Parlour Theno: Fashion Week Olympics

Fashion month is the jam-packed time a few times per year where hundreds of designers present their runway shows in one of several international cities. Though many countries host their own fashion week in order to showcase offerings from native designers, the four main venues that host well-known talent are New York, London, Milan, and Paris. As pictures, reviews, and videos of the designs, backstage commotion, and front rows of every show are delivered instantaneously to eager, global audiences, this month can be as exhausting as it is exhilarating. I, for one, was guilty of experiencing anxiety when I wasn't able to check my phone or computer for hours while at work, as I knew that style.com and New York Magazine's The Cut would have already posted several new blog articles and runway pictures and I was dying to scroll through the new content.

The fun part about checking out fashion week pictures is being able to play judge and jury, similar to the way audiences decree which films look worthy enough to see when viewing previews at a movie theater. More and more websites are foregoing the act of waiting to post runway pictures until an accompanying review is able to be displayed alongside it. Instead, live streamed videos and pictures are posted alongside a small blip which reveals that the review will be posted later (after a writer has had time to write it). Everyone wants to see things nownownownow, which means that we can no longer wait for a style writer to compose a stream of sentences to sum up the feel and look of a designer's collection before we actually see pictures and make our own opinions. And I'll admit that when a slew of new shows roll in, my scrolling finger gets its fair share of exercise as I vie to see every.single.look from every.single.show two.times.through.

As the shows roll in and we see trends popping up, it's fun to compare designer's seasonal aesthetics against each other.

Which designer's use of lace was preferred?
Whose equestrian-chic undertone was most appealing?
Which grunge throwback was most appreciated?

And so on.

Here are a few trends with offerings presented from various designers, with various cities; designers being compared. In this international fashion match-up, who gets your vote for each trend?

1. Best Little White Dress (LWD)

New York: Robert Rodriguez via Style