John Galliano Fall Fashion Collection 2009

I have long professed my love for John Galliano and his talent at making beautiful clothing look effortless. His Spring 2009 fashion collection was so inspiring that I believe designers will be copying the looks for decades. But that doesn't mean that Galliano can have a success from every single collection. Here are my thoughts on what worked and didn't work about his 2009 Fall Fashion Collection.

Galliano seems to have taken a darker turn for his 2009 Fall Collection. While the Spring Collection was very colorful and had a quirky sense of style that looked a lot like a more focused Betsey Johnson, his Fall Collection is very macabre, and seems to have taken its inspiration from the old Disney movie- "Something Wicked This Way Comes". One look in particular features a sheer black dress with circular plates and chains, and definitely evokes the old gypsy-at-the-carnival stereotype. This same look is changed just slightly in another piece, which features a sheer silver gown with the circular plates in different areas.

Galliano has always done one thing beautifully- he's taken a beautiful outfit and given it a new, fresh appeal. In this case, he seems to have taken many stereotypical peasant-type costumes, and not done anything to make them particularly new or fresh. One outfit features a wide tapestry style border around the bottom of a black skirt, a bustle, and a white shirt with very puffy sleeves. All in all, it looks like a very poorly done costume. It wouldn't be accurate to say that the collection isn't without a point of view. It's just that the point of view it presents isn't very well refined.
To his credit, Galliano is still a master at draping material to create something beautiful. One stand-out piece features a green skirt with a black, embroidered top. Once you take away the heavy, ridiculous chain jewelry and the pointless headwear, it is such a unique piece. The skirt has been tucked and folded near the waist to give it a natural, beautiful shape. It appears to be a loose version of smocking, and this can always be tricky to do without it looking childish, but in this case it's perfect. The problem is, he couldn't restrain himself from adding the overdone jewelry.

This isn't his best collection, and I will admit that I am possibly judging it too harshly because I know that John Galliano is capable of much better work than this. That being said, I hope to see some of it in the near future.