Gwen Stefani, You Foul Temptress You!

Why must you tease me so? Some of your shit is so darn cute, and some is so effing fugz, and some is stuck somewhere in between. Like this...

($72, Harajuku Lovers, Thegiantpeach.com)
I know this crocheted cardigan is totes bizarre and would make me look like a crazy old granny stuck in a not-old body, and I know it's an exercise in poor judgment, but something attracts me to it, like birds to shiny discarded gum wrappers on the lawn. Why?


Okay... Now for some not-questionable things, both in yellow. Yippeeee!

($12.99, Wild Diva, Cutesyshoes.com)
I've already issued a formal statement apologizing for my attack against ALL patent leather footwear. With the acknowledgment of that hypocrisy, I present these. Cheap, cute, yellow, and yes, patent leather.



($218, Charlotte Ronson, 80spurple.com)
While I couldn't deal with the cut of the back, I otherwise LOVE the style, length and everything else about this dress. It just looks soooo super soft and sunny! Want! I'll be certain to drop by everyone's fave knock-off artist, Forever 21 to pick up a few, since they'll inevitably have some.


P.S: I know this definitely isn't fashion-related, but it is fucking awesome and hilarious. I really want a lettuce safe!! It'd be the only head of lettuce I could keep alive, but unfortunately, much like my fridge, it'd probably always be empty.

($49, Bimbambanana.com)

ModCloth Discount for FashionBingers!!

YAY Us!

The awesome and lovely Susan over at adorbs e-tailer ModCloth wrote us a very sweet love letter of sorts and then gave us a coupon code EXCLUSIVELY for 'Bingers like YOU! Yay! It's like we "hit the big time" or something! We're stoked. So, go forth, shop, and SAVE with coupon code binge10.

See! Membership totes has its privileges!!

I just bought the peacock tunic I'd been jonesing for:

($34.99, Scrapbook)


Here are some other cute ModCloth items you could buy:

($47.99, Soundgirl)


($49.99, vintage Charles Jourdan)


And I still really want this...

($49.99, Chica Boom)

Maybe if a few of you banded together, you could buy me this with the money you save from the discount code?? A thought?

Some Things I Loved Today

With spring and summer just around the corner, I find myself in need of some new spring shoes, especially considering the recent purge I went through when I moved to a new apartment. Time to restock! I've been looking especially for ballet flats, but flats of any cute kind may apply. Here's a few options for summer footwear (plus one winter sale holdover).





I have yet to throw myself into the Eleanor Grosch for Keds bandwagon, but I do like these two: the duck print and the frog print skimmers, with a slight edge going to mr. ducky. Who doesn't love rick rack, after all? $39.99 a pair.



Keds' "Hipster Skimmer" would be perfect as commuter shoes, no? If you, uh, go in for that sort of thing. $45.95 from Zappos with free shipping.




Rocketdog cutout-heart peeptoe flat, $38. Cuuuuute. I bought these today. What a good little consumer I am!



Another red option: the canvas peeptoe flat, $28.



El cheapo crossover ballet, $24. I bought these, too.



I love the Dolce Vita twist-toe ballets, on sale for $39.99, but for some reason I prefer the muted color and simpler style of el cheapo, above.



I also like the simplicity of the Dolce Vita leather rainbow ballet flat, on sale for $60. Not sure about that rainbow-elastic thing at the toe, though. Guess I'll pass.



Even though winter is clearly over, I couldn't pass up the ridiculous sale price of $19.99 for these Dolce Vita nylon wedge boots. Was $125, is cute! Plus: lined in shearling! Yay next winter!

Fashion Blogs Go Big-Time

So as our blogroll grows by leaps and bounds, I feel I must spotlight a couple of new additions:

1) the fabulous Fashionista.com, which I just realized is an Elizabeth Spiers jam. (If you're into the "blog scene," you know she's the founding editor of Gawker and mentioned in a lot of New York Times stories about blogs). It's very newsy and smart and relevant, and there was obviously a lot of money poured into it: I wonder how much that URL cost, just for starters.

2) Racked, brought to you by the same folks who brought you real estate blog Curbed and (my personal favorite) Eater. This one's about shopping, mostly in New York, but with some national bones thrown. Let's hope they lay off the pictures of boxes outside the new DVF store. Who really gives a fuck? Anyway, nice start. Carry on, fashion bloggers!

CARMEN GET IT!

BAGGING the latest It-accessory just isn't enough anymore: this season is all about the limited edition shoe. As well as planning the April opening of his new store on Hans Street, Knightsbridge, Rupert Sanderson has created Carmen. Sanderson joins Manolo Blahnik, who is currently designing two unique shoes for his new Kuwait boutique (for more details, click here); Christian Louboutin, who has made Activa, a midnight blue stiletto, exclusively for Harvey Nichols, and Burberry, who got in on the act with an ostrich-trim slingback for Matches. The king of elegant heels, Sanderson decided on a gold leather sandal knotted at the toe for Carmen. "My inspiration can come from anywhere from the most mundane to the most luxurious and rarefied," says Sanderson. "In the case of the Carmen 'knot shoe' my imagination was sparked by the knot of a Judo suit - the rows of stitching in this instance used to add strength to a garment worn in one of the world's most physical sports translated into a striking detail on a luxurious evening shoe. Limited edition shoes work as promotional tool both in a design and retail sense. There is a strong demand for exclusivity, customers want to feel that they have something special - something that isn't available in unlimited quantities."

Metallics Done RIGHT

I'm now also contributing to another fashion blog, though it's more of a general style blog (don't worry: I'm still keeping it really really real over here, y'all!), and I already touched upon my loathing of metallics. Well, not all metallics. Metallic leggings for one.

But...

I have to express some seriously lady love and give credit to two these ridiculously fucking "fetch" metallic pieces:


($596, Sass & Bide, Electricladyland.com -- scroll down)
GOD I love this dress. I NEVER thought I'd sanction a banded bubble dress, but, well... looks like I am! It's super pricey, yes, but... I do have a wedding coming up, and who says you can't roll up to a wedding looking like one of Jem's Misfits? And I DID just get my tax return...



($330, Gigi Favela, Unsungdesigners.com)
Mirrored pumps! LOVE LOVE LOVE!



($85, fractalspin.com)
This serotonin molecule necklace is hilarious but it appears to be sold out. GREAT! Just ANOTHER thing to be depressed about!

Sugar Loses Footing

($58.95, Sugar, Amazon.com)
Good God. Shit. Fuck. alkfjdl;askfjdklsaj'"eroqw54p08f09s8sjklfdasj!~@!jkl;FDKASFL;JFDSLAKJ ;GLASDFJFLSDA

THE HORROR!

To add insult to fashion injury...


($89.99, Sugar, Amazon.com)

They say sugar is bad for you, but I never knew it could be THIS bad.

Yay Spring Shopping!

After a winter of shopping hibernation, I just came out of my cave a little bit. Emboldened by my easy decision to purchase the Target duffel bag that may or may not work as a gym bag (remember?) --



UPDATE: I just received this bag, and I am sorely disappointed to note that it has not silver but GREEN straps! This is an outrage. I can't have green straps. What a letdown.

-- I started clicking around the site to see what else had the tempting "free shipping with $50 purchase" tag. And, oh the cuteness I found! Here is what I scored for the grand total of $66 bucks.



Mossimo boot, can't go wrong for $14.99. I thought about getting these a while back and refrained. For fifteen bucks, I went for it, even though this is not technically a spring purchase.



Merona yellow canvas wedges. Bright color, comfortable (-looking), great with jeans, great for work: check, check, check, check. $22.99 for a piece'a that.



Exhilaration butterfly-print satchel, a steal at $13.49. I think it's pretty big, and so so so so so cute I can't stand it. There are a bunch of other cute colors and styles, so click around. Don't bite me!

Tonight I hope to get to the Atlantic Terminal Target and pick up a leaf bag for Betsy, who started me on this crazy journey. I just hope they have more than one, or I'm going to have a serious moral dilemma on my hands.

UPDATE! Success! The Brooklyn Target has oodles and oodles of the lovely leafy bag, which is sorta Orla Kieley-esque, without the Orla Kiely-esque price tag. I picked up one for myself as well, because how can you not for 17 bones? Gaze upon its loveliness:

Which Gym Bag(s) Should I Get?

Having just joined a fancy new gym, I of course find myself in the market for a gym bag. Here's what I need: a cute, stylish bag large enough that I can stuff sneakers and workout clothes into it, along with my regular pursestuffs. I kind of hate doing that, but I think it beats walking around with two bags. I really can't stand the two-bag look, though lately I have done it anyway. So I want a big, sporty bag that won't make me feel retarded when I walk into work with it. Here's what I've been looking at, hits and misses included:



Tops on the list is the Puma Punch Grip bag, on sale at Sports Authority for $44.99. I viewed this bag (or a version of it) in the woefully understocked Puma store in Manhattan this weekend, and it fits the bill. It's also available on eBay in black, but for some reason i'm liking the blue. I'll probably get this, but....



There are also quite a few awesome Puma bags like this one available on eBay, with various enticing words like "vintage" attached, even though that is obviously false. Kinda love this red one. Nice 'n' affordable at around $30 with shipping from Asia.



I was also looking at duffel bags. The American Apparel duffel ($17) was tempting. I was thinking I could stencil to jazz it up a bit, cause I'm crafty like that. But it still seems just a bit overtly utilitarian-sporty. It positively glows in yellow, though.



This Target duffel ($12.99!) is a way more deserving duffel. Not sure it's big enough to work as a gym bag, but it's so silvery cool, and sporty but chic, in my humble Hopkinson opinion. Plus it'll match one of my spring jackets, whee!



For tucking inside your bag, this is pretty useful, if not exactly "cool": a little pouch to store your "moistened postworkout gym clothes." Uh, gross. But a good idea, I guess. $16.



Really, Puma is king of the sportos, but I felt I should take a look at some of the other big'uns. This Nike bag is okay, and looks to be the right size, but who knows because eBags doesn't bother giving the measurements. Not too smart, like most gym employees. They do manage to list the price though: $100. Pass.

I will probably end up with the blue Puma. It just feels right, ya know?

But before I go, the obligatory morts. If I see you with this I will beat you with a body bar. The heaviest (also blue!) one.



Nike Haute Shoe Print Club Bag, $80.

Stella, What the Hella?

Handbag.com did a feature on the hottest jewelry. Uh... WTF?


(Apprx $126 USD, Stella McCartney, net-a-porter.com)
It's not terrible... it's just like... "eh... really?" This isn't even the worst of it.


(Apprx $283, Stella McCartney, net-a-porter.com)
Almost $300 for something that looks like a tacky Christmas decoration???


(Apprx $614 USD, Yves Saint Laurent)
Seriously??? This looks like something I made in summer camp arts and crafts. Wood bits? Check. String? Yes. Elmer's Glue? Most likely.


(Apprx $780 USD, Delphine Charlotte Parmentier)
Is it a bracelet, or is it a piece of natural history?


Meanwhile, back over here on earth...

Cutesy Shoes coupon code! Yay!

Jacketology

Fuck brackets. There's only one thing I care about this month that ends with -ackets, and that's "jackets." Here are a bunch of awesome ones, first a few randos, then in ascending order of awesomeness.


($12.49, Mossimo, Amazon.com)
First, something for the guys. Simple, affordable, inoffensive.


($65.95, Adidas, Amazon.com)
I went through my sporty phase in college, so I don't think I'd go out of my way to wear this since it's not in my fashion wheel house. But this is for all of your sporty spices out there. This is cute, no? I like when sportswear looks less like a stodgy uniforms. Yay for jewel tones!

Okay... Now for the good stuff.


($39, Mossimo, Target.com)
Another simple, affordable, not-at-all-inelegant piece from The 'Jay.


($49.99, Urban)
Grrr. I'm pissed that I already bought a trench because this one is SO adorbs. Look at the femme floral buttons, the lovely tailoring (sooooo not boxy) and the unconventional belt. Wah. I want.


($76, Planetfunk.com)
Simple and sophisticated. Just like you. When you're not a drunken mess.


($52, Nick and Mo, Amazon.com)
LOVE me some waist-defining ties. That, plus the puffy shoulders - so fresh.


($79, Nick and Mo, Planetfunk.com)
Soooooo presh. With cool angled pockets and Sailor Jerry-esque embroidery details. I'm always a fan of banded jackets, so you don't have that whole "Where does this jacket stop and my pelvis begin?" ambiguity.


($54, Nick and Mo, 80spurple.com)
Now, I'm wondering if that whole nebulous waist thing might be going on here. Still, check out the back of the piece -- extremely gorgez.


($175, We Are The Superlative Conspiracy, Amazon.com)
I love this jacket. I love that it's jersey. I love that it's asymmetrical. I love this brand. Love, love, love, love, love.