simpler numbers dripped with that effortless Parisian cool we've come to expect from her. Those shoes!
Image: @elitefrance via Twitter
Jean Paul Gaultier
This collection was inspired by Dancing With the Stars — yeah, seriously — and the show's corniness translated into the clothes, which tended to be tight, leather, and vaguely tacky. But this look, complete with disco hair, manages to be campy and high fashion at the same time.
Lanvin
The Lanvin show shone, literally, and the prevalence of androgynous cuts and masculine styling made shine-on-shine feel so very new.
Louis Vuitton
Well, feathered headdresses are officially a thing. Marc Jacobs spared no expense during his (surprise!) last show for Louis Vuitton, confirming our secret belief that the weirder, darker, and witchier the ballgown, the better.
Miu Miu
We could play dress-up in Miu Miu for days. The Spring 2014 collection was manic pixie dream girl meets Woodstock attendee (complete with '70s sunglasses and lace-up leather boots). There were enough chunky tights and high-heeled Mary Janes to keep us skipping all the way to the imaginary first day of school, and the combination of buttery yellow with just about every other color on the '70s eyeshadow wheel made us very, very happy.
Image: @joysworld72 via Instagram
Nina Ricci
The Nina Ricci show was perfection, dressed in the gentlest shades of cream, gray, and barely-there florals. The ultra-feminine clothes were actually inspired by 18th century men's fashion, a time when men were also sartorial romantics. A crisp white shirt — the ultimate androgynous piece — was re-imagined again and again.
Rochas
There was something deliciously dress-up about the Rochas collection, with all the oversized ruffles, models drowning in shiny opera coats, and those ridiculously amazing feathered shoes. The sparkle, shine, and huge swathes of fabric showed off the wild side of girliness, and made us long for the costume trunks of our youth.
Image: @eliteparis via Twitter
Stella McCartney
This nude suit is both incredibly simple and full of off-the-grid details, like the cropped top, the shortened legs, and the wide V neckline; but more than that, it's a reminder that fit is everything.
Valentino
If you're a fan of embroidery, the Valentino homage to Italia and Roman opera may just stop your heart. Designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli (side note: have two such Italian names ever existed before?) paired conservative nun-like gowns with lavish embellishment, full skirts, and transparent fabric so subtle that the shine of skin through fabric could have been mistaken, at first, for another pattern.