Your style evolution

[Stargirl52]

Oh, I love them so. I made them myself for a party, the sequins took 4 hours to sew on.

I can't find a picture, I'll take one and post it later.

-G.

 

[hitchcock_blonde]

Hmmm as far back as I can remember:

10-ish: Lots of costumes, I was fascinated by tv and movie characters and tried to emulate their outfits.

13-14: First year of highschool. Lots of halternecks, jeans. Tres boring

15-17: Lots of surfie clothes, influenced by lots of my friends. I live in Australia so it's almost like a 16yr old's uniform. Had long blonde wavy hair.

18: Drama student black. Very dull. Very lifeless.

19: First yr of university, entranced by all the designer clothes I saw on other students, began reading about fashion. Started buying a lot of Sass and Bide clothes, but without much personal style. I must have looked like the biggest geek owning all colours of the Sass and Bide racerbacks. I looked like a clone of all the other Sydney "fashion" girls.

20: Rebelled against the designer look, wore lots of cutoff black leggings under flowy skirts, black tanks and aviator sunglases. Very avant garde - or so I thought at the time.

21: (now) Much more polished. Hair chocolate brown, but dying it chestnut brown next. Clean minimal make up to just enchance my features, well groomed hair. Fitted black clothes, lots of pencil skirts and dark skinny leg jeans, wrap dresses and peeptoe heels. I normally wear pearl studs, my white gold necklace with pearl stud or string of pearls. Femme fatale, 40s inspired asthetic. Occasional long silk black fringed scarf when channeling Kate Moss in skinny leg jeans and black tank. I prefer to keep things simple and uncluttered. Quality over quantity.

 

[Jane Loves Marc]

I've had an excellent fashion upbringing. I was surrounded by clothes since I was born, lol, mom had a fantastico line called Atlantis Undergrounds that was really popular at the time.
0-3: I dressed myself. I wore lots of Baby Atlantis (mom's line), mexican dresses, and mismatched socks.
3-7: Mom dressed me. I went to school is leopard print mary-janes and peacoats.
7-10: Bright bright colors. Flared jeans. Brief fling with baggy boys pants.
10-12: I really get into clothes. I bust out mom's old clothes and start to love vintage boy's levis. I also wear long long flowy skirts and mom gives me old pants, thus my first Blue Cults.
12-13: I start to rebel against the teeny-bopper, Southlake girl, head-to-toe AE bullsh*t that everyone wears here. Mom starts to make these floor sweeping recycled skirts that she bleaches and sews in patches. VERY funky, wore those a LOT. Still do. People stared a lot, and I gained reputation for being hippy. (mind you, this is Texas standards for a 'hippy'. If your jeans aren't skin tight and you aren't in youth group, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!!??)
13-14: Eased up on my hippy look. I start to appreciate our vast vintage coat collection and now regualarly wear wool bombers, motorcycles, knee length 60's trenches, huge *** shoulder pads, and lots of sequins, almost always with ballet flats. I wear uGGs a ton (will never stop. ever) and have a lot and a lot of boots.

 

[castorpollux]

up 'til the end of elementary school - whatever my mom bought me (eg - Lacoste, Generra, Bugle Boy); footwear from Reebok
middle school - Hilfiger (collared) shirts with Dockers khakis (jeans weren't allowed at my parochial school); footwear from Nike
high school - anything Guess or Hilfiger; footwear from Rockport, Timberland, or Doc Marten; was voted "best-dressed" on the senior mosts page in our yearbook when we graduated
first year of college - anything Hilfiger or Guess; Doc Marten footwear
second year - anything Abercrombie; Doc Marten footwear
third and fourth years - anything DKNY, Gap, Ralph Lauren, Abercrombie, Banana Republic, or J. Crew; Doc Marten or Birkenstock footwear
med school (ie - now) - pretty much what you see in the What Are You Wearing Today thread

 

[Diorling]

Kindergarten - I remember tons of polo shirts, khaki pants and boat shoes. I dressed like my father, it made me look old.

Elementary - Abercrombie and Britches were the coolest thing on planet earth, so was Columbia. Oh, and I always had the coolest Nike's.

Freshmen - Just discovering the concept of being well dressed.

Sophomore - D&G was my god. I remember a D&G logo shirt (D&G written over and over and over) it was lime green, and SKIN tight. VERY flashy.

Junior - Urban Outfitter's is my go-to-store. I realized the miracle of flattering clothes. Biege's and blues and greens are staple colors. The fauxhawk is immortalized in our yearbook.

Senior - Urbn still it but shying away from the ultra "look how slovenly I am" look. Red, blue, beige are the colors.

Post-Highschool - Polished with some hip punches thrown in. Like a cashmere wool top coat worn with Samba's with the tounge out. Purple cardigan with riding boots, extremely conservative pieces worn in a new way. Black, grey, white are the colors.

 

[mr.minglesworth]

elementary, middle- gap, banana republic. lots of tees and sweaters, lots of preppy polos and for a while, a uniform that was navy blue slacks and a white polo...and sneakers. always sneakers (adidas)
high school, freshman yr- lots of j.crew, banana, still sorta gap (lots of flipflops)
high school, soph yr- i went crazy for diesel and sisley. lots of jeans, tight tees, tight button-down shirts, and still with the flip flops. actually they were more of all through high school.
high school, junior yr- i settled down some, but became really fed up with trying to look cute for no one to notice, so i wore a lot of sweatpants, sweatshirts, sneakers, boring stuff essentially. bought my first designer messenger bag.
high school, senior yr- lacoste and burberry polos were all over the place, so got sorta caught up in that. but decided that j.crew and brooks brothers was best place for slacks and polos. bought my first couple couture RTW (prada), but mostly stayed in polos and shorts...it was simple. bought a bally messenger bag. also...lots of ralph lauren stuff near the end. voted best dressed.
post HS, college- bought first pair of prada shoes, and more RTW, as well as wallets and an agenda (lv). started shopping at ruehl, which quickly got old. now looking for a good, not-as-expensive-as-prada RTW place to shop. want more pizzazz than j.crew, but less craziness than like, urban. still love ralph lauren. and diesel jeans are good.

 

[Alejandro]

I've evolved soo much... its not even funny

 

[Guessgirl96]

3-5 grade: I was FAT. I mostly wore jeans and baggy tops, I loved tweety and had lots of shirts with him on it. I wore my brothers old shorts, they were these really light wash thick denim shorts that were just above the knee, they were horrible.

6-7 grade: sometimes slightly punkish, a little skater or goth. Not full on goth witht the black lipstick and all the chains and chockers and everything, but it was kind of swayed in the direction. Other times it would be just normal "cute" tops and jeans.

8-9 grade: I was in love with the store guess, all my clothes came from there. I was dressed like a typical guess maniquin. Lots of midriff baring tops.

10 grade: Moved away from guess and more into comtemporary and high end. skinny jeans, high heels or boots, big bags. Lots of different tops, usually somewhat fitted. I love jackets and scarves.

 

[finalfashion]

As a child. wearing thrift store overalls and sweaters. Never thinking about my own clothes. My cousin made fun of me for wearing the same clothes two days in a row I hadn't even noticed. In my own little world.

6 years old. Being made fun of at school by an older boy for having a stupid looking hat. My homemade knit hat. For the first time it occured to me my clothes could be wrong. After that my parents asked me if I wanted to be homeschooled. I said yes.

7 years old. I create a world of mice paper dolls out of a box of discarded ALCOA computer paper. They have extensive wardrobes, covering varying periods of history and just about every possible kind of thing I could think of.

3. 9 years old. Read the Lord of the Rings for the first time. Fell in love with fantasy. Discovered costume history books. Began creating obsessively paper dolls. Buying my own clothes remains an unexperienced part of life. My own clothing was simply a moot point, as always.

12 years old. Taking the sheets off my bed and draping them around me to make dresses. My mom had a book on how to make cloth dolls and I sewed a set of them on the treadle machine... and dressed them in little corsets and simple dresses out of scraps of fabric. Still no tangible interaction with consuming fashion, but desperately aware that I was in the wrong clothes, and unable to do much about it. I lived in a small town that had like, one store where you could buy expensive, boring clothing. One shoe store.

13 years old. I want a pair of Doc Martens so much. Too expensive. My best friend and her mom take me to the mall for the first time. I have $30. The best store is Le Chateau. We look in the bins for cheap halter tops.

14 years old. Mostly I take my dad's clothes from the closet, from the seventies. I wore these huge clothes for a 6-foot man even though I was this skinny little eighty pound girl. I swath myself in giant, ridiculous clothes. I have glasses now and I hated them, so I wore my hair long and hiding as much as possible of myself. I had a leather hat that obscured most of my face. My mom has a hard time convincing me not to wear it at my grad dance. My most bizarre period.

15 - 16. Thrift store chic, but more concerted. Odd and ridiculous clothes. Slightly off-colour clothes. Slap-dash approximations in a world where fashion was all jeans and winter coats.

17 - 18. First jobs. Finally purchase a pair of Doc Martens 1460 Quads... chunky, soft black matte. Nice. More jeans and t-shirts. Ski coats. An effort to fit in. Never skirts and dresses.

19 - Prom. Lycra. Cost: $40 on sale at Le Chateau. Wrecked it without a care.

20 - Enter university. Fashion Design degree. Acutely aware that my clothes are wrong. Intimidated by Fashion. Feel out of place. My first purchase in the city: Gucci cats-eye shaped frameless glasses that are my signature.

21 - Start wearing dresses in the summertime. Start making things and wearing them. My first docs finally crack in the sole . New ones red leather with black polish...

22 - Start to have "summer style" and "winter style". Feel confidence in my clothes for the first time. Start to settle into the fashion scenario here. Beginning to fall in love with the whole crazy thing. Get my first nice haircut.

23 - New boots, Fluevog Bond Girl boots, think knee high girly moto-boots. More skirts. More jackets. More mixing. More military. But still comfortable, capable, more things that I make that make me feel good. Never felt happier and looking forward to the changes post-graduation too... ugly duckling to swan story almost complete

this gets a little emotional. I just love reading all your histories...

 

[crankypants]

Fun thread.

elementary school -- wore whatever my mom laid out on the bed in the morning. That once included a blue polyester polka dotted pantsuit.

middle school & high school -- interested in fashion, but had very little to work with. at the beginning of the school year, i had $100 to spend on some new clothes, and that was it for the entire year. so yea. tee shirts and jeans, which got larger and larger as I grew more self-conscious about my skinniness.

undergraduate years -- overalls. converse. androgyny was my friend. started visiting thrift stores.

grad school -- still overalls, but now sometimes dresses and skirts. wore a tank top for the first time (not as self-conscious about my skinniness then).

post college/ first years as a professional -- worked in an ad agency, so that didn't encourage grown-up adult stuff. tried, though.

and now, it's kinda a mix of all my previous styles. a little androgynous, a little bit thrift store, oftentimes girly.

 

[ultramarine]

I think I had TWO phases:

Fashion victim: If it was the trend ... I'd wear it ... it span from the time I was old enough to pick my own clothes til I was about ... 20? (OMG! The horror!)

Schizo-chic: I think Lena was the first girl I've even heard mention this word in here ... it's "wear how you feel" ... don't get me wrong ... I do have style and people recognize me because of it .. this is what made me break outta all that trend-cult-following ... (Think V-neck Hanes white tees with an Hermes twilly, some baggy jeans and Prada's America's cup) ... but it depends .. on my day off I love to wear sandals and sometimes I wear geta sandals with tabi socks and a tee (and a nice jacket) with cargo shorts ... I'm all over the place ... but there are items which are oh-so-me!

 

[pixiewytch]

Very fun thread indeed! I am also glad to know I'm not a ahem, victim of this strange fashion disorder, lol.

My first memory of fashion would probably be Madonna in 1985. Mind you, I was in elementary school but huge on rubber bracelets, spandex minis, neon colors, huge earrings, etc. I was probably also the only one wearing those things in such a conservative hometown. I felt very out of of place. Then again, such is the story of my life.

Like many in adolescence, I had a short phase of wanting to fit in, look like the preppy pretty cheerleader girls of the early nineties. Of course it didn't work for me and I put it together all wrong but I tried. I had the aqua net helmet hair so huge that nothing could permeate it.

By high school I gave up on trends. My wardrobe consisted of nothing but a different Metallica shirt for each day of the week and a pair of jeans. Hair...long and straight. I hung out with headbanger guys and went to metal concerts. Throw in a huge silver pentacle necklace or something with a sword or skull on it.

After high school this naturally migrated into the goth/Courtney Love period...only black clothing, pale makeup with red lipstick, trashy lingerie as outerwear, lots of silver jewelry, vintage victorian clothing (pre hot topic thank you very much), bright auburn long hair. This phase evolved into stripper/cyber goth (lots of vinyl, latex), bright manic panic hair colors. This lasted longer than I would care to admit but I have always been associated with "freaks" in one way, shape, or form.

Then after giving birth, I found solace in the hippie jamband scene. I grew dreadlocks twice, stopped shaving, starting wearing and stitching up handmade patchwork clothing. My only pair of shoes were beat up birkenstocks...no makeup, anti beauty standards...anti establishment in general...it was fun, really.

Now I don't know where I am entirely, still haven't found my niche really. I guess I'm sort of boho chic but that sounds so cliche. My biggest challenge in recent years has been toning down my flashy, audacious wardobe/personality for a bit of subtlety. I think that's where I am now...learning how to balance bright, flashy pieces or accessories with toned down conservative things as well.

 

[fashion_boi_01]

0-10: whatever my parents would pick out for me

11-13: Gap. polos, t-shirts, hoodies, not so baggy jeans, nike + adidas shoes.

14: Levi's, French Connection, Calvin Klein Jeans. Loved logos. Big, flashy in your face logos.

15: Was bored in the summer, decided to list all the high end designer names I could come up with, and then research on them. Went to a bunch of their websites, looked through the collections..started liking what I saw. No need for logos to look good..and my idea of what is fashionable started to change. Didn't buy any clothes that summer. Dad gave me some of his sweaters and shirts.

Now. Still 15. Hate logos. I know exactly what my style is, but don't have the money to support it. I try to work around what I have but it's hard. I have to wait till July for a new wardrobe, hoping to consist of mostly APC. If I had like $5000 then I'd go for Dior Homme, but I only have $1000 and in this case it's quantity over quality..I hate the clothes I'm currently wearing and can't afford to only get 2 or 3 pieces of the high high end stuff..that won't get me anywhere. I'll get a job that summer and save up money so I can continue expanding my wardrobe. I made a choice, clothing or getting to borrow my parent's car (which costs about $300 a month for insurance for them), so I chose clothing.

 

[mediocrityrules]

This is a great thread, it is interesting to see how many of us end up with a more minimalistic, simple elegance as we get older. Mine is similar to a lot of yours.

0-5-dressed by parents
6-7- I loved the store in the mall called Natural Wonders, I wore frog print tees, etc...Science nerd.
8-9-More girly and feminine, I loved dresses and floral prints
10-This is when I started realizing the clothes were a form of communication and started to worry about what I wore. Stripes were really popular so I had so many striped shirts!
11-12-I wore a lot Guess
13-the whole skater/punk thing-Nofx etc...
14-half of the year would begin @ the punk thing but by the end of the year I was more preppy
15: experimenting with color, fashion victim, I wore VERY bright colors, and then I would go back the skater thing
16: same, the whole Boho thing got really popular too, it was a combo of Clueless-90's insanity, Boho, and "skater/snowboarder"
17: pretty much the same, except the days when I tried to be "classy" but ended up looking more like a 40-something suburban secretary who shops @ Sears.
18: Very electro/urban/grunge 80's fashion disaster style etc...I was really into the Cure, Ladytron, the Pixies, Le Tigre, Chicks on Speed,
19: Now: I try to incorporate more classics. I have realized that I do not need to dress so "indie/fashionista" to be an individual. In fact, I feel like less of a sheep now that I realize how contrived that image/lifestyle is, although I still love the music. Pretty much anything goes now, except BOHO, 80's,scene style thing-or the whole Juicy couture princess thing. I love black, white, mod, minimalism, expressive jewelry, dresses, well cut-blazers, skinny jeans FLATS, comfort in general, TRENCH COATS, puffed cap sleeves on simple shirts, and currently my favorite colors are navy and COBALT BLUE-I'm obessed. I also started caring a lot more about cut & fit, than prints etc...thanks to TFS!!! And I don't over accesorize now either.You guys have helped me a lot.

 

[DENiSSA]

still only 16 but my style has changed from what i remember

i've had my clothes chosen by my mom..then i did with the influence of the spice girls and britney spears..then came my "ghetto phase" wearing brands like ecko red, baby phat, rocawear, etc. and then the "ashlee simpson phase" and now i'm more comfortable with the way i dress with the ever so infamous influence of celebs like kirsten, mk&ash, nicole, keira, etc.

 

[Plastic'sWife]

lately i have been moving past the Juicy to sexy siren. Its a change for me but Im happy to evolve. Its all about really high heels and more miniskirts. I have discovered Marciano and Bebe as my new resources.

 

[Lilliana]

what a cool thread!

0-12 - dressed by mom
12-14 - Grunge. ripped Leivs, super big grey Flannels and wanted Doc Martins soo much , but never got any...
15 - 16 - changed school and also style. Very Preppy, lots of navy - layers, chemises, blazers. All I wanted was to look like a my idea of a british school kid...
17 - 18 - 'the arty intellectual phase' lots and lots of black, my fave outfit was a black suit & I also had black rimmed glasses, my fave assesoir was some philosophy / art book
19 - 20 - uni started and I started my 'so called avant garde phase' which means nothing else than nobody else dressed like me, simply because I dressed a bit strange ...
20 - return to normality. back to the roots or whatever - stared wearing mix of all above, probably caused by lack of money. Always trying to look 'elegant'
21 - going indie - 'the scene style'
23 till now - lots of vintage, rock elements dunno how to describe it, maybe to pin it down: I'm wearing converse

 

[unplugged66]

I've gone through a few phases, just in my teen years.

Grade Nine: Baggy Jeans and T-shirt
Grade Ten: Very punk look, God knows why.
Grade Eleven: Alot of shirts with fitted jeans mostly Guess clothing
Grade Twelve: Was pretty much the same thing, alot more layed back.
Now: As for now, alot of vintage inspired long slevees & t-shirts, paired with a pair of light faded jeans, and a scarf and my Dior sunglasses if sunny. I'm really into the whole "urban I'm a wh*re at your local Starbucks" look. I just throw in a Louis Wallet or Gucci Pouch to finish that look lol.

 

[accordingi2ime]

Elementary: Whatever my mom bought me
Middle School: Tommy, Polo, Guess, Calvin Klein, Nautica
High School: 9-10th grade. Urban, hip hop style. bigger, baggier the better
High school: 11-12th grade. Banana Republic, Express, club monaco
College 1st year- Diesel.
College 2nd- More Diesel. some vintage stuff.
College 3rd now- I want to go, Dolce, Raf, Jil, Yohji but can't afford. Trying to go about it.

 

[visconti]

This promises to be embarassing, but here we go. It'll be stream of consciousness

80s-
I don't remember much about the stuff that I wore prior to middle school. My parents picked most of it. Most of what I know comes from stories they've told. My dad went to Iceland when I was very young. He brought back some clothes. For whatever reason I got fixated on them. I've never gotten over my interest in that country. I didn't wear jeans in elementary school. My parents thought they looked cheap. Or something like that. Lots of black pants and some cordoroys. They recall me complaining about and refusing to wear polos and most forms of horizontal "prison stripe" looking things. We went on a lot of trips, so my favorite shirts came from there. I thought it was cool to be the only kid in school with a Cartagena tee. Halloween was far and above my favorite holiday. I won the costume contests at school at least once. The winner was this King Tut costume that my mom designed and put together. It was solid gold. I had gold makeup and stuff too. Looking back on it, it was extremely feminine, but I didn't know the difference. I only accepted GI Joes and similar toys if they had crazy looks. Of course all of these guys were "evil". At first my parents were concerned, but they later realized it was the look rather than the character that fascinated me. I hated it when my grandmother gave me a "Chuckles" figure because he wore a Hawaiian shirt and khakis (or something like that).

early 90s-
My parents still had a large influence during middle school years. I still wore vacation tees. Lots of solid colored shirts. I had some bright colored jeans. Orange. Purple. Probably more. I made my parents buy me a New Orleans Saints Starter jacket because it was black and gold and "French". I was really obsessed with the fleur des lis. I had shirts with animals and such on them. Lots of Nikes. At first they were hightops, but then I started running track and cross country, so I switched to running shoes. I still don't have any boots because I've grown so used to loafers and shoes that hit below the ankle. Oh, I liked my shirts BIG. Silky too. I'm sure it was awful. At some, and this may have been elementary school, the mall by my parents opened with some really high end stores. This was probably the late 80s/early 90s. I remember being amazed by the cashmere sweaters and triple digit tags. I wish I could remember more specfics, but all of the good stores left long ago.

94-98
High school clothes were fairly depressing. I still liked the animals and vacation tees, but that just wasn't cool. I went a few years where I pretty much just wore jeans. I don't remember the brands, but they were mainly from Parisian (a mid range department store. I know my dad bought a Burberry trench there, but I think that was their highest end). I actively refused my dad's efforts to get me to wear Nautica and Hilfiger. At some point, and this may have been middle school, we went to Abercrombie. This was before it was "cool". All I remember was that I saw things that 60 year old men would consider too dull to wear. Thankfully, I think this saved me from giving them a chance when they became "cool". I started wearing some band shirts because I didn't realize that was just as uniform-esque as Abercromie and all of that. I recall being really depressed about there being absolutely nothing of interest to wear. That's probably pre-internet Ohio for you.

98-02
I started college in the band tee/all black phase. It was never all out goth because I didn't feel like hassling with the makeup, but I don't think I owned a non-black shirt. At least nothing I liked. This was awkward because my first roommate only wore J Crew. It was at this point that I started wondering what else was available. Actors and rock stars clearly had cool clothes, but I had no idea how to get them. I remember being shocked the cost of things I'd find for sale one websites like Saks. I liked it, but wasn't ready to make that more of a priority than music or DVDs. Later in college I started to get bored with the band tee/all black look, but I stuck with plain, solid colored button downs and things like that. None of it fit very well. I mean, I'd buy the smallest sizes, but it was still too baggy.

2002
Then I decided to go to law school. I viewed this as a chance to move away from all of the old stuff, but still, most of the options were boring and too baggy. Fortunately, my dad had the great idea to get me a few good suits. We went to a small boutique sized menswear store in Cincy. This was the first time I'd actively paid attention to nice clothes. I'd been in boutiques on vacations before, but again, the prices horrified me. I don't remember exactly what we got, but it definitely included my black cashmere coat, a Ferre suit, a Canali tie and some sort of high end dress shirts. That was really what "ruined me" as my parents like to say. Basically, once I saw what clothing should be, I knew that's what I had to have.

For a few months I still had no idea how to get good quality (i.e Italian) stuff, so I'd find slim cut/mainly women's pants at various outlets. Now they're all incredibly flimsy looking and not as slim as I'd ever wear, but they were better than a lot of men's dress pants. I cut jeans out entirely. I don't believe I wore a pair for a year or more. I recalled some of the names from the store my dad took me to. Online research led to more names. Certain ones immediately clicked. McQueen was one of those. I also immediately loved Cavalli and Etro and D&G and Galliano. Basically the wilder the better. At this point I'm pretty sure I found mainline Dolce to be boring.

Once I discovered yoox and the Saks outlet (which is under a mile from my parent's house) I started devoting most of my money to clothes. I'd mainly look for loud stuff. At this point (probably early 03), I didn't understand what made somebody like Jil Sander an interesting designer. Why would I want black and white and grey when I could have lime green and glitter? At some point I got bored with this intentionally trashy look and started getting more interested in my old standbys- grey/black/red/white.

I was still in the loud phase last summer when I studied in Geneva, but I was moving away from it. I still remember one of the girls in my classes telling me that in her mind I would be forever paired with Cavalli and Etro. Now I'm not so sure that's a great thing, but things could be worse. I used the summer to really get a feel for how various designers clothes fit. it was so refreshing to be able to hop on the bus, sit for 10 minutes and walk into a 5 floor department store. This was when I really started to gain an appreciation for the more restrained designers. Visiting Helmut's store in Milan played a large role in that. Costume National stores too. I also started to hear more about the lesser known designers (Belgians and such).

So, if anyone actually read all of this, you can see my current looks in the "what are you wearing" thread. I feel like I'm at another crossroads. I still enjoy some of my louder stuff, but I'm on the verge of entering the professional world, so, whether I want to or not, I'm going to be forced to find some sort of less conspicuous middle ground. I don't think it'll be too difficult. I can see myself moving toward a minimalist look, but I want to be sure that it doesn't get boring. With a little help for all of you, I think I should be able to make it work.

I still have to do most of my shopping online, but I've been restraining myself to look at a more select number of designers. For the time being I want to keep most of my purchases practical--- with the exception of McQueen. He's still going to be my splurge designer. Since I'll presumably be a year behind (thanks to yoox) and I like this Spring and upcoming Fall far more than S05 and last winter, I should be good for a while. Especially if he keeps up the good work.