Archive for October 2010

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First Look: Bruce II Spring 2011

Bruce, a designer line started in 1998 by Daphne Gutierrez and Nicole Noselli, has been pretty under-the-radar as of late. The New York-based line won the coveted CFDA Perry Ellis Award for Womenswear in 2001, took a break from 2004 to 2007 and have kept things pretty low key ever since. Right now, they are smartly focusing on their lower-priced line Bruce II, which can be found in cool Williamsburg boutiques like Bird and Jumelle and online at La Garconne. Yesterday, we stopped by their modest studio in Chinatown to check out Spring ’11 and it did not disappoint.

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Streetwalker

Street Style: Rick and His Rings

Name: Rick

Age: 36

Occupation: Jewelry Designer/ Actor/ Writer

What is your jewelry line called? Light Armor Studios

How would you describe your style? Classic with an edge

What are the most prominent colors in your wardrobe? Black, Blue, Green… a lot of earth tones.

What are you listening to? Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon, The Airborne Toxic Event, The Raconteurs

What inspires your jewelry? Lots of old architecture, religious icons

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  • ASHLEY JAHNCKE
  • Tuesday, Oct 12, 2010 / 2:30 PM
  • 6 Comments
Webvertorial

Most Wanted: Haute Hiking Boots

By Fashionista Tuesday, Oct 12, 2010 / 2:00 PM

This season, traditional workboots have been transformed into sleek and chic hiking boots–styles you can wear as easily with a flirty dress as you can with denim and thick, woolly socks. Here are a few of our favorites:

Tory Burch “Halima” Bootie: The “it” shoe of the season, Tory Burch’s bootie combines a slim, stacked heel and platform with grey suede and laces that look more Upstate than Downtown. We love these paired with leather pants.

Steven by Steve Madden “Destined” Ankle Boot:The cognac leather booties have a four-inch spiky heels, which means they look great with skinny jeans or body-con mini skirts. Wear them without socks in warmer weather, or thick tights once it cools down.

Steven by Steve Madden “Isolate” Ankle Boot: We love the squared-off, stacked heel on these comfortable lace-ups. Wear them with thick wool socks, blue jeans, and an oatmeal cable knit sweater.

Kenneth Cole New York “925 – Land Bridge” Ankle Boot: For the girl who just can’t get enough black in her wardrobe, these soft 3.5″ heel stunners look as good paired with black tights and a pleated school girl skirt as they do with skinny black trousers.


Seychelles “Romance” Bootie: This pair of beautiful cream booties have a distinct ’80s vibe. Wear them with your favorite vintage fair isle sweater. We also love the adorable floral lining.

Dolce Vita “Agner” Boot: This menswear inspired boot has a pretty low heel–2.5″– which means you can walk in them all day. Plus, we love how close the laces are–it makes the boot look more formal. Prettier, event.

For more fall fashion insight and to share your own thoughts on this season’s top trends, join the conversation at Nordstrom.

Beauty

Brow Bleaching: Do NOT Try This At Home, Kids

Bleached, non-existent brows have become commonplace on the runway, if not yet on the subway, over the last few seasons. Lara Stone is the obvious poster girl for this look, and it has slowly become ubiquitous at shows and in editorials. Take a look at the recent SS2011 runways: Marc Jacobs, Alex Wang, YSL—nary a brow in sight.

I’ve seen this look enough now that it doesn’t seem as shocking, bizarre, and otherworldly as it once did. Is this a sign that it’s a trend that’s ready for adoption by the masses?

I spoke to hair colorist Laurie Foley, who was responsible for the brows–or lack thereof—at both the Marc Jacobs and Rodarte SS2011 shows. Laurie has her own salon, L’Atelier de Laurie and is a Wella Color Ambassador. She’s been a professional stylist and colorist for 33 years, with a specialty in innovative and challenging hair trends.

Laurie doesn’t offer the process at her salon, because well, she can’t. It’s not what hair dye is manufactured for. (In the medical world, when you use a drug for something for which it wasn’t originally intended, it’s called an “off-label use.” Same concept here.) Read on.

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Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: Chilean Miners to be Saved by $450 Oakleys, Scott Sternberg’s New Line Hits Korea and Justin Bieber is Shilling Nail Polish

More Like cool miners: In Chile tonight, 33 miners, who have been trapped in a hot, humid, dark cave for over two months, will begin their ascent above ground with a little help from Oakley. “The miners will emerge wearing the sunglasses, donated by the American company, Oakley, which will provide 100 per cent protection from ultraviolet light. Medics have warned of damage to the miners’ retinas when they reach daylight after so long underground.” While many of the victims’ wives have been taking steps to beautify themselves in preparation, these men probably won’t be looking their best, but at least they’ll have some hot sunglasses to wear when reuniting with their loved ones. {Telegraph UK}

Shepard Fairey Goes to Lit: The guy who conceived Obama’s “HOPE” poster is just like us. Here are his top five favorite NYC hangouts. {Refinery29}

I wish I lived in South Korea: Band of Outsiders did lower-priced line for men and women in collaboration with Bean Pole, a major brand in South Korea. Chloe Sevigny is the face of the campaign. This basically sounds like the coolest thing ever and we are extremely bummed it’s not available in the states. With Girl debuting for Spring ’11, we hope this means more lower priced options to come from Sternberg, for men and women alike. {Blackbook}

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Magazines

Kim Kardashian Is Very Naked in the New W

A very naked Kim Kardashian graces the cover of W’s November “Art” issue with the headline “It’s all about me…I mean you..I mean me” strategically covering her bits. Who would have thought the reality star, best known for her butt and twitter following, would figure into Stefano Tonchi’s new “Who, What, When, Where and Why In The World of Style” tagline for the mag?

At a press conference about the revamping of W a couple months ago, Tonchi said he would take the high fashion Conde title beyond the clothes to tell the stories of interesting people. Kim Kardashian might not be interesting to everyone. She’s certainly not of interest, I would think, to W’s readers as a fashion person–her sartorial choices extend to skimpy bikinis and skin tight mini dresses and her design experience is limited to a “collaboration” with Bebe. But I don’t doubt that Lynn Hirschberg’s profile of Kim (out tomorrow) will be interesting. And her naked body will certainly sell magazines.

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Accessories

The Best Shoes of Spring/Summer 2011

Forget diamonds–shoes are a girl’s best friend.

The SS11 runways were full of new “best friends” for shoe addicts everywhere. From Alexander McQueen’s and Rodarte’s sculpted wedges to Calvin Klein’s lucite and wood stilettos, there’s something for every girl, even sneakers (from Giles and Yohji Yamamoto, of course)! Trying to pick a favorite may cost you hours, so why not just love them all?

Click through to see the best of the best shoes from the Spring runways!

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That Didn’t Take Long: Gap Goes Back to Original Logo

Last week, Gap abruptly changed their logo. Nobody liked it. The switch from the brand’s classic blue box logo to a lowercase Helvetica font with a blue square in the right hand corner inspired much vitriol across the internet, the twitterverse, and in the comments section on Gap’s Facebook page. Some gems from this site include, “I think [the logo] could be slightly more boring if they really made the effort. They can’t even do boring right anymore,” and “What I think of when I look at that new Gap logo is a pharmaceutical company.”

We weren’t fans either, but tried to understand the change, noting that Gap had been using the font in their 1969 denim campaign for some time.

Gap listened to their angry fans, and late last night, released a statement that they would return to the “iconic blue box logo.”

“Ok. We’ve heard loud and clear that you don’t like the new logo. We’ve learned a lot from the feedback. We only want what’s best for the brand and our customers. So instead of crowd sourcing, we’re bringing back the Blue Box tonight,” Gap posted on their Facebook page last night.

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Entertainment

Mad Men Style Recap, Episode 12

Just when Mad Men starts turning into a gossipy, love triangled drama, it grabs the wheel and reverts to its business ways. In episode 12, all of Mad Men’s relationship issues were put down to highlight a bigger issue: That SCDP is down and almost out.

With Lucky Strike gone, SCDP is on its last leg. Don starts the episode in a gray suit and black tie, looking more serious than ever, in a meeting with Heinz. Desperate for business, Don will do anything to sign a client, but the fish aren’t buying. The SCDP accountant brings in more bad news to the conference room where we find Roger in another blue look, this time it’s a three piece suit, Pete in gray, Burt in sky blue, and Faye in a black and white optical print blouse and gray slim skirt. Aside from Burt, who’ll later resign in a khaki colored get-up, the colors of SCDP are dreary.

Roger reverts back to a gray suit later, Don gets gloomier in gray and black, Lane keeps it dark toned and somber in mismatched black jackets and tan vests, and even Peggy can’t help but feel down wearing a jet-black short sleeved dress with white, vertical stripe accents.

But just when you thought it was too bleak to watch, there, out of the bustle of midtown, appears Midge.

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Sales

Racked Dealfeed: Gant, Fred Perry & Ron Herman

Gant Deal: Up to 80% off fall/winter clothing and accessories from Gant, Gant Rugger, and Gant by Michael Bastian When/Where: Tuesday, October 12 through Friday, October 15. Tues—Thurs 8:30am—6:30pm, Fri 8:30am—5pm. 20 W. 55th St between Fifth and Sixth Aves, 11th floor Slane & Slane Deal: 50% to 60% off modern jewelry, much of it [...]

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Would You Rather?

Would You Rather…? The Dramatic Draping Edition

By Steff Yotka Monday, Oct 11, 2010 / 6:00 PM

Chanel’s Haute Couture 2008 show was a memorable affair, if not for the face frames, then for the hot pink dress that Cameron Diaz would later wear on the Red Carpet (after Rachel Zoe famously altered it). For SS11, however, Carven presented a very similarly draped dress in black. So whose draped wonder would you rather wear, Chanel’s or Carven’s?

Retail

Getting Waxed at the Fjällräven Store

Fjällräven, the highly sought after Swedish outdoors brand, reopened their Mott St. store last week (262 Mott St., NYC). They’ve revamped their only US outpost, expanding the space and creating a one-stop shop to outfit you for any adventure (even an arctic one). Beyond their classic waxed coats and utterly adorable neon backpacks, the store stocks handmade axes, balsam fir incense (for when you can’t actually get to the woods, one of the Fjällräven girls explained to me), and tin cookware for whipping up fireside meals.

The store is meticulously curated and laid out just-so. Everything about the store is as precious as the brand’s arctic fox logo. It’s an aesthetic that appeals to certain kind of in-the-know hipster as well as outdoorsy types. And the clothes are timeless and stylish (in addition to being functional). The jackets, especially their classic Crinan jacket from the ’70s, in army green, fits in perfectly with this season’s military trends. It also comes in a cornflower blue for spring. I couldn’t resist picking one up, which I then had waxed to protect it for the winter.

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