We’ve had Ossie Clark (though of the vintage variety) on our minds lately, after Emma Watson showed up in what we considered just about the perfect Ossie dress at the HP premiere in London.

Now comes word via WWD that the company, which relaunched most recently in 2008, will close yet again due to “market conditions.”

We can’t say we’re completely surprised, as nothing could ever quite compare to the original.

But at least we have places like Decades to keep the ’60s and ’70s classics in play.

I will fully admit to having a fascination with crime thrillers, great episodes of Dateline, and serial killers. I mean, I’m not crazy obsessed but that stuff is darn interesting. And no one more so than Charles Manson.

He scares the bejeezus out of me. As did Helter Skelter when I read it. But, still…interesting.

This is also a topic I never thought I would be writing about or mentioning on this site. But it turns out that there’s a fashion and art exhibit called “ICON” being held at a studio in Culver City to celebrate the life of Sharon Tate, wife of Roman Polanski and victim of the Manson family.

Clothes from her closet by YSL, Ossie Clark, Dior, and Thea Porter will be on display.

Now, the lady was in Valley of the Dolls and that is very major in my mind.

But, an exhibit, really? Okay, but you might get some really macabre visitors.

Our fashion crush on Emma Watson grows stronger with each passing day.

Last night at the London premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the rain did not scare the actress into compromising her look. She wore a beautiful floor-length vintage Ossie Clark dress with Chanel jewelry.

We’ll keep this in mind the next time drizzle deters us from wearing something nice.

Emma looked very elegant in the uniquely detailed dress and even the low neckline was in good taste, instead of attention hogging cleavage. There’s not much more we can say about it: we’re obsessed with Emma’s style.

Mark Haddaway and Katy Rodriguez, the brilliant duo behind Resurrection, have been working on a project.

We’re so jealous, we might cry.

They’ve assembed what The Telegraph calls, “the most important [collection] to come up at auction.”

It includes original 1970’s Vivienne Westwood from both the legendary Seditionaries and Pirates collections. There are Paco Rabanne dresses and leather jackets from the 60’s and an entire, unworn look from Yves Saint Laurent’s 1968 Safari collection. There’s a 1986 zippered, hooded, green mini Alai that was in fact worn, but by Grace Jones, a python skin Ossie Clark coat and a few slinky Versace dresses circa Gianni.

Are you emptying your piggy bank yet?

If not, there’s also a group of dresses from Marc’s 1992 Grunge collection for Perry Ellis.

We’re kind of speechless. So in the words of Rachel Zoe, (since she’s probably the only one who can justify shelling out thousands for these pieces right now), “I die. D-I-E.”

Bonjour Monsieur,

We’re two weeks deep into Fashion Month, and we know you’re incredibly busy with your own upcoming show, so we want to make sure you’re paying as close attention as us to what’s been happening on the runway.

It seems as though your stunning Spring 08 collection stunned more people than just us, having made quite an impression on a bevy of designers, both young and old.

We think it’s only fair you charge a petite fee for the “interpretations” of your designs. You should, for example, earn 5% of sales for Jason Wu’s jewel toned gowns, and at least 15% of the profits on sales of Alice Temperley’s one-shouldered mini. We think you might also make a small fortune off sales of Jill Stuart, Ossie Clark and Erin Fetherston, to name just a few.

None of their dresses mushroom-cloud as beautifully as yours, none of the jewel tones seem as rich the second time around, but it’s clear that none of their gowns would exist without yours.

A bientôt!

xo
Fashionista

If you arrive late to a fashion show in New York, as in, really really late and it’s already started, there’s not a shot in hell you’re getting in that door.

See Alexander Wang for further explanation.

But in London, well, in London things are different.

So when we went flying in the door at Ossie Clark, just off the longest tube ride of our lives, we were a) shocked we hadn’t missed the whole thing and b) shocked they let us fly in, despite the fact that Jourdan was halfway down the runway.

Thank goodness they did though. The dresses were worth the high-heeled run across cobblestones. They were long and printed and perfect for the ultra cool hippie girl who wears Ossie Clark when she wants to be fancy but still be herself - and the jewels were a spectacular addition to such comfortable looking clothes.

We’re loving the cold British weather, but we’d gladly trade it in for the New York heat if it meant floating across pavement in one of Ossie’s long, thin dresses for Spring.