mmmk no thanks bye bye

just a few of the many problems i have with these urban renewal shorts:

• the front looks like it could be the back 
  
• can you say mom jean pooch?
• the seaming/tailoring looks cheap
• they wouldn't flatter anyone with hips (in other words, 90% of all women)
• they aren't really shorts but rather $50 underpants

i get that they're on trend with the high waist but if an article of clothing makes a 100lb model look strange, then really what's the point? 

(photos courtesy of urbanoutfitters.com)

deja dress

the april issue of elle used the same $2580 pixelated snakeskin prada dress no less than three times throughout... and the industry wonders why readership and ad sales have gone down... how about some originality please?

through the looking glass

i had the great pleasure of doing a casting call photo shoot for a sprite campaign with professional photographer stephan schacher yesterday. let me just say as much as i love fashion i am NOT a model. a friend of a friend that knows stephan said that they were looking for young, stylish people with fun personalities and suggested i go. i'm pretty much game for anything and finding out i'd get to keep a copy of my most professional portrait in the end sealed the deal. being in front of the camera and hearing the click click click and trying to pose is not for me, but getting hair and makeup done and the whole experience was a total blast. we'll all have to wait a few weeks to see how the pic turns out, but in the meantime check out some of mr. schacher's stunning work. 

(pics courtesy of www.shocker.ch/)

she's got legs

forever 21 is on quite a roll with their designer knock offs- oops i mean designer inspired- items. as you can see their marbled leggings are a decent effort at emulating alexander mcqueen's skeleton print lycra leggings. the price difference between the two? $961.20. 

(pics courtesy of forever21.com and net-a-porter.com)

the chateau

when i was a kid, my siblings, cousins and i would create a "sand city" when we would vacation at our family cottage in the summer. each of us would use our favorite matchbox cars, rocks, sand, cement blocks and pieces of wood to make our own little mini metropolis. massive planning went into creating each aspect of town. and we all tried to outdo each others mansions with moss outlined go-kart tracks, dirt hole swimming pools, and pebbled helicopter pads. but there was a dark side to sand city. a dangerous, anything goes place far away on the other side of town from our elegant pristinely kept sprawls. a place where banged up, fire-blackened police cars (courtesy of flasher fireworks) lined the streets and shadowy white trash hooligans roamed free. the place was "chateau" and apparently barneys new york found some of our skeleton cars of yesteryear for their latest spring shoe catalog. 

red carpet rodarte

reese witherspoon attended the premiere of her new movie "monsters vs. aliens" over the weekend wearing one of rodarte's fall 2009 runway dresses. i love rodarte and i am obsessed with the collection this dress came from... plus it's so fun to see different, experimental pieces (i.e. gareth pugh) on the red carpet. not everybody "gets" these particular looks (it was a "fug or fab" option on gofugyourself), but i think it's pure fashion baby. 

(pics courtesy of gofugyourself.com and nymag.com)

must find...

some black leather/pleather shorts... maybe topshop will have some when they open in a few weeks? 

(photos courtesy of shopnastygal.com and fashiontoast.com)

money well spent

• i found this moschino belt at salvation army last week for $6.99... others are currently selling on ebay for up to $100. boo ya! 
• i saw these enzo angiolini booties a month ago at macy's, was immediately taken, yet managed to talk myself out of the $100 price tag. i told myself it's almost spring, i should be saving my pennies for fun summer heels and not another pair of boots. but when i stopped back this week they were on clearance for $30 and i was done. especially with the prevalence of lace up styles on the fall runways (see alexander wang and dkny), they'll not only carry me through the remainder of the city winter (fifty bucks says we'll see one more snow fall before the end of april) but next season as well. love it.  

M.O.D.

mod stands for "models off duty" and is quite the sartorialist scene these days. designer darlings like alexander wang cite mod style as collection inspiration and some leggy ones have even parlayed their casual cool into behind the scenes work as stylists (see erin wasson below). some of my personal faves? 

• agyness deyn- just for the pure what the f-ery of her getups. psychedelic grandpa sweater with over the knee socks and loafers?! sure! why the heck not!?!
  
• kate moss- duh. 
• erin wasson- she was at the forefront of the early 90's grunge return that we're really starting to see all over the place. 

elle.com has a really great mod slideshow at the moment and the sartorialist never fails to find a few runway walkers out and about as well. check it and add some real mod style to your life. 

(top to bottom photos via buzzphoto.com, stylefrizz.com, denimology.com)

think spring

all apologies for my bad blogging behavior this week... between returning exhausted from weekend travels, my camera dying and st. patrick's day i haven't had a (sober) moment to post until now! 

if you know me, you know that rainbow and candy shades really aren't my thing, but these few items just might inspire me to break away from the black, red, white and gray that pervades my wardrobe... 

top to bottom:

• brian atwood lana mix platforms
• alexander mcqueen crystal print leggings
• adam sleeveless silk jumpsuit

(all pics courtesy of net-a-porter.com)

heavy reading

my kickass mother picked this book, fashion now 2, up for me today at barnes and noble just because! it's a 500 page encyclopedia of over 160 world renowned designers- the thing weighs about 5 pounds, no lie! it's got great pics (love the back cover 2nd pic above) and interviews and i can't wait to go through every one... thanks mom, you're the best!!!

(pics courtesy of barnesandnoble.com)

what would you do?

i want these opening ceremony shoes. bad. but they're $500. and here's how i'm slowly rationalizing the purchase in my head: 

• they're fashion forward but still classic
• they'd go with everything from jeans to shorts to dresses
• they're great quality and will last 
• they'd be a cute alternative to my every day chucks (cost per wear would be pennies after this summer)
• no one else has them; they're unique
• i can't stop thinking about them

so my question is- how much would you all spend for good shoes that you could wear almost every day that you know you'd love to death? 

(photos from shopbop.com)

laura laine

the only good article in the march nylon magazine (i was traveling, i was desperate, it was the only mag i hadn't read) was an article about fashion illustrators. a few pieces included by laura laine really struck me... i am positively in love with their dark romantic drama. these are definitely going to replace the balenciaga spring 2007 illustrations i have up on my walls currently. i really want to go on about the detail and dreaminess of her gothic wisps but i've been traveling and me brain no function no more right now...

(images via lauralaine.net)

neon on the soles of her shoes

my friend marie came into work wearing these rubber faux-soles on her boots last week when we had a good snow fall and i was immediately intrigued. apparently they are a hiking/climbing accessory to aid traction. i just love the flash of neon orange on a dreary gray day. i haven't found that particular color online yet, but rei has black and glow in the dark options available. 

holy heels from hell batman!

everyone is buzzin about the shoes seen in the nina ricci fall 2009 show. apparently these babies add 10 inches to your height... but i think if you were to wear these you'd also have to subtract about 10 years from your LIFE since the odds of you breaking an ankle, falling down the stairs, or not being able to outrun an attacker in them is QUITE high. it is interesting to note though, that no model fell during the show. i wonder if mr. theyskens had everyone practicing weeks beforehand!

(photo courtesy of nymag.com)

je suis un rock star?

for the true fashion and music addict, the chanel guitar. completely ridiculous but also pretty sweet, it totally puts my dusty out of tune washburn to shame. for only 2800 euro ($3509.79) you get the gee-tar, padded gig bag and strap. baaaarrrrrgain!!! [side rant: i really hate it when people use models who so obviously do not know how to play the guitar! show her a chord or something for gosh sakes!! end rant]

(photo via fashiontribes.com)

wednesday window shopping

• the seaming on this georgio bratto bowling bag is crazy amazing
• speaking of seams, check 'em out on these perfectly quirky ymc lace up boots
• i think i might need to go to alexander wang rehab but you can't deny the neon cool of this jacket

(pictures courtesy of shopbop.com (bag), openingceremony.com (jacket) and my-wardrobe.com (boots))

famous last words...

last month i said that i felt uneasy about wearing a blatant copy/rip off of a designer item... but leave it to forever freakin 21 to make me eat my words. they went and put out an almost exact replica of the alexander wang fringe booties i've been drooling over since spying them on the runway last september. $34.50 compared to about $600 and i seriously think no one would be the wiser....oooohhh so torn!!! (anyone care to take a guess as to which ones are by alexander wang above???)

inspiration

whenever i l feel like i have no clothes and nothing to wear i always pull out amy arbus' "on the street 1980-1990". capturing innovative, gritty and sometimes outlandish on-the-street styles in nyc in the 80's, it never fails to get my creative fashion juices flowing.