My Top 5 from NYC Fashion Week {fall 2011}

1. Donna Karen: Pearls of Wisdom. HANDS DOWN. I believe I actually almost shed a tear when I saw this collection. It was everything fashion is heading towards right now. It was full of neutral, lady like silhouettes. It was classic and sophisticated, and gorgeously understated. Everything was very well tailored and put together from the top - knots to the pink lips and bronze eye makeup, to the old fashion accessories (gloves and top handle bags) it just flowed. I think I liked it best because it was in one word: sexy. But sexy without showing any skin, or being too tight, and coming from a person who exclusively wears leggings in the winter and short skirts and dresses in the summer, that says a lot.

2. Marc Jacobs. This was originally my number pick until the previous took my breathe away. But Jacobs was not far behind. His collection was in a word, cool. All the models looked like they were in extremely uptight and uncomfortable, yet lavish and bold uniforms. Everything was very stream lined, straight up and down silhouette but the marriage of textures and print together birthed a incredible collection. It was very reminiscent of his early work with the dots and polka dots. It had a slight nod to the 70's yet was still very modern. As usual it was effortlessly cool, but i mean then again its Marc Jacobs lol.

3. Proenza Schouler. I think i like this collection so much because the main influence was navajo Indian blankets, so it reminds me of when I lived on a reservation in Arizona. But other than my emotional ties to the concept i really liked the futuristic,  geometric, bold prints and pairing of colors. I'm not really a print person myself but id experiment with this collection and I'm all about bold colors so this was right up my ally. It was creative and artistic without looking childish or being too in your face. And although the cultural influence was evident, it was relatively subtle and refreshingly uncliche.

4. Prabal Gurung. This collection with its inspiration pulled from the movie Great expectations kind of went hand and hand with Wale's song The Breakup Song which I currently have on repeat. Love it! This collection just reminded me of how it is when you break up with someone. The clothes reflected the many moods and emotions that you go through post bad breakup. All the clothes along with the makeup and hair looked like a girl who got her heart broken, but shes determined not to show it. Shes gonna look amazing everyday to prove to everyone shes OK. Internally shes hurting but externally shes ten feet tall. You could kind of even see it on the models faces, like he told them to channel that bad break up right before they strutted down the run way. It was dramatic but not costumey. Just perfect in between. Thumbs up.

5. Jason Wu. Last but certainly not least. The thing I like most about this collection and about this designer in general is he takes his craft seriously yet he kinda has a sense of humor with it. He has his inspiration: Robert Polidori's 25 year restoration of Versailles and you get it, yet is not such a literal translation that it looks like pages ripped out from the book itself. I would describe this collection as a combination of the movie Great Gatsby and the American sportswear aesthetic of Michael Kors. Yet it was still right on fashion trends of colored lace, always classic black and white accents. It was heavily embroidered. But it was preppy and professional. Loved it.