High/ Low: Checkmate!

Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton Spring 2013 

 Pattern. We live our life by it. We create it. We dress in it. It is a universal fact of life that no matter what we will encounter pattern. What type, is completely up to us. Every season, it seems fashion designers pick a pattern and run with it. With Paris Fashion week not far behind, one of the most interesting use of pattern was in the checked ensembles on the Louis Vuitton runways. Designer Marc Jacobs, who so cleverly incorporated stripes into his label's preview in New York, gave a nod fashions past, and a foreshadowing of our, apparently, checkered future. 

Louis Vuitton checkered coat; Price: ??

The beautiful thing about fashion is (besides the clothes themselves, that is) that it possesses a trickle down effect. It is not necessary to spend incredible amounts of money to get a designer look. Especially when those designer labels have chosen such an imitable palette. Already, we see that some affordable labels are displaying the checkered motifs in their collections. 

While a Louis Vuitton coat and skirt combination outfit abide by the rule of  "if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it" it is safe to assume that even their ready to wear collection would cost well into the hundreds or thousands of dollars. These outfits however, are accessible, affordable, and dare we say just as stylish? Check and mate! 

Nothing creates a classier winter ensemble than the incorporation of hounds-tooth  the geometrically imperfect cousin of the checker. A hounds-tooth blazer,or purse from Le Chateau reminds us of the Louis Vuitton coat, but for a fraction of the cost. 

Check-mate! 

Le Chateau blazer; $150.00 

Taking the checkered pattern in stride? Check out these fashionable pants from Le Chateau. (Get it?)  

Le Chateau: $79.95

   Guess has an entire portion of their latest collection devoted all things houndstooth. Creating funky fashions by playing with the traditional regimented pattern delivers a check mark on the fashion score sheet. From dresses to outwear, there is hardly an occasion to not deck out with checks!

Guess Dress,  $98.00 

Guess jacket,  $79.00 

These checkered fashions, I imagine, will be sticking around for some time to come. And while not everyone can fly off to Paris for a private fitting with a legendary couturier, anyone can find these fashions and more in our very own Midtown Plaza. Because, as we've proven here,  you can put a price on style.