BakoFashionDo

2007-07-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

Check this out!

It's the coolest site ever.

http://jezebel.com/gossip/photoshop-of-horrors/heres-our-winner-redbook-shatters-our-faith-in-well-not-publishing-but-maybe-god-278919.php

Click on the Redbook photo shop of horrors.

2007-06-29T17:23:00.000-07:00

Liz Claiborne died a few days ago.

She was a revolutionary in the fashion industry for creating clothes for working women that weren't stuffy and didn't cost an arm and a leg. If this photo enlarges you can see her style was clean and breezy.
Mostly I remember her as the first designer name used in my household growing up. My mom decided her stuff was great, mostly because she had a petite line for us shorties.

And my sister, who worked in a dept. store, always had the latest stuff. This was THE perfume in the 80s.

B>AP Fashion WriterNEW YORK (AP) — Fashion designer Liz Claiborne revolutionized the way working women put together their wardrobes because she was one of them.

She made it easy for them as they pioneered up corporate ladders in the 1970s and 1980s, offering coordinated outfits at once serious and stylish, but also affordable.

Claiborne died Tuesday at the New York Presbyterian Hospital after suffering from cancer for a number of years, said Gwen Satterfield, personal assistant to Claiborne. She was 78.

With husband Art Ortenberg and partners Leonard Boxer and Jerome Chazen, Claiborne launched her label in 1976 after working for years as a relatively unknown dress designer.

The brand emphasized ensemble sportswear, quality and keeping the price tag below that of other designers. Liz Claiborne and her husband retired from the day-to-day operations in 1989.

The new approach to dressing revolutionized the department store industry, which had focused on stocking pants in one department and skirts in another.

“It’s what the working woman needed,” said Joanne Arbuckle, chairwoman of the art and design department at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “Her coordinated pieces — you went from the turtleneck to sweater to pants to the socks. It’s like what Gap did for kids, and she did it beautifully.”

The clothes became an instant hit, and the company went public in 1981. By 1985, Liz Claiborne Inc. was the first company founded by a woman to be listed in the Fortune 500, according to the company’s Web site.

As the company grew, the designer expanded her offerings to include more casual clothes and also popular licensed accessories. Her handbags with the triangular Liz Claiborne logo and taupe trim were fixtures on the arms of both high school girls and their mothers in the 1980s.

“She was proof that licensing could be done well,” Arbuckle said.

She soon entered the bridge market with Dana Buchman, who had been a designer under Claiborne, just the beginning of her company’s vast diversification: Brands like Ellen Tracy, Kate Spade, and Juicy Couture, helped to generate sales of almost $5 billion last year.

In May, the company acquired the high-end design firm of Narcisco Rodriguez.

“The concept was to dress the American working woman because I, as a working woman with a child (from her previous marriage) didn’t want to spend hours shopping. Things should be easy. You don’t have to dress in that little navy blue suit with a tie,” Claiborne told trade paper Women’s Wear Daily in 2006.

“I wanted to dress her in sportier clothes and colors.”

Fashion designer Stan Herman, a former president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, said he felt as if he grew up with Claiborne in the fashion industry. He recalled the first time they met was at a fashion-themed lecture at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington.

“She wasn’t `Liz Claiborne’ then, she was working for a dress company, Youth Guild, and she gave everyone a hard time for letting men get the best questions. I said, `It’s time you went into business by yourself.”’

He added: “She was tough but with soft knuckles.”

Elisabeth Claiborne was born March 31, 1929 in Brussels, Belgium. She moved to New York in the 1940s to pursue a career in fashion. She married Ortenberg in 1957 after divorcing her first husband, Ben Schultz. She and Schultz had a son, Alexander.

While Herman said that Anne Klein, a contemporary of Claiborne’s, is largely credited as the godmother of the American sportswear movement, Claiborne did it on a grander scale and brought it to the masses.

“She was perhaps the beginning of the great designer-stylists of our time,” Herman said. “She was a trained designer but, more than that, she had a vision of how women should dress. ... She suddenly understood the shape of women and the emancipation of shape and the change of a woman’s shape.”

The CFDA gave her a design award in 1985 and then a humanitarian award in 2000. “She came back looking better than ever. She wore a black tuxedo and a fedora, and the dark glasses that were her signature,” Herman recalled.

Claiborne founded the Liz Claiborne Foundation in 1981 to serve as a center for charitable activities, focusing on ending domestic violence, and promoting economic self-sufficiency for women and positive development for girls.

After retiring, Claiborne and Ortenberg spent much of their time in Montana, where they owned a ranch near Helena, and supported numerous local charitable, civic and educational groups.

They sponsored the Race to the Sky, a 350-mile sled-dog race, from 1991 to 1994. The following year they received the Governor’s Humanities Award for their financial support of causes such as the Montana Heritage Project.

Until her death, she was involved in the day-to-day activities of the Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation, dedicated to wildlife conservation.

Meanwhile, after Claiborne and Ortenberg left the company, Chazen became Liz Claiborne Inc.’s chairman in 1989.

Paul R. Charron succeeded Chazen in the mid-1990s, and spearheaded an aggressive campaign to acquire different labels to diversify beyond the company’s namesake brands, which struggled with increased competition.

Last November, Bill McComb joined the company as CEO, succeeding Charron, and is overhauling the business again to meet the demands of the consolidated department store industry.

“In losing Liz Claiborne, we have not only lost the founder of our company, but an inspirational woman who revolutionized the fashion industry 30 years ago,” said McComb in a statement.

“Her commitment to style and design is ever present in our thinking and the way we work. We will remember Liz for her vision, her entrepreneurial spirit and her enduring compassion and generosity.”
———
AP Writers Anne D’Innocenzio in New York and Len Iwanski in Helena, Mont., contributed to this report.
AP-WS-06-28-07 1937EDT

2007-06-29T16:01:00.000-07:00

Several things of note happened this week that pertain to fashion.

First my purse was stolen.

Second, Liz Claiborne died.

Third, I bought a new Liz Claiborne purse and wallet at Macy's on sale.

2007-05-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

Prom season is here!

Jan's daughter, Elizabeth just went to her big "to do."

They got her dress in San Diego during an otherwise heinous family trip. But this dress is scrumptous so I think it made the whole mess worthwhile.

Here's Elizabeth with her boyfriend, Thomas (she goes for the brainy types.).

Here's their group. If you look closely you can see Elizabeth's knee cast. She's a sporty girl but she's very prone to injury, and a bit clumsy. She fell off the bed once and broke her arm. TRUE STORY!

And here are just the girls. (Not sure about the gal in the pink and her ginormous bouquet. I just had a wrist corsage at my own prom. But whatever!)

2007-05-19T17:33:00.000-07:00

New dresses!

I bought two new dresses at Jezebelle's downtown. I love that shop. But I especially love it when they have a SALE!

Got these for under $100 each! I'm planning to take them to Mexico for Vicki's wedding.

Now, I just have to buy some new shoes...

This one is kind of a sack dress but it has a little more shape. The pattern reminded me of a bib dress my mother made for me when I was little. It was my favorite!

The beads are just too cute!

I love the color of this one. But I'll probably have to get a brooch for the front. And I desperately need a tan to go with the dress!

2007-05-19T15:49:00.000-07:00

Some really cute dresses at the KPC dinner.

I didn't get deets on this one. But I loved the pattern and the fitted bodice. Chic and fun at the same time!

But this one, worn by one of our local TV reporters, is by Laundry and she got it in LA. Super cute sack dress and I love the detail at the neck line!

2007-05-19T15:46:00.001-07:00

Great purse!

Marylee has a neighbor who makes purses. Her company is called Pursonality (sp?). Cute!

That's Marylee's husband, Danny in the background. We were at the Kern Press Club awards dinner Friday night, which you can read more about on http://www.bakolife.blogspot.com

2007-05-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

Very interesting story in the NYT today about the difficulties older women have finding fun, cute fashions that aren't totally juvied out.

You know, some of us want to have a waist in our pants or have our t-shirts cover our bellies. But does that mean we're relegated to shopping in the old frau section?

Some hope from the design world, according to this NYT story:

Dries van Noten’s neon-bright anorak updates a dress or classic pants, not to mention covers the arms.

May 17, 2007

Older, Better, but Harder to Dress

By CATHY HORYN

AT the start of any fashion writer’s career there is, waiting at the end, the dreaded article about older women and how they can never find clothes appropriate for their age. I swore on a stack of Vogues I would never write such a piece. It was totem journalism, predictable, worked at. Even the term “appropriate” has always seemed to me old hat, with violets on top.

So what changed? Juvenility has mobbed us. Even if a woman has a clear idea about what looks right on her body and for her age and personality, it’s hard to avoid the window displays of baby-doll and trapeze dresses; the T-shirt bars of ruffled cotton, airbrushed cotton and shrunken cotton; the girlish necklaces and charms; and all the companion editorial in magazines, with the frosted pinks and the long, long hair with little curls.

Alberta Ferretti’s abstract print silk dress has sleeves and a fitted bodice, which is nicely slimming and works for anyone 25 to 75.

“The choice is to wear something juvenile or be a total killjoy,” Linda Wells, the editor of Allure, said with a laugh. “You can’t live in your Linda Evans suit.”

There are other choices, as Ms. Wells knows, and interviews with women ages 43 to 72, in places such as California and the Chicago suburbs and Paris, turned up a variety of solutions, as well as explanations for this simmering quarrel with fashion. If I heard an issue vocalized more often in the last year than the age-appropriate thing, I can’t think what it was.

It’s funny: Women in their 40s and 50s, even in their 60s and 70s, have probably never looked better, healthier or younger than at any time in recent history. They have access to gyms and spas, and of course they’ll try anything that will eliminate a wrinkle or a frown line. They are the anti-agers. And not only do they have a tremendous array of fashion choices, from chic Paris labels to anonymous vintage pieces to D.I.Y. looks, they also have the choice to not play the game at all.Chloé’s tailored shorts and knit henley-style top offer a sporty-chic alternative for a woman of any age.

Nora Ephron, whose very funny book, “I Feel Bad About My Neck,” refers to something called “compensatory dressing”— here, anything that compensates for a sagging neck — sounded puzzled when I told her that a lot of women complain that clothes make them look ridiculously young.

“If you understand that that part of your life is over, there is plenty to wear,” said Ms. Ephron, who prefers trousers to skirts (“Just the thought of wearing pantyhose ...”), and finds things she likes at Savannah in Santa Monica, Calif., and Ultimo in Chicago. She admits that age-appropriateness in style can be very confusing, since “the new 50” can be 40 or, suddenly, with the wrong hairdo or outfit, 60, and it irks her when a designer discards a perfectly good look.

“I love those techno pants from Prada,” she said. “I love that they don’t wrinkle and you can wear them seven days in a row on a trip. But they’re all cut low now.”

She added, “You feel there has been an act of genuine hostility toward you by the designer” when they stop making something you’re able to wear. It’s like they don’t want you to have it, she said.This Chloé trapeze dress in silk crepe has a generous hem, which can be lengthened.

Susan Stone, who owns Savannah — where the customers are mostly over 40 — says the issue of age-appropriateness coincided with the demise of the pantsuit.

“A woman of any age could wear a pantsuit,” Ms. Stone said. “Now it’s all about the dress — the baby-doll, the tent, the mini.” She paused. “I don’t care how great you look, at a certain age you do not wear a mini. You look ridiculous.”

Ms. Stone says that some of her best client-friendly labels are Marni, Tuleh and Lanvin. “I can find fabulous jackets at Marni,” she said, adding, “and I sell the collection to women of all ages.”

She thinks Alber Elbaz, the designer at Lanvin, cuts a great sleeveless dress (“he always hides the ugly part under the arm”) and she says that whenever she goes into a designer showroom, “a dress with sleeves screams at me.”This boxy oatmeal tweed jacket from Moschino is forgiving, great for layering, and the cropped style is the shape of the season.

Douglas Chen, a buyer at Linda Dresner, which has stores in New York and Birmingham, Mich., said that one of their bestsellers for spring was a $1,790 Chloé dress in purple silk crepe with narrow sleeves that fell to just above the elbow. And it helped that the dress came with an extra five inches of hem, so it could be lengthened. “We sold almost every dress to someone over 40,” Mr. Chen said.

Barbara Toll, who owns an art gallery in Manhattan, bought one of the Chloé dresses. “I think it’s the first dress I’ve bought in 10 years,” said Ms. Toll, an early devotee of Jil Sander and Helmut Lang. She laughed. “It was strange to see my legs coming out of the bottom.”

For a lot of New Yorkers like Ms. Toll, who want to look hip but not trendy, chic but not Uptown, it has been something of challenge to find a style as age-neutralizing as the minimalism of the early ’90s.

“It was the uniform for everyone,” she said, referring to Sander and Lang. She added, with a rueful laugh, “I don’t know if I got less interested in fashion or fashion got less interested in me.”

But Ms. Toll also observed, “I feel I look better and younger if things are following my body.”

This is an indisputable truth about fashion and aging. “Once you get to a certain age, it’s all about fit,” said Isabel Toledo, who designs for Anne Klein as well as her own label.

Indeed, if women in their 40s and 50s feel inexplicably alien in a garment, Ms. Toledo said, it may be because there is simply a dearth of high-quality tailoring in the fashion industry. That is one reason you see a lot of trims on clothes — to compensate for poor fit.

“We’re not making fitted, well-cut garments that hang just on the body,” said Ms. Toledo, who in some of her own dresses will offer several different waistlines so a customer can get the one that fits her best.

A lot of women with young families and careers can’t be bothered with shopping — a larger problem for the industry, especially old-line department stores. As Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni, a writer in Paris, put it: “The idea of lunch with a girlfriend and then going shopping — I prefer to stick my hand in fire.”

After growing up in England, Ms. Fraser-Cavassoni sees a difference among the French and the Italians. “They don’t look at labels like the Anglo-Saxons do,” she said.

Label-mad or not, many American women can’t find the clothes they want, and have the means to buy. Audrey Smaltz, a fashion show producer in New York, is on her way to Las Vegas in two weeks to celebrate her 70th birthday with a dinner dance at the Bellagio hotel.

“I want to look sexy and they don’t sell sexy for a size 18,” said Ms. Smaltz, who asked Cassandra Broomfield, a custom dressmaker, to make her a short white dress for the party. Ms. Smaltz finds blouses and sexy tops in her size by Lafayette 148.

Recently, Courtney Hanig, an interior designer and a mother of two teenage girls in Winnetka, Ill., was shopping for outfits to wear to several coming events.

“I was willing to spend the dough, but I couldn’t find anything,” said Ms. Hanig, who has gotten mileage out of a fitted Carmen Marc Valvo jacket and her work attire of black pants and a white shirt, but admits with a laugh, “I’m, like, sick of myself, forget other people.”

She added: “I don’t want to look matronly. I think there’s this great divide between matronly and up-to-date mom.”

There are some very easy things you can do to avoid the age bind. Find a salesperson who knows your body type and will put aside clothes for you before they’re scooped by other customers. Cropped jackets by Dries van Noten are a good way to perk up a summer dress, especially if you want a little arm camouflage.

“A great tailor is a better than a surgeon,” said Ms. Wells, who suggests a little padding in a jacket’s shoulders to give you a lift. Nothing is more aging than makeup and hair. So avoid heavy concealer and dark lipstick and nails.

“Hair looks better when it’s slightly lighter than it was in your 20s and 30s,” Ms. Wells said. “And you don’t want it to look stiff — that’s just as aging on Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen as it is on a 60-year-old woman.”

2007-05-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

COOL shoes!

Colleen got these from her sister in law.

Wearing those shoes would take me WAY out of the near-midget category!

2007-05-11T16:40:00.000-07:00

Another day, another new pair of shoes and Coach bag for Miss Olivia!

2007-05-01T20:11:00.000-07:00

PULL UP YOUR DAMN PANTS!

At least this guy has on festive underwear. But I ask you, when will this "saggin" thing GO AWAY!?

WHENNNNNNNNN!!!?

2007-05-01T20:08:00.000-07:00

Uh oh!

Miss Olivia got herself a new pair of shoes.

But here's how bad she is. When I asked where she got them she couldn't remember. Because she bought ANOTHER pair except in tan. "Either Ebay or Zappos.com," she said airily.

Well they are pretty!

2007-04-28T11:24:00.000-07:00

No high and tight.

No way.

This dude was pretty lax in every other way appearance wise. I'm stickin with BALD.

2007-04-28T11:19:00.000-07:00

Fashion about town.

This was the second time I've seen this lady pushing a stroller downtown. She's older, actually looks like she's in her late 40s or 50s. Both times I've seen her, she's been sporting the pink pumps and white socks. Well, at least it matches her ensemble.

I'm all for the Rasta look. But Rasta Bako? It gets waaaay too hot here for that!

Of course my lame camera skills may have messed this up too much to make out. But this lovely lady, a young woman in her 20s, was wearing a long floral skirt and black ankle socks paired with red VERY SHINY Nike tennies. Hmmmmm. Not sure what she was going for here.

2007-04-28T11:12:00.000-07:00

I know, I've been a bad poster. Try and pick up the shattered pieces of your lives and move on!

Well, in the time I haven't posted, fashion has MADE THE HEADLINES.

Miss Mexico had what I thought was a pretty cool dress all picked out for the Miss Universe pageant. But some of her countrymen felt it was offensive and made a mockery of Catholic martyrs.

I thought it was way cool! A belt made of bullets? Dead people hanging in full gory detail and a man facing a firing squad painted on the skirt? Man!!! I want one of those for my next budget meeting!

2007-04-12T15:52:00.000-07:00

Comment replies
An Ugg sighting of epic proportions! Thanks for sharing.

Why do all these Ugg gals like to wear them with denim mini skirts?

And as for plus size gals going for the teeny bopper styles, well, like they say, it's a free country - but still a fashion DON'T!!!

And I know the scooter-ridin' cowboy was bald because his head was somewhat too large for his hat, which "perched" rather than sat atop his head. And he had NO HAIR for a full inch above the tops of his ears.

Granted, he could have had a serious mop on the crown, but I doubt it.

And I might make up a lot of things (mostly involving my ability to drink copious amounts of booze and still function) but not about FASHION!

2007-04-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

Ride em!

Ok, I have nothing. NO pics.

But I swear I saw this in Albertsons yesterday.

A fat, bald guy in his 50s wearing a bling-bling rapper necklace, bracelet and ring. Wearing dark sunglasses and a cowboy hat.

Riding one of those old people scooters with the basket in front and talking LOUDLY on his cell phone telling whoeverwas on the other end that they "better get your shit toGETHER!"

How I wished my camera was at the ready!

2007-03-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

Comment reply

I'm READY for a career change to fashion-assasain! They need to boot that old bag and her daughter from runway commentary and hire ME!

2007-03-25T12:53:00.000-07:00

Is there a stylist in the house?

Here's a collection of incredibly poor evening gown choices from the Miss USA pageant that aired Friday night.

This is Miss Hawaii. I suppose I should give her some credit for trying the "cultural thing." But I actually think a true grass skirt would have looked better than this concoction, which looks like it's unraveling.
Was Miss New York's gown supposed to be emblematic of subway graffiti? There's nothing really wrong with Miss Maryland's gown, except I swear I saw it in Chadwick's catalogue for "Mothers of the Bride" (i.e. a bit on the dowdy side)
This looks more like it should be Miss Berkeley circa 1972 instead of Miss New Hampshire 2007. Really. A tie dyed gown?The top half of Miss Michigan's gown looks like what they used to call a "foundation garment." Maybe she just got nervous and forgot the REAL top half of her gown. Maybe I'm not a fan of lime green. Or maybe it's that Miss Oklahoma's gown looks like an anaconda swallowing a bunny. Either way, it has an "ick" factor I can't get past.Miss South Dakota looks like a character out of a 14-year-old boy's sci-fi comic book. In fact, I think I may have seen this exact look on an old episode of Star Trek. Hmmmm.

2007-03-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

Miss USA

I got home Friday night and nothing to do, so I clicked on the TV and the Miss USA contest was in its final throes. I hate pretty much all awards and pageant shows. But their lame answers about how they'd fix all the world's problems ("I'd be open and listen to all sides!") was like a train wreck I couldn't stop watching.

Besides, when my sister and I were little we used to like to pick the winners based on their gowns.

It's as good as anything else used to decide who should best represent all that America embodies!

I definitely thought, based on the gown, that Rachel Smith (Tenn.) should have won. It's sexy but not slutty. And red is definitely a "winner's" color. (Well, except for Tara Conner, I'll get to that in a sec)

The other four finalists, California, Nevada, Kansas and Rhode Island, just didn't have it going on in the gown department.
Meagan Yvonne Tandy of California. I know the dresses are supposed to be "sexy" but come on, this is just screaming "I'VE GOT BOOBS!!! LOOK HERE!!!" Not exactly subtle. Plus, what's with the farmer sleeves? Is she planning to milk a cow later?

Cara Renee Gorges of Kansas. Actually, this was a good gown, elegant, sexy and not too revealing. But lavender? Face it, that's a loser's color!

Helen Salas of Nevada. What can you say about this? Make it stop! My GOD!
P.S. I think this was the replacement Miss Nevada after the first one got booted when dirty pics of her surfaced. Maybe dirty Miss Nevada could have picked a better dress.

Danielle Lacourse of Rhode Island, named the first runner-up. Again, another nice gown. But mauve, or rose, or whatever this is, just doesn't say PICK ME!!! It says, "I'm just happy being a back up singer."

Oh, and Tara Conner. As if we hadn't had enough of her silly rehab antics, THIS is what she chooses to wear to the pageant?!

Ok, it's red...but this is NOT a good look for her.

First, it makes her look FAT (which she isn't), second, anyone with any meat on their shoulders should NOT go with a halter (it makes her look like one of those Olympic swimmers from the old East German bloc), and third you really need a long graceful neck for a high necked halter.

This dress looks like it's trying to choke her.

2007-02-23T19:34:00.000-08:00

Andrea in her Uggs.

She sent me a GREAT defense of Uggs (pretty racy reading!) but of course I can't find it on my email now!!

2007-02-21T21:39:00.000-08:00

COMMENT REPLIES

Olivia, I totally would have fought you for that job. You know, before we were both married, had houses and kids (well you have enough kids for the both of us) and dogs. TOTAL DREAM JOB.

Jan and Olivia, when ARE we going shopping??????? Next Wednsday? Friday? Come one! These stores aren't going to wait for us forever!

And I totally wish I'd gotten a pic of this dude in the grocery the other day. Uggs and those baggy ass shorts dudes think are so cool. He looked like a guy with a 5 feet long torso with legs only a foot long.

The only thing missing was a calf tattoo. Course, that could have been hidden by his "sexy" Uggs.

UGH!

2007-02-18T14:24:00.000-08:00

Coach bags and wardrobes

Davin, you MUST come shopping with the girls on one of our outings. CLEARLY you could use a few things.

Sorry Jan, I took Alex out to lunch for helping me with some stuff and, naturally, we called Olivia. But it was JUST lunch, no shopping involved!

Speaking of shopping, I got my Macy's reward card and I still have two gift cards from Talbots to use!!!

2007-02-16T17:15:00.000-08:00

Man! If only this job had come along about 10 years ago! (OK 15 years ago...)

So you'd have to have five roommates in a one-room apartment and eat nothing but top raman...it's MANHATTAN! And FASHION!

Description:
The publisher of a group of nationally distributed industry fashion magazines seeks an editorial assistant to join its team.

The primary responsibilities of this position are writing articles and working on photoshoots (i.e., organizing in- and outgoing clothing, styling on set, writing captions). This position is a great opportunity for someone who is looking to be very involved and wants learn a great deal about magazine publishing.

The candidate must be a strong writer with at least one year of magazine or newspaper writing experience with some copy-editing knowledge. This position offers a lot of room for growth. Ideally, one would graduate from this position to a full-time writing and editing post.

$26K to start + bonuses and benefits. This job is located on the west side of Manhattan.

2007-02-16T15:47:00.000-08:00

I love it when people agree with me!

This is from my friend Sarah, now living in San Francisco, a highly fashionable move from Bakersfield, though we do miss her!

By the way, I loved reading your thoughts on leggings.
They have got to go.
I am also awaiting the death of the skinny jean. I admire them on others, but some of us were just never meant to go there.
The sad thing is how many non-skinny people these jeans have taken down with them.

Yes Sarah, sad but true!

2007-02-13T20:12:00.000-08:00

Sitting "coach"

Went to lunch w/Olivia and the boy...and, of course, the COACH bag.

Her husband threatened to stop speaking to her when she brought the $300(!) bag home. But, true to her word, she's using it as a purse AND a diaper bag so it's really only a $150 purse!

2007-02-10T15:47:00.000-08:00

So cool.

When I was growing up on the ranch, we just used galoshes to go out to the barn. And they were usually covered in mud and manure.

These gals at UC Berkeley have taken barn boots to a new fashion height.

I checked out a store across from campus where they sell for about $40. (No, I didn't buy any)

If I were a Berkeley gal, these would be my boots of choice!

Even among all the cool galoshes, some Uggs sneaked in. SIGH!

2007-02-07T15:07:00.000-08:00

The curse of the UGGS!
Yes, anonymous, you've been cursed by the Uggs. You will now see them EVERYWHERE! And each time, you will wonder, "Doesn't that poor soul have any girlfriends?"

Today was the capper. I was innocently walking in to work when I saw a woman coming out of MY VERY OWN BUILDING.

She was wearing (and I'm not making this up) a white tank top, tiger stripe-print overblouse, frayed jean mini skirt and - what? Oh you KNOW what I'm gonna say....the ugliest scuffed up UGGS you've ever seen.

I wanted to take a photo, but she was looking right at me. I believe she sensed my disapproval from across the parking lot!

I shook it off, came inside and went to the morning meeting as usual. And who do you think was sitting there at the conference table along with several other college student guests? That's right, the UGG lady.

So the whole meeting (which I was conducting) I kept thinking, "how can I get a picture of this yahoo for my blog...?"

It was torture!

Oh, they call them blogs as short hand for "web blog," by the by.

2007-02-05T14:11:00.000-08:00

On our trip to the mall last week, we had three (3!) Ugg sightings. This one though, just took the cake. I mean, really, STOP THE MADNESS! And for Pete's sake, there's a CHILD involved here. Can't someone DO something?!!

2007-02-05T14:01:00.000-08:00

We took a little outting to the mall last week. And Olivia brought her "littlest shopper," though he slept through most of the ordeal.

Here we are at lunch.

Here's little Joaquin looking dapper in cami blankie and baby tennies.

Olivia bought a GIANT Coach bag, which she justified by saying she was going to use it as a diaper bag as well. YIKES.

So we went over to the cheap purse side of the store so I could look for a bag, and instead we found not a cheap purse, but a trashy one. It's a Paris Hilton (yucko). When Jan held it up I thought it was going to bite her!

Ok, bye girls! See you next trip!

2007-02-05T12:12:00.000-08:00

This has been making the email rounds. Hilarious.

KERN COUNTY BARBIES" Seven Oaks Barbie"

This yuppie Barbie comes with your choice of BMW convertible or Hummer H2. Included are her own Starbucks cup, credit card and country club membership. Also available for this set are Shallow Ken and Garces High School Skipper. You won't be able to afford any of them.

"Haggin Oaks Barbie"
This princess Barbie is sold only at the Marketplace She comes with an assortment of Kate Spade Handbags, a Lexus SUV, a long-haired foreign dog named Honey and a custom home . Available with or without tummy tuck and face lift. Workaholic Ken sold only in conjunction with the augmented version.

"Rosedale Barbie"
This modern day homemaker Barbie is available with Ford Windstar Minivan or Chevy Tahoe and matching gym outfit. She has no full-time occupation. This soccer mom enjoys shopping at Target and eating lunch at Sequoia. Home Builder Ken or Law Enforcement Ken sold separately.

"Taft Barbie"
This recently paroled Barbie comes with a 9mm handgun, a Ray Lewis knife, a Chevy with dark tinted windows, and a Meth Lab Kit. This model is only available after dark and must be paid for in cash (preferably small, untraceable bills) unless you are a cop, then we don't know what you are talking about.

Greenacres Barbie"
This tobacco-chewing, brassy-haired Barbie has a pair of her own high-heeled sandals with one broken heel from the time she chased beer-gutted Ken out of Greenacres Barbie's house. Her ensemble includes low-rise acid-washed jeans, fake fingernails, and a see-through halter-top. Also available with a mobile home.

"Oildale Barbie"
This pale model comes dressed in her own Wrangler jeans two sizes too small, a NASCAR t-shirt and tweety bird tattoo on her shoulder. She has a six-pack of Bud light and a Hank Williams Jr. CD set. She can spit over 5 feet and kick mullet-haired Ken's butt when she is drunk. Purchase her pickup truck separately and get a confederate flag bumper sticker absolutely free.

2007-02-04T19:44:00.000-08:00

I went to a function Saturday night and saw some nice fashion. My camera flash is still a problem, as you can see. And we only stayed through dinner so I only got a couple shots.

First is my friend Jan's shoes.

Her daughter's cool new dress. She got it at a store in Glendale, so close!

And a lady in a really cool blue dress, but I didn't get her name or anything. Bummer because I was wondering where she bought it.

2007-01-15T19:22:00.000-08:00

More on Uggs.

I should clarify. The Uggs that I find objectionable are those sloppy beige creatures that bag and slouch down around the ankles, with only a bare minimum for a sole and, TRULY, look like slippers out for a walk in the real world.

I realize now there ARE Uggs that actually look like boots, have real soles and look quite snazzy with a nice pair of jeans.

I ran into Sheryl this weekend in a fitting room of all places. She wears Uggs with jeans but refuses to let me photograph her (I will NOT make fun of you!) Since my last Ugg rant, she's now refusing to wear them to work. But there she was in the fitting room, Uggs and all! Still wouldn't let me take a picture of them. But she showed them to me and I have to say, they did look like nice (but still comfy) boots. And they had a nice detail up the back, sort of an indigenous design.

So my Ugg rant is modified to the crummy and weird looking Uggs. NOT Sheryl's, which are very stylish.

Lets refresh with some examples: Here is the UGLY Ugg!!!

The acceptable Ugg

And just for fun I found these monstrosities on the Ugg website. Small children should avert heir eyes!

Hideous mitten Ugg!!! Beyond heinous pot holder Ugg!

(And these things sell for like $120!)

2007-01-15T19:19:00.000-08:00

LOVE this coat!

Jennifer is the queen of vintage finds and this luxurious red coat with the (real?) fur collar is no exception. There's just something about a red coat that chases the winter blues away.

She told me she picked it up at Shabby Chic, but didn't give the deets on cost!

It's a great color and looks FAB on her!

2007-01-09T14:12:00.000-08:00

UGGs - the debate continues

So a friend at work says she wears Uggs. But defends them as A) comfortable and B) able to hide the fact that her jeans are too short.

Ok, she makes a strong case.

But I'm still against wearing them to the mall! (and I still say they are just tall slippers that somehow made it mainstream)

2007-01-05T21:33:00.000-08:00

This story, from the New York Times online, is kind of long, but a very good look at how fashion doesn't just come from "fashion experts." In fact, a lot of the best fashion comes from anywhere BUT the experts.

Please note the Ugg reference toward the bottom!

Jan. 4, 2007
The New York Times
Fashion Diary
Where You Least Expect It
By GUY TREBAY

HAS it ever seemed clearer that fashion is not about clothes?

Has it ever appeared more inevitable that the cult of the designer is slated for the cultural slag heap, there to join all those other monuments to the outmoded notion of the grand career (retrospective albums, DVD collections, the Great Novel)?

Fashion, like an awful lot of other stuff in the culture, is cracking apart before one’s eyes.

You’re doomed if you try to see the field as some powerful system run by chic sadists (“Bore someone else with your questions,” said Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly in “The Devil Wears Prada,” snapping at her simpering minion in the weary tone of a burned-out dominatrix).

Fashion doesn’t come just from the runway anymore, if it ever really did. And it doesn’t come from “Project Runway” either.

Rather, it seems to happen spontaneously and then spread like some mostly benign contagion, a germ carried in the air and contracted in this store, that magazine, this corner of the city and in ways that fashion bibles rarely bother to note.

Trends emerge, apparently from nowhere: they are fashion.

This process can be intoxicating to watch.

Suddenly young people in rock bands like the Decemberists and My Morning Jacket begin dressing as if playing a rock club was no different from running copies behind a counter at Kinko’s.

In place of stage costumes, they favor cheap sweater vests and no-brand thrift shop jeans. They make such a success of looking frumpy that their frumpiness develops into a style despite itself.

How can one tell? Well, already last season in Paris, Sarah Lerfel, a farsighted owner of the celebrated boutique Colette, was talking about a trend that sounded a lot like the Return of Grunge.

Fashion in that sense is a Möbius strip, a flexible circuit, both variable and closed. Designers shine one season on the face side of the loop, the arc turns and suddenly you can’t see them anymore.

Elizabeth Lippman for The New York Times
EARLY ADOPTERS Devendra Banhart (with glass) presents a furry freak image.

A year ago the name of Roland Mouret — a self-taught son of a French butcher, holder at some point of most every job there is in fashion (stylist, model, gofer, art director) — was on everyone’s lips.

The hobbled skirts and elevator stilettos he promoted in the fall of 2005 were greeted by some as precisely the antidote to a sartorial landscape grown neutral and drab.

It was meant to happen in a big way for Mr. Mouret. The fix was in at Vogue. And then ... well ... nothing.

A couple of movie people were spotted wobbling down that purgatorial road to nowhere, the red carpet, in his creations. Some stores, like Bergdorf Goodman, bought the collection. Yet the predicted breakout did not take place; the gyre turned and Mr. Mouret faded away.

Until late this November, when, with hardly any fanfare, there he was again, proudly adorning the racks at the Gap. The Gap?

Robert Wright for The New York TimesPublic Runway A tunic dress from the blink-and-you-missed-it Roland Mouret collection for the Gap.

“I was interested in the opportunity to make my designs available to a broader audience,” the designer said, after a small capsule collection of his was shipped to select local Gap stores, including one on 17th Street in Manhattan, where the actress Lucy Liu was caught waiting with an armload of $88 tunic dresses outside a dressing room. (They quickly disappeared.)

Was Mr. Mouret selling out? He was not. He was just doing what every designer from Stella McCartney to Karl Lagerfeld to Vera Wang has recently done, buying his ticket to board the mass-market gravy train. As it happens, this is a fine thing that has happened to fashion, since the democratization of design is a value that has been trumpeted by every theoretician of the applied arts since the Bauhaus.

It is thrilling somehow to see visual ideas first created to be pitched to the rarefied tastes of a group of mandarins leak out to the broader population. It is a pleasure to realize that our tastes, after all, are not formed at the whim of some underfed dictators of editorial chic. And there is a lot of fun to be had in tracking the serendipitous way that cultures, both high and low, unexpectedly collide.

Shifts of taste and style are trivialities, of course, without any serious meaning. But they do perform one important function, as Proust pointed out: they notch our hours and moments and decades and leave us with visual mnemonics, clues by which to remember where and in which dress and what jeans (and wearing what cologne) one was at a particular time. Tracking the way styles evolve gives us insight, too, into the forms of beauty we choose to idealize. Paulo Ferreira Reis/Getty Images

The Brazilian model Raquel Zimmerman, whose face is the template for cyborg beauty.

Models who were vacant optimistic cheerleader types prevailed in the politically clueless 1970s (Christie Brinkley, Patti Hansen, Shelley Hack); brooding brunettes took over during the Age of Reagan (Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford and Yasmeen Ghauri); and off-kilter aristocratic types (Guinevere van Seenus, Stella Tennant, Erin O’Connor), emblematic of upper class women, came to the fore during the second Bush imperium.

What fashion now prefers as a beauty ideal is another type, the robot, personified by the stunning Raquel Zimmerman, a blond Brazilian of German heritage whose physical proportions are so symmetrical that many designers use her body as a template. That Ms. Zimmerman also has a kind of vacant cyborg aspect cannot be altogether incidental. Possibly this is the reason why Louis Vuitton hired her for a new ad campaign in which her face has been made up and manipulated so aggressively as to render her less humanly expressive than Lara Croft.

Was this intentional? Who knows? But it is no stretch to extrapolate from Ms. Zimmerman’s popularity to a time when live models will be dispensed with altogether, in favor of creatures written in CGI. That is not to suggest there is a master plan. There rarely is. Or is there?

The guessing game keeps fashion fun for observers, that and its magpie habit of plucking from the cultural grab bag anything bright or unexpected with which to keep us amused.

I am thinking of a microfad recently noted among privileged young women in elite neighborhoods of the Upper East Side, the wearing of bedroom slippers on the streets.

“It started at boarding schools two years ago, when every single boarding-school kid was wearing them,” Signe Conway, a senior at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, explained last week, as she stood outside Yura & Co., a coffee shop that doubles as a private neighborhood clubhouse.

Ms. Conway, 17, was wearing a pair of fuzzy suede moccasin-style slippers, the sort lined with shearling and with a roll of fur turned down on each side. The slippers are sold by L .L. Bean; they caught on when girls’ school administrators banned the wearing of the now ubiquitous Ugg boots.

Like flip-flops in January, slippers on the sidewalk flout logic. They blur lines. They catch the eye and jolt one into the subtle realization that boundaries between public space and private are permeable. The gesture is small but it reminds one that fashion is a monumental system built on coded details.If one suddenly decides to colonize the sidewalks and treat them as though one were home in the bedroom, it is fashion that issues the license to proceed.

Elizabeth Lippman for The New York Times

Signe Conway pads through the city in bedroom slippers.

2007-01-01T11:07:00.000-08:00

DH, write back!

Yes my brother is stationed at Ft. Drum.

Sorry I didn't see your comment until just now!

2007-01-01T11:01:00.000-08:00

UGH! UGH! UGH!

I'm so sick of seeing people wearing their lame, floppy, tall SLIPPERS, that they think are boots but are NOT, out and about.

STOP the madness

I freely admit upfront that this is an abyssmal photo of a woman on a shopping excursion in the mall in her ugly UGHs (oops, I mean UGGs). But, in my defense, I was wearing actual shoes with heels and everything so it was hard to chase her down without attracting too much attention to the fact that I was photographing her.

I'll be sure and take more UGG photos when I see an opportunity, as this has become a major pet peeve for me. Yes, even more so than the awful leggin' craze. Thank god the fashion world nipped that attrocity in the bud!

2007-01-01T10:57:00.000-08:00

Misty, who left us for the sunny adventures of Phoenix, got some cool new shoes before she left. I'll hunt around my email and see if she gave the deets on brand, cost and store.

I think she did, but I've been a bad blogger and haven't posted in ages!

2006-11-02T13:42:00.000-08:00

Boy fashion!

For all the ladies out there who think men just don't "get it" when it comes to clothes and fashion, read on.

First, the athletic shoe vs. casual loafer question below was posed by a DUDE.

Second, look at these two highly fashion conscious gentlemen (who actually came to ME with their cool new duds instead of me having to chase them down to talk about such girly stuff!)

Here is Mr. Price who is sporting a very dashing "new" sport coat that's a perfect fall/winter addition in deep burgundy. The item is "new" to Price who says he got it at Goodwill for $6.25.

"Of course I'm paying $25 to have the sleeves tailored less amatuerishly, so I guess it's a $31 jacket now," he adds.

How can you fret over that! It's a true fashion DO and at a fabulous price!

And here is Mr. Burger showing off his new Steve Maddens.

As a fashion DO extra, Burger got the shoes on a mad trip to Vegas which is always in fashion!

Here's his tale of the shoe:
"The Steven Madden store in the Alladin Shops in Vegas.$86.15 after tax.

"I've been wearing clunky Doc Martin-style Sketchers as my casual shoe for a long time (yes guys have only one casual shoe). I'd been looking for a more hip, low-clunk shoe for a few months. I went to Vegas for an InvestigativeReporters and Editors workshop a couple weeks ago and the girls (my esteemed fellow journalists and I) hit the shops on Sunday.

"I found these and bought them immediately."

Good for you both! See fashion isn't so hard after all.

2006-11-02T11:39:00.000-08:00

Question from a reader:

Should men wear athletic shoes w/jeans? Or casual brown loafers?

My answer is absulment (that's French for ABSOLUTELY) the LOAFERS!!!

Also, this reader asks if people still wear Birkenstocks.

I don't know. The old sandal style? I haven't seen that around for a while. Anyone else know?

Most of their stuff looks like what I think of when I think Birkenstock. The snazzy sandals are kinda cool. The prices, however, are NOT cool. The cheapest thing pictured is the thong sandals, for $80!! The men's casual shoes are $180!!!

2006-10-29T18:54:00.000-08:00

I'd say "I hate to say I told you so..." But I don't hate to say "I told you so..."

I DID tell you so. And I was RIGHT!!!!

Leggings were never a good idea. If you aren't 20 years old with a stick figure, a French accent and an art degre, forget it!!!

I'm so sorry for all my friends (JENNIFER!!!!) who already succumbed to this trend. But it was WRONG WRONG WRONG!!! And now, I've got back up.

Read it and weep!

This is from the Washington Post...so way more authority than I have...

A Trend Without a Leg to Stand On

By Robin Givhan

Leggings have been touted on must-have lists as one of the surest ways for a woman to announce that she is acutely aware of this season’s fashion trends.

They identify her as someone who keeps track of hemlines and silhouettes, probably has at least one subscription to a fashion magazine and may have, upon occasion, even put her name on a waiting list for a particularly desirable handbag.

The fashion industry desperately needs this trend-conscious shopper — even as it mocks her.
Leggings — or their lighter-weight cousin, footless tights — were revived about six months ago when designers debuted their fall collections.

Right away, eager early adopters headed to the hosiery department and stocked up on footless tights to wear with their sundresses and flouncy skirts throughout the summer.
A fall runway fad had been embraced.

And for a brief time — perhaps it was on June 21, the summer solstice — leggings were cool.
By August, stores were well stocked with leggings for fall. They were prominently featured on Saks Fifth Avenue’s “Want It!” list of items that the fashionable woman should have in her fall wardrobe. Hue brand leggings were $18.

Wolford offered “velvet de luxe” opaque leggings for $38. At Barneys New York, one could buy cashmere leggings priced at $195. Prada had leggings for an unspeakable sum.

And yet, one would have been hard-pressed to find a single high-ranking fashion editor or retailer at the runway shows earlier this month wearing a pair.

A fashion director in leggings? Are you mad?By the time the fall collections had actually arrived in stores and customers began to earnestly consider grandpa cardigans, romantic blouses, wide-leg trousers and the delicate task of layering one on top of the other, industry insiders had not only ceased being charmed by leggings, they had started to gently malign them in conversation.

Why? Beyond the fact that they can be profoundly unflattering on the wrong figure, in the wrong proportions and with the wrong skirt, dress or tunic, they are also too obvious. From 50 paces they shout: TRENDY.

The problem wasn’t that the streets were clogged with women wearing footless tights, miniskirts and ballet flats. The problem was that insiders expected leggings to be omnipresent. They had been hyped as the dominant accessory of the season.

They weren’t that expensive. There were no waiting lists for just the right pair. Anyone and everyone could wear them.

Leggings aren’t a status item, not like a designer handbag, which can be prohibitively expensive, difficult to come by and especially adept in telegraphing wealth and prestige. Instead, the lure of a pair of leggings is that they allow the wearer to project an iconoclastic, bohemian style.

They are a little artsy. Quirky. But if everyone is wearing them, they’re just part of a uniform.

After a brief summer dalliance, most fashion insiders, whose livelihood depends on their ability to express personal style, elan or inventiveness, steered clear of leggings. Instead, for fall, they focused on mini-dresses, skinny jeans and platform shoes. All of which only whisper trendy.

The few who have worn leggings have done so judiciously. It looked more like duty rather than desire. One editor at the runway shows apologized for them: “I packed the wrong pair of tights!” A retailer excused herself from wearing them by saying, “Oh, I wore them the first time they were in style.”

It is always instructive to inspect the audience at runway shows. They are filled with some of the most stylish men and women anywhere (although there are also no small number of fashion victims, as well). It is intriguing to see how quickly they embrace a trend, but more telling is how fast they leave it behind. (Which designers do they tout in the pages of magazines? Balenciaga. But which do they always seem to have on? Marni.)

Trendiness can be measured by what one chooses to wear. Style is determined by what one chooses to ignore.

2006-10-22T15:47:00.000-07:00

Went to Sandi's last night and gabbed, drank some good wine and made these little baubles.

Sandi's much more creative than I am and has much better color sense. But I have all the beads! (Plus I bring her champagne) So she puts up with my noviceness.

Anyway, we make cool stuff. But we just don't do it often enough.

Here's what we made last night. (Sandi did the elegant pearl bracelet) I regret I didn't get a snap of Sandi's "Halloween" bracelet, which was really pretty and could be worn any night of the year!

2006-10-22T15:41:00.000-07:00

Boots, boots, boots!

Macy's was having a boot sale. Well...so...uh, we got some boots!

2006-10-22T15:08:00.000-07:00

Serious fashion police!

This gentleman has obviously made the mistake of wearing black socks with open toes.
Let this be a lesson...

2006-10-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago (Oct. 14) about 1,000 friends and I got together for one of the more fashionable events in town, the mud run, otherwise known as the Volkslauf (the people's run). It's a 10k (6.2 miles) with lots of muddy Marine Corps-style obstacles thrown in - water-filled trenches, 10-foot walls, hand-over-hand ropes strung across water, and lots more.

It's the Marine Corps League's kick off for its Toys for Tots charity. So it includes a very challenging test of one's fitness and charity, two always-fashionable elements.

My running partner, Nancy, and I decided to tackle the mud run together.

Here we are at the start, lovely and mud free, and wearing basic black - always in fashion.

This is right at the start. The Cal had a couple photogs there so I basically couldn't pick my nose without someone ending up with a shot of it!

This Marine had to "instruct" me and Nancy (she's just ahead of me in this shot) as to the proper technique on this obstacle. I think he said something along the lines of, "Get on your bellies NOW! NOW! NOW!" But the screaming may have garbled some of the words.

When my pal Julio came through this one, apparently the Marine didn't like his technique either and tried to yank Julio back by his ankles. So Julio (a former Marine, who was a sniper in the first gulf war) grabbed him and wrestled with him in the mud until the Marine popped him in the mouth! My husband was standing on the sidelines watching the whole thing. DAMN! I forgot to leave Larry the camera!!

I made it across the rope ...the technique here was NOT TO FALL.

Here we are! We may not look as fresh as when we started, but we finished! 1 hour and 20 minutes. Not bad for a couple of dames who didn't train and for one (me!) who was HUNGOVER!

The END!

2006-10-21T16:03:00.000-07:00

So Olivia and I have started simulcasting our shoe wear.
One day, we met to go shopping and had the exact same shoes on (which we'd bought at the same time at Macy's!)

I'd thought of wearing these shoes that day but figured there was NO WAY Olivia would be wearing the same shoes again...figured wrong.

But they are cute shoes.

2006-10-21T15:59:00.000-07:00

Stop the madness! Really, the leggins must go!

2006-09-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

Eventful weekend!
Also this weekend, BakersfieldLife, a new magazine, had its kick off. The launch party was at Metro Galleries, which is way cool. And everyone there was HOT Friday night. I only got one snap, of editor Jason Gutierrez and Total Woman gym owner Leigh Pozas. See? Aren't they totally HOT!? And below is the Metro from the outside. I've been meaning to do a list of fashionable places to shop and hang out downtown. When I finally get around to that, the Metro will be at the top!

2006-09-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

The BIG EVENT!

Mas Magazine turned one year old last weekend and they threw a HELL of a party at the newly restored Nile. The fashion was everywhere! Great food, great band, great time!

My bad camera situation (it's either the camera or my skills, probably my skills!), however, means half the photos didn't turn out because the flash was acting up.

So some are kind of faded out after I had to fix them on the computer. There were just so many fabulous dresses I had to do what I could get em on the blog.

The worst part was I actually photographed Lydia DANCING. But the flash didn't work so I couldn't make an image. I'm in serious need of camera help!

Be WARNED:
There was one serious fashion don't - leggings w/a short jersey skirt - NO! I don't care that all the fashion mags say leggings and icky '80s jersey skirts are back. I'm saying NO!

Aside from that minor issue, the Mas party was one GIANT FASHION DO!

Here's Olivia (Managing Editor of Mas) w/hubby Julio. In the background between their heads is Louie Cruz Beltran, who they credit with bringing them together as they met at one of his gigs at the old Cheney's bar. AHHHHHH!

Above are Lydia and Jen. I SWEAR they were dancing, BOTH OF THEM!

I'm so bummed I didn't get better snaps of the dress above and the one below. They were gorgeous! The one above was a form fitting green number with fun embroidery. The one below was a light chiffon, flowy skirt with red polka dots and accompanying red sash.
Both girls looked fab and they loved showing off their frocks! If only my camera had lived up to the fashion moment!

FASHON DON'T!!! I couldn't get a great shot, but you can see the short jersey (t-shirt material) mini skirt over black leggings. NO NO NO!
They spent all day moving Davin from his apartment and still looked refreshed and fab for Olivia's party!
Teresa's dress was perfect! Black and white polkas, tight bodice and a full 1950s skirt. The red flower in her hair was a brilliant touch. Felix...well, his Levis were clean and pressed and so was his shirt. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

You know, if a guy's gonna buy two drinks, doesn't the gal always have the option of testing which one is better before deciding? I think so!

Here's my boss dancing. Nuff said.

I was dancing too, yikes!
I so wish this photo had turned out, my evil flash strikes again. She had THE MOST FABULOUS little white beaded purse. We were all admiring it.
Jan can dance. And so can this dude. I think his name is David, is that right? They looked HOT.
Me and my "twin," Kathryn Lomely. At a function earlier this year, a lady came up to me and started chatting away about stuff I had no clue about. Finally, Jan turns to her and says, "You know this isn't Kathryn Lomely. This is Lois Henry."

She looked like someone had hit her in the head with a stun gun. "Well your hair is exactly like hers," she said as if my hair had offended her, and flounced off. I love being mistaken for Kathryn!
So this is where all the "cool kids" were hanging out! Sandi, the hair is GREAT, very sexy!
What can you say? Denise and Sofia...they LIT UP the room!

2006-09-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

Ladies lunch!
Truly, there's just nothing as fashionable as a ladies lunch.
This was in honor of our friend Abby who was in town from Maryland for a short visit.
I wish I'd snapped a shot of the table with it's beautiful china and real silver silverware and two little crystal bells so if the ladies needed anything we could ring the bells and Nancy's girls would go fetch it for us!

2006-09-18T14:58:00.000-07:00

Nelson visit.
It was a long dry summer of no Nelson visits.
We made up for it last week.
And boy have things changed!
The first picture is of Nelson and his favorite customer Jan and Nelson is holding a photo of his cute 4-month-old son! Congrats Nelson!

2006-09-18T14:25:00.000-07:00

Hillbilly haute.

2006-09-04T18:25:00.000-07:00

So unfair!

It's Labor Day, and my husband's birthday. I asked what he wanted to do. He saw the paper and said we were headed to J.C. Penny's - at the MALL! He hates the mall, he hates shopping and he hates people. So I concluded they were having a sale and he was gonna get major discountage. Sure enough....

He got three pairs of slacks, four shirts, two ties, a package of underwear (6 I think, per pack) and a package of t-shirts (3 per pack)...all for $230! And we're talking 100 percent SILK ties and 100 percent cotton shirts here, not junk! (I picked out the shirts and ties. But he wouldn't go for the really pretty lavendar shirt and tie I found.)

Anyway, my gripe is $230 would buy a woman ONE pair of jeans, a t-shirt and maybe one bra (and certainly not VS!)!

2006-09-04T15:01:00.000-07:00

Once you go green...

Apparently Friday is GREEN day at my office. In an earlier photo, I and Alex Horvath were essentially wearing the SAME green shirt (we have the same green truck) only in different sizes (trucks too).

I put it on the blog and now, CLEARLY, everyone else is trying to get in on our green gig!

2006-08-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

GRRRRRIL power!

Yes, wingdeep, I AM a girl.
And despite the fact that I also "throw like a girl," I think being a girl is pretty much the only truly fashionable way to exist in this world!

Thanks for the comments...

2006-08-26T12:42:00.000-07:00

Hi there!

Sorry I've been gone, AGAIN.
But before I left I snapped this shot of Colleen (she's such a fashion DO regular!) in this really cool, white cotton skirt. I don't know if you can see the embroidery at the hem, which really sets off the skirt. I looked for a skirt like this in spring, hoping to wear it during the summer season and never could find just the right one. Kudos to Colleen for her sweet summer catch!

2006-08-15T18:04:00.000-07:00

In response to the comment about my husband...yes, I pick out clothes for him when we go shopping. But I don't dress the man!

He has his own, um, "sense" about things like colors that go together (he's got a particular blind spot on gray and green that I don't understand) and interesting shoe attire.

Sigh.
As the saying goes, you can take the boy out of Taft....

2006-08-15T11:43:00.000-07:00

M-I-Z-Z-O-U!!!
School spirit fashion hits the newsroom.
Ok, so Gretchen and I didn't actually attend University of Missouri at Columbia. But we were there for training last week so we, spent all our free time buying Mizzou fashion accessories. Christine (seated) and Mike (the only dude in the shot) actually DID attend UM and had mucho school spirit but nada T-shirts. So Gretchen and I picked up the slack for them.
Not only with cool Ts but a Mizzou blanket, Mizzou pens and pencils, Mizzou spiral notepad, Mizzou sticky note pad, Mizzou lunch bag, etc. etc.
GO TRUMAN!!! (Mizzou initiates will know who that is...)

2006-08-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

Good news!
James finally went to a stylist who knows how to use scissors! YEA James!

2006-08-14T20:34:00.000-07:00

Fashion princess
Hey, if a gal can't wear sparkly pink tennies with a sequined shrug and a tiarra on her birthday, then the terrorists truly have won!
Happy Birthday Emma!

2006-08-14T20:27:00.000-07:00

Been out of town...but even so, I picked up some cool new shoes.

Ok, they're not FASHION plate shoes...but they're way cool for hiking and jogging in and out of water AND I can even throw them in the wash when they're filthified - according to the sales lady. They're KEEN (I don't mean "neato keen" that's really the brand name.)

And my pal Gretchen got a pair of nifty clogs. There's a phrase I never thought I'd say, "nifty clogs...."

2006-08-04T11:26:00.000-07:00

Mini me!
Not only did we wear, essentially the same outfit today (though my sandals are much snappier than Alex's brown lumpy loafers!) but our trucks are the same color of green with camper shells! And, of course, Alex has a massive truck and mine is somewhat on the petite side (my husband's ruffian friends refer to it as a "sample truck.")

2006-08-04T11:22:00.000-07:00

The long and the short of it...

A colleague (male) responded to my rant about the baggy long shorts in the photo of the gentleman buying Mickey-Ds below.

My colleague's contention is that the baggy long shorts for men is all the fault of us ladies. (I mentioned that this look originated in prison, but was dismissed)

He claims that the low-rise jeans look favored by many gals (including moi) created a glut of "butt baring" clothing. So men really have no choice. In face, he challenged me to go into any store and actually find shorts that would fit and not have that long baggy look.

Aha! A challenge I can accept! (he doesn't know this, but I shop for my husband and am quite capable of finding nice shorts that neither sag nor bag and don't extend so far down the calf as to make the wearer's legs look deformed!)

2006-07-18T17:47:00.000-07:00

Is this a Bakersfield thing?
On my way out of town earlier this week, I stopped at a fast food joint and got this pic of a young man with several fashion DON'TS that I see around town all the time.

First, the sunglass placement.
Please find somewhere else to put your sunglasses when not in use. This upside-down-back-of-the-head thing makes people look foolish. I suppose I understand that men don't want to perch their shades on their heads like Gidget, but can it be so much more difficult and time consuming to fold them and hang them on the shirt front, or even back?

Second, the shorts.
Can someone please take all the men in Bakersfield to a store, ANY STORE, and have them try on shorts that actually FIT? I'm sooooo sick of the long baggy look. It makes men's legs look deformed. I'm not advocating Speedos here, but there MUST be a happier medium. And doesn't anyone know that "saggin" originated in prison because inmates who wanted to wear larger sizes, as they had on the outside, aren't permitted belts, hence the droopy look?

Third, calf tattoos.
Really, they aren't artistic (few tattoos are), it doesn't look "tough" since 70-year-old grandmas get them for Pete's sake, and it's hardly original since every one ELSE has them. So what is the point? (If you can't make it out in this photo, this gentleman's calf art is of flames reaching up to the back of his knee. Perhaps he is a fire walker...?)

Fourth, the shower sandals with socks.
Again, somehow a prison necessity (limiting the spread of foot rot among inmates) has been soaked up by the mainstream. Prison is about a LACK of choices, we have choices on the outside people! Please stop choosing so poorly! (And pairing any kind of sandals with socks is just such a serious DON'T!)

2006-07-12T21:43:00.000-07:00

Fashion in action.
I took a quick buzz around town today after lunch and stopped in at La Dolce Vita where Ms. Olivia was getting her claws updated by SUPER manicurista, Terri (Terry?) who is clearly a fashion feast all in her own right. Oh and she has some interesting tales...

2006-07-12T21:38:00.000-07:00

Shaggy James update.
Ok, I feel robbed.
Last I talked to J.Burg, he was gonna get a "summer cut." As you know from my previous summer cut installment, I love the summer cut for boys....a REAL summer cut, that is.
I come back from my road trip and saw that James' hair is ANYTHING but buzzed. He said he went to a stylist and she convinced him it was a cool summer cut to "thin" his hair.
Uh...James, did you pay money for this alleged hair cut?

2006-07-12T21:34:00.000-07:00

MUST HAVE!
The new Alley Cat shirts are in and they are WAY cool!
I got mine, where's yours?

2006-07-11T07:34:00.000-07:00

BIG transition.
I've made the switch!
I've carried a big purse long enough. I'm retreating to a small bag and trying to simplify my life. After all, what gal really needs more than two credit cards, her license and a tube of "take me I'm yours" red lipstick?

Ok, so we're not 20 years old any more. But I'm still gonna try and fight the good fight by scaling back.
Here's my first attempt. I was recently at Target and saw this teeny thing on sale for $7 (including tax!). For $7 I figured I'd try to retreat back to a small bag. We'll see how it goes. Day 1 (yesterday) was already weird when I realized I couldn't stuff my bag of Cracker Jacks and Diet 7Up into my purse and had to actually ask the guy at the stop and rob by my work for a BAG!

Purse stats:
Old bag - 10"X10"X5"
Liz Claiborne (on sale at Gottschalks for $30)

New bag - 8"X5"X3"
Cherokee (on clearance at Target for - did I mention - $7!)

Here's what I can actually fit in the new bag. I think I'll start looking for a smaller wallet, for sure. But I have no idea what else I can throw out. This is the BARE BONES!!!
And, NO, I don't carry a Stanley tape measure, that's just there to represent my camera, which I do carry every day in case a fashion DO or DON"T presents itself. In fact, my camera is much sleeker and lighter than this tape measure, but both take up about the same amount of space.
We'll see how it goes!

2006-07-09T13:42:00.000-07:00

Devilishly good!

I recently went to the movie, "The Devil Wears Prada," which was GREAT. Meryl Streep is phenomenal!
Then I remembered I had the book "The Devil Wears Prada." So I read it and it was also good (kinda long and repetitive in some spots, needed a tighter edit) but pretty good. It's totally different from the movie so anyone who LOVED the book is not going to see all the scenes exactly replayed. But both are great summer diversions and deserve two strong bako fashion DOs!

Here's the book jacket and movie logo. I think I like the movie logo better, but both have their own appeal...

And the auther Lauren Weisberger is still in her 20s, I think, already with a best selling novel and major motion picture under her belt. JEALOUS!!! Here's more about the author.

http://www.somethingjewish.co.uk/articles/680_lauren_weisberger.htm

2006-07-09T12:59:00.000-07:00

Nelson!
This gentleman is a definite "fashion do" in Bako.
We discovered Nelson working at the Lancome counter in RobinsonsMay and immediately fell in love. Not only is he good looking, smart and funny, he knows his make up and takes time to know his clients.
I even switched from Clinque lipsticks so I could work with Nelson.
RobinsonsMay closed shop, but Nelson, like the slinky cat he is, landed on his feet over at Macy's.
Olivia and I ran into him just the other day.
Of course, my camera skills BITE so this pic is out of focus. But don't forget to stop by and say howdy next time you need some Lancome beauty supplies!

2006-07-08T18:23:00.000-07:00

Oh, and FYI:
Clearance signs are still up at Talula's and Jezabelle's just had a clearance sign go up and I saw a 30-70 percent off sale ad in the paper for Bella's at the Marketplace!!!

2006-07-08T17:53:00.000-07:00

So so so sorry I haven't posted in so long. I went out of town, I was harried, what can I say?

Before I left town I made a quick trip to Jezabelle's downtown to see what kind of yummy stuff they had (some good stuff, very pricey though).
While I was fussing around in my car outside the boutique, a group of actual punkers walked by. Number one, I haven't seen actual punkers since the '80s. Number two, in BAKERSFIELD? I got some shots. And, yup, just like in the '80s, punk is STILL a fashion DON'T!!!

2006-06-22T13:15:00.000-07:00

Hitting the road for a few days.

I'll be out of town for a couple of days. If I find high fashion (or low) I'll try and snap a pic and post it when I get back.

Feel free to talk amongst yourselves in my absence!

2006-06-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

Shaggy James.
I HEAR James is getting his buzz cut this week. I got the "before" photo and hope someone sends me the "after," as I'll be gone until next Weds. Can't wait to see it, James!

2006-06-21T16:27:00.000-07:00

The one that got away...
I tried on this dress at Talula's. It's gorgeous and I LOVED it. It was a heavy off white lace over a beige liner. The bow, which cinched the dress at an empire waist, is a darker beige, though you can't tell in this photo. The straps were a little long for me, so I'm holding it up.

Even though I loved it, I didn't get it. It was $510.
If anyone has the bucks, I say grab it! All I got was this photo.

2006-06-21T16:13:00.000-07:00

One reader's pet fashion DON'T!
Aviator glasses.
I have to agree. Unless you actually ARE an aviator, and even then it's iffy.

Pictured here is the reader's (Kim) daughter, Kirsten and her pal. And they don't look happy modeling these serious fashion DON'Ts! They're far too pretty to be seen in such monstrosities!

2006-06-21T15:55:00.000-07:00

Talula's sale!
I told you I'd be at that sale and I was lucky to get there as early as I did. The ladies were on that sale rack like locusts!

I found two great pieces by Free People. They have really original stuff with great details. Check out the back of the sundress and the cool corset tie on the back of the cami.

But their stuff ain't cheap, let me tell ya. The people may be free at Free People, but the clothes sure aren't!
The dress was $120 (on sale for $70) and the camisole was $54 (on sale for $30). I'll have to get some light sweaters or shrugs to be able to wear either to the office!

Oh, and since I had a $25 gift certificate I got the sandals ($29) as well. I think they're snazzy!

2006-06-21T15:52:00.000-07:00

Guillermo, AGAIN, was looking stylish on Tuesday. I love the light-on-light pairing, quite dashing!

2006-06-21T15:47:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's my 2nd attempt to get the cool Prada glasses of Cindy's. Again, the name is blurry, I'm blaming the camera!
But here, you can CLEARLY see the name on all the accouterments that come with the glasses. Cindy said the little card on the right is a magnetic card that you can use to REGISTER your Prada item so it is known far and wide that you have the real thing! Wow...

2006-06-20T09:32:00.000-07:00

In response to a querry about the "summer cut" boys from the office featured below...yes...all are quite taken, especially the one in the middle, who is often quite taken with HIMSELF!

Thanks for commenting!

2006-06-19T21:24:00.000-07:00

The deal of the century!

I spied this great gypsy skirt (complete with eye-catching sequins) on Colleen today and asked if she'd share it with BakoFashionDo. She said sure and then told me how she found it at Robinson's May on super clearance. Originally over $100...she got it for $7!!! SEVEN DOLLARS!!!! You can't even get a six pack of decent beer for $7!! Not only is it a deal, it's a total fashion DO at 5 times the price...that would be, uh...$35? Right? Anyway, isn't it gorgeous?

2006-06-19T21:10:00.000-07:00

Girl's lunch!

Well it was kind of a straggling affair, we kept changing the date, the time, the place, so some people showed early, some late. Even so, it was great to see all the running girls (ladies I met running) today (Monday 6/19/06) for lunch at Jakes TexMex. And some definite fashion DOs were on hand!

First are Kim's sexy topaz jewel sandals!
They're gorgeous and she gives us a little tip: they're $90 at Bella's but she saw them for only $36 at Leeds. Good tip for us, too bad she didn't hit Leeds first. But they do look good on her!

And now, look at Nancy - an absolute vision of summer flirty! The skirt is a fresh floral patterned cotton paired with this season's must have light cotton overshirt in a beautiful lemon yellow. The chunky "Flintstone's" turquoise necklace and rattan summer purse set it all off perfectly! Total fashion DO. I forgot to get her deets on where and how much, but I'll add that later.

2006-06-19T21:05:00.000-07:00

Check it out!

Not only is Talula's is having a CLEARANCE sale...but, I have a $25 gift certificate. Do not even bother looking for me at tomorrow at lunchtime...

2006-06-17T19:43:00.000-07:00

The top that started it all.
I went back and found pics of the gold top that Denise insisted I buy way back in 2001 that started me on my path of fashion.

Here they are from that first fateful Vegas trip up to last October! Man, I gotta get some new "fancy wear"!

Here's me and Denise in Vegas for the Big Smoke in 2001. That's me in "the Top" doing the bump for unknown reasons!

Then here's my husband, Larry and I, same night. No, I'm not flipping the bird, I'm holding a cigar!
"The Top" makes another appearance at the Bakersfield Hispanic Chamber of Commerce annual installation dinner in 2003! That's Olivia and her husband Julio on the left. Seated is Jan and next to her is Oscar (long story there!).

And here "the top" is AGAIN in October 2005. Denise actually took this picture. She's far too gracious to tell me, but I'm sure she's thinking "enough with 'theTop!'"

Yes, that's Bill Thomas, Bakersfield congressman and head of the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Represenatives. Arguably one of the most powerful congressmen in the country. See? Even when it's over used, good fashion gets you noticed in allll the right circles!

2006-06-17T19:06:00.000-07:00

Talbots sale!

Talbots is one of my favorite stores for work duds because their clothes are really well made and have that classic "beyond trendy" look. But they're expensive, so I lie in wait for the twice-a-year, 50-percent-off sales. One started Thursday but I couldn't get there till today.
I wasn't overwhelmed with the selection, but then I wasn't looking for anything specific. I stuck with the basics and am pretty pleased with my haul.
Four t-shirts, $14 each
A basic short white cotton skirt, $32
A basic pale blue cotton camp shirt, $29
A light georgette silk print shirt, $34
With tax, $161 total.
I spent more than that on groceries today!

Here's the goods:

2006-06-16T21:57:00.000-07:00

A slight correction, or clarification.

While Olivia has kept me focused on fashion, I should say that Denise actually got me started. We were going to Vegas and looking for outfits. I was trying to be practical but she convinced me to buy an Anne Taylor top that, no, I could NOT wear every day. It's luxurious and sexy and was very expensive. But it's gorgeous. I still have it and still wear it to fancy events.

In fact, I wore it a few months ago to a gala opening that Denise happened to be in town for, so we went together and had a ball! It was at that event I got the idea for this blog.

Here's a picture I forgot I have! That's me and Denise at a dinner in Vegas for the Big Smoke. I think it's 2000, but I'm not sure. Isn't Denise's blouse fabulous? She has impeccable taste!

2006-06-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

Kick ass shoes.
I got these at Robinsons May just before it closed. They're Karen Scott and I think I got them really cheap, like $15 because the store was finally selling everything at clearance.

Bob called them "kick ass" shoes today and I wholeheartedly agree. Except I wouldn't want to scuff them by actually kicking anyone in the ass!

2006-06-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

Summer cuts

I'm giving a fashion DO to men who get summer cuts. Even though I grew up in the late '70s and early '80s (era of long hair and glam rock) I still always liked the old fashioned notion of dad's taking their sons to the barber for the summer cut. So here are a few guys from the office, Herb, Bob and Chris, with their summer cuts. Herb's is fresh. Bob's may look long, but believe me, it's a "buzz" compared to his usual dreds. Chris says it wasn't his dad, but his mom, who took him to the stylist instead of the barber. Well, everyone has their issues! Either way, a fashion Do shout out to the summer cut boys from the office!

2006-06-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

Fashion wreck

I was in a car crash today. I wasn't hurt, but my truck is pretty smashed up. And I blame bad fashion. I was at a red light at Niles and Union, going onto 178. A woman was crossing the road in front of me. She was wearing pajama pants, big fluffy slippers, a white sports bra and those sunglasses with the thick white rims that are all the rage now among the 12 to 20 set. An awful trend that I hope ends soon.

I watched her walk across the street and pulled out my camera to get a "fashion don't" photo. But I saw that the light had turned green, so I hastily dropped the camera back in my purse, put my car in gear and headed into the intersection.

WHAM! A woman going north on Union ran the red light and smacked right into me. We pulled to the side of the road, exhanged info, I got a tow, it'll all work itself out. (Ms. Pajama pant never batted an eye, by the way)

But let this be a lesson, bad fashion isn't just an eyesore, it's a hazard!

2006-06-15T21:16:00.000-07:00

This is my fashionista fairy godmother, so to speak.

Like Guillermo, I denied that I loved the look and feel of fabulous clothes, that I actually liked to stroll from store to store trying on anything and everything. I denied that fashion made me feel good, renewed, happy. But my pal Olivia refused to let me wallow in a world of practicality. She set me on a course from which I hope never to deviate, sailing the fabulous world of fashion.

And here she is on a regular work day looking incredible (did I mention that she's PREGNANT and she still takes the time to look MAHVELOUS!)

Most importantly, here are the SHOES!!!

Read below for all her outfit deets:
I got the necklace at Charlotte Russe, $6. Brown Pants, Target, $24 (maternity!). Carlos Santana shoes, $70, Zappos.com. The top from The Limited, $48

2006-06-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

Ok, where are we? So many fashion DOs my head is spinning!

Oh! Here's an incredible fashion tale anywhere, but in OUR little work world hovel? Prada? HERE??? REAL PRADA!!!???

Ok, I have to get a better pic, I know, I know. But can you make it out? The name on the side of the glasses???? Look CLOSER! Ok, I'll get a better pick, but they ARE the real thing. Here's what Cindy had to say about how she came to own such a fashion feast for the eyes!

"Unfashionable. Mismatched. Roll outta bed.
That's me. But when it came time to pick new frames ... I was begrudgingly bewitched by one of fashion's most synonymous names, Prada. They beckoned to me like a ratty pair of Levi's, worn in just right. My sister said 'You have to buy those!' The price ... $245. A disgrace to nonconformists everywhere."

Perhaps, but still a fashion DO!

2006-06-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

Super cool!

This is such a laid back outfit, but really eye catching. It makes you wish you'd thought of it!
I love the combo of the orange skirt and turquoise jewellry, so simultaneously roughhewn and elegant. How does turquoise do that?
Read below for all the deets on this total fashion DO!

Coral linen skirt with maze of cream-colored embroidery, Kohl's, $30-ish
Neutral cork-wedge sandals, Target, $18.99
Choker necklace of large turquoise-colored beads separated by small coral beads, under $10 at one of those chain-store accessory boutiques in Valley Plaza.

Let it be noted that I had to relieve the choker of its focal point: What's best described as a smallish sand dollar was originally suspended from the necklace. Without that eyesore, it's totally cute and one of my favorites.
Turquoise and coral faux-stone drop earrings, Wal-Mart, $2 on clearance. (I was picking up supplies for the TBC Easter Egg Hunt. I am not a big Wal-Mart fan. Really.) It wasn't until I'd had them for a few months that I realized what a freakishly perfect match they were for the 5+ year-old necklace!

2006-06-15T20:32:00.000-07:00

So much fashion going on and the internet fairy abandoned me! Unforgiveable!

First, a little catch up.
Guillermo's orange polo/kahki slacks outfit (pictured below) deets:
Polo shirt: $35.00 @ Mervyns.
Slacks: $75.00 @ Nordstrom's (San Francisco).
Shoes: $45.00 @ Guarantee Shoe Center.
Belt: $15.00 @ Sears

See? No need to break the bank to look good. You just need to know what wears well on you and then you can mix and match.

Now, as to the reader's question about where Guillermo gets his style sense, I asked and he told.

"I'm always asking people what they like and what they don't like, my friends, sis, dad, acquaintances.," Guillermo said. "I observe what people wear on TV, magazines, movies, on the street, out of town, etc. Then I look for people w/ my same body type and skin tone. Advertisements also help to visualize pants/shirts combo."

Here's the best tip of all, I think:
"I never go shopping on a hurry. I take my time and my secret is if I do not find anything that I truly like, I do not buy anything."

And it's always good to have a partner in crime!
"I have to give credit to my friend Vicki. On a trip to San Francisco, she showed me great places to shop for clothes. Vicki unleashed a side of me that I was in constant denial about. "
I hear ya, brother, I have a friend that did the same for me! (OLIVIA!!)

"Also with Vicki, we went to the coast to visit some shoe outlets and I ended up spending more than I ever had before. But the spending was well worth it."
Absolutely! The value of good shoes can never be underestimated!

"Even dudes were checking me out and complimenting my choices on clothes and shoes."
And well deserved, I say!!

Oh, and here's Guillermo's latest look.(6/15/06).
I love the combo of the workaday dark gray trousers, serious black leather shoes and the light, summery, pistachio polo. It works really well with his skin tone and is just an overall sharp look. Definite CEO material!

2006-06-15T10:48:00.000-07:00

The rotten internet!

Sorry no new posts, I have LOTS of stuff to add.
But the internet is down at my house, has been for 3 days now!
I'll send an email when I get some new stuff. Meanwhile, add your comments on what you'd like to see on here!!

2006-06-13T15:12:00.000-07:00

Blog comments rock!

We got our first comments, YEA!
In response:
Guillermo is highly stylish. We'll try and find out where he gets his inspiration.
Jennifer's neck candy is definitely enviable. She said she got it at the Haberfelde, but no copy katting!
And yes, I do need a larger closet, perhaps someone could talk to my husband about that.

Tune in tomorrow for more fashion dos seen about town!

2006-06-12T21:36:00.000-07:00

Accessories surely can make all the difference. And what compliments your ensemble better than a nicely dressed man? Guillermo looked very sharp today in an orange polo and khaki slacks. I didn't get the shoes, but they were a nice rich brown leather. He looks fabulous! And, he's promised he'll tell where he got the duds and for how much. I'll add that info when I get it.

2006-06-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

It's all about the accessories...

Jennifer is a master accessorizer (is that a word?). No matter what she's wearing, she knows how to set it off with just the right piece. She got this little bauble while lunching with our own Sandi M., herself a snappy fashionista. They were at the Haberfelde and stumbled on quite a trove of "finds," to hear Jen tell it. This only set Jennifer back $15!! A steal at twice the price and a definite fashion DO.

Can't wait to see what Sandi picked up!

2006-06-11T22:39:00.000-07:00

The true fashionistas...
That's me on the lower left. Top is Ms. Bans, middle in the red is Ms. Olivia and on the right is Ms. Vicki, of course! They're all much more fashionable than I can ever hope to be...and they let me know it all the time...

2006-06-11T22:19:00.000-07:00

Curse my poor camera skills!

I went to the American Heart Association event a couple of weeks ago and it was BRISTLING with major fashion dos and, OK, one or two fashion don'ts. But the fashion dos were spectacular! Anyway, my problem was I forgot to check the charge on my camera before I went. So I got one decent shot and that was it. Here it is.

That's me on the right in the purple, a lovely top picked out for me by very good friends for a wedding I was disinvited to...but that's another story.
On the far left in red is Christina and Heather is the blonde in the center in gray. They both looked GREAT. Heather is 16 and Christina is about 21, I think, so their dresses were very micro mini short. I was wearing a black skirt, only about an inch above the knee and black patent leather Evan Picones that I got in Washington DC.

This was the only other shot I got that turned out at all. That's Christina on the left and Charlie on the right. Charlie's dress was great as well! In fact, our whole table was a major fashion DO!