UPDATE: A Horse of a Different Neutral, Part 2

Just wanted to remind you we know what's up. Neutrals are all over New York Fashion Week. See below, in order: Cushnie et Ochs, Ohne Titel, Costello Tagliapietra, Cynthia Steffe, and Michael Angel.

Photos courtesy of New York Magazine

Photo courtesy of Style.com

Photos courtesy of Style.com

Colliding Forces

Ladylike, body-conscious, menswear, draping, military, patterns, and neutrals are all catchphrases for pre-fall 2010. While we acknowledge how important it is to focus an outfit and to avoid seeming overdone, we're still into the New York Fashion Week collections that seamlessly integrate a few of these. In particular, the best looks have fused genders not just by borrowing from the opposite sex but by engaging elements of both. For example, the exposed brassiere and underwire, as in Preen at top left, or the body-con bandages and drapes colliding with militaristic colors, as in Jeremy Laing at top right and Rag & Bone at bottom left, and gray or black suiting, as in Doo.Ri at bottom right. The Mafia Materialist especially appreciates this ladylike menswear when characterized by long sleeves, black patent lace-up or industrially embellished footwear, and metal buttons, all laced with bursts of color and prints.

Photos courtesy of style.com

Music Video Heartbeat

The xx's video "Basic Space" is like watching traffic lights cross wet pavement while the translucent faces of passing drivers stretch across dashboard glass.  The video, from their debut album xx, will vibrate through your bloodstream with its Morse-code-esque tapping beat. The video works like a poem in that each buzzing abstraction is just lyrical and evocative enough to drag us out for a drive on a rainy night.

"I think I'm losing where you end and I begin."

Mourning McQueen

If we're to call ourselves stylish in any way, we have to announce our deep regret for the loss of Alexander McQueen on this day of February 11, 2010. For over fifteen years, the magnetic designs of McQueen have shocked and inspired the fashion world. His spring 2010 line was an exposé of the kaleidoscopic extraterrestrial, and beyond his collections, McQueen was truly a man of the moment designing wardrobes for musicians like Lady Gaga and Björk. Presumably, we will still expect to see McQueen's designs undoubtedly enchant and arouse us for the final time in his fall 2010 collection, to be revealed in Paris on March 9. The loss of McQueen's energetic gift will create a penetrating void.

Photo courtesy of idolator

Anticipating Rodarte

One must step back to examine a label that premieres on the cover of WWD and rocks New York Fashion Week with their very first collection. From 2005 onward, Rodarte boasts an assemblage of highly-regarded design awards, found its place in the permanent collections of both the Costume Institute of the Met and the F.I.T. Museum, and joined the ranks of some of the most enduring fashion houses of the twentieth century. Rodarte, the tour de force of Kate and Laura Mulleavy, will be on view at Cooper-Hewitt starting February 11 to kick off New York Fashion Week.

What is most compelling about the line is the sisters' incredible ability to communicate ideas, interests and stories on the runway. Laird Borrelli-Persson writes of the spring 2010 line, "Forced to scavenge for existence in a barren, war-torn landscape, she pieces together her attire from rags that, as Laura Mulleavy pointed out, only serve to expose her wounds." A look from the collection, below, exemplifies the couture nature of the RTW line arranged by a duo that certainly has the intensity of gaze to convince us the stories come from within their own Hitchcockesque minds, further below.

Photo courtesy of insidesocal.com/rose

Photo courtesy of target.com

According to the Cooper-Hewitt design blog, the Quicktake: Rodarte exhibit will feature the sisters' "most deconstructed and destroyed pieces." Based on the adeptly conveyed spring 2010 story told through tribal body art, gothic spikes and zippers, swirls, and color, we look forward to what story will be told for fall 2010 and beyond.

In Favor of Saying "Yea"

We've heard enough to know Yeasayer's new electro-pop/rock album Odd Blood will be worthy of more than a few listens once it's released on February 9. You probably know by now Back Row Mafia looks to the future, so we're thrilled to find a band who does the same: "When it comes to our aesthetic, we ask ourselves 'What will music sound like in 20 years?'" singer Chris Keating says. Yea!

Hear their new song "O.N.E.," below, from the upcoming album. Dig up some more of their tunes at their Myspace page here, though we don't advise watching the "Ambling Alp" video right before bed.

Over-the-Knee Boots?

Let's not and say we did over-the-top instead. Gladiators? We'll admit we don't miss them, but we are looking at the bright side: They left in their violent wake the ballerina version of warrior footwear. Some variation of this style from Fendi, below, wrapped up every ankle in their spring/summer 2010 show.

Photo courtesy of fendi.com

And, look what turned up in the Valentino spring 2010 couture line last week, left, and Vera Wang s/s 2010 RTW, right.

Photos courtesy of style.com and verawangweddings.com/fashion, respectively

Well, that's a wrap...almost. Okay, Mafia Materialist couldn't resist these winners from the Daniele Michetti s/s 2010, below, which share DNA with the Valentino pre-fall 2010 dress, far below, a sure sign all things wrapped up are here to stay. We think a Twelfth-Night-esque sibling reunion is in order:

Photo courtesy of michettidaniele.com

Photo courtesy of style.com