Apr 7, 2011 | Fashion
Proenza Schouler PS1 bag on top; Target’s Messenger Bag in Olive on the bottom. Img source
As you may or may not have heard, Proenza Schouler recently expressed disappointment that Target had begun selling a bag that was similar to their PS1 bag. From the New York Times blog: “[Proenza Schouler designer Jack] McCollough can understand that people love bargains and knockoffs, but variations, clever or not, rob companies, small companies like Proenza, of opportunities. Reading the post, he remarked, “Yeah, why save up and buy ours when you can buy theirs right away?”
Well, whom is knocking off whom? And is it correct of McCollough to assume that theirs is the original, and that the Target bag is directly derived from Proenza Schouler’s re-imagining of the standard messenger satchel?
Mulberry Oversized Alexa Bag
Fossil Vintage Re-Issue Flap, $108
Express Top Handle Satchel, $59.90
Aldo Kreisher Bag, $50
TopShop the Mimi Bag by Marc B**, $84
Oryany Flap Satchel, $398
Marc by Marc Jacobs Saddlery Sophie, $478
ASOS Clean Line Double Buckle Satchel, $44
Pathfinder Laptop Messenger Bag, $49.95
Vintage B-15 Pilot Messenger Bag, $31.99
And add all of those to Refinery 29‘s recent exhaustive list of PS1 doppelgangers…
And these are just the bags that are currently available for sale on the Internet…not including the messenger bags used by the U.S. army throughout the decades…schoolboys in Europe in the 1940’s and 50’s…oh, and all satchels ever existing in the history of Time.
What do you guys think? Does Proenza Scholer have the right to be issuing statements about design infringement towards Target? Do you think the designer for this bag for Target intentionally copied the PS1…or just designed a messenger bag with a few similarities? Which came first – the chicken or the egg…or, in this case: the PS1 or the iconic messenger-bag-style design?
Though the Mossimo bag ($34.99) is out of stock online, I spied it the other day at my local Target store. And if you’d like to worship and purchase the original PS1 in all its original glory, it’s available here for $1,995.
xoxox
Carly
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Apr 7, 2011 | Media
I was featured along with other amazing fashion and DIY bloggers from What I Wore, P.S. I Made This, I Spy DIY, and Studs and Pearls on CNN Living yesterday!
In an article entitled “DIY fashion blogs encourage personal style,” the bloggers note that DIY encourages individual style and fosters a community of sharing, creating a sense of pride in what one has been able to create oneself. From the article:
“People love taking something normal and making it more chic,” [Chic Steals‘ Carly J.] Cais said. “There’s an emergence of an interest in creating current fashion with what you have in your closet and re-interpreting the runways to your own personal taste.”
Though I was a little surprised I didn’t see such mainstay DIY blogs as …love, Maegan or Outsapop included in the roundup – I’m so happy that such a respected news source as CNN recognized this growing crafty community and is helping to further interest in DIY…even including my own little blog in the article!
Thanks so much to Ashley and the whole team at CNN Living for making this possible – I’m in the presence of such amazing bloggers and am so thrilled to have been featured!
xoxox
Carly
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Apr 6, 2011 | DIY
I was fully intending to finish this list up and post yesterday, but started feeling woozy with a sudden head cold and hit the hay early. Today, barely hanging on with the help of some Airborne and Nyquil, I soldier on.
img source
Sometimes we all get caught up in the what-if’s or how-do-Is? Myself included. Sometimes we all just have to take the plunge and figure things out as we go.
Donatella from Inspiration & Realisation made a goregous color-blocked Mondrian Sweater with the creative use of fabric paint. Totally on-trend for the colorblocked brights we’ve been seeing everywhere for Spring! She’s also an amazingly talented knitter and crocheter – so def. check out all her other projects too!
Kristen from Glitter ‘n Glue shared a quick DIY for making a paperbag-waisted skirt from a pillowcase. Lovely and bright – and another great idea for refashioning a skirt from a pillowcase.
Beautiful – but it gives me the willies to imagine wearing it: this Victorian dress made from insect parts has just been restored. From Refinery29.
Smart n Snazzy added a DIY Carabiner strap to an old purse to give it a much-needed makeover…and is currently challenging herself with a full 30 DAYS of DIY! A project a day – so inspirational. Check out her blog daily for each new one.
Though Martha Stewart‘s main focus is home, garden, and lifestyle, once in awhile she posts a doozy of a DIY for something wearable. See her Gallery of Sewing Projects: Clothing and Accessories and her ideas for DIY Totes and Purses. And did I mention her Gallery of Handmade Jewelry and Accessories? Perfect!
Natalie’s Creations made a video on making a Prada-inspired striped dress…out of T-shirts! Too awesome for words!!
Modanista Junkie made some lovely bow hair clips…and I’m sure you’re all dying to know how! Check it out here for the how-to.
DIY T-strap bra from Love Aesthetics. Simple, beautiful, and oh-so-Wang.
I’d normally post some Chic & Cheap shopping sites at the bottom of this…but I have to roll into bed and get over this cold so I’m wrapping this up quick.
And since I’m not doing my DIY Roundups anymore, if you have a DIY project, tutorial, or creation that you’d like to see featured on Chic Steals, please email me at carlyjcais at chic-steals dot com – and I’ll try to squeeze it in to one of my Links of the Week posts!
xoxox
Carly
-all photos copyright their respective authors; photo array by me-
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Apr 4, 2011 | DIY
After I posted the April Fool’s fakeout dinner ideas in my last DIY Links of the Week, I just had to try them out with my son. [Full disclosure: I had class in the evening on April 1, so I had to make my April Fool’s Day Dinner on April 2. But no worries! It tasted just the same.;-)]
Normally I don’t make meatloaf – I think I’ve made it maybe twice in my life, ever. My son prefers the Japanese-style hamburgs (think: meatloaf-style thick hamburger patties with a demi glace sauce) to regular ol’ American meatloaf. So I used this recipe I found for my meatloaf, and altered the cooking method a bit to make little cupcakes:
DIY April Fool’s Day Meatloaf “Cupcakes”
Ingredients
*your favorite meatloaf recipe
*instant mashed potatoes (or your favorite mashed potatoes recipe)
*2-3 T milk
*ketchup
*cherry tomatoes
How To:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray nonstick cooking spray in the cavities of a muffin tin.
2. Mix up the meatloaf ingredients, and separate into 12 smaller balls. Pat each ball of meatloaf into each muffin cavity, pressing down to squish out any air bubbles. Fill up about 3/4 of the way to the top, so they don’t overflow.
3. Bake in oven for 20 minutes. Remove and squeeze a spiral of ketchup over the top of each meatloaf muffin, and replace in oven.
4. Bake another 10 minutes.
5. While they are baking, whip up a batch of instant mashed potatoes following the recipe, and cut your cherry tomatoes in half. (Add about 2 -3 T of milk and continue whipping the potatoes after they’re done to make them extra white and fluffy.)
6. Once meatloaf muffins are done, lift out of the muffin tin and spread a layer of mashed potatoes on top to look like icing. Press a halved cherry tomato in the center to look like a cherry.
The meatloaf cupcakes cooked up juicy and sweet because of all the ketchup (which also served as a nice layer in-between the meatloaf and the mashed potato “icing” on top). Lil Tot thought they were cute and tasty…though he admitted he would prefer the meatloaf (meatloaves??) with demi-glace sauce on them next time. Ahwell.
The Hamburger Cookies were a bigger hit. I again altered the recipe I found online a bit to suit my needs – I found simpler made these tastier.
DIY April Fool’s Day “Hamburger” Cookies
Ingredients:
*Keebler “Grasshopper” chocolate-covered mint cookies
*Nabisco “Nilla” vanilla wafer cookies
*small amount of honey
*white sesame seeds
*yellow Starburst chews
How To:
1. Find a pair of Nilla cookies that are whole and unbroken.(easier said than done!) Pour about a teaspoon of honey onto a spoon, and dip your fingertip in it. Smear a tiny bit of honey on the underside of one cookie.
2. Place a Grasshopper chocolate cookie on top (bottom-to-bottom).
3. Unwrap a Starburst chew and place it on the wrapper in the microwave. Microwave for 10 seconds – the chew will become malleable.
4. Stretch the chew flat with your fingers, and cut in half with a sharp knife. Allow to cool before trying to pull apart the halves.
5. Press one half down onto the chocolate cookie and let the corners hang off – like a slice of cheese on a hamburger.
6. Dip your fingertip in honey, and spread a tiny bit on the top of the remaining Nilla cookie. Sprinkle a couple sesame seeds on top, and press this cookie on to the Starburst chew.
Voila! Tiny hamburgers!
My son liked them so much he has now asked me to make them for dessert every day since. The vanilla cookies were quite nice with the chocolate mint and honey (though yes, the Starburst in the middle is a little weird).
Happy DIY’ing!
xo
Carly
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Apr 2, 2011 | Fashion
Merona fedora with DIY rings and ribbon added, Forever 21 ruffled top, Anthropologie wool bow vest, Vintage U.S. Navy boiled wool men’s pants
In October of last year I received an email from an editorial assistant at a major U.S. magazine. I mean, major! They wanted some photos from me, as a style blogger, to illustrate my take on menswear for women, which would potentially run in a small feature in their January 2011 issue. I was floored and so incredibly honored that they had reached out to me, of all people!! So I put together some looks, shot some photos, and sent them. For months afterwards I kept it to myself for the most part…but kept muttering to myself under my breath: “OMG I’m going to be in ______!!!!” And then I squeeeeed a bit. Okay, I’m still 5 years old in some ways.;-)
Well, sadly in the January issue they decided not to use any of the photos I sent them. Bummer. It happens! But ohwell, at least I now have a couple neat photos I can share with you! (And a couple of DIY items in there as well…)
Just my ideas of a feminine take on “menswear” (though as I was going back through my photos, I decided to poke some fun at myself and add silly titles).
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