Thursday, April 19, 2007

Whiteout


The white shirt is a classic piece in any woman's wardrobe. Button-ups (or downs, depending on where you grew up) are also a staple in a starched town like DC. But so many of them leave you wanting for something a little more out there, a little unique, and a little special.


One of my most favorite places for a shirt with a little zip is Anne Fontaine. I'm also a little mad for anything French. While the woman behind the label is actually Brazilian, the style is classic French. The entire store is nothing but black and white shirts in the coolest, chicest styles imagineable.


The problem is that most of them are way beyond my staffer's budget. Even when they are on sale. Let's face it, even if I sold my soul to the Devil, they would still be out of my price range.


But I love the idea of a crisp white shirt with a little bit of a twist. Which is why I was super excited when I heard that Gap was partnering with three up-and-coming designers to do limited edition white shirts.


Seriously, I ditched work 15 minutes early yesterday to hightail it to a Gap.


Each designer; Doo.Ri, Thakoon, and Rodarte; took a basic white shirt and put three different spins on it. This sounds so much like a Project Runway challenge. The results are awesome, and quite affordable.


I tried on all of them, and, while the Thakoon ones look great on the models and the hangers, they looked ridiculous on me. The puffed sleeves were just too silly, but I could see them looking better on someone taller and more broad shouldered. The Doo.Ri shirts were very cute, much more angular, but the real winners for me were the Rodarte shirts.



I've been a fan of Rodarte for a few seasons, especially their work with big fabric rosettes. I snagged all three of their shirts, a little sleeveless trapeze top with a pleated mock turtle, a dress in a similar shape with pockets in the front, and the tank top adorned with what look like farfalle pasta bows.


All in all, I really think it's nice for Gap to jump on the designer bandwagon and put out something more interesting than a ribbed tank top, but given their history with fashion-fowardness (cough...SJP and Lenny Kravitz...ahem...no one wears their Gap jeans with Louboutins...cough) it might not fly.


So, until I actually sell my soul (know any lobbying groups hiring?) and can afford Anne Fontaine, I certainly plan on wearing my shirts...just as soon as the sun decides to ever shine again...


Also, next up from the Target Go International line...Paco Rabanne designer Patrick Robinson. I loved his revival at Perry Ellis and am eager to see what he turns out for Target.
P.S. Mom, despite the way the shirts look, I SWEAR they are not maternity clothes.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shocked you liked the Rodarte. They seriously made me look like I was wearing a tent. I think it only works for really skinny girls. I loved Thakoon's stuff. The puff sleeve shirt looked great with a tight black pencil skirt. It was a nice balance and I am thrilled about the puff dress. Note: I am a medium at the Gap (they cut big) but I was a small in most of the white collection. check it out. It actually reminded me very much of Paco Rabanne collection I saw in Paris in 2001.

Anonymous said...

Accessible fashion is the wave of the future! I nearly was late for a date last night because the Gap storefront near Dupont caught my eye. I left paw and snout prints on the glass.

Ashok Kizhepat said...

A blog directory listing on Anne Fontaine Add your blog site to the collection.

Ashok Kizhepat said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lauren said...

i was a size smaller in all three designer's dresses. . . love them though, and who doesn't love buying a size smaller than normal? ;)

caphillbarbie said...

I really do kind of love the tent dresses, even though I can hear my mother cringing right now. The shirts do run very large, I actually found that some of the extra-smalls were even too big for me (but I'm kind of shrimpy). I wore my bowtie pasta shirt last night to rave reviews...

bonnie lass said...

What are your feelings/expectations on the new Very Vera by Vera Wang coming to Kohl's this fall?

Distar said...

Did you see Katie Holmes wearing the Rodarte trapeze top?

Parisjasmal said...

Love the first top! I am a bit of a whore for a crisp white pretty top!

Great post!