The program for Norman Ambrose begins with the phrase “Sun glistening on the Mediterranean like a sea of diamonds…” which leads a lot up to the imagination of how exactly the show would pan out. The promised glistening diamonds showed up in form of gold high waisted trousers and a jacket covered in black and silver paillettes but the location influence was much more broad than the sea of diamonds would lead on. While French characteristics were apparent in Chanel-esque silhouettes and fabrication and Italian effortless maximalism ended the show, Fashion’s current obsession gave depth to the collection with a twinge of Eastern inspiration. The look seemed to be a mixture of the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Japan with eastern influenced cuts, sailor style big-bow evening gowns, and styling from haute-farming hats to tightly rolled hair.
THE SHIFT DRESS
The most popular U-Haul of fashion right now is the truck of trendsetters moving from Grunge-ville to Uptown Ladylike Central and the Norman Ambrose Spring/Summer 2012 show definitely supported that. With a super chic shift dress, professionalism is never a worry and the ones shown were upped in glamour, exuberance and embellishment. The bedazzled black and white dresses were adorned with silver sequins and golden details which created a feeling of Parisian style. Try white with pearls for day and go past midnight in a blue-black shining texture shift.
THE GILDED AGE
All that glitters is gold at Norman Ambrose. For the first half of the show, golden pieces in thick textured shiny fabric walked down the runway one after another. Giving the lamé shine a tailored look gave the outfits sophistication where it could have easily gone south. Throughout the show, the antique bronzey gold hue changed into glittering, shiny bright yellow gold which was a great transition for the color that would close the show.
COLOR ME CORAL
The finale shades started off with tailored white pieces and grew into dramatic boldy saturated oranges and corals. Florals came through with dynamic silhouettes and nude-pale colors were offset with turquoise embellishment. Orange dresses were finished off with a burnt gold foil shine and the antique gold suits from earlier in the show turned into a beautiful melon shade. The finale look was a white Marilyn Monroe style dress with a gigantic bow that brought ack the eastern influences with a Sailor Moon vibe which was jarring to end the show that was based its drama mostly on shine, texture, and color. While beautiful in its own right, it just seemed a fish out of water.
NORMAN AMBROSE SPRING/SUMMER 2011
While many shows embraced the casual cool style of Spring and Summer, the Norman Ambrose was a refreshingly glamorous showing that gave excess and elegance.
Want to see the full collection?
See photos here: New York Magazine: Norman Ambrose
See video here: MBFashionWeek YouTube: Norman Ambrose
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Thanks for reading!
Everybody Is Ugly by Iris & Daniel
Follow EIU on twitter for more MBFW news! @everybodyisugly
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Photos taken by Daniel
