Glossy eyes against matte lips at Marc Jacobs Spring 2011. Photo: Getty Images
Gossamer eyes and frenetic curls at Marc Jacobs' Spring 2011 fashion show at New York Fashion Week matched the larger-than-life flowers and fancy flounces the designer imbued his collection. The look was a little bit flapper, a little bit 70s glam, and a whole lot gorgeous.
MAKEUP: François Nars, founder and creative director of Nars Cosmetics
NAILS: Roxanne Valinoti for CND
SNAPSHOP: Flapper diva
A 30s-era hairstyle paired with dramatic green eyes and aubergine lips at Marc Jacobs Spring 2011. Photo: Elizabeth Lippman
THE SCOOP:Marc Jacobs' fashion show is the closest thing America has to couture. Every tiny detail is executed with utmost precision, and for each of the past three seasons, the masters behind the looks -- Marc Jacobs, François Nars, Guido Palau, and Jan Arnold -- have attempted to outdo their last showing.
It's no easy feat, especially when, for Spring 2010, the team created a geisha-inspired look that put the Paris catwalks to shame. "We're the first ones to get bored with anything," Nars told us backstage before the show. "It's always nice to keep pushing buttons and surprising -- you never want to get bored."
"Grace Coddington" curls at Marc Jacobs Spring 2011. Photo: Elizabeth Lippman
And this season's button-pushing look is all about 70s glamour with a touch of 30s louche. "We're doing a very 70s inspired glam look, inspired by Anjelica Huston, Donna Mitchell, Pat Cleveland, but modern, with a twist to make it more Marc Jacobs," explained Nars. He used a green-black shadow on the eyelids with lots of sparkle and tons of wet shine, juxtaposed against matte, burgundy lips that were touched up with brown eyeliner for a dusty effect.
And the brows? "Completely eradicated," laughed Nars. In a cosmetic rebellion again this season's bold-brow trend, arches were bleached to help the eye shadow, lips, and hair look more dramatic.
Which brings us to the nails, manicured to match the eyebrows. Yes, you read right. "This is the first time I've seen nails and brows that matched," said CND's Jan Arnold, an industry veteran. Manicurist Roxanne Valinoti coated nails with a peachy flesh-tone polish, mixed with a mattifying agent for a "tinted moisturizer" effect. "It's the no-nail nail," she quipped.
"In the 70s, we copied the 30s," said hairstylist Guido Palau when describing the rationale behind the four different fuzzed-out, pinned back, Afro-meets-Eton crop hair looks he created for the show. "It's very louche and decadent, like a perfume-ad girl." He described one of the looks as a "Grace Coddington frizz," after Vogue's longtime creative director, who unabashedly wears her fiery locks free-flowing.Dramatic eyes and lips at Marc Jacobs Spring 2011. Photo: Elizabeth Lippman
GET THE LOOK -- HAIR: Before styling, Palau worked plenty of Redken Thickening Lotion into wet hair for extra body. Then, hair was styled -- either by curling and pinning and brushing out for a frizzy look, or by working in pin curls and pulling back for a '30s-era look, and finished with Quick Dry Hairspray No. 6.