Oh goodness, where does the time go? Actually, here's where it goes: jaunts to Bethesda (home of $7 thrifted Burberry trenches); organizing my shoes in matching plastic boxes, which makes me deliriously, unapologetically happy; finally paring down nearly six years of Vogue magazines into neat little binders (Teen Vogue, you're next!); long catch-up dinners at Cork with lovely old Beijing friends; being, um, first to the bi-annual sale at Relish (and still not being able to justify the Dries, no matter how beautiful it is! luckily, the super-sale bin yielded some goodness…); shopping fun with super-author Cathy, in which I get to consult on outfit ideas for her upcoming Today Show appearance; my weekly tangysweet catch-up/fashion discussion with Johanna (now back to brunette!); rooftop dinners; escaping down to the beach for the week; Skee-Ball; showtunes sing-a-longs; general ridiculous fun; frequently lamenting the fact that it is now July.

And, of course, all the usual stuff: work, poring over the new Vogue, keeping up with the tumbleweeds of kitty hair that relentlessly invade my apartment.

I plan to be back, fully rested, by next week. In the meantime, there are some vinegar-soaked french fries calling my name. Happy fourth!

Didja get your Eames stamps yet?

We interrupt our general quietness with a reminder that the much-anticipated Eames stamp set is now available from your friendly neighborhood post office, and also right here, for the bargain price of $6.72.

We'll be back with more design goodness in a bit. Promise!

Birthdays. Updates. And birthday updates.

So last week I turned {cough, cough}, and it was the first year in a while where my birthday did not entail roller skating, bar crawling, scavenger hunting, dancing to Justin Timberlake until the wee hours of the morn, or throwing my underwear on stage at a rock concert. (Um, long story. Anyway.)

In any case, this year's celebration instead included a very adult-like shopping excursion to Target, Sephora and Barney's Co-op, sushi, champagne, an enormous Betty Crocker chocolate cake and falling asleep at 10pm to the blissfully colorful scenery of The Darjeeling Limited. (Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. C!) Oh, and a big rainstorm followed by a bright rainbow over Georgetown. There was no hilarious debauchery, but it was still a pretty great day.

Especially as I got to do a bit of splurging as well. In addition to some pretty great gifts (the aforementioned dvd, plus the best baseball hat ever), my birthday buys included the following:

*The much-discussed Vanessa Barrantes dress from local online shop Lily Lily, in navy. It is just *perfect*.

*A Malababa bag I'd absolutely loved last season from Barney's, which miraculously just popped up on eBay at a nicely reduced price. I took it as a sign.

*A new ruffly bikini!

*NARS blush in Orgasm. For achieving my dreams of a peachy-rosy summer glow. It's kind of perfection.

*A Sonia Kashuk travel Kabuki makeup brush. I just really like her brushes at Target, and the new, slightly-higher-end collection is a pretty fab deal.

*LipSmackers in Pink Lemonade. Perfectly sweet and summery. I also think I might have gotten this when I turned 10.

*The birthday fairy has also promised a new digital camera, just as soon as I make up my mind about which one I want.

{This is not a picture of my birthday rainbow, but it's just as pretty, and so I borrowed it.}

Running to and fro…

Continued apologies for the general quietness over here – I've been *so incredibly busy* lately that I've barely had time to sit down, let alone craft thoughtful and appropriately giddy blog posts on fashion. But, the end is near – I wrap up a big deadline tonight and then you will be treated to some or all of the following: My birthday buys! (The big day was last week, which of course I used as an excuse to splurge a bit.) My Indianapolis adventure! (I've just returned last night, and it was totally croquet-rific.) A fall fashion preview! (I'm all abuzz with ideas.) The vintage bag giveaway! (Whoo hoo all around.)

In the meantime, here are my Lucky mag listings and Washingtonian event picks for the week for D.C./Baltimore. I personally cannot *wait* for the Crafty Bastards fair on Saturday. The vendors look fantastic. I predict much cuteness!

Pairing fab people with fab vintage since early 2008.

Remember our Liz Saintsing gloves and vintage bag giveaway? You'll be happy to see the bag is doing adorably well over in Ireland with Miss Milki. In fact, we're so happy that the bag found such a perfect vintage-loving home that we're going to do another vintage bag giveaway contest next week. There will be multiple styles! More chances to win! Heavy use of exclamation points! Stay tuned…

In the meantime, we're off to Indianapolis for a long weekend, where we have been promised Midwestern-style thrifting almost immediately upon arrival. Whoo.

Adventures in Budgets, part 17

Every time I've passed through my friendly neighborhood boutique Betsy Fisher in the past few months, I emerge convinced that this Hoss Intropia floor-grazing dress might be the most perfect maxi dress ever made. (So in love those detailed, handmade-quality pins it comes with… a great, unexpectedly quirky touch.) It's gone on sale for $408.75 on Net-a-Porter, but sadly, still completely and utterly out of the question.

Surprising news of the day

Via our stylish friends at Bunnyshop, we clicked over to the Kate Spade sale and were utterly amazed to see that they still sell the boxy, nylon, so-everywhere-circa-2000 Sam bag. It was the first designer bag I can ever remember being both insanely ubiquitous and highly covetable – owned by everyone from my best friend to my mom's best friend. {Also, at nearly $200, I remember thinking it was incredibly expensive. Ah, the naivete of youth...} I haven't seen one in years, and just assumed it had been retired to the "It bag" hall of fame long ago. Which, er, it probably should have been.

As a reward for indulging this l'il trip down memory lane, some lovely Kate eye candy, via Oh Happy Day. Kate recovered nicely from the Sam phenomenon, don't you think?

They're not "twins." Got it?

You know how we're forever enraptured by fashion mini-moguls. The new WWD blog has a great little story about interviewing MK + A on their Elizabeth and James accessories line that's worth the click.

So, if we're not supposed to refer to them as twins or sisters, what about siblings? Is that okay? Or are we supposed to forget they're related entirely? Honestly, if I were them, I'd ban any references to "New York Minute"* {or any of their straight-to-video 'tween flicks} instead.

*Ah, who are we kidding? We totally saw "New York Minute" and enjoyed its insanely silly, Eugene Levy-led triteness.

The best remedy for a rainy Monday*

You *must* check out Daddy Likey's Poetry for Prada contest. The fashion haiku entries are laugh-out-loud fantastic. Here are a few of the contest examples:

O Marc, you could turn
a trashbag into couture!
I think you did once.

Karl Lagerfeld,
You scare the shit out of me.
Please take off the gloves.

And that's just the beginning... Go! Think of clever wordplay! Win!

*The second best remedy is a picture of the sunshiney boardwalk at the beach. Just in case the haiku thing didn't tickle your fancy.

Just when I thought Topshop couldn't get any cooler…

Thanks to Ms. Susie, I'm totally enjoying the Topshop Helmut Newton Photo Machine online gallery. There are lots of fun shots of customers who've used the machine so far (it started in the Oxford Circus store last week and heads to Manchester tomorrow). Plus, they seem to give you access to fantastic accessories like incredibly tiny top hats and seriously fierce heels for your big moment. One can only wonder what they've got cooked up for their big October NYC launch…*




*Just for the record, I CANNOT WAIT. Not that I imagine there was any doubt about that.

Desperately Coveted, part 532 of 9,927

Um, can y'all please go ahead and clean out the stock of this Vanessa Barrantes for Shumaq dress from LilyLily? I saw it in person at the Dekka Showroom on U Street recently, and I'm not sure I have much willpower left not to buy it immediately. Must… resist… perfect… ruffles!

Oh and I *do not* recommend that you check out the Shumaq site, or your credit card might be very, very sorry. Such incredible gorgeousness everywhere you look.

{Photo from Domino.}

A Fashiony Exercise

I had a meeting up at the Chevy Chase Saks Fifth Avenue store today. It was my first visit to that particular store and I got there early (and then ended up staying afterwards) to explore a bit. In my opinion (and at the risk of sounding kinda corny), one of the most wonderful things any fashion follower can do is spend an afternoon in an upscale retailer like Saks. You don't have to buy anything – I didn't; I'm still being good! -- but just to walk around, to stand veryvery close the Lanvin and the Oscar de la Renta and the Chanel, to try on a Choo or two, makes for an inspiring time. The stitching, the fabric, the details of such items – these are things that pictures will never do justice. It was all so very lovely. (And, should you be in market for something beautiful, much of it was on some mayjah sale.)

One of my favorite new finds was some pieces from Australian-born, Paris-based designer Martin Grant. Saks had a few detailed black dresses from him (all at verrry tempting sale prices), and they were just so perfectly constructed, with artful pleating and sleek shapes, that I was instantly smitten. (Look at that coat above from his upcoming F/W collection! Swoooon.)

I knew it was meant to be when I clicked on the S/S section of his site and was happily greeted by an image of an enormous pink button as the page loaded.



His designs are not at trendy – no bright paint-splatters here! – but they are, season after season, incredibly well-constructed, impeccably detailed and otherwise perfect. I think I may be in love. {I also think I might love the idea of bright white tights and turtlenecks layered under fitted black sheaths for this fall.}


Even his bio picture is kind of amazing. See?


Do you have a favorite store where you love to just go and drool? My all-time favorite is Lane Crawford in Hong Kong (with nearby Joyce a close second), but Barney's New York is probably at the top of my list in the U.S. I'd love to hear if you do -- it would be excellent fodder for my Fashion Vacation Wishlist.

Hair and Now*

On Sunday, I went over to check out and take backstage photos for local salon group PRatPartners' semi-annual fashion show. I think I breathed in about nine cans of hairspray in the process, but it was really lively and totally fun. The full slideshow of pix is over here, if you're interested.


*Make no mistake, thinking up hair-related pun-y headlines makes for a very good (and slightly ridiculous) time. Also considered but ultimately rejected: Totally Stranded. A Big Tease. Curl Power. Oh, I could go on and on….

Abe wants *you* to stay cool.

Are we having some sweaty fun yet? (It's pushing a steamy 100 degrees here in DC!) Just in case you feel like braving the heat, here are more local fashion events this week. (We will personally be sitting by the pool for the foreseeable future, but are planning on trekking up to HonFest in B'more this weekend and cannot wait. It should be kitschy-Sixties-riffic!)

Also, there will be another Big Fashion Chat on Friday at 1pm, where we will do our very best to direct you towards cute fashion choices. We couldn't even make it through all the questions last time, so I suggest you submit your queries early. We work on a first come, first served basis. Whoo, democracy.

The snap above is from my newest batch of monument-y pics. Enjoy. And don't melt out there!

A busy tizzy

Well, hey! You may have noticed that things have been a little quiet here lately, mostly because we've had our hands full with some very fun worky projects. Including: Our first DC/Baltimore Weekly Fashion Picks, now up on Lucky Mag's website. We personally cannot wait to use our own Lucky Break to go shopping at Lilac Bijoux's Baltimore outpost this weekend, quite possibly for one of these fab beaded cuff bracelets.

Also, as a reward for your patience, we also offer the picture of us above, circa age 6, sporting those now-back-in-style ribbon barrettes.

Deconstructed, literally.

Morgan posted a very sweet round-up of some of us newer DC fashion bloggers {thank you, Morgan!}, including the new-to-me site The President Wears Prada, with whom I share a fondness for the now-completely-gone building that was being completely taken down at 16th and K streets these past few months.

TPWP found fashion inspiration in the wreckage, while I personally found the slowly-reduced-to-rubble process completely fascinating and inadvertently artistic. I decided to dig out some of the pics I took a few months back and never got around to posting, and here they are.

For your Saturday afternoon viewing pleasure...

The first Stylista trailers are out, and it just looks ridiculously good. (Also somewhat ridiculous.) A nice amount of Johanna time in this clip, along with a few more hilarious sound bites from Anne Slowey.

And while I'm at it -- I had a great time interviewing DC's facial and brow authority Lance Etchison of bluemercury for Washingtonian.com. His advice on skin, brows and other beauty matters is the final word for many a Washington-ite (including, as of the interview, me! He advised me to do a slight brow grow-in for a few weeks so he could have more to work with to give them a better overall shape. It has been kind of excruciatingly difficult; I've had to slap my hand from grabbing the tweezers and do some necessary taming these past few weeks. I'll keep you posted...)

Stirring the pot a bit…

While I'm busy condoning controversial fashion statements, I might as well go ahead and declare that I really loved the subscriber cover of the June 2008 Harper's Bazaar featuring the highly divisive Ms. Richie. It was so fresh and pretty and sunny – and I couldn't help but think, why not make this the regular cover? Wouldn't you love to see something this relaxed and *different* among the options at the newsstand?

In related news, I found a mint condition old-fashioned baby buggy at the thrift store over the weekend and would have totally bought it if I could have, in any way, justified the purchase. (It was priced at $130, which made walking away that much easier. Still… sigh.)


{Incidentally, I'm generally loving Bazaar lately – they've spruced up their design a bit so it's cleaner and more stylized, and they've been featuring lots of beautiful items that I'd actually like to own, for a change. Thoughts?}

Perfectly suited

We are not one to be heavily into celebrity fashion, but there are just some celebrities whose outfits we always automatically look for, including (briefly and unapologetically) Gwyneth, Nicole Richie, Rachel Bilson, Mandy Moore and the M-K/Ashley juggernaut. Poor Ash is getting skewered for the tuxedo ensemble she sported to the CFDAs earlier this week, but we love it completely.

Legendary…

I am at the beach, wiggling my toes in the sand and eating way too many salty french fries soaked in vinegar and enjoying June. I'll be back tomorrow.

In the meantime, I was sad to read the news of the death of Yves Saint Laurent, one of the iconic designers I absolutely idolize and admire. (I mean, oh! That bow!) If you've never read Alicia Drake's excellent book, The Beautiful Fall, now would be a fitting time. It's a deeply detailed book of Saint Laurent's incredible career (along with that of his contemporary, Mr. Lagerfeld himself), from his rapid rise in fashion to the demons of depression he battled his entire life. It's one of the few books that made me feel incredibly connected to and moved by fashion – not to mention it's also wildly entertaining. I'll probably start to read it again when I am home tonight.

Off to put on my bathing suit…