infinite variety.

let me tell you a little story about the notorious nineteenth century socialite and one of my personal role models, marchesa luisa casati..

ms casati was definitely what one would call 'eccentric'. never short of suitors and a muse to so many artists and fashion designers she would put lady gaga to shame, she had a penchant for wearing live snakes and walking her cheetahs (with diamond-studded collars, naturally) through the streets of venice, clad in nothing but fur, diamonds and hooker heels. she enjoyed being pampered by her naked servants, and, when she died, she was buried wearing a black leopard skin and fake eyelashes, along with her favourite pekingese pup. in short, she was a boss bitch.

she did manage to rack up a debt of about $25 million (diamonds and cheetahs don't come cheap), but it was fine because she auctioned off a bunch of her stuff and then disappeared to london to live in abject poverty for the rest of her life.

ANYWAY..

with a namesake like this amazing woman, it's only fitting that fashion label marchesa's signature style is glamorous, ridiculous and super OTT.. and their fall 2010 new york fashion week show, inspired by another fascinating woman, courtesan lola montez, is suitably frou frou and glamourtastic (yes, i actually just wrote that). i can't seem to find any good pics from the show, but i won't leave you hanging..

here's a little collage from cathy horyn (new york times), including my personal favourite from the collection - the blue cocktail dress..

and if that's still not enough, check out this wrap-up of the show. you can actually zoom in and check out the details on the garments, which is awesome because the marchesa label is synonymous with quality, workmanship and crazy, 'how-did-they-do-that' fanciness.



if you're still reading, thanks, and here's some nice stuff from their eastern/origami-inspired spring 2010 collection as a gift from me to you. check out the laser-cut roses (woah) and faux tattoos (uncle karl eat your heart out)..

(photos: fabsugar)

xx

p.s. apologies for my dodgy formatting, i cannot work out why my paragraphing is not working. what a n00b! also just realised how small the photos are.. will rectify this next time i post.