Tag Archives: fashion news
Inside Nordstrom Rack
I have a well-dressed, chichi New York friend who recently confessed that she loves bargains so much, she often shops at T.J. Maxx. Though she has gotten teased for this, especially when she totes those T.J. Maxx shopping bags to Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side, she is a good representative of the bargain mania that has been sweeping the country. A Stylist blogger just admitted to being addicted to members-only discount sites like Gilt Group, and Bluefly has been going strong for years now.
So why not check out the goods before you lay down the cash? That’s essentially what Nordstrom Rack is – a Bluefly with shopping aisles. While the hardcore bargain hunters elbowing their way through this basement space may not exactly be Bergdorf blondes, and there may not be as many upscale designers, Nordstrom carries current season merch from labels like Michael Michael Kors, Trina Turk, Seven Jeans, Bruno Magli and more, with prices slashed to a half or quarter the original cost. Here’s a collection of stealth photos, name brands and pricing from inside the new 14th Street store. (more…)
Rent the Runway Jewelry
One thing that’s hard to stomach about red carpet coverage is seeing all the fabulous jewels on the female stars – and knowing they didn’t have to pay for them. Borrowing baubles from Harry Winston has long been par for the course for black tie celebrity events, but what about the rest of us? You know, the people who don’t actually make $8M a movie?
Good news: Rent the Runway, the dress rental service, has branched out into accessories. Necklaces, earrings, and bracelets from Badgley Mischka, Subversive, Ted Rossi, Janis Savitt, Lee Angel and more are available for rent from $10-$150. Because as any red carpet celeb can tell you, the black tie dress is nothing without the jewels to go with.
And also like those stars, we might need to have the jewelry pried off us at the end of the night before we’re willing to part with it.
Rental jewelry $10-$150 on renttherunway.com.
Next Up: Paris!
New York Fashion Week may be over, but Paris Fashion Week is just a few days away! Look for more Paris street chic and restaurant coverage here beginning next Thursday, March 4. We can’t wait!
Louis Vuitton Miniature Accessories
As we move away from logo mania, expect accessories to get more whimsical – which is what makes these miniature accessories by Louis Vuitton so maddeningly brilliant. The label that spurred on the logo craziness of the aughts is now leading the way towards a more subtle type of branding: If you look closely and you’ll see that even the appliqué brown hen is logo’d.
Though they don’t approach the over-the-top logoization of Marc and Lorenzo’s matching Louis Vuitton beach towel outfits in St. Barts, the bird, bunny, squirrel and hen change purses are still undeniably cute. Louis Vuitton triumphs again.
No word on the price yet, but we expect they won’t be cheep.
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Tagged fashion news, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, object lesson
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Open Toe Shoes With Sheer Stockings on Cover of WWD
As sub-freezing temperatures severely restrict footwear choices, a new fashion frontier has been conquered: open toe shoes worn with sheer stockings, as seen on the cover of today’s WWD.
This look, once the domain of misguided bridesmaids, has resurfaced in more fashionable form to show off the many black patterned stockings now available – the ones pictured are by Givenchy. (more…)
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T by Alexander Wang Resort Collection
If you missed the highly influential but inexpensive T by Alexander Wang fall collection, the resort line just hit stores. Many of the most popular styles are still there, including slouchy oversized “mini pocket” tanks and tees. There are also some cute resort-y numbers, like this striped baggy tank dress at La Garconne, $110.
Who knows if the androgyny trend–or pantslessness–would have taken off as they have without Alexander Wang, so you might want to snap up these new classics while they’re still available.
T by Alexander Wang Resort Collection, available at La Garconne.
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Harajuku Lovers for Apple
Though Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku Lovers perfume line was one of the most popular new fragrances last year, we don’t think it’s because of the scent – unless you’re really into coconut. It’s the packaging that makes her stuff so irresistible.
Good news: Now you don’t have to like coconut to accessorize with the super cute but cool Harajuku Lovers girls. Stefani has designed a line for Apple for the holidays. Available at Apple, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s and Nordstrom, the collection includes sleeves for your iPhone, MacBook and more and hits stores this month.
Harajuku Lovers 15″ Laptop Sleeve in Super Hot Heroes Print ($34.95). Available at apple.com.
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Fjallraven Jackets
When it comes to borrowing from the boys, some fashion types have it all wrong. Put down the boyfriend jeans – they’ll just make your ass look fat. And his button down shirt looks much sexier when you’re lying in bed than it does when you wear it outside. But jackets? Here’s where menswear has something to offer.
Take the jackets at Swedish retailer Fjällräven, opening in New York this week. Not only do they look good, they’d be handy during some kind of catastrophic event, like a zombie invasion, or just your regular New York winter. (more…)
Net-a-Porter: OK to Wear Open-Toe Shoes With Tights
This is one matter of etiquette we’ve been puzzling over for a while now: Is it appropriate to wear tights with all those strappy sandals you lavished so much money on in the warmer months? The alternative – packing them away for a non-rainy day – is certainly a sad one. But as open-toe shoes have reached record levels of popularity, women have been wearing them with tights even when it’s cold, as we saw at the Oceana benefit on the Upper East recently.
Good news: Net-a-Porter, one of many shopping sites to add editorial content, has given tights and strappy sandals their official “fashion seal of approval” in their latest magazine. They may just be trying to move shoes, but the fact that Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet got her start as a fashion editor at Tatler, W, and WWD (and made millions selling her own good taste), gives the proclamation some credence. (more…)
Book It: Louis Vuitton: Art, Fashion and Architecture
Of the three new fashion tomes Eric Wilson reviewed in today’s Times, the one that sounds the most worthwhile is this Louis Vuitton book, Louis Vuitton: Art, Fashion and Architecture ($130). Not only does it come with a jacket designed by Takashi Murakami, it has a cool plexiglass cover, perfect for those of us who sometimes accidentally use our coffee table books as a coaster.
Of course, even more important it what’s inside: a pictorial retrospective of the brand’s many collaborations with designers in the worlds of art, fashion and architecture. It’s published by Rizzoli and is only available in Louis Vuitton stores and online at louisvuitton.com, so don’t try trolling for it on Amazon – mon Dieu! It’s buried on Vuitton’s hard-to-navigate website, but you can get directly to it buy clicking here.
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Jimmy Choo for H&M: Top Picks
If you can brave the madness this Saturday, Jimmy Choo’s diffusion line of shoes, bags, accessories and even clothes is launching at H&M stores across the country. (Though not at the H&M store on lower Broadway, confirming what we already suspected: the downtown H&Ms suck compared to the uptown Manhattan stores.)
Jimmy Choo founder and president Tamara Mellon found it “a challenge to design at a lower price point,” as she told WWD earlier this month, and it is quite a feat they managed to keep the prices low, even when using real leather instead of the usual H&M pleather for all the shoes and bags.
Will the heels be wobbly? Only trying them on will tell. But don’t forget the clothes, since several items would be perfect for holiday parties. This is the first time the brand has ventured into apparel, though it may not be the last. Some top picks across categories, after the jump. (more…)
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Rent the Runway
The tough thing about looking at fabulous designer fashion all day is being able to tell the difference between designer and a Zara knock off – and knowing you can’t afford fill your closet with the former. Exquisite tailoring and gorgeous fabrics, not just new trends, are what sets the real thing apart.
Rent the Runway, sort of like Bag, Borrow or Steal crossed with Gilt Group, lets you clad yourself in the real thing for a party or event and then return it a few days later. It sounds almost too good to be true, were it not started by a pair of friends from Harvard Business School after a formative meeting with Diane von Furstenberg. Prices for rentals are 10 percent of retail prices (about $50-$200), and most of the items are cocktail dresses and party clothes. Why wear just any LBD when you could wear this season’s Proenza Schouler peekaboo shoulder sheath? And a racerback dress is so much more yummy when it’s a sexy number by Brian Reyes. It also justifies impulse “buys”: while you may not necessarily want to own a one-shoulder Robert Rodriguez sequin disco romper, it would be a fun for a night on the town. Even more insane: if you live in NYC, you can get same-day delivery of your picks.
So is this rental idea good or bad for designers? The jury’s still out on that one. It certainly cultivates the next generation of buying customers, and if Rent the Runway takes off, it could end up being a big buyer of designer clothing. Now let’s just hope designers don’t think of it as the next iTunes….
Sweatpants: Why?
Alexander Wang’s influence notwithstanding, I am mystified by the sweatpants trend. Perhaps because I was born in the pre-Lycra, pre-wicking-material era, I associate baggy gray sweatpants with the general humiliation of high school gym class. Imagine running down the main street in town in the most unflattering clothes imaginable. It’s great that athletic clothes are now designed by people like Stella McCartney, but not so long ago, shapeless sweatpants were the only option. And they were horrible.
Nevertheless, women are now decking themselves in gray sweatpants material without being forced to by school uniform codes. This “jog top,” above, actually sold out at indie retailer Pixie Market. Why? Just the word “jog” is still cringe-inducing, especially when it’s anywhere near the words “heather gray.” Yet sweatpants are now everywhere. More examples, after the jump. (more…)
Can Clogs Ever Be Cool?
The biggest surprise appearance at the Chanel spring 2010 show? Clogs. In theory, cooks should be ecstatic that clogs were blessed by the hand of Karl for spring 2010, since many of us wear them indoors while incessantly chopping things. (Granted, not usually with four-inch wooden heels like these.)
photo via Style.com
But venture outside wearing them and you get that sinking feeling that you should have left them at home along with those Juicy Couture terry pants from 2000.
The wise folks at NY Mag’s the Cut question whether the general populace will start wearing clogs just because Karl said so. Will you?
Marilyn Minter/Bright Pink Tote
Not since Anya Hindmarch started customizing bags with photos have we seen photo-realistic accessories this covetable. Photographer Marilyn Minter is best known for her hallucinogenic macro photography of lips, eyes, and stilettos coated with glittering, colorful substances – not to mention her choice of Pamela Anderson as muse.
If you’d like to own one of her photographs, get in line: her work was featured in the 2006 Whitney Biennial. But this October she collaborated with Intermix to release these cool handbags. Sales will benefit Bright Pink, a breast cancer awareness community for high-risk women, through the month of October.
Marilyn Minter/Bright Pink Tote ($48), available at Intermix.
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