FOR NEGLECTED MURDERESSES

Just when I vowed not to spend any more money on fall clothes, I had to come across this eBay store...







Somehow I've gotten so into this Danish lesbian kindergarten teacher look--awkward calf-length skirts, portrait collars, fabrics like wool and leather--and pretty much everything at Time's Up nails it. Not to mention all the giant earrings! The perfect gray leather skirt is one thing, but styling it with those Acne wedges just puts it over the top for me. I love how they describe the skirts and dresses as "Amish"--kind of says it all, right? It's like what Ol' Widder Bates would wear for a night out on the town.

ICICLES WITHIN MY BRAIN

Tonight it's supposed to get down to 39°. Man! Call me lily-livered if you must, but I am not prepared to be so cold yet. Although I did break my shopping ban on Sunday (desperately needed more print dresses, they were on sale, I am a fallible mortal after all), I'm still holding out against spending any more money than I absolutely have to on clothes. That said, I think I love this simple, modified cutaway jacket from Need Supply:



The best part is the removable knit collar. When I can't spend all day wrapped in my duvet, that sounds like a decent compromise.

BRIGHT SHADOW

I got my wish! Rick Owens' collections are almost incapable of disappointing me--he continually hones his overall look (which by now has become something simultaneously sci-fi and stone-age, a little bit Black Queen from Barbarella and a lot hand-tanned woolly mammoth pelts) without capitulating to trends, but always looking timely without making dramatic leaps from season to season. I agree with Amanda that outerwear is his strongest suit, but I kind of love this dress for spring:



That said, it's really his diffusion lines, Rick Owens Lilies and Drkshdw, that get me going the most. The savage fur coats from his main collection give me heart palpitations of pleasure, no doubt, but what the man does with jersey and denim is truly amazing. There's a couple of new shots of his spring '10 Drkshdw men's line up on the website...



I do enjoy being a girl, but I wouldn't mind trading a few parts for the chance to fit into that jacket.

AUTUMN MISTS

October 1st feels like the perfect day to take a peek at Gareth Pugh's new collection. Even though it's meant for spring, everything about it--the subtle grey shades, the enveloping yet sinister shapes--gives it his trademark Gothic/graveyard/ghoul-queen air. Naturally, I love it! Finally, a designer who took an already pretty great but heavily played-out idea (bandage dressing) and did something new, interesting and yet beautifully wearable with it. Unlike Pugh's earlier, more sci-fi creations, these dresses and sweeping cloak-jackets have a slightly more gentle, feminine feel, just right for the new season. Beautiful! What poison apple do I have to eat to get my hands on one of these?!

I didn't post any of the menswear pieces (although, if Style.com is to believed, it's all womenswear but modeled by some [okay pretty hot] guys), mainly because there was too much good stuff in this show to post it all. The fencing/armor-looking jackets--like this one:



--were particularly good, if obvious Rick Owens-alikes. Speaking of whom... can't wait for his show! Goths in Paris, you make lovin' fun.

Oh, and... the less said of the new Rochas collection, the better. Clearly, the bottom line does have to come first in the business of fashion, but it's disheartening to see this label go from Theyskens' (totally non-commercial) genius to Marco Zanini's trite paean to colonialism...

(pics from Style.com and ASVOF)