Vintage All Over Again

It always cracks me up when I see a very vintage design crop in in a modern story or store.  Not even an "inspired by" design but one totally reproduced from a vintage piece they must have gotten a hold of.

For example, I was browsing a Who What Wear article on "9 Style Secrets That Bloggers Know (and You Don't)" and saw this purse featured from Gaia.

Oh wait!

 I know that purse... because I have it!

And mine was not $98. It was like $20 and is an actual vintage piece bought from an vintage accessories dealer at a show in 2011.

Maybe I'm a blogger in the know.

At least I know to buy the original vintage piece for a much better price and quality than a reproduction!

Enjoying Leopard and Red

It finally hit some real summer heat here today and just now a huge thunderstorm has rolled through.

Because it was so warm (I had I just given myself a fresh pedicure with dark red polish), I slipped on a favorite pair of Jimmy Choo sandals from... oh.... 6 years ago? I paired this with dark red skirt and dark khaki top and jewelry in gold, opals and rubies.

I started thinking about how much I like this sometimes tricky combo.

Case in point - a winter version with a red sweater leopard skirt and red Rockstuds.

Then I was just browsing for pretty inspiration...

I have a vintage leopard coat.  I think I need some red pants to go with it.  I love the wellies combo too!

For Boston and For the Helpers

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, 

my mother would say to me, 

Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'"

Inspiration = Flattery? Kate Spade Enchantment Under the Sea Coin Purse vs ModCloth Carp Diem

Obviously shoes are not the only thing that can and will be knocked-off by some sites.

Case in point...

Kate Spade each season puts out a whimsical little coin purse to go along with their current collection.  From tennis balls to owls to pineapples and hedgehogs, they are a cute little luxe item.  A few seasons back they created the Enchantment Under the Sea fishy.  I loved the crinkly gold and the clever use of the clutch opening to create a wide mouth.

But now this piece has been almost exactly recreated and listed for sale on ModCloth as the Carp Diem Clutch.

I hate to keep picking on ModCloth but they keep insisting on picking up knock-offs.  Either they know it and are okay with that (hello TopShop!) or they are woefully ignorant of what's out and popular in the fashion world.  I mean, this isn't my job and I can see these examples in 2 seconds, shouldn't their buyers know better?

Or are they more about selling cute (albeit not original designs) to the masses???

Thoughts?

UPDATE 7-2-12 2:31pm: ModCloth has responded and is taking down the piece -

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We're committed to supporting original designs and the valid intellectual property of all designers, and our designers and suppliers guarantee that they have full legal ownership and copyright to their designs. We're removing the Carp Diem Purse from our site based on your feedback, and if you have any follow-up questions, please contact press@modcloth.com. Thanks again, Turi at ModCloth

Thank you for your response, ModCloth!

Imitation = Flattery?

It's been a while since I've done an Inspiration = Flattery post.  Sadly for me, I just haven't had the time to browse so I'm probably woefully out of touch with the latest designs, designer or mass.

But when I was excitedly checking out the new Rachel Antonoff x Bass collection, I stopped dead at the multi-color Maebird clear oxfords.  And not just because of their colorful style.

Nope, it was because they totally looked like the Ground Zero x Alex & Rose clear brogues I almost bought last year.

The colors on the RAxB ones are a bit toned down and simplified but the inspiration is there, I think.  I love the sweetly quirky pieces in the Bass/Antonoff collection but now they're a bit sullied for me.

What do you think?

Inspiration = Flattery? Paris Hilton and Valentino

I just received an email from an online store and one of the shoes that were being promoted, a Paris Hilton heel, look insanely similar.  Except for materials, the Paris Hilton Senorita d'Orsay heels look just like Valentino's d'Orsay heels.

Can you tell which is which?

Shoe 1:

Shoe 2:

What do you think?  Is this making styles affordable for the mass shopper or leveraging(aka ripping off) the work and design talent of a higher-end brand?

As I've said before, inspiration is fine.  I get that.  But I feel brands and companies at all price-points can put out good and fun designs of their own without blatently copying the hard work of others.  I want cute styles at all levels and price points.  It IS doable!

SPOILER:

Did you guess correctly?

The top shoes are the Paris Hiltons - $94.99 at Heels.com (still not cheap if you ask me and trying to rip off the Louboutin red sole).

The second shoes are the Valentinos - in black at Bergdorf Goodman for $695 or in taupe and red at Nordstroms for $645.

Imitation = Flattery?

I happened to go into DSW today as a part of my black patent espadrille shoe search and noticed these shoes.

They are from the Miss America collection and called "Izzy".  I find it interesting that a brand that requires the contestants meet their "character criteria" (which mainly seems to be, from what I can find, not being married or having a child), is not above stealing the designs of another brand.

Because when I saw the above, I immediately recognized the source: Tabitha Simmons "Betsy" Sandal from Spring/Summer 2010.

No congeniality awards will be given here.



Walking the Walk

Shine on, baby!

Flirty

Busy Busy

Sorry it's quiet here. 

Work is crazy but I'm thinking about you!

Inspiration = Flattery?

Remember the uber-sexy Brian Atwood spectator pumps from last August? 

Well our favorite "inspired-by" brand has done their version of this classy pump.

I'm not a huge fan of the platform.  I think it makes them look too clunky, but the heel at lest looks decent.  It doesn't have the curvy sex appeal as the Atwood shoes but it's trying

Do you wish you had the original or would you get the Steve Madden's?

Rock me.... Amadeus

Okay, I couldn't resist with the title.  But you have to forgive me, I've been a bit delirious all day from being sick.  Basically I worked but now I'm watching Amadeus and discovering scences I've never seen before.  Here are a few of my favorites.








Can you imagine some of today's designers living in this time and the work they would do?  Louboutin.  Manolo. Galliano.  Amazing.

I especially like the red and white number in the first clip at 3:05.

What's your favorite?

Curating Colors

As Fashion Week winds down we can begin analyzing the trends and colors for the next season.  I'll be posting curated images from the shows I attended and thought this would be some interesting background to help in viewing the collections.

Each season Pantone, the color authority, releases the top color for the season as well as their pick for the color of the year. Working with the designers, they have announced the top 10 colors for women's fashion for Spring 2011.

If you go to the site, you can see sketches from collections using the colors, check out the trends for men's fashion and even pick your favorite of the colors.

You can read the full 40 page report filled with designer inspiraitons and must haves by clicking here.

Fashion Forward?

I had sort of a sad encounter yesterday.

I was at Panera grabbing a bagel and a lady commented on the fact that she liked my tights. I love to wear tights, especially colorful ones. They are the easiest way to create a new outfit or add a pop of color and, frankly, I wear tights and stockings all year round. So, getting a appreciative response is always fun.

I said "Thank you" and went on to say how I had wanted to dress cozy and comfortable that day. It was raining/snowing out and (being still sick) I had dressed pretty simply - black sweater dress, the tights and black patent mary janes. Nothing to crazy or over the top at all.

The tights I was wearing were this pattern:



The lady went on to say how she wished she could wear tights like that and I said "of course you can! I have a ton and wear fun and bright tights all the time!" But she dismissed this saying she was worried she would look like she was trying to look like her teen-aged daughter.

I tried again to assure her she could wear them - heck, she couldn't have been that much older than me - but she acted as if there was no possibility she could pull it off. This made me so sad.

First of all, I don't think colorful tights are that crazy or pushing the envelope. I mean, you are just as covered as if you were wearing tan hose or black tights, which most ladies would not bat an eye at. Plus there are all ranges of colors and patterns. I can see how some patterns could be considered too strange but there are people I know who are unsure about wearing solid color tights in any color outside of black, brown or grey.

Is it that colors outside of the "safe" zone are too attention-grabby? Is that a bad thing? Why do you think many women feel they can't or shouldn't wear fun colors and resign themselves to blending in versus standing out? Even when they want to?

Days of Intention - Day Six: Cozy and Cocoa

Image by moonjazz via Flickr

Scenario:

I have a dream. I want to cozy up in front of the fire. Ideally with the pups, a book or a good movie and snuggly cup of hot cocoa. I live in a house with two fireplaces, yet sadly I still haven't realized this vision. Why? Our house is 110 years old and the fireplaces are unlined.

What this means is we have really old mortar which could have cracks and crevices in it. Fire sparks + 110 year old wood is not a good thing. So we need to have them lined. But the pitch of the roof is very steep and requires scaffolding to be erected, so it would be a pretty costly process. We've looked into converting the fireplaces to gas but the house (built oh so long ago) is not to "code" so we would have to cut up the original mantels to do this. Something we are loathe to do.

We also need to get one of the chimney's capped. Right now it is open at the top and chimney swifts (small birds) nest in there in the Summer and cannot be disturbed, so we need to cap the chimney in the Winter in anticipation of working on the lining in the Summer. It's a process.

So to make this vision a reality we need to save up. I'm hoping this is the year we can do at least one of them, so that by next Winter, the pups can sleep in front the fire for the first time.

Ideal date:

October 24th

Days of Intention - Day Five: Lazy Day

Scenario:

Although this does not seem to be the type of day I need to actively plan for or mindfully enjoy, a lazy day around the house seems as elusive as a more "exotic" event filled or travel-requiring day.

When I'm at home I always feel there are chores to do, or work to catch up on or sites to read. I rarely sit down on the couch with a kitty on my lap and read, much to my dismay. I love to read. I have a library. I need to push away the distractions and immerse myself in a book. Although I do take naps, I need push away the guilt and turn of the noise (aka the computer and the TV) and be silent and still. I do a lot of that over the holidays but what better time than late summer, when its too hot to be outside running around doing errands.

Ideal date:

August 8th

Channeling Coco

About once a year or so I toy with the idea of streamlining my closet and wardrobe palette. But then I end up wearing some flouncy pink, purple and blue outfit and it all goes out the window. It must be a winter thing because here I am again wanting to go through all of my clothes and shoes and accessories and edit out the color for, what I consider, a Chanel-esque tone.

I had been toying with this idea a few weeks ago but watching Coco avant Chanel on the plane back from Ireland made we even more inspired to do it. The thing is, I love the classic tailoring and elegant femininity of the Chanel look. I love the black, whites, greys, sages and pinks. The restrained lines with immaculate detailing. It all appeals to me strongly.



The movie was some, but not enough, of what I hoped for. I expected it to be about the elements that influenced Coco's aesthetic but I wanted even more. The few brief moments were not enough and didn't tie it back to her later creations. Less romance, more fashion!



As I cast a new eye over some recent purchases, I saw details were already creeping in.



I love the off-white pajamas with the black piping.



And I just purchased a few of the new Rosalind Keep trompe l'oeil Trench Dresses from Oasis (UK) -

Trench Dress:

Prom Dress:

In Black:

In Pink:

And of course there are the classic wool suits embellished or combined with pearls and crystals.

Of course these aren't as detailed, but Forever 21 had some cute options to wear to work and with jeans:

I'm wearing this jacket today with a beaded top, black pencil skirt, black tights and black patent heels.

But I especially adore the very restrained schoolgirl-ish looks with the tidy collars.

Crisp white against a dark background.

Those scenes influenced this new Sonia Rykiel dress purchase to be sure.

I'm going to at least write up my wardrobe parameters leaving room for patterns like damask, toile and, of course stripes!