HAPPY BLOGAVERSARY! [featuring CFW 2010]

I can’t believe it. It has been exactly one year today since I started this blog. It may be the longest relationship I’ve ever had and since I’m not used to long term things like that, I am epically failing at this anniversary thing. I didn’t live up to my promise of an anniversary gift of my pending Charleston e-book. But wouldn’t you rather it be awesome in a few days rather than half assed now? I thought so. Instead, I will offer you the latest trends in Charleston fashion from Charleston Fashion Week 2010!

Under the tents
I should start out by saying that I’m not really fashionable. Sure, in my own mind I have some sort of theme to my clothing: cardigans, sundresses, bright prints, flower headbands, t-shirts. But apparently, this is not what is “in” this season. Flats are also not in, since apparently models don’t have to walk 5 blocks to get anywhere like I do.

Why yes, that is Project Runway‘s Mychael Knight, a fellow Atlantan
So the perk to being a freelance writer is that you get things like front row seats to fashion shows. I didn’t think much of this before, but when I got there and saw how close I was to all the action, I realized what a big deal it was.

You know how I love flashing press passes.

So the lineup went as follows: [note: many of these are local boutiques and not designers because our fashion week is still developing. a late bloomer you might say]
Teal

Sorry for the blur.
Teal was mostly sundresses and rompers. A few of the models wore neon legwarmers while others carried rollerskates on their shoulders. I would have been much more impressed had they been rollerskating down the runway Sonic style.

Mary Mojo

This label was more mommy chic. Not quite there yet. Lots of knit flower details and such like this swimsuit above. Remind you of anything? Yes, the NuvaRing girls.

Biton

I don’t know who decided Charleston needed a store that sold $300 blue jeans, but Biton is just that. They started out with lots of denim and moved onto dresses for women and random Men’s Warehouse looking suits for mens. The greasy slicked back hair on the male models was a little too much Scott Disick for me.


LaRoque Studio Boutique

As you can see from the above cupcakey dress, LaRoque is a lot of bridesmaid or Charleston event style dresses. It’s nice for Carolina Cup or your sorority parties, but isn’t likely to translate to many other cities. I found myself most willing to purchase these dresses over most of the other lines, though.

V2V

I was excited to see this line because I am a longtime window shopper of the King Street store. I took a lot of pictures of dresses I liked, but chose this one because of the bizarre wreaths that were placed on random models throughout their show. Can anyone fill me in on the reasoning?

Gwynn’s

I always thought Gwynn’s was sort of stuffy, but they sought to prove me wrong. I also had trouble choosing an image for this one. They had a good theme of colors, white, gold, and pink, and stuck with it throughout the show. Surprise moments include this women’s suit without a shirt underneath (my chest got scared even looking at her), a sexy male model taking off his pants at the end of the runway, and what I assume to be a Monique Lhullier gown thrown into the middle of the show.


Ashley Reid (Featured Designer)

Ashley Reid, former Emerging Designers competition winner, launched her line “Clewis Reid.” It had a lot of Urban Outfitters tones in it, but was overall pretty impressive. I loved the feathered eyelashes and leopard print socks.

Check out Susan Cohen’s coverage of Friday night’s CFW show over at CCP.

If your fashion palate wasn’t completely satisfied and you want to see some amazing coverage of LA Fashion Week, read my friend Mallory’s work here.

Also, #chs tweeters should check out Charleston Twestival to benefit education!

So there you go. I hope you aren’t mad at me for your anniversary present not being ready. Can I make it up to you with dinner and a movie? Check out the rest of my CFW pics and surprise pics of tomorrow’s post on Aiken Steeplechase.