October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, but this is an issue that should be brought to light at all times. In an effort to spread the word, designers have been coming out with some simple and flattering t-shirt designs that can be worn way past the month of October to remind all of us of this worthy cause. Many of the t-shirt designs still show the recognizable pink ribbon and use the bubble-gum pink color that we’ve all come to associate with Breast Cancer Awareness, but in an effort to reach a larger audience, designers are also introducing looks that include more versatile colors, trendy details and cute graphics that still sound as a voice for the Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation, allowing you to wear these tees for numerous occasions.

Not only would the message for awareness be seen more often, but a large percentage (50% to 100%) of the proceeds are donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, helping spread the word for prevention and funding the search for a cure. Even celebrities like Nicky Hilton, Sophia Bush and others are jumping on the Breast Cancer awareness bandwagon and have designed shirts to help spread the word.

Check out the cuteness (slide show!) over at StyleHive to shop the tees and help raise awareness in the process.

September is one of my favorite months for many reasons: Back-to-school, Labor Day, Lil’ Wayne’s Birthday, Starbucks’s Pumpkin Spice Lattes and, of course, Fashion Week. Fashion Week is actually a misnomer; instead of a week, it is a month-long event full of runway shows, presentations and parties that starts in good ol’ NYC, and then travels to London, Milan and Paris.

Don’t know your Marc Jacobs from your Calvin Klein? If the only designers you know hail from Project Runway or Go! International lines at Target, listen up. Here are five hot designers whose work has them poised to become the next Oscars de la Renta and Diane von Furstenbergs.

Grab a bib and get ready to drool. Read More »

You know what they say in baseball: “Three strikes, and you’re out!” And now we know the same is true in Project Runway.

But more on that later.

First let’s discuss Tim Gunn in flip flops and Wayfarers. If that’s not the best moment in Project Runway history, I’m not sure what is. I just wanted to pinch those little cheeks. But there was no time for that, what with the surfwear team challenge!

Oooooh.
Aaaaah.

Everyone knows that team challenges are a disaster and a half, so I had a feeling this episode was going to be pretty delicious. I immediately began placing bets (with myself) as to who would work together best, who would go up in flames like a Sambucca shot, and who would just sorta coast through the challenge and get zero camera time.

It didn’t take me long to figure out that Ra’mon and Milk Dud the dud that is Mitchell would be a whole lot of hot mess. Especially after Mr. Mitch declared that he chose Ra’mon so he could “carry him.” I normally love me an adorable gay man, but this guy is just too much.

And how does he welcome his partner to the team? By criticizing Ra’mon for picking out “some pretty ugly things.” You know what, Mitchell? Ra’mon might have an eclectic taste in fabrics, but at least his clothes look good. Yours, on the other hand… well, we’ve all seen your crap coming down the runway (and the nipples exposed beneath it). And so did the judges, which is why you haven’t made it out of the bottom two yet!

Ooooh, SNAP! Read More »

OMFG.

Project Runway is finally coming back tomorrow night. They’ve kept us waiting for-freaking-ever and now it’s all coming back in a MAJOR way.

…with a few slight changes.

The show will still have supermodel Heidi Klum, fashion designer Michael Kors, and Elle fashion director Nina Garcia returning as judges, as well as the additional guest judge each episode. But after five seasons in pedestrian-friendly New York, the hit reality competition for aspiring fashion designers has moved to both a new city, car-jammed Los Angeles at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, and a new network, Lifetime. And now that the lawsuits between the Weinstein Company, NBC Universal (owner of Bravo), and Lifetime are thankfully over, we can enjoy our fashion porn in peace once again.

Like most, I was a little peeved when PR left Bravo, but the new star-studded L.A. setting has provided some amazing new opportunities: major guest judges such as Christina Aguilera, Eva Longoria Parker, Rebecca Romijn, and Lindsay Lohan and some fresh inspirations for new challenges. As Michael Kors has hinted, ”L.A. can be the most laid-back and the most glamorous. It’s the land of bikinis and gowns.” As such, this season the designers will take on challenges centered on the beach and the red carpet, and also create garments as a tribute to movies and Hollywood.

I am still not quite over the fact that I have to watch Lifetime (the same network my mom boasts as her fav), but I gotta say: I’m really excited to see what this new season has to offer. Read More »

Finally, a silver lining! Since the economy, you know, tanked, discount is no longer a dirty word! I guess $3000 tank dresses just aren’t selling like they used to. Designer clothing, once a hallmark of the fashion elite, is now being made available to us budget fashionistas.

Top designers are creating lines for discount retailers, and we, the people, are reaping the benefits. Cutting edge, current fashion lines at affordable prices were once a rarity, but in recent months, they are more popular and fabulous than ever. Thank God. We’ve got tuition to worry about, and now we can look awesome doing it. Here are some of the most Fabu-Less lines on the market today!

Isaac Mizrahi partnered with Target to create a line of the great, ladylike pieces (sheath dresses, killer blazers, etc.) his couture line was known for, and it was such a hit that Mizrahi’s line has lasted for years as a fixture at Target stores nationwide.

Target, home of geniuses, apparently, is also the home of GO! International, my FAVE of all discount designer lines. Its motto? “Design for all”! Its gimmick? Each season, a new designer steps in to design a line for Target, adding fresh color and perspective to the clothing department. Currently on the racks? Thakoon, an incredible young Thai designer, with a line full of fun colors, inventive cuts, and flattering silhouettes. Totally worth throwing some elbows for – and these lines are so popular that you just might have to. Read More »

Last night’s episode of Project Runway was strange without Blayne. No “icious,” no hot pink sweatshirts… I felt bad that he had to leave, but I know he is happily lying in a tanning bed somewhere, soaking up the artificial rays.

We are down to six designers now, but only one of them really has any talent: Korto. The rest are just sorta coasting by with their crappy designs, poor quality and total lack of a fashion sense. And that couldn’t have been more obvious than in last night’s challenge.

The challenge was actually an interesting one that we can all connect to. The designers were to create a look for recent college graduates who were heading out into the working world. Oh, and their moms were coming to stir things up a bit.

As I watched the designers attempt to appease both mother and daughter (or in the case of Anna, drag queen and daughter…seriously, did you HEAR HER TALK!?), I tried to imagine how it would go if my mother and I were part of the episode.

“I like black, white, and gray. I like classic lines, but very trendy looks.” I would tell the designer.

“What about this bright orange and yellow swirly pattern? Or these culottes?! HOW CUTE IS THIS LEOPARD SKIRT?!” My mother would react. And then she would somehow guilt the designer into making what she wants me to wear, which she has been doing to me since I was 4. Read More »

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 »

Unless you have been living under a rock — or spend so much money on uber expensive fashion that you’ve had to forgo cable and internet – you know about the new fashion trend sweeping the nation:

Handbag rentals.

Hell, even my mother knows about bagborroworsteal thanks to the Sex and the City Movie. The idea is simple; you just pick out a designer handbag that you covet, but can’t come even close to affording, and pay a small fee to rent it for a little while. It is every poor college student’s dream situation.

What could be better than sporting the latest Miu Miu around town for a measly $80-ish bucks? The hardest part is sending that bad boy back, but even that can be negotiated in a rent-to-buy situation.

The idea is so perfect that some people are taking it a step further:

Dress rentals.

The idea really isn’t so novel; men have been doing it for years with tuxedos. It is actually quite perplexing that women have caught on just now. At Ilus in New York City (website coming soon), women are able to choose from tons of gorgeous, in-season designer dresses to rent for short periods of time. The store even does minor alterations. It is ideal for those of us who need a dress, but don’t want to make the financial commitment. You just go to that event, turn heads, and then bring the dress back the next day. Read More »

Top three favorite things: 1) Margaritas, 2) Fashion, 3) Art projects.

Top one favorite activity: A fashion-based art project fueled by margaritas!

This spring, designers such as John Galliano, Christian Lacriox, and Dolce and Gabbana have been drawing inspiration from the art world to produce amazing, eye-catching pieces that are an art school dropout’s (read: me) dream come true. And while pieces like this might be difficult to put together on a Sunday afternoon; with some ambition, craft supplies, and a little buzzed-up creativity, you too can be a part of this wikkid hot trend!

Necessary supplies:

* Something you want to spice up. This can be a dress, purse, pants, skirt, t-shirt…literally, anything. If you want to go blank canvas style, hit up American Apparel or save your money and just get a three pack of Hanes wife beaters. However, I personally think this project gets even more exciting when you’re working with something that already has a pattern on it, so don’t rule out that plaid skirt from your private school days. Read More »

Shopping can be hard work. How many times have you walked out of a store or clicked off a website saying, “I’ll come back later to see if it goes on sale”? And how many times have you actually remembered to go back and check? Wouldn’t life be so much easier if you had a personal shopper?

Well, now you can have your very own personal shopper with just a few clicks of the mouse. The new website, Shop It To Me, is your web-based personal shopper, helping you shop the best deals with barely any work on your part. Shopping where I can sit back and relax (and possibly even nap) and still find good bargains? Count me in! Read More »