Joanna Mastroianni's Dog, Designs --Bring Sighs!

I raced back from taking notes backstage at the Halston show, to find hair stylist Louise O'Connor from Salon OC61 in NYC (on the Upper East Side) just getting started pinning up the hair for the first model of Joanna Mastroianni's runway show. This is a photo of the finale.

Oloff beauty sponsored the hair looks for this show---a first for this company! Louise was already busy creating an elegant modified "chiffon" look for the show. I wanted to talk to her, but backstage passes were in short supply, and I knew I couldn't remain backstage for long.

My eloquent contact from Oloff Beauty filled me in on the look. She told me that since the clothes were "architectural" in design, the hair reflected this vision as well. The idea of the elegant and retro-modern hair was to showcase the chin, neck, shoulders, and the bone structure of the models.

The final result, a modified"chiffon" was a conical style almost like a small, low beehive situated halfway down the head. The look is sleek, but it takes artful layering of the hair (and in some cases, a "rat" or small mound) to put into the live in the "hive." The look was very sleek, very controlled, and elegant with Mastrioanni's beautiful gowns and cocktail dresses.

Some of the Barex products from Oloff Beauty that Louise used to make the look, lovely. The makeup, created by JP McCary of Temptu Pro, wasn't completed when I was backstage, so I didn't get a close up photo of it. But, as I could see it from the runway, it had a similar look to many other Springtime visions I've seen so far this week: a fresh, nude face, a pretty, pink or nude lip, and a focus on intense eyes, that smouldered, but weren't the deep, Goth look of last season.

Here are two photos of the clothes, backstage . There was so much bold, bright color...really breathtaking!

I have always loved it when designers bring their beloved pets to Fashion Week. Here, Joanna's prized pooch enjoys some down time backstage. The doggie was held like an underarm clutch in the finale of the show!

And, speaking of the show. It was really lovely. At one point, a model dressed as an elegant bride walked down the runway, and then turned halfway back and waited for another bride, They stood together, shyly held hands, and walked back down the runway together ...alluding to support for same sex marriage.

Joanna Mastroianni launched her collection in 1987. She is known for clean and sensuous lines and elegant gowns that win raves from celebrities like Jane Seymour Angela Bassett, Sharon Stone, Melanie Griffith, Susan Lucci, Sela Ward, Tara Reid and Sean Young.

For spring-Summer 2009, the designer was inspired by the world to Tony Duquette, an an American costume designer who passed away iin 1999, after a long, celebrated career. As the program notes clearly describe, Mastroianni is a "sculptor of fabric" She works with "overlays of transparent lace, cotton paired with patent leather, and exotic tulles matched with sumptuous embroidery." Black and white is mixed with pops of tangerine, coral, chartreuse, and canary. The dresses were embellished in a manner worthy of the red carpet. Even the pants were beautifully tailored, with an elegant casualness I just loved.

"Beautifully constructed couture garments can be fun and flirty" says Mastroianni. I agree. These are carefully crafted clothes that real women would find fun and sastisfying to wear!

HERE ARE MORE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW!

for more information about Joanna Mastrroianni, visit www.joannamastroianni.com/

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