Raf Simons Past Season Pieces

Fall/winter 2003 sweaters.

I am obsessed with Raf Simons. The longest blog post I have ever done was about his work (Hapsical - Raf Simons: 15 Years of Brilliance), and when I was invited to his spring/summer 2011 show earlier this summer I nearly *died*. Something that I like to do (the sort of activity which can never really be explained when boring relatives press you for what your 'hobbies' are) is browsing sites like eBay and Yahoo Auctions Japan, looking at (and lusting after) all the Raf Simons pieces from previous seasons which people are selling.

I've looked at the runway pictures of all of Simons' collections, and watched the show videos, countless times, but nowhere online is there an archive of all the individual pieces, photographed closed-up, which is why the sale sites are so good. They also allow me to imagine what my fantasy wardrobe would be like; if money were no object, I would have bought every single thing which I've posted here.

Spring/summer 1999 t-shirt:

Spring/summer 2000 bomber jacket. These bomber jackets are just amazing. If only I could find someone selling 'The Pyramid' one...

Spring/summer 2000:

Fall/winter 2000.. amazing knitwear:
The fall/winter 2001 camoflague bomber; this is still for sale on Yahoo Auctions Japan.

Spring/summer 2002 sweater:

Spring/summer 2002 shirt with pin ribbon details:
Spring/summer 2002 slogan tops:

I love this fall/winter 2002 sweater:

Fall/winter 2002 hooded shirt, with the Virgina Creeper insignia:

Spring/summer 2003:

Love this:

And this jacket... so amazing:

Spring/summer 2003 printed t-shirt and vest:

Amazing, beautiful jacket:

Spring/summer 2003 chain:
Fall/winter 2003 sweaters:

Spring/summer 2004 charms:
Spring/summer 2004 crystal print top... I definitely need this for feng shui purposes.

Spring/summer 2005 t-shirt:

Spring/summer 2005 grey denim jacket:

Spring/summer 2005 zip trousers:

Spring/summer 2005.. the perfect jacket:

Fall/winter 2005 t-shirts:

Fall/winter 2005 trousers:

Spring/summer 2006 cut-out t-shirt:

Mind-blowing spring/summer 2006 jacket:

Fall/winter 2006 metallic-lined sweater:

Fall/winter 2006 padded bomber jacket:

Spring/summer 2007 desert boots:

Spring/summer 2007 vest:

Fall/winter 2007 jacket:

Spring/summer 2008 deconstructable trousers:

Spring/summer 2008 shirt:

Spring/summer 2008 high-top astro sandals:

Fall/winter 2008 embroidered shirt:

Cool Raf by Raf Simons stuff (not sure about the seasons):

V Magazine: Footballers' Wives

I think this fashion spread, shot by Sebastian Faena, in the latest edition of V Magazine (click here to read online) is brilliant. It is so tacky and fun and through its faux gossip magazine layout it perfectly captures the spirit of soccer players' wives and girlfriends. Whether it actually makes you want to buy any of the clothes featured is another matter, but I like it in a wrong-but-right way.

A few things inevitably spring to mind. The first is the horrendous yet hilarious style of Yulia Voronin and her husband, the former Liverpool player Andriy Voronin. The Ukranian pair cut quite a dash in Dolce & Gabbana last year, and became a fixture on the 'worst dressed' pages in the tabloids, with their constant stream of heavily branded monstrosities. I have this sort of morbid obsession with women who have no taste whatsoever, but still put a huge amount of effort into dressing up in designer gear, and getting hair extensions, fake tans, and stick-on nails.

The editorial also reminds me of Footballers Wive$, which was a British TV series that ran throughout the first half of the 00s. It was always fun to watch; it was, I think, an intentional parody of the 'trash tv' genre, with its absurdly improbably story lines (more tame epsiodes included viagra-induced murders, lesbian sex scenes, psychotic killers, baby stealing, and frequent snorting of cocaine), bad acting, bad jokes, and amazingly tacky, lavish settings and outfits. Joan Collins starred in the last series, bringing a touch of Dynasty glamour to the whole thing.

I guess this clip kind of sums it up; someone has uploaded all the episodes here.