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Indulge your inner retro-sexy Happy Homemaker with Tie Me Up Aprons

22 Mar

If you’re like me, you probably do a fair share of cooking.  And if you’re even more like me, you’ve probably ruined a shirt or dress or something else while you were cooking.   My Mom always used to tell me to wear an apron while cooking, so that I wouldn’t ruin what I was wearing.  So when my friend, photographer Bruce Barone, posted some pictures he took for   Tie Me Up Aprons , I  thought I’d died and gone to clothes preserving apron heaven!

Anita Senkowski, proprietress of Tie Me Up Aprons, creates her unique confections from out-of-production and

NEW!! The REAL Krispy Kreme Girl Apron. A Tie Me Up Exclusive!!

vintage fabrics.  She has a great eye for color and pattern and assembles her aprons with a certain je-ne-sais-quois  that will make you say “hey, that’s wicked cool! I’ve got to have it!”

Considering the new season of Mad Men starts on Sunday–well, you might just need one of these to protect your perfect Betty Draper party dress while serving era appropriate hors d’oeuvres!

If you order now, enter the code HIGHFASHION1 and you will receive a 15% discount on any apron, including the made to order Zen Charmer (from a very limited fabric) This offer extends through March 31, 2012!

Tie Me Up Aprons are hand crafted in Michigan, USA, and ships worldwide (so no excuses you people in the UK, Australia, and everywhere else.)  Tie Me Up takes PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, and Discover.

“Like” Tie Me Up on Facebook and follow for the latest updates on the new fabrics Anita’s getting plus other cool news from Tie Me Up.

Photo courtesy of Bruce Barone Photography

Average Woman Looks at Spring 2012 Trends: Florals

8 Mar

Let me start by saying that, even as a kid, I don’t think florals were my fashion “thing.”   Now, they’re *really* not my thing.  So, I had a bit of a panic attack when I heard that florals were one of the big trends for Spring 2012….

Turns out that I’m not the only one who has some trouble with the whole florals thing.  According to a recent reader’s poll survey published in the March issue of InStyle magazine, only 17 percent of readers were looking forward to this spring trend (that means 83 percent are less than enthusiastic about florals.)

So, what can one do about all those florals?  Well, there’s always the option to totally ignore the trend.  But if you’re in the process of updating your wardrobe, or need new sizes, there are ways to bring florals into your wardrobe without looking like you’re attending a 1980′s British garden party…..

One way is to look at the color and placement of the floral pattern.  I love this look from White House/Black Market

The pattern is simple black and white, which starts out more dense at the top; and I love the way the pattern trails off asymmetrically.  This is the kind of dress that could be spruced up for a special occasion with pearls and heels or mixed into daily wardrobe with simple or sporty accessories.

Another White House/Black Market piece that I particularly love is this floral pencil skirt:

I love the way the pattern hugs the body of the skirt, but does not overwhelm it. The colors are subtle, giving it a retro look.  I like too, the way the white breaks up the pattern.  If it were all over, well, I’d feel like I had a big floral butt–not something I’d be all that happy with showing off.   However, I would be very interested to try this skirt on to see just how the pattern works on my particular body. Pencil skirts are usually flattering,  but even a flattering cut can go wrong if the pattern doesn’t work for one’s figure (as in horizontal stripes.  a total “oh no!” for my shape.)

Overall, one has to know one’s figure in order to know whether a floral will work for her or not.  Some women may look fantastic in flowing exotic floral prints, while others might look best in a pair of pants with a small or even crazy-big floral print.  If you’re unsure, I’d recommend not something floral all-over but rather one piece that fits well.  If you find you can’t be all that objective about a trend, and buy clothes usually because you simply *love* the trend, then have a good friend tell you if the piece you’ve chosen works for you or not.  Your trendy ego might be a little bruised, but it’s better to have an honest opinion than look like a trendy hot mess.

Luxury Flash Sale sites fall victim to consumer boredom

2 Feb

Really now. . . how many L.A.M.B. purses, seasonless Hugo Boss dresses, and gourmet cheeses can anyone afford these days?  Apparently, not too many….

no, this is not today's gourmet cheese offering from Gilt Group, but oh, if it was! ;)

BetaBeat reports that several luxury flash sale sites have sustained substantial layoffs in the past few months, including Gilt  Group, the American imitator of Ventee-Privee.  The article gives a heads-up on what’s what at many of the top, and not so top, flash sale sites.  Are they retail flashes in the proverbial pan, or will they have staying power over the long haul of our recessionary times??

Honestly, I signed up for Gilt, Hautelook (owned by Nordstroms), Ideeli, and several others in order to see what was under the hood, so to say.  And here’s my take: they’re boring.  Item offered on a continual basis are handbags, shoes, shoes and handbags.  Maybe some jewelry, maybe some cute underwear (perhaps not in my size.)  There may even be clothing from time to time, but the really good items sell out quickly–or there aren’t any good items to begin with.

The thing is, shopping, for me anyway, is a way to satiate that old hunter-gatherer instinct.  There’s something incredibly satisfying about getting out of the house to go hunting and gathering–so much more funthan pointing and clicking.  Sure, I can send something back if it turns out not to be what I want, but I’d rather make that decision before an item gets into my home.  Once an item crosses the threshold, I don’t want to concern myself with packing it up and sending it back, even if the return shipping fees are paid.

The appeal of luxury flash sale sites must be to the suburban McMansion owner who works long hours, lives off credit cards, and believes that status is conferred on those whose wardrobes are branded with big names.   Because, honestly, in small towns we don’t really care about status brands.  And in big cities, status brands are, literally, just around the next corner.

If you really feel the need…

As our economy shifts, the suburban McMansion owner may no longer have the spare credit rating to own a litter of  L.A.M.B. handbags,  let alone care about the status conferred by private vineyard wines and artisanal cheeses.

So, who knows what the long-range is for these sites–some may last, and some may fold.  But since I really enjoy the tactile sensation and hurly burly of hunter-gatherer shopping, I think I’ll spend more time at the malls and outlets and ditch my “memberships” to these sites.  That certainly will cut down on my daily spam intake for sure.

Swivel virtual dressing room to relieve the pain of long lines and virtual mishaps

13 Jan

You know what it’s like to stand there, and stand there, and stand there waiting for someone to come by and open the dressing room door, or perhaps you just don’t feel like taking something off to try on one lousy blouse…

That’s where Swivel, the virtual dressing room, could save you a whole lot of aggravation.

Swivel was demo’d this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.  FaceCake Marketing Technologies, which developed the snazzy proprietary software is hoping that it will be used by virtual as well as mall-based retailers.  Swivel makes good use of motion-sensoring technology in webcams and Microsoft Kinect to scan your body and then fit you into the items you’d like to try on.

Here’s a screen shot from the Los Angeles Times video of how Swivel works:

Honestly, if I happen to be in a store, I’d rather just buy something and then return it if it doesn’t fit.  However, I can see this as a boon to online retailers.  I will often not buy from online retailers if I am not sure of  their sizes.  Size charts help but sometimes there are multiple manufacturers sold by one online retailer.  Sometimes they have manufacturer/designer specific charts and sometimes they don’t.  Product reviews help (esp. when they note if an item fits too small or too large.)  To have the addition of a visualization before ordering an item could certainly save a whole lot of return troubles!

Note:  I believe I saw Swivel, as well as some other and quite different virtual try-on software at the Fashion 140 conference in New York City last spring.

Crossdressing male captures lucrative women’s lingerie modeling contract

14 Dec

I was totally shocked–but perhaps shouldn’t be–when Fashionista reported that crossdresser Andrej Pejic has been chosen to model the “Mega Push-Up Bra” for Dutch chain store Hema.

Come on people!  Does the fashion world hate women’s bodies so much that they have to pick a guy to model lingerie??  It’s bad enough that most female models out there are tall, incredibly thin, and virtually breastless.  Hema couldn’t find a female model who was small enough?  What is Hema trying to say with this ad?  Are they trying to earn their hipness cred with a certain circle of people who ultimately prefer men over women?  Really?

One of the commenters on Fashionista believes Hema’s choice to be “revolutionary.”   And I don’t doubt that the word “revolutionary” will appear in every single article written about Hema’s model choice.

But what Hema is really telling us is that a guy is a better than a woman to represent their women’s lingerie line .

Really?  REALLY??

And does it take total degradation of women and the elevation of women impersonators for fashion advertising to be “revolutionary?”  If so, the fashion industry is in far more trouble than they know…

Here are two images from the campaign.

I don’t care how “beautiful” he is, he’s a guy! fer cryin’ out loud!  I don’t care if he’s a crossdresser either.  Over the years I’ve had some great crossdresser friends.  But my god! we don’t need a crossdresser standing in for women in advertising for women’s lingerie.  It sends the wrong message (yes, advertising sends messages beyond “buy our lingerie”) and, ultimately, works to denigrate the true female form.

Perhaps the real “revolution” would be using real women in advertising, not faux women.

Just a thought……

Julianne Moore for Talbots: Redefining the 50-ish Woman

3 Oct

Talbots is expanding its campaigns featuring Julianne Moore, who was featured in Spring 2011 campaign

Limelight rises to relaunch as department store

13 Jul

If you were a young person in New York City, or even a Bridge & Tunnel person, you probably partied at The Limelight.  The club responsible for making goth, industrial and techno almost acceptable to the middle class closed rather ignominiously a few years after the whole Michael Alig mess.There were a with a couple of reboots in the 90′s and the 00′s, but the old place never regained its momentum.  Finally, it was shuttered for good in 2007.

Then, in May 2010, it became Limelight Marketplace, one of those upscale indoor markets. “Originally, we wanted Limelight Marketplace to be a family-style entertainment palace,” owner Jack Menasche was quoted in WWD.

Limelight Marketplace--a little cramped, I'd say....

“Family-style entertainment palace” in a former house of decadence.  Really?  Really??  No wonder it flopped.

Fear not!  For the Limelight is about to be resurrected one more time: as a sexy super department store in September, 2011.  Some of the brands slated to be featured are M. Missoni, Charlotte Ronson, Winter Kate (one of  Nicole  Richie’s brands), and Levi’s Made & Crafted.

Well, not sure if I’ll be able to find anything in my size–so far the offerings seem oriented to the young fashionista– but it’ll be worth browsing anyway…

If you want to know what all the noise was about the club, check this this brief history of the Limelight on The Bowery Boys blog.

Limelight Marketplace photo courtesy of  gzaharoff’s posterous.