Capturing the Latest Trends for women
Saker bortbytes eller bortskänkes
03.29.09 | No Comments
Category: Miscellaneous

Med ekonomin som den är nu sa har nya sajter vuxit upp pa internet där man kan skänka bort saker eller byta bort dem mot nagot annat som man behover.
En av de basta är den senska sajten saker bytes eller skänkes bort
Om du har nagot du inte behover, lägg in an gratis annons!

Got some old stuff that you don’t need anymore? Why not trade, barter, swap it for something else that another person don’t need? Want to stop wasting resources? Then Green Trade is something for you. Advertise for free things you want to get rid off!

Ekologiska jeans till salu
03.12.09 | No Comments
Category: Miscellaneous

Har kan du kopa ekologiska jeans till salu. Enda stallet i Sverige.

Mary Norton spreads the love…
02.18.09 | No Comments

Mary Norton Mollie Orchid ClutchI know we said we were done with our special Valentine’s Day features and I know Valentine’s Day is over. However, we have a couple more awesome mini-interviews to share with you. Today we bring you the uber glamorous Mary Norton!

Valentine’s Day: Hallmark Holiday or Real deal? In my opinion, any time that makes us stop and take a moment to thank and appreciate those who bring us love and joy in our lives is a worthy event. Therefore whether Valentine’s Day has it’s origins from a saint or from a retailer is meaningless to me. What matters is that it reminds me take one day a year to shower with appreciation and love those who give me their love the other 364 days of the year.

What gift would you love for Valentine’s Day this year? If I could have a Valentine’s wish, I would ask for a little cash windfall to take my husband and kids on a fun family vacation.

Your most memorable Valentine’s Day? I was a really nerdy kid in junior and senior high school and never dated. Beginning in seventh grade, my Dad always had flowers delivered to school for me on Valentine’s Day. It always made me feel so loved and special. My husband, Joe, now does that for our daughters. I love that family tradition.

What are your plans for Valentine’s Day this year? Micah (13), Reilly (11) and I will accompany our hot date, Daddy Joe, out to dinner here in Charleston to our favorite pizza place, Monza. This year it will be a simple night as I leave early the next day for LA for Oscars week!

The best Mary Norton bag for a Valentine’s Day gift, why? The Mollie Orchid Clutch—the flower that will last a lifetime ;)

Click here to see all the oh so fabulous Mary Norton handbags!

Fashion Week 2009 - Marc Jacobs Handbags
02.18.09 | No Comments

Marc Jacobs Handbags 2009 Fashion Week can be a hard for us handbag lovers. Because of the placement of photographers at the end of the runway, it’s often difficult to get a halfway decent look at the bags we might be seeing in stores at the end of the summer. Thankfully, though, we’ve rounded up some bag pictures from the Marc Jacobs show after the jump.

So what do we have here? We have a few things that mirrored Jacobs’ show - neon, patterns, a slightly punk, slightly glam 80s feel. And we also have a few things that mirror MJ bags from previous seasons - quilting and chains. The chains are the primary straps in most of these flap shoulder bags, which is a bit of a departure from the Stam’s chain accent. Although the pictures aren’t super helpful, many of these bags also appear to be small-to-medium-sized shoulder bags, sometimes that Jacobs hasn’t focused on in recent collections. Many also include exotic skins, studs, and other embellishment that make these some of the most elaborate bags I’ve seen from his normally-rather-subdued signature collection. See for yourself below.

Marc Jacobs Handbags 2009   Marc Jacobs Handbags 2009   Marc Jacobs Handbags 2009

Marc Jacobs Handbags 2009   Marc Jacobs Handbags 2009   Marc Jacobs Handbags 2009

Marc Jacobs Handbags 2009   Marc Jacobs Handbags 2009

Fashion Week 2009: Marc Jacobs Ready to Wear
02.18.09 | No Comments

Marc Jacobs at his Fall 2009 show I worship at the altar of Marc Jacobs. Unabashedly. I am unashamed to think that he is possibly the greatest fashion mind of our generation and admit that I’d wear pretty much anything he put his stamp of approval upon. I love him as a character - I love all the fabulous younger men he dates, all the crazy things he does to his hair, and the fact that he has taken to wearing man-skirts and combat boots. So presented after the jump is Marc Jacobs Fall 2009 Ready-to-Wear:

And I also love that instead of doing a scaled-back, dour collection to be respectful of the doom-and-gloom economic climate, he did a 60-look, over-the-top love letter to 1980s New York. It was glittery and grimy, mismatched and neon, much like the city itself in Jacobs’ heyday of clubbing and excess. There were shiny party dresses with voluminous, knee-length skirts, pleated jeans and pants with tapered legs, and sculpted, layered frocks in bright colors and black. The models’ hair and makeup looked like it was out of a New Wave music video in the infant days of MTV, and like DVF, Jacobs also managed to convince me that I need some patterned leggings in my life. Except I like his way better. What he did is so brilliant that it would be a shame to break it up into sections and comment on it separately, so this post is going to be a bit different from the rest of my Fashion Week reports. The collection is a complete, self-contained statement about an era and a city that are long gone, and it was done with such clarity that you certainly don’t need me to walk you through it.

Marc Jacobs Fall 2009 Ready-to-WearMarc Jacobs Fall 2009 Ready-to-WearMarc Jacobs Fall 2009 Ready-to-WearMarc Jacobs Fall 2009 Ready-to-WearMarc Jacobs Fall 2009 Ready-to-Wear

Marc Jacobs Fall 2009 Ready-to-WearMarc Jacobs Fall 2009 Ready-to-WearMarc Jacobs Fall 2009 Ready-to-WearMarc Jacobs Fall 2009 Ready-to-WearMarc Jacobs Fall 2009 Ready-to-Wear

Marc Jacobs Fall 2009 Ready-to-WearMarc Jacobs Fall 2009 Ready-to-WearMarc Jacobs Fall 2009 Ready-to-WearMarc Jacobs Fall 2009 Ready-to-WearMarc Jacobs Fall 2009 Ready-to-Wear

Fall 2009 Fashion Week Sources of Inspiration
02.17.09 | No Comments

Punk_fashion_illustration_5 Although fashion designers typically create their collections in secrecy rivaling the Manhattan Project, what's interesting is how many similarities between collections emerge as Fashion Week progresses, and how these similarities then group themselves into a limited number of strong trends.

Taking stock - both consciously and unconsciously - of the zeitgeist, designers first absorb the influences around them, then deconstruct them, and finally re-build them into fashion that feels "right" - sometimes in a very wearable or commercial way...and sometimes not.

Either way, it's fun to hear from the designers themselves what moved and inspired them, as WWD recently did. For Fall 2009, their influences seem to fall into three main categories: 1. the mystery of nature; 2. the magic of color; 3. a hard-edged Blade Runner'ish vision of an industrial future.

Dada_nature

1. MYSTICAL FANTASY NATURE...both benevolent and malevolent...

"The collection relays the feeling of being a witness to wistful scenery, like seeing cherry blossoms in the moonlight on a snowy night." - Akiko Ogawa

"The butterfly, the symbol of beauty, mystery and new karma, is portrayed in the signature minimal and romantic look of our collection." - Andy & Debb

Dada_fashion_2"A voyage into a fantasy play world." - Erin Fetherston

"Dadaist cabarets, the Cubist muses, the eroticized Surrealist dreams with German punk." - Alexandre Herchcovitch

"'Rumble Fish' meets 'Thelma & Louise'. True Americana but with a modern and contemporary edge." - Marcella Lindeberg/William Rast

"A dark and futuristic take on the New Age movement." - Vena Cava

"Mont Saint-Michel...magical medieval monastery...Gothic architecture, gargoyles, griffins...legends and fairy tales of past." - Leifsdottir

"Once were princes now are thieves." - Mara Hoffman

"Tsars, enchanted birds and Russian folklore." - Tibi

"We fall into a daydream and are drawn into a mythical world." - Ideeen



Koko_abstract_painting

2. REALMS OF COLOR

"In terms of color, we kept coming to the work of heroes like Cy Twombly, who moved to New York in the Fifties and made his colors bleed and run and evoke the seasons." - Loden Dager

"Asexual, aseasonal, rectangular, slick palette of blacks, touches of pure grays and intense dark blues." - Rad Hourani

"Industrial materials and a synthesis of the textures and colors of urban construction sites." - Jeremy Laing

"Cool tones highlighted by blue and green; an attitude that hints of renewal and optimism." - Thuy Diep

"Enless spatial manipulation, rich color dialogue and the possibilities of the three-dimensional geometric progressions of Sol LeWitt." - Carlos Miele

"Arctic neutrals combined with shots of teal, ice green and winter white - the colors in the photographs of Olaf Otto Becker." - Julian Louie



Paris_techno_punk

3. PUNK-INFLECTION WITH A FRENCH ACCENT

"Fall has a Paris punk appeal." - Alice + Olivia

"A blend of aviator and spy; hardcore luxury.'" - Pierre Morisset, G-Star

Blade_runner "The style and antics of French clowns." - Araks

"We are suggesting a new kind of opulence, of intelligent indulgence over blind gluttony." - Naeem Khan

"'Nature never appeals to intelligence until habit and instinct are useless. There is no intelligence where there is no change and no need of change.' - 'The Time Machine by H.G. Wells." - Nice Collective

"The French have four words for it: je ne sais quoi." - Trovata

"Modern day Mad Max." - Nicholas K

- Lesley Scott

(images: illustration at top - themoldydoily.com; Dada painting - storiefm.co.uk; Dada fashion - nytimes.com; abstract painting by Koko - World of Found; Paris techno punk; Blade Runner - filmsquish.com)
 

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for all our FASHION WEEK COVERAGE - click here

Purse Blog and Who What Wear LV Giveaway: Increase your chances to win!
02.17.09 | No Comments
Category: Giveaways

Louis VuittonSo, a few weeks ago we introduced the amazing giveaway we’re doing with our friends over at Who What Wear. I am sure loads of you have already signed up. And if you read the entire post, you realized that there are a couple ways you can increase your chances to win. One of which is entering your friends email addresses over at Who What Wear (if you’ve already registered, you can still go back and enter more addresses).

Another way to increase your chances to win is here on Purse Blog. One day this week, I will publish a post which indicates what you need to do to increase your chances yet again. Don’t worry - it is fun and super easy! Like I said, this opportunity is going to happen this week - STAY TUNED!!!

Pauric Sweeney Overnight 1 Python Bag
02.17.09 | No Comments

Pauric Sweeney Overnight 1 Python BagRemember when you were young and you looked forward to sleepovers? I loved having my friends over but I also loved going to their houses. I would fold up my Strawberry Shortcake sleeping bag and pack up a small bag with what I might need and patiently wait for my parents to drive me to my friend’s house. Well, although my Strawberry Shortcake sleeping bag days are over and I am a grown up, I should carry a grown up bag when I head on a weekend excursion. The Pauric Sweeney Overnight 1 Python Bag is definitely a grown up bag. We’ve shared some fabulous Pauric Sweeney handbags in the past. These people really know how to work with exotic materials, and this bag is no exception. I love the sand colored python, accented with nubuck leather handles, charms on these handles, silver metal hardware and contrasting tweed lining. The python material looks so smooth and flake free (which any good python should be). This would be a great bag to pack up as you are whisked away for a surprise weekend getaway! A little pricey, but if nothing else, at least it is nice to look at! Buy through Net-a-Porter for $2720.

Fashion Week 2009: Diane Von Furstenberg
02.16.09 | No Comments

Diane Von Furstenberg NYC Fashion Week I think I’ve told this story on Purse Blog before, but I’ll be brief: ever since Diane Von Furstenberg was mean to Toccara, the plus-sized model on one of the first seasons of America’s Next Top Model, she gives me a frownie-face. But since she’s actually fairly influential and makes some interesting things, we’re going to talk about her (somewhat crazy) collection anyway. You want pics? We’ve got them, after the jump.

Diane Von Furstenberg Fall 2009So, this is basically what she did. 40 separate looks of THIS. And it was something to watch, I’ll give her that. Her collection was called Nomad, and apparently to DVF, “nomad” means “wear all my clothes at once so I don’t need a suitcase when I travel.” It reminds me of that episode of Friends where Joey is pretending to be Chandler, and he comes running in wearing layer upon layer of random stuff, and exclaims, “Hey everybody, I’m Chandler! Could I BE wearing any more clothes?!?!” Ok, enough with the jokes. Some people will disagree, but I don’t find this particularly interesting. If you’re going to layer in an editorial way, give me different textures, different ideas - not just a bunch of sweaters. Sure, some of them have a pattern or two. So I guess that’s different. And stab me in the face, I hate the hats. And I had to look at them for the entire show.

Diane Von Furstenberg Fall 2009 But I’ll stop complaining and say some nice things, because parts of her collection were actually kind of cool. Somehow, she has managed to convince me that I need leopard-print tights. I’m not sure how she accomplished this, but she did, and now I’m wondering what the price point will be on these when they hit stores. DVF isn’t overly high in price, so they’ll probably be within reach. They might even start a trend.

Diane Von FurstenbergAnd this dress, for instance. It’s really cute, and it might have a subtle animal print to it, if my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me. The shape is nice, and I think most women don’t realize that brown can be quite a flattering color against a lot of skintones. It’d be great with a sweater and some chunky boots as next fall creeps in.

Diane Von Furstenberg Fall 2009 For some reason, in the world of DVF, nomads wear liquid silver jersey party dresses. That totally makes sense. As does that hat with that outfit.

Fashion Week 2009: Jason Wu
02.16.09 | No Comments

Jason Wu Fashion Week Fall 2009If only New York’s fashion elite would have known months ago that Michelle Obama had planned to wear Jason Wu to the inaugural balls - he probably would have gotten a better slot at Fashion Week. Nevertheless, we kick off Purse Blog’s coverage of the goings on in the tents at Bryant Park with his Fall 2009 Ready-to-Wear show. As it turns out, his show is a fitting aperitif to the more editorial shows to come; his clothes are accessible, beautiful, and would sell if sent to stores tomorrow. After the jump, take a look at his big ideas for what we should be wearing come fall.

Jason Wu Fall 2009I will have this dress, or one like it, even if I have to MacGyver one myself out of duct tape and doilies that I colored black with magic markers. And I will wear it around my house while sipping cocktails and listening to jazz and be FABULOUS. Wu showed several slick sheaths and even more dresses bound by thin belts - the perfect day-to-night combo.

Jason Wu Fall 2009 The full-on-bottom, tailored-on-top silhouette is one of my favorites of all time, and I couldn’t be happier to see that apparently Wu is welcoming it back. A printed full skirt in blacks and greys is accented with a jewel-tone, close-fitting top and an enormous necklace (another Fall 2009 favorite that has already appeared in several shows). I’m checking ShopBop for full skirts right now. I WILL be ahead of the curve on this trend.

Jason Wu Fall 2009Not only does this look mirror the previous silhouette that I so adore, but it’s super tailored in a very 1950s, Mad Men way that so many women would look so wonderful in, if they would just try it. Plus it’s yellow, which seems to be gaining momentum in the trend department. Yellow is hard to wear at times, but there’s a shade out there for almost everyone - don’t be afraid of yellow, girls! Mr. Wu implores you!

Jason Wu Fall 2009 And finally, we see the formal wear skills that made him the belle of the inauguration fashion ball. The ombre patterned effect of the beading on a beautiful blue silk gown is majestic and easily worthy of an awards show appearance. I’ll take two.