Tavi Gevinson @ New York Fashion Week 2012

Fashion week has arrived once again. New York kicked off the first series of Fall Winter 2012 shows on the 9th of this month, summoning the fashion elite and the creme de la creme of the A-list world. Fashion blogging prodigy and Rookie magazine editor, Tavi Gevinson, was among the many who made the pilgrimage to one of the most imperative dates on the fashion calendar.

It's almost impossible to contain the bitter pangs of jealousy upon discovering that, at just 15 years old, this is Tavi's seventh Fashion Week. New York magazine documents Tavi's packing process before she jetted off for the event in her home in Chicago. The camera offers insights to the enigmatic workings of her wardrobe, before switching back to the young girl kneeling over a slowly-filling suitcase reminiscing of her first experience at Fashion Week in 2009.

"I was really sad to go home and to middle school" she says, folding a lemon-coloured garment before rolling her eyes and adding, with typical teenage apathy, "Which sucked".

Let's fast forward onward a tad to the day of the show in question, shall we? From her more recent blogposts (although I find it silly to include the link as I'm sure anyone who reads this is following her blog) it's clear that Tavi has been sourcing inspiration from the 50's straight through to the 70's. Images and videos from these mid-century decades adorn her posts, including original promos for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Mad Men and flight attendants from the 70's. Further back and you'll find her attempts at recreating a beehive, seen above. 

Her sweater is Meadham Kirchhoff, paired with a, very on-trend with the pastels of spring/summer, pleated mint skirt by Miu Miu, black tights with a youthful solitary tear (possibly intentional to tone down the primness of her hair and skirt) and Chloe Sevigny boots. An addition of a novelty button of a child her father gave her from a funeral (what a charming token) warrants her quirky style.

Already, I've jotted down my favourites from the week's shows (Derek Lam, Victoria Beckham and Preen) and shall make sure to convert them into a multi-post by the week's end. Check out (I'm cringing at how American that expression sounds) the video I mentioned earlier to gain a short, adorable insight into Tavi's Fashion Week preparations.

                                    

Givency F/W 2011 Inspiration

Let's take the DeLorean back to March 2011 to the Givenchy F/W 2011 show for a moment, please. The memorable collection which oozed sexy with it's powerful use of colour and varying textures: chiffon, velvet, mohair, PVC, silk to name but a few.

The reason I'm recapping on this collection was now that we're entering the less forgiving months of the year where style is compromised due to weather, lack of time in the day, etc., finding something (APPROPRIATE AND PRACTICAL) to wear isn't always easy. 

Givenchy's F/W gives hope to use mere mortals in our time of need. Make like the ever-lengthening evenings and don't worry about wearing too much black, secretly everyone wants to unleash their inner goth. Mix textures and items of clothings that you wouldn't normally put together, like above: SWEATERS + SKIRTS = keeping you warm while still keeping an element of pretty. Seriously, I lust over the Bettie Page motif seen on the sweaters from the collection (the panthers below were striking too) and the addition of the censored bar gives a modern twist to such an iconic figure.

When in doubt remember, black is the new black.