May 2009 Archives

 I'm such a J. Crew junkie, I realize that this is going to have to be a monthly feature since they release a new catalog every month -- and each one has at least a few new items.

I love the cover of the June catalog!  The yellow jacket with the gorgeous flowers... but inside they explain that the flowers are just a tease... they're a one-of-a-kind sample.

Here are my top picks from the catalog... and just for fun at the end we'll add them all up and see how much money I've spent. 

Ikat Halter Dress in Warm Maize. Cotton poplin and silk blend. $225.  This I really like, but I think it would look best on a really tall girl, like the model.  Even with heels it probably wouldn't look as good on me.  (boo hoo)

Paper Poplin Blazer in Warm Seashell. 100% cotton. $79.  This color would be a total departure for me.  I never wear pinky colors, but I like the tone - - not too pink!

I also love the Bouquet Sash Belt in Ivory shown above. The flowers are made with Mantero silk. And it's only $35.  I think this is something I would end up never wearing though, even though it's so beautiful.  Really, who in real life would wear it the way she is above?  They also show it in the catalog worn as a necklace, I'm not sure anyone would really do that either.

Pleated Cotton Strati Tank in Ivory, 100% cotton, fully lined. $88.  This would look so Chanel with a black tropical wool pencil skirt... or dress it down with a pair of torn, shreded and worn jeans.

Linen Knotted Jacket in Flax. Lightweight linen with silk knotted ruffle detail. $158. I'd wear this with a plain white tank top, jeans and strappy sandals.

Okay, so I've spent $585. That's actually not so bad...

I love these elegant pearl drop earrings from the Chanel Spring-Summer 2009 Pre Collection.   I love earrings with just a little big of dangle and I'm totally a sucker for the Chanel Camellia flower!

Glasstone pearl, metal and resin camellia earrings.

I also love this variation on the classic double C long necklace.  Most often they're done with pearls but here they've used some stones and the Cs are in blue, which is unusual too. Metal, enamel, glasstone pearl and natural stone long necklace

I was also browsing through their Spring-Summer bags.  Their bags can often look kind of Grandma-ish, well you know very classic, but a little boring.  This denim tote is a very modern take on the classic Chanel quilted look.  Quilted Denim Tote with a large stitched Chanel signature double-C motif.

Detail:

Of course, they never publish prices on the Chanel website, so you have to go to a Chanel store to find out... 

You can check out the new Dolce & Gabbana beauty line at Saks.com.  I love the luxe gold containers and rich colors.

Here are my picks:

Luminous Cheek Color, $44 in nude.

Smooth Eye Coulour Duo, $36 in fortune and stromboli.

Smooth Eye Colour Quad, $59 in champagne.

Crayon Intense Eyeliner, $29 in black and coffee.

Classic Cream Lipstick, $30 in cashmere, nude, velvet and goddess.

I'm not a big fan however of their advertising campaign for the line with Scarlett Johansson.  I think she looks a bit cheesy, not modern and appealing at all.

J. Crew is having a private sale, 20% off any order over $175 now through Memorial Day with code SUMMER at checkout.

It's a good time to stock up on swimwear or beach dresses.  They do such a great job with both of those.  I still have my jersey twisted strap beach dress from a couple of seasons ago.  I've loved it... and I'm sure I'll continue to this Summer.  This year, I think this one looks really cute: Jersey Strapless Dress, $78. It's viscose which I love for its drape and softness.

This is the papaya color.  Since I'm somewhat color-phobic, I think I'd stick with dark charcoal.  But you never know, maybe someday I'll be crazy and get a real color!

Chanel is debuting a new collection of 12 rare fragrances, all in the same sleek understated bottle. You can sign up at Chanl to be notified when they are available, here.

Chanel also did a line of Exclusifs back in 2007, those included 4 relaunched scents and 6 new ones.

Imagine pedaling along a tree-lined street this Summer on your GUCCI bike!  The Gucci Cruiser Bicyle is decked out with Gucci script logo on the bronze metal frame; an engraved GG handlebar bell; chocolate brown Guccissima leather seat, handlebars and seat pack; front and rear fenders; rear rack; headlight and rear light!  Wow!  The price is $6,365.  It also comes in a white version.

Wow, this is sad and surprising news...

A French Court has ruled in favor of eBay in a case brought by L'Oreal over the sale of counterfeit goods. The Paris court found that eBay had "fulfilled its duty."

I am really shocked, I thought of all courts a French one would rule for the companies whose items are being knocked off... since France is probably the top country for luxury goods production.  EVERYONE knows that there is a ton of fake stuff on eBay, what a joke.  Even more of a joke is eBay' statement:

"This is a clear legal victory for eBay and important victory for French consumers. We are delighted that eBay's meaningful efforts to fight counterfeits online have been recognized by the court, as has our status as an internet-hosting provider.

"Today, 99% of all items listed on eBay have no suspicion of counterfeits. We welcome the invitation to resolve the outstanding matters in an amicable way, as we have always believed that cooperation is the best way to fight counterfeits. Ongoing dialogue and collaboration, rather than litigation, is the only way to address these complex issues, which is in everyone's best interests."

HA HA HA HA.

Some pre-fall Christian Louboutin items have arrived at Neiman Marcus. Wow, it's May (not even Summer) and we're talking about Fall already... crazy.  But fashion's always looking ahead!

Among them, 2 super high pumps with 5-1/2 inch heels. 2 bags and 2 boots.  The black boots are the same we've seen before with a round toe, now being offering with a squared toe. The leopard boots I think are a bit much.  I like the leopard bag, but boots NO!

Beauty.com has a cool free gift offer right now.  A cosmetics pouch designed by Lela Rose filled with deluxe samples (Bliss, Borghese, Bulgari, Stila etc).

I love Beauty.com for their 5% back offer and that they carry many of my favorite brands like Fresh, Caudalie, Oscar Blandi, Peter Thomas Roth, etc.  And you can buy drugstore stuff from drugstore.com at the same time and they'll ship it all together.

For the last few years I haven't been the biggest fan of Prada's shoe designs.  But I'm finding that this is changing.  I already posted in back in Feb. about some of their Spring shoes that I really like.  Now, check these out:

Prada Multistrap Sandals, $620. Gorgeous, super high 4 1/2 inch heels with 1 inch platform, strappy design with a side zip. And $620 isn't that bad...

And this jeweled slingback is quite stunning. Prada Jeweled Patent Pumps, $890. 4 1/4 inch heel.

What an incredibly elegant shoe!

I tried on a different color of these shoes yesterday at the Shoe Box on the Upper East Side.  (I love that store, one can get in a lot of trouble there!)  They had them in the patent leathers, which I am not crazy about.  Although the beige patent is kind of nice for the fact a very light color leather can get dirty and the patent protects it.

The shoe in question is the Stuart Weitzman Daphne Open Toe Pump.  It is also made in regular leather.  I found them at endless.com in both black and a metallic beige.  They're $345.  They are leather, with leather soles, made in Spain.  The qualtiy is so-so.  I think the LAMB shoes made in Brazil appear to be much more well made than these... but then LAMB shoes tend to be a little bit more expensive.

They are calling this color (above) "Beige Supple Kid" to me it looks more gold.  Maybe it looks differnet in person.  The beige in the patent leather than I tried on was very nude tone, it matched my skin.  These are a very similar style to the Weitzman style I posted about a while back, the ones Angelina Jolie had worn.  Those are sold out, but this is a nice option.  She wore the beige patent...  see post. 

So, of course last night was the big Costume Institute Gala.  Too bad it was a rainy bleak night here in the city.  But I'm sure it was fabulous anyway...it better be for a min. $7,500/plate dinner.  The New York Times Style section has a write-up about it today, here.

New York Times slide show.

People slide show.

PopSugar, tons of photos.

I think Kate Bosworth looked amazing in this elegant Stella McCartney dress.

And I'd have to say that Victoria Beckham was a miss in this Marc Jacobs and quite ugly Vuitton heels.  The dress looks like she took a satin version of Dwell Pin Dot sheets and wrapped them around herself.

There were certainly some stand-outs in the ugly department. 

Leighton Meester in Vuitton.

Madonna also in Vuitton. The dress is fine, but the rest?

Anyway, I think today is one of the best days for fashion of the year.  Well, I mean today for those of us who didn't actually go to the Gala, we have to wait until the day after to see all the fashion...

The New York Times 'On The Runway' blog had an intersting tidbit today about Azzedine Alaia.

(photo credit: Jean-Luce Huré for The New York Times) Apparently seven models were going to be wearing Alaia tonight at the Gala, but at the last minute he asked them not to wear his dresses.  Naomi Campbell for one, decided not attend at all based on this.  Alaia apparently was miffed that his work wasn't really included in the "Model as Muse" exhibit, which it seemingly should have been since he had that sort of relationship with Campbell, Seymour and others... It's a good read, check it out.  And tomorrow, we'll get to see who WAS at the gala and what they were wearing.

There's a new dry shampoo on the scene - Frederic Fekkai Au Naturel Dry Shampoo. It's $23 for 2.9 oz.

Reviewers on Sephora give it 4 stars.  A few people complained about being able to see the powder on their darker hair.  (duh)  And a few people complained about the smell of it not being the greatest.  I'll need to check it out for myself and report back.

I usually use Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Shampoo. It's $19 for 2.5 oz and they also have a travel size 1 oz. for $11.

This one also gets 4 stars from Sephora reviewers.  The scent is described as lemon verbena, whatever it is, it's nice and clean smelling but the smell doesn't hang around all day (which is good I think).  For me this product works great.  I think dry shampoos are especially perfect for blondes because the white powder even brightens your hair a little bit.  My hair is fine too and it puffs it up a little bit as well.