Rebecca Taylor, I love you. I love you for your cute blonde hair and your New Zealand-ness, and I also love you for the fact that you design clothing that, straight off the catwalk, is utterly wearable.
It's normal to see a runway show and to immediately check off two or three things that (in a parallel universe where money grows on trees) you might want/need/know you'll never actually, buy but hey, can't a girl have a little imagination? What is not normal is to be able to look at every outfit (almost 40 of them!) and instantaneously picture yourself wearing it to [insert any and every situation here]. A testament to this, seen backstage and front row of Rebecca Taylor's show were Carmen Electra and Emmy Rossum, two diametrically opposed actresses in every sense of the term. And both of them looked like kids in a candy store.
Rebecca Taylor's Spring 2008 collection was everything a women's spring collection should be: flirty, romantic, colorful, and most importantly, real. Pencil skirts were matched with feminine blouses in satiny silks and chiffons. Fitted cardigans were tied around shoulders, while simple tanks and tees were worn underneath strappy dresses. The fact that I personally wouldn't be caught dead in a high-waisted, calf-length pencil skirt? Irrelevant. That's why fashion is aspirational, and you know what else? Thank you, Rebecca, for designing a collection that highlights the curves and assets of the female body, even if some of us (ok, me) spend most of the time finding ways to hide them. Before you start to panic, in Taylor's own words, "It's all very easy - even though the dresses have waists, they're all elastic!" The woman knows what she's doing; after wearing nothing but baby-doll cuts for the last few seasons, I'm pretty sure all us ladies are getting tummy aches at the thought of tightly cinched waists.
Taylor also paid some serious attention to color: She paired candy reds and cobalt blue with muted hues like (trend alert!) grey and cream. The models all wore the most delicious looking lipstick (note to self: find it), and the shoes were a party in and of themselves, described by Taylor as "just really great, high, sexy shoes". (Yeah, "just really great, high, sexy shoes" in watermelon pink and teal patent leather! Love!) Also, no plain old brown leather belts here, these belts were living up to their "accessory" name, adding just one last pop of red, blue, or pink to an already fabulous line-up.
Overall, the collection was equal parts summery city girl and sexy librarian, with peek-a-boo backs and absolutely fabulous sunglasses (Persol, if you're wondering) adding just that little extra flirt and mystique. My favorite dress? A creamy satin number with a red sequined petals adorning the top, but you never know, come next May, you may just see me in a fabulous sparkly purple pencil skirt, and yes, I'll be wearing it to walk my dog.