no pants after dark #4 and #5

OMG. For some reason, every time I start to write anything, my brain stops working. SF was super fun, and went by way too fast, but I'll write more about it later.

One thing I will write about now though, is the shoes I found. I had told myself I wasn't going to do any shopping, but then we walked into this amazing shoe store, Gimme Shoes in Hayes Valley that Katie had been talking about, and discovered the most amazing sale section ever. They had shoe after shoe for 60% off, from all the best shoe designers. Katie promptly found some amazing green Fiorentini & Baker boots and while searching through a cardboard box, I discovered these beauties from Loeffler Randall.

(gimmeshoes.com)

I was on the fence till the girls working there told us they would give us 70% off if we both bought our respective shoes. You just cant say no to a pair of 500 dollar shoes for 150. You just cant. Especially when they look like they were made for you. Because they were an impulse buy, I have decided that I have to wear them a lot, right away, so I wont have such severe buyers remorse.

They were featured in my outfit for our party that night, but I didn't really get any good shots of my outfit from top to bottom. And I know, that skirt really is obscenely short, thank goodness for opaque tights.

(Thakoon for Target t-shirt, Isabel Marant skirt, Abaco Paris belt, Loeffler Randal pumps, various jewellery.)

Last night I wore them again and continued the No Pants After Dark experiment, when I went to the Darling Mansion for a Delicious and vegan meal. We all agreed that the vegan Caesar dressing was better than the real thing!

(Gap dress, Abaco belt, Loeffler Randall shoes, various jewellery.)

the countdown begins: mcq alexander mcqueen for target

I tried to check and see if I had already written about this, but I don't think I have because I could never find the launch date. Just another way to keep us anxiously twiddling our thumbs. On March 4, the McQ Alexander McQueen for Target line is launched.

Inspired by Brit rockers, especially Leila Moss of The Duke Spirit, the collection is all legs, leather, gray denim, studs, and leggings.

photo credit: target via nylon.com

I am a fan of the leather vest, but after seeing the thrifted one I saw another blogger got for 6 dollars, the 129.99 price tag seems extreme.

I am not sure how much I will like it. As the McQ line tends to, it does not really do Alexander McQueen's vision and talent justice. But it looks very Alexander Wang, hipster, rocker, which as much as I tend to diss the look, I secretly love. So, if I love it, my shopping ban might be lifted for its release, but I am seriously trying to quit spending money on clothes and spend it on my house or activities, or food, or things that aren't THINGS.

2 outfits, 1 day

I decided I should get out of the house and enjoy the sunshine yesterday, instead of moping inside my daylight free apartment. So I drove over to a part of Burbank I had never encountered before, in search of my fancy schmancy Bumble and Bumble Treatment shampoo and conditioner, that I am totally obsessed with. I forgot how nice people in Salons are, I made a new BFF when the guy helping me found out I am from Portland, even though he touched my fried hair with a little bit of pity and disgust, I forgave him because he is from the PNW. It turns out the salon was on West Magnolia Street that has all the vintage stores that people rave about, but wont tell you where the are. I refrained from buying anything, but was thoroughly pleased with the 3 I went into, and I'm pretty sure there are about 5 more, along with a leather outlet that claimed to have fancy brands. I will definitely be making a trip back there when I have cash flow, stamina, and a partner in crime.

I then made a trip to Target for some necessities, and proceeded to try on the one of the Thakoon bikinis, and decided I was just not ready to go there.

Alexa then came over and we went to Alegria on Sunset for some delish Mexican food. It is by far my favorite Mexican restaurant in LA, partially because it is guilt free and non-greasy, but mostly because it is absolutely amaaaazing. I had the fish tacos, and she had the veggie burrito. Yum. It would be more my fave if they served booze, it is BYOB though, which sort of makes up for it. But you cant really BYO margaritas. Lame.

My 2 outfits for the day.

Left: Ray-Ban sunnies, Stella McCartney cotton jacket, Gap tank, Earnest Sewn Jeans, Sigerson Morrison sandals and Mayle purse. Right: Wesc faux-wrap sweatshirt, Inhabit tank, Earnest Sewn jeans, DIY studded Target heels and Abaco France purse.

j. crew, keeps getting better

Not everyone knows this, but I am sort of obsessed with J. Crew. I would move to NYC to work for them. I used to make serious fun of my sister for basically being a walking billboard for the brand, while secretly buying a few things here and there, but since I moved back from Paris I have come to realize just how great they are.

I think it all started with the appointment of Jenna Lyons as the creative director, who is young, pretty and stylish, just what they needed to revamp the brand. Since she arrived, every season has been getting better and better. Although, I must say I would do a much better job styling the catalogue, what is with all the strange monochromatic outfits anyway?

Check this out. I was browsing the Holiday catalogue and found this skirt.

photo credit: jcrew.com

Ummmm, Miu Miu anyone??? I thought, good on J. Crew. Because, A. it really is a beautiful detail, bless Ms. Prada for thinking of the ascending sequins (has anyone else noticed that it is being used in the Prada accessories this season? Way to keep the love of sparkle alive Miuccia!). B. The average bear is not really going to see the reference, and just think it is pretty, while the fashion savvy will probs see it, recognize it, and love it too. And C. who can resist sequins anyway??? We all know I can't.

Also, while I was searching the interweb for Ms. Lyon's info, I came across this blog. Who knew people's love for the Crew ran so deep? I LOVE LOVE LOVE the DIY jacket in the most recent post though, and I have to agree that it is more beautiful than the original J. Crew version.

museum time + shopping

I have spent the past few days, running around Los Angeles with my mother. I have been frantically furniture hunting as well as eating my feelings, pretend shopping at all my favorite stores and going to museums. Pretend shopping is sort of a lie, because I did buy 2 sweaters at Mas on Sunset, though in general I'm taking a break from shopping for clothes. Mas turned out to be one of the better shopping experiences I've had in a LONG time. We heard the champagne pop the minute we walked in, and I really can't say no to a mimosa, especially on Sunday. It's like cookies and milk, they just go together! It's a small boutique that carries some great, lesser known brands and a few trendy ones too. I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of Current/Elliott on principle; I get grossed out by brands that are completely celebrity driven. But I did try on a super cute strapless denim dress with a sweetheart neckline, but i couldn't quite squeeze into the small, which was the only size, and it very closely resembled an Imitation of Christ denim halter dress I already own and love.

Then tried on a really beautiful Crispin & Basilio double layered tank dress of chiffon and charmeuse. It is so so so so pretty (the picture does it no justice) and so flattering. The bottom layer is racer back while the top is a basic tank, one of my fave combinations.


I also tried this top, thought it was way cool too. Love the layered use of stripes and checks. This brand really knows how to use chiffon in a sophisticated and cool way, but still totally feminine as chiffon can only be.


And I totally heart this heart necklace from ginette_ny. Santa??!!?? I especially lust after it since my itty bitty Eiffel Tower necklace broke on the drive down to LA. Don't get me started on what a bad omen it is for your talisman to break on the 2nd day of a life changing move. One bad thing after the other...but, until that gets fixed:

photo credit: masboutique.com

I remember seeing this brand in Paris, and LOVING their monogram pieces. As most people know, I am a total sucker for anything that I can put my initials/monogram/name on. Especially jewellery. Photos and descriptions of sweaters to follow.

Off of shopping and onto art. We actually did the days activities out of order. When we were younger, middle school or high school, my mother used to drag us kicking and screaming to museums. BUT, she soon figured out that we put up much less of a struggle if she rewarded us with a present afterwards, i.e. shopping. Even though I love museums now, the tradition stuck.

After the mimosa and shopping at Mas, we went downtown to the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. I'd never been to the space before, which is located in the heart of Little Tokyo. Upon entering, I was instantly reminded of Le Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Though it is missing the super cool restaurant with the fancy schmancy bathrooms, I did discover that the MOCA gift shop carries things from Muji!!!! I guess that makes up for the lack of restaurant! I always can't help thinking "I could have thought of that" with a lot of contemporary art, my mom was kind enough to remind me that I didn't and that is why their work is in there and not mine! TOUCHE!

journey to the west side

After our unsuccessful trip to JC Penny's we drove over to LACMA on Wilshire to see the Vanity Fair Portraits. After buying our tickets, we learned that the museum didn't open for another 30 minutes. Snap. Things were just not going our way. Neither of us had been to the museum since it's huge expansion that came with the appointment of the new director Michael Govan, so we spent the time wandering around outside. I remembered the lamp post installation, so we went over there and had a mini photo shoot. The pictures will be added later, due to my mother's technologically stunted camera. I really enjoyed the who LACMA experience. It has always been my favorite LA museum.





We started with the Vanity Fair Portraits, which was very cool. Obviously, fashion photography is high on my list of interests, and the show was full of images from Annie Leibovitz, Mario Testino, Helmut Newton and one of my faves Steven Meisel. But it was really the photos from the early years of VF that were really inspirational. The black and white images of the old Hollywood legends by Edward Steichen and Cecil Beaton really got me. That's a bit of a cliché, isn't it. Oh well.

We moved onto the Hearst: The Collector, it was basically like a portion of the Louvre. Then we followed these signs with a painting of a girl in profile with a red scarf on her head until we discovered the room full of Fabiolas.

photo credit: lacma.org

Floor to ceiling, 3 walls covered in paintings of Fabiola, a fourth century saint. There were images made out of needle point, painted beans, paintings with rips in them, paintings on all sorts of surfaces. I went through the room and tried to pick which was my favorite, but there were too many! It was AMAZING!

After LACMA, we went over to Barneys to have lunch on the top floor at Greengrass and to do some oogling and crying (because we couldn't buy anything). Lunch was pleasant as usual, but I was antsy to get into the store. Not only was it all decked out for the holiday season, but pretty much the entire store was on sale, especially the Fall o8 designer collections, for their 50th anniversary. Originally it wasn't one of my faves, but I feel in love with the one shouldered navy blue dress with the grosgrain from Lanvin, of course, it is far more beautiful in person than it is from the last row of the fashion show.

photo credit: style.com

The beauty of Alber Elbaz' work never ceases to amaze me. And a really cool sweater from Dries that I cannot find an image of anywhere. I am going to have to do some DIY action to recreate it for myself; yarn store, here I come! I'll post it when THAT happens. And of course, those Miu Miu shoes. SIGH...

totally stoked about: miu miu sequined pumps

Omg. I saw these at Barneys yesterday and nearly fainted. They are just about the most beautiful pumps I have ever seen. Never mind I am a sucker for anything that sparkles. These are just too good to be true.

photo credit: barneys new york

Everything about them is perfect. Just look how the sequins get smaller, to the size of ants practically, as they move down to the toes and the heels. And the grayish color looks like a smokey lavender depending on the light... They have the perfect amount of toe cleavage AND that great roundish-pointy heal. AHK!

The silly salesman, who was oh so clueless, said something to me about how they would look great with the perfect outfit. Um yeah, little does he know I would rock those with black jeans, t-shirt, blazer or leather jacket and scarf (my uniform) as well as the obvious party dress. But seriously, how often do I get to wear party dresses??? Not often enough, that is fo shiz.

Unfortunately, even their sale price is more than I have to my name, and I still need to buy a couch...I hate priorities! I plan on waiting, and hoping my size or something near it will still be available, till I can find them for under 3oo dollars. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

jc penny's

On Friday my mom and I got the rock out of my apartment bright and early and drove over to the west side on a very specific mission. I was browsing my new favorite website, dominomag.com, where you can look through their archives and unpublished photos. Since I got to LA, all I can think about is how I am going to decorate/fill my apartment. I am thinking about it more now that I found a bigger, bug free place.

I found these on one of my late night online home furnishing hunts:



photo credit: dominomag.com

I LOVE the mirrored vanity, it is so glam, and feminine. The one in the middle is by far the best; it looks the nicest and has the best details, but it costs an arm and a leg, as does the one on the bottom. The top vanity is from none other than JC Penny!!??!! WHAT??!!?? Anyway, that is the reason we drove over to Culver City on Friday. Unfortunately for us, I got super excited and did not look closely on the website, which clearly stated that it was available online only. WHOOPS. Way to do my research, right?

Now, I just can't decide if it is woth ordering this thing online, when I have no was of seeing it in person first.

totally stoked about: thakoon for target

I have to admit, I haven't been consistently impressed with the Go International for Target collaborations. Go International is a program where Target features mini, limited edition collections from young and emerging designers from around the world. I give them major street cred for doing it at all, but they never really compare to the H&M designer collaborations in creativity or quality. That is not to say that they are not choosing good designers, I think it was pretty genius to bring in Luella Bartley, Rogan Gregory and Jonathon Saunders among others. But, of all the things I bought from that original collection with Luella (and I bought a lot, shopping high = buyers remorse) I still own 3 dresses, none of which i have ever worn. I'm pretty sure the tags are still on them. The Rogan collection was great though, understated and basic with a twist, similar to Rogan's high end eponymous line, not to mention there was very little color involved. AND they brought organic cotton to the masses, even if it was for a limited time. I bought 2 dresses, silk animal print with cotton jersey panel down the center back, and have worn them continually all summer. Just goes to show that high/low designer/mass market pairings tend to be hit or miss.

I digress. Thakoon Panichgul is the next designer lined up. After his Spring 2009 collection with the awesome rose print with female legs instead of stems, the eyelashes and the lips...so surreal, so great, I am stoked on him. From what I have seen in the various photos, there are going to be a few great pieces. This collection isn't going to be about the silhouettes, its going to be about the ethnic batik prints, although these don't quite compare to his RTW prints, they will def please! Basic silhouettes with bright and fabulous prints. The blue and white tie dyed/batik t-shirt is killer. If only i could find that swipe I pulled of it!

Here are a few of my other faves:

photo credit: nylonmag.com

best deal ever

I braved the Glendale Galleria yesterday to go to target for some moving supplies, but more fun, to visit Forever 21 in search of the amazing necklace that the hostess was wearing at Canelé. Alas, the daily turn over there prevented me from finding the perfect Tom Binn's esque neckace (my loathing of knock offs comes and goes with the balance in my checking account) but I did try on a couple cute pair of shoes. Since, I'm still living out of a suitcase, due to my horrible housing situation, I have very limited clothing options. I can deal with wearing jeans and t-shirts all the time, it's the shoe sitch that is really killing me. I packed one pair each of flip-flops, ballet flats and sneaks. So, I decided to get a quick fix and took these Miu Miu ish oxfords to the register.




I was prepared to pay the 40 dollar price tag, but when they rang me up she told me they were 7.95! They might as well have given them to me!

comme des garçons for h&m

Thursday was a big day. Not only was it Darlene's birthday, but it was the opening of Comme Des Garçons for H&M. I figured it was the perfect activity to celebrate Darlene's birthday, even if it meant getting out of bed at 7 am. I was prepared for crowds and lines, but when we drove past H&M on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, we were shocked to see that the store was already open. Darlene's research for the day was an hour off. Instead of taking the time to look for a parking spot, we sped into the lot and ran upstairs. Our worst fears came true, as we saw that everything had been picked over, and it was only 9:30, and all that was left were the oxford shirts and itchy sweaters with a few of the better pieces in extremely large or small sizes. I managed to find the wool and velvet dress with the scalloped hem and cut out back in my size and proceeded to the dressing room line. While I was waiting, I was watching various dedicated customers, who must have arrived at the butt crack of dawn, sort through their loot and make their final purchase decisions. I was watching one man in particular, who was inspecting a pair of the elastic waist drop crotch genie pants. Much to my amusement, he tried to get them on over his large shoes, but to no avail! I swear, the room went into slow motion as he folded the pants up and set them onto a display table and walked away. I got out of the line SO fast and yoinked those babies up! Even luckier, they were a size close enough to mine that I KNEW they would fit. I got back into the dressing room line and waited for ages to try my finds on. The dress was strange, but the pants were PERFECTION. Done and done.

Since I am living out of a suitcase, while my housing situation gets dealt with, I had few options to try with my pants. I managed to find a slim black t-shirt and my pyramid studded belt. Alas, I have no heels with me at the moment...Please pardon the picture quality, as I used my i-phone.








The great thing is, they are like 2 pairs of pants in one. If i push up the legs, it gives the impression of wearing a long bubble skirt and leggings, much more harem-ish, while if I leave the legs down they have a more slouchy men's wear tailored thing going on. I will be sure to post some outfits with them, once I am settled with all my belongings at my new, pest free apartment!

LOVE!!!!!!

Last week, my sister and i were driving to the gym, exercise is one of like 3 things that fill my day, and we passed my mother coming out of an estate sale. Upon her instructions, we flipped a bitch and parked. I walked into the living room, and WHOA, I was bombarded by jewellery! All of it gold, flashy, ridiculous and FABULOUS.

Much to my sister's chagrin, I spent the next 20 minutes looking meticulously through the various 3 dollar bins, as well as a display case. this is what i came out with.








LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! the ring is totally genius. I can hardly stand it!!! I've worn it nearly every day since it was purchased! Also, the chain rings. Sorry the pics are especially blurry for those guys...still working on my blogger photog skillz. SO ghetto fab! I might just have to be M.I.A. for Halloween...

And yes, those are shoe clips. I plan on bringing them back. Stay tuned for my examples.