February 2009 Archives

Take a looks at this super cute platform sandal from Calvin Klein. It has a gorgeous stacked heel and cool buckle look... and only $130.  It has a 3/4" platform and 4-1/4" heel.

As a measure of personal responsibilty during the recession, I have given up $500+ shoes.  So I'll have to make do.  But with options like this, I can't feel too bad for myself!

I'm not sure what the deal is with this particular Calvin Klein label.  Clearly, it's made by a licensee, like his other cheap labels. I'm surprised he would allow them to use the name Calvin Klein, just like that though.  Calvin Klein Collection shoes are made in Italy and have leather soles etc.  Someone not so clued in could be confused...

There was a nice article in March Vogue about Mulberry and their new creative director, Emma Hill.  It mentions "her vision for Mulberry is to play up its English heritage, viewing it with a current relevance, not misty-eyed nostalgia."

I love the Mitzy Hobo, $695. It has a nice slouchy shape in a high quality pebbled leather.

I think these boots are a good example of "current relevance", they look sort of English horsey, but cool at the same time. Buckle Boot, $895.

Here are the trends for Spring 2009 from In Style Magazine, March issue, "Clothes We Love":

Silky

Safari

Texture

Hourglass

Embellished

Print Blouse

Soft Pants

Full Mini

Un-Classic Jacket

Sporty Dress

Soft Shorts

None of this is very exciting or particularly compelling.  If you look through the feature, frankly the featured clothes look mostly pretty ugly.  I particularly hate the soft shorts, soft pants and full mini trends.  Uggh those harem pants, as they're calling them, that were all the rage in the Spring 09 Fashipn shows last fall are just god-awful. And safari?  Please, safari seems to be on trend every other year. Good grief, if they want us to spend money during a recession, they've got to come up with better stuff than this!

Here are some recession friendly Spring coats from Old Navy.

Here's a short version of the always in style trench. $49.50.

This one looks like a mini trench coat, It's on sale now for only $30!

And here's a cute little pea coat, this one's on sale for only $25.

Prada has some great shoes for their Spring 2009 collection.  I love these Crisscross Platform Sandals. Although they may be a bit dangerous, the platform is huge! They're $990 though, yikes!

These Platform Slingbacks were featured in a spread in March Vogue, worn with the amazing Prada python print dress.  They're also steeply priced at $690.

I like the topstitching detail on these Knotted Sandals, $590.

Here's the python dress, by the way.  From the Spring 2009 Ready to Wear collection. It's $2,580!

Today is the end of NY Fashion Week.  It's pretty much over; there are just few more shows, the last one being Ralph Rucci at 2 pm.  There's a review in the Times today by Cathy Horyn "All Kidding Aside, Some Good Clothes".

It's a weird time for fashion, which can often be frivolous, but now is not a time for frivolity. Ms. Horyn reviews how the designers dealt with this.

She says "Designers haven't tempered their creativity so much as trained it like a spotlight on the things they are known for".

At Vera Wang - "Vera Wang has a thing for such abstract notions and textures that it occasionally lands her in a puddle of fabric. This was not one of those times. Her collection, shown Thursday to a pared down crowd of editors and retailers in her SoHo store, was very appealing -- well crafted, engaging and right for the moment."

Oscar de la Renta - His "collection was strong on suits, in gray and plum wool tweed and in a fuchsia and black diamond-patterned alpaca." ... "If the collection felt a bit stodgy and old hat -- or old hair, considering the models' stately heads -- it may be that Mr. de la Renta thinks his customers will buy cautiously, looking for replacement pieces".

Proenza Schouler - "McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler seemed to be thinking harder about the women they dress." "But while some of their proportions and layers were interesting, rounded skirts in nubby wool with scalloped hems looked clunky. That might have been the desired effect, but combined with the rest of the oversize layers -- well, you wonder if the lady has central heating."

This week's New York Magazine is featuring 7 outfits with the clothing pieces for each all under $100, #5 is a fabulous McQ Alexander McQueen for Target dress.

The collection doesn't actually go up for sale until March 1 at Target stores, although there was a pop-up store preview in New York on Feb. 14 & 15 in conjunction with fashion week here. I missed it. Darn.

You can sign up for an email reminder at the Target website.

Giorgio Armani is this week's guest blogger for the New York Times' "The Moment" section since he's here for his store opening and it's Fashion Week. He's posted 2 entries so far on Monday and Tuesday.

It's cool to get a glimpse into the life of someone like this.  But he does come off as a bit of a snob. About dining at Scott Conants' Scarpetta, he says "I liked the décor and the food was pretty good, but you know the service was a bit slow. I ate spaghetti con pomodoro and basilico -- and, here, I must interject something for your benefit. Americans overcook their pasta. Always. And there's too much sauce. Too much of everything! Please, try to control yourselves."  Geez.  Actually overcooked pasta is TOTALLY one of my pet peeves too, but it's not true that every single place in the U.S. overcooks the pasta.

And about going out to a club he says "I noticed that the crowd was dressed in a rather basic way. In Europe, the people you see at clubs are extremely beautiful to look at and are wearing very elegant clothes." Maybe it was a bad fashion night at Cielo, but it does seem that he is rather eager to castigate us boorish Americans. That's not very cool.

Today was the start of New York Fall 2009 Fashion Week.

Today's schedule included Yigal Azroiuel this morning at 11 am, afternoon highlights are BCBG and Nicole Miller.

The weekend's highlights include DKNY (not at the tents), Herve Leger by Max Azria and Diane Von Furstenberg. 

The party of the week just may be the Armani party at the new Fifth Avenue store (Fifth & 56th Street) on Tuesday night. The store is billed to be a "megaflagship" (as per WWD). It will house everything from his home collection to his signature lines (Giorgio Armani, Armani Collezioni, Emporio Armani, etc.) right down to his jeans label.

I saw this bag the other day at the boutique at the Equinox 74th Street. Wow, now that is a good looking gym bag.  No wonder they call it the "runway" bag.  I wonder if Puma actually has a show?

Puma Runway Bag, $110.

There's an article today in the NY Times Style section, "Calming the Voices That Scream Shop!" about the new movie Confessions of a Shopaholic, which opens tomorrow.

I haven't read the book but apparently the Isla Fisher character is a young woman with a lot of credit who goes overboard and then has to try to dig herself out.  The Times article, by David Colman, aptly points out that the film serves as a "As a comical allegory for the last 15 years, when fashion-mad consumerism, among several other things, drove the world's economy to new heights, the film stirs up prickly issues about the complex interplay of women, fashion, spending and identity."  Rebecca Connor, an associate professor of English at Hunter College is quoted, "Right up to the present day we have a culture tacitly or overtly encouraging women to shop in order to strengthen the economy". "At the same time, we've always had male commentators denigrating women for their love of trinkets and their wasteful expenditures."

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.  Anyway, it looks like a fun, fluffy movie which during this depressing, and probably stressful for many, recession seems like a good diversion.

The movie's website is conveniently hosted by Bluefly!  And has a link to a "get the look / Rebecca's closet" section where you can buy pieces to replicate the zany Patricia Field styled outfits of the movie.

Vogue's March cover with feature our new first lady!  It's only the second time in history the first lady will have appeared on the cover of Vogue.  You would think it might have been Jackie Kennedy, but it was Hillary Clinton in 1998.

The photos are by Annie Leibovitz and the accompanying article by Andre Leon Talley.

I see they have Wedgwood Oberon (see teacup above). I always loved that pattern. Maybe it was a prop for the photo shoot though...

These two Dior rings, both on sale at eLuxury, would both make great Valentine's gifts.  Any girl would love these because they're Dior!

Dior Heart Box Large Ring, regular $275, sale $165.

Dior Heart Small Box Ring, regular $275, sale $165. (It's funny, the prices for both sizes of the ring are listed as the same.  One of them must be a mistake???)

Both are rhodium plated metal and have the quilting design that Dior uses on their handbags, and come in a Dior gift box.  Hearts are kind of goofy, but I like these anyway.

To add just a bit of color to an outfit, I'd wear one of these rings and the Stuart Weitzman red pumps with jeans and a black shirt, simple but cool.

Oooh, I so want these beautiful Dolce & Gabbana pumps but I have put myself on a shoe ban. Obama said we should implement personal responsibilty, right?  (I don't "need" these after all.)

Details: Olive green slightly grained leather, round toe, with D&G horsebit and 4-1/4 inch stacked heel.  Cool gold footbed and leopard lining. Made in Italy. Regular price $695, sale price $419.

Such a good deal too.  And they have my size.  Boo hoo hoo!!! 

Bluefly is having a pretty amazing sale right now, today is the last day though! 

Here are some examples:

ABS Slingback Sandal, with the extra 25% off, only $59.24!

Nanette Leport Black Ruched Cotton Dress, with the extra 25% off, only $104.99!

AG Straight Leg Jeans, with the extra 25% off, only $66.74!

Wow, these are crazy prices.  It's the only good thing about the recession, but bad too, because it's so tempting to buy stuff we don't need!

Banana has a new line of premium handbags that look pretty nice.  The one I like the best is the Bridgeport Crescent Shoulder Bag, $230. Pebbled leather with polished nickel hardware.  It comes in black, stone and dust (below).

Angelina Jolie has these fabulous peep toe pumps in a nude tone and has been photographed wearing them several times in the last few months.  The nude color seems to be sold out though (big surprise). Stylists say that nude color shoes are great for giving youself a longer, slimmer line, to make your legs look longer - Angelina certainly doesn't have to worry about that.  She looks great in any color shoes!

But they're still available in black and a very nice red shade (fire quasar) at zappos.com. $285 and $298 respectively. Patent leather, 4 inch heel, made in Spain.

Madonna looks so amazing in this W magazine photo shoot. (photographer Steven Klein)  Seeing this makes me believe that some of the really freaky pictures you see of her are definitely photoshopped.

Here in a vintage sequined gown:

And a vintage Dior wool suit:

She's an inspiration.  These days age isn't something you just have to accept.  Even if you're not super rich... with proper skin care and keeping yourself fit; I think, can help keep you young-looking.

It's Clinique gift time at Bloomingdale's.  Maybe it's goofy, but I love the free gifts, even though often the colors and items included are not the ones I use and I end up giving them away. They're just fun anyway!

I've probably mentioned this before.  But for me, there are 2 staples from Clinique that I just cannot live without:

Super City Block Oil-Free Daily Face Protector SPF 40 - at $17.50 it's an amazing value.  I use it every day, all year round. Premature aging caused by the sun is no joke!

Naturally Glossy Mascara - every year there are so many new mascaras, and I've tried them... but I keep coming back to this one.  I cannot tolerate clumps or stuck together eyelashes. This formula is pefect, and only $14 - another great value.

Bloomingdale's has this cute Juciy Couture Clutch/Wristlet ($148) in a nice yellow.  It's a good way for us color-averse to add a dash of color to our look.

I love the big tassel and the chunky brass hardware. It's a good size: 8" wide by 4-3/4" high. 

The problem I have with clutches is that I usually forget to use them!  I have a fabulous brown suede Prada clutch from few years ago - when they did the quirky fish designs  (a smaller version of this tote below).  

I hardly ever use it!  I think with the recession it is time to REDISCOVER one's own closet!  There are tons of treasures in there that should be enjoyed!

Check out these amazingly beautiful rosewood parabolic Chanel skis!  They're almost too nice looking to ski on.

Of course, Chanel does not put the price on their website.  I am sure it is shocking.

I got my J. Crew February catalog with Lauren Hutton on the cover in the mail over the weekend.

Yikes, I think she looks very old, and her skin looks like leather - as if she didn't take care of it when she was young.  Personally, I'm all for a bit of tasteful plastic surgery for older people (or anyone who really needs it, say for a young person to fix a very unfortunate nose).

Anyway, on to fashion...  Here are my picks:

The Icon Trench (pg. 4, $298) looks great, but I already have a classic Burberry that will last like, forever; so I don't need this one.

This Tissue Ruffle Cardigan (pg. 13, $45) looks like a nice lightweight layer. 

Distressed Vintage Slim Jean in Destroyed Antique Wash (pg. 16, $148), I love the holes and fraying. They're showing them rolled... hmmm, I'd have to try that look and see if it looks silly.

The Ringspun Cotton Rosette Tee (pg. 36, $48) looks like a tee that Chanel would make.

I love having a bunch of cardigans around, the Merino Michelle V-Neck Cardigan (pg. 40-41, $69.50) would be great to have in say 4 colors!  I don't like the way they paired it in the picture below though - longer sweaters look better with a pencil skirt, not a full skirt.  Sweaters never wear that well, I hate it when they start pilling so it seems like I'm always buying new ones. (recession - time to get a sweater de-fuzzer!)

I already mentioned the Satin Rosette Sandals the other day (pg. 53, $78). These come in silver, blush (below) and yellow. I actually like all of the colors, so it would hard to decide...

The New York Times had an article today, A New Home For Fashion Week, that says an announcement is expected very soon that the tents will be leaving Bryant Park for Lincoln Center starting in 2010. 

They've been at Bryant Park for 15 years.  The management of the Park has apparently wanted the shows to move since 2006 because they have become too large and interfere with public use of the park.

I generally hate hearts and would NEVER wear heart jewelry (even Elsa Peretti for Tiffany), etc.  BUT, this Marc Jacobs "Love Story" Clutch ($795) somehow is very cool despite being covered with hearts.

Barney's has it in black.

And Saks has it in chalk and silver.

It's so cute!  The size is 12½" X 7½"H, so it's a decent size that will actually fit a good amount of stuff. $795 seems a bit expensive though!

Clinique has a new product in their line of "Redness Solutions" products, Instant Relief Mineral Powder, $32.50.

Redness is a common problem for fair skinned people. Rosacea of course is a serious problem, but more common are reactive redness and broken capillaries under the skin.  These all show up so much more on those of us with very fair skin.  That's why this product caught my eye.  It looks quite yellow, which is somewhat alarming, but apparently it doesn't look yellow on your face.

The reviews from people who have tried it are mostly positive... well, more than positive; really, glowing reviews. 

They even have a redness quiz so you can dertermine if you need redness products.  I will report back after I've tried it.