perfection-ary confectionery

as its amsterdam international fashion week and i am nowhere near -but have increasingly become obsessed with benelux/northern european emergences...

the confectionery pleasures of elsien gringhuis displayed after this first day of amsterdam catwalks ss10 have truly tempted me. not only has gringhuis kept her flow of separates at a level of diversity and wearability that reaches to the public with all sorts of personal style aesthetics, but she has kept the collection recognizable. the silhouettes stay constant to the themes that she has shown in the past, but with a softer and sweeter facade. gringhuis, who won the hema (a belgian retail organisation) sustainable design competition in the fashion category for 2008 and the createurope best avantgarde design for 2008 (their first year of competition), is a still relatively recent graduate of arnhem academy of art and design in the netherlands. a dutch school that generally produces interesting, solid graduate collections.

i really adore the collection's avoidance of true, bright colors as the pieces lend themselves well to molding and creating defined silhouettes stylistically speaking. sorry for the alliteration! but honestly, the slightly "ladies who lunch" feel of the collection with the to-the-elbow debutante gloves (which i could absolutely argue are the best everyday choice of gloves. ever.) and the color palette is so accessible and pliable for all types of buyers and consumers. a delightfully simple but fun collection all in all.

photos courtesy of team peter stigter

perhaps i will find myself requestion mum to let me dust off those very debutante gloves and getting to square shapes of cropped jackets and shift dresses for this coming spring/summer (which where i am isn't too far off now...)

in other news, posting will again pick up, as i have found a new place on which to ground myself...hints on where in the world that may be to follow....