Signature9 – Signature9

The Gardens of the Far East with Tadashi Shoji

Nicole Hulley — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 19:23:46 +0000

Tadashi Shoji said he wanted the girls to look angelic, like they’re going to take flight. Take flight they did in his Fall/Winter 2011 presentation at New York’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. The show was a stunning spectacle to say the least.

Known for his feminine silhouettes and clean lines that often grace red carpets (Julie Bowen’s nude dress at the Golden Globes was a favorite), Shoji wowed the crowd with his elegant collection inspired by the gardens of the far east. Drawing inspiration from the beauty of nature, â€œthe art of birds dancing, branches intertwining, rock formation and light reflecting in water”, Shoji brings the stage to life, evoking a sense of serenity and purity.

The presentation began on a soft and demure note, showing one-shouldered draped cocktail dresses, incredibly classy feathered skirts, feather-accented shoulders and collarbones and feather-like lace tiers that continued the aviary theme. Each piece was made with a simplicity that compliments the female form.

The colors were absolutely gorgeous ranging from muted neutrals and earth tones like black, cream, gray and olive then progressing into evening wear. Exuberant jewel-toned, long floor-lenghth gowns graced the runway. Bursts of yellow, deep purple, magenta, navy and rich shades of floral and emerald green glided in formation.

Even with bolder jewel tones that would be at home on a parrot the entire line exuded a tranquil and peaceful aesthetic through fabrics like silk crepe, silk organza and chiffon mixed with delicate lace. The material created beautiful movement throughout the collection. Intricate rouching, draping, feathers, rosettes and floral appliques added a touch of elegance.

Overall the collection was very visually appealing and well-rounded, offering every type of dress from lace to strapless, to asymmetrical and flowing. The palates and accents were incredible and each piece appeared to be worn effortlessly, mirroring the collection’s overall ease of wear. We were really impressed with Shoji’s ability to seize the runway with such captivating colors, fabrics and fit. The attention to female form in such a vibrant and sophisticated way, while maintaining a fun and youthful energy, is what stands out most in his work. This collection is one that will please everyone from fashion editors and celebrities to the every day consumer.

Christopher Bailey and Burberry Are Still Too Fashion Forward for Critics

Samantha Bennett — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 21:31:53 +0000

Last runway season, Christopher Bailey received poor feedback from most critics for his Burberry Spring 2011 show. Editors complained that Baileyâ€s collection looked too cheap, too passÃ©, too biker and too much like it was created with technology and the Internet in mind. They said the clothes looked like they were purposely seasonless and unimaginative, just so they could be sold immediately online.

A few months ago, we defended Baileyâ€s collection (after all, at least he made an attempt to take advantage of modern technology and business practices), but for his Fall 2011 Burberry Prorsum show, which took place this week in London, we thought there would be no need for Signature9 to come to Baileyâ€s defense. The clothes he turned out are overtly fall (Cathy Horyn at The New York Times dinged Bailey for ignoring spring influences in favor of clothes that could be worn right away last season), colorful, 60s-inspired and overall quite charming (love the cow print!). It seems, though, that many fashion critics are still unimpressed by Burberry and still complaining that Baileyâ€s embrace of technology has left his creativity in the dust.

Booth Moore at the Los Angeles Times said the show was â€œcuteâ€ and that â€œBailey was right to keep the focus on outerwear,â€ but criticized Baileyâ€s clothes for being too far from the seasonless looks shoppers crave these days, which is funny considering Bailey was criticized last season precisely for being seasonless.

Suzy Menkes at The New York Times said Burberry was thinking too big, writing that â€œwhat [Burberry] gained in bombast, the once-quirky line lost in charm, cheek and irony that the designer Christopher Bailey has previously brought to the Burberry Prorsum brand.â€ She also said, â€œBurberry has to be careful that its brilliant and forward-looking embrace of the Internet does not leave too much behind â€” especially that ironic take on tradition, the British countryside and the brand heritage that Mr. Bailey can tweak so well.â€

Looks like we need to weigh in again. Lucky for Bailey, though, it seems the general consensus among smaller fashion bloggers is that Burberryâ€s recent collection was highly impressive, and not just in comparison to the last show. We know we little old bloggers arenâ€t Anna Wintour or anything, but Fashionista, for instance, called Bailey â€œa master of the brand he has brought into the 21st century with ease.â€

We wonâ€t go on a rant about the importance of digital technology and the urgent need for fashion types to make like Bailey and embrace it already, but we will say this: thank goodness for Christopher Bailey. The showâ€s coats looked warm and realistic for winter, the tweeds and tights were just what we want to be wearing come fall and there was the perfect amount of bright colors mixed with snowy whites and neutrals â€“ and Baileyâ€s managed to do this all while catering to the modern need for instant gratification by making the collection available very soon, not months from now like most other brandsâ€ clothes. Bravo, Bailey!

Farewell 2010: A Look Back At Our Most Popular Stories

YM Ousley — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 22:44:54 +0000

Happy 2011, dear readers! If you’re starting 2011 bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, some of these stories may look familiar. If you indulged in too much champagne or Adult Chocolate Milk and are more bloodshot and limp, well you’ll probably be sleeping in today but we hope some of these look familiar to you tomorrow.

As we go into the new year, we wanted to take a second to look back on our top 50 stories of 2010. Unsurprisingly, our most popular story continues to be our very style-centric ranking of fashion blogs, but lots of you were looking at tech, food and general lifestyle stories as well.

A personal thanks for that. While they may seem unrelated, I started Signature9 because I felt that trends in one area inevitably overlap with those in others. Seeing that readers are as interested in smartphones and food as they are in style, as interested in business trends as they are in pop culture and consumer trends is a validation of that.

Happy Birthday, Signature9!

YM Ousley — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 16:28:59 +0000

A year ago today, our first post appeared – a list of influential fashion blogger Diane Pernet’s 9 signature lifestyle items. Since then, we’ve seen the Style99, the only objective ranking of fashion and beauty blogs, grow into an industry reference mentioned by the Daily Beast, WGSN and many of the bloggers appearing on the list (thank you!). We delayed the latest published ranking in anticipation of a forthcoming change that will allow more blogs than ever to be included, and the companies that have supported the rankings to get more information more quickly.

And though many people got to know Signature9 for our coverage of fashion and style, I’m happy to say that our tech and lifestyle posts have also been some of our most popular. In the past year, we’ve seen a total of more than 560,000 visits, over 1 million pageviews and if you’re into that kind of thing, over 19 million hits. No, it’s not anything record breaking, but we started with realistic expectations and I’m truly excited that 60,000 of you find our coverage of lifestyle topics interesting enough to continue visiting this site each month.

To celebrate our birthday, we want to have some ice cream. Tweet “Happy 1st” @Signature9 with a link to your favorite post, or post a link to your favorite Signature9 article on our Facebook page, and we’ll send a gift card for a Coldstone Creamery signature ice cream creation to 9 people selected at random.

We’ve got big plans for our 2nd year, and hope that you’ll be part of it.

– YM Ousley, Publisher and Founding Editor

Some of the most popular pieces from our first year

Style99 Fashion Blog Ranking

iPhone4 vs. Droid Incredible vs. Evo 4G: Feature by Feature Comparison

Troy Polamalu Gets a Hair Raising $1 Million to Protect His Locks

Dr. Lyle Evans Brings Mad Men Into the Modern Age

Old Navy Extends Store Hours for 2010 Flip Flop Sale

Lady Gaga’s Alejandro Video Credits and Controversy

AT&T vs.Verizon vs. T-Mobile vs. Sprint: The Smartphone Network Comparison

Style99: 19 Blogs to Watch

Yum! National Donut Day 2010 Means Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts Freebies

Where the Wealthy Shop Online [Infographics]

Louis Vuitton Beirut, Balding Gracefully, $250 Billion Counterfeits: Monday Morning Brief

YM Ousley — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:48:04 +0000

In case you didn’t know, the Brief is where we round up interesting stories from around the web that we may not be able to cover in depth. No formulas, no algorithms, just hand picked headlines that catch our attention as we go about our daily research. Here’s your Monday morning roundup of the best of the best from last week.

In case you didn’t know, the Brief is where we round up interestingÂ stories from around the web that we may not be able to cover in depth.Â No formulas, no algorithms, just hand picked headlines that catch ourÂ attention as we go about our daily research. Here’s your Monday morning roundup of the best of the best from last week.

Style

Happy Birthday, Nelson Mandela!

YM Ousley — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 23:45:48 +0000

Nelson Mandela celebrated his 92nd birthday today, surrounded by children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren among other family members. While old age has slowed the Nobel Prize winner, and former South African president, he was able to make the closing ceremony of the World Cup – the first to be held on the African continent, and by all accounts an overwhelming success at showing the world that South Africa is more than the negative headlines most often associated with the country. This year’s celebration was more low key than his 90th, but marks the first United Nations Nelson Mandela International Day, as well as his 12th wedding anniversary with 3rd wife Graca Machel.

Nelson Mandela Day is “a call to action for people everywhere to take responsibility for making the world a better place, one small step at a time, just as Nelson Mandela did.” {Nelson Mandela Foundation}

While few of us will have as large an impact on the future of a country, continent or the world, we’ve pulled together a few of our favorite quotes that should serve as inspiration to make a difference where you can.

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.

For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

In my country we go to prison first and then become President.

NY to Nix Tax Free Shopping, Airline Food Comes to Stores, Vuvuzelas to Fight Oil Execs: Monday Morning Brief

YM Ousley — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 10:00:19 +0000

Style

The Days of New York Tax-free Shopping are Numbered

Jean Paul Gaultier Lingerie to Start at $600

Gisele Bundchen is the Richest, Most Powerful Model in the World

Lifestyle

Hulu Launches Paid $10/Month Hulu Plus

Electrotech

Apple nixes 10% restocking fee on iPhone 4 returns

HP laying off some Palm staff as integration begins

Design

Chiquita Banana Holds Sticker Design Contest

Showstudioâ€s Latest Exhibit Features Terrence Koh, Marilyn Minter, and Lady Gaga Peeing

Food

Airline Food Good Enough for the Supermarket?

How to Grill Pizza Indoors

Travel + Culture

Online Plot Hatched to Annoy BP Executives with Vuvuzelas

JetBlue, Virgin Victory: American Drops BOS-SFO Flights

Indian Flash Fashion, 90% More Efficient Air Conditioning, How Americans Die Abroad: Monday Morning Brief

YM Ousley — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 10:41:55 +0000

In case you didn’t know, the Brief is where we round up interesting stories from around the web that we may not be able to cover in depth. No formulas, no algorithms, just hand picked headlines that catch our attention as we go about our daily research. Starting today, we’ll point you to the best of the best every Monday.

Style

New Flash Sales Site Focuses on Indian Fashion
Why Amazon Needs to Stay Out of Fashion Retail

Men’s Style

Nicholas Hoult for Tom Ford Fall 2010 Campaign
Milan Fashion Week : The Halftime Report

Lifestyle

Electrotech

Apple Carves Out A Special App Store Area For â€œAwesome iOS 4 Appsâ€
E-books pave way for more blockbusters, serials

Design

Dysonâ€s New Bladeless Fans Aim to Replace Air Conditioning
Researchers develop air conditioning thatâ€s 90 percent more efficient, bone chilling

Food

How To Make Coffee More â€˜Localâ€
World Cup Beer

Travel + Culture

How to Camp for FREE in NYC
When Americans die abroad, and how they die

Best of Brazilian Fashion

YM Ousley — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:46:41 +0000

There are less than two weeks until New York Fashion Week kicks off a whirlwind month of ready to wear style, but a lot has already happened.

Looks from Juliana Jabour's Rio Runway

Fashion and Beauty from Printing's Brazil show

If you need images to whet your fashion appetite, you don’t have to look back very far.

Take Rio Fashion Week, which was filled with names you may not be familiar with, but clothes you’d definitely want to get to know. We loved the tights at Juliana Jabour (look at the teal!). Yes, we’ve seen the shiny legging thing before, but the colors combined with the high gloss make us want to revisit the style.

Speaking of shine, there was plenty of it in Printing’s collection, but the “more is more” accessories are what stood out for us.

Filipa Oliveira walks through fashion and beauty at 10 shows from Brazil’s fashion capital that have a good chance of ending up on your want list for fall.

J.Crew’s a class act

Rachelle Robinett — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:01:35 +0000

GQ creative director Jim Moore finds ever more to love from J.Crew, and we do too.

J. Crew redressed

Impressed by head designer Frank Muytjensâ€ â€œmasculine, affordable, and modernâ€ (pieces), in a recent story at GQ.com, Moore also commented on J.Crewâ€s styling: â€œEach guy exud[ed] a sense of great personal style.â€ Though a sidelong note, this is an area in which the company has really upped the ante in recent years.

Particularly haute is its Tribeca-based menâ€s location, the Liquor Store. Original bar intact within walls from 1825, the spot carries exclusives from designer collaborations (Belstaff, Leviâ€s and Ray-Ban have all partnered), as well as Borsalino hats, vintage Rolexes, old records and first-edition books (but no booze).

J.Crew of yore

From the Crew we knew as a mail-order only catalogue on momâ€s coffee table (picture) to the British geek-chic, touch-of-grunge and piles-of-pearls (styling) of today, J.Crew looks to be successfully accomplishing an enviable appeal-expansion without isolating true-blue crew members. Weâ€re sold.