Manolos for Men

Per UK Vogue, Manolo is bringing back his collection for men.

After an absence of seven years on the menswear scene, Manolo Blahnik has dusted off his sketchbook - and created a line of men's shoes so fabulous, they are pretty much guaranteed to knock your man's socks off.

The six-piece collection runs the gamut from safely stunning (the red suede Oxford brogue), to the outrageously gorgeous (in the shape of leopard print sandal, Bir). "It's not a big collection," reflects the designer, who was honoured with a CBE just a couple of weeks ago. "There are some simple sandals in beautiful materials, and a few classics - with a twist. I thought it was time to bring back some colour into the male wardrobe." Look out for the collection, due in store from February.



Personally I think they are bit "out-there" for most of the men I know, even the most fashion forward. I'm also not a huge fan of open shoes for men, so I like the red pair the best.

I'm sure they will be popular but my tastes for men tend to be much more formal and, I guess, preppy/country club-ish. Ideally, I would dress a man in Brooks Brothers and JCrew.

My favorite shoes for men are white suede bucks.


I think this just goes back to my tennis/cricket/croquet fantasy. Look at these - a wingtip version!



Unless you are exercising, this is about as casual as I think men should go - a dark brown boat shoe. Sperry is ideal but these Brooks Brother ones are nice.



Dress code - "whites", sweaters, 3-piece suits with vests or sweaters underneath.



I don't like these guys though. Think Johnathan Rhys Meyers in Match Point.





No Tevas, no sandals. Let's have a little class here, please.

Ensemble du Jour

Even though I don't watch Gossip Girl, I was love love loving the Sam Edelman boots Blair (is it Blair, really?) wore in the picture. So I immediately got them. In the photo, she is wear a black patent trench but I have no idea what her actual outfit was, so I had to come up with something on my own.

The Outfit
The red tights are very bold especially when paired with the boots. I wanted something that would feel right with them, and the weather as well as pick up the colors in the boots, so I decided on a dark green and navy plaid pleated skirt with a dark green cable-knit sweater from JCrew. To pick-up some of the shine I paired it with a large gold brooch.



The Focal Point
The tights are, to put it mildly, bold, but everything is all about showcasing the boots.



Aren't they smart? I will be wearing them with skirts a lot.

By the way - these boots are even MORE on sale at SmartBargins.com but only an 8 was left as of today.

Ensemble du Jour

It's cold and grey and so I'm rebelling by wearing lots and lots of color. I look like I've gone mad and am trying to turn into a SweeTart.

The Outfit
Black cropped pants to ground all the colors and show the cute sockies. Pink argyle sweater, pink patterned tabi socks. Lavender pashmina to keep me warm and black patent open-toe heels from Target. Plus I changed purses from my big brown purse to my orange Hermes.



I love orange for accessories just not for clothes (for me) as much. I want to get an orange Hermes scarf but I haven't found a pattern I'm dying for yet, so I'm using my vintage scarf.



Oh! These are the crazy sunglasses from my other post. I finally took a picture. They're so huge it's funny.



When we were in Orlando I went crazy in the Epcot Japan store and bought all kinds of cute Japanese things including four pairs of socks. They are just so darn cute! I was dying to wear them, so I wore the longer pair today. They are two shades of pink with fat white bunnies. How cute is that?



The Focal Point
I know I'm not twelve or anything, but dang! I love these bunnies. So, my focal point today are my bunny socks (and being pink!)



Wouldn't you want little bunnies scampering across your feet? I know you do!

Designer Focus - Pierre Hardy

So a while back I wrote about how in love I am with Davis by Ruthie Davis and the shoes in the collection (in spite of her being a major contributor to the creation and popularity of Uggs). I haven't had the opportunity to buy any of her shoes but I did have nice conversation with her about buying some because the I love the Barcelona heel on this shoe so much.



I mean, look at it. It's like a shiny cold skyscraper for your foot. I would have snapped them up in a hot minute but I don't like the chain on the front, so I'm holding out for next year hoping she'll do a closed toe, non-chain version with this same heel.



Anyhow, I was all impressed with the architecture of her designs, but again, trolling vintage shoes on eBay I've found a possible inspiration piece for Ms. Davis. Check these babies out:



Umm.... hello! Look at that heel. Metal. Check! Monolithic. Check! Kick-ass. Check! Plus there is the added benefit of the chain attaching shoe and heel.

Who created these beauties from the 80's?

Why Mr. Pierre Hardy!



Now, I'm not going to lie and say, "Oh, yes, Pierre Hardy. I've been following his career for ages, Darling. Why, in grade school all I would wear were Pierre Hardy designs, blah, blah, BLAH!"

No, no, no, I can be honest. I didn't immediately recognize the name, but boy, I should have. Mnsr. Hardy has designed for some of the best of them before heading out on his own to do his own line of shoes and bags (he appears to be a Bag Snob fav-or-ite). He designed for Balenciaga and Hermes and is known mostly in the fashion industry for reviving the House of Dior's shoe collection in the late 1980's - right around the time period of the shoes above.

I went to his site and found an amazing collection of gorgeous shoes that I am instantly coveting. I'm a greedy biotch, I know!



Perfect shape. Perfect color.




More blue suede but with futuristic heel. Cool.



I love this heel. Love it.



How crazy are these? But the black keeps them in line.



Weren't orbs popular this year? I love that these are all gold and metallic-y but in a classy good way, not crap materials.



These are why I knew Pierre Hardy! I totally saw these on Style.com and thought they were awesome- great colors, great embellishment, mod, retro, striking, unique. How many more adjectives can I throw out there. These are like investing in great art - but you get to wear them out and show them off.

Much more practical than some giant painting or sculpture.

Hmm... maybe I should try and track these down.

By the way - I think you should go and get those shoes above on eBay. They don't fit me (damn!) so they need a good home.

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
Well, the color palette is out in force this week. Today is a much nicer day - sunny but crisp - so I'm wearing my Gap cashmere stripe-y sweater dress, black tights and my black satin Nine West booties. Exactly what I envisioned for my Fall/Winter wardrobe.




I'm so glad I bought these. They're very versitile.



The Focal Point
For those on the outside, I'm sure it's all about the stripes, but for me on the inside it's all cozy, soft comfort.

Mmmmm... snuggly.

I'm Green with Envy

Darn Selfridges!

First they are in the UK. Then they don't put all their stuff up on the website so I can order it.
They get all kinds of cool events and they have a big sale going on.



Not only are they getting the multi-color Louboutin glitter heel in a pump now they have it in a gorgeous green glitter version!



I love these even more than the multi-color version!


To get your 20%, follow these instructions:


We would like you to have a special pre-Christmas gift. Just show this voucher at the till, before you pay, every time you make a purchase from Friday 30th to Sunday 2nd December 2007 and you will receive 20% off* your Christmas shopping, including our festive Christmas Hampers, with 10% off* our unequalled range of fragrance and beauty.

So get your Christmas list ready.

To qualify for your discount:
1. Simply click on the link and fill in your details. CLICK HERE.
2. Print off the voucher.
3. Show the voucher at the till point before you pay to receive your discount.

For store locations and opening times visit www.selfridges.com or call 0800 123 400.

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
I am all in shades of grey given the grey drizzly day we're having here. Plus, I moved all of my closets and drawers around and realized I have been doing only fairly well on my color palette because I have a lot of grey, but I have a lot of everything.

So I'm wearing my grey owl tee from the Paul & Joe Go International line, a grey corduroy skirt from Old Navy, grey tights, my long cardigan and black patent mary janes (to combat the rain).



The Focal Point
Monochromatic grey, especially my new sweater!



Brrrrr!

Aaaannnd... We're back!

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!!!

We were in Chicago hangin' with family so I didn't get to post much. Since we were going to the craziest airport in the US, I fully anticipated delays and lost luggage and general mayhem. We had booked our tickets with this in mind, so we were leaving early Wednesday morning and coming home on Saturday, rather than pushing our luck on Sunday.


Photo source: Geoff Diamond

Leaving our small airport for our direct flight to Chi-town was uneventful. We did have a two hour delay because the flight crew got in late the night before but that ended up working out for the best. To get to our airport is easy so we got some extra sleep and packing time, which was needed. We were checking bags, which I was loathe to do since I always think my bag is going to get lost especially since it was a new suitcase, but when we got to our airport there were no big lines for security.

I love our airport.

On Friday, the husband and I somehow decided it would be a good idea to take the train downtown and go shopping. I love to shop (obviously) and I love that they have stores I don't have in town but shopping on a crazy shopping day, and with another person, is not conducive to an enjoyable shopping experience.

Needless to say, I didn't really buy much. Although I did see some items in person that I had been longing for as well as a few items that I had not seen online. Plus I saw a ton of girls wearing great flat boots and now I want some even more!

First stop was Neiman Marcus (of course) and then Water Tower Place.


Photo source: Fickr - Caribb

At Neiman Marcus we made a quick round through the floors and spent a few moments in the shoe department. I actually didn't see anything I wanted (or didn't already have or have on order) so, while somewhat sad, I did not leave frustrated. I actually was the most tempted in the purse department. They had the YSL Mombasa sequin hobo there and it was just a pretty in person.

But I didn't leave Neimans empty handed. I did get the new Jo Malone perfume - White Jasmine and Mint. We tried a few of them as well, but both of us kept coming back to this one. It's very pretty and not overly sweet or spicy. I'm wearing it today and it smells yummy.



In Water Tower Place (a madhouse!), we went to Sephora and I got a bunch of things I had been holding off on. I got tempted by their new catalog of over-the-top looks. Even though I don't know where I could go wearing this much make-up, I still love it.



I got Benefit's BADgal Lash mascara in BADgal Blue...



... Too Faced's Sparkler Glamour Gloss in Pink Bling (super sparkly)...



... and Too Faced's Kitty Glitter in Pussy Galore (I know!) and more.



When I got home, I realized I have three things of pink glitter, so I guess I need to go around with glitter all over my mouth for the rest of the year.



Smooch!

But the big bargain find of the day was my Nine West clutch. When I saw this back in August, I loved it then, but when I went to go get it, it was no where to be found!

I've been looking around for it ever since then, to no avail.

We went into a Nine West on Michigan Avenue - nothing. Then, in Water Tower Place we were by the Nine West and decided to pop in on the off chance. There was one sitting on a shelf behind the register and I asked if I could take a look at it. It was still cute and so I opened it up to take a look at the inside at the price tag.

Originally this was priced at $120. When I saw it before it was $80. The price tag read $19.99.

Shut up!

So we asked the sales person to verify the price. She gave it a quick scan and said, no, the price was wrong.... it's actually $9.99!

Whoo Hoo!

Anyhow, the next day it was on to home and, even though it wasn't bad weather or overly crazy at lovely O'hare, United still managed to transfer us onto three different planes and make us almost 5 hours late.

Photo source: Flickr disgruntled

Thank goodness that ordeal is over.

If that wasn't exhausting enough, I came home and decided to do the big "Seasonal Switch" - go through all my clothes and shoes, move stuff, purge stuff and reorganize everything.

I have way too much stuff, but at least it's neat.

Vintage Inspiration

Marc Jacob's Spring/Summer 2008 Ready-to-Wear show in New York this year was hailed as innovative and totally unique. The clothes were, of course, the core but the accessories were equally important. The shoes that got the most attention were the "reverse" shoes.



Do these look like anything you've ever seen before? Isn't it amazing how Marc has come up with these?



I love the colors and I think they are a better, more elegant look than the United Nude Eames shoes. But I don't think that either one of them are innovative, not when I see these vintage trendsetters from (supposedly) the 1940's by Stefano Marazzini, an Italian designer.





These are on Ebay right now. Oh, how I wish they would fit me. They look amazing!

For all you Gossip Girl lovers...

I haven't been watching Gossip Girl but I keep hearing the raves about how good it is. I know I probably won't get sucked in, but maybe I should because the fashion does look pretty good.

WhoWhatWearDaily featured some of the styles from the show's characters and where to get them. All the looks are cute but I loved the Blair Waldorf look below - shiny black trench, red stockings and the cutest boots!



They are Sam Edelman boots and were on sale at SmartBargins.com. I like the mix of grey, white and teal toe cap - all popular style trends this year but so classic you could wear them forever. I had to run out and get these. 50% off! And they look more wearable than the Louboutin Emily booties.



When I couldn't find them at first, I, of course, went to Zappos. I found that Sam Edelman makes a few cute shoes and saw these boots in two other color combinations. I love the yellow quite a bit and were tempted by these.



But I like the tan, bordeau and white pair too. But they are full price on Zappos, so I decided to go with the teal version. Maybe I can get another pair later.




Look for some version of that outfit soon!

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
I feel sort of Anthropologie today with textures and somewhat odd mix of colors. This isn't the best representation, but it comes pretty close.

I'm wearing the new Erin Featherstone Velvet Blazer (in Great Lakes teal blue), underneath I have a dusky purple camisole with darker purple polka-dots and a straight medium brown skirt.




For shoes I'm wearing my new Le Silla "Stardust" heels - they are very comfortable and have an architecture and construction very similar to a pair of Blahniks. Plus I love the shine of the leather and the bone heels.

To tie the color of the bone heel, the jacket's teal and add a little shine, I'm wearing a pin I got at an art show made by a multi-media artist.



The Focal Point
My local Target had just put out the beginnings of the Erin Featherstone Go International collection the other day. They are all cute but seem to be trying to work for Winter and Spring. Some of the items were cute but not great. I did love this jacket however. The color is great. It's lined with satin in the same teal. The velvet makes it stand out and the shape is just interesting enough.




The back has cute detailing too, with the button placket. And I like the puff at the top of the sleeves.



I would recommend this piece. The black wool coat in the collection is pretty cute too.