I’ve been a big fan of Kidrobot for all its quirky toys from Japan and Europe. Loitering in their stores reminds me of running around Tokyo collecting trinkets/toys from the seemingly endless vending machines. After all, Japan has about 1 vending machine to every 23 people or so according to recent stats.
Tokidoki, which means sometimes in Japanese, is a more recent love for me. It’s a company founded by Simone Legno, an Italian enamored with Japan. His company now collaborates with many other brands to produce toys, jewelry, clothing and trinkets for kids and mostly adults who still think they are kids.
And that’s where I come in. I fell for Tokidoki because of their release of this limited edition Karl Lagerfeld collectible figure:
So imagine my giddy excitement when I saw that the ubiquitous Sephora was bringing a Tokidoki capsule to their stores this summer. There are tank tops, mint tins, and eyeshadow quartets in adorable acrylic cases (I have a thing for boxes and cases):
I’ll have to troll several Sephoras for the makeup bag. They restock most Thursdays and that’s always the first item to get sold out. Guess where I’ll be this Thursday!
Tags: Karl Lagerfeld, Kidrobot, Sephora, Tokidoki, Tokyo
Ever since Coco Chanel made it cool to look like a gondolier I’ve been collecting Breton or mariner shirts. A fashion editor in one of my favorite magazines once wrote that women over the age of 30 should stop wearing stripes, especially the horizontal kind. I was past 30 when I read that and stored it in the back of my fashion brain, but look…
…so basically, (a) I don’t really listen to advice, and (b) I just can’t seem to get over tuxedo or mariner shirts. Luckily the fashion gods agree with me about the latter this spring/summer. The nautical striped shirts are everywhere you look, at all price points.
And since my entry started with a reference to my favorite French designer, just for fun, the title for today’s FIMTSO episode is Une Semaine à Paris (a week in Paris). It is a capsule of how I would pack around one key item for a trip that involves business and play and multiple weather possibilities.
Test Item: KORS by Michael Kors black/white mariner lightweight pullover sweater.
Look 1: Since the fantasy here involves Paris, let’s bring out the good stuff. For a business meeting I would pair the top with the Chanel wool tweed skirt from their 09 Moscou Paris collection. Black patent Manolos finish the look.
Look 2: That skirt comes with a matching jacket and if I needed to, I would wear it with the look above. But let’s say my meeting spills over into dinner and I want to not look so Nancy-Reagan-formal–I’d swap out the skirt for a pair of black 7 For All Mankind skinny jeans. But since we are in Paris, I’d keep the heels for dinner (for some reason my French sounds better when I am tottering in cute shoes!):
Look 3: Let’s say on the third day of my trip Karl Lagerfeld announces to the world that I am his latest muse and must immediately make my way to 31 rue cambon before my fantasy expires. After I recover from my fainting spell, I consider putting on my Chanel ballgown, but no, I’m here to represent the All-American casual look. So I’d slip the top under the 09A black tweed tunic and pair it with a pair of white palazzo pants. White palazzo pants? Pourquoi pas? I’m sure to wear my high heels (see what I wrote above) and red classic flap just to add a pop of color:
Errr, if I had four minutes of face time with KL, why would I be wearing a shirt that I’d already worn two days in a row already? Because, dear readers, in one’s fantasy there’s no room for logic or common sense. But anyway…let’s continue with this episode, shall we?
Look 4: On the last day of my week I spend the morning at the musée Picasso followed by an afternoon in old book stores. Sigh, the idea of this is making me drool already. I’d want to dress comfortably so all I need with the top is a pair of my Ann Taylor Loft denim sailor pants. Sidebar: can you believe I only paid $18 for these white jeans? And yes, Imelda here did buy two pairs. An Alexander McQueen chiffon scarf completes my look; I’d probably wear some black sandals or white leather Converse sneakers:
Look 5: If for any reason Paris is chilly and hazy on my trip, I’d forgo the white pants in Look 4 for Hudson jeans instead. My 07A peacoat rounds out my nautical theme. And the red flap is still appropriate for work or play (though I would not wear the red purse with the red suit above):
So this episode begs the question…just what exactly would I wear to meet Kaiser Karl? Maybe we can visit that scenario in a future blog entry. I welcome all suggestions!
Tags: 31 rue cambon, 7 For All Mankind, Ann Taylor, Breton, Coco Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, mariner shirt, McQueen, Paris
At last count I have about 9…ok, 12 tuxedo shirts in my closet, so it looks like I’m destined to become a maître d’ or a symphony conductor. Or a female James Bond (though Larkie Bond just doesn’t sound as fab, does it?). Lucky for me, the tuxedo shirt makes its round every few seasons or so and I can sneak it into my outfits as easily as any pleated shirt.
In today’s FIMTSO episode, let’s see how many ways I can disguise an updated tuxedo shirt that’s not meant to be your basic white one.
Test Item: JCrew blue lightweight cotton tuxedo shirt.
Business: I’m playing the blue against a pair of grey linen herringbone cuffed pants and some fun jewelry, all by way of JCrew. BTW, if I loved JCrew before, I LOVE JCrew now because they’ve added a new size to their petite line and I no longer have to get anything altered! Woohoo, no more bubble butt! Sorry, TMI. The shoes are one of my favorite pairs of grey shoes ever by Chanel because of the leather camellia at the front.
Casual: Since it’s warm and all here, I thought why not go outside of my comfort zone and wear shorts. In the event that I might still be considered for the soon-to-be-vacant seat on the Supreme Court (and that’s about as likely as my nomination to succeed Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel), I should never show body parts anywhere on the Internet, but for some reason this shirt wanted to be paired with these Libertine shorts. Let’s pretend I’m 21 and would actually leave the house in this get-up. In hindsight I think a white tux shirt might be cuter with these shorts though.
Play: Here’s the shirt with a pair of velvet theory pants and René Caovilla heels for dinner out. Caovilla makes the BEST dressy heels…works of art!
A couple close-ups of some accessories in this episode:
Tags: Chanel, FIMTSO, Gucci, JCrew, Karl Lagerfeld, Libertine, René Caovilla, tuxedo shirt
I’m pulling a Tiger Woods and making an unnecessarily public apology today. On the way to shopping rehab I’ve done a complete face plant. Have fallen and cannot get up. My shopping ban has been a total failure; I blame some of it on my weakness and a lot more on the releases of Sonia Rykiel at H&M and Jean Paul Gaultier (JPG) at Target on March 7. So after this week (hey, at least I’m not lying about cheating with JPG), I will head back to rehab. No timeline as to when I will return to the sporting world of shopping.
Since all of my shopping skeletons are rattling their way out of my closet anyway, I might as well confess about the jaunt to Robertson Boulevard this past weekend. You know, the short but deadly block where you can find the second Chanel boutique (I actually love this cozy location a little more than its big sister in Beverly Hills) a few doors down from the paparazzi’d The Ivy restaurant and the enchanting Les Habitudes boutique.
I had stopped by Robertson to check out the new 1969 boutique that the GAP has recently made a permanent fixture after using it as a pop-up store for the Stella McCartney for GapKids release. If you like denim as much as I do, this is a fun place to see all kinds of jeans openly displayed in a way that I wish I could replicate in my own closet. OMG I’m such a liar! I didn’t come here to check anything out…I came here to buy a jacket that had quickly sold out. I know, there’s a GAP in every town to supply the whole country but believe it or not, they do come up with something once in a while that becomes a hard-to-find best seller. The Robertson location had the only XS that I could find in this region. So here’s the $59.50 black knit motorcycle jacket (PS: my lil sis even had a 20% off coupon for me to use! what a score!):
But even standing inside the GAP at 109 S. Robertson, I could feel the gravitational pull from 125 N. Robertson. It’s probably whatever voodoo spell Karl Lagerfeld has put on me that made me march straight from the GAP to the Chanel boutique. I knew it was wrong, didn’t want to do it, but my feet went on autopilot, and there I was inside the breezy foyer of the store in under 60 seconds. Putting this Chanel addict inside the white walled boutique is like locking an alcoholic inside a liquor store. So many beautiful bags and shoes and clothes on display! Who cares that I’ve seen a Chanel jacket reinvented a million times–with each season’s new buttons and trims, it’s as if I’m looking at it for the first time. And I fall in love all over again. So maddening that Lagerfeld refuses to release an ugly collection when I’m on a ban!
Anyway, on the first floor near the window, what do I spy but a black knit motorcycle jacket–the very same one that I had seen from trunk show pictures earlier this year. The very same one that had been added to my Spring buy list:
Let’s just say the tax alone on the Chanel version is about 4 times the total price of my GAP one after tax. And except for the quilting on the hems and logo on the zipper pulls, I honestly can’t say I could justify the sticker shock. Chanel’s leather version of the moto jacket, however, is a different story. Now that’s one cool jacket but it’s also twice as much as its knit version. I clutch my GAP find a little tighter and think I’ll save my pennies for a classic Chanel tweed jacket instead. On some trendier pieces, it’s enough to fill the craving with something non-designer as long as the quality and fit are decent. And of course if the price is right!
Luckily the rain was coming and that prodded me to leave the store before I could talk myself into buying something…some thingS. I’ve already failed the ban and couldn’t make it worse by sticking around here. But this one brief peek inside the boutique did trigger a question, and I’ll blog about that in the next entry.
Anyhow, in the words of Tiger Woods, “I want to ask for your help. I ask you to find room in your hearts to one day believe in me again.” Because let’s face it, I don’t believe in me when I say I can stop shopping. Do you?
Tags: Chanel, Gap, H&M, Jean Paul Gaultier, Karl Lagerfeld, Robertson Boulevard, Sonia Rykiel, Target, Tiger Woods
*Both photos here courtesy of Lyndsey Chong. I blame her and all other enablers who feed my insatiable appetite for Chanel.
I belong to an online community that gabs about designer handbags. More specifically, I hang out in the forum where we discuss ad nauseum all things CHANEL. Now I may already have my fair share of Chanel goodies in my closet and have challenged myself to a total shopping ban in ‘09 (well, before you congratulate me on my restraint, the ban is in anticipation of an exotic Birkin somewhere in the near future) (can’t wait till I go orange, but I digress…), I still love looking at the pictures posted by other members of the forum. Pictures of new bags as they are released. Pictures of old bags from beloved, past collections. Pictures of shoes, RTW, accessories. If it’s Chanel, I have to look. Yes, it’s worse than a train wreck. I rationalize the time spent at this forum as research. No fashionista can do too little research! And truth be told, it’s eye candy that stimulates my brain while I’m sleepwalking through conference calls in my day gig. Did I just say that out loud?
What spurs me to write about the above bag, however, is the fact that it stopped me dead in my tracks as soon as I saw its photograph. And I usually pass on all things girly girl. But the color is delicious, especially on that buttery lambskin. The limited edition Valentine charms on the classic chain are just trop adorables! Go with me on this: I see myself in a voluminous, pale blue linen sundress, a pair of camellia sandals on my feet, and a silk scarf around my neck. I’m having a good hair day as I sit on the back of a vespa (cue the wind machine), zipping through Ibiza on my way to meet Uncle Karl for a late lunch. You can see this sweet little purse dangling on my shoulder, can’t you? Ok, first of all, I know I need to stop talking about Karl Lagerfeld like I’m some kind of a stalker. Like I know him or something. This is already his third mention in my two-months-old blog, but it’s impossible to talk about Chanel without referencing the man responsible for turning this couture house into an 800-pound gorilla that toys with our affection, even in these economic times. And second of all, I need to stop with these scenarios that run through my head every time a bag catches my fancy. You’ve seen my travel pictures. Is it really realistic that I’d bring such a high maintenance bag on one of my many adventures?
OK, so where was I? Right, we were in Ibiza on a sunny day. The problem with this whole fantasy sequence is that I see my own face and the voice in my head gasps; it’s asking me if the bag is age appropriate! Since when did I become the age police? Sure, fashion police is fine, but age police? I rewind the tape in my mind and look again. And yep, I’m sure I’d look pretty ridiculous carrying a bag that’s more suitable for someone half my age. Does fashion have an expiration date? Let me rephrase that: do I have an expiration date when it comes to what I should not wear? Aging is not my strong suit, and I feel faint.
Living in LA is a lot like living in a trompe-l’oeil. You will often see a scantily-clad, hot body with bleached hair, but as soon as she turns around you may see an overly Botoxed sixtysomething living in denial of the reflection in her mirror. If I’m glib in writing that, it’s because I, too, can fall just as easily into that sand trap. We are youth obsessed in this town, and if we pretend not to see the inevitable signs of aging, we can be 19 forever. In our own minds anyway. But am I being anti-feminist if I don’t cheer her on to fight society and dress as she pleases? Do I cringe in equal amounts if I see a man dressing much too young for his age? Though I’m not sure what qualifies as dressing overly youthful for men…are we talking about skinny jeans here? But isn’t fashion about dressing as one pleases? It’s one of the few pleasures left in life that won’t cause cancer…right?
I always shudder when I see the editorials in fashion magazines that recommend what’s appropriate to wear in your twenties, thirties, forties, etc. I just have a problem with age setting a limit on fashion because for some of us, by the time we can afford designer garb, we are already outside of those demographics. And setting an expiration date on some looks smacks too much of censorship. I want to say fashion should empower us; we should apply only one rule in fashion: live and let live. But in spite of my love for the freedom of expression, I think sometimes it’s OK for me to listen to the voice inside my head to assess the damage from Mother Nature and cut my losses. And dress appropriately. So as much as I’d love to collect this lovely bag, it’s past my expiration date.
Having said all that, let’s look closely at the charms, shall we?
Do you see the one that says Bonne Chance (“good luck”)? As in good luck finding this bag. Good luck trying to baby a light colored lambskin bag. Good luck trying to un-snag the charms from your clothes. Good luck making up a million more excuses to not love this bag. Good luck getting this bag out of my head. Sigh.
Tags: Birkin, Chanel, expiration date, Fashion, Karl Lagerfeld, Valentine
