Brace yourself, ladies, it’s here! In a celebration of fashion presumably intended to give the flagging industry a boost in the current economy, Vogue and CDFA are sponsoring a full out fashion extravaganza tonight featuring events at hundred of stores throughout the city. Frankly, there are so many stores participating here and across the country that you hardly need a guide - just wander into your favorite fashionable boutique or department store starting around 7 and there’s a good chance you’ll find yourself with a glass of champagne or shaking hands with a designer. I’ve personally gotten invites to events at Mackage (free one-on-one style consultations with Philip Bloch and in-store blow-outs), eryn brinié (performance by singer Kate Earl), Trina Turk (champagne, plus the designer herself at the LA boutique), Theory (a special installation of their FW 09 looks plus cocktails from Belvedere vodka), plus half a dozen department stores, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!  Even if you’re not really looking to shop, it’d be a shame to miss what promises to be a heck of an event.  If you’re looking for more guidance, here’s the official website, and the NYT’s article of yesterday.

Can’t wait!  Hope you all have the chance to get out and enjoy it tonight!

Country tweed from Nanette Lepore.

I give in.  The fashion machine has won.  While I’m normally one of the people who refuses to even contemplate buying clothing for a season that is months away (who wants airy eyelet dresses in February?), my eye has officially moved on to fall fashion. The weather is hot and sticky, and I am far from done with the summer produce.  But still, jackets are starting to look cute to me again, and the texture of flannels and tweeds is starting to look rich and appealing again. Don’t get me wrong — I don’t want to WEAR any of it yet, and I really need to spend at least one solid day in a pool somewhere before the end of September.  But I have to admit, the wool is starting to call me.  Luckily, the stores, physical and online, are starting to fill up with distinctive pieces in tweed, plaid, and wool flannels.  Here are some of the pieces I most want to pet this fall.

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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.

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Covered but fashionable. From Adam.

Still have weddings to go to?  Let’s talk about the classic venue: the church.  A church ceremony calls for the most conservative clothing choices, particularly if there’s going to be an actual religious service.  Destination weddings are increasingly popular, but this formula still covers the vast majority of all weddings I’ve been to: a church ceremony in the afternoon starting somewhere between 2 and 4 pm, with or without a full service, depending on the couple, followed by a dinner reception starting around 7.  If you’re friends with a lot of New York natives, you may end up at 7 pm ceremonies with a black and white ball at midnight, but if you live in the Midwest or elsewhere in the country, there’s a good chance that the foregoing description fits an awful lot of the weddings you’re expected to attend.

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A breezy, beachy blue from Laila Azhar!

We’re almost to June, the biggest wedding month of the year, so it’s time to take another pass at wedding guest fashion.  While there are a few rules that are consistently safe for any wedding (don’t flash too much skin, don’t wear white), we all know that there are as many different kinds of wedding venues and dress codes as people can come up with.  (Star Trek wedding, anyone?)  Today we’ll tackle the beach wedding.

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Bright, sassy, and perfect! From Shoshanna.

Happy Memorial Day!

While it isn’t officially summer yet and frankly, I don’t anticipate braving the waters around here any time soon, today still marks the beginning of the season of barbecues, picnics, and trips to the beach!  I have to admit, I managed to miss the entire beach season last year, so my bikini had to content itself with a couple of long weekends floating around in the pool.  I’m hoping to do better this year, though, so I’m turning my eye to finding the perfect suit to take me to the beach.

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Pink is a color that is, shall we say, challenging for me.  I can manage a dusty rose or a bright cherry, but straight-up pinks are really best confined to my pedicure.  That said, though, pink has a soft summery charm that has a special appeal in those first days when the weather turns warm.  Here’s a gallery of beguiling pink tops to romance the beginning of summer with, from cherry to salmon.

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Chic, appropriate, and cool. From Trina Turk.

That’s right, it’s May, and you know what that means — wedding season is here.  If you’re between about 23 and 33, there’s a good chance that you are going to spend every other weekend this summer at a friend’s wedding.  If you’ve been through a few years of this, you probably have a couple of stand-by dresses that you whip out if you need them, but the chances are you still sometimes get invitations to events for which you just don’t have anything appropriate. I’m a big advocate of making an effort to find wedding-appropriate clothes out of respect for both the couple getting married and the venue.  (Even if you think some of the rules are old-fashioned, is it worth the risk of offending the bride or the groom’s mother on their big day?)  What’s wedding appropriate, though, definitely varies depending on the venue, the time of year, the time of day, and the couple.

The Femmeiniste style advisors have received a request for fashion assistance for attending an outdoor wedding in Cincinnati this August.  The extra twist?  She’s the sister of the groom. While she has wedding-appropriate dresses, well, you can’t wear the same dress you’ve worn to the weddings of several cousins to your brother’s wedding too.  (The earful from the family about that might last the rest of your life!)

If you’re not setting foot inside a church, sleeveless dresses become fair game.  Of course you still need to look like you’re going to a wedding and not a picnic unless the event is pretty informal, but if there’s not going to be a mass, the standards change a little. For an outdoor wedding, comfort becomes more important. Cincinnati may not officially be the south, but it’s not Churchill, Manitoba, either.  Heavy satins will look silly and cause you to poach in your dress, and anything that’s going to show the sweat the second you start to “glow” is a disaster waiting to happen. Don’t forget the wedding pictures!

So, our girl is blonde and divinely fair (may we recommend sunblock for this occasion?), tall, and although she’s slender, does have hips.  Here are our picks for outdoor wedding dresses for her this summer.

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Also in black, white, and oceanic!

Today we’re up to stage three of Betsy’s spring wardrobe update.  The next item Betsy asked for is coverups to go over dresses.  I’m sure you’re all familiar with the problem.  Yes, the summer months are coming and it’s going to get hot.  Unfortunately, plenty of offices seem to be air conditioned to a temperature suitable only to penguins or particularly hot-blooded men in suits. (They measured the temperature in my boss’s office at one of my former jobs and it registered at, no joke, 53 degrees Fahrenheit.  This is not, in my opinion, “room temperature.”)  This leaves most women and many men with the choice between either freezing in your office or sweltering once you step outside, particularly if your commute involves an AC-less subway platform or a car that’s been baking in the sun for eight hours.  Throw in the occasional movie theater and, if you’re lucky, cool evenings at the beach, and having a cute cover-up for your warm-weather dresses is a definite must.

For an office like Betsy’s, cardigans or blazers and other casual jackets are the easiest way to go. Yes, pashminas are great, but if you’re at the office, getting stuff out of drawers, attending meetings, and generally going about your business, wraps just aren’t practical.  Today we’ll focus on cardigans — they’re easy to roll and stuff in a biggish handbag, and in the right color, can be hugely versatile.

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The sales just don’t stop!  This week, it’s Trina Turk, one of my favorites for summery prints and adorable swimwear.  This Thursday, Trina Turk’s boutiques will be hosting an event featuring 20% discounts on all regularly priced merchandise from the spring and summer collections, with Champagne and mini-makeovers from Fresh to beguile your shopping.  (I’m pretty sure shopping is always improved by Champagne.)  For those in the LA area, you can meet the designer herself while you shop!  The full invite after the jump.

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