To the MAX!

I've always been a big fan of Max Azria. I remember back in high school, I read in some magazine that his line BCBG stands for bon chic, bon genre (meaning "good style, good attitude" in French). At the time, I had never seen any of the work he did except in photos but somehow, "BCBG bon chic, bon genre" (yes, i say it completely in my head) just stuck.

My infatuation resumed in my 20s, when CMG and Rustans started carrying his shoe line. But that quickly fizzled out when my friends and I discovered that those shoes were much cheaper in outlet stores in the US, and that though pretty, the stilleto heels were quite a struggle to walk in all day . Eventually, I stumbled upon BCBG "overruns" in Coraliz and Arco Baleno in Greenhills and was I floored! Then of course, all those outlet stores in the US always have a BCBG outlet on the premises and I decided that it was time to graduate from his young and contemporary line "To the Max", and move on to those fabulous dresses..if only they had my size! Boohoo!

Anyway, even if I haven't seen any dress of his that is my size (either it always runs out or I am being saved from a prospective addiction) I appreciate that Mr. Azria's clothes are always well made and well-priced. Its a designer piece without the prohibitive price tag, which is the philosophy he lives by exactly. If you have noticed, his clothes are feminine, classically unique (if there was ever such a term) and always with an element of surprise! You'll see later why!

See, I have always loved his feminine take on dresses. Always girly and delicate, but never prissy:

The great thing about his designs is the fact that its so distinctive, there's nothing quite like it elsewhere:








He's a master of casual wear as well! Check out these separates (note the slouchy pants! Makes me want to resuscitate my linen pants from Mango bought years back!)




Now this is what a surprise is all about. Imagine if you see a girl wearing any of these dresses:


You probably won't even give her a second look right? But as she walks past you, you find yourself watching her until you lose sight of the girl and the dress and you think to yourself, "How come I don't have a dress like THAT?!"


Brilliant huh?

(Photos courtesy of style.com)