Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bargain, cheap, deals, fashion, forever 21, lookalikes, shopping, style, tiffany and co
Tap into your inner Blair Waldorf with these bow necklaces!
Tiffany and Co, $100.
100 doesn’t sound too bad, right? Especially considering the fact that it’s T & Co. But for those with slightly thriftier tastes, there’s the equally cute alternative at Forever 21.
Forever 21, $3.80.
Don’t say this girl doesn’t try to score the best deals!
- CG
Filed under: fall/winter 2009, shopping | Tags: boots, fall/winter 2009, shoes, urban outfitters, what i want now
I’m kind of a photo buff (or at least, I aspire to be) and as I was idly flipping through Urban Outfitters and wondering what to do with all my leftover 4×6 prints from photography, I happened upon this wonder. Truly a godsend and currently on sale for two for $25, so I suggest you snap one up before they all go!
I’m an avid shopper – not compulsive, mind you, Becky Bloomwood has nothing to worry about in terms of competition. Rather, I shop sales, clearance, vintage – and whenever a good deal comes along it’s hard not to get carried away and buy a few impulse buys. With a student’s budget (read: zero income at all) you find yourself to be empty-handed quite a lot of the time. This shirt describes the condition of my wallet at the moment. Shopaholics who are always finding themselves short of cash – why not make it a trend? 
The wide-necked collar and almost unfinished sense of finality of the message is enough to make me hand over my debit card. I adore the longer-cut sleeves and boyish slouchy feel of the top! Now if only I could get my hands on those jeans..!
What proud member of the Francophiles Anonymous Association could pass this up? Oh fine, we’re hardly anonymous – you could spot us a mile away in our trying-too-hard-to-look-French ensemble, the dog poo we carry on the soles of our shoes for luck, and our poor attempts to slide a phrase or two into conversation. Don this top for a subtle, cute, and definitely un-creepy touch of Paris in your outfit.
Gorgeous, buttery soft, and neutral – so it matches everything. And under 100 bucks to boot! (See what I did back there?) Seriously digging the laces and the old-timey feeling of the detailing on the side. I suspect these will feature heavily in my fall look – can you not help but immediately start to visualize dozens of outfits all revolving around these amazing boots?
I know it’s still summer, but who can’t help but already check out pieces for fall? This lace-inset sweater is cozy to the max and oh-so-comfy. I can already imagine wearing black skinny cords and a warm wool peacoat with hot chocolate in hand with this beauty.
Hope you enjoyed the latest installment of What I Want Now! Stay tuned for more!
(Oh and there will be more: I want a lot of things. )
I recently uploaded a dozen or so photos to my personal blog here and I thought I’d share them! Check them out and comment pwease.
Here’s a few photos to tease:
Hoping you check them out!
- CG
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: fashion, joan jett, kurt cobain, music, nancy spungen, nirvana, rock n roll, sex pistols, sid vicious, style crush, taylor momsen, the runaways
I’ve personally always been a fan of the hardcore scene – sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll and all of that. Sid Vicious? Hit me up. The Runaways? All for it.
The glitzy, laid-back glamour of the Sex Pistols and Nirvana and other grunge-y, punk pop bands always had that dirty glam appeal to me. The razor-cut hair, the beaten up boots, the messy makeup – they all spoke of this high-up glitterworld where I could never be.
I grew up in a time when one of the kings of grunge – Kurt Cobain – had just died, and boy bands and girl groups were merging into the music scene. The scruffy clothes and dirty-soled Converses were being traded for sky-high platforms and gold lamé minidresses, the hastily done locks for bottle blonde permawaves.
Despite all of this (or maybe because) I learned to embrace all kinds of music – the drugged out rock of the seventies, the cookie-cutter pop of the early nineties, the mainstream and indie scene of today.
Unfortunately, the punk look doesn’t quite suit me.
Round-faced and wholesome faces with curly hair and long-lashed eyes don’t really go hand in hand with the emaciated heroin-addict’s sunken jowls and shrunken figure. So I decided to play it safe – stick to the classics, be trendy, be boring.
Then Taylor Momsen came along and shook things up.
Her Teen Vogue photo shoot was totally channeling Joan Jett. Check the picture out if you don’t believe.
Her blonde cropped ‘do – remind you of anyone?
Sound bites from the pint-sized rock goddess: “I grew up listening to the Beatles, Blondie, and Joan Jett, and I love Nirvana.”
On her hair: “I had long, pretty hair, and it didn’t fit me. I’m pretty, but I’m not, like, a ‘pretty girl.’ So I pulled up a bunch of photos of Joan Jett and said, ‘Do that to my hair.’”
She’s not just tapping into her inner punk princess as Jenny – she’s also adopted the look in real life!
Loving the smile and hoping she’ll keep us entertained with her unique style!
- CG
Filed under: interview | Tags: fashion, global, hipster, internet, lookbook, san francisco, SF, style, trends, trendy, website, yuri lee
Yuri Lee, 23. The hip new face on the fashion circuit.
Why? Simply because her innovative fashion wesbite, LOOKBOOK.nu, is getting a lot of hype among the hipster elite of the world.
With users from foreign fancies like France, Russia, and Hong Kong clicking in daily, you’d think she’d be letting all of this fame go to her head.
Not so!
The SF native has much to say on style, being a workaholic, and what fashion means to her.
Hey there, Yuri! Unique ideas and the people behind them are exactly my niche, and your site is a perfect squeeze! On LOOKBOOK.nu’s FAQ, you describe yourself as “just a girl hailing from San Francisco who likes art, fashion and culture”. What do you have to say about that?
I guess I like to keep a low profile…and I don’t feel like anything particularly special or amazing just because I have a website. The amazing ones are the people that post their amazing style on our site…even after a year of seeing beautiful looks everyday, I am still blown away by everyones’ talent!
What was the inspiration behind this massively successful venture?
Fashion has always been an important part of my life and at the time I was intrigued by the Sartorialist and by other “what are you wearing today” forums. My boyfriend was working for a well known social network. We combined both our passions and the result was LOOKBOOK.nu!
What was the biggest challenge in setting up LOOKBOOK?
Getting the word out! My boyfriend and I were both broke and we had to find a way to alert the fashion world about our project. Some might call what we did spamming, but we spent days upon days searching for the right uses for LOOKBOOK.
Any advice to those who are looking to start their own fashion site?
We’ve always had our ups and downs and believe me when I say the downs have been very discouraging sometimes. So I guess my advice is don’t get too caught up in failure or success. A site truly dies when you stop working on it.
Cutie Gregory C. showing off his American Apparel dreads from across the Atlantic.
LOOKBOOK.nu was established in April 2008 and has grown incredibly ever since. To what would this be accredited?
I would say our dedicated and incredibly inspirational users and my boyfriend who works around the clock to create new features and make sure the site is running smoothly.
Describe your personal style.
For the most part clean, modern, and monochrome. But I usually dress according to how I’m feeling that day. I’m quickly bored of repetition.
Favorite designers?
Favorite now is Yohji Yamamoto.
What were you doing before LOOKBOOK came along?
Working retail management (I hated it).
Do you ever find yourself being inspired by the users of LOOKBOOK?
Every single day!
Popular blogger Jane from Sea of Shoes on LOOKBOOK.
What role do you play in the site’s housekeeping? Who else helps you maintain the site?
My boyfriend programs, I handle community management and design, and we just brought on a third to take care of advertising.
You describe LOOKBOOK.nu as “an international social experiment in style”. What gives LOOKBOOK that appeal that draws hundreds of visitors daily?
I guess the fashion inspiration, the largely international community, and the supportive environment.
What do people think of when they think of LOOKBOOK?
I hope they think of LOOKBOOK as the source of real fashion inspiration from REAL people around the world.
Loose, dreamy style from Ann N. of California.
So you live in San Francisco! What’s your favorite part of living in the city, and why?
I recently moved from San Francisco to the South Bay, but I loved the ethnic diversity. Lets just say I love to eat and SF has the best Thai, Japanese, Indian, and French food I have ever tasted!
What stores do you find yourself stalking? Any local digs you’d like to share?
I like a lot of the shops in Hayes Valley, but my favorite store at the moment is Opening Ceremony.
Who is your style muse?
Gemma Ward…she’s beautiful!
What does fashion mean to you?
Fashion is using your body as a canvas to project who you to the world.
Finally, what do you see in LOOKBOOK’s future?
We will continue to grow and create new features. Currently we are working on a mobile site, partnerships with some incredible magazines, our own magazine, and much much more!
Here’s an excerpt for those who might be interested:
“..Throwing poppers on the ground and squealing when they burst. We bought a HUGE variety pack of various explosives – all mostly legal, of course – from Safeway and were having fun popping them all at the same time. The neighbors joined in too, mostly clapping at a particularly loud pop or whooping in drunken support..”
Check it out if you get the time!
- CG
Filed under: fall/winter 2009, shopping | Tags: fall/winter 2009, h&m, shopping
I am VERY pleased by the Fall shows this season.
Who knew the recession could actually have some benefits? The tight restrictions on spending seems to have hit even the designers living in their bubbles. As I browsed through stills of each show online, I came to the realization that – gasp! – the clothes were actually somewhat wearable.
I love the wackiness of runway shows, don’t get me wrong – but sometimes I felt like the designers were playing a big prank on us. Who remembers black lipstick last fall? Really, Yves? Really? And I even thought that EVEN THOUGH it was YSL and EVEN THOUGH he’s a legend, people wouldn’t be stupid enough to buy into the trend.
They. Did. Once more, my faith in humanity was shattered.
Black lipstick taking the stage at YSL's Paris show. Props to Kirk McCoy.
Black lipstick was everywhere! Sephora came out with limited edition shades, articles were entitled “How to Wear Black Lipstick and Not Look Like Marilyn Manson.” They even had waitlists for Lancome’s glittery black gloss. The YSL original was there with its own waitlist, users comparing it to “latex for your lips.” To make a long story short, the fashion world ATE IT UP.
Messy makeup at Alexander McQueen. Props to Sweetcat.
But when Alexander McQueen tried to pull the same stunt by smearing red lipstick on the faces of all his models for his show, people gawked. They stared. They tweeted their friends.
Please, Alexander. You must know clown makeup hasn’t been in style since.. well, never. Unless you’re the Joker, who is totally badass.
Only the Joker can pull this off.
There is a point to all of this, however. I just wanted to say I’m glad the overly bright, overly unrealistic designs of the past are finally showing up less and less. I used to find myself buying into the hype and purchasing something, such as a silver lame top blinged out with sequins, feathers, and rhinestones, just because the media said it was hip, only to find that it had gone out of style the next week.
Being in a recession, however, is forcing designers to think straight and put more thought into their collections. In order to keep selling, they have to put out clothes that allow a little more wear during uncertain times.
That said, there’s no need to wear all black. Muted shades of yellow, purple, and red are fine additions to any fashion-conscious individual’s wardrobe, as well as olives, khaki, and cream tones.
Warm olive, American beauty, and purple heart. Props to Pantone.
In other news, my mom treated me to a shopping spree in honor of my fifteenth this Friday! We hit the local H&M and I put on my best snobby attitude for the bitchclerks. (FYI: Unless you’re like me and know a bit of Swedish, the link will be, well, Swedish to you. Pretty pictures are a universal language, however!) I couldn’t help it.
After traipsing in and out of Emporio and Neiman Marcus and Saks in the city (you see what I did there? SAKS in the city? Get it? Oh, why do I bother..) like a queen, the shabby H&M seemed just that – shabby. And ridiculously undersupplied to boot.
About 5 percent of the merch at the Post St. H&M (my heaven – I know everyone in there by name!) in the city was available at this H&M. Where was the DAA line? Where was the extensive line of print skirts?
That aside, there WERE a few cute things I picked up. Two organic tees – one of them featuring Alice on a chessboard (DEF wearing that to Tim Burton’s new flick) and the other adorned with twirling ballet dancers, a gorgeous purple skirt made of some velvety/felt material, a slouchy purple cardigan, a navy blue flapper dress with fringe, a light blue denim-y shirtdress, and two umbrellas – purple and black, both with large white polka dots. All under $150! Rebecca Bloomwood would be proud.
I love these. I LOVE THEM. If I could marry a piece of clothing, I would be in a polygamous relationship with my closet.
Still on my shopping high, I walked around the Row, basking in the wonderful mix of warm SoCal sun and barely-there breeze that San Francisco never quite receives. Hearing the opening strains of “Billie Jean,” I went into Diesel, where it was being played at full blast.
As I flipped through racks and racks of discounted denim, I sang along to the words of the song. The lone salesgirl came by and asked if I needed any help just as the song was coming to an end. I smiled in reply, gave a curt “No,” and left the store, still humming to myself.
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. My mom decided to do some shopping herself, which pretty much always equals sheer boredom. We divided our time between browsing kitchenware at Sur La Table and haggling with the frazzled salesladies at Gucci. Well, my mom haggled. I stood in the corner trying to pretend I was vastly interested in a depressingly ugly hangbag emblazoned with hordes of tiny G’s.
Typical aznmom. Even in upscale boutiques, she still has to try to be the cheapest person in the store.
She did treat me to Pinkberry, though. The prices were ridick. $2.00 for plain frozen yogurt?! The container they served it to me in was smaller than a monkey’s balls on a cold day! And with toppings, it cost $3.50.
Still, I was hungry, and the call of cold froyo was irresistible. And when I bit into the pineapple-and-kiwi delight, I found I would have gladly forked over a tenner for the absolute deliciousness.
All in all, not a bad day, hm? Here’s hoping tomorrow will be even better! Chinatown photoshoot FTW!
- CG
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: aids walk, designers against aids, fashion for a cause, h&m
Five years ago when Vaijayanti Duraphe first heard about AIDS, she and her classmates had questions which often went unanswered in class. She soon grew tired of the monologue and uninformative classroom dialogue, staying blind to the problem of AIDS.
These kids were at a stage in life before they became sexually active, and needed to be properly educated on proper preventative care and how to stay healthy. The education system tended to skirt the issue of AIDS, often only providing minimal information and skipping over many of the problems at hand. As a result, the issue of AIDS was often ignored by children.
Fast forward to the present. H&M, a popular retailer with teenyboppers and older teens alike, announces their involvement with Designers Against AIDS, an organization dedicated to increasing AIDS awareness among impressionable teens.
After hearing about H&M’s cause, Duraphe’s interest in the cause was renewed. “I think that [Designers Against AIDS] is beneficial and a good cause,” she says, even citing suggestions to improve the message teens are recieving. “I think that preventative education should be targeted at poor communities or areas with high birth counts. I’m more aware of AIDS [now].”
Many more teens are also getting with the program after seeing many pop culture icons supporting the cause with their own line of celeb-designed t-shirts, available at H&M. It’s the typical move that advertisers use when they have celebrities and athletes promote their products, only in this case, the celebs in question actually care about AIDS.
“It’s an honor to be asked to take part in this brilliant project. Every little thing that we do as individuals can add up to something that makes a major impact in the fight against HIV. With the purchase of these stylish t-shirts, you can be a part of something that makes a huge difference in this pandemic, while looking super-chic!” said Dita Von Teese in a statement.
Others like Anouck Lepère stress the importance of knowing your status on the AIDS front.”If everybody would get themselves tested once in a while, there wouldn’t be a problem anymore and then everybody can have free sex with each other again – so get yourself tested!” she said for Models Against Aids.
Still others believe H&M is all about reaching out to teens and promote the idea of being safe.
“H&M and Fashion Against AIDS are so important to us because we could never reach so many young people on our own. AIDS is still very much a subject that’s vitally important today. People build their attitude towards their sex lives when they’re very young, so it’s important for them to realize that safe sex is a vital part of that as early as possible,” adds Ninette Murk, the founder of Designers Against AIDS.
For those who want to do more than simply strutting around with a T-shirt, you’re in luck. The city of San Francisco is hosting the 23rd annual AIDS walk July 19. Last year’s AIDS walk was the second-largest and most successful ever, raising nearly $4.5 million, reported Craig Miller, founder and producer of AIDS Walk San Francisco.
So far, an estimated $1.5 million has been raised for AIDS Walk 2009. Those who wish to help are encouraged to sign up as a walker, sponsor a walker, volunteer at the event, and make general donations. Internships and job opportunities are also available through signing up on their site.
AIDS is a big deal. In the US alone, an estimated one million cope with AIDS, 21% going undiagnosed and unaware of their condition. California ranks as the state with the highest amount of new cases each year, totaling at around 4,000. Many of these new cases are caused by “condom fatigue,” an overall ignorance of safe sex messages.
“[AIDS] is dangerous,” concluded Duraphe. “I’m more aware of the cause now, and I hope others will be too.”
For more information on how you can help with AIDS Walk 2009, click here. To learn more about Designers Against AIDS, click here.
- CG
