Welcome to the New York Sartorialist and thanks for stopping by. I'm honored and hope you enjoy!
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Warmest regards and thanks again for being here~ Michael Cress

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

New York Sartorialist column in "Life With Style" Magazine



Click page to enlarge (then click again to magnify)... or just use a magnifying glass





































Many thanks to Birri O'Dea, editor of Life With Style magazine. For the photoshoot, tremendous gratitude to Christina Pierce- a wonderful stylist who pulled a family of rabbits out of the hat to make it happen on a tight deadline. The fantastic Mizu Salon not only did the hair styling but also became a homebase as we shot two models with twelve total looks at various locations in one day. Also many thanks to make-up artist Teague Vivolo, Holiday Boutique and Moxie Boston for the wonderful clothes and accessories. Finally our two stunning and highly professional models, Hollis Crowley and Ashley Bickford (shown). I look forward to showing more images from the shoot- I only wish more could have published with the column. Love all of you guys!

Michael Cress ~ New York Sartorialist

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Louis Welcomes Designer Roland Mouret

Roland Mouret


Louis, the grande dame of New England luxury retail, welcomed internationally acclaimed designer Roland Mouret to the new spacious Louis location to meet with customers and discuss his latest line. The event offered a rare opportunity to meet the talented French born London resident in the United States. Louis was the first stop for Mouret on a four-city whirlwind tour which was followed by appearances the next day at Bergdorf Goodman's in New York and additional stops in Chicago and Miami. Mouret shows his Spring and Fall RTW during Paris Fashion Week so this was my first opportunity to both meet the designer as well as see his collection on display.

Roland Mouret


Louis was abuzz during the event with cheerful customers energetically taking advantage of the rare opportunity to gain invaluable and gracious input from the designer himself as they tried his latest line. Roland Mouret himself was clearly in his element dealing directly with Louis' clientele and his joyful enthusiasm was contagious. A radiant smile throughout the event and an eagerness to assist clients made for a great environment.

Roland Mouret's designs are known for celebrating the feminine form, excellent drape, minimalism and wearability. He says the perfect dress would be made with one piece of fabric and comes close in many designs. In his first runway show 10 years ago, he pinned all the pieces and without a stitch the show was a tremendous success to viewer and critic alike. I asked Mouret about the challenges of seasonal changes the fashion industry demands with his minimalist style. "It would be easy for me to design pieces which are very avant garde, but none of them would be wearable", Mouret said. This is a striking response. Perhaps it is easier for designers to showcase wildly costume-style designs for the runway at the cost of wearability. The real talent is creating "wow" pieces that can be worn straight off the runway. 

Michael Cress and designer Roland Mouret
Mouret has maintained the minimalism of construction and most pieces in his current line have only one or two seams and some well placed darting. What results are elegant, figure flattering pieces with none of the unnecessary frivolousness. As the models and clients tried on Mouret's different garments, it was striking how timeless the looks were. A classic has relevance in the past, present and future.  Mouret's designs are instant classics.        

Roland Mouret


Roland Mouret


Roland Mouret


http://www.louisboston.com/

Michael Cress ~ New York Sartorialist

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Belle Parish Runway Show

Denise Richards Walks Young Model Down Catwalk

When Fashion Week rolls around, the focus is on the latest looks for woman's ready-to-wear. It would be easy for a line of children's clothing to take a backseat to the adult's and become an after-thought. Belle Parish overcame the hectic noise of Fashion Week and become a memorable, fun show that had a little for everyone at the Elle Style360 series.

I know from having my own daughter that finding stylish, unique, age-appropriate classic clothing can be difficult. Ali Landry, former Miss USA, model and actress discovered this same problem after having her own daughter. Along with like-minded friend and partner, Annie Kate Pons, the two Southerners set out to start the Belle Parish line.

Ali Landry
So just how do you go about having a runway show when the models are from infants to five or six years old? Their solution was to recruit other mothers (and one father) to escort the little girls up and down the runway. Notable escorts included Ali Landry herself, Denise Richards and Alex McCord. Kids being kids, there were fun moments as the models strayed a bit from the usual catwalk routine; an occasional stop along the way, a little coercion, kisses blown to Mom and even a young sleeping model couldn't stop the show from being an enjoyableThe Southern-inspired outfits were lovely, practical and well above what parent's would find in the typical homogenized big-box stores. The Belle Parish website can be found at www.belleparish.com
Alex McCord

Ali and Annie have done such a wonderful job with the Belle Parish line for little ladies, perhaps they will become inspired to fill the even deeper sartorial void that exists for little boys. We can only hope.



These two stole the show as they sashayed down the runway to the soundtrack from Annie. 

To see the slideshow of the entire line plus a few bonus images, visit my Belle Parish Gallery


Michael Cress ~ New York Sartorialist

Monday, October 18, 2010

Eliz Lind

Eliz Lind
New York can be a bit of an odd place. Combine the large number of people, the vast amounts of wealth and the media- you'll find that people can react very strangely. Not a profound statement, people act strangely everywhere. But this is New York and if it's going to be done here-  it's going to be big.

The rarified air of New York's "High Society" can make otherwise seemingly reasonable and rational people go to extreme measures to be part of this elite group. Social climbing is not a new phenomenon but with the media and social media as it is and websites dedicated to following the gentility through a host of photographers and gossip journalists, both transparency is at it's highest as well as the desires of some to get into the club. A humorous aside; there's actually a website that ranks individual's notoriety based on an algorithm that includes how many events they attend and are photographed at, as well as the number of mentions in certain media such as the "Page 6" gossip column. How much attention is paid to the rankings by the corps d'elite is uncertain. I would need to review Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs but it's safe to say that concern over where one falls in the societal popularity contest is trivial to the masses.

It's refreshing to run across someone that's welcomed as societal royalty but truly seems to be apathetic about it all. So many are striving to be "in", there must be gnashing of teeth at the thought of one's nonchalance. Eliz Lind doesn't show signs of disdain over this cultural hierarchy, she simply seems indifferent . In many ways she's the girl-next-door; down to earth, unassuming, friendly and just assume learn more about you than talk about herself.

Beautiful classical features with high cheekbones and a delightful Lauren Hutton smile, she turns heads wherever she goes. Humorously, she thinks they think she's someone else. Someone in Europe once either confused her with or told her she has a striking resemblance to a notable European beauty. Since then, she assumes gawkers must be making the same mistake. This is perhaps one of the greatest illustrations of how down to earth Eliz is.

A Manhattan native, Eliz has long been considered one of the "It" girls of both the New York and Palm Beach social scenes. So much so that Vogue and other publications have listed her as one of the top eligible bachelorettes. The Vogue spread then led to modeling for Burberry as well as other advertising campaigns. Is there little wonder why people recognize her?

Unfazed by it all, Eliz works in Real Estate in Palm Beach (where her family now resides full-time) and writes for Q magazine- work she throughly enjoys.  Previously described as "Bohemian meets the Upper East Side", the dichotomy is evident. Her personal style is unique and honest. Elegant but unpretentious. There is a sense of being caught between two worlds and the bohemian artist is trying to escape and find refuge- unsure of the unchartered territory.  Shuttling between New York and Palm Beach, the Elizabeth Lind story is continuing to unfold but will undoubtedly be as interesting as the earliest chapters. I look forward to the rest of the story.

Eliz Lind

Michael Cress ~ New York Sartorialist


                                                                                          

Friday, August 13, 2010

Martina Mori

Martina Mori
Who needs to go to Florence when Florence comes to us?

In this day and age of social networking, we're able to make "friends" all over the world. As the destination city it is, New York offers the opportunity to meet "virtual" friends in the flesh.

Martina Mori and I have been cyber-friends for awhile. In planning her trip she gave me a heads up she was coming from her home in Florence, Italy to NYC and were able to grab coffee (and a few pictures).

Lovely, charming and working on her English (excellent progress- far better than my Italian), Martina is making the most of her visit by hitting all the usual spots. She did run into the unfortunate practice of many of our museums being closed on Monday's when she made her way up to the Met but found locked doors. 

A painter/artisan, Martina is one of the legions of people who make Italy and Italian craftsmanship among the best in the world. Unfortunate that the rest of the world has become so cookie-cutter and one-size fits-all; filled with the Gap's and Target's of the world. At least we have Italy!

Martina looks lovely here with her simple summer dress with vibrant colors and her Louis Vuitton bag. A nice ensemble for a hot New York summer day while making the rounds and a lot of walking.

In another note. Hope you didn't think my brief hiatus meant I was going away! Oh no. Working on several editorial photoshoot spreads and slowly making progress on the New York Fashion Online and New York Fashion House websites. I'm really excited about the two niches in the market that these will fill and I think you'll enjoy them. I can do a lot of things but code and HTML isn't one of them! I'll keep you updated on the progress.

Michael Cress ~ New York Sartorialist