Banana Republic's Black Velvet Dress: All I Want For The Third Night Of Chanukkah

$98, Banana Republic
(Gifted by Banana Republic)

Something's happening. Something's different. I feel like Tony in "West Side Story" when he first meets Maria, only hopefully with a far less tragic ending. Basically, I've fallen in love with VELVET. My most hated, feared and loathed fabric, the one my parents warned me against. Banana Republic's black velvet sheath dress, from their excellent holiday collection, is the ONLY velvet dress I've ever loved. It may look kinda "meh"-ish on the hanger, but this thing comes ALIVE on the female form. It fits ABSOLUTELY perfectly -- forgiving in the places that need forgiveness, and snug enough in the places that call for snuggling. It's so versatile that I've worn it at least three times already this month, to a holiday party with black tights and my Charlotte Russe Miu Miu-"inspired" glitter heels, an evening event with burnt sienna tights and turquoise booties (MUCH cuter than it sounds) and a TV taping with Wolford Hero bondage tights, which were a generous gift from Tightsplease and belong on a wall because they're a work of fucking art.) You can also do that kinda '90s grunge-girl thing, but in a cleaner way. (Like, no slouchy knit hat, por favor!)

This Leopard Print Maxi Dress Is JUST ENOUGH LEOPARD

$110, Mink Pink, Shopnastygal.com

This Mink Pink leopard print maxi dress makes me feel so good about swathing almost every inch of myself in animal print. The coordinating abilities are ENDLESS -- denim jacket! Leather jacket! Black Docs? BALLET FLATS! And don't even get me STARTED on NEON NECKLACES! Too much leopard, you say? NEVER ENOUGH, I say.

Hand Me My Leather... Dress From The Gap

Via FashionETC

To quote the sage words of Tori Amos, "hand me my leather." Gap just had their Fall 2011 preview, and it looks like leather dresses are on tap (which means hopefully they'll be in stores in jut a few months?). Which is perfect, because I've have a leather dress on my wishlist since 2009. Meaning that a leather dress is still very much on my own little Maslow's hierarchy of unfulfilled non-needs. WTH? I'm slacking on satisfying my non-basic needs! Also, my plans to find the perfect black leather mini skirt fell spectacularly on its little ass, so the time has never been nigh-er to get my shit leathered up!

Mara Hoffman: Fashion Inceptor?

($300, Mara Hoffman, Bonadrag.com)

Guys, I'm really afraid Mara Hoffman is sneaking into my mind and incepting my mind, because her tribal-inspired "Pow" dress is the dress of my dreams.

+ Inception LOLz.

Eee! An Adorable Shoe Named After A Kitten!

What's cuter than this cut-out batik print Oxford Boxing Kitten/ Osborn collaboration? That's a Brooklyn designer mash-up BTW!

($180, Boxing Kitten)

Only this kitten wearing a hat:

(Via BeautyBloggingJunkie and Courtney John)

Boxing Kitten and Osborn's limited-edition "Cheeky" shoe (only 50 pairs were made, and each pair is numbered) is made from 100% recycled tires. The kitten is made of miracles.

And PS: Check out Boxing Kitten's Tam Tam batik sweetheart party dress, which I like to think was subconsciously inspired by and named after me:

($315, Atomic Kitten)

PPS: Also, what's not to love about Osborn's Mayan print boots:

($130, Osborn. shoposborndesign.com)

I could see myself living in these for about 14 months straight.

Wedding Dresses For Under $1,000! Thanks, Sue Wong

I just discovered L.A. designer Sue Wong's fantastic gowns, created with gorgeous Jazz Era-beading, tons of tulle, whimsical whispers of feather, and gorgeous gems, jewels and embellishments. And you KNOW how I love an embellishment. (Taylor Swift, Pink, Anne Hathaway, Christina Ricci and lots more lovely ladies have all worn Sue Wong's designs.) Now, these dresses aren't specifically designed as wedding dresses, but hi! That's part of why they're under $1,000 each! You could buy and wear THREE Sue Wong dresses in one night for the price of one actual wedding dress.

Check out a few Sue Wong dresses I'd rawk down the aisle in a hot second:

($578, Sue Wong, LordandTaylor.com)

($658, Sue Wong, Bloomingdales.com)

($518, Sue Wong, Lordandtaylor.com)

($328, Sue Wong, Bloomingdales.com)


($508, Sue Wong, Bloomingdales.com)

I Guess I Do Want This Cushnie Et Ochs Marble Print Dress

(*$$2,162, Cushnie Et Ochs, Brownsfashion.com)

Wait... I didn't THINK I wanted a marble print dress -- it kinda looks like a crumped-up, stepped-on paper bag a little, no? But after seeing it on Leighton Meester, I think I maybe do, right?



*I left on that extra $ for extra expen$ive.

Mary Katrantzou Surreal Trompe L'oeil Dress

($595, Mary Katrantzou, farfetch.com)

I have NO fucking idea what exactly is going on. Is it human? Dancer? Photo? X-ray? Sexy robot? Will it hurt? Will it hurt a lot? I don't know. I just know I want in. I also kind of want to see it on an actual body. Preferably my own.

+ Like this? Check out Tsumori Chisato.

Speaking of robotics, this kind of reminds me of the dress version of one of my FAVORITE songs of the past year -- Robyn and Royksopp's "The Girl And The Robot."

Luxe Lust: Alexander McQueen Silk Embroidered Cape Pencil Dress... WITH FEATHERS!

($1598, Alexander McQueen, Gilt Groupe)

They're actually not feathers but GOLD EMBROIDERY! DEATH! DEATH BY EMBROIDERY THAT LOOKS LIKE GOLD FEATHERS! ON SILK! = DOUBLE DEATH!

Are we human? Or are we dancer?

The Killers - New Music - More Music Videos

Vena Cava Siouxie Dress For The Non-Traditional Wedding Dress Win!

I was flipping through Anica Boutique's sale selection, marveling at how everything on sale fell under the category of either HORBSFEST (WHAT did these Mocium jeans do to deserve this???) or AWESOME SAUCE (Opening Ceremony silk bustier dress that's just $142), when I stumbled across this PORTRAIT OF PERFECTION:

($628, Vena Cava, AnicaBoutique.com)

Size 6 only. Now don't get me wrong -- $628 doesn't seem like much of a sale to me. But I've been dropping that bridal acid that has my brain tripping balls into believing that like, $3,000 is a somewhat reasonable price to pay for ONE item that you will wear exactly ONCE. Evar. So, relatively speaking, $628 is a STEAL. Isn't that funny how that works? In REAL FUCKING LIFE I'd NEVER EVER spend $628 on one dress, but in bizarro bridalville, I'm like OOH NO PROB! SO THAT'S A VISA, AND THE FIRST FOUR NUMBERS ARE... MKAY GREAT!

Anyway, this silk dress is so sweet my teeth fucking hurt. It's got such a perfect 1950s feel (while the detailing's a little '70s), and the shoe options blow my mind and then come back for seconds. I love how clean and crisp it is and how it flatters any figure. It's also a perfect dress if you're doing a tiny, private ceremony at a court house or city hall or something. Or a small beach or lakefront wedding. No reason you shouldn't have a great dress too. And pay a lot for it too! :P

BTW, oh HAI! Same dress, size 4 and 6, $300 at Basic Boutique! Also, check DressBoston.com -- they might have it.

Thursday Splurge Day: Jill Sander Lily Pond Printed Dress

The high price to pay for material lust...

($523, Jill Stuart, Revolveclothing.com)

Adorably expensive.