[ed.note: (and by ed., I mean, L-A) We didn’t forget that Monday happened. It was a completely random holiday in Nova Scotia. Natal Day…which I believe has to do with the city’s birthday. I didn’t bother to get festive and go see the parade that was happening only meters from my house, but I did take the day off & I’m pretty sure Ally was out of town for the long weekend. Other places in Canada had the awesomely named Civic Holiday. My Domo calendar told me it was also a bank holiday in the UK & Picnic Day in parts of Australia. So if you were looking for a Monday post and were thinking, “what up bitches? where’s the blog?”, well, random holiday is your answer.]
L-A: So, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but we’re kind of wary (often revolted) by celebs trying to sashay their way into the world of fashion design. I know Ally will swear up and down on a stack of Vogues that Nicole Ritchie’s line is the shiznit, but I’m not convinced. These are girls with (usually) no formal training in design (or hells, even informal training. At least Chloe Sevigny interned at Sassy), access to stylists (which is why they are well dressed in deisgner duds to begin with). Just because you can dress yourself doesn’t mean you can design anything worth wearing.
In fact, I usually look at celeb designers in the same way that I look at celebrity endorsed perfumes. While celeb perfumes are a rant for another day, I will tell you that I am rarely a fan and would use the words “money grubbing” “famewhoring” and “smells like cheap designer imposter” when talking about it. I also have some amount of disdain for people putting their names on clothing lines that they themselves would never wear in a million years. (Ahem, I’m looking at you Miley Cyrus for Middle American Walmart shoppers)
Moving along and getting on topic, when I heard that the Spice Formerly Known as Posh was designing clothing, I was at best, skeptical. But then, I took a second look while reading about it on net-a-porter:
Apparently her first collection sold out. And while there are folks who would buy a hefty bag dress if you put a designer label on it, I did start to wonder. Could Victoria Beckham actually be…good at this?
I’m inclined to think she just might be. Check out these numbers:
Lovely! Although, it’s got a full giant zipper up the back that I’m not so much a fan of. Regardless, it’s got a great shape.
That one is just effing stunning and has an air of Old Hollywood about it. I’m not kidding. I can totally see that sucker on Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story (good movie. go rent it):
See what I’m talking about? (an aside: am I the only one with a total crush on Jimmy Stewart? Dude was kind of hot in a nerdy way that would kick Michael Cera’s status as King of the Cute Nerds in the ass). I never, not in a million years, thought I’d be using the words “Old Hollywood” and Victoria Beckham in the same sentence. (girl hasn’t always been known for bringing the classy. Just saying). But there you have it. I not only love the dress, but I want to see it on some of the classiest broads to have graced the silver screen. I’m not the only one surprised. Even Style.com writes “Quite possibly the only person who hasn’t been surprised by the success of Victoria Beckham’s new dress line is the celebrity designer herself”.
You know what else I like about her designs? That the bitch actually wears her own stuff and not in a Heidi Montag kind of way. Check it out:
On model and then on Vicky herself at an Oscars party. Now let’s see her daytime look:
Again, on the doe-eyed model (kids, that model – Lisa Porter – has doe eyes that creep the bejeezus out of me and would give Twiggy a run for her money) and on Posh doing whatever it is Posh is doing there. Lunching? Entertaining scientologists? Being fabulous? All of the above? Doesn’t really matter, but she’s wearing her own design and it looks good.
She says she’s going for a timeless look and as much as I hate to admit it, I think she’s acheiving it. Hells, I’d drop $3100 on that dress (it’s cashmere, if you needed some extra incentive) if I didn’t think the little fluttery peplum detail (I just learned that word today!) on the hip wouldn’t cause my hips to look even bigger. I’d definitely maim someone to get my hands on that shorter black number (zipper be damned! I can skip rent payments for two months) or that killer red dress.
AllyG: Ok, Ok…I can get down with this. Although since you knocked my BFF Nicole’s accessories line. I have to bring up the very sensitive topic of…Vicki Beckham’s jeans line, dVb jeans. It did not do well. How do I know? Cause Perez Hilton told me. In February of ‘09, La Becks was dropped by Saks. ‘magine the mortification? Perez writes:
After being dropped by Henri Bendel and Kitson for poor sales, Saks is will not be re-stocking their shelves with Vicky B’s dVb denim collection.
Besides the fact that “Nobody wanted to buy $300 jeans from someone who is not a trained designer,” a source says that “they [Saks] were offended when she sold her dress line to Bergdorf’s and not to Saks, even though Saks launched her denim line in their 
store.”
Now the same sources say that her dress line (shown above) is likely to be more popular. However, they sort of give her a Mean Girls type compliment.
Her dress collection, however, is expected to sell better, not because it has her name on it but because “everyone loves Roland Mouret designs, and hers look just like his.”
Do they? Let’s see.
Well, there is definite similarities, but Posh is a big-time fan of Mouret’s and often wears his designs. Like below.
Now that is a fabulous dress. Love the colour. Love the structure. I would even call that an “over 30″ dress.
Rumour has it (that was such a crap movie, eh? I watched it three times) that Mouret provided La Becks with a great deal of assistance when she launched her dress line. Another one of my fave sites, fabsugar.com, dishes some juicy gossip:
“An insider states: “It’s been a bit of a joke as to how much Roland has been involved. The similarities between the dresses are undeniable.” Meanwhile, Beckham’s representatives insist that Mouret “had absolutely nothing to do with the creative process.”
My personal opinion is that everyone has certain outlets for inspiration. Clearly, Mouret does it for Posh. If he isn’t up in her grill about it, why should I be? OH RIGHT, BECAUSE L-A HAD THE AUDACITY TO CALL OUT NICOLE’S EXCEPTIONAL DESIGN TALENT.
Apparently her headbands are good enough for…what, who’s that? Oh yes, MADONNA.
I would wear anything she made. Anything. That’s how much I believe in Nicole.
L-A: I’m totally okay if Posh received serious help from Roland Mouret. Explains why I’m not horrified by her designs. Celebrities do not necessarily have the chops to become designers. I stand by this. If a good designer wants to ghost design a line for them, then I can deal so long as the line looks good. Because otherwise you get rumours of this young lady becoming a consultant for Ungaro:
Seriously? I love to see Lindsay trying to straighten her life out and get some actual work, but I don’t blame Estaban Cortazar one bit for jumping the Ungaro ship when news of Lindsay being involved surfaces.
And I’m also not convinced with Nicole’s jewelry line. Looks okay, but she probably had a designer do all of that for her and she signed off. Unless Nicole is way smarter than she looks or acts on TV, I have trouble believing it’s all her. Just the same as Mouret was heavy into the Posh designs (Either way, I still want some of those dresses). Also, as much as I adore Madonna, her style choices these days can be on the questionable side these days.
AllyG: In fairness to Lilo, I think she did at least design her leggings on her own…that explains the hideous result. What I like about Nicole’s jewellery line is that it stays true to her style. She seems to have learned a lot from the people around her (stylists, designer friends, etc.).
I think you are caught up with the “old Nicole” the Nicole who paraded around with Paris Hilton on The Simple Life (a show I enjoyed!). She’s done a lot to turn her life around since then (most importantly, dumping Paris as her BFF) and has taken a strong interest in fashion and design. While I agree that the majority of celebs should not be wading in these waters, I do think there are exceptions to the rule, a la Mary Kate and Ashley and Nicole. When you are lucky enough to be surrounded by exceptionally talented designers, you can either take advantage of the free swag, or take advantage of the situation by sucking these people dry of all the knowledge they have. I truly believe that Nicole designed these items in large part on her own – she for sure had advisors, but she’s heavily invested in the line, something you don’t usually see if someone phones it in (Right, Miley?).
