When I was in high school, off the shoulder t-shirts, leg warmers and side ponytails weren’t just an “80’s Day” spirit week joke. Some girls sported neon leggings as fashion statement and high school for me was in the 2000’s. Orange Country, California, what are you going to do. I have never been a big fan of that decade and I prayed it wouldn’t return.
So while I was archiving photos from Style.com for my unmentionable magazine internship, I discovered this bad boy.
Welcome, the 2011 Fall/Winter RTW from Dolce & Gabbana.
The new line baffled me, Dolce & Gabbana in my mind is the fashion house for sensual if not down right sexual take on the feminine silhouette. You can’t take things like star print and fanny-packs and make them modern. You can sure try though. And Dolce & Gabbana tried so hard.
The infamous piano print. But it gets even more intense from here…
You got your shoes and then your matching clutch…
And ta-da! You have a whole rocking outfit!
Guess they didn’t want to do leopard print for another year season…but they do leopard so well! Musical notes and symbols…not as sexy…
This line was definitely a miss. Most of these looks scream Hot Topic. Which, don’t get me wrong, I’m an avid supporter of all the punk princesses out there, and boy to I love Avril, but this isn’t something a fashion entity such as Dolce & Gabbana should dabble in.
A couple more picture to really solidify my point, then moving on to my favorite designer who is actually stuck in the glorious 80s.
Take away the star embellishments and this is actually a very nicely tailored woman’s three-piece.
Note: tiny fanny-pack + sock + bright pointy low pump…
This is a gorgeous dress, the drama, the fluidity, the shape…but the print?!?
And everything bad about gaudy 80s jewelry in dress form.
//
Dear Betsey Johnson,
I absolutely adored your pretty, colorful frocks; your cool graphic knits were a dream. I went to my senior prom in one of your powdery pink lace and chiffon confection—my cupcake dress as I like to refer to it as. Oh, and when your vintage inspired dresses a couple years ago, lush velvet numbers trimmed with wide antique lace, I couldn’t help but buy them all. But now, I see the same strapless pouffy cocktail dresses each season, the same wild eighties throwback and even wilder prints that even Ms Frizzle would turn away from… I miss your more delicate sense of nostalgia, please come back to the present.
Yours truly,
Cassandra
Ms. Frizzle would just like to say, she would never wear this. Her prints have more class and serves a more educational purpose.
Oh, Betsey, what to do with you?
Tags: 80's, Betsey Johnson, Dolce & Gabbana, Ms. Frizzle