front row photo Portland Fashion Week night one. photo: Minh Tran
Last evening was the fourth night of Portland Fashion Week and the much anticipated Collections fashion show. However, there was another fashion show that has been going on night after night that everyone’s talking about. It was , a second, more subtle show, the unwritten show starring the front row denizens and many other guests of fashion week.
As people were ushered to their seats, each group was like an eclectic, single-file collection in and of itself. Our empirical eye observed several fall fashion trends. The hot material for fall was patent leather, especially in red. We spotted several pairs of black and red patent leather heels dangling off long legs. The patent leather trend worked its way up to the hips and waist as black shiny belts were seen over five dresses during one night’s shows alone.
The season is fall and the venue was on the Willamette River, which makes for a slightly frigid evening. To keep the shiny shod legs warm, leggings were huge! The patterns varied from animal print to classic, naughty fishnet to bold pop colors and beyond to add an element of gamine. Another prevalent trend was boots in every shape, every color, and every style. Fitted. Slouched. Equestrian. Half boot. Flat boot. Moon boot. Handbags were oversized, sometimes to the point of overpowering their delicate carriers. Fashion trends for men tend to linger longer than women’s fashion. We saw several men who were still channeling Billy from the 1990’s prime time drama Melrose Place with their sport coats over jeans (a look from fall 2005 menswear).
There was one item missing from the ensembles of the guests of Fashion Week: coats. Maybe its because there was no coat check available, or maybe people just wanted to show their own fashion to Portland without being covered up.
–Ashkan
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