Judging the Judges: Diane von Furstenberg Fall 2008 Collection

Wednesday, February 13, 2008 by
The fabulous Diane von Furstenberg took a stylish stroll through the forties last week in a femme fatale/spy-themed show called "Foreign Affair." Forties floozies met up with Dietrich-inspired androgyny and Veronica Lake - level glamour as the show took its inspiration from the three cities of Berlin, Shanghai, and Manhattan.

From working girl skirts paired with belted cardigans to slinky floral sheaths with mandarin collars and leather gloves to party girl cocktail dresses, this collection was strong, colorful and as always with DVF, very feminine. We love.

































Watch the show here:



[Photos: GettyImages - Video: MBFWNewYork]

55 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good morning, glories!

Indeed, beautiful. A study of these photos is a lesson in "point of view," "cohesion," and "a story."

All the best,

NDC

Ms Sangrail said...

OMG. I love, too. Genius!

mjude said...

beautiful!

Anonymous said...

I would wear every single piece in this collection. If only I were rich....

I love the color choices, and the inspiration. Having lived in Berlin, I see the city in this collection.

kath said...

I would wear almost every piece in this collection. Gorgeous!

GothamTomato said...

Hello Gorgeous!

She never hits a wrong note. Plus, she's given me a new goal for how I'd like to go through life: With a guy walking behind me, applauding.

I'll have to work on that.

--GothamTomato

Anonymous said...

Wow!!

Anonymous said...

I love it, I can see the three cities' influence in her collection.

Anonymous said...

DVF is a true fashion diva.

DolceLorenzo said...

LOVE. HER. This woman has been around forever and always designing beautiful, feminine clothes.

Anonymous said...

Oh dear. Perhaps I'm the only one, but I wasn't feeling that at all. I saw a couple that I liked (the purple outfit stands out in my mind), but mostly I thought the looks were kind of sloppy. I really don't like the look of a dress with a jacket over it and belted right under the boobs. The ones with a sweater loosely worn looked especially bad. Oh well. We can't like them all, I guess.

Anonymous said...

That black and white striped gown is more stunning and more genius every time I look at it.

Hutchlover said...

anonymous said:

That black and white striped gown is more stunning and more genius every time I look at it.

I agree. Again, like MK's, this is how a collection's done.

More & more, even though he'll probably win, Christian's is looking far too unrealistic.

Bill said...

Very pretty. Well done. But I'd lose the hats and gloves.

Gwen said...

Vindaloo: I agree with you that the bagginess of the dresses isn't very flattering.

I also agree that the black/white dress is gorgeous.

Jenn said...

Simply GORGE, I live for the day I can afford to stock my wardrobe with DVF's fabulous creations!

katiecoo said...

Guess I'm w/ the minority here who is sort of *meh* on this collection. Some of the pieces I love, but I don't find those jackets flattering at all, even on the skinny models.

Judy said...

DVF has been one of my favorite designers for longer than I care to admit. There are so many gorgeous pieces in this collection.

As much as I love the over all collection, I have to agree with Vindaloo about the belted jackets and sweaters. "Real women"....ones with breasts....would not look so great in many of those looks. It will be interesting to see how they translate.

I love the full pants, and the fit of many of the dresses. The long Black and white dress has the "voodoo" that Ms. Kors and Heidi talked about in the denim challenge.

Unknown said...

Liking some pieces a lot, but not the whole thing. I completely love the shape of the long black-white optical print--it's just gorgeous--but I think the print would flatter few and get old fast.

Mom said...

At first glance, loved. But then on second glance, the thin-belt motif got to be a bit much. I do love the "real waistline" silhouette, but did some of those evening dresses really need thin leather belts? I find it interesting, too, that she styles many of the models to look quite mature. Not saying I don't like it, but it's an interesting contrast to many other shows.

Anonymous said...

Hooray the 40s! Best women's-fashion decade ever.

Thank you, Diane, for bringing back style with wearability! A wonderful look for the 21st century. Beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous! All of it.

DVF is the Queen. Bow down in her presence.

Anonymous said...

OMG. Love. Check out the hairstyles!

Kira said...

It's too bad that a)the fabrics combos were chosen by a color blind student and b)the shoes didn't fit the models.

The outfit consisting of a purple shirt, teal vest, painterly skirt, brown gloves, and red shoes is a hot mess.

Um, I liked her silhouettes, but I'm really disappointed in the execution of this collection.

The hair? This could have been filmed in Texas ...

Lilithcat said...

I like the evening wear much better than the day wear, though that may be in part because I find that "open sweater with a narrow belt" look very unattractive.

PhantomMinuet said...

I love the gowns and the dresses, but the combination of pieces on her dayware isn't very appealing. There's not cohesion. It looks like she closed her eyes, reached out for the rack, and layered whatever she touched first.

Anonymous said...

Loved a lot of the pieces, but I have to agree with those who questioned some of the layering. The relative weight of some of the dresses - light, paired with some of the sweaters and jackets - heavy and loose, looked a little incongruous and would not work for a shorter woman. Since I have extensive experience at being shorter than the models, I would have to scale the look down significantly. I would, however, love to own some of those dresses and trousers.

I do have to ask - did the model in the second shot forget to put on the dress before hitting the runway? Because that little blue number looks like a slip to me!

Anonymous said...

What's on PR tonight? Rerun, reunion show, new episode, what?

Anonymous said...

That long black and white print dress is indeed drool-worthy...and I love the way the top is made.

However, the gloves on this model (and several others) look like they're gearing up to handle uranium.

veruca salt said...

Love the evening wear and the cocktail wear. As others have commented, that black geometric gown is to die for.

Otherwise, I am just *eh* about it. For us curvy types, a skinny belt over a coat of any material just bulks up the waistline and adds an instant 10 (20, 30?) pounds. I think Kors, not surprisingly, was more "wearable."

Anonymous said...

love the collection - but what's with the orthopedic shoes? even on some of the formal/evening-wear many of the models are wearing these heavy criss-cross sandals that remind me of what tourists and old ladies wear to the mall.

that said, the clothes are gorgeous. i particularly like the long black and white swirly striped dress (particularly the neckline) and the long black & white floral with the mandarin neckline.

Anonymous said...

Oh, Bill, women aren't really going to wear the hats and gloves. To my great sorrow.

Crow Winters said...

Eh. I really, really like DVF but I don't like this. Looks like costumes for a 40s era film. I guess tired film actresses that wants to relive their youth through their clothes would buy it.

Unknown said...

"She never hits a wrong note. Plus, she's given me a new goal for how I'd like to go through life: With a guy walking behind me, applauding. "

Glad I wasn't the only to think that. It has to be a fairly well-dressed man too, and with an expression somewhere between thrilled adoration and smugness.

Crow Winters said...

Er, "want". Grammer and I don't get along until about 2pm.

Crow Winters said...

.... grammar.

Coffee!

Kanani said...

I always enjoy her collection. I have a few pieces of hers, and love wearing them.
Not crazy about the constant use of the little black / brown belt. Some of the hats and gloves seem plopped on as well.

Anonymous said...

Mostly beautiful, yes. But then there's that walk of shame outfit of confusion. Blue slip that the model might have picked up at a thrift store bargain bin, a frumpy gray sweater made even more ridiculous by a skinny brown belt, and to top it off, she is given a black beret, which kind of reminds me of a sad cherry sitting on a melted sundae. And what's up with the gray gloves? The whole outfit is reminiscent of Pat Field's frequent SJP Sex & the City hodge podge disasters.

Daxx said...

Loved number 5. The 40's inspiration looks good on so many types of women.

Anonymous said...

I think the cute young man walking behind DvF is the designer. Read interesting New Yorker article a few months ago and can't remember his name. Diane's really more of a creative director, at this point.

-- desertwind

PS - Blogger changed again. No more "nickname" slot?

Lilithcat said...

madam ovary said, "Oh, Bill, women aren't really going to wear the hats and gloves. To my great sorrow."

This woman would. (Well, not those specific hats, because my face requires brims, but definitely hats and gloves.

--Lilithcat, sometimes known to her friends as "the accessory queen"

Anonymous said...

Completely random question - how does one track down the music mix for the fashion show? I ADORED the entire music mix with the 30's-40's vibe with the kind of wink to more current music. (The remake of "SexyBack" was especially fun.)

Anyone know how to get this? I want to play this track over and over and over and have it's adorable little swing babies. It's just fanf*ckingtabulous.

TLo said...

Anonymous said...
-- desertwind

PS - Blogger changed again. No more "nickname" slot?


Just choose "Name/URL" and type whatever name/nickname you want.

XO
T&L

Gorgeous Things said...

Oh, I just LOVE the black and white graphic dress. I also like the belted long sweaters. Comfortable and stylish.

Anonymous said...

Must. Have. Black and white print. Must. Must.

Laura said...

Pretty! Want.

Anonymous said...

Now those are clothes that I would actually spend my money on (if I had enough to afford them!) :-)

L. said...

These are so stunning... I absolutely love the entire 40s vibe. I need to be rich. Now. Alas.

Joanie said...

I love this collection more every time I see it.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous collection! It makes me want to dress better :)

Anonymous said...

It would have been great if Ms. son Furstenberg would have been the finals judge......

Anonymous said...

Oh, man.

In my next life, I'd like to come back as the sort of woman who wears Diane von Furstenberg every. damn. day.

Yeah, I suppose I should really hope to come back as a more spiritual, less possession-driven person. Strive for a higher level of enlightenment and all. But deep down I just don't think I'm ready to ascend yet. So I hold out hope for the first option.

(I guess I also have to hope that Diane von Furstenberg comes back as Diane von Furstenberg, and that she continues to design stuff like this for the new me. I'm going to have to work out the details a bit more.)

Anonymous said...

Despite being stricken with insatiable wanderlust, I don't have the fortune to know a lot about Berlin, but judging from some of those gloves, it must be the metalworks capital of western Europe.

eric3000 said...

Ooh, I love this collection!

Red Seven said...

Beautiful clothes, but why pair all of those glorious '40s garments with all that poofy '80s hair?