more fun than a barrel of monkeys

and i love monkeys.  Boutiques.com is pretty freakin cool i have to say.  have a look at the-e-stylist boutique i set up, browse a bajillion products, and best of all - if you like something but not the price, there's a similar style feature that can help you find other products. i just did a little fantasy Missoni tour and am currently lusting after this caftan that would just be perfect for a honeymoon...  there are a bunch of celebrity boutiques as well - it's a fun little diversion but i must warn you that it could possibly lead to some spendy time... not that there's anything wrong with that!

one more ho for the road

the gifting holidays may be over, but maybe you have some gift cards burnin' a ho ho hole in your pocket.  luckily, stores galore have sales going on at the mo.  so strap on your wellies or snow boots, or get your clicky fingers ready and SHOP the sales darlings.  all the biggie department stores are working their mojo.  and some of the boutiques are going deep on the discounts.  one such example is Intermix, offering an extra 40% off already reduced merch, both in stores and online.  that, my dears, is up to 80% off.  that is the kind of math that i like. a few ideas for the picking - super hot grey wool D&G dress, snuggly buttery leather Vince jacket, perfect little Rebecca Minkoff bag.  BOOM you're dressed for a night out.   so on dasher and dancer and prancer and vixen - ride me to the sale!

sparkle-tastic

diamonds are forever.  diamonds are a girl's best friend.  diamonds are super fantastic, no argument from me - BUT diamonds also happen to be on the pricey side.   don't get me wrong -  for the right time/reason/occasion you can't beat a (conflict free please!!) diamond.  however - given a lady's desire to have a bit of twinkle on any given occasion - other options need to come into play.   let's say you feel the need to have a nice dose of twinkle for a night out.  choices:  a) a royal relative sadly passes, you come into a massive inheritance and you go drop a fist full of money on the real deal OR b) you come back to reality and you go the equally sparkly route of a crystal wrist-full of Nadri bangles.  need a little extra light dancing around your face?  choices: a) win the lottery OR b) the old "real life" option - a pair of Adriani Orsini earrings or perhaps a tennis necklace...  there are always the lower price point options at any high street store that can fit the bill - but if you want it to last past one or two fiestas - it might be worth your while to spend a bit more.... cost per wear you will get more bling for your buck.  and a twinkle on top.

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boot up!

i'm borrowing from Barney Stinson here people.  as one of the best characters EVER on tv - one needs to quote when one can.  and since i don't really ever "suit up!" - let's doctor it to "suit me" (haha) better and say BOOT UP! 

we know it's winter.  the first official day.  we know i hate cold.  and i know you most likely do too.  in the constant battle to stay stylish in this bastard weather - one of the key players in any girl's army is the boot.  styles galore to suit (oh, i'm sorry) your every need.   some of my favored obsessions are pictured above.
what shoe story would be complete without some Louboutin?  how about these cute bootie devils, on sale no less, at Saks... or the black classic, wear forever shape courtesy of one of my nirvana spots - the shoe salon at   Bergdorfs.   in line with classic shapes, one of my go-to favorites is the Matilde boot by Loeffler Randall, i love this saddle color, but i have them in grey also and they go with EVERYTHING.  lest we get bored by the classics -- i know i tend to -- another gem mined from Barney's,  Fiorentini and Baker keeps the world a more interesting and happy place for me.  these pirate boots are a major presence in my winter world, as are their over the knee boots.  speaking of which, i posted about these babies from Sam Edelman a while back, but lo and behold they are on sale now at Bloomies, so i would be a very naughty e-stylist indeed if i did not remind you... and you do know Christmas is coming so i cannot risk that.  the right boot can make all the difference so venture forth and find what works and wear it with all your stars out!

ps - to look for simliar shapes in prices all over the map - check out ShopStyle.com

wintery wonderland wedding

it would be rather absurd to assume that Nicole Richie would not look AMAZING at her wedding. the girl can dress. she wore 3 different Marchesa creations over the course of the evening (anyone who is saying that's ridix - please, like you wouldn't if you could?? let's just call it the playing dress up chance of a life time). images have been released of one dress - tres Grace Kelly and classic - and drop dead gorge. after a while of teetering on my list of faves, this lands Marchesa in a firm top level spot. well played mz Richie. or should i say mrs. Richie-Madden. ab fab darling.

happy Haute Hippie holiday

sometimes Santa comes early and the gift he brings is the gift of saving some money while getting something super fantastic to wear to any holiday party you may need to attend.  (better than a candy cane, right?)  case in point - one of my fave labels Haute Hippie is going to be on one of my fave saving sites HauteLook tomorrow.  if you have not yet checked out the site - do it - it's a member sale site, like an online sample sale venue - amazing prices on gorge bits and bobs.  and Haute Hippie - well the name says it all.  LOVES IT.  part of the fun of the game with HauteLook is getting on there nice and early and seeing what pieces they have up for grabs....  will these lovelies be on there?  could be... and you can bet your silky sparkly bottom i will be on there first thing to find out!

(ps if all else fails - both ShopBop and Bergdorfs have a great selection!)

one for you...one for me

i LOVE giving gifts. i love the search for the perfect idea - i love the stumble upon the perfect thing. at this time of year - my one problem lies in the act of going into the store. it's like being on Santa psychadelics or something. i go in, to Saks for example, with a very specific idea of a cute new ornament for someone (obvs cannot name them for what if they read this?!). the one above is super NY wintery fun and who can resist the beautiful holiday decor in there?!? anyhow - head down - very focused on entering the store. uh oh. something catches my eye and distracts me. and then we're off to the races people. a full HOUR later and i leave completely dazed, content and thanks to the lovely Robert at La Mer, beautifully moisturized for the next few months... it is probably best for my wallet and general sanity if i focus my shopping efforts online... i blame the twinkly lights...

the one that got away...

nope, not a lost lover. don't lament any of those - i am happily engaged. i'm talking shoes here kids. shoes. when i went and did the event at Neiman Marcus Last Call Studio with Refinery29 (my guest post is up - super fun - check it out) i scored some seriously delicious items. of note - most wearable: Vince cashmere. most in-love-able: Badgely Mischka leopard print bag. alas, as sometimes happens in life --- i left something behind. and seeing the amazing pictures by their photographer Mark reminded me with an echoing THUMP how much i "shoulda"... THESE BLOOD RED JOIE SHOES. if a picture paints a thousand words, then every word is shoe.

cold weather inspiration...

courtesy of Sienna Miller - how to look cute even when it is terribly, horribly cold outside. 

let's just say that winter is NOT my favorite season.  more than any other feeling, i hate feeling cold.  on the flip side, i don't feel particularly stylish in a coat that looks like a sleeping bag and Ugg boots.  granted there are days where that is literally the ONLY thing that can get you from point a to point b without frostbite, but let's hope those days can be counted on one hand.  i am waging a battle upon the cold this year - and am taking heart in the site of the ever adorable Sienna Miller looking perfectly fabulous, bundled up and cozy.   ya heart that cold weather?  i'm on to you and your tricks!!  i'm going to look GOOD this winter. 

(ps  -  if you're needing some inspiration for a great faux fur jacket - try shopstyle or hire the-e-stylist!)

what makes me think

there are a few style credos by which i have lived my entire "grown up" life. among these is the love of things regal. i am in no way talking about the over-privileged spoiled rotten brat from the suburbs. when i say princess i mean the real deal. usually Elizabeth 1 but recently i've worked up a fascination with young Victoria. anyhooo - a girl can't, shouldn't or wouldn't go about dressed literally as such. OBVI. a girl picks little bits and bobs and works them into her own wardrobe and weaves them into her own story.

i love when there is an odd, slightly indirect reference to my own fascinations in a designer's collections. i am a huge fan of Made Her Think jewelry. LOVE. IT. and the fact that she sites Victorian mourning style as a reference makes me love it all the more. the pieces are a little bit dark and a lot beautiful. AND there is a Made Her Think sample sale coming up - December 10th 12-8pm and 11th 11am-5pm. 195 Christie St. suite 301-7.

all this has made me think...

twinkle toes

maybe it's the holiday season - don't really know - but i seem to have sparkly things on the brain...  i've learned to just give in when these things happen, and roll with it.  the last few days (not shockingly) the mind has been locked firmly on footwear.  ah yes, the shoe.... and it's a fancy time of year, so why not wear a fancy type of shoe?  it's pretty much scientific logic really...  hardly a surprise, i'm drawn immediately to the blue Louboutins winking their twinkling eyes at me from Barneys...  damn my heart and its desires for the finer things!!!  but how happy would my feet be in these babies???   in a much less shocking to the system realm, these little golden Badgley Mischka darlings at Piperlime are doing their best to seduce me...  even a day as dreary as today is outside can be brightened up if you just look in the right direction - ie down at your twinkly toes!

dayquins

last year i bought a Haute Hippie sweater - grey slouchy sweatshirt style cashmere with sequins sprinkled all over it. not in a million years would i have imagined how often i wear that bad boy. i'm not typically a sequin type of gal. but that sweater is easing me into the idea... i'll never go full on real housewives - but a little bit here and there can seriously brighten things up. and not just for the holiday party circuit. i'm talkin' lunch time sparkle darlings. the outnet has a few cute options - i think i would have a torrid love affair with this cropped Haute Hippie number layered over a long tee or even a fitted maxi dress... and throwing a cardi over a tank (outnet and jcrew) with your favorite jeans - adorable and easy. no one said day time needs to be boring!

high/low high/low it's off to shop we go

Neiman Marcus recently launched their new off-price web site and store concept – Last Call.com and Last Call Studio.  yours truly attended the press day for the Paramus store - located close to the high end mall out there in a strip mall along with some other high end off-price shops...  kind of genius really.    it's different from the regular Last Call outlet stores in a few ways - most importantly the fact that the merchandise is from the current season... well to be honest, most MOST importantly is that it's set up like a proper shop - not cramped to the gills with possibly imperfect merch like you might find in an outlet.  it makes it a much more pleasant shopping experience...both the online venture and the stores offer in-season and on-trend merchandise from designers that are chosen specifically for Last Call.  a bunch of us had the opportunity to check it out and shop for a few hours after a tour of the shop. i was there with the lovelies of  Refinery29.com - so check their site for my guest post that will be up the first week of December, fully describing the shopping experience...

there are a number of these shops opened now - with more slated to open in the future - and for sure check out LastCall.com to see what they've got to offer.... who doesn't love high end low price?!?!??!

princess bride

every little girl in England dreams of it. each and every single one. to be a princess. not the Disney kind. the real deal. as in lives in a palace and is part of the royal family. i was no exception and it would not be a stretch to say i spent a large part of my young life deeply entrenched in a fantasy involving the scenario. (ok and part of my adult life too. ok and maybe a little bit right now)

Kate Middleton is going to live it all out. Prince Wills has asked her to marry him. 2.4 seconds after the news hit, the buzz is all about whose dress she will wear for the wedding. most likely it will be a British designer. (if it were me, i would ask Burberry to whip up some drapey silky gorgeousness).

my mind goes to the afters. what will she be wearing day to day for the rest of her life as a princess and then a queen... she's got a pretty simple, sleek sense of style already,





but she also likes to play (hello feathered off center hats!). she'll have to kick it up a few once she's a royal - but i feel like she can pull it off. i would LOVE LOVE LOVE to be a stylist for this girl. that's where i will plant my current fantasy musings. "how to dress the princess"...

the olden days

for once i don't mean the Elizabethan era (with which i am so firmly fixated...)  these days of yore of which i speak are the early naughties.  (the 00's if you will)  the days when we were all in love with Sex and the City.  there are a few episodes that are burned into my memory, but one in particular. . i was single at the time - while pretty much every single one of my friends was coupling up and marrying. in said episode, Carrie wondered why SHE couldn't register as a single girl.  for shoes.  it seemed to me like a perfectly sensible, bordering on brilliant idea that no one had come up with up to that point.   now that i am about to take the leap into actually having to register as a bride - i can't come up with much that i want.  stuff you want/need but can't necessarily afford... that's what the concept is behind it, oui?  well, we have plates and all that stuff.  i'm sure as sugar not going to be serving on fine bone china and crystal any time soon.... you know what i DO want??????  these shoes.  sigh.  i guess the Carrie Bradshaw in me is trying to stake her claim...  my fiance wants a huge tv.   old habits die hard, i suppose...  i still think the idea was pretty super fantastic.

i shop therefor i am

well, to be more precise, i shop, therefor i am the-e-stylist.  i do have more sides to me, but that's another story for another day.  back to shopping.  i shop for gifts, i shop for clients, i shop for myself.  but to be honest sometimes the most fun shopping is the shopping for inspiration.  just picking a shop (or two or three) and wandering aimlessly to have a look at what is going on.  i could literally spend hours upon hours doing it.  the best part of all is when you stumble upon something that you were not expecting. 

case in point - Bloomingdales, this afternoon.  no reason - just wanted to get the creative ideas gassed up and ready to go.  found myself in the jewelry section (i mean come on - it's usually there or shoes, right?) and happened upon a few trunk show vendors.  one of which stopped me in my tracks.  quite literally.  Dana Blair Designs makes these beautifully delicate but rough circle pendants that are just so perfectly gorge.  LOVE.  traditional stone jewelry is all well and good - but a precious stone presented in an un-precious manner just kicks it up my kind of  notch.  i'm planning on wearing cobalt blue shoes at my wedding (spoiler alert!) so i've been looking at sapphire jewelry.  i have probably seen in the range of 400 million things.  and they bored me till my eyes shut.  THIS fits the rock and roll elizabethan princess vibe that is my life.  it fits it quite perfectly.   hidden treasures discovered, a good trip indeed.

what is greater than fantastic?

the answer to this math problem is:  a thing is greater than fantastic when it is on SALE.  more precisely, a high quality item.   that's sort of a given, but it is always good to remind one's self. 

with this in mind - i highly suggest a visit to the Hanro Sample Sale.  it's not a stretch to suggest that this stuff might just change your mind about how things should feel on your bod.  it's also not a stretch to say that i am a wee bit obsessed with how soft and snuggly and luxurious it feels - so whether you're lounging around at home or wearing it underneath as you go about you daily bizz, you feel kind of loved by fabric.  i could go on and on, but i'll just get to the point.  go get yourself some soft silky lovelies.  items on sale include undergarments, loungewear, sleepwear and robes for men and women. (cash and credit cards accepted)

wednesday, december 8th 8am to 6pm at their new showroom - 358 5th avenue - 6th floor, NYC

see you there!!  i'll be the one hidden under a mountain of items...

worthy of giving thanks

i am not a huge fan of thanksgiving.  i like being thankful.  i do that every  day.  but the amount of work and food for that one meal just seems a bit mad if you ask me.  anyhoo -  let's focus on the giving thanks.  today, let us thank the collaboration spirits.  another doozer from H&M - it's had the interwebs buzzing like mental for months - and it just happens to hit stores November 23.  (so you could feasibly wear a piece while cooking a 49 billion pound turkey)  that's right kittens - it's time for Lanvin H&M collection.  it's been tres hush hush in terms of images leaking - but Vogue UK has a perfect slideshow to drool over while making your pick list...  this dress is a bit adorbs, but i am mainly focused on the jackets.  LOVE.  the little cropped fur (faux i hope) jacket is perfection - and i'm enamored of the trench coats as well.  my hope is that most of the crazed women who will no doubt be lining the sidewalks waiting (the Jimmy Choo collab was like getting into an exclusive night club) will be snatching up the dresses - leaving all the jackets for me to pick from at will.... and for that, i shall be truly thankful, making the holiday more meaningful.  and well dressed.

the big finale

the ever hip Kate Moss and the ever fab TopShop have been teamed up for 14 collections... some of them super fantastic some of them not so much - but always fun.  this next one - to hit stores November 2, will be the last.  seems like it was an amicable break up - it was just taking more time than she really wanted to devote to it - and she is still scoring major modeling contracts - so it's not like gf needs a day job.  i'm DEF diggin' the poncho and cape (in fact i loving lust for the paisley cape, i cannot lie) -- and the dresses are a bit of fun too...  so get it while you can dolls, Mz Moss has left the TopShop building...

no fro yo!

i love frozen yogurt. i don't love being frozen yo. thus and therefor, when the chills start comin' my thoughts turn quickly to cashmere. it is one of those things where it is in your better interest to invest a bit more to get a quality item that will last you. (the old cost per wear factor). this does not mean that you have to break your bank, because there is at any given moment in time a sale somewhere to scour and score a hidden gem. such are the things that delight me. Bendel's has GREAT sales at the end of each season - with some gorge pieces. worth a stop every year. but we are at the BEGINNING of the season. fear not dolls. Neiman Marcus always has a killer sale selection. one of these babies with skinny jeans or leather leggings, the perfect scarf and a hat -yum. these are a few of my favorite things... bring on the snowflakes on lashes!

jalouse

i know it's not good to envy. i try hard not to. but to be perfectly honest, it's just a bit impossible when you hear that this little gorge, Georgia May, "borrows stuff" from daddy's closet. daddy, in said happenings, is Mick. as in Jagger. as in one of, if not THE coolest, hottest front men of ANY rock band EVER. (i hereby state for the record that in front of the Ritz hotel in London i did in fact step backward, into and upon the Mick. i apologized, he said "s'alright" and i very nearly passed out) but i digress... this Chanel campaign secured her a top 3 spot in my fave models list. she is amazing looking - tres Bardot and I like it, like it, yes I do.

jacket up!

i hate being cold.  HATE it.  so i love anything that offers me warmth when it gets that way.  socks, the perfect down coat, cashmere hats and scarves, leather gloves and silk long underwear.  those are the necessities to get through NYC winter.  fireplace would be great, but we can't.  c'est la vie...  then there are the dress-essities, which is where you get to play a bit, which is what i love so much.  i've always been a cardigan girl, and that will probably never fully change - but i am easing into being a jacket girl as well.  slowly amassing a small collection - pieces i love...  and these three new jackets from Winter Kate (in various states of perfect slouch and structure that are JUST RIGHT for yours truly) are LOVERS.   every 5 minutes i change my mind as to which one i love the most, so it's making it a bit difficult to make any sort of decision if i am going to buy... unless of course i would buy them all...sigh.   not the wisest choice, so back to thinking...

when is a shoe not a shoe?

the answer my dears - when it is custom made for you.  while in Sicily - well, one minute here... i'm putting the cart before the horse, which never works.  let's start this off by saying that my lovely man PROPOSED while there! so, let's just say it was the best trip ever, shall we????  of course i will be posting madly about dresses, shoes and rings -- but that will all be in good time.  for the moment, dolls, back to CUSTOM MADE SHOES.

after eating lunches bigger than my normal daily intake of food each day, i seemed to need a long nap every afternoon while there.   upon awakening from my siesta on our last day in Taormina (one of the most beautiful towns i have ever experienced) my fiancee told me to hurry up and get dressed and come with him.  on his walk to get me some aqua frizzante, he had discovered a shop where a lovely local lady named Simona made sandals customized to your foot.  i'm pretty sure i have never gotten out of bed so fast in my life.  we ran over and i walked into my version of heaven.   you pick the sole, the color of leather and the design, she fits it to your foot, and within an hour you are walking around feeling like Sicilian Cinderella.  i got one pair, then returned later with my future mother-in-law and ordered another pair.  to say that i am obsessed with them, and am planning on returning to purchase at least 5 more is not in the least an understatement.   i wish i could think of a witty little ending to this story but i am now transported back in time and across the sea, and am mentally browsing through my next selection of style and color...