Christina Hendricks Covers Lucky Magazine!

Christina Hendricks is on the cover of the July issue of Lucky Magazine (on stands July 5). Everyone wins! I'm not fully in L-O-V-E with the beige Donna Karan dress -- I would've loved to see her in green, but I guess it IS July, and green is SO fall/winter, and she does have gorgeous green accessories. 'Tevs though. What do I know?

Also, hopefully we can see this as a celebrate of a BEAUTIFUL woman and not just a BEAUTIFUL WOMAN WITH CURVES! Enough with the caveat. She's gorgeous. Period. Full stop. Deal with it.

If you needed two more reasons to love Christina Hendricks, here they are: Ebay and Etsy. She provided Lucky with her favorite Ebay and Etsy finds. I know!

And no, I'm not afraid to cop to being a total Christina Hendricks/ Joan Holloway Stan. I even dressed like Joan for a wedding. In the words of Fred Armisen as Joy Behar... "SO WHAT? WHO CARES?"

Credit: TV Guide

FashionBinge Goes FABB + Words To Live By By Joan Rivers (AKA: Zen And The Art Of Fashion Blogger)

The faces of FashionBinge! Catherine (Mary-Kate) and Tamar (Tamron)

This past Tuesday I had the pleasure of attending Lucky Magazine's first-ever Fashion and Beauty Blog Conference. It was basically summer camp without the Birkenstocks. With Joan Rivers (more on that tk). I was honestly a little hesitant when I first RSVPed "yes." Why? The landscape of fashion blogging has changed so much in the five years I've been doing Fashionbinge. I was (pointlessly, as it turns out) a little curious as to whether it'd be a bunch of chicks vying to out-dress each other and namedrop designers and stuff. That's actually not really been my experience with fashion and beauty bloggers -- the ones I know are generally great writers and intelligent, media-savvy girls whom I now consider friends first, beyond just blogging. But I started fashion blogging back in 2006, when the market was less crowded, and the "'Net" (who even still calls it that??) was literally smaller as was the metaphorical net you could cast and not reel in nearly as many fashion bloggers and blogs as you can today. 

Five years ago, when FashionBinge was born, there weren't really fashion bloggers as models, fashion bloggers in front rows at fashion week, fashion bloggers as household names. Fashion bloggers on billboards in Times Square. Fashion bloggers in the Times. And FashionBinge still carries that scrappy, hey-we're-just-a-fun-little-blog-on-Blogger aesthetic and mantra. That's important to me. We (Catherine and I; we started FashionBinge together, and these days I post regularly and handle the nuts and bolts, while Catherine still chimes in on occasion) are not trying to be anything we're not. I just like to post some fun boots or a necklace I either bought, would very much love to buy, or would never in a month of Sundays buy. I'm not expecting an email from Garance Dore begging to photograph me, or Marc Jacobs to name a bag after me. Supermodels don't show up to my birthday party. 

I can the number of fashion shows I've been to on two hands and the number of times I've been to "the tents" probably on one. I've never been flown to cover shows in Europe where I've landed, gone right into fittings, and then taken a private car somewhere where I boarded a boat to watch models wear couture on a gondola. I do sometimes receive access to cool things or receive cool things, and I'm always appreciative of those things. I'm proud of the things I've worked very hard for, and I'm appreciative of any opportunities that come my way. Because really, no one deserves any special privileges simply because they have a blog. (Or because they're a really good athlete or went to a fancy university or know someone famous.) It's important to work hard for things, be appreciative for anything extra you've been given, and while you should have high expectations for yourself, you shouldn't expect that things you haven't worked for will simply be handed to you. (Celebrity gifting suites being an exception.) Maybe that's the immigrant's daughter in me speaking, but I really believe in those things.

Anyway, I'm not a fashion encyclopedia nor an expert. I probably know more about blogging, writing, and social media better than I can reference, say, the difference between Chanel's and YSL's 1999 resort collections or wax poetic on the merits of Mulberry boots versus Burberry boots or tell you whether a Balenciaga bag is better than a Birkin (as I will probably never own either).

I just know what looks good on me (and when to admit that something doesn't), how to shop for it, how to get the look for less, and how to navigate mainstream stores and select things in a way that doesn't scream HI I GOT THIS AT THAT STORE IN THE MALL WHERE EVERYONE SHOPS. And I know how to mine the Internet for hidden gems. Especially when there's a sale involved. I'm a great style curator. I hope that if and when you visit FashionBinge, you experience a little "Ooh, look at this fun thing you dug up" sensation. That's one of the things I love most about blogs. 

So, when it comes to fashion, the essence of FashionBinge is that it's not how much you spend, it's what you spent it on and how you wore it. And did you feel great in it? Yes? Awesome. As Santino Rice sagely said on the second season of "Project Runway," "Lighten up! It's just fashion!"

That's all a roundabout, reflective way of explaining why I was really happy that the FABB Conference was a celebration of fashion and beauty bloggers of all types, stripes and, well... hype. There were gorgeous glamazon-y newcomers with legs longer than my entire body and modeling deals. Girls with superstar style sense. Girls whose fashion blogs demonstrate their hilarious, irreverent take on fashion. Budget bloggers. Accidental cewebrities. Super shoppers. Discount doyennes. Hustlers and reticent bloggers. And the best thing was that there was a feeling of democracy, support, and a recognition of the fact that, at the heart of this diverse group of bloggers, there's one thing everyone has in common: basically, everyone who blogs does it because they love it. Fashion (and beauty) blogging is a crowded, busy, well-accessorized market, but there's room for all.

Anyway, I just wanted to really share that takeaway: everyone at FABB was extremely friendly, super supportive, and felt like the offline extension of what the whole online experience should be: a celebration of community, passion, and personality.

But more importantly... HERE'S WHAT I WORE! Har.

 

1.) Lazerade Manilow Top: This blouse is covered in a really cute star print, and it fits perfectly, (so curvy girls, take note.) It's from Urban Outfitters and has gone on sale since I purchased it a week ago. If I'm not feeling lazy, I'll go back to the store and have them credit me the difference. Ladies, NEVER be afraid to post-sale shop! It works! Saved myself $112 at Diane Von Furstenberg after I found the exact same dress I'd just purchased from their boutique on sale at Nordstrom. You work hard for your money, so never leave it on the table.

($29.99, UrbanOutfitters.com)

2.) Uniqlo jeans! Comfy and stretchy, but desperately in need of a belt.

3.) Chie Mihara Catame Bow Heels:

($361.33, Chie Mihara, Endless.com, courtesy of the designer)

I've had these Chie Mihara bow heels for years, and they're far chicer in person. They go with absolutely everything and fance-up an outfit in as much time as it takes to zip them up. 

4.) Pade Vavre horse necklace (duhr).

Okay. Here are four things I took away from the Lucky FABB Conference:

Lucky FABB Conference, Fashion Week, Social Media Overdrive, Etc.

Crazy busy week, and it's barely Tuesday. This morning, I'm speaking on a panel (THINGS GROWN-UPS DO!) about music and social media (for my "real job"), and later on I'll attend the Lucky Magazine Fashion and Beauty Blogger Conference, where I'm serving on the cocktail party committee, which is a role I was born to play. Hopefully I'll see some of you there.

Also, if you ever wondered what my official, professional stance on Willow Smith is, well wonder no more. Also, I am an Eminem EXPERT!

Oh, and I participated in a documentary about fashion bloggers, in which I discussed how much money you can make doing this (not a ton! Don't quit your day job!) and revealed my living room.


In other words...

I'm effing busy!

Lucky Shops Score: Charlotte Ronson Sweater!

I hit up the Lucky Shops event with Beauty Blogging Junkie's Amber last night. As suspected, much of it was like, OMG these Miu Miu pumps are an awesome deal at $350, because I'm used to paying $750 for Miu Miu pumps! But, I did see really good deals on Kooba bags, and I really loved the Pade Vavra jewelry I saw (the site doesn't do justice to the pieces they had for sale at the event).

I only made one wee purchase, but it was a goodie:
... This Charlotte Ronson blouson sweater for $60, O.G. $215 (and yes, it was $40 on RevolveClothing, but it's also sold out there, so HA!). Oh, and it's so weird because that pose and expression are the EXACT same pose and expression I made in the mirror when I tried it on and was like YES! So I knew I had to get it. I love that it's banded at the bottom for maximum not-boxiness. I think it's been forever and a few months since I bought a sweater, and hopefully I'll wear this forever and forever and amen.

Amber and I also checked out this Charlotte Ronson dress:

($299, Charlotte Ronson, Zappos)

But we aborted mission for some reason.

Oh yeah, speaking of Charlotte Ronson, check out her upcoming I Heart Ronson line for JC Penney:

This is another one of those "you win, non-New Yorkers" situs because there's no JC Penney in Manhattan. Yet. They're opening one in the sad sack Manhattan Mall, which is currently the heart and soul of Sucktown. No joke though, I was just in Manhattan Mall this past Sunday because I was in Midtown and needed leggings -- Rainbow pulled through! Maybe there's hope after all! I couldn't really tell WTF was going on with MM though because there's so much construction. But the point is, maybe there's hope?

Anyway, back to Lucky -- the denim bar looked promising, but I asked myself, self, do you really need more jeans? Self replied, no, self. No you do not.

Next: Rachel Comey! ZOMG, Rachel Comey! I saw this w00t-worthy dress/ jumper/ romper thingy, and you can't tell, but the all-over print is little Melies-style 19th-century-looking eyeballs! The dress was amazing but about $100 out of my prince range. Ho wells.

Email the good folks at Sotto to see if they'll get it back in. Or stop by the Lucky Shops event on Saturday, would be my unsolicited advice -- that's the last day, and everything's marked down. Hlr!