IT’S ALMOST LIKE THERE’S NO RECESSION

On Friday, Fashion (two) Week(s) was officially fini. S/S ’09. I missed most of it: was in Portland for the first week and work-crazed for the second, so I really only got to see the Betsey Johnson tent show, didn’t lament absenteeing the rest except for Baby Phat and the show we sponsored for Kesh, who is the raddest designer/DJ/MIA stylist ever. Get familiaroso homeys. Betsey was fun (thanks for the cupcake and pink cupcake thong, Bets) but some of it seemed uninspired, our girl recycling her own ideas which are now so ubiquitous to be rote, i.e. Pirate skull leggings. Really Bets? Really? But apart from her florals, which she always nails, three looks, I adored: a tie-dyed satin maillot with ruched sides; a semi-tie-dyed blue-green gown with satin sweetheart neckline, corset back and a skirt with millions of gathered pieces that resembled mermaid scales; and the white version of that gown which, sans dye, had the appearance of swan feathers. Otherwise the theme was crazy pirates, clowns and babies. Which was cute but also freaked me out. She played music from the “Sesame Street” OST and did her trad cartwheel at the end wearing a sequined Peter Pan outfit. She is like 50. MAD respect to that chica.
So while I was suspended in mid-week stress zone, Chioma and Erin went to Marc by Marc and came back saying they loved it and that “It was basically what you’d see in Teen Vogue.” Teen Vogue being, visually, graphically and fashion-ally, one of the three best fashion magazines in America (WORD UP TO JUSTIN KAY), obvs my interest was piqued.
I have kind of a problem with Marc Jacobs. I think he goes to cool indie/hipster spots in Brooklyn, copies what the youf are wearing, and then steals their outfits for his next season’s line but priced at like 300X what they were worth when they were worn by, say, a Cooper Union student watching Gang Gang Dance play at the Market Hotel. Actually, I know he does this. I think it is ridiculous and that, in a sense, he is an unabashed fashion carpetbagger. The only thing I truly like about his pieces is that he is unafraid to pair red with purple. I respect that. (And covet such things.) However, in his S/S 09 collection, I saw this look and immediately died:

I would wear the SHIT out of this if I had like, what, $4500 extra dollars in my non-essential slush fund. Not happening.
But seriously tho, if I had that kind of free-will clothing allowance I would be dropping it on Philip Lim’s textured and bedazzled shifts, or Rodarte’s knitting-project-gone-awry punky dresses with black bandeau bra tops beneath or, hell, a classic Herve Leger bandage dress, which I’ve been lusting after ever since the line was revived and Kerry Washington and Kim Kardashian started flaunting their banded shit on every red carpet (and uh, shitty LA mega club) like, two years ago. If you have a lot of disposable income, and have already donated money to worthy charities and have reached the capped amount of individual donations to the Obama campaign, I wear an L and prefer the classic grey shift or the gorg/glam lemony one the zzzzz-list actor Rachel Bilson is wearing in this photo. It will cost you approx $1500, which is slightly more than my rent. Spanx a million.