The New York Observer

Anna Sui Goes Owl Out

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By Megan McCarthy 2/16/12 12:48pm

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Muted oranges, woodland greens, and deep blues filled Anna Sui’s Fall 2012 collection, shown last night in the Lincoln Center tents. But the main motif was communicated in the accessories—a collection of knit hats with ears and sparkly eyes that looked like owls perched on the model’s heads, looking down on the hoi polloi all judgey-like, as if to say: “Who?”

Clearly Anna Sui was inspired by famous owls throughout pop-culture history. We match up the look with the inspiration.

All Photos via Getty Images
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Anna Sui - Runway - Fall 2012 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

A model walks the runway at the Anna Sui Fall 2012 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Theatre at Lincoln Center on February 15, 2012 in New York City.
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Hoots the Owl

Fuzzy Muppet character Hoots the Owl, the jazz-loving insomniac saxophone player, would appreciate the matching gloves.
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The Owl

The main character in nonsense poem The Owl and the Pussycat throws away his traditional upbringing to run away for an adventure, much like the way Anna Sui mixes these patterns that should never meet in a normal setting.
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Hungover Owl

From deep inside the world of Tumblr comes a collection of Hungover Owls: pictures of birds looking sleepy, miserable, and in need of an asprin or two.
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X

X the Owl, a mainstay of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe from PBS stalwart Mr. Rogers's, enjoys correspondence courses and being friendly.
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Pigwidgeon

From the world of Harry Potter comes Pigwidgeon, the daft, annoying, and preening owl/pet of Harry's best friend, Ron Weasley.
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Tootsie Pop Owl

How many licks will it take? The world may never know.
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Owl

Owl from Winnie the Pooh is the smartest creature in Hundred-Acre Wood, and he will never let you forget that.
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Archimedes

The best moment from Archimedes, Merlin's sidekick in Disney's Arthurian tale The Sword in the Stone is in this clip below when he spends about half a minute straight just laughing.
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Hedwig

The finale of Anna Sui's show last night was this snowy caftan and hat combination that invoked Hedwig, the heroic owl from the Harry Potter universe, who served as Harry's faithful servant and, at times, only friend.
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High Fashion? O RLY?

Or perhaps the real inspiration for this collection was to try to troll the fashion world into thinking that animal-shaped hats that you could get custom-made for $25 off of Etsy could be considered high fashion, if given enough sparkles and the right branding. To which we say: O RLY?