Style Fix

I know I’m being a little schizophrenic, jumping back and forth between Spring and Fall trends, but I can’t help it. That’s what the weather is doing here. . .sunny one minute, so I’m thinking about the forthcoming spring and how much I like little dresses, and then suddenly it starts raining and I remember how enjoyable tights and boots are. I’m a victim of my circumstances.

Luckily, there’s a trend circulating right now that is just as schizophrenic. . .and I mean that in a good, flexible and ever-changing way, not in a scary, hears-voices way.

This tunic by Sunner could be worn with jeans for a casual look, over tights for a night out, even with proper pants and a blazer for work. That’s what I mean by schizophrenic in a good way.

Tunics and smocks (I’m not sure what a smock is, technically, I think that’s a British term. We’re going to go with something like a tunic but looser, standing away from the body.) are everywhere, and are versatile enough for the forthcoming “transition” months. The right tunic can be worn over a sweater or under a jacket or alone, over tights or wool pants or jeans or even, for the daring, alone. The ultimate in schizophrenic chic.

Sunner, Charlotte Ronson, Generra, ShopBop.com, Tunics, Smocks, Spring 2007, Fall 2006, Fashion, Style

Because this is a blog, and I’m pretty sure I’m contractually obligated to do some kind of “Top Somethings of 2006″ list, and because stupid Best Week Ever already stole my idea for a “Top 10 Top 10 Lists” list, but mostly because I like talking about my own opinions, here they are, my Top 5 fashion moments of 2006.

5. Ugly Betty

If “The Devil Wears Prada” taught us anything, it’s that holding a mirror up to the fashion world is rarely pretty. But it can be funny, hysterically so. Like, for example, the brilliance that is Ugly Betty. This show, and this character, poke fun at the silliness of the fashion world, even while truthfully portraying how desperately people wish to be part of it. Love it.

4. Layering

They put it on the runway, and starlets followed suit. And while the results aren’t always as polished as they were at Celine (see:Mary-Kate Olsen), adding vests to jackets to shells to tanks kept going strong throughout the fall. Yeah, the mags are predicting a no-frills silhouette come Spring, but I have a hunch the layering trend is not quite through with us.

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I love black. Black works for me, and for almost everyone else. But sometimes you just need a little something else, you know? Something basic, and workable, but with a little punch, a little pizzazz.

Enter, blue.

The color of ocean and sky was, understandably, big on Spring runways. And while Style.com attributes the inspiration to artist Yves Klein and his trademarked blue, I chose to think designers were looking forward to the season and all the natural blues it has to offer.

These rich, saturated blues evoke mountain lakes, the sky at dusk, a swift-running stream, the early flowers. They are irresistably springtime, without veering into preciousness.

Plus, they say blue is soothing, that sleeping in a blue room gives you quiet, happy dreams. Do you think the effect is the same in a gorgeous blue dress?

Blue, Yves Klein, Zero Maria Cornejo, Emilio Pucci, Emanuel Ungaro, Spring, Spring Fashion Shows

You might have noticed we’ve been a leetle short on posts lately. Then again, I’m not sure there are that many regular readers. Either way, we’ve been a little short on posts lately. I have been having unspeakable computer and internet issues, issues that I would describe for you but this is a family site and the language I would be forced to use is totally inappropriate. Just imagine me advancing on my computer with a screwdriver, a cup of vodka, and the broken-off leg of a chair, and you get the idea.

I will be doing my best, but until things calm down around here, posting might be a little erratic. Please bear with me! I’ll post some nipple slips when I can, to thank you.

I’ve been on a little money-saving kick lately. . .planning ahead for vacations, Christmas, all that boring stuff. . .so I haven’t gone shopping. It’s been a struggle, to be honest, because nothing is quite so soothing and fun for me as a serious, committed shopping spree.

However, it’s had the unintended but fun side-effect of forcing me to re-evaluate my own wardrobe, and discover things I’d forgotten I’d had. That’s always fun.

So, these current obsessions aren’t things in the stores that I fantasize about and occasionally visit, but things I already have (or the closest approximation I could find an online picture of), that I’ve rediscovered and reinterpreted and re-. . um, I’m out of things I re-did to them, but you get the idea.

How do you update a basic round-toe pump so it’s fun and young and fashion-forward, yet ladylike? Easy. Do it in crazy houndstooth! A fun way to update an all-black outfit and those black tights that seem to be taking over the world. By Delicious, available at CutesyShoes.com.

This is what we like to call a “basic.” I have it in burgundy, and it can’t get through the laundry fast enough. Over turtlenecks, with tights, over jeans. It works with different prints and colors. It both trend-ifies and basic-ifies an outfit. It goes with anything and everything. By Lux, available at UrbanOutfitters.com.

I am not a rich woman, but I like nice things. I like nice things that other people also think are nice. This Missoni scarf is under $100, but beautiful, luxurious, sparkly, and, if you like that sort of thing, recognizably Missoni. Available at Net-a-porter.com.

Fashion, Style, Fashion Blogs, Shoes, Houndstooth, Urban Outfitters, Lux, Dresses, Missoni, Scarves, Net-a-Porter

I like parties, and parties certainly like me. I bemoan, however, how casual they seem to have become. Where have the real old-fashioned fancy dress parties gone, with champagne and expensive earrings and bags to match?

Because everyone, with the possible exception of Ellen DeGeneres, likes getting dressed up once in a while, here are some gorgeous holiday options. Pick your favorite trend, and throw a party!

Black (yes, not exactly a trend, but necessary.):

Metallic:

Satin:

Bubble:

And, my favorite trend of all, cheap!:

Simply click on the pictures to find out where you can buy.

[tag] Holidays, Holiday Dresses, Holiday Parties, Cocktail Dresses, Special Occasion, Tory Burch, Diane von Furstenberg, Betsey Johnson, Jill Stuart, Delia’s [/tags]

Sienna Miller is on the cover, and between the sheets, of “W” this month, looking acrobatic.

I haven’t seen anything she’s ever been in, besides fashion and gossip mags, so I’m probably not qualified to pass judgement. But since when has that mattered? I think she’s annoying and not the big fashiony fashionista people like to make her out to be. You can read the whole interview here, but it really isn’t that interesting.

Love the lipstick though.

Sienna Miller, W Magazine

Scarlett Johansson for Louis Vuitton makes sense. Dakota Fanning for Marc Jacobs? Not so much.

I’m gonna be honest. . .I’m a leetle creeped out by these pictures. She’s just a kid, and a great actress, but I wouldn’t want to look at these just before going to sleep. You know what I mean?

Marc Jacobs, Dakota Fanning, Spring 2007

A selection of Scarlett Johansson’s new Louis Vuitton ads for Spring. For your viewing pleasure! And no other kind of pleasure, you perv!

Pretty! I like the theme they went for here. Do they remind you of those 18th-century woodland picnic nymph paintings, or is that just me?

Louis Vuitton, Scarlett Johansson, Spring 2007, Marc Jacobs

I’m going to let you in on a kind of silly, embarrassing secret. With all the talk about giving being better than receiving being bandied about these days, I’m a weensy bit ashamed to admit this. . .but I hate giving presents. HATE.

I’m horrible at it. For some reason, I can never find something meaningful, never find that perfect little trinket that shows you know somebody. I don’t know if it’s my painfully constricted budget or just a personal, moral failing, but I would much, MUCH, rather receive than give.

So, you can imagine how much I love those “Perfect gifts for mother/brother/sister/coworker” articles that also abound this season.

Here, some Holiday Gift Guides that I guarantee will help, no matter how gift-givingly retarded you are;

InStyle is one of my favorite sites, even without the gift guides. But their exhaustive run-down of all the categories of gift-receiver in your life; Gals Like Us, Kids in Your Life, The Head Honcho, etc etc, will make your life so much easier. Okay, the price point is not always feasible for poor ‘uns like mee, but the inspiration is free. Check out their holiday gift guide here.

Lucky magazine’s unfailingly stylish holiday gift guide is a little less detailed, but everything is under $50, which more than makes up for being a little less user-friendly. And there are, oh, about 80 million ideas. Check it out here.

Not everyone on your list wants jewelry or clothes or pretty baubles. . .unfortunately, because that would make things a lot easier. For ideas for every conceivable present-receiving person, try the wide-ranging gift guide at Overstock.com. Besides being affordable, this site has gadgets and sports equipment and bedding and all that stuff that I am not as interested or knowlegeable in. Overstock.com’s gift guide can be found here.

Holiday Gift Guide, Christmas Gift Guide, InStyle Magazine, Lucky Magazine, Overstock.com, Holiday Deals

And in “I don’t really care at all” news, last night was the finale of Season 7. . .wait, 6. . .last night was the finale of the most recent season of America’s Next Top Model.

Yeah, I didn’t know they’d gotten through so many seasons either.

The final three were Caridee, Eugena, and Melrose (left to right). Eugena was eliminated, and the final two, who in real life look so much alike I was a little confused during the whole 5 minutes of this show that I watched, took part in a bridal fashion show held in Parc Guell in Barcelona.

The park, designed by Gaudi, is beautiful and bizarre and was by far the best looking thing in this fashion show.

So, blah blah blah, Tyra Banks, blah blah, Tyra Banks’ enormous wig, blah blah, cute British judge, blah blibbity blib, Caridee is the winner!

And I still don’t care, but if you do, check out more deets here.

Tyra Banks, America’s Next Top Model, CW Network, Parc Guell, Finale

Italy is following in the footsteps of Spain, Argentina, and Brazil to ban ultra-skinny models from their catwalks. Italian National Fashion Chamber head Mario Boselli met with Italian Youth Minister Giovanna Melandri, and agreed to work on a self regulatory code of good practice.

Flaminia Spadone, an aide to the minister, said “We’d like fashion houses, modeling agencies, photographers and everyone working in the fashion world to sign the charter,” she said. “It would be voluntary but professional bodies could decide to impose sanctions on people who don’t sign, preventing them from taking part in fashion shows.”

She said models who came under 18.5 on the index - the World Health Organization’s definition of underweight - should be banned from working for the sake of their own health.

“In the Third World, if someone has an index of less than 18.5, they send in humanitarian aide,” she said.

All of this follows in the footsteps of the death of Brazilian model Ana Carolina Resto from anorexia last month, and while I think it’s very sad someone had to die before anyone paid attention to this problem, I suppose I am happy it’s getting attention at all.

Whether any significant changes will be made is yet to be seen. The fashion industry is notoriously resistant to change from the outside. . .so we’ll see. In the meantime, I’m more than willing to show all the models how to eat. Once I’ve introduced them to my mom’s potato salad, extreme thinness won’t be much of a worry anymore.

Spain, Italy, Argentina, Brazil, Models, Ultra-thin Models, Regulation, Fashion Industry

In “Why didn’t she think of this sooner?” news, Gwen Stefani and her L.A.M.B label have teamed up with Coty to launch a perfume.

The deal was announced on Wednesday, at a press conference where Gwen rocked the leopard coat you see here.

AP reports;

Stefani says her deal with Coty Inc., announced Wednesday, is a sign that her success with L.A.M.B. (an acronym for Love Angel Music Baby) isn’t fleeting.

“It’s very prestigious as a designer to have a fragrance. It’s a milestone with L.A.M.B., and I don’t want L.A.M.B. to go away. The fragrance makes it feel real, like it’ll be here for a little while,” Stefani told The Associated Press in an interview.

“The whole L.A.M.B. thing is pretty greedy. I’m making it all for me,” she said. “The goal with this fragrance is that I’ll wear it and have endless bottles of it.”

Coty also makes perfumes for Marc Jacobs, Vera Wang, Jennifer Lopez, and Sarah Jessica Parker, so you know they know what they’re doing.

Although I don’t always “get” Gwen’s style, I appreciate what she does with L.A.M.B., and I’m sure this concoction will be something special.

For more info, go here, here, or here.

Gwen Stefani, L.A.M.B., Coty, Fragrances, Celebrity Fragrances

Let’s see. Fur, okay. Bright colors, good. Shiny trim, good. Expensive, statusy logos, very good. Enormously enormous fanny packs. . .oh, see, there’s the problem.

This Louis Vuitton fanny pack gets the award for most uselessly outlandish accessory of the year. Besides being a fanny pack, beloved of fat tourists in orange shirts everywhere, it’s huge! (18″ by 10″! Yes, really!) I’m not really against fur, the white mink is gorgeous, but as The BagSnob says, “if you’re going to ruin lamb chops with jellybean and banana chutney, I’ll just have a salad.”

Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Louis Vuitton Mink Fanny Pack, Naomi Campbell

Resort is a weird thing. It’s always been marketed toward the kind of rich older ladies who spend the entire winter at their “little place” on Mauritius and buy new wardrobes every 3 months. “Resort” makes me think of wearing diamond earrings with one’s bathing suit and drinking martinis in a caftan while fluffy white dogs run around.

And yet. . .

I covet this Dior dress. And this Oscar de la Renta one, too.

Oh, and this one, and this one, and this one.

(Dior, Zac Posen, and Gucci, respectively.)

This year’s Resort collections may have changed my mind. You definitely don’t need to be old or have any liking for martinis to covet these gorgeous dresses. They’re young, and light, and versatile enough to buy for vacation but wear all through spring and summer.

Maybe even to your little place on Mauritius.