The Best Kind of Garden Party

Christian Dior Couture

I am in love with Christian Dior's Fall 2010 Couture show. It's elegant display of color and shape makes recent trends look like an army of beige-and-black, layered-and-lumpy tragedies. It's so out there with proportions, but still sort of grounded in design that it just makes me smile to look at.

And believe me, I've looked, and looked, and looked, and still can't get enough of it.

I Wasn't Invited?

Valentino's Wideville Party

Now that seems like a party.

Can I just say I love the fact the Blake Lively got in two pictures? One with Anna Wintour and the other with Christian Louboutin. Boy, that girl sure knows how to socialize.

Ok, but favorite look of the night has got to be this.

Courtesy of style.com, Ms. Dasha Zhukova everyone! I've got to admit, I've never heard of her before, but thats the wonderful thing about a Paris party; us Americans get to experience stuff other than American culture.

I know it's not a ball gown, like some beautiful ones on show that night, but it's just got this simple elegance, it almost looks like a wedding cake or something. I just love it! And she pulls it off smashingly!

Back to School?

It's 80 degrees outside, sunny with a slight breeze, and I'm on the beach. My brother's in the water, my parents are totally blocked out by my beach playlist, and there's a cute guy two towels down. Perfection, no?

But what's on my mind? Going back to school. Going back to school early for AP European History, which, God bless my nerdy soul, I'm really looking forward to. Going back to school early for crew preseason (Cue Gosh-I-really-need-to-get-in-shape-I'll-do-pushups-tonight lecture in my head).

And that's all well and good, because my education and my physical activity are all things that are very important to my future well-being. And my college resume.

But what's in the back of my mind through all of this self-examination? What I'm going to wear. What else?

I try and look really nice on the first day of school, it's really a must. Last year I wore a little, silk, colorful dress with a J. Crew Blazer and strands of long necklaces. It was kinda a hit.

That being said, it's not that hard to look extra nice, when most girls show up in a tee-shirt and shorts. Did anyone tell them it was a big day?

Now, it's not August yet, and I'm not really stressing about the outfit. Usually by the second week of August I have a pretty good idea. I lay it out, edit, accessorize, and presto! by September 9th it's ready to go.

But beyond back-to-school-day fashions, I have another concern looming on the fall horizon. Back to school fashions. The day to day monotony punctuated only rarely with a nice Chapel day or Father/Mother-Daughter Brunch.

Let me get to the point. The thing that I'm not looking forward to about going back to school are the sweatpants, tee-shirt, fleece, Uggs/flip flops wardrobe that suits every girl just fine at my school except me.

And normally I wouldn't care about what other girls are wearing, I'd probably love it if it made me stand out more. But you can't show up to my school looking like you're trying to be in a TeenVogue shoot (which is very likely in my case) because every girl who rolled out of bed that morning will look at you like you're insane. Not that you're showing her up, or that she doesn't like your outfit, but that, in her opinion, It's only school, what are you so dressed up for?

That's where I give in. It's a valid point.

It's not that I really want to impress my 60-something english teacher with a new dress properly accessorized. I don't want to put together a nice outfit because I'm going to school. I just want to put together a nice outfit because it's what I love.

And being 15 with a schedule like mine, where else do I go but school five days a week, crew after school every day, crew races on the weekends, and work at the restaurant?

The reason I'm dying to dress up for school is that it takes up the majority of my week, I do it everyday, and it takes over my life. It's like a job, but I don't get paid.

And it's not like I'm going to New York City parties in my spare time. Can I show up to the movies with my friends in high-heels? They'd look at me like I'm crazy.

When you're older, you're free to dress how you want. Older people in the fashion world set the stage for the trends, go all out, and create like mad. Fashion shows are the expression of a season, and, in that sense, of a time.

But by the time those trends trickle down to the teenage department, they're whittled away into what's appropriate, what's practical, what's mass-marketed.

It's ironic that people think of teenagers as being so interested in clothes, because they all dress alike.

Tell me you haven't seen those girls at the mall? The ones that travel in groups of three or more? They move together like a herd and have no more distinction among themselves than a group of zebras.

Being a teenager with a sense of individualism is stifling. If you're a reader interested in fashion, you'll know exactly how I feel.

And so, sitting here on the beach, I wonder how, having worked up the confidence over a period of three months to express my style on the first day of school, will I manage to survive nine months of being sucked back into the herd, in fear of being left to the lions of social scrutiny.