A bit late to the game with this, but to celebrate its 10th b-day, Style.com, our go-to site for everything cool and fashiony, worked together with 10 designers to do commemorative T-shirt designs incorporating the Roman numeral for 10 -- X. The one I want, Lanvin, has already sold out, but there are other cool ones after the cut. They retail for US$45 a pop, but don't ship to Hong Kong. Boo. What's your pick?

Get them here.

Boobie traps by Alexander Wang:


Esoteric as usual at Rodarte:


Graffiti-ish at Proenza Schouler, sort of like last season's fish print:


Prada's usual brand of bizarre:


Goth a Givenchy:


And I guess this would be my second fave, deconstructed at Balmain:



Images, as always, from Style.com

Balmain holey tee: a million gazillion dollars, or 800 pounds, ballpark. Iro holey tee: HK$800 at Rue Madame. You may need to click to enlarge the Iro one to see how similar they are, but trust me, it's one extra click to prove how you can buy 10 of these for the price of one Balmain.

Recall, dear readers, when I posted about the inspiration that Balmain's spring couture 2001 presentation has had on collections in the past few years (witting or unwitting)?

The pink cocoon returns... this time at the hands of Monsieur Lagerfeld for Chanel haute couture. Didn't I tell ya what goes around comes around?



Image: Style.com

Most bloggers and other netizens took a well-deserved break this holiday season, leaving my RSS reader quite lonely. What did your resourceful little ShoeGeek do? I took to my Style.com app and starting surfing really old collections. And then I discovered that it's true when they say what goes around comes around. Style.com's couture documentation started in with Spring 2001, and the first collection featured in the alphabetical list was Balmain. Whoa, was 2001 a different time. Forget the disco dresses and rugged sequined confections that have brought Balmania to hysteric levels in the past couple of years -- this was Balmain under the luxe hand of Oscar de la Renta. It was definitely a different era.

Or.... was it? As I flipped through the images, I began getting that feeling of deja vu, like these archival pieces weren't so much relics of the past, but instead historical references that today's designers are using as inspiration... or perhaps just downright copying. I'm watching Project Runway season 6 right now, and I'm up to the episode wear Althea complains that Logan "stole" her zipper collar idea, and then Irena tells the judges that Althea "borrowed" her oversized sweater idea. The theory is brought up that influences can be conscious or unconscious, but where do we draw the line between "inspired by" and "a copy of"?

You have to admit, in many cases, the resemblance is pretty uncanny...

For the first time, Balmain bags are now available at On Pedder (which is sadly no longer on Pedder street but rather at the Joyce Boutique.) Spice up your everyday look with this punk suede studded messenger bag. HK$$33,900. At On Pedder New World Tower, Central. Tel: 2118 3489