Seemingly good ideas

Being home for break always activates my crafting impulse, I've learned to knit 3 times, started a jewelry line, tried to make my own clothes, even gotten into etching.
This break promises to be no different- today I'm off to buy some new yarn, hopefully in a bright blue color or maybe blue iris if I'm lucky.
The problem is that a new scarf is pretty risk-free and I'm up for a challenge- a challenge inspired by Herve Leger no less. So, in addition to my new yarn, I'm off to buy some ace bandages, some fabric dye, and some yards of elastic.

Will I be able to create this?

In a word: No
Will it be wearable, probably not, but it should be fun.

Post X-mas Sales

Adventures in heathered grey from Creatures of Comfort
all F/W 07 is on sale, go check it outBoth are in my basket, but there are tons of other great finds

And yet I always return

Darn you Urban Outfitters for always knowing what I want to wear right now. And darn you for always looking 400% better online than you ever will in the store.

Levi Super Hi Rise Skinny

I need a new pair of jeans and I'm craving high-waisted skinnies. You can't go wrong with Levi's and they're organic cotton, even better.


These cozy cardigans feel right now that I'm ready to accept that the weather's getting colder. Wear them open, closed belted, buttoned, play up or play down their grandfather feel, it any way it will look good.










Lastly, I've been craving the dip-dye, tie-dye effect that was all over the spring runway. These pieces will work this winter and will will look just as fresh come Spring.

How many licks?

Sorry, wrong candy, but this great ring from Stephanie Jendis does remind me of another favorite treat from my youth. A ring pop has never looked so sophisticated and you can rest assured that it won't deteriorate into that sticky mess that always ruined part of the fun.
You can find it online at Sienna Gallery along with some other fun designs.

This is how I shop

even though i live in what is probably the best shopping cities ever, most of my browsing at least is done online. thankfully those genius web designers out there have made this easier for me.
my first encounter with shopping list technology was on the lovely shopbop which we all know is the place to go for those of us who can't afford net-a-porter (although we know we can't really afford shopbop either).
when you log into your account, you can create a wishlist, so when you do your daily (ok, hourly) checkup on what's new and you spy your new Development Belted Cowl Neck Blouse, you simply pick your size and color and instead of putting it in your shopping cart, you add to wishlist which really is almost as gratifying.
One nice feature is that you can search for other people's wishlists, which is perfect for surprise gifts or just to take a look at what your friends are craving. Check out mine.
The problem with shopbop's technology is that when they sell out of an item, they take it off your wishlist without letting you know and I hate the thought of missing out on something that I once really wanted.
This is why I have switched to Google Notebook for all of my online shopping needs. Once you install the software, you can create and organize notebooks in the same way that Gmail and GoogleReader work. To tag something for yourself, you just right-click the text or image and Google adds it to your list. I use them for my online shopping, restaurants that I want to try out, exhibit reviews that I want to see, and for school. The notebooks can also be public, which I used as a Christmas list last year.
And although I am late to the game, I have become recently obsessed with ebay mainly because of their watch feature. I started out mostly focused on things for my room, vintage bird cages and an Eames Era Herman Miller Chair to be specific. Ebay then sends you emails reminding you to bid on the items you have been watching when they are running out of time.
The best thing about these lists is that they reduce that special kind of buyers remorse that you get when you decide not to buy it because it will always be on your list and you can see what you wanted last winter which is a good marker of how your personal tastes have changed and what makes up your signature style.

Fashion Week Prologue

In the coming days, you'll see piles of clothes and packs of models. But each outfit is really a lens that designers want you to look through in order to see their universe, and the rules and passions that govern it. Whatever Karl puts on Gemma is just a prism, refracting Chanel's ideas and shapes around the room - and, he hopes, around the world.

-- Fashionista

Cusps, Wings & Pretty Things

A whole other wing was added to the already gigantic Tysons Corner Shopping Center in McLean, Virginia. To my knowledge, the only reason why this particular mall is located outside Washington, D.C. proper is because, if placed inside, it would eat the entire city and not even bat an eyelash. This wing, which playfully channels an army bunker, only with more glass, signage and recessed lighting, houses an unfathomably large AMC movie theatre, a Barnes & Noble and assorted other "higher end" shopping options, you know, in case there weren't enough. I needed a personal GPS to keep me en route to my carefully chosen shopping destinations today; there was no room for dilly-dallying.

I'd never seen or heard of a store called Cusp until today, but the mannequins in the window were wearing some of my favorite pieces, including this confectionary sequined dress from Alice & Olivia that I have loved ever since Neiman Marcus debuted it before ShopBop could drape it on one of their personality-devoid models. If it weren't for the fact that this dress leaves little room for my boobs to carry out their function of not stifling my regular heartbeat, I would have snapped up this piece before you could say arrhythmia. What was special about the store, though, was that it afforded me the rare opporunity of touching the clothes I admire from the safe distance of my computer screen. I got more than the requisite three extra views to examine all the angles, I got to feel the clothes themselves, and that was no small treat.

I was pretty impressed at their range of designers and price points. Furthermore, they stock some pretty spanking new stuff, including this much-touted line from Karta. The clothes fall flat in pictures, perhaps due in part to the matte fabrics and simple lines, but in person they're positively divine. Each fabric is a dream to feel between your fingers and hangs elegantly on many frames. You can browse and purchase selections for the line at ShopBop, Singer 22 and Nordstrom. (Isn't it astonishing how differently the clothes are made to look depending on which stores photograph it?) Alternatively, you could just admire, like I do everyday, this heaven-spun little number:

What Cures Afternoon Nausea?

The great color combination in this Tufi Duek shift dress at Nordstrom?

The functional and flattering funnel neck on this gray Guess military-style coat?

The four-inch heel wonder of this lace-up oxford from Made By Elves?

How dangerously close I flirted with buying this VPL bra and wearing it, styled as seen?

The shoulder-baring glamour of this grecian ingwa; melero dress?

The announcement of the limited edition, criminally superior (even if a little boring...still) European styles on Gap.com?

Answer: all of the above.

An Amsterdam Street Style Find

Click on the title for a link to the blog.

Cerulean Tinted Glasses

Like many girls my age, romanticizing Felicity's construction of life as a doe-eyed University of New York co-ed is second nature. Love or hate the big sweaters, for me her uniform came to represent innocence and intelligence. She looked so cozy bustling about in her thick cable knits and oversized coats, big hair flapping in the subway tunnel's stale breeze.

I don't look like Felicity and she would probably never don a coat like the one I'm about to plug, but my obsession with good outerwear begins and ends with four WB years of her coming of age. Seriously, was it ever warm in the city while she was there? But this isn't about Felicity, it's about GD coats! Remember Miranda Priestly's diatribe about cerulean? Ouch, but I definitely know the color when I see it now and I love saying it: cerrrrruuuuulean. How delicious.

Like this coat, called the Lady Day Overcoat. This particular shape is everywhere suddenly and acts as a welcome respite from the pressures of dressing like an androgynous pencil. I just love the peter pan collar. Even the bows on the pockets fill me with glee. My opinions of Anthropologie have darted all over the map over the years. Sometimes I am less than impressed with trying to pass faux patchwork and bohemian embellishments for actual design. Still, the whole lifestyle of the brand is impossible to dislike. Who wouldn't want to be a constantly vacationing retro dream woman?