Split

Too much espresso. Or not enough. Tends to feel the same.

One day I will have established something here. What is it about the city that makes everything seem so transient?

Half of my dreams look like this:

And the other half still very stubbornly looks like this:

And I'm very split between the two...

UptownDowntownBohemianSomething

It's been a little while since I did an outfit post so there's some catching up to do. I still tend to approach getting dressed like putting on a costume (that's part of the fun of it after all) so yes, a couple of these are a little funny. But I wore all of them out of the house :)

 Oh the magical things you find when shopping your closet! Suddenly this tube-dress/bathing suit cover-up from a street market on Oahu transforms into a perfectly trendy high-waited midi-skirt! And sooo comfy in this disgustingly hot weather! I actually ended up swapping the white tank for a black LCS one and strapping on some chunky heels for a night out in Brooklyn with my girls.

 Sunday brunch in the Upper East. Just wish the hat had stayed on a little better...

Dive bar date with Mary. Red lipstick, whiskey, va-voom-y hair and all the silliness you can imagine.

Plane outfit for the flight to San Diego. Ok confession, I did swap the Rosseaus for sandals and then put them back on once I arrived. I dunno, there's something about standing at the curb in a great pair of heels with your weekender bag next to you, waiting for a handsome man (my dad in this case) to pick you up in a convertible and whisk you off to an estate in the country... the Madrid pants are definitely one of my best European finds to date.

 Can't remember if I wore this to the Ed2010 Happy Hour or the Mediabistro mixer last week...both bars packed with kids like me trying to find a job. I tend to get stupidly excited when I find new uses for things (see Hawaii skirt above) so discovering another way to style this tribal LCS bandeau pretty much made my night.

 Gotta stop cutting off my shoes in these pictures though. These rust pumps are so old they're getting a bit rickety, but I wear them anyway. The color and fit are just so perfect...

This is Jasmine. She's the gorgeous Arabian I get to ride when I visit my friend Dave out on Long Island. She's pretty much the most amazing horse you'll find anywhere. We like to gallop through fields and kick up wild turkeys - Jasmine doesn't spook at anything. She's quite the little princess though and she refuses to get her feet wet...

Random NYC sunset at Riverside Park a couple weeks ago. It's the little things :)

My First Encounter with the New York Fashion District

Let me first premise this post by reminding you that for the past two years I have relied on the resources of the Los Angeles Garment District for notions, fabric sourcing, etc. Through my adventures there I have snuck out of parking lots (because I didn't have a permit), parked my car on strange buildings (leaving my keys with strangers and praying they don't drive off), and pawed through endless tiny, cramped shops full of low quality fabric, trying to find a diamond in the rough to make it all worth while. In a few words, the LA Garment District is shoddy, dismal, dangerous, and dirty.

So when I ventured into the New York Fashion District last week, I expect more of the same. Maybe just bigger because it was New York after all.

What I found was a virtual wonderland of some of the most amazing collections of material I've ever seen in my life. There was just SO MUCH GOOD STUFF. I've been away from my sketchbook almost three months now, (my lack of inspiration most likely reflecting preoccupations like I don't know, job searches?) and I had an entire Resort AND Fall collection ricocheting through my brain after only two hours digging through the endless piles of goodies.

Below is a compilation of my discoveries. Normally, these would be trade secrets, but as my sewing machine is still in Orange County, I figured I might as well share...

See??? It's AMAZING. Pulled out "just a few" fabrics I'm absolutely dying to work with. Not telling you what I want to do with them though. That's cheating. Use your imagination :)

 

 (Ok, this one is obvious. Floor-length McQueen style skirt anyone?)

 Actually scraped together the cash to buy this last one. Even though I don't currently have anything to sew it on...Stay tuned for a truly fabulous Fall creation...

San Diego Weekend

Hopped on a plane Thursday morning and took off for an extended weekend at Benvenuto. My parents were super generous and flew me out so I could be at my Auntie Midge's memorial (more on that in a later post). Though a death in the family is possibly the worst reason to end up at our family's beautiful country hideaway, it was a very necessary break nonetheless. Lots of beach and family time and not too many awkward, "So...what exactly are you doing in New York?" questions. Overall, it was bliss.

 Even the airport in San Diego is gorgeous...

 After stuffing our faces with the most amazing vanilla malt shake of my LIFE at Hodads (SD burger joint staple in Ocean Beach for those of you who don't know), my brother and sister and I found this awesome hidden beach and settled in for a gorgeous afternoon. It's a perfect nook if you want to get out of the crowds and you don't mind hanging around hulu-hoop wielding Rastafarians. Welcome to San Diego :) - and yes, that's my brother, Ben, on the edge of the picture...

Fantastic trip, much needed break, and now I'm thoroughly sunburned and back in the city, ready to take it all on once more. Deep breath people, here we go again!!!

An Effort to Make My Addictions Classy (aka Everything Looks Better in a Big Wine Glass)

When banging one's head against the steel-plated, reinforced, 30 feet thick, concrete wall of unemployment (lets not forget the razor wire along the top and the giant, rabid guard dogs - aka "interns" who foolishly think they're going to end up employed at the end of the summer HAH!) ...anyway, when banging one's head against this wall gets too exhausting, many people take to smoking copious amounts of pot to give their head a little rest before going back to the job boards. Me? No, I take my little gold card to Starbucks and get one of these so I can go bang my head even harder:

Java Chip Frappucino. Plus three shots. Which is fine on it's own, but let's face it, the little plastic cup, though it usually lends the emotional support of a grown-up safety blanket, sometimes just isn't enough. I like to try to make my blatant addictions classy...

Obvious answer, right? 

Ok confession. Last week it got really bad and I didn't even go to Starbucks (probably because I didn't have another free drink card...the above would have cost me almost $9!)...

 

Yeah...that's Red Bull...please don't judge me. Looks so much cooler though, right?!

And actually, pretty much everything looks better in a big wine glass...

 Parfait, anyone?

Seriously though...

Couture: Some Daydreams and Some Pink Elephants...

Couture...the daydreams of fashion. The word (when used in the right context and faaaaarrrr away from anything that sounds like "juicy") brings a glazed-over look to any fashionista's visage. The  exquisitely wrought collections have a worldwide market of only just 200 regular buyers at a time and as such, are something the average girl lover-of-nice-things who clutches a pair of Jerome Rosseaus like gold (aka me) uses as more fairy-tale inspiration than practical predictions of next season's street style standouts. 

So here they are, the standouts (IMHO) of this season of couture dreams:

Valentino. By far my favorite collection shown by Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo so far. What a fantasy!

 Azzadine Alaia. Calling this on Anna Dello Russo, shot by Tommy Ton, at the September shows in New York. She'll get her hands on it. Just watch.

 Azzadine Alaia again. My dream princess fur dress.

 Chanel. No more princess. Unless of course, Karl Lagerfeld decided to invent a film noir princess, but something tells me it had nothing to do with that. Most commentators were talking about how the show was a reflection of the life of Coco Chanel herself. Personally, my eyes were full enough just looking at yet another breathtaking set. 

 Christian Dior. Princess turned into...the jester? Unusual take by Bill Gaytten but...I dunno...having memories of gigantic flowers floating down the runway this time last year...I miss Galliano.

 Elie Saab. No one talks about Elie Saab. Probably because they consistently turn out the same kind of red carpet-go-to collections every season but you know what? I LOVE IT EVERY SEASON. And so does Halle Berry. Felt like at least 5 of the dresses this collection were made specifically for her. The world needs a little bit of grown up fairy princess. This particular dress I'm guessing we'll spot on the red carpet at least two or three times on a few uber lucky up-and-comers.

Armani Prive. Somehow I just never seem to get into their couture. I can honestly say one of the only things I liked about this collection was this hat. Might have to catfight with Kate Middleton for it... But will the collection sell to the Asian nouveau-riche? Definitely.

 Givenchy. Once again my mind is blown. Two words: Divine. Craftsmanship. If Riccardo Tisci lived in ancient Hebrew times Solomon would have commissioned him to create the Temple in Jerusalem. You know, if it needed a dress... You get the point.

John Paul Gaultier. Rock and roll princess. Obsession.

Pics as usual filtched off Style.com :)