Also through Victoria, I found this Tim Gunn bobblehead doll, $25. I heart Tim Gunn with a passion, even in small plastic form. And so: yes, please!

Drool. Pant. Squeal.

Rather than sift through all those runway photos (it grows very tiring very quickly), I've been checking around to see what the other bloggers are buzzing about from NY fashion week. How gorgeous are these Luca Luca dresses, via Love Made Visible? So simple, but really beautiful. [Instant swoon.]

If you're up for some serious web clicking, there's more Luca Luca loveliness over here.

{Tiny update} Shiny Squirrel has been putting together a fantastic round-up of some of the most instantly covetable looks from the collections. (For example: Trovata? *Love.*)

More Drooling. More Panting.

I mentioned yesterday that I adored Sabyasachi's NY show, which included some of the same pieces and silhouettes from his last fashion week collection in Bombay, entitled "The Snail." There's definitely a boho feel to his style, but he manages to incorporate earthy and ethnic elements in a completely modern way. Here's a few close-ups of what I loved.


You can also watch the collection take its final runway turn here:

Now the 5-Year-Old in Me is Drooling and Panting

Well, you know how I love using cool toys as decorating inspiration. So it's probably no surprise that I immediately loved the look of this fantastic plastic bottle cap curtain. I found it on kids crafts site Kiddley, where I also found the photo below, which I'm going to post simply because I like its bright mix of colors. It's a very gray, very rainy day in these parts -- maybe I should break out the crayons for awhile.

If I Can't Be In New York, Part 2…

I am totally digging The Sartorialist's daily photographs of what people are wearing to the tents, which he's been posting on Style.com this week. Lots of fashion inspiration (and lots of gray), including this great dress sported by French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld.

(Also! Quick! Everyone! We all saw this coming, but pretty pinafores are definitely back in a big way.)

Some Friday Reading

I've been very interested lately in learning more about Belgian designer Martin Margiela and can't wait to visit his West Village shop when I'm in New York next month. But in the meantime, I enjoyed FiftyRX3's write-up on the store and the designer, and definitely recommend for a little afternoon fashion reading.

Back to the Fash

These past few weeks, I've been pretty preoccupied with "work" and "deadlines" and "professional commitments" -- which are all very important, of course, particularly because they allow me to have the means to contemplate slightly frivolous purchases like buckled Coach loafers. (So comfy looking!)

But I should be back in full force relatively soon, and I cannot wait to start obsessing about fashion again (starting with the New York collections. I honestly haven't looked at a single one, except for Indian designer Sabyasachi's terrific New York debut. But then again, I figure I've got some time, since I've barely starting planning my fall wardrobe and am SO not ready to start thinking about spring.) Now usually, I'd be feeling a little wiped out after my recent hectic work schedule, but I'm actually completely energized about style and design at the moment. That's mainly due to Fashion Now, an great little book compiling most of the most influential designers currently in fashion. I bought it in Bangkok and devoured it immediately -- it's an excellent crash course on many of the innovators in the industry, entertainingly written by the editors at I-D magazine.

(Note: I purchased the Icons series edition, about $10, which is a truncated version and infinitely more public transportation-friendly than the original volume, about $13. But I liked it so much, I'm thinking of buying the big version as well.)

I also snagged a few other editions from the Icons series, including Design of the 20th Century, Design Handbook and Industrial Design. (Many of these are, inexplicably, not available on Amazon, but seem to be at plenty of other bookstores.) At around $10 a pop and very nicely done, I've not found a more thorough overview on some of the design and art movements that have captured much of my attention lately. And! They fit nicely in my totebag, which is just icing on the cake.

Sad face.

I had really, really, really wanted to purchase a piece of Amy Ruppel artwork, but here it is -- only 18 hours from the start of her latest online sale -- and everything is already sold out. [Pouts, frets, eats another tea sandwich from airport lounge because sometimes, finger foods do make everything a little better.]

However, if I hadn't been one step behind on this, I might have chosen one of the pretty little paintings above. Next time.

Because Really, Savings Accounts are SO Last Year

Every week, I'm all like, okay, it's time to shop shopping and start saving some money. And then I immediately find something great, like this slim-cut, extra-long hoodie from Old Navy, which keeps catching my eye in their latest advertisements. (The ever-fashion forward Lucky mag gave a mention to extra-long hoodies a few months ago, and they've been stuck in my mind ever since.) Paired with leggings and flats, or thrown over a dress—well, it's really too cute to pass up. And $29.50 isn't really that much of a dent in my finances. Er, right?

Bangkok = Boots the Chemist = A Very Happy Spinach

Hi from my hotel in Bangkok, where I flew yesterday morning to work on a story for the next few days. I do love Bangkok immensely—it's such a fantastic, design-oriented city, full of cool local brands and funky concept stores and just about everything else, including multiple branches of U.K. drugstore chain Boots the Chemist. Where I may have gone slightly crazy today, buying shampoo and apricot lip balm and a spray that promises to keep my hair from becoming wild and uncontrollable in high humidity. (!!!!) Oh, I should know better than to get overly excited about hair products that make big, bold promises, but do you know how happy I'll be if it works even just slightly?

Anyway, the thing I love about staying in hotels is that you finally have the time to do all the things you plan to do every day but never get around to because you're distracted by the dishes or something—like use eye cream and remember to take vitamins and slather yourself with all sorts of hydrating body products, which is exactly what I am doing. And, I may have ordered up room service so I could eat my dinner while watching Audrey flit about Rome in a cute little pixie cut. Bellissimo!

Rainbow Fever

I snapped this on my way through the Singapore airport Thursday morning. I'm in a pretty colorful mood these days.

Unpacking the Loot

Here's what I managed to pick up during a little bit of shopping in India:

Fuschia embroidered skirt, about $20 at Janpath market. It has a fantastically poufy ballerina thing happening; I have a feeling that with a little tweaking, it could be one of my favorite pieces.



Wool carpet from Kashmir, about $13 at Janpath, now living in my office. How great is the color combination? I'm in a huge green and blue phase this week, possibly inspired by the vibrant dress just below from Kotwara by Meera & Muzaffar Ali, seen at India Fashion Week.



My blue and green love continued with this peacock printed fabric, which I purchased in a long wrap tunic for $15 at Anokhi. It's the perfect beachy coverup.


I grabbed these fabrics from Rajasthan in Bombay last month. Only $1.25 a yard and lots of vibrant hues:


Stone-accented sandals, about $30, from Ashley. I love flat shoes with a little embellishment:


When things calm down a bit, I promise I'll put together a proper shopping guide to New Delhi and Bombay. There are so many great things to be had, especially if you have a little imagination.

Inspiration in Everything

India may be known as the land of color, but I couldn't help noticing pretty textured whites everywhere – definitely all over the runway this season, but all around town as well. I started snapping pictures of some of the more eye-catching textures. Who knows? Sometimes a brick wall can be inspiration for a new pattern or design or purchase.




Of course, vibrant colors are everywhere as well. I had to snap a few:

The Next Best Thing to Actually Attending NY Fash Week

Even if I can't be in NY during the shows, I love how you can still download the pdf of Fashion Week Daily, the magazine put out each day during fashion week that's full of designer profiles, juicy tidbits, runway reports and so much more. The first one is already up on their site, and you should check back every day this week for each new issue.

Subscribers to the monthly version, The Daily Mini (which I've ordered about five times online and still have yet to receive... sigh), will also get this in the mail, but who can wait that long?

India Fashion Week: Greatest Hits, Vol. 1

I still have several articles to write and hundreds of pictures to slog through from last week, but I wanted to highlight a tiny selection of some of my favorite looks from the runway during India Fashion Week. And now, if you'll excuse me for a bit, I think what I really need is a bowl of Kraft macaroni & cheese and a good night's sleep.


I love the Technicolor designs from Manish Arora even more every season. He toned down his usual day-glo hues in favor of a (slightly) more subtle palette for a fantastic, nature-inspired collection. This empire dress -- with its mint green background and bright pink blooms -- was among my favorites, as was the amazingly detailed peacock capelet above.

How great is this sweetly retro style from Ayesha Depala? I'm always such a sucker for a Peter Pan collar:


Varun Bahl is always one of my favorites, both for his clothes and presentation. For his finale, he sent the models down the runway in a muted rainbow of classic dresses:


Ranna Gill did some terrific jersey prints -- very L.A. and very cool.


We continue to be big Anamika Khanna fans around here. She moved away from her signature colorful fabrics this time for a light, easy collection with neutral shades and vintage-inspired botany motifs. I loved the unexpected elegance of this piece in particular:


I'm sorry to say this photo doesn't nearly do justice to this beautiful leaf-print dress from the universally lauded collection by Shantanu & Nikhil:


A cool, modern mix from Ashish Soni:


Rajesh Pratap Singh is always a huge highlight for me (and, judging by the crowd shoving to get in, lots of others as well). I would probably travel all the way to India just to see his beautiful European-style collections.



I'm also happy to report that there were no fires or related mishaps, but several buckets of sand were at the ready, just in case.

Favorite Fashion Week Find: Bounipun

One of my favorite parts of fashion week is traipsing around the buyer's booths, both to see the designers who didn't do runway shows and also to get a close-up look at all the clothes. You never know who or what you're going to find, but I was immediately drawn into the booth for Bounipun, a new label from charming Kashmiri designer Zubair Kirmani.


The Delhi-based Zubair took traditional Indian techniques and modernized them to create these beautifully made, geometrically inspired pieces. Both the technique and the finishing were very well done -- which is not always the case in India -- and the collection really stood out for both its simplicity and quirkiness. I love the contrast of the black and white patterns, but I also love the simple elegance of the white on white -- the texture in the design is really all the decoration that's needed. (And thank goodness! After a few fashion shows in India, you start to get your fill of sequins and fringe very quickly.)

In any case, I was able to chat with Zubair several times during the week and am really excited to watch what he does in the future. In the shorter term, I ordered the two amazing dresses below for myself. I mean, really. Can you blame me?

Happiness is… A Three Dollar Dress

I used New Delhi's near-constant schedule of fashion week events to show off my new tie-dyed minidress, which was a whopping $3 at the Japanese thrift store on Haji Lane. The low price is probably because at first glance on the hanger, it looked like a rather diaphanous fashion faux pas that some little old Japanese lady wore to putter around her garden (a certain boyfriend took one look at it and said, "nice muumuu"). But cinched with a wide belt, it turned out to be pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. Mike still doesn't like it very much, but sometimes, one has to accept that one's boyfriend just doesn't always have true fashion vision.

Yet Another Reason to Visit Singapore?

I am still catching up with all the reading material that collected into scarily large pile while I was away, but I wanted to mention that last week's issue of Urban (the Straits Times' Thursday fashion supplement, which I read religiously) announced that a new part of Paragon mall will open next month and include a branch of Japanese housewares retailer Muji. Fingers are crossed that it's not a tiny shop-in-shop Muji -- we already have two of those in Singapore, at Bugis Junction and Bishan -- but instead a superduper Muji megastore, like they have in Tokyo, Hong Kong and elsewhere. It is truly among my top five favorite stores in the world. They have managed to make even a swiffer look minimalist and chic.

Their classic colored pencil tube above, which is among the small assortment of Muji products that can be found at the MOMA store in the U.S., has decorated my desk for the past five years. I just can't bring myself to use them; they're too pretty to have a real purpose.

I'm Baaaaaaack!

Did you miss me?

I'd really hoped not to be so MIA this past week, but between the shows and the sporadic New Delhi internet and the general exhaustion that accompanies any trip to India, I just didn't have the ability/time/mental capacity to be witty and conversational. I'm sure you understand. It was an interesting but completely tiring trip, full of slightly surreal experiences. One day, you're just a blogger sitting around thinking about ballet flats, and the next you're traipsing around a crumbling old palace in the middle-of-nowhere India with some nice young royals. Life is crazy like that.

I'm gearing up for plenty more posts later today (after a nap and a shower and catching up on the latest news about little Suri Holmes-Cruise on Pink is the New Blog), but first, here's a dress I loved from Saturday's India Fashion Week shows. It's by Delhi-based designer Ashish N Soni, who will also show during New York Fashion Week tomorrow night. It was one of my favorite pieces of the shows for its volume (oh, how I love volume), simplicity and slightly quirky neckline. Ashish's India showing gave a little preview of tomorrow's New York show, and there were some great silhouettes, edgy shapes and a funky little capelet that I plan on ordering immediately. I can't wait to see the rest of the collection.

Okay, back to unpacking, unwinding and unwrapping all the packages that were delivered in my absence. Can you believe I had three pairs of shoes waiting for me and not one of them is cute? More on that later, but really, such a disappointment.

India, India, India...

Things have been crazy since I've arrived in India -- lots of meetings, lots of shows, lots of events and people and shopping and busyness. I've seen some beautiful things and am taking lots of pictures and notes (and also naps -- this stuff wears you out!). Here's a glimpse of things to come -- a dress by designer Manish Arora, whose psychedelic creations are always a highlight. (I kind of love the hen hat.) In any case, all this hoopla ends Sunday and then I'll head briefly to another part of India for a different story, and then I'll head home. I think I'll be pretty happy to get back to my regular scheduled blogging.