I Miss Luella! Luella Bartley S/S 2009

image source: www.elle.com

Think of a nice, polite, knee-length dress you might find some royal duchess wearing to a garden party, add three of those, mash them together, add an ample amount of sickly sweet confectionery color, and a bit more, then look at it through psychedelic tinted glasses, give it a matching handbag, shoe and hat, and Luella's S/S 2009 character is born.

The color was bright, garish, sick, and the styling was so done to punk proportion. On first glance, everything is rather English and proper, but there's a strange, wonky undertone. There's bow fronted blouses, paneled tweed and lace skirts, retro handbags, and multi-colored heart fronted heel at the bottom. There's randomly pleated, floral paneled dress which graduates into a gray jersey sportswear tanktop.

Last year, the designer behind the label, Luella Bartley, announced that her fashion label has ceased trading after a key financier pulled out. Club 21, the company which holds the license to supply shops with Bartley's preppy, punky ready-to-wear clothes and accessories, decided not to invest any further with the designer. Named British Designer of the Year in 2008, Bartley regularly receives rave reviews from press and buyers alike for her English eccentric style shows.

So it was such a relief to hear that recently Target has tapped 17 designers to introduce the Go International Designer Collective line, and Luella Bartley was on the list, among Jonathan Saunders, Proenza Schouler, and Erin Fetherston. I always love the Luella character and I hope that Luella girl can have an exciting future ahead of her, whichever incarnation she takes on next!