Fall / Winter 2010 Parisian Chic From Andrea Lieberman

Paris is the fashion capital of the world, a city of dreams and inflated expectations so damaging that every year, several Japanese tourists are carted off to the loony bin with broken hearts upon discovering that Paris is just another city full of humans. Andrea Lieberman's Parisian collection is like Paris in a lot of ways, it incites admiration, but also leaves one feeling a little personally wanting. If one does not manage one's expectations, one could be disappointed, but if one is willing to look beyond the cliché and spy true value, one will be exceptionally pleased.

I found these snapshot insights into Andrea's Fall / Winter 2010 collection on Net-A-Porter, and I was suitably impressed. (Especially with Lieberman's own sad-contortionist mug shot.)

I had a bone to pick, as blurry usual. Fashion models are super skinny because they're there simply to be living coat hangers for the clothes. I get that. But because most of us actually have curves, an item that looks stunning on a size 0 model can look utterly horrendous on a human being that hasn't been fasting for the past three months.

Like everyone else in the industry, Andrea Lieberman chooses the stick figures to model her collection, which makes it difficult to tell if the clothing would actually work on another human being. The pants on the left of this picture, for instance, would probably make a real woman's ass look huge. The triangular baggy pocket pouch is fine when you can travel internationally by fax machine, but on women with a size greater than 2, can add unnecessary width to the hip region.

Still, we were warned at the outset that this was Parisian fashion and in Paris, pretty much no-one cares if you live or die, which appears to have been reflected in this collection. Can't fit it? Go boil your head.

That whining aside, I think we can skip over the generic Parisian look in the middle and go straight to the pretty dress on the right. It has lovely classic lines and the texture of the outer layer of cream fabric gives the item a much needed point of difference from other dresses. It is simple and it is elegant. It is quintessential Paris chic. It is the little piece of glamor that makes all the arrogant gendarmes telling you to stop climbing the trees worthwhile.

Allons enfants de la fahionerie, le jour de gloire est arrive!