Currently viewing the category:
"Off the Press"
Recently I had the pleasure of attending an exclusive event for CakeStyle. What is CakeStyle you ask? Only the most personalized and uber-fabulous online fashion service around. Whether you want to up the fabulosity to your wardrobe, find the perfect outfit for a wedding, discover threads that really compliment your personal shape, or just don’t have time to pick out your own clothes, CakeStyle is your go-to online fashion savior. It’s safe to say, this is the answer to your long awaited prayers.
A favorite of Kate Middleton and First Lady Michelle Obama, designer Prabal Gurung announced a limited edition line of women’s ready-to-wear clothing and accessories is in the works for Target. Continue reading »
Continue reading »
Those who think Boston doesn’t have style, think again. Bloggers, Krista Casey and Dave Kavaler of Boston Street Style are out to prove all the naysayers wrong. Yes, there are many Bostonians roaming the city in Celtics jerseys, Timberland boots, oversized jeans, and just all around heinous get ups, but there are a large number of us who actually get it right in the fashion department – and Boston Street Style has the photographic evidence to prove it.
Continue reading »
Christian Louboutin goes beyond being footwear royalty. The iconic designer who consistently pushes the envelope with his imaginative designs recently celebrated his twentieth anniversary. The accoutrements of such an accomplishment? A glossy coffee-table art book cataloging his many creations and glamourous fêtes at both Bergdorf Goodman and Barneys in NYC. Now he’s rolled out a nationwide partnership with Neiman Marcus whereby one devoted Louboutin fan has a chance to win her own pair of red-soled wonders.
It’s not often that one has the chance to be dolled up by a makeup artist whose roster of high-profile clients includes Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour, model Nikki Taylor, actress Kerry Washington, and designer Daisy Fuentes, among others.
But this Thursday, March 1st, Neiman Marcus Copley is offering you the chance at just that, with nationally-recognized Makeup Artist Dani Wagener. For this special, by-appointment-only event, Dani will provide one-on-one consultations and helpful tips to get your beauty regiment up-to-speed for Spring. Experience her “effect and empowerment” philosophy first hand.
Continue reading »
“Marc Jacobs International is known for its commitment to charity in the communities in which it operates…” From an interview I did last Spring with Marc Jacobs International President & Cofounder Robert Duffy. Yeah, I just quoted myself. Isn’t that cool? NAWT…
What is cool, however, is that Marc Jacobs has started a special promotion to support one of Boston’s greatest cultural institutions, the Boston Ballet. In all seriousness, two programs from last year’s season at the Boston Ballet had me in tears, and, as you’ve probably surmised from reading my misanthropic tomes, I don’t much fancy crying. The dancers and the repertoire are really just that good. James Whiteside + Lia Cirio = OTHERWORDLY AND BREATHTAKING AND OMGWHATAMIWATCHINGTHISCAN’TBEREAL AND WAAAATAMICRYINGDAMNYOUDAMNYOUDAMNYOU. And of course we all already know that Marc is dope.
Want to do your part? Marc Jacobs is making it easy-peasy for you. Through December 31st, all you have to do is:
1) Go see the Boston Ballet’s Nutcracker because a) it’s incredible and b) this is the last year the ballet will perform the now decade-running production. It will be revamped next year.
2) Keep your ticket stubs.
3) Take said ticket stubs to Marc Jacobs at 81 Newbury Street, Boston, MA.
4) Be super proud of yourself because…
Marc Jacobs is donating a crisp dollar bill to the Boston Ballet for every ticket stub submitted. Basically, you enrich yourself by seeing the Ballet (Hi, you’re a cultural noob, get on it) and then, without doing anything except exercising your way to MJ, you support the Ballet alongside, you know, Marc Jacobs and his crew of übercool, acid-washed-denim-wearing, tattoo-having, always-smiling-because-they’re-cooler-than-you-but-still-somehow-unnervingly-nice cats. (I realize saying übercool cats = me not being cool at all. TOTALLY AWARE KTHX.)
If that weren’t enough, a submitted ticket stub means you’ll also be entered into a raffle that could result in you being $350 of Marc Jacobs richer. Which is like $1278931287312381237123 richer in regular dollars. OBVIOUSLY.
You read that right. So…. go do it. And STAT.
Call your boss, invent some elaborate excuse–cholera, for example–but whatever you have to do: TAKE TOMORROW OFF.
Daniela Corte, the inimitable Boston-based designer who is unimpeachably chic as she is talented, is celebrating the recent opening of her flagship boutique with… A SAMPLE SALE. Yes, you read that correctly. And don’t think I don’t know you’re drooling over there. Get a damn napkin, will ya?
Get your shopping gear on (read: easy-on-easy-off-clothes-and-shoes, and seamless underwear, as always): it’s game time! The sample sale will include feather-weight silk blouses in an array of prints and colors, Corte’s signature body-slimming silhouettes– a perfectly-cut pencil skirt, for example–, statement-making brocade capes, and streamlined evening gowns with make-’em-look-twice plunging necklines.
And though the recent onset of blistering cold may not exactly bring you back to the lazy haze of Summer, this sale is a damn good opportunity to snatch up some of Corte’s signature swimwear. If it’s good enough for Sports Illustrated (Corte was featured this year), it’s good enough for me.
Discounts as steep as 80% off original retail means prices will mostly hover in the $20 to $50 range.
Move aside, Forever 21 and H&M: snapping up your investment-worthy treasure finds at Daniela Corte Sample Sale is Smart Shopping 2.0.
DANIELA CORTE SAMPLE SALE
Friday, 12/9 – Sunday, 12/11
FRI & SAT| 11AM-7PM // SUN | Noon-5PM
211 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116
P | (617) 608-4778
Fashion & design powerhouse Hermes is gettin’ bizzay: through the 22nd of November they are teaming up with some well-known contemporary Dee-zigners to produce ‘Petit h’, a line of accessories, gifts, and just plain coolness made from leftover materials.
Here’s to making recycling even greater than it already was. Hippy never sounded sooooooo good.
H&M has done it again! Their prevailing record of reeling in prestigious guest designers is going strong in 2011, this time with a striking collaboration with Donatella Versace.
The inspiration? Iconic Versace designs and pieces from 1978 and onward. Colorful silk and print dresses, leather studded pieces, costume jewelry, daring cuts and high heels are just a few of the quintessential-Versace characteristics we can look forward to for the womenswear collection. Bold patterns abound.
The menswear collection will focus on refined, sharp tuxedo jackets. Shirts are–surprise, surprise–the flamboyant counterpoint, in bold colors and not-for-the-faint-of-heart prints. And the collection will also feature men’s accessories (which isn’t often the case with these high-profile collabs): studded belts and cuffs, lightweight scarves, and eye-catching shoes.
A small line of home items (patterned bedspreads and pillows) will also be included in the offering.
The collections will launch in 300 stores worldwide this November 19th 2011 and online.
It takes a certain amount of chutzpah to pull off wearing a hat–an amount that typically hovers above the (mostly hatless) heads of most Bostonians. Hats say: Look at me, damn it. Now. And: That’s right, bitch. I’m someone to be reckoned with. If not even sometimes: You know you wish you had guts enough to wear this. None of which are sentiments most New Englanders are exactly comfy with. The ubiquitousRed Sox cap notwithstanding, hats just aren’t our thing.
I’d reckon that was all changed last Monday night. The Boston Fashion Week show of Marie Galvin, milliner and longtime Boston fixture who for years has struggled with a local aversion to flamboyance, had just that kind of impact.
That’s largely because Galvin made two very smart decisions for the show: First, she went for wearability. Gone were her outrageous sculptural creations that may look beautiful behind glass, but would all but eclipse their wearer. (And have, in the past, emitted squawks of, “Where on earth would I wear that?“) No, she kept things earthly, unpretentious, and simply pretty with intricate fascinators festooned with netting and feathers; pom-pom topped wool caps; ’20s, ’30s, and ’60s-inspired numbers topped with petite poofs of feathers. The only hints at architectural derring-do–a fascinator of silk multi-curls here, a gorgeous, asymmetrical black meringue for the finale–were still sized well enough that they stayed proportionate to the models’ heads. Meaning they came off as daring rather than overwhelming or silly.
Her second smart move was tapping CONTRA to style the show, all the clothing and accessories pulled from Neiman Marcus with an eye toward elegance and streamlined refinement that still nodded to the runway. Gauzy blouses, python-patterned pencil skirts, silk shift dresses, and fur-collared coats–all of it a mostly neutral palette, and all of it as ladylike as it was edgy. They were the perfect foil for the hats–and arguably the most convincing argument for the hats themselves.
Together, Galvin and Contra showed Bostonians that not only are hats wearable every day; they showed them how to wear them–as an improvement to an already spectacular outfit. That’s the kind of equation capable of proving to the hatless public that style statements are nothing to be afraid of. And that, even as vintage-inspired as many of Galvin’s creations may be, is an idea that’s time has finally come.
The holidays may be months away, but Tommy Hilfiger’s new campaign already has me equal parts excited and overwhelmed about sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner with my extended family. For the Fall 2011 spread “Home with the Hilfigers,” the highly coordinated Hilfiger clan have packed their collection of tennis rackets and bocce balls into the trunk of their ’84 Mercedes wagon and have left the country club (the backdrop of the summer 2011 ads). They’ve now returned home to the grounds of their private New England estate for a family photo shoot that gives the Kardashian’s super-retouched, super-glamorous 2010 Christmas card a run for its money.
Reprising his role as the dreamy older brother, Noah Mills continues to make readers swoon in luxe turtlenecks and tartan trousers. Despite trading in summery margaritas and linen pants for vodka tonics and driving loafers, Mrs. Hilfiger looks as glamorous and intoxicated as she did poolside in the summer ads. Other beautiful members of the Wes Anderson-esque family include Iselin Steiro, Jacquelyn Jablonski, and Sam Way.
The preppy, American cool vibe essential to the Tommy Hilfiger brand is maintained throughout the new campaign. And by filling each frame with one too many models, photographer Craig McDean captures the chaos necessary for any good family gathering. Yes, Aunt Margaret is going to try to set you up with her neighbor’s son, and your cousin Henry is still going to pick you up and spin you around- even if you are wearing a skirt and are no longer wearing pig-tails. The ads suggest that dressing well (and keeping a cocktail in hand) can make the holiday season a bit more bearable and glamorous- or in the true WASP way, at least keep up appearances.
Ballast Lane applications has recently created an Ipad application based on the book written by former Met director Thomas Hoving.
Created by Larry Ernhardt of Marblehead, MA, this application transforms Hoving’s book “Master Pieces: A Curator’s Game” into a digital format, allowing the user to not only have access to all of the book’s content, but to also have a ability to play three different games based on the techniques addressed in Hoving’s book.
The application features 54 different Masterpieces from Caravaggio to Boston’s own John Singer Sargent, and 220 cutouts from these paintings. There are three possible games that can be played: “Study then Guess”, “Match Three Details”, and “Guess The Artist.” Ernhardt referred to the three games as “Intro, Junior Varsity, and Varsity” levels, emphasizing the game’s ability to be accessible to people of all ages. Despite having taken many Art History classes in college, I even found myself struggling at points during the game!
The Ipad is the perfect piece of technology for this application, allowing for smooth and easy zooming on details, the potential to easily flip back and forth between interesting paintings, and a fun game format that wouldn’t be possible in a physical book. Also notable are Hoving’s essays he personally penned for the book. As director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1967 – 1977, Hoving was known for “shaking up the Met,” increasing the accessibility of the Museum and acquiring numerous key pieces that would draw much larger crowds than the Museum had in the past.
Thomas Hoving’s writings on artworks are likewise highly lauded. The essays featured in Master Pieces: The Curator’s Game are creatively written, incorporating humorous facts and details about each Master and the trials and tribulations that went into the creation of each painting. Add to that the extremely high quality images and your morning commute to work just got 800 times better than a facebook newsfeed.
While the original book was $19.99, the Ipad app is only $4.99, making it a great deal for anyone who has a genuine interest in learning about art or introducing a family member to the magic of art history. You can purchase the application on the Itunes App Store.
If you haven’t already pre-planned your outfit, I suggest you run over to Newbury Street or the Pru ASAP. Fashion’s Night Out may be three weeks away, but keep in mind you’re going to be amongst Boston’s most fashionable civilians. Your every-day driving moccasins and khaki pants simply won’t do.
Circle September 8, 2011 on your calendars as a celebratory evening filled with an overload of fashion, fun, and cocktails. Fashion’s Night Out is the perfect occasion to prove to GQ (and ourselves) that we are not the worst dressed city in the U.S. So please, dress and shop accordingly.
As the purpose of this nightlong party is to restore consumer confidence during these hard economic times, make sure to pack your debit card in your clutch. This year Boston is officially celebrating Fashion’s Night Out. The event started in NYC in 2009 by Vogue Magazine, the CFDA, NYC & CO and the City of New York. Participating Boston retailers including Newbury Street, South End, North End, SOWA, JP, Roslindale, and more.
For one night and one night only, shopping will be extended from 6 through 11pm throughout the city. In addition, for the first time in 15 years Newbury Street will be shut down. Feel free to jaywalk from shop to shop.
Rumor has it Aveda of Copley Place will be offering complimentary mini-facials. Festivities at Zara will include a celebrity DJ and a decadent Champagne bar. There’ll be a custom flip book photo booth at Diane Von Furstenberg and shoppers will be given a sneak sample of the brand’s new fragrance, DIANE.
To see more details on these events and other FNO happenings throughout the city, check out the Fashion’s Night Out Boston website.
On the site launched this week, you can begin scheduling your night of shopping and purchase a Fashion’s Night Out t-shirt. Trust me, with abstract cityscape print and signature Fashion’s Night Out logo, it’s much cooler than your worn-in university tee or American Apparel v-neck. Plus, with forty percent of proceeds raised from sales going to the NYC AIDS Fund in the New York Community Trust, it’s a purchase you won’t feel guilty about.
A sale in August, in and of itself, is hardly news– with everything in sight at between 50-75% off, attainability has surpassed visual novelty as the shopper’s siren song. Even the mannequins begin to look a bit bored-to-tears around this time, their shiny, plaster eyes longing for the fall collections.
That said, we would be as useful as mannequins ourselves if we didn’t alert you that the Stel’s Bag Sale is happening, i.e. you can fill a shopping bag with merchandise for $25 (small), $50 (medium) or $75 (large) in the store today through Sunday. You saw that correctly; with tons of men’s and women’s coming in for fall, it’s time to make some room for what’s new on those racks.
Believe us, we plan to tell owners Jon, Tina and Dave that they are daft too, right after we’re done filling this bag…
Get the hell out of my way, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. brrrrring…..brrrringgggg!
I am not doubting your abilities to perhaps outdo me in the household duties department, but I will, in fact, run you down with my very own Missoni for Target Bike that I will be purchasing on the eve of September 14 when the entire collection comes out.
Your buddy Anne of Green Gables better watch her tail as well.
And if you are all wondering why I’m posting about a damn bike, as opposed to the household items Missoni will be designing for Target, then surely you’ve mistaken me for a decorator. Said bike will be pulling double duty as art, as I’ll be hanging it 12 feet up on my Living Room wall.
Monsieur Louboutin is losing his battle against French-power-house Yves Saint Laurent over a pair of red-soled Palais pumps. You may recall when we (and everyone in the fashion industry) mentioned this petty scandal a few weeks back. While we have, to date, admired Christian for his insistence, there are few in the community, or otherwise, who believed he had much of a case, or, frankly, much of a reason to pursue one.
To begin with, his is a fairly new brand. Yes, his soles are, for most women, a distinct mark of his brand, but that’s hardly cause for excluding other, much more established, houses from using what is, after all, a primary color.
The latest blow to his cause is a ruling from Manhattan Federal Judge Victor Marrero, whose ruling stated, ”Because in the fashion industry color serves ornamental and aesthetic functions vital to robust competition, the court finds that Louboutin is unlikely to be able to prove that its red outsole brand is entitled to trademark protection, even if it has gained enough public recognition in the market to have acquired secondary meaning,” Judge Victor Marrero wrote in his opinion. This comes after Louboutin filed an injunction against Yves Saint Laurent to prevent the distribution of the Palais pump in question as the trial continues in France.
Harvey Lewin, an attorney for Camp Christian, said, “We think the judge missed it… The court essentially indicated that it does not believe that a single color can be a trademark in the fashion industry. We’re disheartened.”
Missed what, exactly, Mr. Lewin? That what was originally a flight of designer fancy and later became his sole brand identity (pun intended) is hardly able to be defended in an industry where colors are not the right of any given designer, but merely one tool in a designer’s box? Can you imagine the uproar if someone, anyone, attempted to trademark black? Or even, as we saw last season, the awful uprising of Salmon?
There is now a motion to cancel Louboutin’s earlier-granted trademark on the red sole, and representatives for both Monsieur Louboutin and Yves Saint Laurent will appear later this month to provide arguments.
I’m willing to wager the motion will be upheld. Either way, the entire debate has overshadowed the real point: perhaps it’s time for Monsieur Louboutin to get back to designing shoes which stand out from his competitors in ways other than the color of their sole.
No more resting on your red-lacquered laurels, my friend.
Boston Recessionistas, rejoice! DailyCandy Deals is coming to the city to rescue our little piggy banks and help us best stretch out our hard-earned dollahs to: get out and shop, eat, see, and experience all the nooks and crannies in town!
Starting from TODAY, August 8, DailyCandy Deals will have its local Boston site for us all to dive in (way to make our Monday, we are already loving you, DailyCandy)!
To start off the launch with a bang, the website is offering all kinds of über-cool deals, including:
- A romantic tasting menu for two at the fancy Haru;
- First-come, first-serve bargain deals from Fandango for the movie Change Up, featuring none other than Mr. Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman!;
- 40% off of Wembe, an organic skincare line, as well as
- a 50% off deal on a manicure prep set from Julep!
These deals won’t last long (give yourselves a strict 24-hour deadline and >>bookmark<< the website)! So become a DailyCandy Deals Boston MEMBER today, and be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the line-up change of exclusive deals and offerings!
I admit I was once a Bravo TV junkie (circa Project Runway). For the record, I did not and have not (yet) given in to any of the supposedly-scintillating Real Housewives franchises.
Instead, I was hooked to one show in particular: The Rachel Zoe Project. From her omnipresent L.A.-fied bug-eye sunglasses and hangbags that probably weighed more than she does (even pregnant) to her billions of baubles, the series always doled out more than a healthy portion of guilty pleasure.
Brad Goreski, the once-sweet-and-adorable-charming, aww-inducing Canadian-New-Yorker transplant who started off as Zoe’s third, then second-in-command, rather famously ditched the all-mighty Ms. Zoe and ventured out on his own. He started by snatching a handful of key clients of Zoe’s, including Demi Moore and Jessica Alba. Now, the charming gent has a memoir, penned by a former GQ editor, scheduled for release in 2012. Little surprise that the release date coincides with his reality spin-off TV show debut, but I’m not complaining. The more Goreski, the better.
I have to hand it to the kid, what with his tear-jerking stories of childhood bullies and an unyielding dream to become a part of the glamorous high fashion world. He made it as an intern at Vogue (a test of resolve, indeed), and then in Zoe’s camp, so he’s clearly got what it takes to weather fashion’s fickle winds. But seriously, a memoir?
For budding stylist, a rising star if you will, Goreski seems to be yet another victim of that variety of undeserved and unearned self-importance which reality TV is particularly skilled at begetting. A memoir deserves more than a yougster’s two-cents, behind-the-scenes stories, and, frankly, gossip from an industry that has been well-documented as awfully catty. Clichés abound, I guess.
Though if you ask me again in a year’s time, Born to Be Brad: Life and Style Lessons from the Front Lines of Fashion may just make it to my guilty-pleasure-reading-list. Probably with my channel dialed to Bravo again, maybe even with a celebratory viewing party with a bunch of girlfriends… Just sayin’.
It’s always exciting when one of our favorite designers comes out with a more affordable collection. And while these less expensive works can often range from lines for Target, Macy’s and H&M, I often feel a bit disappointed at the cheap version of what was once a luxurious piece of art. And please, does adding the word “Target” to our label really make us feel luxurious? (yes, I’m speaking to you, Mulberry for Target).
The B Atwood for Saks debut is to me exactly what these collections are all about. The price points aren’t so low that the quality will suffer, but you’ll definitely feel you can justify that classic Atwood pump you were once on the fence about.
Even better? Often times these “budge- friendly” compilations result in a much less creative version of what was loved about the designer in the first place. Not in (ahem, smart and handsome) Mr. Atwood’s case, though, much to our relief! He’s taken the opportunity to be even more innovative with a cohesive variety of textures, prints and embellishments (think leopard, calf hair and fringe), but while still throwing in some traditional platform pumps to stay true to his aesthetic. I honestly cannot even begin to tell you which shoe is my favorite as the collection as a whole is anything but monotonous. In fact, I think you’ll find there’s a little something for everyone in this high-heeled line-up.
Start pre-ordering HERE (link: http://www.saksfifthavenue.com/editorial/brianatwood072611.jsp)
And check them out at Saks this Fall.
What could be any hotter than Karl Lagerfeld-Macy’s collab? Hands down, I say, the inimitable Mr. David Beckham and his ensuing underwear collaboration with H&M!
Sure, H&M, as the world’s number two clothing retailer giant, has the bargaining power to take on pretty much any talent (or glitzy celeb) it wishes to court, its long list of roster including none other than the mighty Lagerfeld himself, to Madonna and Stella McCartney, to launch these ever-covetable limited editions, enticing us to be lured into opening what thin wallets we have. But what’s even sexier (and even more strategic!), is that the first string of Beckham’s collection will be targeted to launch in time for Valentine’s Day 2012. Is it ever too early to start sharpie-marking our calendars with little red hearts just yet? I’m already at the edge of my seat, ready to ogle away the much-anticipated David Beckham in the H&M-branded loincloth, as much as I would shamelessly admit to. Aren’t you?
