big earrings! neutrals! and PANTS!: all that is hot for S/S 09

Harper's Bazaar, one of the last American fash mags that I will routinely read has an out of this world innovative fashion run down for S/S 09. You, dear consumers, when not 'shopping' in your own closet should be thinking about all the great outfits you will be rockin' in the coming months that you can fashion together from such 'it' pieces as:
-big earrings! H.Bazaar is sure you haven't thrown yours out from when big earrings were cool even though they suspect you have been demode and wearing them all along.
-shorts! You also probably have these lying around along with, a jacket, a white shirt, or even a cardigan!
Though, my favorite is their revelation that PANTS ARE SO IN! Long pants! Short pants! Anything that covers your lower half and separates your legs! You've got to have some of these! See, we are keeping your wardrobe current and being fiscal friendly!
In all seriousness, the issue is ukranian-model-slim due to the somewhat unnerving absense of advertisements. So, I can't hate for them trying to drum up an increase in readership by offering fashion bon mots for the 'rest of us'. Spring fashion in magazines always has had a repetative, cyclical, bent; one season it's nautical, the next it's safari, the next its some combination; whether it be travelling african pirate or coastal multi-culti set on a boat or beach. Never fear though, Harper's Bazaar does have some suggestions for those lucky enough to change wardrobes so frequently that they banish such items as pants from their closets to ensure they are following the latest fashion tenants to the letter. Namely, if you happen to be lacking cardigans for spring, Marni and Burberry make nice ones. Also, dear section of still moneyed readers, no need to buy a new bag, just use one of your old Chanel 2.55s or Hermes totes, you can even reach for that 'vintage' Balenciaga Le Dix. If you dare. Time's are tough, but now is the best time to reach reader's through sartorial escapism in the upper tiers of the fashion mags. If I want to find cheap, cute cardigans; I'll go to Jcrew. If I want pure nonsense of the outfit variety; I go to the glossy glossy pages of upper end and forward fashion mags. I am not saying they should tout the best hotel to stay in on your yearly sojourn to St. Lucia, but I do feel that keeping an element of fantasy in fashion is what will be the real hottest trend for the coming seasons.

Harper's Bazaar: unlikely Gap enthusiast

Harper's Bazaar the magazine who's official motto should be 'price upon request' is pushing Gap HARD this fall. I love Gap, I really do. What other 10yr old saves their chore money to buy gapkids straight leg jeans and jelly sandals? Have I bought anything at Gap recently? No, however that will change this fall with the new fw08 reworked collections. But I can't help, but be wary when HB has all 8 pages of the Gap fall ad-campaign, complete with Julia Restoin-Roitfeld-as in CARINE Roitfeld's baby-as in Editrix of Paris Vogue Roitfeld. Not to mention the mag prominently displaying a Gap woven top in the 'Newest Hottest Latest' picture rundown. Also, noting the Collette pop-up store that will be outside of the Gap Flagship til Oct. 5th in the NewHotLate news rundown. AND verbally propping Gap in the editorial titled, "New Buys You'll Love Forever" which is most odd as it is an editorial that aims to hand-hold the reader as she swipes her AMEX black for the new Hermes messenger bag because 'its an update on a classic! its cool! you'll have it forever! think of the money you'll save on not buying shitty bags like Coach or Tods!" (buy that 900$ Stella McCartney blazer instead of that ratty 300$ jcrew one! It's good for you!) All of this pressure only 309 pages into the 620+ pages that is the fall fashion tome. I am not hating on Gap's PR for getting choice spots in a magazine that doesn't exactly speak to their current consumer as much as who they want their consumer to be; it's good to grow. Though I do find fault with (a) the instances of Gaps brand placement being so close together and (b) that it appears that PR is not confident that the designs can sell themselves. Seriously, 148$ for a heather gray flannel puff coat that is slimming and chic!? I am fucking there!! I want Gap to rise again and bring accessible American sportswear in the face of a fast fashion pool being over-run with forever 21s and their ilk, but I can't help but feel like pushing something so hard is jinxing it.