THVM (pronounced 'them') Fall 2013 women's collection is not groundbreaking, but that's not a bad thing. Standbys and basics, in other words, skinny jeans, are the cornerstone of any wardrobe, expecially when talking about jeans.
Be that as it may, there is still something for those that want a little more than a basic skinny jean. My favorite, and the most daring of the collection is the cropped carrot leg jean (below). It comes in three washes, and I want all three. Carrot legs are a great cropped style and I personally love the roominess in the hips.
Flip through the slideshow to see the lookbook in it's entirety.
How do you play a vinyl record without a record player? Dance music label Contour came up with an incredibly awesome idea to promote artist Ugur Yurtthat you just have to see for yourself.
Play the video above and than take a moment to imagine the possibilities. It's technology like this that makes me love living in an ultramodern world. :-)
GUESS makes a wide range of products- apparel, shoes, accessories etc (see GUESS' decadent holiday 2013 preview), but their Fall 2013 ad campaign is unabashedly all about denim.
Denim on denim, double denim on denim, navajo print denim on denim and sepia denim, erm...on denim. Hat's off to the photoshoot stylist who put together some great looks without making the crazy denim overload look, well, like overload.
Look below for a first look at the rest of the images and for some pretty cool denim on denim styling ideas.
I couldn't say whether online shopping for apparel has been a boom. I don't have any statistics and I've never done any research on the subject. But what I do know, is where there's a boom, there sometimes is a bust. And there are certainly no signs of that ever occurring in e-commerce. Instead I believe, and again, no stats to back me up, that online retail has been a steady, slow climb, that caters to needs that we didn't think we had until we began online shopping. Case in point, how many of us hesitate to shop online because we think we need to try everything on. Then after the ease of the first purchase realize that what we really need is to avoid crowds.
Shanna's iPhone
Consumer's embrace of online shopping has led to the unexpected area of mobile shopping. Many, ecommerce sites also have mobile apps that allow you to shop from you're phone. I've done it. It's great! The problem that many of us come across is multiple shopping carts. Personally, I'm notorious for saving items in various shopping carts, in various stores, only to forget that I have something saved until I shop in that store again. Mobile shopping makes this a little easier as the little red dot with a number in it on my iPhone tells me I have purchases waiting to happen.
I've come now to the realization that what I was doing was a stop-gap measure. Like many people, I just accepted this. I never thought for one second, or even wished, that someone would come up with a way to help me organize my carts among multiple shops. Well guess what? Someone else had the same trouble I did and decided to do something about it. What's that saying about the mother of invention again? So far I only know of two companies that address this problem, JiSu (whom I previously covered here) and Mavatar. Both apps work very differently, but the ease of use, as well as the Ah Ha! moment that comes when using them makes me think, without question, that this is the future of online shopping.
I had my first Google Hangout organized by the incredibly talented ladies at Mavatar, Samantha Cabrera and Alexandra Haghighat (click here to view it) where we discussed our individual strategies and challenges of online shopping, of which I previously mentioned mine above. According to Sam and Alex, these challenges are what led to the creation of Mavatar (cool name by the way). Since the Hangout, I've had several days to poke around and play with the desktop app, which can be downloaded directly from the Mavatarsite. So let's get to the meat and potatoes of what this program can do.
After downloading the app on Chrome, a little button with the Mavatar logo popped up next to my toolbar at the top of my browser (above). When I click on this little button, a window pops open on the right side of my screen. At the bottom of this window is a link to Mavatar supported stores. This will then take me to a screen with links to all the stores that support the Mavatar app. Essentially, Mavatar works by partnering up with retailers to have their e-commerce sites link with the Mavatar app. So when you save an item in your shopping cart, it automatically goes into the Mavatar cart. At first this may seem like a disadvantage because if a store you like is not a partner, you can't use the app. However, partners include well-established retailers like Bergdorfs, Saks, Macys, Gap, Levi's and then some with over 100 new stores being added by the end of the year. So more likely than not, your fave shop will be a part of the app and you won't miss it very long.
Another great feature of the Mavatar app is that it automatically adds coupon codes to your purchases and allows you to add your own coupons for deeper discounts. No more stepping into the boxing ring on a Macy's sale day. A relief, no doubt. Also, the app allows you to compare items among multiple stores and alerts you to price drops.
There is no doubt in my mind that apps like Mavatar are the future of e-commerce. And it won't surprise me if we see more and more of them popping up in the near future. So get ready for it. So far there's a desktop app and iPad app, but expect to see apps for the iPhone and Android come pretty soon.
Click the video below for a short demonstration of how Mavatar works.
It seems rings are making it further and further to the tips of our fingers.
The eagle-eyed fashionistas at Fashionista.com spotted what they're calling the "nail ring" at the Chanel Fall 2013 Couture presentation. Besides the usual fawning, salivating and gushing over something groudbreaking, of which I am doing all three, there's is also one other thing that can be said about it...impractical.
Imagine.. walking around with your to die for Chanel nail rings and receiving all of the above reactions from your friends only to discover when you get home that you've lost one or two of the precious, and expensive, nail accoutrements. To die for takes on it's literal meaning after the heart attack that's sure to come.
But umm, I'm willing to risk it.
Would you wear the nail ring? Sound off in the comments.
See more pics of Chanel's nail ring bling after the jump.
Denim suiting in a light ounce in a range of colors. That's what I see when I look at these suits that went down the runway at the Costume National presentation.
Not only can these be done with denim, but I also like the bigger message sent out by these looks. The return of the colorful men's suit.
Usually when a brand that's rather tame adds an unexpectedly out of the box element, it draws a lot of attention. The opposite can be said for Diesel Black Gold this season as the normally rough-hewn edge of denim and leather that characterizes the brand was replaced by sharp angles and rather buttoned-up looks. Buttoned-up for them that is. Wild prints on denim jeans and jackets as well as inky indigo overdyed suits make it clear that Diesel Black Gold could wild out at any time.
Other notable design elements were Diesel Black Gold's take on patchwork in leather jackets, blazers and jeans. Hats off to the stylist who paired them with engineer stripes giving us another way to wear this look.
Denim was non-existent in the Comme des Garcon presentation, but denim inspiration abounded. If I was a denim designer this show would provide a wealth of trickle down material and I would be crazily sketching future ideas.
Imagine patchwork denim moving away from the linear to the more abstract (above). With the many different weights that you can obtain in 2x1 right hand twill (denim) this would be farely easy.
I hope that men outside of major cities get over their color aversion soon because I'm pretty certain that we are going to see florals in menswear go mainstream in a season or two. Plaids are easier for men to wrap their minds around, so starting up with colorful plaids may make the transition into prints easier.
See below for more denim inspo...
Crinkleblocking
The seams may be linear but the permanent crinkling breaks it all up again. I love the use of this technique in blazers not only for men, but for womenswear as well.
Ruching Trails
Tone it down for denim and a fancy ruched seam would be a bonus detail for jeans. It would work well with chambray button-downs as well.
