The Joy (and Mario) of espadrilles

That Toms guy had it right, flat canvas shoes can be fun! I had always shied away from espadrilles because they are 1) just not sexy and 2) get totally trashed after a night out. Well, DUH don't wear those things to a bar and you must embrace the CUTE. The print is key as well. I bought my kid a leopard fur Joie pair and myself a MK python leather pair at the epic Saks sale last week but that was before I found this site Joy and Mario which is loaded with adorbs patterns and artist collabs. Oh and they give back or whatever so you can feel all green. YAY

Hard Candy, has it been 20 years??

P

Why does Hard Candy polish have such a late 80's association for me? It must have been the Clueless giant bow that is throwing me off. Anyhoo, in honor of still being in business HC is re-releasing some of its original pastels including matching jelly rings which was the greatest marketing ploy ever.  Perhaps it's time to step away from mushroom and embrace the bridesmaid "Sky" blue which happened to be Cher's favorite in the aforementioned movie

Dior and I

I do love a fashion documentary and saw Raf Simmons' trail by fire as the new Dior designer tasked with putting a collection together in 8 weeks movie last night at Keystone Arts which was bittersweet because I was hoping my friend Derek of D Lamont would see it with me but he did not, totally my fault too but anyhoo. 

So so good. A lot of times movies like this focus on designers eccentricities (Karl and Yves I am taking to you) it is almost unrelateable , like a great fun fantasy  which is okay but the focus on the building a collection from scratch was  just as breathlessly entertaining. Lots of stars in the final show audience, sad glimpse of L'Wren Scott in the audience, and Donnatella is a fright 

Below: close up of shirt I got at Anthro's  Fresh Markdown Tuesday pre show. I cannot resist an animal print. 

Borracha: not so fresh

So I bought this purse product because Instyke magazine told me to and it seemed like a good idea at the time.  Borracha pearly wipes are little saturated cloths that you swipe in your mouth to erase tea or red wine stains and freshen up in general. Sadly, I will never know the joys of potable whitening as these are totally disgusting. The initial taste is hydrogen peroxide drifting into bleach territory and finishing with a medicinal mint that is too little too late. While the unpleasantness did not linger and the pleasant did, I still cannot recommend these. Blerg

Unusual Mother's Day Gifts for a One of a Kind Mom

Hah, snuck up on you, didn't it? Yep, The Stores will be filled with men come Sunday morning. Here are some suggestions found at The Bee to help you out. 

How about something inspirational?These small canvas prints are bright and cheery and a  mite snarky. $12

Her very own tiara. My dog even has one for God's sake. $18-$45

Fancy hand carved bone scissors in Victorian style. These really cut and also look good on just laying around dangerously. $39

Fashion estate sale alert Pam Mougin

I never knew Pamela, but lots of my friends did, and after seeing her esate sale, I think I was missing out. Her untimely death ended a career filled with amazing photography, art, design and style. Today and tomorrow at the Picasso

event center in Castleton, you can catch a glimpse and buy some of her most theatrical closet fillers. Think Stevie Nicks meets the Hunger Games at a Steampunk Convention. I gut some top hats and nifty Downton Abbey type shoes but I could have spent way more if my butt was not so big

Antique Helper: something for you, something for me

Here a pile of those vintage stuffed animals I love, in case you are early shopping for my birthday or something, up for auction at Antique Helper this Saturday. Steiff plush has been around since the turn of the century and were originally made of  horsehair and straw. I prefer the mid century mohair ones not stuffed with mite collecting stuffing. You can also get Vargas pin-ups, American Indian pottery and an amazing Victorian multi glass lamp. Express auction afterwards! No internet competition!

Grey Market Wine

A new way to get your drank on: Grey Market Wine, a tasting room/event space that showcases a super exclusive wine buying club. Here's the deal, for a yearly fee you can order small varietal wines to be delivered and also partake in tasting events. The super cool barn space can be rented for parties, like the one I attended pre-Oscars with Retro101 after driving by it's super secret location in Zionsville about 20 times. Check it www.greymarketwine.com

Bethany Frankel I want to love you I do

Hey, here is Bethany Frankel doing my signature pose I had before a 20 year lie stole my mojo.

Anyway, I went to see this entrepreneur last night at the Madame Walker. Her product, Skinny Girl Cocktail is an amazing branding coup not to mention an on trend great idea. Personally,  I don't really care for it but I am kind of snotty.Call me when there is a Skinny Girl Bourbon. RE: the talk. obviously she is super charming and would be a great addition to a cocktail party. BUT  I was hoping for a bit of inspiration, a bit of GO GIRL but found it way more anecdotal. I want to like this so bad as a fellow mom and just the whole scrappy ness of it but I feel advice like "I'd rather be lucky then smart" just sums it all up. And I am not really sure where the audience generated pussy shaving question fell. Was it just titillating? Or was it a chance for the subject to show off? Kind of trashy, really. Dislike.

New habit

So the monthly new habit has rolled over into March. I decided to combine de cluttering and self improvement into one. The new habit is this: to use (and use up) some of the collosal collection of samples, over buys and etcetera like just in general extra product that I have hanging around by digging into it every day. . I'm kind of excited to perhaps discover the Holy Grail treatment that will change my life, or at the very least free up some cabinet space. 

Artisanal Basenote HO5 & Studio NTK

None of these people are me

When I was at the Pattern store launch VIP event a few months ago, I accosted Laura Walters by screaming "what are you wearing?" It was an amazing modern vest diagonal thingy that was just a wee to short to wear as a dress but too long to be a shirt. Not only was the silhouette striking, but that fabric was quilted, extremely contemporary in a just right medium weight. Nataliya Kitic's line Studio NTK is carried at Pattern and Boomerang, just to get you started and every season she comes out with a new collection. I previewed  this at Nataliya and House of 5th's  part,y Artisanal Basenote, on Thursday at their workshop.  The cuts are Helmut Lang cool but the fabric is all Lee McQueen kinda freaky. Fall 2014/15's mainstay is a honeycomb stretchy thick scuba-ish fabric and it is super great. I'd pair the boxy top with skinny pants and cage heels or get a really big one and share it with my boyfriend

A word about HO5. Truen has stepped it up with new leather treatments (a cool worn-ish ombre) cut outs and a pop of this crazy deep saturated hot pink. I am a champion of this brand (only slightly behind his uber supportive family) it is quality and detail all the way and just damn good bags that you will not see anywhere else.

No backsliding, Pantone color of the year decider

Now I'm completely confused. You can have more then one "color of the year" and it is application specific? That kind of defeats the purpose and makes you seem wishy washy, Big P. Perhaps you are reeling from the Marsala dried blood debacle which everyone pretty much hated. This aquamarine is much nicer, I do love a chalky pastel and was recently torn between this very color and an Essie lilac at BR Nail so I think this is a bit more spot on. Perhaps we can just all forget about the earlier announcement. Pantone was drunk

Afghans: not just for snagging your little toe anymore

Lord von Schmitt ( pretty fab name is I do say so myself) over at etsy has managed a recycling coup by finding new uses for the bane of my garage sale existence, the acrylic patchwork afghan. He claims folk art I call scratchy. They are kind of cute in a festival hippie kind of way but I think he is missing the mark by making them for guys but then again it has been a long time since that summer of following The Dead, (actually my boyfriend) I mean my boyfriend was following them, not that The Dead was my boyfriend)  so perhaps that is his market.  I would find it hard to take seriously any guy wearing these unless he was very very very drunk. Then I'd think he was kinda fun

New habit

They say it takes 30 days to make a habit and I have taken this to heart and tried once again cigarettes. Just kidding. My habit this January was to, immediately upon waking, drink a mug of hot water and lemon. And maybe honey, if I was feeling naughty. I have to admit I like it a lot and thank god it does not interfere with my runny egg over leftovers breakfast an hour later. Next up: lipstick. All the damn time. I am currently carrying a stain from mabelline, a traditional lipstick from Clinique and a crayon from Revlon,  my fave. Oh and a base coat of bliztex pre application. Every single time. Wish me luck

Dunzo: Kate Spade Saturday

 

Finding cheerful medium price happy prepster clothes is going to be getting tougher with news of C Wonder, Piperlime and Kate Spade's Saturday line shutting down within the next few months. KS was especially a surprise since their collb with New Balance just dropped. The online store has already sold out of the paintgun battle splatter style but this graphic stripey is still avail.

Shine bright like a diamond

 Diamonds

H&mSo you know how you see something in a shop and kinda take note of its cuteness but days later realize you can't stop thinking about it? Yeah. So last week I was at H&M looking not for a skirt and this caught my eye but I was slightly overcome by the Delia!a closing and was compelled to buy all of their mannequins not leaving much spends for Mary Karsntzou inspired skirts. So here I am at 8 pm on a Wednesday when I should be watching Criminal Minds or Law and Order, depends who is in a more generous mood, looking for this damn skirt that is no longer where it was originally at said shop. I am searching, swooping the racks like a bird of prey, knowing it had got to be here some where and LO.  Not only is is still available in numerous sizes it had now been marked down to $7. BOOM

Coach Swagger

While I am not impressed by Coach's boring new Swagger bag in delicious pastels, I do wish they would release the shag a licious hooded coat and owl shirt they paired it with in the Bazaar ad. I'd hit that