How I'm surviving the rain in NYC

Jeffrey Campbell Vee shoes. But you can't do too much walking in them or they rip. I wonder where one can get galoshes fixed. I'll have to investigate that.

Mcqueen for target

how exciting! everything is on NYMag.
found via Is Mental

sigerson morrison and shift dress

So here are boots that I hope will go with my soon to be made shift dresses.
I got these shoes at Loehmann's the other day (ok, like a month ago).
They're sigerson Morrison.
And as I've been writing, short boots are awesome.
However, they are difficult to pull off and cannot work with every outfit.
Like these, I can't tuck them under my boot cut pants because of all the leather above the actual shoe part of the boot.

I've decided that you've got to have ankle hugging pants - like leggings.

So... I want to make some (like a million in a million different colors) that look like this (yeah, if I post the picture enough, maybe I will finally make one):

shift dress patterns

Sometimes I wish I had a uniform.

These are days when I don't want to think about clothes and I just want to get on with my day.
I wish I had 5 colors of the same kind of outfit and I just wore them interchangeably.

In a way there are set outfits that I wear all the time that become somewhat like a uniform.
long cardigan, skinny jeans & flats or boots.

These days I want to introduce another type of uniform to my wardrobe:
Shift dress, tights and short boots.

I tried looking for simple shift dress patterns on burda, but I think that it's so simple that it's not there. Therefore, I bought some shift dress patterns that I like and will change the neckline for.
These are them:


Now all I have to do is post about the next step.... making them!

I got these at SelmaLee's store on etsy. I realized she has the best bang for the buck after searching for a pattern in my size. Some people charge $10 for when similar patterns go for $7 at other stores. I'm not gonna lie, it took me a while to find a pattern in my size that I liked.

Two posters for the hopeless romantic

1. "We Are So Good Together" poster can be found at Reform School Rules.

It's kind of small, 11''x19''.

$36 is the inflated price (it used to be $30), for the reprints since so many people think this poster is so romantic.

2.

Okay, okay, so let me describe to you the second poster.
It's HUGE, PINK, with NEON RED lettering.

well, then think about it framed and up on your wall and it's somewhat endearing...

awwwe, right? somewhat poetic.

You can buy these at Village for $60
(the inflated price as well according to
this June 2007 post that says it's $30! - it kind of makes me feel used).
It's 25''x38'' huge.

Found via apartment therapy and poppy talk.

Generic clothing brands

I don't mind generic groceries, but when it comes to my pants or shirts i don't know if I can trust them. Are they cut right? Are they made well? What have these stores got to lose if they make their own shirts? If their shirts don't sell, the brand names will and they stay in business either way.

A STORY OF MY GENERIC SHOE THAT GOT KILLED
I got Barney's brand loafers at a barneys co-op sale and the first time I wore it the heel broke off. Since I don't wear things I buy until months later (not always) I couldn't return them so I took them to a cobbler near my home. I will never trust cobblers because of him.

First of all he didn't have the shoes ready. When I went to pick them up I saw, in front of my eyes, just how he butchered them. He smeared dark brown shoe polish all over the leather that was purposefully made to look worn (it was the type that shows the scratches beautifully). Then, instead of matching the heel with the original design, he added a plastic one. Since the two were disparately different, he smeared shoe polish all over both the ugly shiny plastic heel and the original wooden heel. He killed my shoes. I have since appreciate what it means to have a good cobbler.


GENERIC GLOVES THAT MAKE UP FOR IT
On the other hand, I have had a good experience with gloves. I misplaced my gloves from last year making me have to get new ones. My go to glove is the generic glove at either bloomingdale's (can't find them online) or Lord and Taylor (clicking will take you there). A picture does not do the simple glove justice.
My grandfather in Japan has a pair that are kazillion years old and he looks so awesome when he wears them. They are so worn out, so subtly sophisticated.

Who would have thought that these house labels could produce gloves that are so classic.


Here they are being worn.


That's all for my generic brand story.

Everybody is Ugly --> Chictopia.com --> Maiden

I used to read a style blog called "Everybody is Ugly" which is not there anymore. It starsLulu, as shown wearing seamed tights (it's the small things that count). Her new blog is Everybody Is Ugly on Chictopia and i just discovered her other blog lulu and your mom. In fact she started Chictopia.

It's kind of an awesome concept. It brings together people who photograph their outfits.

I peruse through on my down time.

You can even rss the people you want to be updated about on the rss.

WHICH LEADS ME TO one of its member:She also has a website: Maiden Threads

She's from Australia and has a brand that I think is subtle and beautiful.

<----------Here I post a classic silhouette. You can't see the detail in the pants, but I like it like that. This pic makes me want to wear heels.

Howeva, this pic down here is more like what her line is like. Nevertheless i like her style. Don't you think?

Hayden-Harnet for Target

December 28, 2008 through March 15, 2009

Hayden-Harnet will come out with bags for target. That's what they're known for, but it is the umbrella that is gorgeous.

$22.99

click here for the press release.

I am liking the men's shoes

i like mens shoes and don't know what to do about it.

walk around like a clown?
(no i don't)

Last week United Bamboo had a sample sale.
<---------$70 (i know.)
Racked.com covered it.

OR they just re-posted (join the club!) what the choosy beggar posted.

James Perse

you've always been so close yet so far away (like... i think my sister has your shirts and i never wore them and i am now questioning my self determination). my sister first told me how soft and wonderful his shirts are.

the picture doesn't do it justice.
it's like soft.

you are at loehmann's mr. Perse, and today is a good day because you are on 18th between 6th.

on Racked.com i saw his name pop up.
funny how life does that.

Label: James Perse
Deal: Up to 75% off soft cottons from the fall/winter collection
When/Where: Thursday, December 18 through Saturday, December 20. Thurs 1pm—8pm, Fri—Sat 10am—8pm. 145 West 18th St between Sixth and Seventh Aves (212-388-0339)

btw.
Racked.com is crazy, it blogs about the sample sales and gives you updates from other blogs so you know if they are worth going to.

it's like they read my mind.
because i don't always want to go.
i just want to know what i missed.

not an earring person BUT

<-----i saw these rings on even*cleveland
and like how rough they look.

turns out it's kateszabone who has an etsy store here.

i don't wear earrings much, but her shop has moderately priced real gold items...

check it outers.

the rain boot

a few days a month it rains ALL DAY in the big apple.
if you wear flats they get drenched and ruined.
if you wear sneakers it's the same.

the only way NOT to ruin your shoes on a rain filled day is to wear rain boots.
luckily they're gorgeous!

<------ so i have a pair of nice Lady N Hunter boots, BUT if you look at me walking down the street my legs are not swimming in the shoes. They're actually quite tight around my calf (sigh). therefore, i have come to the conclusion that i must find short ones for the lady on the go go.

here are my finalists:
<------------the ARGYLL short boot that I can only find in men's so I need to try it on some time at a store before I venture to buy. i'm even thinking of ordering them from the England. $69.26 at Zappos.com


today i found a pair that i think are the ones: TRETORN----------->

they are lined
and they look canadian (not sure though)
they're cheaper than the short trendy argyll

i'm convincing myself just writing this.

$60 at REI.com

not shiny ones at amazon for $54.99, oh amazon, so reliable...

$59.95 minus $20 using paypal = 39.95 if you buy at shoebuy.com

Ode to J. Crew swimsuits

i know i can trust the quality of these suckers.

jcrew bathing suits are the best.

once i ordered some bathing suits from victoria's secret and ... they sucked because the print was fuzzy and the fabric was flimsy.



it made me appreciate jcrew.

AND stylish one pieces are few and far between, but look!

this summer's jcrew one pieces are super glamorous.

(they're all on sale now!)