May 15, 2009 | Fashion
How many of you have heard of Athleta? It’s a catalog for swimwear and clothing for the female sports enthusiast. For some reason I ended up on their mailing list, and receive a catalog every so often. I find this amusing since even my fat, lazy cat is more athletic than I am. Athleta carries a rather typical range of yoga wear, rashguards, UPF-rated tops, swimsuits, cover-ups, and board shorts. But every catalog there’s these little details incorporated into some of the swim pieces that I think are just fantastic. I never really think of swimwear of innovative (and maybe this stuff looks totally run-of-the-mill to other people), but some of the back shapes feel fresh and unique. Totally inspirational – especially since bodycon and bondage-style pieces are so in right now, and I’m thinking DIY…on a tight little LBD with strategically-placed cutouts. One thinks even my cat Muffin might approve??
-Carly J. Cais
May 11, 2009 | Fashion
As Know As de Base dress, carved quartz heart-shaped ring I bought at a gem show in Portland, silvertone watch, DIY magazine clutch, SPANX tights, Maison Gilfy peeptoe booties.I love this dress with all my heart. As Know As de Base is a teensy weensy little Japanese brand actually manufactured in Japan (!); a rarity nowadays. They make everything out of Roppongi, and it’s kind of expensive because everything’s made in small runs. (There are a number of brands under the As Know As umbrella; de Base is one of the more trendy ones.) The dress is cotton and silk, and couldn’t be more gorgeous – it has a little apron-like thing in the front, that is only anchored on one side. (I think I’ll sew down the other side since it has this tendency to pile over onto one side of the drawstring as I walk.) I took a photo to show the lovely double-front – you can cinch each separate drawstring in the bust to create a different look depending on if you want it tighter or want your whole front hanging out.;-)
The clutch I just picked up a long envelope-style white thing from Target for like $10 on sale…and then glued the front of one of my magazine covers to it. (I
could have made the magazine clutch from scratch, but I’m just too darn lazy.)
Extra points if you know which magazine I used! (I *was* searching for a vintage French Vogue on Ebay that might appeal, and then I was like “I don’t even
read French, let alone French Vogue,” so I decided to use what I do read.)
I also love Maison Gilfy to death…their stuff is the perfect blend of hard-edged, trendy, and tongue-in-cheek… I know it’s hard to tell with all the black, but the booties have this spike 4″ heel on the back, and the top folds down – you wear them permanently folded (though I guess you *could* wear them laced up the ankle if you wanted) and they have double laces. As soon as I saw a shopgirl wearing them I had to buy them – and congratulated myself on finding them for 11,000 yen ($111) on sale from 13,500 ($137)…and then after I bought them saw the knockoffs for 6192 yen ($62) from
RyuRyu, I think (but I could be wrong; it might have been
Kawaism)….
nope it was Venti Anni, and they’re still available, but they only ship to a Japanese addy.) Go fig. But check out
Maison Gilfy’s website to look out their clothes and awesome shoes anyway!
**Maison Gilfy will only ship you stuff if you have a shipping address in Japan. So buy on your trips to Tokyo!May 10, 2009 | Fashion
Woohoo! I love Karmaloop for their quirky, street-oriented, edgy fashions. This stuff is going fast, but if you can, grab it before it all goes. Here are a couple of my faves:
ALSO…$20 OFF ORDERS OF $100 OR MORE Now through May 31st, enter code JUMBO at checkout. Choose from Free Shipping on orders over $25 with code REKA09 or 15% OFF the entire order with code TASH09! Both offers are valid through December 31st, 2009. Whew! That’s a lot of promotions!
-Carly J. Cais
Apr 30, 2009 | Fashion
For all those of you who happen to live in the NYC area (or are visiting next week)…from Wed, May 6 to Sun, May 10, Rebecca Minkoff is having a huge sample sale from 10 AM – 8 PM every day!
Grab a fab bag, a cool-colored tote, maybe a breezy tunic? Get there early – because it’s sure to blow out quickly!
Check out RebeccaMinkoff.com to shop online if you can’t make it down to 33 W 17th Street for the sale.
-Carly J. Cais
Mar 28, 2009 | Fashion
(I’m not sure what big name they’re all knocking off…if anyone could help me out…?)
LOVE this shoe – and fatefully snapped up the Steve Madden version since I mistakenly thought it was a light nude. (It looks like a very light beige, non?) Well, when it arrived I found out the color was more like a puke pinky-brown..completely icky. Plus one of the shoes had pen marks on it and gouges on the toe area. They at least accepted the return and refunded me (which they wouldn’t have had I just not liked the color)…but still! Wide band, sort of half-sandal, half shoe, what’s not to love? (But I’m staying away from the $180 price tag.) GoJane.com used to have their version in fuchsia and nude as well, and so I’m hoping they’ll get the nude back in stock…if not, I’ll just have to make them myself!
Tell me it’s not completely impossible to find the perfect nude summer shoe??
-Carly J. Cais
Mar 27, 2009 | Fashion
(left: Black Halo Keyhole Ruffle Sheath, right: Ann Taylor “Ruffle Sleeve Sheath Dress”)
For over a year now, Black Halo has kept everyone slavering over their ladylike dresses – namely the Jackie O., seen on just about every it-celeb in a variety of colors – the black jacket dress, vaguely reminiscent of a higher-priced RM dress – the Maureen dress, a collar-less version of the jacket dress – and the keyhole ruffle sleeve sheath. They are sophisticated, sleek, and upwards of $300 (the keyhole ruffle dress is specifically $345).
But what’s this? Here we have a doppelganger from Ann Taylor. Sure, it’s minus the Mandarin collar and has a button closure at the neck, but darn it if it doesn’t look pretty similar. (The seaming in the dress is exactly the same as the Black Halo version!)
So what do we think? Spend $189 on the Ann Taylor dress, or splurge on the $345 Black Halo original?
(BTW, if you happen to be a size 4, you can snap up the wine colored keyhole dress from ChickDowntown.com for a cool $138, rendering the whole debate moot.)
-Carly J. Cais
