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.