Thou Shalt Not--Patron Ed Hardy

After a fun-filled evening overflowing with various types of white wine, I am slouched over in my office with the door closed, my pumps kicked off onto the floor, guzzling water--praying that someone will just come and put me out of my misery.  I took a short break to skim through today's sales on my usual line-up of Gilt Groupe, HauteLook, Ideeli, Ruelala, and various retailers... and I saw the Ed Hardy sale taking place at Ideeli...

Someone must explain to me why the design of these bags would make them a desirable purchase, because I am really having a hard time wrapping my mind around the concept.  According to Wikipedia, "In 2002, Hardy licensed Ku USA, Inc. to produce a line of clothing based on his art. Within two years, the collection had drawn the interest of Saks companies.  Hardy and Ku USA formed Hardy Life LLC, which holds the trademark ownership as well as the copyrights to all his images.  In 2004, Christian Audigier licensed the rights to produce the Ed Hardy clothing line, which is based on Hardy's imagery."  Don't even get me started on how distasteful I find the Audigier line.  I mean really??  Clothing and handbags based on tattoo art just seems like a bad idea... but that's just me.  Apparently, it's doing well enough to stay trendy for now, but I hope it joins the burial ground hosting deceased white trash trends...like Von Dutch trucker hats.  Ugh.

Pure Lust--DandG...How I Adore Thee

I love hearing about my friend's aspirations to marry a duke (or insert any other title of royalty), live in a castle, never tally another billable hour, and traipse in your magnificent gardens with a Victorian novel.  Okay--let's get real.  She wants to live as a character IN a Victorian novel.  Me?  Sometimes I wander off in thought... and ponder how wonderful it would be to have a limitless credit card provided to me by some rich husband/father/old senile relative, and magically, the bill would be paid off in full after every month.  As I daydream in these late afternoon hours to the soft whirring of my space heater (yes, it's August--but damn, it's freezing) in my office, I think... would I even be an Ideeli member if I had such vast financial opportunities?  No, but Ideeli sale or not, I would covet this dress all the same.  Dolce and Gabbana's Trim Detail Dress is magnificent.  And yes--in this alternate universe--I would be about 20 lbs lighter (and maybe a few inches taller) so that I could properly pull off this silky number.

Buster v. Bargain--Dots are Hot

Dots ARE hot... I will be the first to admit that I have an unhealthy adoration for polka dots.  I like them on tops, skirts, dresses, bags, headbands... you name it.  If I want to enjoy multiple items in this fun little print, I have to get them cheap.  When I opened the Nordstrom site this morning, this ever-so-cute Michael Kors Ruffle Front Silk Blouse beckoned me to splurge, despite the $80 price tag.  Then I remembered--I had a eerily similar looking print on a blouse I threw in my shopping bag the other day.  I logged on to my Forever21 wishlist... and voila!!  While the tops are not identical, you may find that Forever21's Sheer Dotted Top will do the trick in attaining the look of the Michael Kors version.  It is also hard to ignore the $15.80 steal.  If you pair it with a pencil skirt, a pair of peeptoe pumps, and throw on a brightly-colored yellow cardigan for the office, less discerning pairs of eyes may hardly notice the difference.

Fall Friday Preview--Payless Bogo Sale

When I was a little kid, I remember hating it when my mom would drag me to Payless or Kohl's for new shoes.  At the time, it seemed like all the other little kids were donning the latest kicks by Nike or other nicer department stores.  I didn't appreciate the frugality back then, but now I do.  Payless has been doing a great job staying current with its line every season.  To be honest, I have not noticed too much of a quality drop in their products either.  Therefore, I take advantage of its BOGO sale ("Buy One Get One Half Off") quite often.  I have bought numerous pairs of different types of shoes: gladiator sandals, cage heels, dressy platform laser cut sandals, boots, and cute clutches for going out.  My shoes get abused in the various arenas I spend much of my time--during the commute or poking around in bars with dirty floors--and I get many compliments on my footwear despite the smaller price tag!  I'm not sure whether it's because I felt the first cool breeze this morning in several months, or the fact that I just love shoes... but I did pick up a few pairs of the items highlighted below.

Upon sending a link to the Lela Rose Chop-Out Suede Bootie to a dear friend of mine, she purchased them immediately in black.  I don't really blame her.  If they were available in my midget feet size, I would have snapped up a pair too!  The rich red shade of the Lela Rose Chop-Out Flat is perfect for the transition into fall weather.  You can wear them now with your summer whites and brights, but add them on top of tights for a pop of color as the temps cool down.  Again, Ms. Rose seems to discriminate against small feet, because all of her shoes start at size 6.  While I would have loved the hilarious challenge of me trying to patter around in the Fioni Kaput Platform Sandal (bottom left) in its black suede glory, my size was not in stock.  What the store did have in stock, I bought.  The fun purple suede Dexter Lilliana Ruffle Wedge also comes in black suede, and trust me--I was tempted to get both.  I love the regal look of the Fioni Infinity Rosette Pump.  I think they will look great with fall/winter apparel.  Last, but not least, I'm very excited for the arrival of my Fioni Ghillie Slingbacks.  Their design will lend well to many different outfits.  I was a little disturbed to find out that after my recent purchase of the above-mentioned items... I saw this as I was adding the hyperlinks to this post.

Lord have mercy.  They released another version of the Ghillie--the Fioni Jo Ghillie... in all its purple suede glory.  Is it too late to add something to my order?  Pretty please?

Trend to Try--Local Designers

As I was perusing the Fashion & Beauty section in the Washington Post the other day, I happened upon an article about rising local talents in the fashion design arena.  Amidst my feelings of longing and envy for the lives of these young style stars, I had some time to admire the men's dress shirts at Hugh and Crye, who recently opened a small brick and mortar in Georgetown.  While most men (and women for that matter) cannot afford the exquisite bespoke tailoring from the likes of Savile Row, a well-fitting dress shirt can take a guy a long way.  Hugh and Crye takes it one step further than standard department store sizing with their wide array of body type choices, and the absence of true custom tailoring keeps the prices reasonable.

My favorites are the Teddy Shirt in its stark white classic glory, the Girlfriend Shirt for its beautiful blue and snappy description for its alternative use, the Cartesia because of its traditional check pattern, and the New Boheme for its purple and blue take on a traditional pinstripe.  Maybe some lucky guy I know will find one in his closet, because the urge to buy a guy's clothing item as I browse Hugh and Crye's stock is surprisingly overwhelming!

Res Ipsa Loquitur--What Kind of Preppy Are You?

So--someone recently called me a preppy dresser--and I didn't take much offense to it because I consider preppy dressing to be smart, snappy, classic, and stylish.  But recently, I started wondering what types of clothes are considered "preppy" by the general masses?  Is it Gap?  Banana Republic?  JCrew?  Ralph Lauren?  Tahari?  If that's the case, by all means, I'm wholly on board.  BUT--if "preppy" means the style of clothing traipsing about in places like Annapolis and Georgetown by the hoards, then dude... I. AM. OUT.  I will admit... designers like Vineyard Vines and Lilly Pulitzer can come out with a cute item once in awhile, but I do not want to be associated with that style of preppy.  Why?  If you see below, THAT is why. 

Sooooo~ yeeeeeeeah.  Good.  GOD.  I was innocently browsing Ruelala's Afternoon Fix Sale (okay--maybe not so innocently, because I MAY have come away with a cute LBD--but that's besides the point)... and I came across the Lilly P section.  The women's side was hardly as offensive, so I didn't bother with its own horrible images.  All I can think when I see all five of these clothing items staring back at me is... do people ever wear any of these things... TOGETHER??  I ask because that monstrosity of a tie was located next to the shirt on the site.  These "seafaring" fashion items seriously need to be thrown off a nearby cliff.  Ugh.  I can feel my corneas shriveling back into their sockets trying to hide.
**If you so desire, read about the origins of Vineyard Vines and Lilly Pulitzer on good ol' Wikipedia.

Buster v. Bargain--Too Cute to Boot

Fall is coming... and we are all praying it comes ASAP thanks to this absolutely miserable summer.  Rather than slogging through another sweaty commute, we can all dream of the autumn beauty ahead--changing leaves, cool temperatures, and that weird smoky smell that is omnipresent in the air (even though you don't see anyone burning any sort of kindle).

The bootie is still hot--thank goodness... because I still have several pairs from last year that I never had the chance to break out.  The B v. B this week isn't very extreme (i.e. the "expensive" pair is still under $100), but hey.  This comparison was just too hard to pass up, especially given the fact that Alloy's version is half the price!  Endless' XOXO Quebec Bootie ($79.99) comes in two luxe suede shades--the black being quintessentially biker chick, and the navy that gives off the vibe of faded denim.  The studded detail and the abstract cone heel add sophistication to something that might tip too far into mullet world.  :)  Alloy's Trinity Bootie ($42.90) feminizes the bootie a bit by adding a more slender cone heel.  I'm really diggin' grey in all varying shades for the upcoming fall season, so of course, I adore the soft light grey suede in Alloy's version.  It's too bad that these adorable little things start at size 5 1/2, otherwise I'd snap up a pair right now!