YUCK. :-(

Ann, you find the most interesting things...and I suppose one must remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. While my eye sees proliferation (and that must be what it is, what else could it be?) as indeed "YUCK," obviously the designers saw it as "unusual" and therefore to be valued. What a hoot!

I couldn't help thinking as I scrolled down through all those printed rose fabrics, where is it written that models must appear thoroughly bored?

I liked a few of the dresses, but what is with those head dresses? They look like headphones with stuff on them.

Grief - horrible, horrible printed garishness...on what looks suspiciously like polyester or some other man-made nylon horror. Tired, cliched, ugly dreary starved models, hate seeing children as accessories, Ghastly, the entire lot.

But then, the world of fashion has always struck me as a symptom of everything shallow, ego-ridden, exploitative, sexist, if not downright misogynistic - the whole style over substance, ephemeral, unsustainable, destructive agenda to get idiots to part with ridiculous sums of money while emperors and empresses are cavorting nakedly in front of glutted celebrities and fawning media tarts. The entire industry, from the Rana Plaza to the European couture houses, top to bottom, is a disgrace. I bought my last coat in 1991 (black wool and cashmere) and will expect to see out my earthly span without having to buy another.

Not, obviously, to conflate my disdain for the whole shabby edifice with your post, Ann.

I realise I sound like a grumpy, dull, joyless hater...but I do appreciate innovation, wit, playfulness and imagination...I just do not recognise any of these qualities remaining unsullied once the juggernaut of industry has rolled its heavy wheels all over a human desire for colour, identity and style.

To me roses represent beauty, feminity, lightness, and spring. I don't think the use of roses for a fall line is appropriate. It looks too dark and sad. The roses do not seem to elevate the clothes but look like they were put there for decoration and worse for the sake of being different. In fact, the ones without the roses look nicer, imho.

...some of the models horribly thin, but leaving that aside, I absolutely adore roses on dresses,....some of these were much too short for a woman of my age...but I did like those few that were longer, below the knee... and my favourite of all is the one where she's holding the little child... that black top with Tudor red rose and black skirt with red and white roses.... just perfect, I loved that.... of course you need a figure for it...

..far worse things going on in the world than a fun fashion exhibit...

Well, it's nice that flowers have been getting more play in fashion, lately -- something that might boost interest in gardening as a whole.

This collection of clothes is not appealing to me either, with a few exceptions. Though some of the depictions of the roses are nice (would make nice wall hangings or such) -- the pieces as a whole seem jarring and unpleasant. And the "ear mops" (as my daughter called them when she was a child -- that malapropism seems to work well here) are just silly. However, if the fashion industry had to depend on the likes of me (with the exception of good old Levi Strauss), they would starve.

Nothing will get a rose booted out of my garden faster than a tendency to proliferate, so it's funny to me that they are so prominently featured in the bouquets.

I see babies are in fashion this year too.

I am overall in sympathy with Suzy's rant. I think that when beauty and attractive clothes came within reach of the average person, the fashion houses lost interest in them. I would love to see healthy happy people--the women with curves--as models again.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Ann.

I think some of the dresses are beautiful. Roses give a timeless elegance to fashion. I also think the mother/daughter theme is rather sweet.

Though I wouldn't buy an expensive dress just to sit in my closet. I have no idea what "designer clothes" cost, never owned any. These days I am in casual attire almost exclusively, and short on closet space, and don't need it anyway.

Thanks for sharing this Ann!

lori_elf, I agree with you in that roses give a timeless elegance to fashion! I also see the mother and daughter theme in a positive light; probably just my nature, especially because we are a couple of months or so away from Mother's Day.

Some of the dresses are beautiful. Many of the styles found are similar to fashion from yesteryear, and like a lot of what is seen on the runways, they will likely proliferate fashion all the way to knockoffs on discount shelves to be worn by the masses.

I would wear the black dress in the middle, ( worn by the model with the polka dot shoes) in a heartbeat. Its a classic LBD, think Audrey Hepburn, and although her LBD's often lacked sleeves, I still find it to be reminiscent of something she or some other woman from that era may have worn.

I love most of these dresses and am happy to see a rose theme being used on many of them. Love the kids, too. I think those little girls were probably thrilled to be in a fashion show. Did some of the roses look embroidered to any of you? This interests me a lot, having spent many years designing for the needlework industry, not to mention countless hours embroidering flowers myself--my favorite subject matter. If I were just thinner, richer, and younger, I wouldn't mind wearing a dress or two from this collection

My favorite, slightly proliferated rose, Evelyn.

I thought the styles looked very retro, haven't we seen it all before? I have lots of my late mother-in-law's clothes from the 40ies to the 70ies in trunks in the basement. I have taken out some dresses for my 15-year-old granddaughter and they fit her perfectly. She must have inherited her great grandmother's figure although she is much taller so the dresses look even better on her. She is using one in a school play, Of Mice and Men, a flowery fifties dream with a full skirt that takes ages to iron. No roses on it though.

Adèle Prévost is my worst proliferator but not every year. I have no idea why.

Some of those clothes were very pretty, others not so much. I would NEVER let a model take my child (if I had one) down the runway. With as wobbly as they walk in some of those shoes, I would be afraid they would fall and drop him/her. Yes, a child is not a fashion accessory.

We just had a discussion in the "roses" section about "green centered roses or proliferation." Seems to be a trendy thing right now, probably as someone stated, they are different. Even DA is showing one or two in his cut line of roses. As trends come and go, I don't expect it to last more than a season.

I don't Know, i thought some of them were beautiful. You have to remember this is a runway show and the whole idea is to be over the top to grab everyones attention. What will actually end up in the stores for the likes of us to purchase will be vastly toned down. And I am glad to see roses and flowers and any prints back in style. I'm very tired of black, gray, beige everything!

They will just sell a few styles and the rest are just art projects to fill the show. There are some highly talented hand sewers in the industry but they are getting fewer and fewer. Sometimes they .make the most beautiful girls look ugly in these shows. There used to be a tv show where the host interviewed the models backstage and they look so much better when they are being natural, smiling,laughing without the fashion faces. Proliferated roses as accents don't shock me. Just some dummy who picked it for the color not knowing what it is. Probably wouldn't care if they knew. Send them out and on to the next show. Don't you know that you should throw everything out and buy new again? That's why I sew for myself except my gardening clothes which get heavy wear.

I love clothes but most fashion shows are just art expressions. Most of these places make their money on perfume and handbags while the clothes lose money.

Here is a link to why clothes fall out of fashion based on a timeline

lavers law

Maybe that's why I like to sew Victorians and older styles. I don't know why recently fashionable things should be unwearable but there it is.....more money for the fashion mill.

It seems to me that I saw a rose variety marketed not too long agao, and one of its "selling points" was that almost all of its flowers proliferated. It was an odd-looking rose, and an ingenious marketing strategy.

Does anyone here remember reading about that? I don't think I'm imaginative enough to have dreamed that one up, but I can't recall enough of the details to search for it online.

Virginia

There are a number of nurseries selling the Centifolia "Prolifera de Redoute", but there are precious few photos of that centifolia in full blown proliferation. Maybe because they aren't growing it in the conditions that the Empress Josephine had at Malmaison.

The Redoute print shows classic buds emerging from the center of the blooms. There is a photo of a green center that looks more like phyllody that looks more like the center of Madam Hardy, and which shows no signs of producing a second tier of flower petals.

I wonder how they manage to manipulate tempertures, etc. in the flower production greenhouses.

I think this is the proliferating rose I had in mind when I posted the above:

http://flirtyfleurs.com/tag/auswater/

I figured I'd eventually see it again if I didn't just imagine it.

Virginia

Some of the little black dresses were quite lovely but you would swoon at the price. But who would want to walk around with the word MAMMA spelled out around their neckline. Also, the risk of osteoporosis for these girls in their later years is sky-high. The proliferating roses are a fashion gimmick, since fashion at that level can never be "ordinary". That would be its death knell. When I think of all the people and animals that could be helped by one of these ladies attired in couture clothes and Manolo Blahnik shoes ("a bargain at $1000, dahling), and half a million dollars worth of jewelry adorning their person, I just want to scream. Since I can't change a thing I just sat back and enjoyed the fashion parade that Ann so unexpectedly presented us with.

Those roses in the link remind me of my Evelyn that I posted above. Diane

Diane, it does look like your 'Evelyn'. So now if she proliferates, you can just say, "it's not a bug, it's a feature"...

;>)