Monday 30th March, the Balmain one-shoulder cocktail dress, a steal at only £15,100, has been chosen as the top recession-unfriendly fashion item by http://www.handbag.com/, the home of fashion, beauty, hair and celebrity.
Clearly the most expensive of ten items that made handbag.com's list, the Balmain dress is a must-have for fashionistas hunting out super expensive items for their wardrobes. This label takes the prize for consistently coming up with unfeasibly high prices which, despite the cost, doesn't seem to deter fans such as Sarah Jessica-Parker, Penelope Cruz, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, Mary-Kate Olsen and Kate Hudson to name a few.
http://www.handbag.com/ describes the Balmain one-shoulder cocktail dress designed by Christophe Decarnin as ‘trashy chic' at its finest.
The recession-unfriendly Top 10 list was created by http://www.handbag.com/ to highlight different buying trends during the recession. Those that made the list included the Chanel Matrioshka handbag (£4,200), Christopher Kane scalloped silk dress (£2,136), Meadham Kirchhoff denim jacket (£1,715) and Louis Vuitton Tribal sandals (£1,100).
http://www.handbag.com/ Fashion Director Belinda White says, "The Balmain dress is our recession-unfriendly item of the season because it's fabulously excessive in the extreme. It epitomises self-indulgence and extravagance at a time when most people are worrying about their finances. It appears that despite the price-tag and the state of the economy, some people can still afford to stick two fingers up to the recession. Even though the majority of our readers can't afford this type of fashion the http://www.handbag.com/ list does give us something to dream about."
The Top 10 fashion items were:
Chanel Matrioshka handbag - £4,200
This season's most lusted after handbag is Chanel's black resin and gold Russian doll handbag made in the image of the traditional wooden Matrioshka nesting doll. Lily Allen has one been swinging hers about whipping up bag envy because this little Chanel won't be available until mid-May.
Chanel pale pink quilted handbag - £2,400
The second Chanel handbag to leap out of the Spring/Summer collections and into the http://www.handbag.com/ Top 10 is the baby pink quilted lambskin bag. Modelled by Jerry Hall, it is hand painted to create the sublime pink to white fade effect. Depending on the light it can also look a delicious peach and cream, appealing to the five year old girl in all women.
Christopher Kane scalloped silk dress - £2,136
This Scottish designer's howling gorilla print dresses, cashmere leopard print cardigans and steg(osauros) jackets are currently selling like hot cakes. His current collection, inspired by pre-historic scaly monsters is this season's must-have. The scalloped detailing on Kane's nude chiffon dresses is one of spring's most directional details.
Giambattista Valli for Moncler Gamme Rouge jacket - £2,000
The collaboration between Giambattista Valli and Moncler has all the right ingredients to create the perfect high-end designer cocktail. A Euro-trashy padded jacket is the fashionista's choice on a chilly spring day; a glossy, colour saturated Gamme Rouge down jacket which is selling out across the UK.
Meadham Kirchhoff denim jacket - £1,715
This jacket oozes tough girl chic at rich girl prices and it can be worn every day. Ed Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff 's technique of slicing then stitching denim back together makes their skinny biker resemble a sort of sexy second skin armour.
Balmain jeans - £1,200
These bleached-out, glam-grunge skintight jeans come in white or pale blue wash and mark Balmain's second appearance in the handbag.com Top 10. Inspired by spray-on styles worn by 1980's skinny rockers like the scary band members of Kiss, Billy Idol and Michael Jackson, the white Liz Hurley-esque pair costs £1,000 and the faded blue ragged style costs more - at least £100 per rip.
YSL cage booties - £1,100
The YSL cage optic open toe booties are the most spectacularly fashionable of-the-minute accessory and confirm the fact that recession-unfriendly prices are the height of fashion - along with heels of 11 cm. These catwalk-hot items tick all the trends of the moment from glamazon to edgy black patent and are very much in the style of what Carrie Bradshaw would love.
Louis Vuitton Tribal sandals - £1,100
Glossy patent and reptile skin sandals are platforms adorned with rope, luxury skins, feathers, beads, baubles, mini masks and eleven cm heels. Inspired by a wanton fertility goddess, the shoes feature prominently in the LV Madonna adverts and immediately after their debut, Victoria Beckham and Alexa Chung snapped up a pair.
Louis Vuitton Graffiti trainers - £700
This season's Louis Vuitton high-top sneaker boots feature the same pink graffiti LV monogram canvas used in the landmark Stephen Sprouse/Marc Jacobs collaboration of 2001, along with sporty Day-glo Airetex. They come in three colours, fuchsia, green or orange, with shiny gold Velcro calf leather fastenings and a black LV rubber label at the tongue. A true homage to 1980s streetwear.
To find out all the latest fashion news and inside tips, go to http://www.handbag.com/.
