Hands-Free Umbrella

Genius! Just wrap it around your wrist or bike handle or whatever to keep yourself dry while drinking coffee and talking on your cell all at once! Buy at MoMA for $50, though I wish they had more patterns.

Tag You're It!

Tagged by Jordana of Clutch 22:

Here are six of my ‘quirks’

1. I'm a trained opera singer. So whenever I sing along to the radio, it gets a little "opera-ized," which I just can't help.
2. I'm the only fashionista I know who plays video games and reads comic books (especially the Buffy Season Eight comics!)
3. I'm scared of the "toilet monster," the monster that comes out of the toilet when it stops flushing. In my defense, Ghostbusters 2 traumatized me when I was little!
4. I hate cheese, unless it's on a pizza or mozzarella sticks. I contend that it's no longer cheese but something that looks like it!
5. I'm a marathon sleeper - once I slept for 24 hours straight for no good reason (ie not sick or hungover). My friends think I'm narcoleptic, and I can't really disagree.
6. Whenever I hear the violin I have to rock out some air violin. I'm a virtuoso.

I’m tagging…

1. The Purl Parables
2. Wendy B
3. Always In Style
4. Girl-Woman
5. The Space Between My Peers
6. Almost Dressed

The rules are as follows:

* Link the person who tagged you
* Mention the rules in your blog
* Tell about six unspectacular quirks of your’s
* Tag a new set of six following bloggers by linking them
* Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged

Never Shop At Soiree, Alexandria, VA

So, we're not even sure if Soiree (not the events planning place) is still in business, but we ordered bridesmaid dresses for my bestie's wedding and they never arrived. Now the lady won't call anyone back and we're going straight through the designer, and I better get a refund for this dress I bought back in January! So, if it's still open, never shop at Soiree located in Old Town Alexandria, Va.

Circular Fashion

I just read somewhere that blue nails will be trendy for Fall.... really?!?!? I'm beginning to feel like we have two cycles - boho for Spring / Summer and gothic leather for Fall / Winter. Brights for S/S; dark plums and navy for F/W. Sailor for S/S; Equestrian for F/W. Girly for S/S; Menswear for F/W. We must break the cycle! Latch onto new trends and discard them just as quickly! Wait, maybe it's more sensible to not have to toss last season's wardrobe... And we do still have new trends popping up, such as painterly and stars. What trends are you ready to chuck though? Personally, I may vomit is I see another sequin covered dress or top!

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Blogs and Comments

Seriously, if a blog only allows a select group of people to comment, and you have to "audition" to join this group, why even allow comments at all? Do they even understand what blog commenting is about? It's about people being able to participate in the conversation and quite possible disagree with the writer. If you decided you hated my taste and wanted to let everyone know, I wouldn't stop you from saying so. If you weren't particularly witty but wanted to say something, I would let you! Of course, spamming a blog with obnoxious comments is rude and grounds for deletion, but to only allow people who agree with you to have a voice just really annoys me.
Sorry, I just had to rant about that. Feel free to agree or disagree in the comments section ;)

Trumpet Vine Umbrella

April showers are coming! Treat yourself to a designer umbrella, like this one from Marc by Marc Jacobs! Not only will it cheer you up on a rainy day, but you're definitely stand out from the sea of black CVS umbrellas everyone else is carrying. Buy at Net-A-Porter for $57. Though be warned: I bought this and it is slightly bigger than the average compact umbrella. It still fits in my purse, but I wanted to make sure you knew!

Will Cashmere Mafia Be Renewed???

The NY Post is reporting that "Cashmere Mafia" won't be picked back up again. ABC is saying there's been no decision yet, so everyone download episodes from iTunes... are they even available on iTunes? Yes "Lipstick Jungle" has more viewers and is better, but "Cashmere Mafia" isn't bad! Plus they have the fun wacky outfits that are at least inspiring. "Lipstick" has beautiful wardrobe pieces but I don't even notice them most of the time. With exception of everything Victory wears... I think I will become a Lindsay Price style stalker! I digress, I want to be able to watch both of these shows, don't cancel either!!

Phillip Lim's Kid collection

Has anyone noticed the Phillip Lim for kids line? Everything is soooo super cute! There are even items that are exact matches of the grown-up girl version (but not the same quality of fabric). And it ain’t cheap. If anyone is going to be matchy-matchy with their daughter or sister, this would be a great time to buy Phillip Lim! Find peices at Neiman Marcus and prices range from $55 up to $325.

More Photos From "Confessions Of A Shopoholic"

Hmm, here are more pictures from the set of "Confessions of a Shopoholic" all of Isla Fisher.

I am officially worried about this movie, though the first picture is supposedly worn to a wedding - maybe it's a hideous on purpose bridesmaid dress??? Please?

Paris' New Best Friend

So I think I would be great since I wouldn't kiss ass. Maybe she needs someone brutally honest in her life! Vote for me and I will heart you forever and ever!

Rompers

Am I insane or has there been a surge of rompers in stores lately? I recently bought the Chloë Sevigny romper from Open Ceremony when I was in New York and I can't wait to wear it! I must be regressing back to the tender age of three, when these were the hotness. Here are some other options for you:

Some ways to wear rompers are with tall, flat boots or with cute flats. You could also wear a short skirt over it, giving you protection from panty flashes.

eBay Sex in the City Auction

I have a busy day ahead of me, so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to post!

I wanna go to the Sex in the City Premiere!!! Sigh, it's already up to $555 and it has nine days left in the auction!

Oxfam Ambassador Kristin Davis, star of Emmy award winning HBO television show Sex and the City, has been supporting Oxfam since the South East Asia tsunami in December 2004. Most recently she met with women’s groups and community-based organizations whose work focuses on the response to the HIV epidemic. Now you can take part in this special experience with Kristin and support a great cause!

The winning bidder will receive:

* Two tickets to the world premiere of Sex and the City in New York City on May 27, 2008.

* On camera meet and greet with Kristin Davis at the premiere

* Chauffeured car service to the premiere

* Hair and makeup for one person by Privé

* A pair of Jimmy Choo "Felix" shoes in your size. Size range: 35.5-40.5 (US 5.5-10.5)

Patterned Tights

I'm personally still obsessed with finding ombré tights, but you can't deny that there are tons of girls wearing patterned tights right, especially in London, Paris and New York! I especially like Look From London tights, though their site is crap. Luckily, other sites carry some of their pieces, like these found on Unsung Designers for $22!

The Burkhaberry

Burkha + Burberry Print = Burkhaberry. The Burkhaberry and more were designed for an International Women’s Day show in Norway.

Panda Face Beach Towel

I know some of you are about to head out on Spring Break... I'm so jealous! Work on your tan (but wear sunscreen!) on this panda face beach towel, only $35 at Karma Loop.

Who Are You Calling A Bovine?!?!?

There's a Telegraph UK article I just talking about the Madame Bovary Syndrome - pretty much shopping excessively - and I thought it was really interesting. I know I should probably pay attention to the tips mentioned... maybe after I buy this really cute jacket.

Beware Madame Bovary Syndrome

Flaubert's flamboyant heroine was hooked on spending and oblivious to debt. If that rings alarm bells, it's time to recession-proof your wardrobe and make-do and mend, says Hannah Betts

As recession gives every appearance of being the latest retro trend, a new female role model has emerged - and it isn't Kate or Kylie or any of the glossy sorority to whom we allegedly aspire. No, it is flighty, credit-crazed Madame Bovary, the original sex and shopping poster girl.

Even those who have never relished Flaubert's prose will be familiar with the novel's narrative: the fantasist doctor's wife who endeavours to spend and swoon her way out of the tedium of bourgeois provincial life.

Where Emma Bovary pored over 19th-century fashion manuals, so we enjoy a weekly Grazia fix. Where Emma had the ball at the Château La Vaubyessard to slaver over, and rakish landowner Rodolphe Boulanger, so we have WAG nuptials and David "Birkin bestower" Beckham.

While Emma piled up luxury loot care of moneylender Lheureux, so we have any number of institutions clamouring to subsidise our habit. It seems that there are many of us who might, with Flaubert, declare: "Madame Bovary, c'est moi". Twenty-first century Bovarys are legion.

Louise Brittain, the head of personal insolvencies at the accountants Baker Tilly, argues that countless women are suffering from "Madame Bovary syndrome".
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"Modern-day Madame Bovarys are used to looking good and going out, and if they can't afford to pay for it now, they won't worry because credit has been so normalised and easy to get," she says. "As well as this, the bar has been raised on what women expect to spend on socialising and their appearance, and this leaves many women in their twenties and thirties not thinking twice about overspending."

A survey by Co-operative Insurance suggests that the average 30-year-old woman blows £253 a month on grooming, be it scent, slap or gym memberships. The Advertising Standards Authority recently condemned a mailing from Shop Direct Financial Services that played on the Bovary-esque neurosis that "Mr Right could be long gone" should its punters trouble to save for that new outfit.

Meanwhile, studies over the last two years have revealed that women shoulder significantly more debt than men, and tend to amass it in secret - with implications for suicide statistics. And with banks finally cutting back on credit card largesse, this raises the terrifying prospect of women following Flaubert's heroine into self-destruction rather than learning to make-do and mend. Sound familiar?

How did we get to such a n exorbitantly prettified pass? Sex and the City's Carrie Bradshaw must hold up a YSL-cuffed hand to her role in our downfall. Everything else may have conspired to let Carrie down - men, work, even those friends - but she could always fall back on her clothes. Bradshaw may have pleaded poverty, but she did so in $600 heels.

With Carrie, Miranda and the gang came the notion of shopping as entitlement: "I shop, therefore I am", or, as the L'Orèal girls say, "Because I'm worth it". With it also came the perverse situation of adult women - who were finally enjoying the careers that their mothers and grandmothers wished they could have - opting to treat their wages as "pin money", the funding for a stream of baubles, Burberry and beads. Thus, although we have the example of Coleen McLoughlin to prove that an "It" bag doth not an "It" girl make, we still feel this bulimic compulsion to gorge. Bad day? - new bag! Insipid husband? - fascinating frock! Meaningless existence? At least it comes exquisitely accessorised.

In fact, for a more compelling analogy to elucidate our collective consumer craving, we must look not to Madame Bovary but to Edith Wharton's Lily Bart, protagonist of The House of Mirth.

Where Emma boasts a parvenu, footballer's-wife-style hedonism, Lily is more PLU (People Like Us), spending to fit in socially, under the illusion that she is exercising connoisseurship and because she feels it is her due. Where Emma is inspired by a delusional, socially aspirant zeal, so Lily is self-knowing, spending as a form of currency within the class into which she was born. Emma, like a good WAG, is spending her spouse's capital, but Lily is the more tragic because - like us - she is squandering her own.

Emma wants things. Lily goes further and knows herself to be a thing: "superfine human merchandise". We would do well to avoid her fate.

HOW TO LOOK TOP DOLLAR WHEN ON YOUR UPPERS

• Swot up on catwalk reports to determine your concession to each season's style. Right now, this might mean feathers, florals or stripes.

• Clever accessorising allows an outfit to transcend its humble origins: sunglasses, bags, shoes, the odd, well-placed Hermès scarf are destined to become classic

• Establish which names and pieces are worth investing in while you can still afford to. A McQueen pencil skirt (£240, Net-a-porter.com) is likely to yield more wear than a Moschino rah-rah (£290).

• Identify where the high-street giants excel. Viz: Dorothy Perkins for cruise wear; River Island for heels; Topshop for jackets and paste; Zara for Prada and Chanel "tributes".

• Love your high-street clothes with the same abandon that the wealthy lavish upon their couture. Only buy when you are besotted; cherish favourite pieces (it is a myth that such purchases cannot endure).

• Bespoke creations need not be extortionate. A cocktail hat made to your specifications will obviate the need for a new evening dress. While a bespoke Mulberry Bayswater is the cunning girl's Birkin.

• Halve the price of that Chanel jacket: consider joint-custody arrangements with a same-sized friend.

• Cherish the clothes you already own: update them with new buttons and trims. And learn to sew.

Style Vocab

This article, written for "The Washington Post," has some great info! I'm really sick of people mis-using the term couture, that's for sure!

Every industry has jargon, but fashion truly speaks a language all its own. Skirts are bubbles, funnels or tulips. Cuts range from A-line to zigzag. A cotton dress can be ruched, pleated and pin-tucked, all at the same time. And that's not even considering really opaque terms such as "directional." (The word has nothing to do with turn signals or being lost: It refers to a particularly important design that might alter the trendscape -- indeed, the "direction" of fashion -- in months to come.)

Even if you try to learn the lingo, it's not easy. Many industry terms get bandied about incorrectly by glassy-eyed celebs or professional talking heads whose list of qualifications could fit inside a fortune cookie. I take particular issue with words that get appropriated into glossy marketing spiel. Would you be more likely to buy a $100 dress if you knew it was crafted from "couture satin"? You shouldn't. (More on that in a moment.)

Here's a brief lesson in style vocab. These terms are good to know if you want to talk the talk the next time you watch "Project Runway" -- or just impress the heck out of that saleswoman at Saks.

"Couture" gets slapped on anything from tank tops to tiaras, but the word doesn't just mean "really fancy." It refers to a tradition of custom-made clothing that originated in France. Far pricier than even designer clothing, couture is for women who think nothing of paying $100,000 for a gown made of ostrich plumes. The evening-wear section of your local department store may stock chiffon frocks, beaded capelets and other dressy dazzlers, but if you buy a piece on sight and carry it out of the store, that isn't couture. It's ready-to-wear, even if you have it altered. As for Juicy Couture . . . don't get me started.

A diffusion line is a collection of clothing that aims to offer a designer's aesthetic to the masses. Marc by Marc Jacobs, See by Chloe and Kors Michael Kors are good examples: Each delivers a soupcon of its namesake designer's look in simpler, more accessible forms. What also gets "diffused," happily, is the price; expect to see one or more zeros lopped off the end.

The notion of a resort or cruise collection tends to make people think of halter tops and midnight buffets. Indeed, these lines were once just mini-collections of lavish vacation wear. They hit stores in late fall or early winter, perfect for women en route to St. Barts. But in recent years, resort has become a big business -- and, as such, an object worthy of designers' attention. Expect slacks, jackets and other structured pieces as appropriate for a Friday meeting as they are for a Fun Ship.

A sample sale has little to do with runway samples. After all, if only 0.02 percent of the population is slim enough to shimmy into your stuff, what's the point of a sale? The term instead has come to refer to a sale of anything and everything, which is good and bad. Usually you'll find deeply discounted stock from previous seasons, but not always. I've seen sample sales that offered new, full-price clothing, vintage jewelry and beauty products.

A shift is commonly confused with a sheath, and the two words have more in common than the way they sound. Both refer to uncomplicated-looking dresses that end somewhere around the knee. The difference is that a shift tends to be less fitted around the waist and hips. Its straight lines are sweet and waifish in a way that the sheath, with all of its body-clinging tenacity, never will be. (Don't feel sorry for the sheath, though: It's shaping up to be one of fall's hot items.)

Trunk shows happen when a designer comes to town to showcase his or her latest collection to the ladies who lunch (though in the case of a major brand such as Marni, you may meet a store manager or label rep rather than Consuelo Castiglioni herself). Any plain Jane who wants to offer her oohs and ahhs is welcome, because these shows are free and usually take place at public venues such as swish boutiques and department stores. Consider them a great opportunity to people-watch, gawk at clothes you can't afford and quaff complimentary champagne. Gawking and quaffing: Next to ladies who lunch, they're two of my favorite things.

New "It" Model Karlie Kloss

I recently said I was sick of Agness Deyn, well apparently so are other people because we officially have a new It model. The fashion industry is so fickle! She was in all the shows this year, Gucci, Rodarte, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Versace, Pucci... yet I personally think she looks like generic model filler. Maybe she hasn't come into her look yet as she's ONLY 15!!! Pardon me, but I have to go die of jealousy now.

Bonfire Magazine Issue 2

I'm a little "eh" about Bonfire Magazine, the content is mostly just filler in my opinion. But the model on the cover, referred to as Brittany in the mag, looks familiar, no? Wasn't she on the Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency show for a hot second before moving on to bigger and better things? I just found her MySpace and I totally called it, I am genius!

Lick My Bean Agness Deyn!

Image via Perez Hilton
Agness Deyn is the hottest thing since Gemma Ward, but I am already completely sick of her. Now she's on the cover of Time Magazine's Style & Design issue... ugh! Maybe it's because I've been following the shows and she's been in pretty much every major one. Let's all band together and make Chanel Iman the new poster child for the fashion generation!
I do agree though, luxury good are no longer for women 30 and up. Tons of 20 somethings are going shopping for designer clothes , I know my closet would be the envy of what used to be the average girl. Are we richer or just more spoiled?