New York Fashion Week Spring 2007 Day 5: Luxe Edition • Monique Lhuillier • Bill Blass

Wanna start a frenzy? Open up a booth giving away free Havaianas flip-flops. This is where those lucky enough to get into Pennzoil Black & Decker Olympus Fashion Week lined up to choose their own color combinations for custom designed rubber sandals. Don't try to rush over. Tuesday was the last day. We saw people skipping shows just to get them. Meanwhile, this was happening outside:

We don't know much about Apollo Braun, but this Guerrilla Fashion Show was apparently an attempt to get attention for this Lower East Side musician/retailer. Well, he got some from us. We don't think Anna Wintour was watching. Not even Glenda Bailey.

Prettier clothes after the jump

10:00 AMThe Promenade • MONIQUE LHUILLIER
Monique Lhuillier is one of growing number of designers who grew their evening collections out of successful bridal collections. Hollywood embraced her, and she has become a red carpet mainstay, particularly at the Emmy awards. We were surprised that the show was a little thinly attended given her media attention, but Lhuillier is really still a niche player focusing on cocktail and evening. Her collection focused on solid jerseys and chiffons punctuated with heavily jeweled waist and neckline decoration, saving the wearer the bother of having to shop for coordinating jewelry. She sent out two dresses in gold linen raffia which had a burlap texture that totally reminded us of that episode of "I Love Lucy" when they are in Paris, and Lucy and Ethel want Jacques Marcel couture dresses and so Ricky and Fred get dresses for them made out of potato sacks, and then Lucy and Ethel find out they have been tricked and made fools of, and then Jacques Marcel sees them and copies the dresses for his own line. OK, maybe we have had enough of Fashion Week.

Music: We forget. Those potato sack dresses were totally chic.
Swag: None that we saw. Possibly limited to front two rows, or none at all
Celebrities: Socialite show. Tinsley Mortimer is a photographer magnet.

11:00 AM The Tent • BILL BLASS
This was a star studded show. Designer Michael Vollbracht seems to have stabilized the Bill Blass brand by sticking close to the classic Blass style. At times he seems to be slavishly copying the archives rather than interpreting, as evidenced by most of the day looks he showed. Putting young and beautiful Hilary Rhoda in a tailored suit with a ruffled blouse doesn't make the look feel younger. It only emphasizes how stuffy it is in contrast to the youth of its wearer. Isn't it more chic to see a mature woman wearing a reasonably more youthful style? Vollbracht fared better when he kept things simpler, and dresses in draped  and smocked jersey had an appealing ease in day and evening versions. There were lots of pretty, classic luxury clothes, but nothing to set the world on fire. We wonder what will happen to the label in 10 years as its customers continue to age. There was no finale, which is why we have these blurry individual shots.

Music: Andreas Vollenweider "Behind The Gardens"
Swag: Probably limited to front few rows, which as you can tell from our blurry pictures, is not where we sat.
Celebrities: Sigourney Weaver, Tamara Tunie, Cece Cord, Tinsley Mortimer, Liza Minelli!! And is that Janet Jackson? Does she even wear Bill Blass?

Yes, that blurry picture is definitely Janet. It's the best we could get. They really don't let people get too close to her. Liza, however, filed out of the tent in the middle of the rest of the crowd, happily obliging anyone who wanted a picture. We can't account for the purple satin cape.