February 2008 Archives

In case you're going to buy a trench coat and you need a new scarf too - - check out this GORGEOUS Hermes!  I love the color and the nautical design.

The square scarves now cost $355. Wow, I remember when they were $250. The dollar being in the crapper sure sucks. If you don't have an Hermes store near you, you can buy online at www.hermes.com, but the selection is severely limited.  But they do have some of their fabulous bracelets online, like this one, which is perfect if you have an H name.

InStyle magazine is saying that one of the top 12 trends for Spring is trench coats.  Uh, duh!  Aren't trench coats always in style?  I am personally obsessed (and have been for several years) with finding the perfect one that doesn't cost a fortune.  (yes, someday I will get a coveted Burberry!) Banana has come close, but in the last few years they had been cutting them A-line, which I think is a mistake.  A trench coat should be cut straight. Banana has one this season too, the online picture isn't very good (see below) you can't really tell if it's A-line or not, and the description doesn't say either.  Anyway, here are some options:
  Loro Piana $1995 

Dolce & Gabbana $1695 

Burberry (longer) $995 

Burberry (shorter) $975 

Prada $795 

Banana Republic $198 

Gap $88 

Banana is having an online special right now, 15% off until March 1, so the $198 trench would be $168.30!  $795 for the Prada seems quite reasonable, but it looks more flimsy than the others so maybe it's not lined?

The NY Times reported today that New York City shut down 32 vendors of counterfeit luxury goods yesterday as part of a Bloomberg initiative to curtail this sleazy business.  They seized over a million dollars worth of fake Prada bags, Rolex watches, Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses, etc. Yay!  I am really sick of seeing every loser on the street with a [fake] Louis Vuitton bag.  Sorry if that seems snobby, but I don't buy fake things...  I save my money and buy the real thing.  How could one ever feel good about carrying a fake bag?  I just don't understand.  Luxury items can be had by anyone these days... it just takes some of us longer to be able to buy them, and maybe we buy less.  But that's what makes these things special.

One of the funny things about fashion is that sometimes there is a very fine line between the truly hideous and the fabulous.  The fashion-forward are the ones who usually test this line, to varying degrees of success.  Think Sienna Miller, the Olsen twins, etc.  These Jean Paul Gaultier "ankle sneaker boots" are a good example of the hideous/fabulous.  They're an interesting mix of canvas, suede and patent leather and have a killer 5" heel.   

I think with the right outfit these could actually be very cool. And one certainly wouldn't have to worry about everyone having the same shoes! (they're $825 at eluxury)

J Crew (www.jcrew.com) is having an extra 20% off sale items right now.  It's a great time to stock up on basics, but you have to do it fast because they always run out of the good colors/sizes when they have the extra 20% off.  Here are some examples:  Classic Cashmere Cable Cardigan - regular price $160, sale $99.99, extra sale $79.99. 

Links Print Silk Tank Dress - regular price $140, sale $69.99, extra sale $55.99. 

Chino Liana Jacket - regular price $110, sale $49.99, extra sale $39.99. 

Those are just seriously amazing prices! Shop carefully though, it's final sale - no returns or exchanges.

I have to admit that I am something of a history geek.  I love reading about European history in particular. Even historic fiction can be great.  (the good authors do tons of research and don't change history, just embellish the details surrounding it)  So what I'm getting at is that I've had a long love of heraldry.  I ran across a great jewelry company called Pyrrha.  They're based in Vancouver, Canada and they cast pendants and rings from antique wax seals in either 14k gold, silver or bronze.  They use many of the common symbols of heraldry:  lion, dragon, griffin, fleur de lys, stag, anchor and crown, among others.  

Historic heraldic coats of arms often featured mottos. Some of Pyrrha's designs include a motto in Latin or French like "Vitrus Sibi Premium" (virtue is its own reward), "courage sans peur" (courage without fear) and "L'espoire me reste dans l'orage" (my hope remains even in the storm).  You can check out all of their designs on their website, www.pyrrha.com.

We're seeing a lot of the gladiator style high heel sandals for Spring this year.  With platform or without, many with wood heels.  They're also showing the gladiator flats, but personally, I don't like those.  I'm a heel girl (always).  The high heel gladiator is a pretty versatile look - wear with skinny jeans, pencil skirts, tunic dresses, shorts etc.  Here are some options from drool-worthy Chloe and YSL to quotidian Nine West.

Chloe Platform $920 

Yves Saint Laurent "Tribute" $760 

Tod's "Plateau" $595  

Michael Kors "Granger" $164 (on sale) 

Daniblack "Nance" $140 

Nine West "Gaulla" $89 

The Nine West shoe is a Rachel Zoe "pick" on piperlime.com. I'm not sure that' a selling point though. I suspect her association with a Gap, Inc. company has more to do with a fat check than her actually liking most of the shoes. (Okay, maybe that's too cynical?)

Of course the queen bee of candle pots is the Diptyque candle. They're made in France; come in wonderful scents like amande, figuier and baies noires; have super luxurious packaging; burn 50 -60 hours.... and they cost $55 - $60 each!  Yikes, I don't know about you, but that's a bit much for me.

Enter the Voluspa Basic Black candle...  these candles are slightly larger, 10 oz vs. 7 oz so they burn longer, about 85 hours. They also come in great packaging and amazing scents like genoa lemon basil, italian tangelo, crisp champage, fleur de cocoa, sake lemon flower etc. etc.  They also come with a metal cover, it serves as a base while it's burning and a cover to extinguish the candle and keep it dust free.  I love that!  The really amazing thing is that they cost only $22!

We already know that all of the magazines are talking about brights for Spring 08. Yellow of course, also Hermes orange, kelly green, cobalt and turquoise blues, etc. etc. I think a great way to accomodate a trend that you may not want to wear in clothing is with a handbag.  Here are some high to low ideas.

Jimmy Choo Maddy $1595   

Zac Posen Hobo $1295

Mui Mui Hobo $1095 

Marc Jacobs Palai Royal $895 

Coach Slim Carly $478 

J Crew Carnaby Carryall $198 

Nine West Gain Hobo $49.99 (sale)

There have been some photos out recently of Nicole Kidman with just ridiculously large lips. Ugghh.  Why? Why? Why oh why would a beautiful woman make herself look like a clown like this?  Okay, I know "thin lips" are not attractive, but huge ridiculous lips, come on?  I guess this is nothing new.  I was watching season 4 of Las Vegas on dvd and I see that Nikki Cox's lips in this season have continued their trend of getting larger every season.  (other serial offenders: Lara Flynn Boyle, Meg Ryan, Donatella Versace) I certainly believe in making one's self better, even with plastic surgery etc. (if absolutely necessary), but it should be at a level that is not completely obnoxious.  These designer noses, huge boobs and clown lips have just gone too far.  This is not attractive in any way. Please world, stop.

Keeping on the jewelry vein from yesterday... the jewelry piece that I am dying to get right now is pretty much anything from the Alhambra line from Van Cleef & Arpels. It comes in both white and yellow gold in a lot of different styles, some with inlays of mother of pearl, onyx or tiger's eye.  I love the quatrefoil shape, which they call a "clover" presumably because they figure the average moron doesn't know what a quatrefoil is.  (Art history anyone???) The quatrefoil was common in Moorish architecture (thus the name for the collection, Alhambra) and later in Gothic architecture. Years ago I went to the Alhambra Palace in Granada (Spain), wow, seriously beautiful place.  The courtyard of the lions there is amazing. Everyone must go!

Van Cleef doesn't have prices on their website, but according to InStyle magazine, this 18k bracelet goes for $1,500.  That seems quite reasonable to me.

I love tiger's eye, so maybe I'd get the single pendant in tiger's eye and yellow gold. 

Here's Reece who apparently has 2 different styles. I wonder if she actually bought them, or if they gave them to her?  It looks like mabye the Byzantine Alhambra style in the first picture and either the Vintage Alhambra or regular Alhambra in the second.

You can check out all the styles here: http://www.vancleef-arpels.com/en/van-cleef.html#/alhambra/  Happy shopping (or dreaming).  Cheers.

On the silver topic... What better way for a Gucci girl to combine her love of all things bamboo with sterling silver?  The answer is Tiffany's Bamboo Sterling Silverware!  I'm not sure if normal people still think it is necessary to have sterling silverware, personally I think it is de rigueur.

Side note, they used to make bamboo jewelry also, as part of the Tiffany Nature collection but sadly, it was discontinued. I have the bamboo hoops that weigh a ton (uggh) but look great!

Diamonds are a girl's best friend, but it's good to mix things up right? I was recently given the Elsa Peretti Teardrop earrings and this gift has caused me to have a Tiffany sterling renaissance. I dug out my collection and polished it up and (re)realized that I LOVE this stuff.  I'm not sure why I hadn't worn any of it in so long.  (okay maybe because it's annoying to have to polish it, more on that below) Tiffany's designs are so classic. My favorites are the Atlas collection , the Peretti bean and the Peretti teardrops.  And buying them in sterling makes them affordable to most people... although "affordable", it is kind of an outrage when you consider how much 925 silver costs (its dirt cheap), the markup Tiffany has is INSANE.  But hey, they have to pay for the nice blue boxes and their designers, and for some really expensive real estate. 

Frank Gehry even has a line now!  Tiffany's calls it "a bold new vision of arresting shapes and forms".  I guess that's what you'd expect from the man who designed Bilbao [Guggenheim]! I like the Torque line. (3 pendants in that collection at left) He's also doing some bone china bowls and vases that are really cool.

Note to guys everywhere: if you don't know what to get your girlfriend/wife/mistress etc. you cannot go wrong with something from Tiffany's.  (note of caution - do NOT buy Tiffany on Ebay, it's most likely FAKE and made in China) 

Oh, last quick note on polishing sterling... I learned this a long time ago. Take a pan and line it with aluminum foil, boil some water and get out some baking soda.  Put your jewelry items in the pan on the foil, pour hot water over it and dump in a few teaspoons of baking soda.  It will fizz... let it sit there for several minutes then take your stuff out and buff it with a soft cloth and it's like new!  This works if the tarnish is not really bad - if it's really bad then you can do this, but you'll need to use silver polish too to get all of the tarnish off.  Don't use this method on soft stones or pearls though!

As I was doing my Gucci update yesterday I was thinking about the color yellow since they're featuring that color in their spring/summer line.  We've been seeing yellow a lot more in the last year or so.  Yellow on the red carpets was huge in 2007.  Reece Witherspoon in Nina Ricci, Angelina Jolie in Emanuel Ungaro, Kate Hudson in Dior, Thandie Newton in Fendi, Kerry Washington in Oscar de la Renta, etc. etc.

For us mere mortals, yellow is popping up a lot this Spring. Take a look at J. Crew's spring preview catalog that they shot in Rome (don't get me started Rome... that's an entry of its own), it's full of yellow.  Like the really cute Fontana dress, see below.

Net-a-porter is featuring yellow as the "Y" in their 2008 A to Z of Spring Fashion.

I have to admit as a person who pretty much lives in black, charcoal and denim; I tend to be slow in adopting color.  But I think I'm going to get some yellow this Spring!

Hi again.  Just a quick entry here.  Did you know that Gucci is now selling their women's ready-to-wear line on their website?  Previously they had only sold accessories on the site.  It's great to be able to look at the pieces all in one place with great photography and different views. You click on an ensemble and it lists all of the different pieces and the matching accessories. It's also interesting to be able to see the prices.  A pair of black jeans is $435, a great silk shantung short dress is $1530. Personally, when I'm at their New York stores I don't shop the clothes.  I'm willing to splurge for shoes or a handbag, but the clothes are a bit beyond me right now (budget, not desire!) So it's cool to be able to see them online.  And hey, $435 for jeans is not that bad... I thought they'd have been more.

My last quick Gucci note is that their sleek new New York store is now open.  It's at the corner of Fifth and 56th, the same block as Tiffany's.  This new store replaces the store at Fifth and 54th. It's huge - now the largest Gucci store anywhere.

If you're like me, then you believe that a perfectly designed shoe is like art. I would definitely classify Christian Louboutin's simple 100 mm pumps as this type of shoe.  Sorry I don't have some better pictures, with other angles.  It looks much better in person. 100 mm is just over 4 inches, the leather is super fine and soft, the shoes are incredibly light (of course as with any decent shoe the soles, lining and outer are all leather, this makes them really light), the round toes are the perfect round - rounded oval, and of course the distinctive red soles. Wow!

Isn't that just beautiful, in a classic style-icon sort of way?  If they put shoes in museums, these would have to be there. Louboutin's platforms are more popular, but I don't think they have the simple perfection of these.  They make the exact same shoe with an 85 mm heel, but to me the aesthetic is slightly off with the lower heel. 100 mm is perfection.

Louboutin shoes have been around since the early 90s, but it's really just in the last few years that they've become the ne plus ultra of shoes.  It used to be Manolo and Jimmy Choo, but now I'd say it's certainly Louboutin.  It doesn't seem like celebrities even wear any other shoe (okay, I'm exaggerating).

Here's an old picture of Nicole Ritchie in a similar pair of his pumps.  I think she looks seriously great, don't you? 

Louboutins can be hard to find depending on where you live.  New York actually has 2 stores, Madison Ave. and Horatio Street.  How lucky are New Yorkers?  You can also get them at Bergdorf, Saks, Neiman Marcus, etc. I think Saks has the best online selection.