I’ve spent almost three of the past four weeks in California which means I’ve worn pretty much nothing but old Levi cut-offs, white James Perse tees and my red Saltwater sandals.

It’s been wonderful.

But yesterday it was back to reality, which means gearing up for fall, for fashion week, for September issues etc. and while dicking around online, I changed my mind. Now, I want, need, must have a pair of thigh high boots. The problem is a) which pair and b) will anyone make a pair for under $1000 that don’t scream Pretty Woman and then of course c) what do I wear them with?

The thing is, while they were on almost every runway, I half expected them to elude the actual market given the state of the economy, as if fashion would pay attention to a reality other than its own. Sure enough, the boots are everywhere. Ideally, of course, I’d have a spare $1,470 for the Brian Atwoods which I’m tempted to call the originals. And if those didn’t fit over my slightly-larger-than-LSD-thighs I could always go for a flat version from Chloe for $1,235. But I’m barely 5’4” so I’d probably do better in something like these Pradas. In my dreams though, I’m wearing the Louboutin-meets-Catwoman version (though they might me higher than thigh) because I don’t know if the Nicholas Kirkwood for Rodarte masterpieces are even being made. The only high street ones I’ve spotted are suede, Topshop, and called the Brittany - a sign?

Maybe, but as of this morning they’ve already disappeared. What’s a girl to do?

Karl’s New Toy: Meet Baptiste Gianconi, Karl Lagerfeld’s newest muse/boy toy/model friend/Sebastian. He’s cute! Hope the other boys play nice. {Perez}

Wowsers: Poor Mischa. Though she’s the first person we’ve ever heard actually say, “Chlo-ay.” {HandbagTV}

Interns Away: The Moment, The New York Times’ T Magazine’s style blog, needs fall interns. Wish we could do it. {TheMoment}

Style Me Nice: While in LA, I developed some major girl crushes. Nicole Chavez’s stylist picks for WhoWhatWear combine two, or three, of them. {WWW}

Each and every time we see these Chloe multi-strap wedges we wince a bit and wish we’d had the courage to spend our tax return money on them instead of a new computer.

Chloe Sevigny’s been rocking the beige all summer and now Drew Barrymore’s traded in her festival grunge for the black version paired with cuffed skinny jeans.

Not wanting to feel left out, Topshop’s made their own. They’ve ditched the two inch wedge, silver oval buckles and $700 plus price tag in favor of a cone-shaped heel, gold rectangular buckles and a $120 tag. They’ve also eliminated an extra strap and offered their version in black and hot pink instead of the more neutral grey and forest green.

Unfortunately the Chloe version’s already sold out everywhere (trust us, we’ve looked), but that doesn’t mean you need the Topshop shoe. They won’t fool a soul.

After the lovely afternoon we spent on Governors Island on Saturday, we’ve officially become polo fans. And also please sign us up for the Nacho Figueras fan club. We knew his face was dreamy from all those Ralph Lauren fragrance ads. Let us just say the real thing is unbelievably better.

You know how excited we were to don our hats and watch Prince Harry play.

And by the way, thanks to all of you who recommended The Hat Shop on Thompson. How I’ve missed popping in there over the years is beyond me but I found the perfect Chapeau Chateau fedora that worked for the match and will now become one of my summer staples.

The people watching at the Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Classic was a dream. The best dressed of the afternoon was certainly Chloe Sevigny in Chloe. And the cutest couple: Marc and Lorenzo, who was wearing checked shorts. (Madonna, Jesus Luz, and little David Banda joined them in the VIP tent later on. Oh, to have been at that table!)

Settled: Woody Allen asked for 10 million, but this morning settled for 5 from American Apparel. {NYPost}

Smells Like Guinness: Daphne Guinness revealed her new perfume, made with Comme des Garcons, at the George in London yesterday morning. A short film will accompany its September launch, because nothing sells without a film apparently. {ShowStudio}

Alice & a Milkshake: Stacey Bendet, of Alice & Olivia, says a McDonald’s Big Mac and strawberry milkshake are her favorite meal. She’s also working on a jewelry collaboration with Erickson Beamon. We believe one of those things. {Blackbook}

So Far So Good: Isobel Lucas in Vanity Fair - the best showing of SS09 Chloe we’ve seen yet. {VanityFair}

Heart Chloe: Reports filtering in that 30% will be knocked off almost all of uptown Bloomingdale’s Chloe handbags May 6th & 7th. {Racked}

Get Me to the Church On Time: Marc & Lorenzo set a summer date up north. Also, they’re taking Madonna, Victoria Beckham, Anne Hathaway, Winona Ryder, Rachel Feinstein, John Currin and Rihanna to the ball. {FWD}

Still Going: Natalie Portman’s new site, MakingOf, has yet another info with The September Issue’s director, R.J. Cutler. He describes Anna as “closed.” {MakingOf}

Name: James, 16, student

Got Her: In the Marais, vintage shopping with her boyfriend.

Stalked her: Her knee length harem shorts and short cowboy boots made for a surprisingly put together look.

Shot her: Because we’d have given an arm and a leg to be so well dressed at sixteen. Now we’d just give an arm.

She said: “My pants are Chloe, but you’ll usually find me wearing dresses.”

We said: We think you’re Chloe’s dream girl.

—AMANDA GAVLICK

This morning, while perusing the Net-a-Porter sale’s Newest Reductions, I noticed a simple bandeau one-piece that would be perfect for Florida family events. But upon further inspection, I saw that my cute suit blared the name “Chloe” right from where the ass cheeks usually go.

Now, you probably have a good idea as to how I feel about huge logos anyway, but words on my ass? I hadn’t given this much thought since the first time I was assaulted by someone’s terry-clothed butt cheeks informing me of their Juicy-ness between classes. Needless to say, I did not think this was something in which Chloe partook.

So am I just being a prude? (Britt says words on the butt-area of clothes wouldn’t stop her as long as they were small enough / she loved the individual item enough.)

Or do words on people’s asses scream “I’m trying to look hot for dodge ball” to you as much as they do to me?

To: tips@fashionista.com
From: anonymous@clotheshorse.com

Hi guys,

I’d like to take a moment out of my busy retail schedule to rant about See by Chloe’s decline.

I used to love, love See for its quirkiness and fresh take on the Chloe aesthetic, but now it feels more Forever 21 than runway worthy. I first noted the difference at the Chloe sample sale when the See racks were home to very different products. I started inspecting everything and about half had Made In Italy labels while the other half had Made in China stamped on the tag - totally different factories, totally different quality and all for the exact same price.

I thought maybe it was just the samples so I checked out the See section on Bergdorf’s 5th floor last weekend and it looks like everything’s made in China now. If anyone owns past See pieces and takes the time to compare to current season’s pieces, you can’t ignore the difference in quality, design & feel.

Anyway, has anyone else noticed?

xo,
So Mad I Can’t SEE Straight

I finally went to Saks on Friday.

I knew things were bad - I live in New York, I work in fashion, I have lawyer friends and retail friends and finance friends, a roommate from Detroit and parents who aren’t too far, sorry, weren’t too far, from retirement - but seeing Saks in worse shape than Union Square’s Trader Joe’s on Sunday afternoon was, basically, horrifying.

Where YSL bags and Chloe clutches proudly sat are stacks of crumpled $50 cashmere. Rolling racks fill almost every aisle, so stuffed with this season’s merchandise that you can’t possibly see anything without ripping it from the hanger. Marc by Marc Resort 2009 is already 40% off and I found Alexander McQueen sequined leggings on the floor. Someone wrapped Alaia belts vertically around a pole by the Oscar de la Renta and I spotted the Miu Miu dress Isabeli Fontana wore on last February’s runway crumpled in a ball underneath a 50% off buffalo plaid Ralph Lauren coat hanging from one shoulder.

And the shoe salon, the shimmering bastion of exotic footwear so recently honored with its own zip code, looks tragic underneath tumbling piles of shoes that used to cost $1000. If you can wade through the Stuart Weitzmans to the scratched up Fendis, Viviers and Balenciagas, good luck finding your size because the defeated sales people are holed up in the middle of the room, the only place with regularly priced shoes and the only area without a single customer.

I still couldn’t find the handbags anywhere and not a single employee knew what I meant when I said they weren’t in their usual home - probably because they’re temporary employees, (who by the way are wearing jeans on the floor, which is a sign everyone’s pretty much given up).

I left, pouting, not even tempted by $200 Prada shoes. I should’ve skipped the trip altogether so that if, or more likely when, they finally close their doors, I remember the old Saks instead of the outlet version.

Because even though I know how important it is to “get it,” denial’s so much more comfortable.

Dear Everyone,

We get it, fast fashion is where it’s at. No one’s enjoyed Go International more than us, we’re still eagerly awaiting Comme for H&M, and we’re counting the days until another GAP shirt collection. But, as often as we’ve reported on the ins and outs of designers at Chloe, Gianfranco Ferre, Valentino; we wonder, what’s going to happen to Paulo, Lars, and Alessandra?

So we were thinking this morning, as we usually do over french toast, that it would be a really interesting proposition for someone like, say, Bergdorf Goodman, to have a Go International collection of their own, but at the designer level. Think about it. While Alessandra’s waiting for Rochas to propose, she could do a one-off collection of empire-waisted chiffon-y frocks, and Alessandra gets to remind everyone how swell she is, not to mention pick up a nice little paycheck in between gigs. Plus, the store gets a covetable collection that gets people to spend their money at a time when everyone’s just waiting for the next diffusion line to come out, and we all get amazing clothes. Total win-win.

If you need more convincing, imagine how amazing it would have been if a few years ago, Phoebe Philo had a chance to remind everyone why they love her courtesy Barneys. It might have made Anna’s job getting her the top spot at Celine way easier, not to mention an instant fan base for normally unlikely customers for Celine.

Just saying,

Fashionista (ok, it’s Brett, as if you didn’t know)

Today’s news in WWD was all about the shoes:

Not only do they report that Jeremy Scott’s designed a wacky sneaker mini-line for Adidas to arrive in stores by February (with a sneak peek during the Paris shows next week), but also that See by Chloe is officially branching into shoes, too.

The sure-to-include-wedges line debuts this Spring, and according to WWD, it’s “color-soaked” and includes a range of “jelly shoes” that we sincerely hope are on the shallow end of the $120 - $500 range.

Other designers announcing full-on shoe ranges to go with their clothes in recent days include Proenza, Hussein Chayalan, and Ohne Titel for Cesare Paciotti.

Are shoes the new way into the hearts of buyers with increasingly high standards for parting with their money?

Something tells us the Topshop dress / $800 shoe combo will be as popular as ever come Spring…

To: britt@fashionista.com

From: londonchloecutie@shop.co.uk

There’s a Chloe sample sale going on right now in London: the music rooms, 26 South Molton Lane W1K 5LF til 9pm today and 10am-8pm tomorrow.

It’s amazing - there’s loads of accessories and bags!

Technically, you need an invite but they don’t seem to be checking and they don’t take them off you so one could always hang around and ask for someone’s when they leave.

Please keep this tip anonymous, I don’t wanna get in trouble but it’s just too good not to share!

xo,
A Friendly Shopper.

Remember that NYLON party we went to a couple weeks ago?

Well, I walked away with the prettiest glass bottle of Chloé perfume. The smell, however, wasn’t nearly as nice. But I tried it, just in case. Natalie said, “all wrong” and “too woodsy”.

I tried again. My roommates loved it, and so did my boy neighbors. And the woman shopping in Jumelle. And the girl who stopped me on the street today to ask what “divine” scent I was wearing. Even Natalie asked, “Wow, what is that?”

I know scents vary depending on the person, but do they vary on the same person from the first spritz to the third? Did my skin somehow adapt? Is that even possible?

Ruth La Ferla just wrote about bloggers and the dramatic way in which they’re changing the fragrance industry. They’ve cracked open the world of niche perfumes to an audience that’s used to learning about new scents in People or the billboard above their gas station, giving giants like Estée Lauder and Coty a mini panic attack.

Natalie is indeed prompted to smell a new perfume based on a positive review whereas I’m influenced by the print ads, (ridiculous, I know). And yet we’re both aware it’s impossible to form an opinion of a scent without wearing it repeatedly.

If I’d read Chandler Burr’s scathing review of the Chloé scent and trusted my initial sniff, I would have kept Chloé as a pretty paperweight. Instead, it’s replaced the YSL Homme I’ve trusted for almost a year.

Do you read scent reviews? How do you determine which perfume is right for you without wearing it for a bit? And more importantly, has an offensive scent ever become your fave?

Faran said, “Come to NYLON’s Chloe party!”

So I said, “Yay!” and naturally went looking for an outfit.

I stumbled in to Urban Outfitters, (I know, I know, but it’s right around the block from work) where I was overwhelmed by Chloe for Opening Ceremony deja vu.

There was an entire section that should have had a sign saying, “We wish Chloe Sevigny designed for us!!!” Floral camis hung from the racks, denim vests were layered over the mannequins’ outfits, flowy, ruffled skirts laid on tables and chunky black boots covered the ground below.

I thought, “Is there anything worse than wearing a rip-off of someone’s clothes to their own party?”

Nope. I turned on my heels and made something work from my own closet.

When I walked into the party and found myself amid a sea of Chloe perfume, I realized I’d mistaken the two Chloes.

But at least I know the difference between Chloe for Opening Ceremony and Urban as Chloe.

With WWD reporting that Paolo Melim Andersson and Chloe have officially broken up, we find ourselves looking back on their relationship the same way we did when we found out that Lauren and Brody parted ways. Admittedly, they weren’t together very long, but we really liked where things were going.

For us, Paolo was like a latter day Karl Lagerfeld, creating stark, startlingly cool clothes, and some of the most exciting shoes we’ve seen in a while. And ok, so we get that Cathy Horyn isn’t a fan, but really, is she a fan of anyone?

We’re sure that Hannah MacGibbon (former assistant to Valentino) will do a fantastic job in the top slot, and Phoebe Philo was herself promoted from assistant to Creative Director, so there is a recent precedent for an anonymous designer making waves at the house. We just really hope that she takes this time to create something personal and unique like Paolo did, rather than retreading on Chloe’s bestsellers (see the Paddington themed Overload of 2006).

We can only take comfort in the fact that Paolo lasted longer than Lars Nilsson at Gianfranco Ferre.

—BRETT KANE

Sonia Rykiel beat Luella Bartley and Chloe as our favorite collection of the season. Why? Because she somehow chucked both Tinlsey Mortimer and Courtney Love on the runway, as incarnated by Siri T. and Heidi Mount.

Close and shocking second place: Chanel.

Those coveting the giant sweater dress that Chloe Sevigny wore to the Chloe show last year might have a shot:

Though the originally mustard color is sold out, the brown one is onsale in every size at Net A Porter.

The good news is, this color looks good on almost every skin tone.

The bad news is, even onsale, the merino and yak dress is $580.

We’ve seen some pretty similar stuff at Charlotte Ronson and H&M though, but of course that’s not as much fun.

Like free designer handbags? How about four of them?

W Magazine is about to unveil their Spring Bag Sweepstakes.

What’s up for grabs? The Chloe, Dior, Jimmy Choo and Marc Jacobs bags at left.

Head over to their site at noon, when the contest officially begins. All you have to do is fill out your info and sit pretty until March 31 when the winner is announced.

Only one person can win all four bags, so we suggest putting in your name as many times as you can type it without chipping away all your Blue Satin.

Bonne chance! (you’ll need it)…