We all know I’m a jewelry hound.  While I have several places I love for investment pieces, I’ve always been a fan of places like Kenneth Cole or Banana Republic for on-trend costume jewelry to keep things up to date.  A recent look through Banana Republic’s website, however, has made me wonder about where they’re trying to go with their jewelry and accessories lines.

After seeing a necklace I liked in Lucky, I perused their jewelry holdings this week.  As I expected, they have several very wearable pieces, most of which are offered at a price that’s reasonable for what they are.  Their 51″ framed jewel chain necklace at $45, fine.  Their glam bib necklace in smoke gray at $69, fine.  It was this piece that really jarred me:

Banana Republic, $198.00.

Don’t get me wrong, I like this necklace a lot.  So much so, in fact that I considered buying it… until I saw the price. $198?  Really?

read more »

I am squealing with delight, ladies! The trailer for The September Issue has finally dropped!  Feast your eyes on this:

Quite simply, it looks A-MAH-ZING.  Our beloved Ms. Wintour could strike a person dead with a single glance, and boy does this film capture her in her glory.

Looks like there is even a speacial quest appearancshe from Uncle Karl!!

You better believe your Femmes will be there opening day.

The perfect summer jacket from Trina Turk.

Welcome to summer!  Wedding season is in full swing.  We’ve covered wedding fashion outdoors, in the church, at the beach, so hopefully you have your eye on the dresses you’ll be wearing at this summer’s ceremonies, but what we haven’t covered yet is, well, the cover-up!  Yes, it’d be great if your dress covered all the bases by itself, but let’s be realistic.  Sometimes weddings will take you in and out of the sun, the wind, and the air conditioning, and you’ll find yourself in need of some help for climate and modesty control.  This is particularly true if the reception is going to be outdoors or in tents and the ceremony is in a church or the ceremony is outdoors and the reception venue is heavily airconditioned.  A pashmina is always a safe choice, but if you’re looking to go a little farther afield, here are some ideas for cute cover-ups that are totally wedding-appropriate.

read more »

A beautiful print in restrained colors. From Theory.

Every year, when summer rolls around, I get excited over the weather, the food, and the fashion.  What looks better after a long, hard winter than easy clothes in cheery pastels?   The fact is, however, those airy summer colors and I?  Well, we don’t get along all that well.  (Can we say washed out?)  The great thing about the psychotic quantity of lead time fashion gives the actual seasons is that by the time the first actual day of summer arrives, the stores are putting out their second wave of clothing.  The fall clothing isn’t quite here yet, but now on offer are summer cuts in slightly deeper, fall-slanted hues.  Perfect.

This season, the stores are full of soft greys and purples, in flowing summer-weight fabrics that will be perfect for long August evenings by the water.  Here are some of my favorites.

read more »

4 1/2" of heel. Ms. Stefani, you do not f*** around.

Summer brings out one of my biggest weaknesses: my love of preposterously high strappy sandals. I loooove strappy sandals, and I love a high heel even more.  Towering over guys like an Amazon?  That’s just part of the fun.

The problem is, I already have more high-heeled sandals than I really need. If we’re going to be completely realistic about this, I have a limited number of venues to which I can reasonably wear a sandal with a 4″ heel, and, dude, I live in the north.  While I admit that I have on occasion worn glittery strappy sandals on the street in January for the sake of looking especially smoking, it takes a special occasion to convince me to wear shoes like this during most of the year.  (An especially cute guy in dire need of being tortured, for example.)

Needless to say, none of this stops me from loving on the insanely tall sandals all over the stores and the internet.  And if I’m going to embrace impractical shoes, I might as well pick ones that rock.  As always, no one makes stilt heels with more attitude than L.A.M.B., which has a whole array of sandals that sport heels north of 4 inches.  Some shoe porn after the jump.

read more »

I loves me some Narciso Rodriguez...

This is a toughie, ladies. I love Narciso Rodriguez at all times — he does clean and elegant like nobody’s business.  But this dress?   I could actually wear this one.  In my real, actual life!  Brunch?  Absolutely!  That puts it several big steps up on most of my objects of lust.  Sadly, the price, uh, distinctly does not put it closer to purchasability.  But I can still look and lust.  Yum.

Plus size model Whitney Thompson of America's Next Top Model

In light of the retail landscape right now, some retailers are responding with what seems like a good business decision: pulling plus-size clothing, which doesn’t turn much of a profit, from brick and mortar stores, offering them only online.  But when clothing giant Ann Taylor announced their decision to do the same, all hell broke loose on the blogosphere.

Look, it’s true that fashion knows no size (seriously, check out the Fatshionistas – those girls are seriously good at pulling together an outfit), and that as an overall systemic issue, the fact that it’s hard to find adult clothes in plus sizes sucks. I get it, and I’m incredibly sympathetic.

This post is not meant to be fat-shaming or anything else – ultimately, I just wanted to add something different to the conversation, which is some industry insight as to WHY some of these decisions may have been made.

An interesting sidebar is the issue of vanity sizing.  A few years ago, we had a similar trend that affected the other end of the scale – I, at 5’2 and (at the time) 115 pounds, could not shop in a number of stores.  In fact, while working at Abercrombie in college (shut up), I had to walk across the mall and dress myself in Abercrombie Kids just to meet the dress code.  Yet, we didn’t see the sort of venomous reaction to the idea that adult women had to dress themselves in kids clothes that we’re now seeing directed at the idea that adult women need to order adult clothes online.

That aside, there are some very real, tangible reasons why plus size clothing is being phased out.

read more »

The online shopping guide rolls on, and this week we’ve arrived at one of my favorites — the membership only sites.  I have to admit, the membership site sales are a BIG weakness of mine.  I hesitate to specify how much money I’ve spent on Gilt, but let’s just say that my wardrobe is a whole bunch nicer than it was before I joined, and I have a few really fabulous handbags.  The great thing about the membership sales is that while you can’t rely on getting the season’s latest offerings, you can get some really great items at discounts way beyond what you’re likely to see in the online or physical stores on a regular basis.  The online membership sites are the perfect place for opportunistic shopping; if you keep your eye out for, say, a dress to wear to a wedding, and give it a little extra time, you’re likely to see something going by at one of these sales that you’ll love and that won’t cost you anything like retail.

A discussion of the various sale sites follows after the jump!

read more »

Call it the end of an era: eLuxury, the go-to shopping site for LVMH designer brands, is closing its doors.  In order to move a lot of its remaining merchandise, the site is having a sweeping clearance sale, with up to 80% off.

Happy shopping!

Foley & Corinna, how I do love you!

I believe I’ve gone into the whole fact of my not needing more cocktail dresses before, but man, do I love this dress.  That teal is just about my favorite color, I love the ombre effect, and the fringe just begs for me to take it to the Flatiron Lounge or one of the city’s other speakeasies and have a Prohibition-era cocktail.  Love, love, love!