REMNANTS

• Yet another reason to buy online: several department stores have purposefully installed fitting room doors backwards as a preventative measure against theft. This is apparently legal in Florida, where a local news station uncovered the privacy-thwarting doors that enable store employees to see into dressing rooms. At that point, why not just install cameras? Or, even better, create a single giant Panopticon-like dressing room so customers can be self-policing? (Gawker)


• Inspired by a fire at his New York studio, Helmut Lang mulched around 6000 of his pieces for use as fodder in a new sculpture series. You might ask yourself, why destroy important works from your fashion archive to create what appears to be stripper poles made out of insulation material? Well, Helmut Lang don’t care. Helmut Lang don’t give a shit. Oh, and the exhibition’s name is MAKE IT HARD. There’s also that. (Styleite)


• Kate Middleton wore the same thing twice and the gossip magazines freaked out about it while the rest of us fell in love with her a little more (except for Kelly Osbourne, who can suck it). (People)


• What is with celebs and their lipstick lines these days? Now we have Rachel Zoe and her Exude lipstick. I feel like I’m missing why I should feel compelled to buy cosmetics from random celebrities. If I wanted a fur-trimmed maxi dress or poncho made out of raven feathers, I would look to Rachel Zoe. Lipstick? Not so much. I have to say, though - the Try It On technology on her site is totally awesome. (SheFinds)


• Rachel Zoe is also launching a kids clothing line which she says will be “American cool with the European chic. But still very attainable.” I’m not sure if Rachel Zoe and I have the same idea of what constitutes attainable. Look, I have a 4.5 month old baby, and my spending habits have of course swung in favor of his needs over mine. However, when it comes to clothing, as much as I like for him to look funky fresh, I always keep the following in mind when purchasing his outfits: a) he’s going to grow out of it in two seconds, b) it’s going to get pooped on at least half a dozen times. Still, I’m morbidly curious to see this line of mini raven feather ponchos. (StyleList)


• Karl Lagerfeld’s capsule collection for Macy’s Impulse now has an ad campaign featuring FO favorite Coco Rocha. (FashionEtc)

Above photo: The Fireplace Project

REMNANTS

• Christian Louboutin is currently suing everybody and their brother who dares to design a shoe with a red sole. Well, that’s silly, you say to yourself. Trademarking the color red would be like Donald Trump trademarking the phrase “you’re fired” or Paris Hilton trademarking “that’s hot.” OH, WAIT. As Yves Saint Laurent hilariously pointed out, Louboutin can hardly be considered the originator of the red sole given that Louis XIV was pairing his pantaloons with red kicks. (New York Magazine)


• Poor Halston is having a rough month. Last week SJP broke up with Halston Heritage, and now Harvey Weinstein has similarly bailed, ostensibly to focus on lofty film pursuits like Spy Kids Part 201 (it’s 4-D!) Not only will there be no Spring 2012 collection, but Fall 2011 deliveries are potentially being canceled. (My Fashion Database Blog)


• In less heavy news, Gwen Stefani will be designing a kids line for Target slated for release this fall. I personally can’t wait to get my baby super kawaii in Harajuku Mini. (The Independent)


• In other celebrity collections that I can endorse (unlike last week), Kanye West is possibly launching a line for reals this time. He’ll allegedly be collaborating with knitwear designer Louise Goldin on a high-end women’s line. Fingers crossed that he includes affordable tees printed with some of his best Twitter expositions. (Sun Sentinel)


• Kate Spade is launching a lipstick collection and everyone is freaking out about how ‘genius’ the name is. It’s Supercalifragilipstick. Did your socks literally blow across the room in amazement? Yeah, mine neither. Also a bit debatable is the fact that the four shades are in fact lipstick/gloss combinations, not the kind of retro creamy matte shade one would expect from Spade. (Styleite)


• If Miami Fashion Week Swim 2012 is any indication, the new ‘it’ beach cover-up is pants. This is certainly better news than a sheer cropped tank top as the next cover-up trend, although apparently also on the slate are high-waisted bikini bottoms, and as Taylor Swift proved, those are just bad news all around. (AP via The Straits Times)

Above photo: Kate Spade via Styleite

REMNANTS

• To further confuse the whole vintage versus secondhand versus pre-owned versus simply old crap conversation, now retailers are attempting to cash in by blurring the line even further. You have stores like J. Crew and Lucky Brand stamping the word vintage on tees, Urban Outfitters, Chick Downtown and Free People selling vintage items along with new collections, and couturiers creating “vintage-inspired” pieces. I suppose if I were sitting behind a dusty countertop of signed rhinestone pins wearing cat eye glasses somewhere the semantics of this would really cheese me off, but eh - people got to get paid. The article does name check The Way We Wore, which was one of my favorite vintage stores in Los Angeles along with Entre Nous and Decades. (Los Angeles Times)


• You would think that we have enough fashion-y competitive reality shows, but you would be wrong! Nicole Richie and John Varvatos are the newest mentors on NBC’s Fashion Star, joining the illustrious ranks of host Elle Macpherson and fellow mentor Jessica Simpson. I hope skinny didn’t take Nicole’s sass away, because hilarity could ensue when she’s confronted with the enigma wrapped in a buffalo wing that is Jessica Simpson. (Entertainment Weekly)


• Joe Jonas went to a Calvin Klein runway show and now totally wants to do some sort of collaboration. Or, as Joe more eloquently put it, “they [Calvin Klein] wanna do some stuff, I wanna do some stuff with them.” I’m sure he’s a perfectly nice young fellow, but ugh, this just makes my brain bleed. (Contact Music)


• In other “get off my lawn” news, Avril Lavigne has expanded her Abbey Dawn clothing line. I have a guilty love of “What the Hell,” but I’m pretty sure Avril Lavigne is a terrible person. (Backseat Cuddler)


• This week in John Galliano speculation: he’s doing a Topshop collection. No, wait - he’s not. (Huffington Post)


• In real Topshop news, an image of model Codie Young (above) has been pulled from the site amid complaints that she looked unhealthily thin. The image has since been replaced with a new one of Codie looking less skeletal/wearing more layers. (Telegraph)

Above photo: Topshop

REMNANTS

• Aye yay yay. So John Galliano’s trial is set to start on Wednesday in Paris, and a whole new rash of dirty details is emerging. I have such mixed feelings about all of this. On one hand, I want to say that he was drunk and that his inexcusable behavior was largely a result of alcohol combined with natural feistiness and hyperbolism rather than just being a terrible person. On the other hand, I’ve always thought Mel Gibson’s drunken rants were an outpouring of his true beliefs, so clearly I am being more than a little biased in favor of fashion genius. If there is any bright spot to all of this, it’s telling someone that they have “low-end boots and low-end thighs.” (Jezebel)


• You have to love Azzedine Alaia’s refusal to kowtow or conform (without resorting to racist drunken rants). Now he’s on record ripping Karl Lagerfeld and Anna Wintour respective new ones. You could say it’s career suicide, but this is not his first time at the Wintour rodeo. (Page Six)


• Have you heard about Gypset Style yet? It’s a new far flung luxury clothing site that is sort of one of those ideas that you wish you had thought of (and by you, I mean me). Check it out - my one sour grape-y thing I will say is that I detest almost all animated or flash intros on shopping sites - I’m here to buy, yo, not to be sent into the throes of epilepsy! (Wall Street Journal)


• The red soles and four digit price tags aren’t just for the ladies - check out Christian Louboutin’s Fall 2011 men’s collection! (Highsnobiety)


• In more affordable news, Versace is doing an H&M collection! Apparently it took a recession or two to convince Donatella that this was a good idea. (The Frisky)


• Andddddd Banana Republic is doing a Mad Men collection? Given that Mad Men character costumes were considered “so last year” last Halloween, this seems a bit shark jumpy, but considering that I still totally want to be Joan Holloway, it could have legs. (The New York Times)

Above photo: Christian Louboutin’s Rollerboy Spikes, $1195

REMNANTS

• You guys! So apparently you all watched American Idol or went to a Siouxsie Sioux concert or something, and now you are hellbent on sticking feathers in your hair. Which would be totally fine, I guess, except for the fact that roosters and fly fishing shops alike cannot keep up with your demand! Let’s just agree to keep our feathers where they belong: on headbands. (Gawker)


• In other fashion anomalies, Jil Sander and Grey Ant have both teamed up with Teva to create the footwear equivalent of Frankenstein’s monster, or, as I’m sure they call it, comfortable heels. On one hand, they look like Tevas with heels (particularly the Grey Ant version), and on the other hand, they are ridiculously expensive. My advice is to skip all this nonsense and Ebay yourself a pair of Anyi Lu or Chie Mihara pumps. (StyleList)


• While working as Creative Director at Yves Saint Laurent, Tom Ford used to get handwritten hate mail from YSL himself. According to Ford it was because he grew the business exponentially, but I think it’s fair to assume his enviable preternatural hotness may have played a role. In any case, sounds like he saved them for the scrapbook! (Refinery29)


• Speaking of all things Ford, he’s now launching a beauty line. Ordinarily this would elicit a big fat meh from me, as I can’t and won’t keep up with fashion/beauty collaborations, but it is Tom Ford we’re talking about. Add in Ford’s no-nonsense approach (“there are a lot of products out there you don’t even need”), an intriguingly named fragrance of Jasmin Rouge and a superhot ad campaign with Lara Stone, and even I might be a convert. (Women’s Wear Daily)


• Man ankles: hot or not? A completely innocuous yet oddly titillating sock-less gallery follows. (Wall Street Journal)

Photo credit: Nana’s Beverly Headband at Forzieri, $450.

FO FINDS: VINTAGE BEN-AMUN PEARL TASSEL PIN

I have been trolling through Ebay for whatever my current obsession is pretty much since the dawn of time (which is to say, 1994). It’s kind of funny, because I’m not a particular fan of digging through non-curated thrift stores, yet I will explore every dusty corner, single earring and dented shoebox of Ebay. I suppose it’s because the physical world doesn’t come with a search box or control F function.

I love me some statement jewelry under normal circumstances, and for the last 6 months or so I’ve been on a particular tear - mostly due to being pregnant and giving birth in March. For starters, with the rainbow of changes my body has gone through in the past year, it didn’t make sense to buy a ton of clothes until I’m more or less back to my normal shape. I also didn’t want to look like an apeainthepodatron while pregnant, so I found myself rocking the gigantic bling along with my gigantic belly.

Anyhow, two of my favorite jewelers to search for lately (as well as two of my favorite jewelry designers in general) are Bounkit and Ben-Amun, the former of whom sadly does not have a lot of presence on Ebay (although he does have an HSN line, more on that later).

There is, on the other hand, a virtual treasure trove of Ben-Amun on Ebay. You can find a decent amount of newer Ben-Amun items, but what I really seek out is the vintage - so many great statement pieces that are totally current. I recently snagged the above brooch for a mere $6.99, and it combines my love of sweater pins, tassels and pearls in one neat little package.

The pin is pretty singular (another nice thing about vintage finds), but I did turn up some other pieces in a similar spirit.

Along These Lines…

Vintage Hattie Carnegie Tassel Brooch, $54.99 (OBO)

Vintage Art Deco Tassel Brooch, $15.99

Chanel Pearl Brooch, $389.95

18K Yellow Gold & Pearl Pin, $895