I love fashion. I even love everything that is just soo ridiculous about fashion. Like how sweaters are in store windows in July and bathing suits in January. Or how friends will tease you for buying into a trend that “is so ugly it makes me want to vomit all over you” only to be wearing it three months later (while you have already moved on to something else -that they want to “vomit all over” -all over again).

Or how magazines will spend an entire season convincing you to get rid of your wide-legs because “Skinny is here to stay!” and then four months later, all you see in the same magazine are super-duper-I could fit 5 kegs in here-wide legs that are a “Must Have” for the upcoming season… “Wide legs are here to stay!” Riiiight.

And I even love what is perhaps, the most ridiculous concept about fashion: nothing is really ever all that original. Sure Marc Jacobs (whom I adore and would date if he wasn’t on another team) makes Flannel look effortlessly chic- but at the same time, my brothers wore plaid flannels in high school along with Doc Martens and their Walkman clipped inside their Z. Cavaricci’s (ah the 90’s….).

I’m usually all for fashion comebacks. Since I’m a vintage junkie, I will jump at the chance to wear something that was once the IT style. Partly because I’m a sappy nostalgic- I love the idea of wearing bell bottoms and imagining what my life would have been like had I grown up in the 70’s. I like to give fashion the benefit of the doubt. I enjoy playing dressup. I do believe that a flannel top could be cute. And aside from the recent seasons of awful Maternity wear, I usually look forward to the “New” (recycled) trends coming out each season- wondering what era will be in this year. Read More »

This could be the fiercest Thursday since the morning after Christian Siriano took the top honor on the last season of Project Runway. Yes, my friends, today is the day that the Hot Tranny Mess of a designer launches his line on Bluefly.com!

I have been waiting a long time for this day, but after looking at his designs I realize that I am not quite sure what I was waiting for. The stuff is beautiful, don’t get me wrong; the detailing is intricate and interesting, the line is extremely diverse considering the lack of color and it all looks incredibly well made. It’s just that, well, it’s not like I can fit into that sh*t. You know, cuz I have more than 2% body fat.

Oh, and I don’t have an extra $10,000 lying around to spend on skirts and jackets.

But, even if Posh Spice is the only person who can afford/fit into this line, Little Siriano sure didn’t dissapoint. This kid has SERIOUS talent and I can’t wait for him to start designing for Target (do it, Christian. DO IT!).

Judge for yourself below: Read More »

When I was 12 I had thick bangs, giant braces and a wardrobe that consisted of my brothers’ yellow-crusted-arm-pitted-hand-me-downs. I wore Umbros – one leg green, one leg purple – and maroon reverse fit jeans (read: mom jeans). I thought I was super stylish when I threw on one of my brother’s flannel button downs…and only buttoned the middle one!

I realize times have changed and fashion is a lot more accessible to the youngsters, but this girl is really making me feel like sh*t. Even now. And I really love my wardrobe. Or, I did, until I started seeing hers.

I don’t really know who this chicadee is and I totally question who is really behind the writing of this blog (because there is no way in hell a 12 year old could write this way….and if she can, I hate her even more), but none of that really matters. This little fashionista clearly exists…and obviously does so just to make us normal people feel bad about ourselves.

The whole thing is just crazy. She struts her chic NYC style down the hallways of her middle school. She rocks vintage frocks as she jumps the swings on the playground. And she can rock a look like this without looking totally ridiculous. Read More »

I have a subscription to New York Magazine. I like to read it because the cover articles tend to be edgy and intelligent, and the publication as a whole tends to be more pop culture friendly than their slightly stuffy counter-periodical, The New Yorker. If you don’t live in NYC or around it, you might not have heard about NY Mag, which is fine. It’s a little inside-jokey. A little self-referential — cultivating a between-the-lines feeling that the New York publishing world is the center of the universe.

But like that slightly snotty friend who turns around and buys everyone a round of drinks at the bar, I just can’t seem to break up with NY Mag and read my weekly copy faithfully. There’s only one thing about the periodical that really bothers me, and it usually can be skipped over quite readily…unless of course, you’re me, reading it last night.

You see, yesterday I had a long day. The bus ride back from work was so packed it induced claustrophobia, and two people decided to get into a screaming match that included gems such as “SHUT UP, RETARD!!”, “YOU’RE THE RETARD!!”, “ON YOUR MOM!!”, “ON YOURS, MINE’S DEAD!!”. When I got home, my internet and cable were still not working…a problem left over from the weekend, and it was probably around 105 F in my apartment. Pouring myself a bowl of cereal, I sat down and decided to spend the evening reading, and my new copy of New York Magazine was the first thing I got my exhausted hands on. Read More »

I read an article in The New York Times the other day about New York shoppers spending three or four hundred bucks on a pair of sunglasses at stores like Ilori in SoHo. According to the article, market research firm The NPD Group has tracked purchases of luxury goods and, even in this constantly drooping economy, the amount spent on designer sunglasses has gone up while the amount spent on designer purses has gone down.

I’m not at all surprised.

Even more so than a purse or shoes, sunglasses are the first thing people notice about your outfit. You wear them all day and some people, like myself, wear them everyday. So why not drop as much on a pair of Gucci shades as you do on a pair of Manolo’s if you’ve got the spare change?

In recent years sunglasses have become the new It accessory. Pictures of Nicole Richie in oversize glasses that engulfed her tiny head became as ubiquitous in tabloids as pictures of Britney Spear’s cellulite, and the Olsen twins are now more famous for their Ray-Ban Wayfarers than their Balenciaga Motorcycle bags. Even wearing sunglasses at night has become popular with hundreds of pictures of drunk hipsters wearing the Kanye West designed shutter shades in dark clubs on websites like lastnightsparty.com. Read More »

I used to think Lindsay Lohan’s line of leggings were a joke. I mean, leggings? Really? Another famous bitch trying to design clothes?

But, now I realize how wrong I was. Leggings with built-in knee pads? Brilliant! Fashion AND Function.

For a while there, it seemed like the world might be turning into one big American Apparel ad: around every New York corner lurked a pair of slim slacks, a tri-blend t-shirt and a pair of those canvas slip-on sneakers from K-Mart, and that’s about where fashion and effort ended. While I understand the Gotham need not try too hard, certain neighborhoods had me feeling constantly overdressed in my (um, I thought) carefree rayon 40’s numbers.

But now, suddenly, at least one fixture of good old international dressing has returned: behold, the hat! Sarah Jessica Parker wore a green creation by Philip Treacy to the London premiere of the Sex and the City movie, complete with a giant rose and acorn-inspired base.

Treacy, a graduate of London’s Royal College of Art, burst onto the scene in the early 90’s by creating a wedding headdress for his muse, late fashion editor Isabella Blow. He (obviously) tends to go vertical with his pieces, often using feathers and butterflies (an all-butterfly headpiece was also worn by Princess Beatrice recently to the Peter Philips’s royal nuptials).

“Hats can make a boring outfit come to life,” says vintage collector Anne Schutterlin. “They’re like those beautiful flourishes on top of a cake that make it taste even better!” Read More »

Okay, maybe “new” is not technically true. But hear me out.We all have that old once-loved pair of perfectly worn-in shoes that are still perfectly functional but are (a) out of fashion, (b) scratched up, or (c) both. Such shoes can often be found at the back of the closet, in hopes that their exteriors will suddenly heal and they will rise, phoenix-like, from the ashes of their fashion faux pas.

But there’s a solution! You can revamp them!

“That’s retarded,” you say. “I mean, yeah, I can take them to a tailor to get them revamped–if I want to spend $80.”

“Listen,” I reply, “for you are the one who is retarded–you can fix them up yourself!”

How? Two words: spray paint. Read More »

If we decided, ‘Hey, I’m wearing what Blake Lively wore in the Gossip Girl re-run last nigh,” we may not make it through the day without our little sister, boyfriend or lab partner giving us a look and asking, “WTF?” It’s hard to make your own what a stylist can do on television, but we want to, damn it!

The good news is: it’s possible. If you do it right. So, take away the cameras and lets make that TV fashion work.

Gossip Girl:
On GG, Blake and Leighton often rock different patterns and colors and pull together a look that is personally unique. You can do this too. First, think of your own fashion staple. Leighton often wears head bands or scarves. Do you have a favorite belt or bunch of bracelets that you wear regularly? Wear them with each outfit, soon they’ll become YOUR signature.

Also don’t be afraid to mix stripes with checks, or even polka dots; just stay within the same color range. And if you choose to wear a multitude of colors, don’t mix different patterns.

Finally, feel to take some fashion risks… the most attractive accessories these girls have is confidence. Read More »

Jackets already? No thanks.
(Photo courtesy of Urban Outfitters)

It’s hot today in New York. Really. Hot. Even in the air conditioning, I am sweating (ew). Last week, in preparation for some 4th of July swimming, I set off on a mission to find myself a swimsuit. I was looking for a kind of cute, retro one-piece, so I headed to my old standby: Urban Outfitters. When I entered the store, however, I was in shock. Everywhere I looked there were sweaters, long-sleeve plaid shirts and…is that a coat with a wool collar?!

WTF Urban Outfitters?! It’s JULY. I decided to try another store down the street, but was struck with the same thing. Again and again as I made my way down Broadway, I saw Fall clothing up in every window. Yesterday the latest issue of Lucky magazine arrived in my mailbox, chock full of…you guessed it…Fall fashions. I leafed through it while sitting on my bed half-naked trying to cool down in front of my fan. The pages and pages of models in tights and sweaters were not helping. Read More »