The Best Shit I Bought, Wore, Did, Ate, Etc In 2012

Okay. Yay, happy 2013! Given that I have more than enough running observations, statistics, judgements, trivial/ triflin' concerns, condemnation, ambitions, thoughts about cats, musings and mumblings going through my brain in just the time it took me to type this sentence, I'm therefore not usually prone to public reflection, review, or navel gazings, such as the year-in-review-style posts that fill up my Facebook feed at the end of December/ beginning of January. I'm not trying to hate. It's just generally not my thing. But, like, if I'm going to reach back into the bowels of 2012 and extract a common theme of the year, then YOLO: Why not take a minute to look back at the year that was (and all of the shit I bought), and raise a glass to 2012?

All joking and unicorn heels aside, one of my daily goals is to always remain fully aware and appreciative of my countless blessings, from having a loving relationship, friends so incredible that I sometimes feel like I should pay them for the privilege, and living in a city I love in a place I'm happy to call to home, to the little things that aren't little at all, when you take a step back and really, profoundly consider them -- just waking up in the morning, and having a healthy body and healthy mind. Truly, in the midst of the daily grind of flying out the door, rushing to work, being annoyed by the 47 billionity thousand trillion things that can annoy you on the ride to work, it's a privilege and a gift -- even on a bad day -- just to get out of bed every morning and stretch out four limbs that can carry me anywhere. Those things alone are truly more that some people can say they have. I don't care if that sounds emo. Sure, 2013 had some crap moments. Every year does. But I got to spend another year on Earth (thanks, Mayans!), and given the alternative, I'll take it.

Okay. So, let's talk shopping and other superficial stuff!

+ Best thing I bought in 2012: My Chris Habana Nostradamus necklace: I stopped into American Two Shot -- FINALLY -- last month, looking for gifts for my sister. A few hundred bucks later I walked out with this Chris Habana necklace for myself, and a pizza iPhone case for my sister. I am a TERRIBLE person. But I LOVE this piece probably way more than any healthy person should. This was my one really indulgent impulse buy of the year, and, in the words of Katy Perry, no regrets, just love.

+ Second-best thing I bought in 2012: Urban Outfitters BDG chambray button-down: Being a woman, ahem, cursed with a more than ample endowment, if you will (yes, I'm talking about the curse of the big-busted woman, but I'm trying to be discreet, because I am TOTALLY A LADY!), I truly believed I would NEVER own a decent button-down. But holy shit and Gloria in excelsis Deo! Urban Outfitters' chambray button-down came around and turned my world upside down because IT FITS, Y'ALL!

+ Third-best thing I bought in 2012: CW-X sports bra: DUDES. My CW-X sports bra changed EVERYTHING. Again, see above. If you're over like a C cup, sports bra issues can be THUH WORST. CW-X is by Wacoal, and they know what's UP. I found that the cup sizes aren't true to your real non-sports bra cup size, so the size I bought was smaller than my real size, but I don't care, because it fits like it's true to size. I can't remember what size I bought, and quite frankly, if you're that interested, then you're probably a real creeper, so fall back. But if you're not a creeper, try the CW-X VersatX Support Bra or the CW-X XTempo from Paragon or ShoeBuy.com. Zappos carries some, too. You might have to shop around a bit to find the right size and fit, but it's worth it. Trust. Seriously, after going to Lululemon and asking for a sports bra in my size and basically getting this from their "enlightened" employees:

... Finding CW-X sports bras was like a revolution.

(More favorite/ best things after the jump!)

5 Silk Pants Perfect For Spring (And Perfect For Me!)

Besides going commando (which I don't do -- EW, sorry, but that mysterious lint needs somewhere to go, and that's what underwear are for, so, no thank you!), there's nothing more freeing than wearing silk pants in the spring and summertime. I'm working on filling my closet with nothing but slouchy silk (or silk-y -- sometimes a girl's gotta go poly, so don't hate) pajama-inspired pants.

Also, if I may, please, a word on height. Let's debunk that you-have-to-be-tall-to-wear-baggy-pants myth. I'm short. Like Gary Coleman-short. And believe it or not, slouchy silky pants cut a sophisticated silho -- just like skinny jeans, except the complete pants opposite. Pair the busy prints with a solid silk or cotton tank with and a billion necklaces, and pair the solids with a busy tank or a buttoned-up button-down and Oxfords for my favorite look, the Duckie.

(L - R $70, Topshop; $150, Topshop; $285, Surface To Air x Kim Gordon, Gargyle)

 

($220, Sjobeck, SjobeckMalibu.com; Fluxus, available June 2012 at Fluxusbrand.com)

Teach me how to Duckie.

Red Lipstick Perfection Is NOT Impossible! DREAM BIG, People!

It's Valentine's Day (duh), and your feelings about that probably range from YAY, CHEAP CHOCOLATE to mild indifference to inconsolable sobs. I'm not even that bitter of a person, and I can admit that Valentine's Day is kind of garbage. With the exception of vintage Valentines. Those are adorable.

But Valentine's Day is a good time to pause and remember that EVERY SINGLE DAY is an EXCELLENT excuse to wear red lipstick.

Check out my piece on how to wear red lipstick at StyleUnited (I'm guest editor of their Facebook page this week, so go there, do that), and please, whatever you do, get yourself Topshop's Rio Rio red lipstick. (I reviewed Topshop's makeup for Naag.com, BTW.) It's the best red lipstick ever, and it's a REMARKABLE feat of beauty. 

$16, Topshop

+ Related: My Valentine's Day love letter to myself, ladies, plus, really cute Valentines featuring hearts with mustaches.

CYBER MONDAY SALES BE CRAY-CRAY!

Guys. Put down the pepper spray and check out these SICK Cyber Monday deals. Put some cash back into our weeping economy.

Check out this list of Cyber Monday (heh) promo codes and sales at some of my favorite shops and brands.

+ Mario Badescu
10% off + free shipping AND a free gift for orders over $50.
Code: cmonday

+ Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy
30% off
Code: hugecyber (LOL!!)

+ Lands End Canvas 
30% off + free shipping
Code: drumstick PIN: 1211

+ Solestruck
50% off sale shoes!
Code: finalsale50

+ Sephora
Free shipping over $50
Code: shipnow

+ Alex & Chloe
30% off select items

+ Urban Outfitters
Free shipping

+ Joe's Jeans
30% off your purchase + free shipping
Code: Cyber30
(sale not applicable to fifty five colors jeans)

Izzy Lane For Topshop Coats Look Way Warm, Way Wonderful

Topshop's going all ethical, which is nice! -- with their Izzy Lane wool collaboration. Founder Isobel Lane makes her wool from her own flocks of endangered primitive breed sheep in the Yorkshire Dales, which is totally what I would do if I were really nice and had a lot of time to do nice things.

How perfectly "smart," as the Brits say, is this faux-fur-trimmed boyfriend coat? I love when other people do nice things for me, so this is totally perfect.

$390, Izzy Lane For Topshop

$200, Topshop

Another Topshop winter coat. The faux-fur is detachable! You don't see enough rust-colored coats with detachable bits, you know?

$440, Unique, Topshop

So dramatic!

Topshop's Half Leopard Print, Half Not Top!

$75, Topshop

You GUYS. This half-leopard/ half-floral trompe l'oeil top is, in the words of Britney Spears, JUST SO TYPICALLY ME. SO cute. Half leopard half floral? That's like a fashion CENTAUR.

Feline Find: Topshop's Cat Blouse

($76, Topshop)

I know yesterday was Caturday, but Topshop's cat blouse still bears mentioning. It's totally the cat's meow. Or cat's pajamas. I mean, it's not pajamas. What I mean to say is that it would look perfect with a pair of dark blue skinny jeans or distressed grey skinnies and some stompy studded boots.

This Trench Coat Grew A Beard

($380, Topshop)

That's what happened here, right?

Jessica Szohr Stole My Dress!

Jessica Szohr, take OFF my dress and give it back to me THIS INSTANT. Jessica has a habit of stealing clothes from me, you see? Seriously, HOW adorable is this alice + olivia by Stacey Bendet striped "Emmie" dress?

($368, Aliceandolivia.com)

I love how it's styled like vintage Barbie:

Furthermore, I like how it would go with MY ENTIRE WARDROBE! The shoe options alone!

($150, Topshop)

This dress is crying out -- nay, WEEPING -- for a pair of suede bow pumps!

Guys, 1970s Flared Jeans Are SO Coming Back!

AND I'M SCARED!And I know that Tory Burch is going all '70s, and so is Rebecca Taylor, and Etro and  Derek Lam -- especially Derek Lam. But I don't know if I can commit!

So, Topshop's got a handful of flared jeans for fall. Thoughts?

($125, Topshop)

I don't know dude. They're just SO Those '70s jeans. And SO '90s. I don't know if I'm ready to wear 1994 all over again.

($80, Topshop)

I'm more tolerant of these jeans as they're less elephant bell, more biz-cashe trouser.

But I am TOTALLY tolerant of these Rebecca Taylor high-waist zip-pocket flare jeans. Hearts!

Rebecca Taylor Spring 2011/ Yannis Vlamos / GoRunway.com

Derek Lam Spring 2011/Yannis Vlamos / GoRunway.com

It's Time For... CAT FASHIONS!

In honor of my cat Sim's untimely demise, here are a bunch of cheery cat clothes and accessories. Yes, I'm a cat person. DEAL WITH IT. I used to try to air on the side of discretion when shopping for or styling myself with cat-related fashion, so as not to look overly young. But at this point, I'm like fuck it.

($78, Marc By Marc Jacobs, Zappos.com)


($35, Marc By Marc Jacobs, Zappos.com)

Love Marc By Marc Jacobs' Fantastical Tale cat rings in brass and black resin. See? Marc Jacobs gets it!

($76, Your Eyes Lie, Topshop)

British upstart Your Eyes Lie makes excellent, photorealistic digital prints -- like this giant cat print dress -- on the softest jersey dresses. They look fantastic with leggings, run large (yay!), and are super layerable.

($13, Asos.com)

Two baby kitties in a heart ring! Ee!

MAC's Fabulous Felines collection is obviously my favorite collection of all time. When I found out they were doing a cat collection, I almost fell out of my chair. Why I wasn't asked to be a consultant on the collection I will never know, but I'll let it slide. This time.

My favorite of the Fabulous Felines are the Leopard Luxe eyeshadow quad. LOOK at that gold! And that muted orange! So autumnal chic.

($36, MACcosmetics.com)


($14.50, MACcosmetics.com)

Love MAC's Cunning very berry lipstick. It's sold out online, so check your local MAC store.

($25, Paul & Joe Beaute, Beautyhabit.com)

It's CAT LIPSTICK! LIPSTICK IN THE SHAPE OF A CAT! I wrote about it for Naag.

($40, Joseph Aaron Segel, Prettysnake.etsy.com)

Designer and RISD professor Joseph Aaron Segel sources vintage sweater and prints cats and sews hilarious, huge stuffed animals eyes onto them! And check out his Pretty Snake acid cat screenprinted t-shirts!

($38, Joyrich, Karmaloop.com)

LOVE Joyrich because they always have comfie, casual, cheeky streetwear. Love Karmaloop because they ALWAYS have promo codes.

Please Lourdes, Don't Ever Stop Being This Rad.

OH LORDY, Lourdes. Pleae don't EVER stop dressing so perfectly. I'm literally more than twice her age, and I don't even care that my style role model is a tween.

Also, apparently Madonna makes Lourdes give her designer swag to charity. That's the way it should be. Ugh. Adorbs. ADORBS, the Lourdes!

Lourdes is in an AllSaints "Touchdown" skull tank. The rest you can probably work out on your own -- black skinny jeans, black boots, slouchy plaid button-down. Obvz. And PS: If you haven't been to the brand-new AllSaints in Soho yet, get on it. It's like a turn-of-the-century machine shop usurped an abandoned motorcycle warehouse. And Alexander Wang, Rick Owens, and Rei Kawakubo were somehow involved. Oh yeah, and while they haven't made QUITE as much noise as Topshop, AllSaints made $1 million more in their first two weeks of operation than Topshop did. Crazy, right? Not that it's a competition or anything.

Prada's Cavallino Bowler Is Doing Wild Things To My Head

I don't know who I think I am, but apparently I'm the kind of person who somehow, suddenly looks at Prada bags. Generally I write off Prada bags a.) because I can't afford them, DUHR, and b.) because I associate them with those terrible nylon black backpacks which are just the worst. But somehow I'm all into the idea of Prada's leopard-print Cavallino bowler.

($3,100, Prada, NeimanMarcus.com)

Great, right? Too bad I enjoy "eating," and "having an apartment" and "not being wildly in debt."

Anyway, my obnoxious Prada leopard-print bag fantasies inspired a major animal-print binge, which netted the following:

($585, Hammitt, Searlenyc.com)

Studs with animal print can be a leeeettle cowboy, but this bag by LA brand Hammitt still kinda works.

($745, Stella McCartney, Net-a-porter.com)

The elusive zebra-colored leopard print! Score!

($564, Opening Ceremony, Asos.com)

Opening Ceremony! Why are you so good to us? (And also, why are you so expensive?)

($158, Sam Edelman, Nordstrom)

Sam Edelman's Katrice wedge FTW! So '70s it's sick!

($80, Topshop)

I love an adventurous outfit, but have these leopard-print harem pants crossed the line from adventurous to crazy? Like Real Housewives table-flipping levels of nuts? Also, as much as I wanna make harem pants "work," I'm becoming increasingly convinced that they barely even look good on models whose body types are "pencil."

($36, Walmart)

Finally, this IS FashionBinge, where we do love a good deal, so far it be from me to leave you without something affordable. I mean, this Walmart leopard-print bag isn't the absolute worst. I'd carry it to the gym. Seriously, just tell people it's vintage deadstock, and they'll be all "ooh!"

It Happened At Topshop!

SHARK ATTACK AT TOPSHOP! Not a real shark, of course, but I was all "OMFG! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE when I saw what could only charitably be referred to as a "schmatte," to use the Yiddish colloquialism. This hyperbolically long graffiti-print maxi dress basically looks like someone stitched a bath sheet together and called it a dress.

It's actually from Topshop's Unique Spring 2010 collection, and while the maxi dress is batshit, I am kinda sad I missed the boat on this nesh shark wrap dress. Oh well. You snooze you lose.

Topshop Would Like To Sell You These Mom Shorts

I often enjoy Topshop, at least in theory, but I call bullshit on these shorts, which have all the trappings of Mom Shorts, which are the dysfunctional stepdaughter of Mom Jeans. High waist? Icky '90s light wash? BUSTED.

($55, Topshop)

New Shoes! Louise Goldin For Topshop Studded Heels

I wish Blogger had a "likes this" button. Because I'd be hitting it HARD over these Louise Goldin for Topshop studded heels.


They're $310 at Topshop.com. The black and rose ones (the rose are my faves) are online February 5, and the cream ones are available beginning March 2010. All of the Louise Goldin heels hit Topshop in New York in late March.

OR, if you can't wait, pick up some Rock & Republic needle-heel Nika heels

($295, Rock & Republic, Footcandyshoes.com)

... Or Kenna, the gorgeous boot version of Nika. It's on SUPER-DUPER sale at Shopbop.

($297, Rock & Republic, Shopbop.com)

Dear Preen Printed Dress: Why Do You Cost $1,195?

($1,195, Preen, BlueandCream.com)

Frowny fashion face. Pretty, pretty, pretty Preen dress. You're so out of my reach with your perfectly wide straps and fun layers and great graphic prints. Sigh. Here are some kinda-sorta black-and-white print dress lookalikes:

($484, Diane Von Furstenberg, Matchesfashion.com)

($78, Topshop)

(Apprx $60 USD, Missselfridge.com)

($250, Topshop.com)