Pre-Fall Round 2

With the holiday madness over I've had some time to browse through more of the Pre-Fall 2012 collections.  You my recall my initial "review" here. 

Coming into the new year all eyes will turn toward the Fall collections showing in the New York, London, Milan and Paris fashion weeks next month and do the Pre-Fall collections give us a hint of whats to come... who knows?  I always enjoy Pre-Fall, which is less about making a runway statement and more about presenting clothing to retailers, which for me provides more realistic inspiration in building outfits.

Two looks from Alice + Olivia

I really enjoy the styling of this collection, the "French Girl" of 2012.  The beret is a bit literal, but the vibe is there to take inspiration from.

Of course you can't review fashion with a capital "F" and not mention Chanel:

What I take away from these looks are the two-toned pants and the general ease of the pieces.  The idea of flowy tops and easy pants styled with some intense jewelry is a concept I think a lot of women could emulate

Dsquared showed us a preppy bad-girl, a new juxtaposition that I've not encountered before.

I appreciate how they styled the model holding a cigarette in a good number of the looks, because let's face it, models smoke and some of them snort coke, which I'm fine with. I want my models to drink, smoke, do drugs and have eating disorders, there models, that's there job!  Anyway, the little tux above is super cute.  I think my fondness for tuxedos has already been demonstrated here, so I won't go into it again, I'll just take comfort in the fact that I was ahead of the curve.

Here's two looks from Helmut Lang

I love the pairing of neon with the grey/beige jacket.  Overall this jacket is pretty killer. I'm thinking of getting this similar one here from Jupe.

What I respond most to in this look is the play on length of the skirt and the interplay between draping and tailoring in one look.

Rachel Roy, I'm such a sucker for cropped trousers...

From Reed Krakoff this coat is so awesome--a strong, but not exaggerated shoulder.

Another Reed Krakoff that shoes you can slap on some above the elbow leather gloves to make clothes an outfit!

 These two from Thakoon:

I have a feeling these nude-toned loafers are going to everywhere. I've already been trolling for a similar/more affordable option.  Also from both of these looks I feel like I can easily translate a tailored/cropped jacket with a fuller skirt.

And finally Helmut Lang, such lovely draping.

all images c/o Style.com