Fighting Fashionista

I was totally going to write a post about capes ages ago, but during my procrastination and laziness Refinery 29 beat me to it. What prompted me to want to opine on said outerwear was a tres chic woman I saw walking down the Embarcadero in San Francisco wearing a lovely short-ish wool, probably felt, cape. Hours later I saw this fabulous version (addmittedly my affection for the cape might have something to do with the dog), which is on sale at Max Studio for $158. Then this morning when I saw Refinery 29’s article, I knew I was officially LATE. But now I can continue in my indolent manner and just link to them. Hooray for blogging.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about slow fashion. If you’re familiar with the slow food movement then you probably know what I’m talking about. Fewer items, higher quality. Less H&M, more couture. There are lots of benefits to this sartorial approach: in the long run you spend less money, you’re consuming less so you’re kinder to the earth, and my favorite part is you choose your clothing more wisely, and therefore fine tune your look. You get more creative with combinations and accessories because you have to repurpose items more often.

But let’s be honest, the term “retail therapy” exists for a reason. We like the hunt and the satisfaction of bringing home pretty bags filled with lovely garments. On Saturday, I found a place where you can get a little of both worlds: Thread Lounge, a permanent sample sale. The owner, Colleen Schmidt, has two permanent stores in San Francisco and Palo Alto in California. She also has an amazing traveling sample sale that sets up shop all over the country. The store carries some of my favorite brands, like Mint by Jodi Arnold, Vivienne Westwood and Alice and Olivia. And they have a fantastic selection of $99 jeans. On Saturday they had gorgeous chashmere blanket-style sweaters very similar to the one I ordered from ShopBop with my $500 in prize winnings, but they were more than half off that price at $240. Hm, do I return the one I ordered, buy the less expensive sweater and get something else (like maybe these awesome boots) with my $500? Quel dilemma.

But I digress. My point is, you won’t find cheaply made bargains a la Forever 21 at Thread Lounge. But you will find high-end, sturdily-made indy brands, and maybe instead of just one item, you can afford two. You get your retail therapy without feeling dirty later.

I was perusing the lookbook at chickdowntown.com and these Pratt’s motocross jeans stopped me in my tracks. Are they not awesome? This model’s amazing body doesn’t hurt the jeans’ appeal… but this is the most unique and interesting detailing I’ve seen on jeans. It makes them look like they might actually be worth $200. I guess I’m not the only one who thought so, they’re sold out in most sizes. You can find them in a lighter color without the tears at FreePeople.com, and in a darker shade minus tears at Intermix (horrible mannequin shows the value of using live models).

You might think that during an economic downturn, women would be headed to Banana Republic for staples designed to last a lifetime. But of course you would be wrong because anytime someone writes a sentence like that, it’s wrong! What women actually seem to be attracted to are shiny, sparkly, seemingly impractical things, according to this story at JC Report. It makes sense when you think about it. Personally I want more bang from my buck when I buy something now, and that doesn’t mean something with boring longevity. It means something with impact. Like sequin leggings! Impractical? Perhaps. Satisfying? Definitely.

(Leggings by Les Chiffonniers)

So I know everyone is obsessed with the election today (as am I, I’ve refreshed Huffington Post 100 times in the past 20 minutes) so forgive me for also been obsessed with ShopStyle/ShopBop’s “Play Dress Up” contest. Apparently all that obsessing paid off because I won week number two for the “Folk Tales” theme, which came with a $500 gift certificate for ShopBop! So now I have a new obsession: in between updating HuffPost I’m purusing ShopBop and trying to decide what to buy. At the moment I’m leaning towards this lovely sweater. What do you think? When else would I ever spend $500 on a sweater? And it would be the ultimate irony (read: digusting display of excess) to be posting blog entries that no one will read wrapped in a $500 cashmere sweater, no?

I love the color and the buckled pockets and don’t even get me started on the cute buttons. A little pricey ($395 at Urban Outfitters) for all you newly self-described “recessionistas” out there, but Penguin is a high-quality brand. And it is real leathah, ladies.

[UPDATE: I changed the bag. Other one was a bit unwieldy. This one should be in my closet.]

ShopStyle and ShopBop are holding a contest every week for six weeks to create the best outfit according to a certain theme, and the winner each week gets $500 to shop at ShopBop. At the end of the six weeks, whoever they decide has the best collection of six looks wins $1,000 at ShopBop. I guess I can’t win the grand prize because I just learned about the contest today and they’re on the second week… but fingers crossed for at least one win! This week’s theme is “Folk Tales,” and here’s my creation. I’m pretty embarrassed about how much time I spent doing this and how much fun it was for me. Oh and here’s my caption:

I created a folksy look that manages to also be sophisticated and could go from day to night. The dress is really the main event, so I chose accessories that play off the folksy vibe but don’t take the outfit to never-never land. The jewelry is whimsical without being childish. The shoes are refined but the texture keeps them in tune with the rest of the outfit. Oh how I wish they were all mine!

Yes I am the biggest nerd ever.

I’m in love with Hayden Harnett’s Mercer bag and with the fact that it’s on sale for $146. That’s for the “tango red” color; the “yam” (orange) is just $126 (originally $273). HH bags are exceptionally well made. I’ve never regretted a purchase from them, and I’ve made far to many for my husband’s taste.

Refinery 29 is my new favorite site and I can’t believe I didn’t know about it until now. I also can’t believe *my husband* was the individual who told me about it (hm, very peculiar). Their top story today is a list of the best shopping sites on the web. I shop on the web an awful lot and still learned a thing or two. Like that I can’t live another day without these ankle boots by Rachel Comey.

Another reason why I love Lucky magazine: they dig up things like this, an awesome bag from an unlikely source with an unbelievable price tag. Source: web site that sells guns (dixiegunworks.com). Price: $179.

If you’re in the San Francisco area, you must check out the Goldenbleu sale tonight. I went to the last one, and that’s why I’m grounded from going to this one. Goldenbleu’s shoes and bags aren’t eco, unfortunately, but they are damn gorgeous, and you’re guaranteed to have a new favorite item that has longevity. And buying things that you’ll love and want to keep for a long time, rather than thinking of clothing as disposable, is earth-loving behavior, n’est-ce pas? This has been your public service shopping rationalization for July 30, 2008, thank you!

After perusing the Nimli site, I had to show you these awesome clutches from Mad Imports (top) and Raw Bags. So much cuteness. And they’re made of natural, fairly traded, recycled and handmade materials. Picture yourself a la plage in your maxi dress, accessorized by a little handful of love. To complete your tropical vision: Begooddesigns recycled leather flat woven and petal sandals.

A representative from Pamplemosses, a label that makes adorable bamboo T-shirts, pointed me to Nimli.com, where some of their fall line is previewed. Love the hoodie! I want it in Turquoise. Would be cute to wear while teaching Pilates if I ever manage to complete my certification. Great undies too. The graphic on this turquoise tee is also gorgeous — I love to see a lion and a birdie resting peacefully under a tree. The hand-drawn artwork on all of their garments is silkscreened using low-impact waterbased dye. Can’t decide if I prefer the turquoise or the black. All of the above should be available around August 10.

I just found this adorable bamboo top by Pamplemosses on StyleHive. I would, of course, wear it with pants. But I love the swooping back and the pattern around the bottom. Plus, pamplemousse is my favorite foreign word, and the brand is a cute play on the Frenchy word for grapefruit. I also love the off-the-shoulder tee — I love an exposed shoulder — on their site (see below). The brand doesn’t have a ton of outlets (you can buy this shirt here on sale for $66), but when I emailed their info

address about where to buy their garments, they promptly returned a very nice email saying they could ship whatever I wanted directly to me, and even send me pics of their new Fall line, which isn’t on the site yet (I’ll post them when I get them!)

This ring by Alkemie jewelry is gigantic, flowery, and eco-friendly (made from reclaimed metal) — three of my top cravings in any jewelry. The latter characteristic is probably the hardest to find but most important. Mining silver and gold, sadly, is not so nice to the environment (mining enough gold for a a .33-ounce, 18-karat gold band produces 20 tons of cyanide-contaminated waste, according to Men’s Health).