The Epanouir of my heart

I written on this blog about my love for Taiwanese brand Epanouir ("spring" in French) before. I mean, how could I possibly not love them? Check out this image from their spring-summer 2009 catalog:

That was the outfit I wore on Halloween. Oh, if only I'd known where to get that bonnet.

According to their lookbook, this collection's "inspiration comes from the book '1870-1920 Antique Dolls.' With French elegance and sweet classic influences, our style represents those respectable noble girls that received a broad curriculum of educations, and so are considered well eligible ladies with great fashion senses. This range of collection incorporated lots of layered silk cottons and lace fabric choices, also focused on slightly un-fitted short sleeved one-piece silhouettes."

Apparently, part of the "broad curriculum of educations" included raising poultry and collecting eggs...

... inspecting apples ...

... and reading about (what else?) antique dolls.

When Taiwanese clothing brands decide that frilliness and feminity will be their hallmarks, they often go all out. It's not uncommon to see lace, appliques, cut-outs, rhinestones, sequins, ruffles and other embellishments -- all in one outfit. What I like about Epanouir is that they put the emphasis on the silhouette of each dress, instead of the flourishes. Their autumn-winter 2009 catalog (which I'll share soon) emphasizes bright colors instead of prints (though they still have plenty of those), including magenta, royal purple and mustard.