Ready Go Recycle!

Inspired by a conversation I had the other day, I got to thinking about sustainability and what we can do to make a difference, even if at first small. While the obvious things come to mind like recycling, not using your car as often (which by this point most people should be doing these things on the regular) there are so many more things we can do to make sustainability cool and relevant to us. While most of us can't rebuild our apartments so that they run on solar energy and water power, we can think about the way we buy clothes. I know coming from an individual who loves buying and buying clothes, even the most obsessed have to think about the future of our planet. Buying vintage clothes is just one way that you can begin to personally cut down on the use of resources. Clothes that already exist i.e. used clothes are not using up any more resources or materials, they are here and waiting to get their chance in the spotlight all over again. Now, I know for many people the idea of having to sort through a vintage store can be, well, intimidating. But that's why the greater powers invented eBay. My favorite favorite store on eBay for vintage is mama stone vintage. There are soo many amazing things on this website, the only downside is that you have to bid, but hey you can't have everything!

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Hopelessly Devoted To...

Print, Prints Prints!! I love nothing more than intense extreme prints. I think that the summer is a time to throw convention and sanity out the window, and welcome in freedom and creative expression. And what do I always say about fashion...you are what you wear! Let go of stress and pretension and embrace the wilder side of clothing, the wilder side of yourself. Who says you can't wear something totally outrageous to a party, a bar, your office (heh heh proceed with caution lambs). Sometimes you just need to let loose and let freedom reign, and what better time to do it than the summer time. While on my quest to discover fab fab prints, I came across a designer that I barely knew (gasp!). Her name is Samantha Treacy, and she has some adorable treasures.

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Totally rad! While these prints are not as bold as you could go, they are a good step in the right direction. These dresses are a perfect way to ease into the insanity of print wearing without really taking the full plunge. Louise Goldin another precious print maven, uses color blocks and asymmetrical lines of color to animate her Spring 08 ready wear line.

Find more Louise Goldin at Style.com

And for those of us who are daring and willing to try a little more than the rest...

Courtesy of the phenomenal Jeremy Scott

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words...

Well so they say...There are some photographic spreads that you just can't help but feel envious over. Envious that a) you are not in it b) that you didn't take it or c) because...well because! I usually can be found in the folds of my comforter pining over the perfectly styled, directed, edited photo spreads of fashion magazines. However, today it occurred to me that the way we present fashion is changing, much like the rest of the world. With the conquest of the online warriors over most of the planet complete, the fashion world has moved into waters that are unfamiliar to many, unnatural to most. The idea of buying clothing over the Internet without trying it on, analyzing, critiquing, asking a thousand people for their opinions is somewhat daunting. The days of fitting room lines are drawing to an end. But what does this mean for the fashion marketer? The Visual merchandiser? The magazine stylist? Are we seeing the slow decline of tangible marketing? Is the world on its way to becoming an online virtual reality? Maybe. I don't have all the answers, but one thing is for certain, that we need to start looking at the way online stores, fashion mags, what have you, merchandise their wares to us. Just because we are not turning the glossy delicate pages of a magazine in our bed, does not mean that the images we are scrolling through should not be magnificently photographed, laid out, touched up etc. If we are expected to participate in the world of online consumerism then we should continue to be catered to visually, if not more so. Here are some online fashion spreads that I feel are worth noting. La Garconne

If you are unable to visit the legendary Bergdorf Goodman in NYC, then their amazing shop by floor website is close (kinda) to the next best thing.

To me these websites work because they are a) great to look at and b) they are easy to navigate. They are simple to figure out. You don't have to be Bill Gates minus those glasses and poor choice in sweaters (JK Bill...kisses), to navigate and find what you are looking for. Beauty and Simplicity are what make an online store website great. Now go put your government stimuli to good use and spend!

Shutter Bug...

I feel that it is time to take a moment and pay homage to a very important and prolific individual, Helmut Newton. Helmut Newton's work has forced us, the audience, to break free from our conventions of beauty and art. He has elevated the mere idea of snapping a models photograph to capturing a perfect moment in a characters life. A character who wears the clothes that illuminate her identity, her circumstance. These are the images we remember, the images that give life to the inanimate creations of the designer. Light, flesh, emotion, these are what we as the audience yearn for, what makes us believe that that frozen slice of life is attainable to perhaps us. These photographs are what makes buying a fashion magazine thrilling. The voyeurism that we are publicly allowed to savor as we turn glossy page after glossy page. Helmut Newton made this interesting, he made it taboo. Born on October 31st 1920, he was interested in photography from a very young age. In 1961 he moved to Paris and began working primarily as a fashion photographer for French Vogue. During his time at Vogue he became notable for his highly erotic and stylised scenes. Throughout the 1980's, Helumt Newton gained fame and notoriety with his "Big Nudes". He died in 2004 after he crashed his car into the side of Chateau Marmont on Sunset BLVD. His work, however, remains important and influential to all.

Photographs courtesy of lazy Monday & Vogue

Modern Romance

I love how Top Shop merchandises their web site. They make it so incredibly easy to become completely broke in less than 3 minutes. The adorable black polka dotted background, the convenient categories so that everyone can find a little something. Whoever is in charge of merchandising this website is a total genius! My favorite little slice of categorical perfection is Modern Romance. Part Jane Austin Novel, part Jane Birkin. It's a little sweet and a lot of sexy. To me this line is the quintessential girly girl look. Smoldering eye liner, tops with ruffles, short skirts, and Oxford style shoes, these are the perfect staples for a sweet and sexy Spring wardrobe.

The Lovely Jane Birkin

On Foot Freedom...

Today I woke up to sunshine, a fresh breeze, and the thrilling possibility of wearing open toed shoes. The sandal season is now upon us and it has never felt better. That first day of leaving socks tucked away neatly in their draws, of casting boots aside, and slipping on a perfectly molded pair of flip flops or sandals is in short intoxicating. That alone makes getting up easier. However, with the good always comes the bad. Now for the first time in months pale un-pedicured feet emerge from their cotton enclosed tombs to greet the day, as well as a thousand stares of disgust. Stale, beach stained flip flops haphazardly shuffle across corporate offices, attempting to fit in. The truth is that sandal wearing requires just as much thought and dignity as business casual dressing. Just because the design is simple does not mean that sandals should be regarded as such. There are plenty of different styles that you can wear this spring and summer that won't lump you into the beach bum category. These first two styles can be found at La Garconne








Personally I think the hottest sandals are at barney's right now, check out these delicious slices of footwear heaven!!!

Fierce as in Grrrrrr

I am enraptured with what British Vogue has dubbed the "Warrior Queen" look. The idea of typically sweet and soft summer dresses now becoming fierce and powerful, like some kind of mythological warrior woman is for lack of a better phrase f-ing awesome. I can just see it, a mass of ultra hot girls strutting around town in perfectly draped dresses yielding bows and arrows and some kind of club, PERFECT! What this tells me is that the industry is now realizing that being hot is a state of mind, it's the attitude that wears the clothes, that gives them movement and meaning. The idea that a woman can be a warrior and still retain her femininity is a beautiful concept. Not to get all girl power on everyone but it is a pretty profound idea in a world where you can usually just be one or the other. You can't be hot and intelligent, and you can't become powerful unless you use your sex appeal to get you there. These are the conventions that I am more than happy to throw out the window. OK having stood on my soap box for long enough here are some rigs that exemplify the "Warrior Queen" look.

Here are some "Warrior Queen" ideas for the girl on a budget (like myself) from your friendly neighborhood Urban Outfitters