As the girls pass before me

Dear Kristin,
Please enjoy this new song from The Walkmen (unreleased B-side from Lisbon) while examining my fashion week findings.  Only the very best for you, of course:

The Walkmen - "Orange Sunday" (Lisbon B-side) from stereogum on Vimeo.

And my belated top five* from New York's Fall 2011 fashion week.  

Please do click to enlarge.  The bigger, the prettier.

The good:

Prabal Gurung, Fall 2011

Gets better:

The sweet sway of Prabal Gurung's leather

All around:

The orange sun comes over alone.  Peter Som, Fall 2011

Whistle in my ear:

Rodarte's Kansas.  God, that red.  And those neck lines.  I've never loved them so.

Shape, shapes:

Preen Fall 2011 pleases me.  I'm not sure they've ever pleased me more.

Stuck on a winning streak:

Jason Wu nails it.  Again.

Ah, lyric love.  It's very sixteen of me, no? I don't think it really works, honestly, but this is a quick post, eye candy.  It tastes delicious.

Love,
J. Benny

P.S.  *Seven if you count Naeem Khan and Wes Gordon, as you must.  And now I wonder which handful of looks you, my tiny readership, love most.  Do share.

I see you swaying

Dear Kristin,



I hope you like it.

Love, J. Benny

You love this

Dear Kristin,
I have a present for you:

Vulture Exclusive: Writers vs. Actors, Part Deux

Posted to New York Magazine by bstebner on February 23, 2011

Click to Play | View Details

I love having this stupid show in my life. Thank you, my Kristin.

Love,
J. Benny

Naeem Khan, are you shitting me?

Dear Kristin,
I'm a little peeved at Naeem Khan this season.  The plan, you see, was to cover NY fashion week, the very best shows, to whittle said shows down to four/five looks per designer.  Manicured, economical, and punched-in-the-gut-pretty.  As in, I hoped to feature a few looks that, together, would pack a breath of fresh punch.  That would make you feel so good you'd just want to sing and pee from excitement.  One grand post with a handful (or two) of inspired looks. 

Anyway, no designer has proven problematic thus far.  They've all been rather fine.  Nice.  Job well done.  Naeem Khan, on the other hand:

His genius is especially obvious to me in that third number.  It's not my favorite of the bunch, but I think it pretty much solidifies for me why Naeem K. is on of the best designers around.  He doesn't stop at the bodice.  That could easily be a basic two piece (Jason Wu, who also put out a swell collection, might have done it that way).  But Naeem K takes the embellishment a step further - a dress, gold flowering down the leg.  And he stays almost understated while doing it.

Oh, J. Benny, you say.  Calm down.  That is four.  Please learn how to count.

And to you I say, true.  Of course.  Those were the best four of his first twenty looks.  But he showed forty.  You see where this is going:

Ba-bang!

He does Jason Wu blue as good as Jason Wu.  He does Marchesa as floaty as Marchesa (minus the possibly unwelcome Muppet feel).  And he does Erdem splash as darkly as Erdem.

Erdem at right.  My favorite look from a collection that left me feeling disappointed and blah besides.

Plus, he does the best Caftans around:

Love,
J. Benny

P.S.  Did you miss me? 

Leather Cuff

Dear Kristin,
This is a room I'd like to mill about in:

The back of that first dress is a wonder.  Check out the view (and all these pieces/photos) at style.com. Fall 2011. 

Wes Gordon.  My new younger man.

Love,
J. Benny

P.S.  Your leather cuffs.  You know.  The one's you've hungered for ever since that fateful day in seventh grade when your mom dropped you off at the Deerbrook Mall and you got lost in Hot Topic.

I like this version best.

Oh, wait.  Never mind.  Those were zipper cuffs you wanted.

Lykke Li

Dear Jane,
You were right:  sadness is my boyfriend.

Thank you,
J. Benny