NYFW FW'12 Review Part I: Prabal, Wang, Wu, Altuzarra

Prabal Gurung. All images from www.nymag.com

I take it back...Fall / Winter 2012 rocks. I've seen some amazing collections so far from New York Fashion Week. Some overall themes so far: serious, confident, impeccably tailored / structured, separates, wearable, vampy. My favorite collection so far has to be Prabal Gurung. I have to admit that I was disappointed with his SS 2012 purpley plastic collection; so much so that I didn't even post any pics in the blog. I'm totally blown away by his fall collection though, there are too many pieces that I want! I also really loved Alexander Wang's Hannibal Lector collection, I also thought it was more exciting and wearable than his sportswear inspired spring collection, with tons of beautiful and typically Alexander Wang pieces, from the drapey yet body conscious dresses to some lovely structured pieces like that awesome motorcycle jacket. I liked Jason Wu's collection so much more than his Target collaboration; it was a lot less matronly with some bold and sexy pieces. I also liked Altuzarra's collection: super wearable and cool; I first took notice of him last season and there are quite a few pieces that I would totally wear from his collection this season.

Prabal Gurung. Images from nymag.com

Prabal Gurung. Images from nymag.com

Prabal Gurung. Images from nymag.com

Alexander Wang. Images from nymag.com

Alexander Wang. Images from nymag.com

Jason Wu. Images from nymag.com

Jason Wu. Images from nymag.com

Jason Wu. Images from nymag.com

Altuzarra. Images from nymag.com

Altuzarra. Images from nymag.com

On a separate note, I'm so excited to see all these unbelievable Asian American designers, particularly Taiwanese-American (Alexander Wang, Jason Wu), and so happy for their success. Also, not fashion related, but totally happy for Jeremy Lin of the NY Knicks. Represent!

Mary Katrantzou for Topshop - Gorgeous! (Updated with Launch)

Image from Topshop

Update 2/16/12 8:00pm pacific: The collection is up for sale at www.topshop.com. As much as I love the dress pictured above, it's $700 which is just out of my budget for a dress I may only wear a few times. Despite the price tag (which isn't that bad relative to not only her mainline as well as any contemporary collection you'd find at Barneys or Neimans and way cheaper than the designer collections), I had it in my cart and almost pulled the trigger several times. After an hour or so, my size sold out anyway, so I lost my chance and I am still a bit wistful about it. I probably would have bought it if I still lived in New York; its just a little much for my LA lifestyle. I ended up ordering the tunic dress instead, will post pics when it arrives...
 
One collaboration that I've truly been intrigued by since I heard about it a few months back was Mary Katrantzou's collaboration with Topshop, which launches this month. I first took notice of Mary Katrantzhou during the SS 2012  Fashion Week (some breathtakingly beautiful pieces available now at Barneys), followed by a small spread in Vogue; I think she's really original with her fun silhouettes and mix and match use of vibrant, grandma's china-ish prints. She creates all her prints on a computer, carefully layering various prints and patterns for a coherent piece of fabric that is seriously like a work of art. Makes my Hermes scarves look pretty ordinary. Though I'm not sure I would actually be able to pull it off, I love everything about this amazing Mary Katrantzou x Topshop balloon dress from the collaboration pictured above. It's such a statement dress, a true collectable piece of art. Too bad there's no Topshop in LA!

Silk tunic dress that I ordered. Love the very Mary Katrantzou print with the flowers and enormous bird. Can't wait to see it in person! Image from nitrolicious.com

Love this long sleeve dress, but it was sold out by the time I got online, first dress to sell out (or maybe it was never uploaded, as it's the only dress that says "back in stock next week). Actual dress is slightly different than this version though, I prefer this version.  Tunic dress might be more wearable in the long run though. Image from nitrolicious.com

Separately, I can't believe it's NYFW already again! I'm so not ready to look at fall clothes, particularly as I haven't even figured out my spring wardrobe yet. I've seen images from a couple of shows but nothing that I've loved, I will post my favorites from my favorite designers as they come.

Sweet Lady Jane: Charming Lunch Spot on Montana Ave

It was another beautiful 75 degree day in Santa Monica today so J. and I walked down Montana to try Sweet Lady Jane for lunch. I had never been before and I have to say I really enjoyed my meal. We shared the curried chicken sandwich on rosemary bread, the pancetta and fig arugula salad du jour and finished with a lemon bar and brownie. Everything was delicious; portions were generous, but the food tasted fresh, light and well-balanced. I love the lovely china that they serve the food on and the whole place just gives has this charming, pretty vibe.

Pancetta and fig arugula salad with feta and almonds. I will have to make this at home

Can't leave Sweet Lady Jane without dessert, after all, that's what they are known for

Go New York!!!

Jason Wu for Target: Launching Tomorrow

Image from Target

Image from Target

Jason Wu's collection for Target launches online and in stores tomorrow. My two favorite looks from the collaboration are featured in the ad campaign above. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to the stores tomorrow; the dresses are cute but not exactly my style, just a little too prim and ladylike for me. I can't really wear any of the silhouettes right now, nor do I have many occasions to wear these kinds of clothes. My criteria for buying these collaborations should be: do I own any of the mainline collection? If I don't own any Jason Wu and I don't usually give Jason Wu a second look while in Neiman Marcus, which is both the case, I probably don't need to buy anything. On the case, I have a few Lanvin dresses and even a Versace dress, so it makes more sense that I'm interested in the collaboration. I don't own any Missoni, but my mom does and it's a brand that I've been interested in, in the past, particularly their bathing suits and their home line.  I'll probably wait til the Jason Wu collection goes on markdown to get anything as most of Target's collaborations do make it to markdown eventually. That being said, I wasn't planning on getting anything from Missoni x Target, but I ended up buying way too much. I do regret some of the purchases though, as a lot of the things I bought did end up being restocked and going on markdown. Same with Calypso for Target, so I think I learned my lesson not to buy anything full price from Target. A couple of other potentially cute items (images from Nitrolicious):

Peanut Butter Cookies: More from Flour Cookbook

So far, I've only made two recipes from Joanne Chang's Flour Cookbook, but both have been a success. Not only are the flavors spot on and well-balanced, the texture comes out perfectly (something I thought was not possible with my crappy oven) and I really like how there's just the right amount of sweetness. Like Joanne, I grew up in a Taiwanese-American household where we were unaccustomed to having sweets / desserts. Many things that I've baked before have turned out to be too sweet for my parents' palates. I love how her recipes are just right; can't wait to make my way through her book as I've developed a bit of a sweet tooth lately. Plus, baking makes the house smell so good!

I chose to make the peanut butter cookies because the recipe was quite straightforward with really only one big step, plus the ingredients are all pantry staples and K. loves his peanut butter. They are great; quite substantial with a nice chewy firmness on the outside but quite light and crumbly on the inside with a good sweet and salty, rich and smooth peanut butter flavor.

Flour's Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe:

• Cream together 2 sticks of room temp butter, 1 cup of granulated sugar, 1 cup of light brown sugar in a stand mixer for about 5 minutes on medium
• Add in two room temp eggs and 1 tsp of vanilla on medium and mix for about 2-3 minutes. Scrape the bowl and make sure everything is well combined
• Add 1 3/4 cups of chunky peanut butter (I like Whole Food's organic 365 brand) and beat over medium-low for another 2 minutes
• In a separate bowl, sift together 2 2/3 cups of AP flour, 1 tsp of kosher salt and 1 tsp of baking soda. Add slowly to the stand mixer over low speed until the dry ingredients are thoroughly combined
• Remove the stand mixer bowl and cover tightly with saran wrap and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight
• Preheat oven to 350 with a rack in the center of the oven
• Scoop and roll 1/4 cup balls of dough and place them on a baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. I was able to fit 12 cookies onto my baking sheet. Flatten them halfway with your palm and use a fork to draw an "x" on top
• Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the pan once. Meanwhile, assemble 1 more sheet of 12 cookies, using up the remaining dough. When the first sheet is done, cookies should be light brown on the edges and still soft in the center. Let the sheet cool on top of a cooling rack for 5 minutes, then transfer onto the rack.

Saturday Brunch and Flour Cookbook Review

We've been on an at-home brunch kick for the last few weeks; last week I hosted wine club at my place for brunch and this week, A. and I made a nice brunch for the guys yesterday. Our friends from Boston had given us the Joanne Chang's "Flour" cookbook earlier in the week and I've been eager to try out her delicious looking (and fortunately, not too complicated) pastry recipes. I really like Joanne Chang's story; she is a Taiwanese American who graduated from Harvard with a degree in applied mathematics and econ, went into management consulting and left to pursue her culinary dreams instead, working her way up various Boston fine dining establishments and eventually finding pastry as her calling. She founded and owns three Flour Bakery & Cafes around Boston.

We made the raspberry rhubarb muffin from her cookbook to go along with Giada's Italian Sausage Egg Bake which was on a recent episode of Giada's foodnetwork show. We followed both recipes closely; the muffins took about 20 minutes to cook (rotating a few times) and we had enough batter to make 12 regular size and 12 mini size muffins. The only change to the sausage and egg dish was using chicken sausage as opposed to turkey sausage. Both dishes were delicious and I would definitely make both again; the rhubarb gave the muffin a lovely tart flavor and the texture and consistency of the muffin were perfect: light and fluffy on the inside with a beautiful smooth crust on the outside. I think the creme fraiche in the recipe made all the difference. It had just the right amount of sweetness too, often I find recipes to use too much sugar. In the future, orange zest might be a nice addition and I would probably use fresh raspberries so that they maintain their structure better. The savory dish:,the sausage and egg bake was delicious too; lots of bright contrasting flavors and textures: the sweet and chewy sundried tomatoes, tangy goat cheese, savory sausage, fresh spinach and basil, crunchy croutons, topped off by a soft runny egg.

Muffins "before"

"After"

Italian Sausage Egg Bake before the eggs

After the eggs

Done! We cooked it for about 19 minutes because we didn't want the eggs too runny

I've only made one recipe so far, but I look forward to trying many more!