Low Ponytails, Streaky Nails, Smudged Eyeshadow, and Matte Lips at Tess Giberson SS14
For her Spring 2014 collection, New Hampshire-born designer Tess Giberson played upon the idea of a fashion remix, fusing together an amalgam of different aesthetics — from preppy to grungy, glam, minimalist, sporty, and edgy — in order to create something that defied categorization. The hair, makeup, and nail teams worked together to create looks that reflected these notions.
The hair, for instance, was equal parts preppy and downtown chic. The models’ manes were straightened completely, then parted along the center of the head and tied into a low ponytail at the nape of the neck. But here’s the twist: the part was slightly askew and imperfect, a bit off-center, and strands were roughed up and so that the look appeared lived-in. Wisps of loose hair framed the models’ faces, and some static-y strands stood up along the back, making it seem like the girls had slept in their ponytails, then woken up and walked out the door without any primping.
Similarly, Shiseido Makeup Artistic Director Dick Page created a look inspired by the notion of leftover, second day makeup. To give cheeks a sunburned look, an I-was-hanging-out-at-the-beach-in-the-Hamptons-then-partied-too-hard quality, Page created a chevron shape all over the cheeks using the Shiseido Lacquer Rouge liquid lip color in Sunburn, a peachy pink hue, then applied the color down the bridge of the nose, blending it all with a fluffy brush. Eyes, meanwhile, were made to appear smudged by brushing the Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Color in Nightfall, a luminous midnight blue, onto lids. Next, they worked this color along the lower lash line to give the look more weight by focusing on the bottom area of the eye rather than on the eyelids themselves. Next, they topped off the creams shadow with the Benefiance Full Correction Lip Treatment to smudge the color on the lids and add a bit of gloss, giving the look the desired lived-in feel. Last but not least, to make the look feel more authentic, lips were coated with the Shiseido Perfect Rouge in Vision, a peachy beige shade with a satin finish, then softened and mattified by sweeping the new Shiseido Face Color Enhancing Trio in Peach atop the base lip color. The gold toned in the powder blush helped to make the lips appear more muted and natural.
And then, of course, there were the nails. The look created by manicurist Jin Soon Choi was the epitome of grunge chic. Nails were painted with a single coat of JINsoon Obsidian, a jet black nail lacquer with silver specks that create a galactic effect. While the polish was still wet, Choi took a makeup sponge (or, rather, a small wedge-like strip cut out of a larger makeup sponge) and wiped off the polish, leaving the color only around the cuticles. By doing this, nails were given a streaky quality that Choi said reminded her of the distressing we often see in jeans. Because of the silvery flecks mixed into the nail lacquer, meanwhile, nails still retained some of their sparkly quality, adding a bit of rock glam to the grunginess for an effect that Choi dubbed “perfectly imperfect.”
Check out the photos from backstage at Chelsea Piers, where the Tess Giberson SS14 show was staged yesterday September 6th, above and below!
