{"id":3511,"date":"2009-12-29T11:59:01","date_gmt":"2009-12-29T16:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/?p=3511"},"modified":"2009-12-29T16:27:00","modified_gmt":"2009-12-29T21:27:00","slug":"enthralled-by-versace-pre-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2009\/12\/enthralled-by-versace-pre-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"Enthralled by Versace Pre-Fall"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before the holidays, gorgeous blogger Jennine of The Coveted<\/a> asked me if I would be interested in visiting Versace’s 5th Avenue store to check out the pre-fall collection. Jennine knows I have a good pre-2005 Versace collection thanks to Teresa, who was a stellar sales associate at the now-closed Versace boutique on Madison Avenue. Teresa left Versace at same time I was developing more of an interest in vintage clothing, so I drifted away from the brand. I kept all my clothes, of course, and posted a lot of them here<\/a>. (I have another dress here<\/a> and I still need to photograph a few more outfits plus a fabulous trench coat that people compliment every time I wear it.)<\/p>\n

My favorite Versace piece — and one of my favorite pieces in my entire wardrobe — is the hairy purple jacket<\/a>. I wish I could remember what season it was from. If anyone knows, give me a holla.<\/p>\n

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BarbaraB, me and the hairy purple jacket in 2007.<\/p><\/div>\n

I so adore that jacket that when I renewed my driver’s license recently, I wore the jacket for my photo so airport personnel can admire its hairy purpleness while they wave terrorists through security. What?! Don’t blame me for distracting the TSA<\/a> (“Terrorists, Saunter Aboard!”) with my fabulous taste. Airport security is going to be fucked up no matter what I wear due to a breathtaking lack of common sense. Look, a dude’s own father<\/a> tells U.S., “Hey, U.S., my son is a danger.” Then that son buys a ticket in cash (RED FLAG!) and checks no luggage for an international flight (Just like Richard Reid<\/a>! RED FLAG!), but security people are too busy patting down innocent grandmas and confiscating nail clippers to deal with him.A\u00a0 I could go on about this all day because airport security is one of my obsessions, but I won’t because (a) I’ll wind up on the no-fly list and (b) this digression probably has the Versace people in tears.<\/p>\n

Getting back to business, I said, “Hell, yes!” to Jennine, put on the hairy purple jacket and sashayed off to the Versace boutique, where I wanted everything I saw. The pre-fall collection was divided between bright, Japanese-influenced prints and rocker-chic black. I liked that some of the prints incorporated designs from Gianni Versace<\/a>‘s time.<\/p>\n

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The Versace people assured me the dresses will be longer for production. This length is just for show.<\/p><\/div>\n

When Gianni was murdered in 1997, I was working for Boo Lobbs<\/a> at CNN, doing business news. I wanted to write about who would succeed Gianni and what the impact would be on the business but, because Versace wasn’t a publicly traded company, it wasn’t considered a story for us. If I recall correctly, I squeezed one sentence into one business-news update on CNN’s Headline News. I bet Versace is considered business news now. Ha! Anyway, I’m sentimental, so I liked seeing Gianni’s signature on his original print in the new dresses.<\/p>\n

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Gianni's signature on a dress.<\/p><\/div>\n

An origami crane was part of some of the prints and I kept going back and looking at it again because it was such an unexpected addition to the more traditional, floral parts of the print.<\/p>\n

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If you make a thousand origami cranes, you'll be granted a wish. Click!<\/p><\/div>\n

Among the bad-ass pieces of the collection, the ultra-shiny vinyl leggings jumped out at me, thanks to my latex<\/a> leggings obsession. If my American Apparel leggings<\/a> saw the Versace leggings, they would be consumed by jealousy. We must never let them meet!<\/p>\n

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These leggings looked perfect. Photo courtesy of Versace.<\/p><\/div>\n

In the interesting materials department, there was also laminated lace. In black it was incorporated into this sex-ay corset-top dress.<\/p>\n

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I'm feeling a kind of warrior-queen\/'80s Madonna vibe. Photo courtesy of Versace.<\/p><\/div>\n

My favorite piece in the whole collection was a stunning laminated lace trench coat in lavender. It’s like the gorgeous child of my hairy purple jacket and my attention-getting trench coat from seasons past. For some reason, the photo doesn’t quite capture its beauty. Maybe you have to see it close up to appreciate the lace. I knew I should have brought a better camera — or at least one that wasn’t broken — to capture the details.<\/p>\n

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I want it! Photo courtesy of Versace.<\/p><\/div>\n

IA\u00a0 loved that the trench made a little rustling noise. Anything this beautiful should be allowed to announce itself.<\/p>\n

As for accessories, anyone into studs will appreciate this bag.<\/p>\n

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Mega-studs!<\/p><\/div>\n

The style is called the Helena and is named after supermodel Helena Christensen<\/a>. You know who will never get a Versace bag named after her? Me, thanks to my digressions into terrorism and murder in this post. Now I’m on the no-fly list AND the no-purse-name list. Dang!<\/p>\n

As I was writing this, I read on Madison Avenue Spy that Versace is having a sale<\/a>.A\u00a0 I’m going to check that out. It’s time for me to log off from eBay and see clothes in person!<\/p>\n

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Before the holidays, gorgeous blogger Jennine of The Coveted asked me if I would be interested in visiting Versace’s 5th Avenue store to check out the pre-fall collection. Jennine knows I have a good pre-2005 Versace collection thanks to Teresa, who was a stellar sales associate at the now-closed Versace boutique on Madison Avenue. Teresa…<\/p>\n

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