UPDATE: One of you commented and asked what I'd wear these with. Good question, lady. It's a hard one. I'd probably keep it pretty tame since the shoes be cray-cray. Maybe a denim skirt and white button-down top? Denim shirt and black leggings? I've been dressing a LITTLE more simply lately -- basics, jeans or a skirt, and some kinda wackadoo shoes or accessories. Also, check out how ModCloth's adorable owner (and pug enthusiast!) Susan Gregg Koger styled the look.
I should just go ahead and devote approximately 48 minutes of my Tuesday to allow the practical side of me to try to convince the part of me that lacks self-control to have a two-way conversation about why I shouldn't buy these Irregular Choice heels. Ultimately, practical me will be held hostage by my lack of self-control, who will commandeer my credit card, hit "buy," and set free within me a strange brew of chemicals and emotions, ranging from oxytocin to shame and regret... Which is all just a long-winded, round-about way of admitting that I'll probably buy these. I love a crystal heel, and I LOVE Irregular Choice. They're like Jeffrey Campbell on MDMA.
Camp is great. You were right! I ended up making friends. I'll be ready to come home once summer's over I think though.
I have to tell you something though. I decided to start wearing see-through dresses (with a bra, of course). I won't wear it to Hebrew school, but everywhere else is fair game.
Sanrio and Dr. Martens are BOTH turning 50, and they're celebrating the only way they know how -- covering an entire shoe in little Hello Kittys.
While I'm about three decades too old to justify wearing these, I do appreciate that not only Hello Kitty but her less popular friends Chococat, Keroppi, Little Twin Stars and My Melody all make appearances on the shoes too.
The Hello Kitty Docs are available April 2011. Proceed with caution, adults.
Is it sad that I don't think it's sad to consider selling one's own plasma for this Alice + Olivia tan leather tulip skirt? Should I not have admitted to that thought?
Anyway, I borrowed a necklace from one of my favorite jewelry designers, Venessa Arizaga, who creates charming (hee) necklaces and bracelets and types of handmade pieces that become insta-favorites (like, horse necklace status). She was a designer for Tuleh and Carolina Herrera and, most recently, design director for Zac Posen (NBD!) and left last year to pursue jewelry full-time and run her surf shop, the Rock Co-Op, in Rockaway Beach.
Many of her pieces are inspired by travels, the beach, and beachy travels, which is why each piece feels like a little souvenir celebration.
I also love this charm necklace, but I knew my Jewish mom would lose her shiz if she saw me wearing a necklace with a cross on it. And I just can't do that to my moms, you know?
Usually I react to the thought of striped pants the same way I do when I see young children drop something onto the floor of the subway and then put it into their mouths before their parents have a chance to catch them. That is to say... the very notion makes me ill at ease. I don't care how tall, thin, smart, or good at math you are. Striped pants will make you look like a clown. The rare exceptions are rockers from the late '60s and early '70s. If the characters from the movie "Almost Famous" were your fictitious analog, chances are you were able to get away with striped pants. BUT, here's where I contradict myself! Because I ACTUALLY found a pair of striped pants that don't make me want to cry myself to sleep.
They're the Tory Burch Irene pant, and somehow they work! As Whitney Houston says at the beginning of "So Emotional," "I don't know why I like it. I just do!"
Oh, and speaking of Tory Burch, shell out $29 and get this Japan Relief t-shirt. One hundred percent of the proceeds go to the American Red Cross to aid in the relief efforts in Japan.
Ha ha! JK! That's not breaking news, OF COURSE. But it worth expediently pointing out that the cat on this Nümph tunic is super bright, obviously, because he wears glasses. I feel like he spends a lot of time reading books printed by the Oxford Press, you know? Those REALLY big tomes with the tissue-thin paper, that's so impossible to highlight. Anyway, I'd believe anything this cat told me. Anything.
So, Sam Edelman's stud-covered Lorissa heels are hurting me real bad... in the real-good way. The kinda bad Fiona Apple meant when she was sloshing around in that hot tub back in 1997. That's it. Sam Edelman's studded heels = the Fiona Apple of footwear.
Woah! I'm gonna be in a documentary! Which is the kind of movie that you get to be in but you don't get paid for being in!
JUSSSST Kidding. Filmmaker Stephanie Caruso kindly asked me to participate in her documentary,Fashion. It's Fucking Fantastic, which is about fashion bloggers and the changing landscape of the fashion industry, and I was more than flattered, so I more than said yes. It was really fun, she's incredibly sweet, and moreover, she's incredibly talented! Despite the inevitable mortification/ is-that-really-me reaction I experienced hearing my own voice played back (but it's not about me, remember... wait... I guess it is in this case), the trailer turned out SO dope! I can't wait to see the movie when it's done. Look!
If you've been reading FashionBinge for at least a minute, you might know I have a "thing" about horses. I never rode horses, and I probably wouldn't, actually, as I'm almost as afraid of heights, speed, and falling (and with horseback riding comes the likelihood of all three) as I am those terrible sublimated dyed shirts. I certainly never owned a horse either. But I'm inexplicably drawn to miniature horses, horse accessories, and a well-timed, unforeseen appearance by a horse on an unsuspecting garment like a swimsuit. I mean COME ON. When did you last see a horse on a swimsuit, hm??
Besides the $385 price tag, the only bad thing I can possibly think of to say about this horse bathing suit by Australian brand We Are Handsome (the brand's name alone is killing me loudly), is that it'd probably make every other un-be-horsed article of clothing I own jealous not to have a horse gallantly galloping across it.
Hai! I'm out in Austin for SXSW, so I'll be back soon. Until then, I leave you with the BEST THING EVER WRITTEN OR RECORDED AND SHARED ON THE INTERNET EVER. The Rebecca Black "Friday" video. THIS SHIT IS REALER THAN UNICORNS.
Also, here's a pic of me jumping up in the air like a 1980s Toyota commercial. FUN FUN FUN FUN! WE SO EXCITED!
If you don't have an AllSaints within driving distance (though I guess, to paraphrase the late, great most everything's driving distance if you have the time), I feel very very sorry for you. In fact, you should probably consider moving. I mean, that's reasonable, right? (No, no it's not.)
So, I first discovered the British high street retailer (not to be confused with All Saints the British GIRL GROUP) when I went to Scotland in 2006 and stared, slack-jawed into the windows at the ominous simplicity of the shop's name spelled out in somewhat imposing bulbs and the stark display of all black (not to be confused with the New Zealand rugby team!) drapey, slouchy dresses and leather jackets. It was like Topshop's moody big sister moved to town. And, thankfully, AllSaints DID move to town in May of 2010. As psyched as I was for Topshop to open (love Topshop but – and here’s where I sound old – it’s so loud and bright and full of young people that I feel like I woke up in a rave), AllSaints is to Topshop as PJ Harvey is to Britney Spears. The rugged, rough-hewn, industrial, vaguely Steampunk design of the shop – floor-to-ceiling vintage sewing machines, World War II-era aviation artifacts and ephemera -- is worth the trip alone. You feel like you’re shopping in a converted airplane hanger (instead of what used to be that hideous, harrowing Michael K). Even my husband, whose reaction to shopping for clothing is akin to placing a cat in a pillowcase, walked into the men’s section and instantly said “Woah. I think this is coolest store I’ve ever seen."
And, speaking of AllSaints’ men’s, I actually most love their men’s selection (though their women’s shoes are enough to make me cry happy tears), particularly their leather jackets. The snug, second-skin fit, super-soft feel and distressed-disheveled style is super modern (none of those bulky bomber jacket nonsense). The other great thing about All Saints’ mens’ jackets is that they’re stylish enough for a man, but tailored enough for a woman’s body. (Did you get that I was trying to make a deodorant joke? You did? Okay good.)
Anyway, I take back what I said earlier, about how if you don’t live near an AllSaints then I feel bad for you. f you don’t live in the UK or New York, it's okay. (Besides! That's just a rude thing to think or say). AllSaints stores are multiplying like rabbits. And, there's always the Internet, which, like New York, is always open 24 hours a day. Thank sweet baby Jehu.
That said, this Diesel Black Gold is everything right about tie-dye. Think moody, inky darks, to avoid looking like you took your style inspo from a container of Wavy Gravy or Phish Food.
It is obvious, based on the fact that Vena Cava x Tenoversix's collaboration has resulted in a red-orange shoe with a BLUE Lucite heel, that they have conspired to kill me, or at least give me a serious heart attack. If perfection could kill, you'd be reading my obit.
