If you've been following the FW blog this week, you know that I've been up at NY fashion week, and seen some pretty awesome (and, admittedly, a few awful) things. Of course, my camera is ever-present; these are some of my favorite snaps from the week's adventures.

Also! Before I forget! Don't miss the Big Announcement about FW's Anniversary Party, because it's going to be awesome and we'll be giving away tix to a large number of lucky local readers. And! I've also got some exciting new announcements about this Tuesday's fall fashion talk at Neiman Marcus Chevy Chase; stay tuned and I'll tell you about them very shortly.

In the meantime, I present: Fashion Week!


the staff does a run-though before alexander wang. bonus points if you spot him


midwestern gal karlie kloss, who stars in the new october vogue


the press descends on wang before the show


somebody was really, really excited about getting a seat for wang


the majestic brooklyn bridge. no, i can never get enough.



the uniform at milk studios. i called it "a tad cheesy." my friend here seemed to agree.


this editor was my favorite person to look for at the shows. stunning!




at rachel roy... love the colors...



nyt lensman bill cunningham, aka the most adorable fashion icon around


stumbled onto the set of sex and the city movie in soho


devi kroell presentation



me! in helmut lang tee, vivienne westwood skirt, my enormous phillip lim bag


the rodarte gals, being filmed for a movie. at least it seems like a fun crew.


more karlie, getting inked up at rodarte


aveda served artisanal ice cream outside rodarte. pistachio for breakfast... ommm...









can you identify your front-row vogue editors at lim? (with leighton meester!)

It's here! It's finally here!

Fashion Week is already underway, and I'm heading up tomorrow to get in on the action. (First stop: Alexander Wang backstage!) We'll be posting reviews, news and people-watching reports on the FW blog and via twitter feeds @msspinach (also over there at your left) and @fwstylewatch.

{So far, loving the light, ladylike pieces from Ports 1961 (above). Sheer opera gloves! Swoon.}

And! Before I forget! Right after I'm back from New York, I'll be hosting a fall fashion review (and champagne drinking) at Neiman Marcus in Chevy Chase on Tuesday, Sept. 22, from 6-8pm. I know I'll have tons of ideas to share from fashion week, plus I'll be showing off some of my favorite styles from this season. (I figured this is my chance to get up close and personal with some Roland Mouret... come join and drool along with me!)

Check out whole list of FW events for the next few weeks...

Home Again, Home Again…

One of my favorite articles I've worked on recently comes out in The Washington Post Express tomorrow today, but you can read it online already. For the piece, I went flea marketing, thrifting and Craigslist-searching with a few local experts — including the very fun Stu and Janet of amazing home web shop Three Potato Four, based nearby in NoVa (that's them above, in their seriously cute home) — and did my best to steal all their scouting secrets. (And also pick up some really cute stuff for myself!)

All that hunting was enough to motivate me to try and take care of a few unfinished touches around my apartment… I've got my eye on a brass headboard at the moment, which I'm hoping to spray paint hot pink. Perhaps all this home activity will spawn a new site… Hmmm. Decorating is Spinach?

Kelly, Kelly, Kelly.

It is that blessed time of year when the amazing semi-annual New Yorker Style Issue comes out. Mine arrived yesterday (never mind that I have approximately four months of New Yorker back issues to catch up on; this one got opened immediately); I'm only partway through and already it's so good. Among the first features: a profile of zany interior decorator Kelly Wearstler, who I mostly know as The Woman Who Wears Awesome Hats From That Decorating Show. Now, I'm pretty much obsessed with her madcap, colorful personal style (which is not unlike the clothing version of her madcap, colorful decor ideas). Okay, back to reading...

Making It Work, Once Again

I got the nicest note from a reader this week (hi Krista!), asking if I was planning to bring back my Project Runway recaps. To be honest, I hadn't even watched an episode of the new season yet, but it was the push I needed to break out the Tivo and get my Tim Gunn on. (Oh, Tim. I know you've been busy working your magic at the Liz Claiborne Co. -- nice job so far on the Liz and Kate Spade lines, btw; love that Isaac Mizrahi and Deborah Lloyd! -- but I've missed you.)

I've recapped episode one over here and episode two right here, should you care to weigh in on the Mitchell-is-a-mess mania. I like that the designers are kind of crazy without being horribly annoying... yet (oh Stella, I do not miss you at all). Should be a fun season.

In other news! We're shipping the Fall issue of FW to the printer tomorrow, so I'll have a little break for a week or two. A break in which to prepare for Fashion Week (yaaaay!) and actually blog a little more too.

What a Difference Some Eyebrows Make

Lara Stone, French Vogue, March 2009:


Lara Stone, French Vogue, September 2009:

Hair Today, Bobbed Tomorrow

Current hair inspiration: Katie Holmes circa choppy bob

New hair inspiration: Poppy Lifton?


The differences are subtle, but significant... Also, how am I only *just* getting around to last season's Gossip Girl?

Sweater Weather is Just Around the Corner…

The fall fash mags are starting to trickle in, and I'm absolutely devouring them. Marie Claire features Ashley Olsen and a bunch of great fash spreads; Lucky's rocking an updated look that has each page extra-crammed with stylish goodness. (Seriously, I'm on my third reading and still marking items with those little stick-on tags.) But one of my favorite things? Fall's cheery-chic ad campaigns. The Gap's launch of its 1969 denim collection (above) had me squealing (only Anja Rubik, center, could convince me that I absolutely NEED to have destructed skinnies immediately — not to mention shrunken navy blazers, boyfriend oxfords and quite possibly a very hot male model in my life), while DKNY's colorful spreads (below) catch my eye every time I delve into a glossy. I love warm weather, but I'm a fall fashion girl at heart. Bring on the knee-high boots and extra-long cardigans!

As Pretty as a Lanvin Cocktail Dress

We interrupt our usual fash talk for a glimpse of what might be the Most Gorgeous Wedding Invites Ever. In all my exhaustive internetting, one of the blogs I never, ever miss is Holly's Nothing but Bonfires, easily one of the most hilarious and well-written blogs out there in cyberland. (And I say this with certainty, because it has veered almost exclusively into wedding-related posts lately, which is not usually my cup of tea, and yet, I still devour it religiously.) Anyway, their wedding invites — featuring vintage stamps, amazing fonts, retro maps and teensy doilies — made me swoon in a way usually reserved for Alber Elbaz's draped concoctions. See the full explanation here.

Obsessed! Jasmin Shokrian

This simple, sleek outfit from U.S. designer Jasmin Shokrian (apparently, a Michelle Obama favorite and found via Susie) absolutely sums up the look I've been increasingly drawn to (and wearing constantly) lately: a filmy top, an architectural skirt, a simple but statement-y heel. Throw on a little shruken tuxedo jacket, and that's pretty much my go-to style lately.

On closer inspection, Shokrian's whole collection is faaabulous. Yes, I'll have one of you and one of you and one of you...

Outfit Watch! Off to the Theater…

You may or may not be aware that I am a major Broadway geek. Like in a would-totally-geek-out-if-I-met-Idina Menzel slash quotes-"Into the Woods"-at-regular-intervals kind of way. ("When the end is right it justifies the beans!") "Spring Awakening" was playing all month at the Kennedy Center, and I scored front row tickets for the second-to-last night of the run this weekend (I actually scored a front row seat for early July, but couldn't make it, to my insane disappointment.) It was amaaaazing. And it was also the occasion to wear a really great dress: in this case, Manish Arora's voluminous, colofrul confection, which (if you remember) was first drooled over by me at India Fashion Week several years ago and brought in by Anthropologie (of all places) last year.

Fashion and showtunes! It was the perfect combination. Here is me at my most utterly happy (and, likely, singing "My Junk" in my head):

Time Flies When You're Having Fun… or Being Very Busy

At least my silence isn't because I'm uninspired, but rather because I'm overly inspired, by fabulous exhibits and phenomenal musicals and the amazing photo above from the NYT, via just about everybody, because apparently it was very predictable that I would love it.

I'm still blogging a ton over here too. More soon!

Vintage Clothing + Vintage Trailer = Total Awesomeness

I've loved following the launch of Punky Style's traveling trailer vintage shop, Haberdash. Seriously, it is just the CUTEST.

I sort of think I desperately need to launch a D.C. sister shop.

Inspired.

If I should suddenly disappear from the Internets, you might just go and look for me at a cool little shop called Wanderlust in Siem Reap, Cambodia, hanging out with Elizabeth Kiester, who I'm pretty sure is my new hero.

Puh-puh-puh-puh-puh-puh-puh-poker face.

If I could switch places with anyone for a day, it would have to be Lady Gaga. (No, wait,
Phillip Lim's muse. No, wait! Simon Doonan. No, wait! Mad Men's costume designer! …Hmmm, this is hard.) Well, it would probably be Lady Gaga, if only to parade around in her outrageously awesome costumes. The bubbles! The ruffles! The Kermit fascinator!! I die.