Les chaussures Chloé

As much as I love my massive collection of vintage boots, I'm kind of a heel whore and when this morning I languidly searched for the Chloe motorcycle heels on my favorite comprehensive shopping search engine for no other reason than to shamelessly ogle, I came across these on amazing discount heaven Yoox, which I have coveted madly since first setting sight on them in that Spring '07 collection. Let's just say I hope these run true to size, Chloe footwear neophyte that I am....and not to play the devil's advocate here or anything, but they have a bunch more in different colors and styles...

Pardon the French title, my mom is in Paris this week and I am dyyyyyyyyyying of insane, impossible to contain jealousy. I told her to bring me stuff.

Source

Rogan jeans

I made sure to check out the Rogan line at Target this weekend..but..already highly combed over. I know, what?! Must have been released days earlier judging from the lack of selection/sizes. I did get to check this thing out..just as crazy as it looks online. Anyway, I moped on over to the dressing rooms with a couple measly items, including these jeans just for the heck of it. I've never liked any of the other GO International collaboration's denim but they seemed at least mildly promising on the rack. They, surprisingly, fit amazingly well, hugging the ankles tightly and practically screaming that they wanted to be friends with my Marc Jacobs boots. Or perhaps not so surprising, isn't denim what Rogan mainly does in the first place? Oh yeah.

I didn't really wear this since it was blazingly hot, so I just put together a simple look to photograph. Just saying.

Note: this is really hard to photograph and almost just as hard to see in real life too, but they have this weird/kinda cool/kinda don't know what to think about it leopard patterning on the sides. I like how invisible this is, and I suppose it doesn't really detract. Just...random.



T, Urban Outfitters from last spring. Jeans, Rogan for Target. Heels, Nine West. Clutch, vintage.

Auction time!

The store is packed with summer goodies..everything you see here is available in store..right now. Awesome.

Doctor doctor

Somewhere between Daisy's languid air kicks, the general ridiculousness of white boots, and a 20% off email from Shoebuy I caved. Expect analysis upon receipt.

This week's auctions

Wow I sure have a lot of sunglasses. Here are this week's auctions, exciting items abound! This is only some of the items so be sure to take a look at the rest too. Everything from Chloe to Roberto Cavalli for H&M to perfect little floral grunge dresses and quite a selection of playsuits, from XS to L.

For Sunday lazing and Nutella waffle consumption

Gasp! Click, click. Ordered.

My spring lusts

Sources: shopbop, barney's, forever21, topshop, net-a-porter, madisonla, mycatwalk, thefashionspot

Till the July sales

French Connection is always a little bewildering to me. I mean there was a certain point when all of a sudden they had a couple covetable items, which happened to coincide with last year's messily creative collagey advertising campaign. Maybe marketing just works that well on me, as I ended up purchasing a white silk sequined tunic dress that was pretty overpriced for the quality (sequins now hang by mere single threads) but I suppose I still love it anyway. I'm thinking it's going to be paired with my fringey bag sometime soon for an ethereal hippie tribute. This dress seems to have redesigned this year and is now available in a potentially completely rad chartreuse.

I find myself once again drawn to one of their pieces this year (maybe this is strictly an annual occurence?), in the form of this "Mayhem Coat". That huge bow and ridiculous amounts of volume are making my heart flutter. I like the bare legs and heels, and it would be sweet paired with a little white lace or red floral dress, I am thinking. Too bad I refuse to pay that much for what is essentially a glamorized canvas coat. Sigh.

How...subtle..

It seems Bebe has increased their trendwatcher's budget and they seem to have taken inspiration from numerous unexpected sources this season. I can't say I'm against them trying to bring a little Givenchy into the average Betty's life but still. My favorite part is the twists they give each shoe, sometimes radically altering the entire look, most notably the executive decision to make the Givenchy peep-toe lace-ups into a slide. Which can't have been done because they didn't think their rhinestone and satin-bedecked customer wasn't ready for the peep-toe boot since those too have made an appearance. I have to see this one for myself and will be scheduling an unexpected visit to my nearest Bebe sometime this week. If I return with the Schouler k/os in hand you can't say you didn't see it coming.

Sources: bebe, shopbop, barney's, yoox,

I am a sucker

Honestly. I spent a slightly exorbitant (for Topshop) amount of money on a non-designer good, in a print that could be defined as questionably quirky at best. Why, Topshop, must you dangle exposed zipper dresses before my roving internet shopping eye? I really did try to resist. Mmmmm exposed zipper...

I also wanted to offer a small apology for slow blogging lately, in addition to moving, my laptop/Photoshop-equipped blog enabler, has passed on after err 2 and a half years, leaving me temporarily incapable of even the briefest of resizings outside of Imageshack's pixel-unfriendly services (just so you know, I would normally NEVER allow that horrible black bar to remain in between the dress shots...shudder). I'm anxiously awaiting the 2-week away coming of a shiny new desktop on which I plan to immediately store incomprehensible amounts of horrible mp3s and oversized photos, just because I can. Laptops are shiny shiny and all, but also slightly fragile and too easily capable of reaching magma-like temperatures. I am even more excited since I haven't owned an actual desktop computer since...2004? And I really don't mean to still be semi-whining, but the temporary long-distance relationship I find myself in also leaves me out of a photographer. Which is the last thing I miss about him, but still. I have some amaaazing vintage to post in the store (over the knee flat boots, '80s sheer panel bondage dress, tiny floral rompers, neon-armed Wayfarers) and hopefully I'll be able to get to that this weekend. Okay end rant. Please bear with me! :)

Edit: a Macbook very generously given to me by work might save me yet!

The eelskin clutch hath arrived

A few of you asked about the more glamorous sister of the cadet blue/grayish vintage eelskin clutch I debuted this weekend, well it has arrived in my store. This thing is beyond amazing in real life, sumptuously soft to the point of insanity, in mint condition, and quite expensive-looking also I might say (even lined in suede!). Click here to check out the auction...

Stud muffin

Studs can add life to the most staid of ensembles - they're one of the best ways to juxtapose, methinks. A quick search on eBay turned up some interesting options, the leather gloves winning the award for most fascinating. The gold metallic bag's Stam-like shape intrigued me, though it's definitely sort of an "ugly chic" piece that would have be worn carefully. If anything here strikes your fancy, just mix up the search terms "vintage", "studded, and "stud", should be pretty easy to sift through.

My Forever21 haul

I caved. I was starting to feel like I was wearing the same thing all the time. However disconnected that thought might be from reality, the urge for newness conquered me and I painstakingly put together quite a varied order from Forever21. In it are included a men's stripey French-reminiscent pullover, a dropwaist feathery concoction that could prove to be disastrous upon receipt (my first Twelve by Twelve exploration!), weird meshy oxford heels, and a jeweled collar/cuff combo that I have no idea what to do with but promptly decided I needed to own. Will be reporting back upon receipt in 5-10 days.

PS - They are now shipping abroad! How wondrous. It seems that their shipping and handling is sort of more outrageous than Topshop's, but at least the clothes are cheaper I suppose..

All pics, Forever21.

Tiger uppercut

Okay sorry, totally lame Street Fighter reference. Man I hated Sagat. Anyway, I've been seeing a lot of tiger motif/print pieces everywhere (or I just randomly started noticing them more), and conducted an eBay search for "vintage tiger" out of boredom (well in between trying to resuscitate my hangover stricken boyfriend) to see what there was to be found in the old global marketplace. I'm particularly enamored with the Michael Kors on crack swimsuit, quite lustworthy. I didn't really find the tiger face emblazoned oversized 80s Tshirt dress I was imagining, but I'm sure with some dedication and patience it could be done. Though I should probably work on procuring the vintage leopard print coat of my dreams first to fill the painful void in my closet, one animal-inspired piece at a time.

This week's vintage goodies

Lots of fun stuff in my eBay store, click here to check it out!

Fun photos

Admittedly, I am rarely inspired by modeling's new faces enough to post, but after catching a first glimpse of the Argentinian Flo Gennaro in Teen Vogue's Love Story editorial this month, I was fascinated enough to scrounge around on thefashionspot for more photos...the girl is amazing, with the sharp catlike eyes I've always been jealous of and a sort of raw energy that translates through in every shot.




What is it about Lula that makes me want to be blonde and 4 years old?



In a literally ancient issue of Teen Vogue, I tore out this picture and folded it up between the pages of one of my many inspiration journals. I later scanned it, regretting the foolish decision to mar it so. Folds and all, Carine's beauty is mesmerizing, I wish there were more photos floating about on the internet of her in those days.









I look forward to Vogue Paris' En Vogue feature every month. The items are always relatable yet inspiring, and the fringey boho accessories, denim shorts, and spring-appropriate boots are no exception. The spread also reminds me how badly I need an oversized brown leather bag...



Marios Schwab for Topshop. Lust. Once again, immediately sold out.



I'm always weirdly gleeful when new Keira candids surface. She always looks comfortably cozy and masterfully layered while still almost managing to convince me she didn't agonize over what colored beanie and which fabulous bag she should wear. I'm loving the medieval peasant-ish footwear too.



Lily Donaldson would have perfect taste in little black dresses.




And lastly, I just wanted to declare how much I miss Susan Eldridge. This photo sums it all up.

Teen Vogue Carine pic, scanned by me. Other pics, thefashionspot and keirapictures.com, Paris Vogue scans by member Diorette.

Yesterday's news

Dress, vintage. Knit coat, scored at Marshall's. Shoes, Bebe. Bag, Old Navy.

Yesterday, between losing internet spontaneously and miserably weird 40s temperatures, began as an annoying mess, so I decided to console myself with a creamy mocha and a perusal of a beachside cheapy boutique I've always wanted to check out. Downtrodden spirits lifted as soon as I saw a dusty pink dress with alive-looking collar ruffles that I determined to be perfect for the night's Valentine's dinner (perfect with my Oh Deer CL Lastic k/os) and a pair of electric blue skinnies with an extremely friendly $20 price tag. New stuff = happiness.

{Though my favorite purchase of the week has to be this mint condition dress form I scored at a thrift store, clean, sturdy, and marked "Elegance LA". I've already had an enormous amount of fun playing dress up with it and am even considering naming it.}

The night ended up being completely magical, with a wine-heavy dinner at our favorite Thai place that was also where we had our first date almost 3 and a half years ago..one of the best Valentine's I've ever had. Hope everyone else had a wonderful time too!

The ol' Topshop wishlist

I have a semi-bitter love/hate relationship with Topshop's website...so many necessary items, but everything is always sold out when I'm ready to click through an order. I recognize that there are worse problems to be had, but still. I'm feeling relatively anguished over the fact that I apparently missed my chance to order the Maggie button-down skirt. How can such a simple item elude me so! And yes I tried on the Urban Outfitters version, and the extra small sat low on my hips, which it was probably supposed to, but methinks the entirety of the allure of this item is based on the fact that it be high waisted.

And the shoes! So many amazing(-ly weird) boots to be had! Just not sure if they're worth like over $200. But talk about taking hybrid shoes to the level after the next. Quite sassy. Oh, and that's the back of the dress (top right)...it was more interesting than the front.

Lastly, hmm it seems I am not the only awkwardly pigeon toed poser. I seriously don't know why I do this, to the surprisingly large amount of people that have inquired. I mean I don't walk like that or anything but I think it helps me to stabilize when standing still for a photo? Especially in heels? Maybe? At this point it's so ingrained that it's almost difficult not to. I tried.

All pics, topshop.com. Obv.

Tara Subkoff for Bebe

When I first heard tell of Tara for Bebe, I squealed inwardly with excitement, images of her relatively fabulous/quirky personal style, her much-coveted-by-me Easy Spirit line (I never mustered up the cash for a pair of my own), and her adorable character in The Last Days of Disco flitting through my mind gleefully. And then the photos surfaced...overly Valentine's-inspired (this is relevant for approximately one week of the year) and cheesy. I can barely recognize Tara through the wrappy ruffles and am pretty sure that lookalikes of these items could be find at any cheaper mall store. I suppose I expected more of someone with such close ties to Sevigny. The stripey top/skirt ensemble is cute but I'm pretty sure that everyone already has some version of these items in their wardrobes. Props for the monochromatic red outfit though, pretty intrepid for a company as mass as Bebe.



However, a couple clicks through their shoe section had me lusting after these two-tone sandals. Bebe can always be relied upon for having a couple lustworthy, almost misogynistically vertiginous heels. These would be perfect for achieving the Teen Vogue-inspired ankle sock/strappy sandal look noted previously.

All pics, bebe.com.

Creamy lace heaven

Once in a while in my travels, I come across a truly breathtaking vintage piece that actually makes my heart start pounding harder. I saw all the potential in this one when I picked it up, but I think the fit even exceeded those expectations. I think I would actually describe those sleeves as glorious and mean it. Alas, I can't keep every vintage gem I find..my puny closet that my boyfriend has already sacrificed most of for me doth overflow. Up for auction on eBay right now, ending on Wednesday.